bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparing the effects of emotional disclosure and peer helping writing on psychological distress among Chinese international students: The moderating role of rumination
Authors: Tsai William , Lee Christina S. , Monte Victoria
Published: April 2021

Objectives:

This study tested the effects of emotional disclosure writing and peer helping writing in reducing psychological distress among Chinese international students. This study also examined whether rumination and ambivalence over emotion expression moderated the effects of emotional disclosure and peer helping writing.

Method:

One hundred forty‐four Chinese international students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: emotional disclosure, peer helping, or neutral control writing. Participants completed two 20‐min writing sessions and questionnaires at baseline, 2‐month follow‐up, and 4‐month follow‐up.

Results:

We found no significant differences across the three writing conditions in levels of psychological distress over time. However, rumination emerged as a significant moderator in both emotional disclosure and peer helping intervention conditions. High ruminators generally experienced significant reductions in depressive symptoms, whereas low ruminators experienced increased depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

These findings demonstrate that the benefits of writing interventions may vary as a function of rumination.
Prevalence of delayed diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke in an acute care hospital: A single‐center cross‐sectional study in Japan
Authors: Takarada Chika , Komagamine Junpei , Mito Tsutomu
Published: April 2021

Backgrounds

Given the short therapeutic window for evidence‐based therapies such as thrombolysis and endovascular treatment, it is important to immediately diagnose ischemic stroke. We investigated the prevalence of missed ischemic stroke diagnoses at initial contact and the proportion of potentially treatable patients without a delayed diagnosis.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was conducted. A total of 408 consecutive patients hospitalized due to acute ischemic stroke were included. The primary outcome was a delayed diagnosis of ischemic stroke at initial contact. A diagnosis of stroke was judged to be delayed unless physicians made a diagnosis and initiated treatment for ischemic stroke during the initial contact. The secondary outcome was ischemic stroke with a missed therapeutic window for effective treatment due to delayed diagnosis.

Results

The median patient age was 78 years old, and the median time from onset to presentation was nine hours. A diagnosis of stroke was deemed delayed in 49 (12.0%) patients. In the multivariable analysis, presentation 48 hours or more after stroke onset (OR 2.45) and the improvement of neurological symptoms prior to presentation (OR 3.11) were independently associated with delayed diagnosis of ischemic stroke. Opportunities for effective treatment were missed in 18 (36.7%) of the 49 delayed diagnosis cases, although no patients missed opportunities for thrombectomy due to delayed diagnosis.

Conclusions

Even in the modern era, one out of every eight ischemic stroke cases was missed at the initial visit, and one‐third of missed stroke cases might be candidates for effective treatment without diagnostic delay.
Risk factors for bacterial infections in patients with moderate to severe COVID‐19: A case‐control study
Authors: Nasir Nosheen , Rehman Fazal , Omair Syed Furrukh
Published: April 2021

Adverse outcomes in coronavirus infection disease‐19 (COVID‐19) patients are not always due to the direct effects of the viral infection, but often due to bacterial coinfection. However, the risk factors for such bacterial coinfection are hitherto unknown. A case‐control study was conducted to determine risk factors for bacterial infection in moderate to critical COVID‐19. Out of a total of 50 cases and 50 controls, the proportion of cases with severe/critical disease at presentation was 80% in cases compared to 30% in controls (p < 0.001). The predominant site was hospital‐acquired pneumonia (72%) and the majority were Gram‐negative organisms (82%). The overall mortality was 30%, with comparatively higher mortality among cases (42% vs. 18%; p = 0.009). There was no difference between procalcitonin levels in both groups (p = 0.883). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, significant independent association was found with severe/critical COVID‐19 at presentation (AOR: 4.42 times; 95% CI: 1.63–11.9) and use of steroids (AOR: 4.60; 95% CI: 1.24–17.05). Notably, 64% of controls were administered antibiotics despite the absence of bacterial coinfection or secondary infection. Risk factors for bacterial infections in moderate to critically ill patients with COVID‐19 include critical illness at presentation and use of steroids. There is widespread empiric antibiotic utilization in those without bacterial infection.
Prevalence and characteristics of starvation‐related malnutrition in a mid‐Atlantic healthcare system: A cohort study
Authors: Smith Luke O. , Vest Michael T. , Rovner Alisha J. , Shapero Mary , Suminski Richard R. , Trabulsi Jillian C. , Earthman Carrie P.
Published: April 2021

Background

Malnutrition in the hospital negatively impacts outcomes, including readmissions, mortality, and cost. Starvation‐related malnutrition (SRM) is a state of chronic undernutrition with little to no inflammation. Research on SRM within the hospital setting is lacking. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of malnutrition within the hospital, focusing on characteristics associated with readmissions in those with SRM.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study analyzing characteristics of adult in patients with acute disease–related malnutrition (ADM) and chronic disease–related malnutrition (CDM) compared with patients with SRM. Prevalence of all malnutrition types was calculated as the total number of malnourished patients divided by the total number of hospital discharges. Analysis of variance with Tukey post hoc analysis was performed to determine differences between characteristics of patients with SRM and other forms of malnutrition.

