Secondary Index Research Articles

Periarticular Neurofascial Dextrose Prolotherapy Versus Physiotherapy for the Treatment of Chronic Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy: Randomized Clinical Trial.

Rotator cuff tendinopathy is a common cause of shoulder pain. We aimed to compare periarticular (neurofascial) dextrose prolotherapy versus physiotherapy for treatment of chronic rotator cuff tendinopathy in the short term. We carried out a randomized clinical trial with 2 arms at a university hospital. In total, 66 patients with chronic rotator cuff tendinopathy, proven by magnetic resonance imaging, were randomly allocated to 2 groups. The outcomes were change in shoulder pain intensity (primary) and disability (secondary) index using a questionnaire for Shoulder Pain and Disability Index. For physiotherapy, participants received superficial heat, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and pulsed ultrasound. Also, they carried out an exercise program, 10 sessions of 30 minutes for 3 weeks. For prolotherapy, we used 8 mL of 12.5% dextrose and 40 mg of 2% lidocaine. The mixture was injected 2 times with 1-week interval superficially around the shoulder joint and to tender points along the suprascapular nerve. Neurofascial dextrose was more effective than physiotherapy for alleviating pain in 2 weeks (p < 0.001), and they were similar 3 months after the interventions (p = 0.055). For disability, dextrose was more effective than physiotherapy 2 weeks and 3 months (both p < 0.001) after the interventions. However, the changes in the physiotherapy group seemed to be more sustained. Both interventions are effective for the short-term management of rotator cuff tendinopathy. However, prolotherapy is more successful as the initial treatment. Besides, the treatment time is much shorter for dextrose prolotherapy compared with physiotherapy.

Coulomb stress changes and secondary stress triggering during the 2003 (Mw 6.6) Bam (Iran) earthquake

The 26 December 2003 (Mw 6.6) Bam earthquake is one of the most destructive events in the recorded history of Iran. Good variable-slip fault models and precise aftershock data enabled us to calculate Coulomb stress changes on the surrounding faults, optimally oriented faults, and the aftershock nodal planes to learn whether they were brought closer to failure. We also test the role of secondary stress on the aftershocks triggering. Calculated stress on the surrounding faults showed that the southern part of the Gowk fault and middle part of the Dalfard and Bam faults received positive stress changes. Stress also increases at the ends of the ruptured fault plane to expand it. Our calculations showed that deeper part of the Bam fault planes received positive stress changes due to slipping on the shallow depth. It can lead to the occurrence of aftershocks and enhance the probability of large events in the future that represent a substantial remaining seismic hazard to the reconstructed city of Bam.By imparting stress on optimally oriented faults, the correlation between Coulomb stress changes and aftershock distribution is investigated. Obtained results showed good correlation between coulomb stress change and seismicity. From 331 well located aftershock hypocenters, about 270 events (>81%) are located in the positive stress changes area. The imparted stress due to the main shock and secondary aftershocks on the nodal planes of the 158 aftershocks is calculated. The results show that the imparted stress due to main shock encouraged about 60.1% of nodal planes and 77.8% of the chosen nodal planes of aftershocks and added secondary aftershock encouraged about 81.6% of chosen nodal planes. In other word by adding secondary triggering stress Coulomb Index for chosen nodal planes increased from 0.778 to 0.816 and about 80% of aftershocks receive greater positive stress changes.

How youth cognitive and sociodemographic factors relate to the development of overweight and obesity in the UK and the USA: a prospective cross-cohort study of the National Child Development Study and National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979

ObjectivesWe investigated how youth cognitive and sociodemographic factors are associated with the aetiology of overweight and obesity. We examined both onset (who is at early risk for overweight and obesity)...

Управление модернизационным развитием Ставропольского края: социологический аспект

The modernization potential of the Stavropol territo-ry in the context of the implementation of national development projects from the perspective of man-agement sociology is analyzed in the paper. The connection of the socio-cultural modernization pro-cess of the regions of the Russian Federation with the degree of development of management systems in them is postulated. It is established that accord-ing to the phase values of modernization the Stav-ropol territory belongs to the regions of the second type, continuing industrial (primary) modernization, its individual indicators are experiencing phases of growth and maturity. According to the calculation results the secondary (informational) modernization index for the Stavropol territory amounted to 60% in 2017, which is comparable to the level of average developed countries. The results of the analysis revealed the center-periphery heterogeneity of the Stavropol territory, the fragmentation of its econom-ic and intellectual space, which does not allow to use the existing potential of the region to the full. The idea of necessity of sociological support of the taken priority measures of the address management strategy taking into account economic and cultural specifics of the region and the factors interfering modernization is presented.

