bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analytical study of MEMS/NEMS Force Sensor for Microbotics Applications
Authors: Lamba Monica , Chaudhary Himanshu , Singh Kulwant
Published: September 2019

The purpose of this paper is design, virtual fabrication and simulation of microcantilever based Force sensor using Comsol Multiphysics Software version 5.3a to perform analytical analysis of MEMS/NEMS based sensor for microbotic applications.Piezoresistive MEMS Force sensor having dimension of fixed part is 1000 µm
2 with height of 50µm and movable part is 600 µm length, 500µm breadth and 20 µm height.The analysis of force sensor is observed by plotting a curve between force and voltage, Displacement and Voltage and Sensitivity. The range of force measured by this sensor is from 10N to 1µN, the simulating result shows that a very wide range of force can be measured by this single sensor. The force measurement at microscale has been very common in microbotics for micromanipulation . The simulated MEMS force sensor having resolution 0.1µN using piezoresistive sensing which is improved then the previous work. This range of force, resolution and sensitivity can be used for the application of two –fingered microgripper in microbotic system.Mathematically, dynamic frequency range for microcatilever based force sensor is calculated in range of 1.477076 KHz to 467.935969KHz, along with its different frequency harmonics for force 10N-100µN.Here, microcatilever is used for the measurement of force by using piezoresistors which are arranged in voltage divider sensing technique to obtain higher resolution, sensitivity and wide and lower range of force.
A retrofit design of safety and stability mechanism for two wheelers
Authors: Nitin C M , Patil Santosh
Published: September 2019

This paper presents an idea of a retrofit design of a mechanism which helps in achieving the safety and stability of the two wheeler vehicle. The aim of the mechanism is to avoid the two wheeler from fall/skid and also work as an attachment for physically challenged drivers. The mechanism is a hydraulic system clubbed with linkages, where an extra two small sized wheels are grounded to provide safety from fall and give stability to the two wheeler. The proposed retrofit mechanism would replace the double stand of the vehicle. These extra wheels move along with the vehicle, hence providing the required stability. This forms a replacement of the costly attachments which the physically challenged drivers add to their vehicles. The shock absorbers would be included accordingly in the mechanism. The probable improvements on deploying the said mechanism on a two wheeler will provide easy riding, as the vehicle self-stabilize itself when the small wheels are grounded. This helps the less abled riders to easily ride the vehicle with no worries of grounding their feet. A number of designs were developed, studied and three designs were shortlisted based on the feasibility of the mechanism. Finally, a better design is proposed for further improvement and implementation.
Analysis of an inventory model with both the time dependent holding and sales revenue cost
Authors: Malik A. K. , Mathur Priya , Kumar Satish
Published: September 2019

The research paper explores the possibility of long-life products on inventory model with variable demand rate. We established a new scheme for maximum life time product; their deterioration rate is considered as a function of maximum life time. The main conception behind the planned model is: time dependent both holding and sales revenue cost for finding the optimal total profit with the optimal cycle. Finally, numerical example and sensitivity analysis demonstrate that the proposed mathematical model result and realize the effect of variation in optimal profit function with respect to several parameters used.
Description, Biology, and Impact of the Fruit-Feeding Moth, Mompha luteofascia sp. n. (Lepidoptera: Momphidae), on Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae) in Costa Rica
Authors: Alfaro-Alpízar Manuel Antonio , Koster Sjaak J C , Johnson M Tracy , Badenes-Pérez Francisco Rubén
Published: September 2019

Fruits of Miconia calvescens DC. (Melastomataceae) were dissected to study insect frugivory in this plant in its native habitat in Costa Rica. Larvae of an unknown Mompha species (Lepidoptera: Momphidae), Anthonomus monostigma Champion (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and unidentified Diptera and Hymenoptera were found in M. calvescens fruits. The Mompha species, described here as new as Mompha luteofascia Koster & Badenes-Pérez, was the most abundant insect frugivore in M. calvescens, infesting up to 38.1% of the fruits sampled. Feeding damage by M. luteofascia was positively correlated with fruit maturity, and resulted in significantly reduced numbers of seeds and rates of seed germination. Miconia calvescens fruits with medium damage (50–75% of the pulp missing) and high damage (75–100% of the pulp missing) had an average of 96 and 99 seeds, respectively, whereas undamaged fruits contained an average of 127 seeds per fruit. In fruits with medium and high fruit damage, only 1.9 and 0.1% of the seeds germinated, respectively, whereas 34.8% of the seeds germinated in undamaged fruits. Mompha luteofascia developed through three instars, as determined from measurement of head capsules. Larvae usually fed as one individual per each fruit attacked, exiting fruit to pupate in foliage or litter. Parasitism of M. luteofascia larvae was substantial, averaging 64 and 38% at the two study sites. Although host specificity of M. luteofascia has not been evaluated, the significant reductions in seed numbers and seed germination caused by its larvae indicate that this species deserves further assessment as a potential biological control agent of M. calvescens.
Ovule and seed production patterns in relation to flower size variations in actinomorphic and zygomorphic flower species
Authors: Mochizuki Jun , Itagaki Tomoyuki , Aoyagi Blue Yuta , Ito Masaya , Sakai Satoki
Published: September 2019

