A Novel Prediction Perspective to the Bending Over Sheave Fatigue Lifetime of Steel Wire Ropes by Means of Artificial Neural Networks

Steel wire ropes are frequently subjected to dynamic reciprocal bending movement over sheaves or drums in cranes, elevators, mine hoists, and aerial ropeways. This kind of movement initiates fatigue damage on the ropes. It is a quite significant case to know bending cycles to failure of rope in service, which is also known as bending over sheave fatigue lifetime. It helps to take precautions in the plant in advance and eliminate catastrophic accidents due to the usage of rope when allowable bending cycles are exceeded. To determine the bending fatigue lifetime of ropes, experimental studies are conducted. However, bending over sheave fatigue testing in laboratory environments require high initial preparation cost and a long time to finalize the experiments. Due to those reasons, this chapter focuses on a novel prediction perspective to the bending over sheave fatigue lifetime of steel wire ropes by means of artificial neural networks.

Horseshoe kidney with high bifurcation of abdominal aorta: a rare imaging finding

Vascular variations of the bifurcation of the abdominal aorta (BAA) are rare, and they are usually discovered incidentally. We report a unique clinically and surgically significant case of variations of the abdominal aorta as related to the location and type of bifurcation. A high-positioned bifurcation of the abdominal aorta upon a horseshoe kidney at the level of upper L2 vertebral body was detected during contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography scan. Due to the halted ascent in horseshoe kidney, abdominal vascular anomalies are common: usually, multiple renal arteries arise from the distal aorta or iliac arteries; this is important when these patients undergo any procedure, particularly abdominal angiogram. The awareness of the variations of the abdominal aorta is of great importance during surgery and interventional radiological procedures to reduce complications during abdominal and spinal interventions, as well as for radiologists for precise interpretation of angiograms.

COVID-19: the first pandemic of the 21th century. A review of the literature

The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) was recognized in December 2019 as a cause of severe pneumonia and has now led to a global pandemic [1, 2]. Respiratory illnesses caused by COVID-19 cover a whole range of severities. Identifying the risk factors and protective factors for the severity of COVID-19 disease is essential to direct the development of new treatments and infection prevention strategies. The first large series of cases identified several risk factors for severe forms of the disease, including advanced age, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, exposure to tobacco, and obstructive pulmonary chronic disease [1, 3]. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published a significant case series study of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (72 314 cases, updated through February 11, 2020) [4, 5]. The authors of this paper summarized key findings from this report and discussed emerging understanding of and conclusions from the COVID-19 epidemic.

Developing English Learning Environment for Non-English Majors in a Non-native Community

Teaching and learning English as a foreign language in a non-native community poses a lot of challenges to both teachers and students. While it is commonly shared that in-class learning does not guarantee the success of the learning, the need for the extension of learning opportunities beyond the class has been remarkably increasing, encouraging English educators to create an environment for English learning beyond the class door. This study aims to set up such environment for non-English majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education, Vietnam. A series of out-of-class English activities were conducted during October 2020 to May 2021 for non-English majors at the University. 200 students joined the study as questionnaire respondents in two phases (before and after the implement of the activities) and 10 students were selected for focus group interview. Results revealed that the majority of the students believed in-class English learning were insufficient for their demands and needs and thus expected similar activities should be carried out beyond the class. The research would be a significant case study to illustrate that efforts to include out-of-class activities in the learning process should be encouraged for the development of an extended language learning environment for the benefits of the students in places where English is largely limited within the classroom walls.