High Performance Secondary Index Design for Complex Queries in Smart Grid System

Since the traditional relational database is difficult to cope with the massive data and properties produced by thousands of sensors in the smart grid, the HBase database of the new large data platform, as a column oriented key value storage database, has gradually become the mainstream large data platform database. Though HBase can support large data volume, but it is still difficult to cope with the demand of high frequency and short response time in power grid data analysis. In this study, we proposed a query oriented two level index scheme that can speed up the query. The experimental results show that when the two table connection queries are involved, our scheme can provide a minimum of 1.026 to the maximum 4.761 times the acceleration ratio compared to the classic two level index, when it involves three table connection queries, Our scheme provides a minimum of 1.797 to a maximum of 8.581 times the speed ratio of the classic two level index scheme. After further optimization, the scheme can also save much of the storage space of the index table. The two level indexing scheme proposed in this study has a good effect in terms of query performance and storage efficiency.

Implementation of LevelDB-based secondary index on two-dimensional data

Implementation of LevelDB-based secondary index on two-dimensional data

A Comprehensive Evaluation Model for Curtain Grouting Efficiency Assessment Based on Prospect Theory and Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets Extended by Improved D Numbers

Grouting-efficiency evaluation is a key element in grouting-construction control. However, most existing grouting-efficiency evaluation models do not consider the hesitation and bounded rationality of experts and have difficulty in handling the problem of incomplete decision-making information generated by experts. Furthermore, the diversity of the evaluation indicators used can be further improved. This study conducts a comprehensive evaluation model to address these problems. An objective and reasonable fuzzy evaluation method is demonstrated through the integration of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets, prospect theory, and improved D numbers. The secondary permeability index is introduced to establish a more scientific evaluation indicator system. The proposed model is implemented in evaluating the curtain-grouting efficiency of a hydropower station, and its consistency, representativeness, and superiority are validated and analyzed.

Calculating Price Elasticity of Water Demand Using Gene Expression Programming Based on Economic, Social and Meteorological Variables

Determining the changing rate of water consumption through altering parameters such as water tariffs can help water companies select appropriate water policies. This paper is intended to find the proper relation between the water price elasticity of demand and some social, economic and climatic variables that are released annually by international organizations like the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank. By using genetic algorithm, different combinations of water price elasticity of demand and variables like gross domestic product, per capita gross domestic product, gross national income, precipitation, human development index, average temperature and household size have been analyzed. It was found that the absolute price elasticity of water demand has positive relationships with precipitation and price of water. It has also been found that the gross national income, average percent of consumers who have secondary education and human development index have a negative relation with the absolute price elasticity of water demand.

Association of plasma folate, vitamin B12 levels, and arsenic methylation capacity with developmental delay in preschool children in Taiwan.

Developmental delay has been associated with inefficient arsenic methylation capacity in preschool children. Folate and vitamin B12 are important nutrients that produce s-adenosylmethionine during single-carbon metabolism and provide methyl groups for arsenic methylation. The aim of the present study was to explore whether plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels influence arsenic methylation capacity and in turn are related to developmental delay in preschool children. A case-control study was conducted in 178 children with developmental delay and 88 normal children, who were recruited from Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Teaching Hospital from August 2010 to March 2014. Arsenite (AsIII), arsenate (AsV), monomethylarsonic acid (MMAV), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAV) in the urine was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-linked hydride generator and atomic absorption spectrometry. Plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels were measured using a SimulTRAC-SNB radioassay. The results show that the combination of high plasma folate and high vitamin B12 levels were correlated with efficient arsenic methylation capacity (low MMAV%, low InAs%, and high DMAV%). High MMAV% significantly increased and high DMAV% and secondary methylation index decreased the odds ratio (OR) of developmental delay in a dose-dependent manner in both low plasma folate and low vitamin B12 (low/low) groups; the multivariate OR and 95% confidence interval were 5.01 (0.83-30.06), 0.21 (0.04-1.23), and 0.20 (0.03-1.20), respectively. This is the first study to show that the combination of high plasma folate and high vitamin B12 levels increases arsenic methylation capacity and indirectly decreases the OR of developmental delay in preschool children.