Zygomorphic flower species tend to show lower flower size variation than actinomorphic flower species. Have these differences also brought an association in ovule and seed production that has arisen due to natural selection in these species? Flowers were collected from 29 actinomorphic and 20 zygomorphic flower species, and fruits were collected from 21 actinomorphic and 14 zygomorphic flower species in Miyagi and Aomori prefectures, in Japan. The coefficient of variations (CVs) of flower sizes, mean ovule sizes of flowers, ovule numbers of flowers and mean seed sizes of fruits were calculated. The CV of flower sizes was marginally different between the floral symmetry types; tending to be lower in the zygomorphic flower species than in the actinomorphic flower species. The CVs of mean ovule sizes and ovule numbers of flowers increased with increase in the CV of flower sizes in the actinomorphic flower species but not in the zygomorphic flower species. Mean ovule number of flowers tends to increase with increase in mean flower size in the actinomorphic flower species but not in the zygomorphic flower species. The degrees in variations in ovule size and number of flowers were influenced by the interaction of floral symmetry type and flower size variation, suggesting that floral symmetry also has brought an evolutionary association in ovule production by flowers.
Patterns of Performance and Symptom Validity Test Findings After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Donders Jacobus , Lefebre Nathan , Goldsworthy Rachael
Published: September 2019

Objective

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of demographic, injury and neuropsychological correlates of distinct patterns of performance validity test and symptom validity test results in persons with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Method

One hundred and seventy-eight persons with mTBI completed the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM; performance validity) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; symptom validity) within 1–12 months postinjury. Four groups were compared: (a) pass both TOMM and MMPI-2-RF validity criteria, (b) pass TOMM and fail MMPI-2-RF, (c) fail TOMM and pass MMPI-2-RF, and (d) fail both TOMM and MMPI-2-RF.

Results

Compared to Group a, participants in combined Groups b–d were more than twice as likely to be engaged in financial compensation-seeking and about four times less likely to have neuroimaging evidence of an intracranial lesion. The average performance of Group d on an independent test of verbal learning was more than 1.5 standard deviations below that of Group a. Participants in Group b were more likely to have intracranial lesions on neuroimaging than participants in Group c.

Conclusion

Performance and symptom validity tests provide complementary and non-redundant information in persons with mTBI. Whereas financial compensation-seeking is associated with increased risk of failure of either PVT or SVT, or both, the presence of intracranial findings on neuroimaging is associated with decreased risk of such.
SCSsim: an integrated tool for simulating single-cell genome sequencing data
Authors: Yu Zhenhua , Du Fang , Sun Xuehong , Li Ao
Published: September 2019

Motivation

Allele dropout (ADO) and unbalanced amplification of alleles are main technical issues of single-cell sequencing (SCS), and effectively emulating these issues is necessary for reliably benchmarking SCS-based bioinformatics tools. Unfortunately, currently available sequencing simulators are free of whole-genome amplification involved in SCS technique and therefore not suited for generating SCS datasets. We develop a new software package (SCSsim) that can efficiently simulate SCS datasets in a parallel fashion with minimal user intervention. SCSsim first constructs the genome sequence of single cell by mimicking a complement of genomic variations under user-controlled manner, and then amplifies the genome according to MALBAC technique and finally yields sequencing reads from the amplified products based on inferred sequencing profiles. Comprehensive evaluation in simulating different ADO rates, variation detection efficiency and genome coverage demonstrates that SCSsim is a very useful tool in mimicking single-cell sequencing data with high efficiency.

Availability and implementation

SCSsim is freely available at https://github.com/qasimyu/scssim.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Antibiotic Prescribing Variability in a Large Urgent Care Network: A New Target for Outpatient Stewardship
Authors: Stenehjem Edward , Wallin Anthony , Fleming-Dutra Katherine E , Buckel Whitney R , Stanfield Valoree , Brunisholz Kimberly D , Sorensen Jeff , Samore Matthew H , Srivastava Raj , Hicks Lauri A , Hersh Adam L
Published: September 2019

Improving antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings is a public health priority. In the United States, urgent care (UC) encounters are increasing and have high rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Our objective was to characterize antibiotic prescribing practices during UC encounters, with a focus on respiratory tract conditions. This was a retrospective cohort study of UC encounters in the Intermountain Healthcare network. Among 1.16 million UC encounters, antibiotics were prescribed during 34% of UC encounters and respiratory conditions accounted for 61% of all antibiotics prescribed. Of respiratory encounters, 50% resulted in antibiotic prescriptions, yet the variability at the level of the provider ranged from 3% to 94%. Similar variability between providers was observed for respiratory conditions where antibiotics were not indicated and in first-line antibiotic selection for sinusitis, otitis media, and pharyngitis. These findings support the importance of developing antibiotic stewardship interventions specifically targeting UC settings.
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Biologics During Induction to Prevent Primary Non-Response
Authors: Sparrow Miles P , Papamichael Konstantinos , Ward Mark G , Riviere Pauline , Laharie David , Paul Stephane , Roblin Xavier
Published: September 2019