Results

Total prevalence of malnutrition was 2.8%. Of malnourished patients, 17.6%, 79.9%, and 2.5% had ADM, CDM, and SRM, respectively. Patients with SRM had lower body mass index (BMI) (P < .001) and higher rates of readmission (P = 0.046), infectious disease (P < .001), psychiatric disease (P < .001), and substance abuse (P < .001) than patients with ADM or CDM. Readmitted patients with SRM had lower BMI and higher rates of infection and drug abuse than those without readmission.

Conclusion

The high incidence of comorbid substance abuse and mental illness in patients with SRM provide important targets for treatment that might reduce readmission and improve outcomes.
Preparative separation of two isomeric antimalaria alkaloids febrifugine and isofebrifugine from Dichroa febrifuga roots by countercurrent chromatography
Authors: Sheng Liu‐Qing , Ma Jia‐Lei
Published: April 2021

Two antimalaria alkaloids, febrifugine and isofebrifugine, were successfully separated from total alkaloids of Dichroa febrifuga roots by one‐step preparative countercurrent chromatography with a selected biphasic solvent system. The selected biphasic solvent system was composed of chloroform: methanol: water (2:1:1, v/v) according to partition performance of the two target components. Selection of biphasic solvent system was conducted by high performance liquid chromatography combined with high performance thin layer chromatography, which greatly assisted the screening procedure for biphasic solvent system. Totally, 50 mg of total alkaloid was separated by one‐step preparative countercurrent chromatography, yielding 12 mg of febrifugine and 9 mg of isofebrifugine with more than 98.0% purity, respectively.
Contextualizing land‐use and land‐cover change with local knowledge: A case study from Pokot Central, Kenya
Authors: Petersen Maike , Bergmann Christoph , Roden Paul , Nüsser Marcus
Published: April 2021

Rural communities in the drylands of sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) derive their livelihoods primarily from their natural resource base. Unprecedented changes in these environments over the past few decades are likely to intensify in the future and land users need to develop sustainable adaptation strategies. This study aims to identify land‐use and land‐cover (LULC) changes and their drivers in a sub‐Saharan dryland, between 1986 and 2017, by integrating local knowledge and remote sensing. Local knowledge and environmental perception are used as the basis for defining LULC classes and for training and validation of change detection. This study detects significant LULC changes in 41% of the investigated area, and identifies bush encroachment into former pastures as the dominant LULC change with an increase of woodland by 39% and a decrease of grassland by 74%. This process is perceived as severe degradation by local respondents and is linked to changing management regimes and unreliable rainfall patterns. Deforestation and woodland thinning account for 44% of the detected changes, and can be traced back to increased habitation and farming, although the local community also identifies charcoal production as a driving factor. The integration of remote sensing and local knowledge provides a holistic view on LULC change in Pokot Central, Kenya and offers a solid base for site‐specific and actor‐centred management approaches necessary for sustainable pathways of drylands. Our results emphasize the need to include local actors in the development of adaptation strategies and management guidelines for drylands.
Management of intractable post‐adrenalectomy chylous ascites with microsurgical intra‐abdominal lymphaticovenous anastomosis: A case report and literature review
Authors: Chu Cheng‐Feng , Wu Chun‐Te , Hsieh Wei‐Chuan , Huang Jung‐Ju
Published: April 2021

Postoperative chylous ascites is a rare but highly morbid complication following thoracic or abdominal surgeries. Treatment options vary according to different clinical scenarios and facility equipment, but there is no standard guideline. We report a case of 46‐year‐old patient with chylous ascites after left laparoscopic adrenalectomy for metastatic lung cancer. The conservative treatments failed, included diet control, somatostatin provided and intranodal lymphangiography with lipiodol injection. Laparotomy was performed to explore the lymphatic vessel in the retroperitoneal area where a major and several small leaking holes were identified along the thoracic duct. The left gonadal vein was explored and transposed toward the lymphatic vessel. The lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) was done using side (major leaking hole) to end (gonadal vein) fashion. The chylous leakage dropped from 2000 to 200 mL per day gradually within 10 days after LVA, and the patient was discharged uneventfully 30 days after the LVA surgery. He was followed at our clinic during the first postoperative 10 months without recurrent chylous ascites. This case demonstrates that microsurgical intervention with LVA to physiologically drain the chyle can be an optimal treatment for chylous ascites. A literature review was also conducted, and strategic management is proposed.
Realizing Thin‐Film Encapsulation's Benefits for Large‐Scale OLED Panels
Authors: Chen Jrjyan Jerry
Published: April 2021