Crow’s index in ethnic and social groups of urban population

Aim. According to the data characterizing reproductive behavior of women, assess an impact of ethnicity and level of education on the intensity of selection in the urbanized multinational population of Kharkiv city. Methods. Data from obstetric history of 532 post-reproductive age women was studied. Results. For indicators of the number of pregnancies with favorable and unfavorable outcomes, universally valid statistical indicators were calculated. Crow’s indexes were calculated as indicators of the intensity of selection. The total selection index for Ukrainians living in Kharkiv equal 0.26, for Russians it is 0.32, and for the group formed from representatives of rare nationalities this index is 0.75. In a group of women with secondary education total selection index is 0.26, in a group with highest education it is 0.35. Conclusions. Ethnicity and level of education of women affects reproductive behavior and determine number of pregnancies and their outcomes. Selection indexes differ in ethnic groups and in groups with different levels of education.&#x0D; Keywords: reproductive characteristics, Kharkiv population, Crow's index, selection, nationality, education.

Psychometric assessment of the Post- Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI)

BackgroundPrevious research has linked excessive stress among post-secondary students to poor academic performance and poor mental health. Despite attempts to ameliorate mental health challenges at post-secondary institutions, there exists a gap in the evaluation of the specific sources of stress for students within the post-secondary setting.MethodsThe goal of this study was to develop a new instrument to better assess the sources of post-secondary student stress. Over the course of two years, the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI) was created in collaboration with post-secondary students as co-developers and subject matter experts. In this study, we used a combination of individual cognitive interviews (n = 11), an online consensus survey modeled after a traditional Delphi method (n = 65), and an online pre- (n = 535) and post-test (n = 350) survey to psychometrically evaluate the PSSI using samples of students from Ontario, Canada. We collected four types of evidence for validity, including: content evidence, response processes evidence, internal structure evidence, and relations to other variables. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was also evaluated.ResultsThe PSSI demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Content validation and response processes evidence was derived from active student involvement throughout the development and refinement of the tool. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the structure of the PSSI reflects the internal structure of an index, rather than a scale, as expected. Test-retest reliability of the instrument was comparable to existing, established instruments. Finally, the PSSI demonstrated good relationships with like measures of stress, distress, and resilience, in the hypothesized directions.ConclusionsThe PSSI is a 46-item inventory that will allow post-secondary institutions to pinpoint the most severe and frequently occurring stressors on their campus. This knowledge will facilitate appropriate targeting of priority areas, and help institutions to better align their mental health promotion and mental illness prevention programming with the needs of their campus.

Influence of AS3MT polymorphisms on arsenic metabolism and liver injury in APL patients treated with arsenic trioxide

Arsenic-induced side effects limit its application in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). We recently demonstrated that AS3MT 14215 (rs3740390) genotypes were associated with urinary arsenic metabolites and hematological and biochemical values. To further decipher the role of AS3MT genotypes on arsenic metabolism and toxicity, AS3MT 27215 (rs11191446), 35587 (rs11191453), 35991 (rs10748835), and their interactive effects were examined in fifty APL patients treated with arsenic trioxide (As2O3) for the first time. Urinary arsenic metabolites and methylation capacity indexes were evaluated by the percentage of inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethylarsonate (MMA), dimethylarsinate (DMA), primary methylation index (PMI, MMA/iAs), secondary methylation index (SMI, DMA/MMA), and total methylation index (TMI, [MMA+DMA]/iAs). Results showed 27215 (rs11191446) genotypes had no statistical significance in arsenic metabolism, as only 5 (10%) patients were the non-wild-type genotypes. 35587 (rs11191453) genotypes were significantly associated with MMA%, DMA%, and SMI. 35991 (rs10748835) genotypes were significantly associated with iAs%, DMA%, PMI, TMI, and the level of ALT and AST. Patients with both 35587 (rs11191453) TT and 35991 (rs10748835) AG+GG genotypes were significantly associated with DMA% and SMI. In addition, patients with both 35991 (rs10748835) AA and 35587 (rs11191453) TC+CC genotypes had the highest DMA%, SMI, and TMI, but the lowest iAs%, ALT and AST level, indicating that additive effects exist on arsenic metabolism and liver function. Our data promotes the realization that AS3MT 35587 (rs11191453), 35991 (rs10748835), especially their joint genotypes 35991 (rs10748835) AA / 35587 (rs11191453) TC+CC, is a novel predictive biomarker for the therapeutic efficacy of As2O3 in the treatment of APL.