Biologic therapies have revolutionized the management of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], but primary and secondary non-responses occur in a significant proportion of patients. Therapeutic drug monitoring [TDM] now has an established role in the treatment algorithm for managing secondary loss of response to anti-tumour necrosis factor [anti-TNF] agents during maintenance therapy. Data to support the use of TDM in the management of secondary loss of response to vedolizumab and ustekinumab are emerging. The potential to prevent primary non-response to biologic agents during induction is of equal, and potentially greater, clinical importance. Again, most data supporting the use of ‘proactive' TDM during induction pertains to the use of anti-TNF agents, but signals of efficacy for the use of TDM during induction with other biologic classes are now appearing. This review aims to summarize data on the use of TDM during induction to prevent pharmacokinetic primary non-response to all three classes of biologic therapy currently available for the treatment of IBD.
Varieties of Affluence: How Political Attitudes of the Rich Are Shaped by Income or Wealth
Authors: Arndt H Lukas R
Published: September 2019

Sociological research often uses income as the only indicator to describe or proxy the group of the rich. This article develops an alternative framework in order to describe varieties of affluence as three-dimensional: depending on income, wealth, and origin of wealth. The relevance of such a multidimensional perspective for social outcomes is demonstrated by analysing the heterogeneity in political attitudes between different varieties of affluence. For this purpose, ordinary least squares regressions are applied to a sample from 2005, 2009, and 2014 German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). The main results are, first, that the perspective of varieties of affluence reveals significant differences in social outcomes as demonstrated by political attitudes. Especially wealth possession is related to significantly more right political attitudes. Second, there is strong explorative evidence that the rich in Germany should be regarded as a heterogeneous group. These findings are robust to influential data, multiple imputations of wealth data, and endogeneity due to pooled data. The article concludes, among other things, that more data are required to make more certain assertions.
Evidence of a Relation Between Hippocampal Volume, White Matter Hyperintensities, and Cognition in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Authors: Caillaud Marie , Hudon Carol , Boller Benjamin , Brambati Simona , Duchesne Simon , Lorrain Dominique , Gagnon Jean-François , Maltezos Samantha , Mellah Samira , Phillips Natalie ,   Consortium for the Early Identification of Alzheimer’s Disease-Quebec, Belleville Sylvie
Published: September 2019

Objective

The concepts of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) have been proposed to identify individuals in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), or other neurodegenerative diseases. One approach to validate these concepts is to investigate the relationship between pathological brain markers and cognition in those individuals.

Method

We included 126 participants from the Consortium for the Early Identification of Alzheimer’s disease-Quebec (CIMA-Q) cohort (67 SCD, 29 MCI, and 30 cognitively healthy controls [CH]). All participants underwent a complete cognitive assessment and structural magnetic resonance imaging. Group comparisons were done using cognitive data, and then correlated with hippocampal volumes and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).

Results

Significant differences were found between participants with MCI and CH on episodic and executive tasks, but no differences were found when comparing SCD and CH. Scores on episodic memory tests correlated with hippocampal volumes in both MCI and SCD, whereas performance on executive tests correlated with WMH in all of our groups.

Discussion

As expected, the SCD group was shown to be cognitively healthy on tasks where MCI participants showed impairment. However, SCD’s hippocampal volume related to episodic memory performances, and WMH to executive functions. Thus, SCD represents a valid research concept and should be used, alongside MCI, to better understand the preclinical/prodromal phase of AD.
No Percolation at Criticality on Certain Groups of Intermediate Growth
Authors: Hermon Jonathan , Hutchcroft Tom
Published: September 2019

We prove that critical percolation has no infinite clusters almost surely on any unimodular quasi-transitive graph satisfying a return probability upper bound of the form $p_n(v,v) \leq \exp \left [-\Omega (n^\gamma )\right ]$ for some $\gamma>1/2$. The result is new in the case that the graph is of intermediate volume growth.
Euclidean Distance Degree of Projective Varieties
Authors: Maxim Laurentiu G , Rodriguez Jose Israel , Wang Botong
Published: September 2019

We give a positive answer to a conjecture of Aluffi–Harris on the computation of the Euclidean distance degree of a possibly singular projective variety in terms of the local Euler obstruction function.
Fock Space Representation of the Circle Quantum Group
Authors: Sala Francesco , Schiffmann Olivier
Published: September 2019