OLED is poised to be the dominant next‐generation display technology, but it needs high‐mobility thin‐film transistors to get there.
Large‐Scale Manufacturing of Polymer Planarization Layers
Authors: Moro Lorenza , Hauf Christopher R.
Published: April 2021

Polymeric planarization layers play a pivotal role in OLED displays’ thin‐film encapsulation. With its low material consumption, deposition geometry flexibility, high throughput, and reliability, inkjet printing is the preferred deposition technology for such films.
Holographic Optical Elements and Projector Design Considerations for Automotive Windshield Displays
Authors: Martin Sam , Thompson Jason , Redmond Ian
Published: April 2021

HOEs can be used in a range of automotive applications including head‐up displays, windshield clusters, and transparent window displays. Here, the authors provide a market overview of the technology, an update on its key aspects and performance, and cover projector design considerations when illuminating holographic films.
ID Asks: Cadillac
Authors: Werner Ken
Published: April 2021

We spoke with the company about its first all‐electric vechicle, which will feature a 33‐inch miniLED display.
Brian Berkeley Reflects on His Career at Apple, Samsung, and SID
Authors: Werner Ken
Published: April 2021

In ID's new Career Pathways Series, we get to know some of today's leading practitioners of the display art. We ask about significant achievements (or disappointments) in their professional lives, and what technical, managerial, or personal lessons they learned.
Experiment for teaching virtual cathode in nerve conduction studies
Authors: Nandedkar Sanjeev D. , Barkhaus Paul E. , Stålberg Erik V.
Published: April 2021

Introduction/Aims

The virtual cathode (VC) is a site near the anode where the nerve can be stimulated. Costimulation of neighboring nerves via the VC can affect recording and interpretation of responses. Hence, it is important to teach trainees the concept of the VC. The VC has been demonstrated previously with subtle changes in response latency, amplitude, and shape. Herein we describe an experiment that simply demonstrates a VC with its effects recognizable by gross changes in waveforms.

Methods

Compound muscle action potentials of the abductor pollicis brevis were recorded using various placements of the cathode and anode at different stimulus intensity levels. Studies were performed in nine healthy subjects.

Results

Three patterns were observed that demonstrated no stimulation, partial stimulation, and complete nerve stimulation by the VC. Partial stimulation yielded responses with long duration and low amplitude. Response patterns also depended on stimulus strength and proximity of the nerve from the skin surface.

Discussion

This experiment demonstrates that nerve stimulation can occur near the anode when high‐intensity stimulus is used. It also illustrates collision of action potentials. This exercise can help trainees understand potential pitfalls in nerve conduction studies, especially at very proximal stimulation sites or when high stimulus intensity is used.
Min‐sum controllable risk problems with concave risk functions of the same value range
Authors: Gurevsky Evgeny , Kopelevich Dmitry , Kovalev Sergey , Kovalyov Mikhail Y.
Published: April 2021

A min‐sum controllable risk problem, defined on a given set of elements or on combinatorial structures, which are either paths of a directed acyclic graph or spanning trees of an undirected graph, with resource‐dependent risk functions of the elements, is studied. The resource amount is limited, and the objective is to distribute it between the selected elements or elements of the selected structure so that the total risk is minimized. A reduction to a series of easier problems is suggested. Solution approaches based on this reduction are asymptotically faster than the solution approaches suggested in the literature for special cases of this problem.
Comparative studies of silane coupled e‐glass fiber and e‐glass fiber reinforced bismaleimide‐epoxy hydroxylated BaTiO3 nanocomposites on the dielectric and mechanical properties
Authors: K. Savitha Unnikrishnan , T. Sunil Jose , S. Dinoop lal
Published: April 2021

Silane coupled E‐glass fiber (SC‐EGF) and E‐glass fiber (EGF) reinforced bismaleimide (BMI)‐epoxy‐hydroxylated BaTiO3 (BTOH) nanocomposites with 1–5 wt% of BTOH nanofiller were fabricated by hand lay‐up method and compression molded. Surface hydroxylation of synthesized BaTiO3 nanoparticles was carried out using H2O2. Both BT and BTOH nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, XRD, and FTIR studies. Among the reinforced nanocomposites, SC‐EGF‐reinforced showed a remarkable increase in mechanical and dielectric properties. The tensile strength of BMI‐epoxy composite increased 1.56 and 3.10 times when loaded with 2 and 3 wt% of BTOH, respectively. Their flexural strength too increased 2.14 and 2.21 times upon 2 and 3 wt% of BTOH loading. BMI‐epoxy‐BTOH nanocomposites with 3 wt% of BTOH showed higher tensile strength, flexural strength, and dielectric strength indicating that it possesses better mechanical and insulating properties and composites with 2 wt% showed higher dielectric constant and lower dielectric loss indicating that this composition could be explored to high dielectric applications.
Assessing neuropsychological phenotypes of pediatric brain tumor survivors
Authors: Sharkey Christina M. , Mullins Larry L. , Clawson Ashley H. , Gioia Anthony , Hawkins Misty A. W. , Chaney John M. , Walsh Karin S. , Hardy Kristina K.
Published: April 2021