The Social Integration of American Cities: Network Measures of Connectedness Based on Everyday Mobility Across Neighborhoods

The social integration of a city depends on the extent to which people from different neighborhoods have the opportunity to interact with one another, but most prior work has not developed formal ways of conceptualizing and measuring this kind of connectedness. In this article, we develop original, network-based measures of what we call “structural connectedness” based on the everyday travel of people across neighborhoods. Our principal index captures the extent to which residents in each neighborhood of a city travel to all other neighborhoods in equal proportion. Our secondary index captures the extent to which travels within a city are concentrated in a handful of receiving neighborhoods. We illustrate the value of our indices for the 50 largest American cities based on hundreds of millions of geotagged tweets over 18 months. We uncover important features of major American cities, including the extent to which their connectedness depends on a few neighborhood hubs, and the fact that in several cities, contact between some neighborhoods is all but nonexistent. We also show that cities with greater population densities, more cosmopolitanism, and less racial segregation have higher levels of structural connectedness. Our indices can be applied to data at any spatial scale, and our measures pave the way for more powerful and precise analyses of structural connectedness and its effects across a broad array of social phenomena.

Construction of correlation index system on hospital inpatient suicide and public environment

Objective To determine the weights of the primary and secondary index in the correlation index system on the relationship between hospital inpatients suicide and the public environment and to construct the system. Methods From January to March in 2018, 40 experts were finally selected as the consultants according to the admission criteria. The Delphi method was used to complete two rounds of effective inquiry to 40 experts, investigate the index weight, construct the hierarchical structure model, establish the judgment matrix, and to calculate the index weight at all levels and to test the consistency rate of the questionnaire. Results The recovery rates of the two rounds of expert consultation were 100 % and 100%, respectively, and the authority coefficient of the experts was 0.85-0.87. Finally, by consistency testing, the public environmental index system of hospital inpatient suicide related to public environment included 2 primary indexes (i.e. external environmental factors, internal environmental related factors) , 12 secondary indicators and 18 tertiary indicators. The weight coefficient of the primary index was 0.540 6-0.459 4, the weight of the secondary index was 0.024 4-0.203 1, the weight of the tertiary index was 0.008 4-0.058 3, and the CR value of each judgment matrix was 0-0.011 0. Conclusions 40 experts have a high degree of authority and good coordination of opinions. Through Delphi method, the public environment correlation index system of hospital inpatient suicide is established. The index system is objective and scientific, and can provide objective quantifiable reference for the hospital in the effective prevention of patients' suicide and ensure the patient safety. Key words: Inpatients; Suicide; Delphi method; Weight; Public environment; Index system

Role of microRNA-26a in cartilage injury and chondrocyte proliferation and apoptosis in rheumatoid arthritis rats by regulating expression of CTGF.

This study is carried out to investigate the role of microRNA-26a (miR-26a) in cartilage injury and chondrocyte proliferation and apoptosis in rats with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by regulating expression of CTGF. A rat model of RA induced by type II collagen was established. The rats were assigned into normal, RA, RA + mimics negative control (NC), and RA + miR-26a mimics groups, and the cells were classified into blank, mimics NC, and miR-26a mimics groups. The degree of secondary joint swelling and arthritis index, expression of miR-26a, pathological changes, proliferation and apoptosis of chondrocytes, and expression of CTGF, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, Bax, and Bcl-2 were also determined through a series of experiments. The targeting relationship between miR-26a and CTGF was verified. Initially, downregulated miR-26a was found in cartilage tissues and inflammatory articular chondrocytes of RA rats. In addition, CTGF was determined as a direct target gene of miR-26a, and upregulation of miR-26a inhibited CTGF expression in cartilage tissues of RA rats. Furthermore, upregulation of miR-26a reduced swelling and inflammation of joints, inhibited cartilage damage, apoptosis of chondrocytes, inflammatory injury, promotes proliferation, and inhibited apoptosis of inflammatory articular chondrocytes, which may be correlated with the targeting inhibition of CTGF expression. Collectively, the results demonstrate that upregulating the expression of miR-26a could attenuate cartilage injury, stimulate the proliferation, and inhibit apoptosis of chondrocytes in RA rats.