In [12] we have defined quantum groups $\mathbf{U}_{\upsilon }(\mathfrak{sl}(\mathbb{R}))$ and $\mathbf{U}_{\upsilon }(\mathfrak{sl}(S^1))$, which can be interpreted as continuum generalizations of the quantum groups of the Kac–Moody Lie algebras of finite, respectively affine type $A$. In the present paper, we define the Fock space representation $\mathcal{F}_{\mathbb{R}}$ of the quantum group $\mathbf{U}_{\upsilon }(\mathfrak{sl}(\mathbb{R}))$ as the vector space generated by real pyramids (a continuum generalization of the notion of partition). In addition, by using a variant version of the “folding procedure” of Hayashi–Misra–Miwa, we define an action of $\mathbf{U}_{\upsilon }(\mathfrak{sl}(S^1))$ on $\mathcal{F}_{\mathbb{R}}$.
Two Distinct L-Lactate Dehydrogenases Play a Role in the Survival of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Cervical Epithelial Cells
Authors: Chen Nathan H , Ong Cheryl-Lynn Y , O’Sullivan Jonathan , Ibranovic Ines , Davey Krystelle , Edwards Jennifer L , McEwan Alastair G
Published: September 2019

L-lactate is an abundant metabolite in a number of niches in host organisms and represents an important carbon source for bacterial pathogens such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In this study, we describe an alternative, iron-sulfur cluster-containing L-lactate dehydrogenase (LutACB), that is distinct from the flavoprotein L-lactate dehydrogenase (LldD). Expression of lutACB was found to be positively regulated by iron, whereas lldD was more highly expressed under conditions of iron-limitation. The functional role of LutACB and LldD was reflected in in vitro studies of growth and in the survival of N gonorrhoeae in primary cervical epithelial cells.
Virological Factors Associated with the Occurrence of HBV Reactivation in Patients with Resolved HBV Infection Analyzed through Ultradeep Sequencing
Authors: Sakamoto Kazumasa , Umemura Takeji , Ito Kiyoaki , Okumura Akinori , Joshita Satoru , Ota Masao , Sugiyama Masaya , Mizokami Masashi , Yoneda Masashi , Tanaka Eiji
Published: September 2019

Background

Hepatitis B virus reactivation (HBVr) is an important complication of immunosuppressive drug therapy. It can occur via both virological and host factors; however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Methods

We examined serum samples derived from patients with HBVr and those with acute hepatitis B (AHB). HBV DNA was amplified the targeted nucleic acid molecule and analyzed by next-generation sequencing.

Results

The percentage of patients infected with genotype Bj among the HBVr patients was significantly higher than that in the AHB patients. The frequency of mutation sites in the whole HBV genome, especially in the envelope region, in the HBVr was significantly higher than that in the AHB. The prevalence of the S3N amino acid substitution in the envelope protein and mutations at positions G1896A and G1899A in the precore region were significantly higher in the HBVr compared to AHB. The population of S3N aa substitution and nt G1896A and G1899A mutations in each individual showed quite a similar percentage of occurrence.

Conclusions

We identified specific virological factors in patients with HBVr through ultra-deep sequencing. Our findings would be beneficial for the elucidation of mechanisms underlying HBVr development and for disease control.
Theorizing Religion and the Public Sphere: Affect, Technology, Valuation
Authors: Hamner M Gail
Published: September 2019

Religion scholars require a theory of public encounter that is evental, technological, and affective. Instead of a spatial public sphere, today’s encounters occur through technological mediations that are affective and image-laden. This essay examines the latter “publicness” and illustrates its roles as an affective technology of whiteness as that which frames and distributes the persevering powers of, and reluctantly tracks resistances to, white supremacy. Film is a fruitful cultural site for examining the whiteness of publicness. The essay turns to Moonlight (Jenkins, 2016) to demonstrate how film can resist and interrupt normative whiteness and to show how this transvaluative cultural labor can be seen as religious. The essay conceptualizes religion as a hinged form and function through which subjects and publics co-emerge and by which social and sedimented valuations are (re)bound. Grappling with religion as social forms and functions of valuation opens it to algorithmic variability that mandates attention to circulations of power as both capacity and intensity.
Long-term impacts of antibiotic allergy testing on patient perceptions and antibiotic utilization
Authors: Tan N , Holmes N E , Chua K Y , Stewardson A J , Trubiano J A
Published: September 2019

Objectives

To define the long-term impacts of antibiotic allergy testing (AAT) on patient allergy perception and antibiotic utilization.

Methods

Patients were identified from a prospective AAT database as having completed testing during a 15 month period beginning January 2017. Patients were contacted for a follow-up survey at least 12 months post-AAT. For those contacted, baseline demographics, antibiotic allergy label (AAL) history, age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index, infection history, antibiotic de-labelling (≥1 AAL removed following AAT) and antibiotic usage for 12 months prior to testing (pre-AAT) and 12 months following testing (post-AAT) were recorded for each patient.

Results

From the follow-up survey of 112 patients post-AAT, 95.2% (59/62) of patients with complete AAL removal expressed willingness to use ‘de-labelled’ antibiotics and 91.9% (57/62) were adherent to allergy label modification. Comparing antibiotic utilization 12 months pre-AAT versus 12 months post-AAT, AAT was associated with a significant increase in preferred antibiotic therapy [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.29, 95% CI 1.56–6.92] and reduction in restricted antibiotic utilization (aOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.19–0.93).