Greenways as Integrated Systems: A Proposal for Planning and Design Guidelines Based on Case Studies Evaluation

Greenways (GWs) can play a key role in the context of policies and strategies for sustainable territorial development because they contribute to the development of integrated plans and interventions for environmental safeguarding and socio-economic growth. As is generally understood, in their modern conception, GWs are not only develop soft mobility, but they also represent supporting elements of a new concept of development and use of territory, attentive to its particular characteristics and the needs of resident populations. Beginning with a critical analysis of the most significant case studies of greenways, the authors propose a system of design and evaluation guidelines useful in identifying specific GW-related actions. The identified actions are divided into two categories, which are tangible and intangible actions. The first category corresponds with concrete actions that are directly implemented through different design and construction phases; the second category corresponds with processes activated in the design phase and are concretized after the “commissioning” of the path and has repercussions on the sphere of place identity. These categories are often difficult to distinguish between because many actions can be considered to be both tangible and intangible.

Our comprehensive experience with tracheostomy in tertiary multi-speciality hospital over four years

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Tracheostomy is a common surgical procedure used to achieve a secure airway in patients in elective as well as emergency conditions. Our study accounts for our first-hand experience with the procedure in our tertiary multi-speciality hospital.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> It is a four year (January 2017 to February 2021) retrospective study in which all the 246 cases of tracheostomies were taken into account which were performed during this study period in the department of otorhinolaryngology (ENT), Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER), Surat (India). The patients were thoroughly followed up until the final outcome of the tracheostomy was established. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> A total of 246 tracheostomies were performed, 63.82% of which were in men. The mean patient age was 42 years. The majority (76%) were elective, performed for various indications, while the remaining 24% were emergency tracheostomies. All tracheostomies were performed by otorhinolaryngologists. Complications relating to tracheostomy were documented in 40 patients (16%) intra-operatively and/or post-operatively which included bleeding, surgical emphysema, granulations along the stomal site and rarely shock. The mean time to decannulation was 13.48 days.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Our study takes into account and discusses the findings of all the 246 tracheostomies which were performed during the study period of 4 years. Elective cases form the majority although there is a significant case series of emergency tracheostomies performed for a range of pathologies.</p><p class="Default"> </p>

A Comparison of Methods to Harmonize Cortical Thickness Measurements Across Scanners and Sites

Results of neuroimaging datasets aggregated from multiple sites may be biased by site-specific profiles in participants demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as MRI acquisition protocols and scanning platforms. We compared the impact of four different harmonization methods on results obtained from analyses of cortical thickness data: (1) linear mixed-effects model (LME) that models site-specific random intercepts (LMEINT), (2) LME that models both site-specific random intercepts and age-related random slopes (LMEINT+SLP), (3) ComBat, and (4) ComBat with a generalized additive model (ComBat-GAM). Our test case for comparing harmonization methods was cortical thickness data aggregated from 29 sites, which included 1,343 cases with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (6.2-81.8 years old) and 2,067 trauma-exposed controls without PTSD (6.3-85.2 years old). We found that, compared to the other data harmonization methods, data processed with ComBat-GAM were more sensitive to the detection of significant case-control differences in regional cortical thickness (Chi2(3) = 34.339, p < 0.001), and case-control differences in age-related cortical thinning (Chi2(3) = 15.128, p = 0.002). Specifically, ComBat-GAM led to larger effect size estimates of cortical thickness reductions (corrected p-values < 0.001), smaller age-appropriate declines (corrected p-values < 0.001), and lower female to male contrast (corrected p-values < 0.001) in cases compared to controls relative to other harmonization methods. Harmonization with ComBat-GAM also led to greater estimates of age-related declines in cortical thickness (corrected p-values < 0.001) in both cases and controls compared to other harmonization methods. Our results support the use of ComBat-GAM for harmonizing cortical thickness data aggregated from multiple sites and scanners to minimize confounds and increase statistical power.