Assessing the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of tobacco-associated diseases and how it is influenced by tobacco products advertisement, promotion and sponsorship while enforcing a strong and comprehensive ban in Panama: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesAssessing the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) of tobacco-associated diseases, and how it is influenced by tobacco products' advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) while enforcing a strong and comprehensive ban.DesignThe...

Evaluation on Ecological Civilization Construction Level in Guizhou Based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

In order to better build the ecological environment of Guizhou province, accelerate the marketization and capitalization of Guizhou province’s ecological resources, and evaluate and study the construction level of Guizhou’s ecological civilization. This paper, by using IFAHP, the establishment of intuitionistic fuzzy judgment matrix, consistency test, calculate the nine-province each secondary index to the weight of a layer and target layer, the comprehensive evaluation value is calculated and sorted. The empirical research shows that the ecological civilization construction level of Guizhou province is relatively high, but the level distribution of all prefectures and cities is very uneven, and the difference between the highest score southeast Guizhou and the lowest score Liupanshui is 4.87. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of ecological civilization in various prefectures and cities, so as to improve the construction level of ecological civilization in the whole province and promote regional economic development.

Infinite loop spaces and positive scalar curvature in the presence of a fundamental group

This is a continuation of our previous work with Botvinnik on the nontriviality of the secondary index invariant on spaces of metrics of positive scalar curvature, in which we take the fundamental group of the manifolds into account. We show that the secondary index invariant associated to the vanishing of the Rosenberg index can be highly nontrivial, for positive scalar curvature Spin manifolds with torsionfree fundamental groups which satisfy the Baum--Connes conjecture. For example, we produce a compact Spin 6-manifold such that its space of positive scalar curvature metrics has each rational homotopy group infinite dimensional. At a more technical level, we introduce the notion of "stable metrics" and prove a basic existence theorem for them, which generalises the Gromov--Lawson surgery technique, and we also give a method for rounding corners of manifold with positive scalar curvature metrics.

Finite Element Simulations of an Elasto-Viscoplastic Model for Clay

In this paper, we develop an elasto-viscoplastic (EVP) model for clay using the non-associated flow rule. This is accomplished by using a modified form of the Perzyna’s overstressed EVP theory, the critical state soil mechanics, and the multi-surface theory. The new model includes six parameters, five of which are identical to those in the critical state soil mechanics model. The other parameter is the generalized nonlinear secondary compression index. The EVP model was implemented in a nonlinear coupled consolidated code using a finite-element numerical algorithm (AFENA). We then tested the model for different clays, such as the Osaka clay, the San Francisco Bay Mud clay, the Kaolin clay, and the Hong Kong Marine Deposit clay. The numerical results show good agreement with the experimental data.

U2-Tree: A Universal Two-Layer Distributed Indexing Scheme for Cloud Storage System

The indices in cloud storage systems manage the stored data and support diverse queries efficiently. Secondary index, the index built on the attributes other than the primary key, facilitates a variety of queries for different purposes. An efficient design of secondary indices is called two-layer indexing scheme. It divides indices in the system into the global index layer and the local index layer. However, previous works on two-layer indexing are mainly on a P2P overlay network. In this paper, we propose U2-Tree, a universal two-layer distributed indexing scheme built on data center networks with tree-like topologies. To construct the U2-Tree, we first build local index according to data features and, then, assign potential indexing range of the global index for each host based on the distribution rule of local data. After that, we use several false positives control techniques, including gap elimination and Bloom filter, to publish meta-data about local index to global index host. In the final step, the global index collects published information and uses tree data structures to organize them. In our design, we take advantage of the topological properties of tree-like topologies, introduce and compare detailed optimization techniques in the construction of two-layer indexing scheme. Furthermore, we discuss the index updating, index tuning, and the fault tolerance of U2-Tree. Finally, we validate the effectiveness and efficiency of U2-Tree by giving a series of theoretical analyses and conducting numerical experiments on Amazon EC2 platform.