Conclusions

An antimicrobial stewardship (AMS)-led AAT programme was safe and effective in the long term in the promotion of preferred and narrow-spectrum antibiotic usage, and favourable patient perception towards the AAT testing results was identified. This study further supports the routine incorporation of AAT into AMS programmes, confirming safety and durability of testing impacts on patients as well as increasing preferred antibiotic utilization.
An augmented estimation procedure for EHR-based association studies accounting for differential misclassification
Authors: Tong Jiayi , Huang Jing , Chubak Jessica , Wang Xuan , Moore Jason H , Hubbard Rebecca A , Chen Yong
Published: September 2019

Objectives

The ability to identify novel risk factors for health outcomes is a key strength of electronic health record (EHR)-based research. However, the validity of such studies is limited by error in EHR-derived phenotypes. The objective of this study was to develop a novel procedure for reducing bias in estimated associations between risk factors and phenotypes in EHR data.

Materials and Methods

The proposed method combines the strengths of a gold-standard phenotype obtained through manual chart review for a small validation set of patients and an automatically-derived phenotype that is available for all patients but is potentially error-prone (hereafter referred to as the algorithm-derived phenotype). An augmented estimator of associations is obtained by optimally combining these 2 phenotypes. We conducted simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the augmented estimator and conducted an analysis of risk factors for second breast cancer events using data on a cohort from Kaiser Permanente Washington.

Results

The proposed method was shown to reduce bias relative to an estimator using only the algorithm-derived phenotype and reduce variance compared to an estimator using only the validation data.

Discussion

Our simulation studies and real data application demonstrate that, compared to the estimator using validation data only, the augmented estimator has lower variance (ie, higher statistical efficiency). Compared to the estimator using error-prone EHR-derived phenotypes, the augmented estimator has smaller bias.

Conclusions

The proposed estimator can effectively combine an error-prone phenotype with gold-standard data from a limited chart review in order to improve analyses of risk factors using EHR data.
Floor of mouth thyroglossal duct cyst: a rare embryologic course
Authors: Kerr John , Niermeyer Weston L , Baker Peter B , Chiang Tendy
Published: September 2019

A thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) is a common pediatric midline neck mass. Most TGDCs occur in the region of the hyoid bone but have been found less commonly in areas from the oral cavity to the sternum. We present the first reported case of a multifocal floor of mouth (FOM)/cervical TGDC representing an atypical embryonic course. We also review atypical presentations of TGDC and provide a summary of cases involving FOM and multifocal cysts.
Allogeneic Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant: Correlation of Donor Factors with Yield, Engraftment, Chimerism, and Outcome: Retrospective Review of a Single Institute During a 3-Year Period
Authors: Philip Joseph , Bajaj Anantpreet Kaur , Sharma Sanjeevan , Kushwaha Neerja , Kumar Sudeep , Kumar Biswas Amit
Published: September 2019

Background

Donor factors have a variable correlation with cluster of differentiation (CD)34+ cell dose in allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvests. CD34+ cell dose affects the speed of hematopoietic recovery and percentage of donor chimerism in the recipient.

Methods

A total of 25 allogeneic PBSC transplants performed during a 3-year period were included. All donors underwent mobilization with filgrastim. Leukapheresis, flowcytometric CD34+ cell enumeration, and chimerism analysis were performed and correlated with recipient outcome.

Results

Besides age, all other donor parameters had a positive correlation with CD34+ cell count. Engraftment kinetics and chimerism had a positive correlation with the CD34+ yield of the PBSC product. Acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) was observed in patients with complete chimerism at day 30 after transplantation.

Conclusion

Adequate CD34+ cell yield happens in healthy donors, independent of donor demographic patterns with G-CSF only. A diverse population of donors can thus be approached for Matched Unrelated Donor (MUD) transplants. An accurate quantitative analysis of early donor chimerism in the recipient (at day 30) is an excellent tool for post-transplant monitoring for acute GvHD.
The likelihood of detecting young giant planets with high-contrast imaging and interferometry
Authors: Wallace A L , Ireland M J
Published: September 2019

Giant planets are expected to form at orbital radii that are relatively large compared to transit and radial velocity detections (>1 au). As a result, giant planet formation is best observed through direct imaging. By simulating the formation of giant (0.3–5MJ) planets by core accretion, we predict planet magnitude in the near-infrared (2–4 μm) and demonstrate that, once a planet reaches the runaway accretion phase, it is self-luminous and is bright enough to be detected in near-infrared wavelengths. Using planet distribution models consistent with existing radial velocity and imaging constraints, we simulate a large sample of systems with the same stellar and disc properties to determine how many planets can be detected. We find that current large (8–10 m) telescopes have at most a 0.2 per cent chance of detecting a core-accretion giant planet in the L’ band and 2 per cent in the K band for a typical solar-type star. Future instruments such as METIS and VIKiNG have higher sensitivity and are expected to detect exoplanets at a maximum rate of 2 and 8 per cent, respectively.
Weak lensing cosmology with convolutional neural networks on noisy data
Authors: Ribli Dezső , Pataki Bálint Ármin , Zorrilla Matilla José Manuel , Hsu Daniel , Haiman Zoltán , Csabai István
Published: September 2019