Melanoma of glans penis and urethra: A case report and systematic review of the literature of a rare and complex neoplasm

Objective: To evaluate the features and prognosis of melanoma of glans penis and urethra, with the presentation of a significant case report. Materials and methods: A systematic literature review was performed using the MEDLINE (PubMed) and Cochrane Libraries databases to identify all cases of male mucosal melanoma reported. Results: Two hundred fifty-two patients with male mucosal primary melanoma were found. Glans penis and fossa navicularis as primary site includes the 81.6% of all lesions considered. Median Breslow’s depth is 2.1 mm, whereas nine in situ melanomas have been reported. At the diagnosis, the disease was at a non-localized stage in 21.4% for glans penis melanomas and 11.7% urethral lesions, respectively. The 2 and 5-year survival for glans melanoma is 62.5% and 38.4%; higher rates were observed in the 2012–2020 period (76% and 58.8%, respectively). Two-year survival for urethral melanomas is 66.7%, while 5-year survival is 12.5%. 22 patients survived over 5 years with a Breslow’s depth reported always < 3.3 mm. Conclusion: Melanoma of the glans penis and urethra is a rare neoplasm associated with a poor prognosis, however recent reports show higher survival rates. Surgery remains the mainstay for a localized disease. Taking into account the small number of cases reported, topical imiquimod seems to be a valid non-surgical alterative for melanoma in situ. The use of immunotherapy and targeted therapy should be considered only in an adjuvant setting according to the recommendations of cutaneous melanoma; however, additional clinical data on male mucosal melanoma are needed to draw definitive conclusions.

Case-mix adjustment to compare colonoscopy performance between endoscopy centres: a nationwide registry study

Background: Non-modifiable patient and endoscopy characteristics might influence colonoscopy performance. Differences in these so-called case-mix factors are likely to exist between endoscopy centres. This study aims to examine the importance of case-mix adjustment when comparing performance between endoscopy centres. Methods: Prospectively collected data recorded in the Dutch national colonoscopy registry between 2016-2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Performance on cecal intubation rate (CIR) and adequate bowel preparation rate (ABPR) were studied. Additionally, polyp detection rate (PDR) was studied in fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-positive screening colonoscopies. Variation in case-mix factors between endoscopy centres and expected outcomes for each performance measure were calculated per endoscopy centre, based on their case-mix factors (sex, age, ASA score, indication), using multivariable logistic regression. Results: In total, 363,840 colonoscopies were included from 51 endoscopy centres. The mean percentages per endoscopy centre were significantly different for age > 65 years, male patients, ASA > III and diagnostic colonoscopies (all p < 0.001). In the FIT-positive screening population, significant differences were observed per endoscopy centre for age > 65 years, male patients and ASA > III (all p value < 0.001). The expected CIR, ABPR and PDR ranged from 95.0% to 96.9%, from 93.6% to 96.4% and from 76.2% to 79.1%, respectively. Age, sex, ASA classification and indication were significant case-mix factors for CIR and ABPR. In the FIT-positive screening population, age, sex and ASA classification were significant case-mix factors for PDR. Conclusion: Our findings emphasize that when comparing colonoscopy performance measures between endoscopy centres, case-mix adjustment should be considered.

Spatial Disparities of COVID-19 Cases and Fatalities in United States Counties

This paper examines the spatial and temporal trends in county-level COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (January 2020–January 2021). Statistical and geospatial analyses highlight greater impacts in the Great Plains, Southwestern and Southern regions based on cases and fatalities per 100,000 population. Significant case and fatality spatial clusters were most prevalent between November 2020 and January 2021. Distinct urban–rural differences in COVID-19 experiences uncovered higher rural cases and fatalities per 100,000 population and fewer government mitigation actions enacted in rural counties. High levels of social vulnerability and the absence of mitigation policies were significantly associated with higher fatalities, while existing community resilience had more influential spatial explanatory power. Using differences in percentage unemployment changes between 2019 and 2020 as a proxy for pre-emergent recovery revealed urban counties were hit harder in the early months of the pandemic, corresponding with imposed government mitigation policies. This longitudinal, place-based study confirms some early urban–rural patterns initially observed in the pandemic, as well as the disparate COVID-19 experiences among socially vulnerable populations. The results are critical in identifying geographic disparities in COVID-19 exposures and outcomes and providing the evidentiary basis for targeting pandemic recovery.