Weak gravitational lensing is one of the most promising cosmological probes of the late universe. Several large ongoing (DES, KiDS, HSC) and planned (LSST, Euclid, WFIRST) astronomical surveys attempt to collect even deeper and larger scale data on weak lensing. Due to gravitational collapse, the distribution of dark matter is non-Gaussian on small scales. However, observations are typically evaluated through the two-point correlation function of galaxy shear, which does not capture non-Gaussian features of the lensing maps. Previous studies attempted to extract non-Gaussian information from weak lensing observations through several higher order statistics such as the three-point correlation function, peak counts, or Minkowski functionals. Deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) emerged in the field of computer vision with tremendous success, and they offer a new and very promising framework to extract information from 2D or 3D astronomical data sets, confirmed by recent studies on weak lensing. We show that a CNN is able to yield significantly stricter constraints of (σ8, Ωm) cosmological parameters than the power spectrum using convergence maps generated by full N-body simulations and ray-tracing, at angular scales and shape noise levels relevant for future observations. In a scenario mimicking LSST or Euclid, the CNN yields 2.4–2.8 times smaller credible contours than the power spectrum, and 3.5–4.2 times smaller at noise levels corresponding to a deep space survey such as WFIRST. We also show that at shape noise levels achievable in future space surveys the CNN yields 1.4–2.1 times smaller contours than peak counts, a higher order statistic capable of extracting non-Gaussian information from weak lensing maps.
The radius, at which a galaxy group stops the Hubble stream, and the group mass: an exact analytical solution
Authors: Baushev A N
Published: September 2019

The gravitational field of a galaxy group or cluster slows down the Hubble stream and turns its speed to zero at some radius R0. We offer an exact analytical relation between R0 and the mass of the group.
The spatio-temporal dynamics of mitochondrial membrane potential during oocyte maturation
Authors: AL-Zubaidi Usama , Liu Jun , Cinar Ozgur , Robker Rebecca L , Adhikari Deepak , Carroll John
Published: September 2019

Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles and their distribution, structure and activity affect a wide range of cellular functions. Mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψm) is an indicator of mitochondrial activity and plays a major role in ATP production, redox balance, signaling and metabolism. Despite the absolute reliance of oocyte and early embryo development on mitochondrial function, there is little known about the spatial and temporal aspects of ΔΨm during oocyte maturation. The one exception is that previous findings using a ΔΨm indicator, JC-1, report that mitochondria in the cortex show a preferentially increased ΔΨm, relative to the rest of the cytoplasm. Using live-cell imaging and a new ratiometric approach for measuring ΔΨm in mouse oocytes, we find that ΔΨm increases through the time course of oocyte maturation and that mitochondria in the vicinity of the first meiotic spindle show an increase in ΔΨm, compared to other regions of the cytoplasm. We find no evidence for an elevated ΔΨm in the oocyte cortex. These findings suggest that mitochondrial activity is adaptive and responsive to the events of oocyte maturation at both a global and local level. In conclusion, we have provided a new approach to reliably measure ΔΨm that has shed new light onto the spatio-temporal regulation of mitochondrial function in oocytes and early embryos.
Genetic variants in taste-related genes and risk of pancreatic cancer
Authors: Gentiluomo Manuel , Lu Ye , Canzian Federico , Campa Daniele
Published: September 2019

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive and relatively rare cancer with a dismal 5-year survival rate and a clear genetic background. Genetic variants in taste receptors and taste-related genes have been associated with a variety of human traits and phenotypes among which several cancer types and pancreatic cancer risk factors. In this study, we analysed 2854 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 50 taste-related genes, including 37 taste receptors. To cover all the genetic variability of the selected genes and to include also regulatory elements, we added 5000 nucleotides to both ends of each gene. We used a two-phase approach, with the PanScan data set (3314 cases and 3431 controls) as the discovery phase and PanC4 (3893 cases and 3632 controls) as validation phase, for a total of 7207 cases and 7063 controls. The datasets were downloaded from the NCBI database of genotypes and phenotypes (dbGaP). We observed that the taste 1 receptor member 2 (TAS1R2)-rs11261087 variant was associated with pancreatic cancer risk in both phases independently, with a consistent association of the T allele with decreased risk of developing the disease [phase 1 odds ratio (OR) = 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.80–0.98; phase 2 OR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.83–0.99; all subjects together OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.84–0.96, P = 0.002]. However, neither the association observed in the validation phase nor those observed in the joint analysis were statistically significant considering multiple testing. Functional studies are warranted to better understand the impact of the genetic variability of TAS1R2 on PDAC risk.
Aristotle on Why We Laugh at Jokes
Authors: Destrée Pierre
Published: September 2019

In contemporary studies on laughter, scholars tend to oppose the two main theories that have been defended from early Modern philosophy: the so-called Superiority theory, which Hobbes proposed, and the so-called Incongruity theory, which Hutcheson later vigorously opposed to Hobbes’. Nowadays, almost everyone seems to defend one version or another of the incongruity theory. Indeed, scholars have noticed repeatedly that many jokes can hardly be seen as including any superiority or hostility that might explain why they are funny. This chapter argues that Aristotle clearly saw that both of these two features, incongruity and hostility, were central in jokes. The two main questions addressed here are the following: What sort of hostility does Aristotle think is at stake? How does he think it relates to incongruity? Through an interpretation of key passages in the Rhetoric and Poetics, one can reconstruct Aristotle’s answer to these questions.
Twentieth-Century Pathological Writers and Their Creativity
Authors: Henke Suzette
Published: September 2019

Culturally constructed pathologies exhibited by three authors of the modernist period: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and D. H. Lawrence, reveal an emotional trajectory from paralyzing depressive or obsessive behavior to explosions of creative genius channeled into experimental fiction. Each of these authors struggled with a personal history of psychological distress evinced by genetic, experiential, or cultural factors and exacerbated by traumatic events in childhood or adolescence. All three sought to handle posttraumatic stress through complex gestures of aesthetic reenactment in a process that might be described as scriptotherapy. Woolf epitomizes the tortured artist grappling with so-called madness. Throughout her canon, she self-consciously struggles with irreconcilable issues of gender, abjection, and mourning. What appears to have been bipolar disorder in Woolf’s own psychiatric history might well have engendered a lifetime of creativity punctuated by severe bouts of debilitating depression. Joyce struggled with a pathological fear of erotic betrayal that spurred an obsessional fascination with adultery and with the enigma of spousal complicity, a drama whose erotic perversities were later played out in his twentieth-century epic novel, Ulysses. D. H. Lawrence proved somewhat notorious for his pathological obsessions with sexual desire, homosocial bonding, erotic loss, and conjugal betrayal. These authors worked through pathological symptoms to convert the seeds of incipient madness into burgeoning works of literary genius. They incorporated the pain of traumatic loss into the triumph of aesthetic integration via the creation of radically innovative and experimental art.
New Beginnings
Authors: Yoshihara Mari
Published: September 2019

After her husband’s passing in 1979, Kazuko Amano began working for a publishing company. Her international business trips allowed her to visit Bernstein at his home in New York for the first time and also attend his concerts in Europe. Amano’s new sense of self gave her a new understanding of and appreciation for Bernstein, and their friendship also entered a new phase. In the meantime, Kunihiko Hashimoto also took a decisive step in his life and career, as he left the insurance company to study theater and then joined a musical theater company. Being on the performer’s side of the stage undoubtedly gave him a deepened appreciation for Bernstein’s work and a connection to his life.
Making the Garden Grow
Authors: Yoshihara Mari
Published: September 2019

Bernstein’s dream of bringing young musicians from around the world to study and share music together was realized in Sapporo not only in 1990 but every year that followed. The Pacific Music Festival (PMF) became not only an important cultural event for the Sapporo community but also one of the most coveted opportunities for young musicians worldwide. Kazuko Amano became an enthusiastic supporter and attended the festival every year. Kunihiko Hashimoto not only took care of the conductors but also came to play a substantive role in the PMF, especially through his translation of Candide, which had its Japanese premiere at the PMF in 1994 and his hosting of the concerts for young audiences modeled after Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. Bernstein’s dream that flowered and bore fruit in 1990 kept growing for many years after his passing.
Harlem’s Caribbean Dance Orchestras and Early Calypsonians
Authors: Allen Ray
Published: September 2019

Chapter 2 focuses on Harlem Carnival activities from the late 1920s through the 1940s. The stories of the early dance orchestras led by the Trinidad expatriate Gerald Clark, and those of New York-based calypsonians Wilmoth Houdini, Cecil “Duke of Iron” Anderson, Sir Lancelot Pinard, and Patrick “MacBeth the Great” MacDonald, are recounted. Their recording careers and performances in Harlem dance halls and downtown Village clubs are explored. The rise of Harlem’s Carnival parade coincided with an upsurge in interest in calypso music by non-Caribbean white and black Americans that culminated in the “calypso craze” of the 1950s. The dance orchestras, calypsonians, and steelband players who provided the music were constantly seeking to broaden their audiences by crossing over into new cultural arenas. This chapter looks at the host of Caribbean-themed dances and calypso performances that were popular in Harlem’s clubs and dance halls from the mid-1930s through the 1950s, and to the calypso shows that proliferated in midtown concert halls and downtown clubs during this period.
“We Jammin’ Still”
Authors: Allen Ray
Published: September 2019

Chapter 9 offers a brief survey of recent developments in Brooklyn Carnival and the current status of its steelband and calypso/soca scenes. A description of Labor Day Carnival 2017, marking the 50th anniversary of the celebration, serves as a final coda. Carnival had survived in the face of a multitude of financial, political, and organizational obstacles for five decades, and New York’s Caribbean community was still jamming to soca and steelband music on Labor Day weekend. Over the previous decades, the press continued to portray the event as the city’s largest outdoor celebration, cementing Brooklyn Caribbean Carnival’s stature as an iconic New York cultural attraction. But what was once participatory ritual has increasingly taken on the aura of presentational spectacle. And while the Monday-morning pre-dawn J’Ouvert celebration, continued to operate, violence had marred the occasion in recent years. Nonetheless, Carnival music in Brooklyn has managed to survive, and in some corners flourished, despite a plethora of ongoing financial and logistical challenges.
From Accent to Vocal Groove
Authors: Ohriner Mitchell
Published: September 2019

This chapter presents a model of vocal groove in rap delivery, defined as reiterating patterns of durations between accents. It shares with recent theories of groove emphases on repetition, virtuality, and syncopation; in contrast, it departs from these by de-emphasizing human motion, microtiming, group interaction, and large time frames. The inter-accent durations of flow are understood to be 2 or 3 units long (i.e., “eighth notes” or “dotted eight notes”) and sum to one measure (i.e., 16 units), resulting in seven distinct “groove classes.” Because some listeners are permissive of slight alterations in accent placement, the model differentiates between adaptive listeners (who switch grooves whenever necessary) and persistent listeners (who try to maintain grooves). The chapter concludes with a segmentation method modeling these two kinds of listeners.
Conclusion
Authors: Aguayo Angela J.
Published: September 2019

This chapter centers on the idea of the documentary commons as a framework for understanding documentary’s engagement with social change. In the developing public commons, the documentary impulse is a way of life and articulation of political information that produces a kind of democratic exchange with new patterns of public communication. With the pervasive use of cameras and live broadcasts, the documentary impulse is realizing its potential to create participatory media cultures. Among the topics in this chapter are the possibilities for future research and contributions to theories of social change, participatory media cultures, collective identification, and agency. This chapter also addresses the political economy of social change documentary, the ideological glass ceiling of mass media, and the role of professional opportunity and education in shaping social change expectations.
Gṛhastha in the Śramaṇic Discourse
Authors: Freiberger Oliver
Published: September 2019

Stephanie Jamison suggests in her chapter of this volume that the Brahmanical authors of the Dharmasūtras borrowed the term gṛhastha from the śramaṇic discourse of the time. Aside from Aśoka’s inscriptions, this śramaṇic discourse may also be reflected in the earliest layer of the Buddhist Pāli canon. This chapter takes a closer look at these texts and its vocabulary for householders. A lexical survey shows that of the three most commonly used terms, gahaṭṭha (Sanskrit gṛhastha) is the least popular one. The other two, gahapati (Sanskrit gṛhapati) and gihin (Sanskrit. gṛhin) are much more common and also more clearly distinguished in their usage, with positive and negative connotations, respectively. The chapter suggests that precisely the fact that it was the least specific and most flexible term may have made gahaṭṭha/gṛhastha attractive for Brahmanical appropriation.
On Literary Understanding
Authors: Gosetti-Ferencei Jennifer
Published: September 2019

Several recent approaches to literature—what the chapter describes as moral, aesthetic, and cognitive models of literary experience—allow us to consider its relevance in epistemic terms. Through an examination of the insights and limits of these approaches, the chapter presents the case for the experiential, generative, and expressive dimensions of understanding the literary work, and for their implications beyond literary reading. That literary understanding is experiential will mean that, beyond knowledge of what the text is about, one must have acquaintance with what it is like to undergo the imaginings prompted by the text. That literary understanding is generative means that what we understand in literary experience is not merely the objects or events in the world from which the work may draw, but how these are transformed in the specific literary presentation created by the work. That literary understanding is expressive will mean that the object of understanding issues from, and brings us into contact with, a point of view, even if one known only through and as the work itself. These dimensions of literary understanding, I suggest, enable understanding beyond the experience of literature as such.
Moral Neighborhoods
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: September 2019

This chapter presents an argument that moral identities are cultivated within shared normative spaces called moral neighborhoods. Moral neighborhoods are constructed through networks of social practices and conventions that are situated in specific physical and social environments. The chapter draws on Confucian ideas about the role of ritual in moral formation, as well Jane Austen’s novels, to argue that these networks of social practices are important for moral improvement. Good moral neighborhoods enable participants to work out and enact shared moral aspirations in the form of jointly constructed narratives. The social practices of good moral neighborhoods create normative spaces in which we enact fictive moral selves. Because moral neighborhoods are constructed in non-ideal conditions, they must be responsive to the underlying social and physical landscape if they are to reflect shared moral aspirations. Creating a good moral neighborhood is thus a practical exercise in non-ideal theory.
Social Pretense
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: September 2019

This chapter defends social pretense as an essential element of moral stagecraft and of good moral neighborhoods more generally. It argues that social pretense plays several important roles in social interactions. Pretense functions as a tool for setting the boundaries of the normative space in which social interactions take place. Social practices of interpersonal notice involve many social conventions that require pretending not to notice people and what they are doing. Such practices enable communication about the terms of social interaction or the narrative that is being enacted. Mutual pretense is useful for constructing the normative space of good moral neighborhoods and helping participants remain within that space. It enables people to act as their fictive moral selves in circumstances where they are falling short. When motivated and guided by a commitment to aspirational moral identities, the practice of social pretense can be supportive of those identities.