Introduction

Pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) are at risk for both neurocognitive impairments and psychological difficulties, yet these two domains have historically been discretely examined, with assessment of psychosocial outcomes rarely included in studies of cognitive outcomes. Taking a person‐centered approach, the current study aimed to more comprehensively evaluate PBTS late effect profiles, including both neurocognitive and psychological sequelae, and predictors of these profiles.

Method

PBTS (N = 89) were assessed in a pediatric neuropsychological clinic between May 2009 and May 2018, diagnosed at least 1 year prior, and off‐treatment for at least 3 months (Mage = 6.57 years, SD = 4.53; 46.1% female). Parent‐ and teacher‐report of psychological symptoms, and performance‐based measures of neurocognitive functioning were examined using latent profile analysis. The R3STEP procedure identified predictors of class membership.

Results

The optimal model identified four classes characterized by: (1) average functioning across all measures (“Average,” n = 47), (2) average psychosocial functioning and impaired neurocognitive functioning (“Cognitive Deficit,” n = 25), (3) elevated social problems and significant neurocognitive impairments (“Social/Cognitive Deficit,” n = 9), and (4) impaired visual planning and problem‐solving and elevated parent‐reported psychosocial problems, but average processing speed, working memory, and teacher‐reported psychosocial outcomes (“Discrepant,” n = 8). Ethnicity, race, radiation treatment, and diagnoses of neurofibromatosis 1, hydrocephalus, and cerebellar mutism syndrome were significant predictors of class membership (ps < 0.05).

Conclusion

The present study identified distinct phenotypes with unique patterns of relations among neurocognitive and psychological domains. These findings are a vital first step toward identifying those at highest risk for poor outcomes and informing interventions that effectively address interrelated treatment targets for specific groups.
Effect of electrical activity of the diaphragm waveform patterns on SpO2 for extremely preterm infants ventilated with neurally adjusted ventilatory assist
Authors: Araki Ryosuke , Tomotaki Seiichi , Akita Mitsuyo , Motokura Kouji , Tomobe Yutaro , Yamauchi Takeru , Hanaoka Shintaro , Tomotaki Hiroko , Iwanaga Kogoro , Niwa Fusako , Takita Junko , Kawai Masahiko
Published: April 2021

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the association between electrical activity of the diaphragm (Edi) waveform patterns and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) in extremely preterm infants who are ventilated with neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA).

Study Design

We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Extremely preterm infants born at our hospital between November 2019 and November 2020 and ventilated with NAVA were included. We collected Edi waveform data and classified them into four Edi waveform patterns, including the phasic pattern, central apnea pattern, irregular low‐voltage pattern, and tonic burst pattern. We analyzed the Edi waveform pattern for the first 15 h of collectable data in each patient. To investigate the association between Edi waveform patterns and SpO2, we analyzed the dataset every 5 min as one data unit. We compared the proportion of each waveform pattern between the desaturation (Desat [+]) and non‐desaturation (Desat [–]) groups.

Results

We analyzed collected data for 105 h (1260 data units). The proportion of the phasic pattern in the Desat (+) group was significantly lower than that in the Desat (–) group (p < .001). However, the proportions of the central apnea, irregular low‐voltage, and tonic burst patterns in the Desat (+) group were significantly higher than those in the Desat (–) group (all p < .05).

Conclusion

Our results indicate that proportions of Edi waveform patterns have an effect on desaturation of SpO2 in extremely preterm infants who are ventilated with NAVA.
Selective actions of insecticides on desensitizing and non‐desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in cockroach (Periplaneta americana) neurons
Authors: Salgado Vincent L
Published: April 2021

BACKGROUND

Insect desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine (nAChD) receptors are desensitized by low concentrations of agonists, including neonicotinoid insecticides, but are essentially insensitive to spinosyns, while non‐desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine (nAChN) receptors are selectively activated by spinosyns and relatively insensitive to neonicotinoids.

RESULTS

The single‐electrode voltage‐clamp technique was used to measure the actions of newer nicotinic insecticides dinotefuran, sulfoxaflor, triflumezopyrim, spinetoram and GS‐ω/k‐hexatoxin‐Hv1a on cockroach neuronal nAChD and nAChN currents. Like imidacloprid and clothianidin, newer orthosteric nicotinic agonist insecticides dinotefuran and sulfoxaflor act by desensitizing nAChD receptors. The mesoionic insecticide triflumezopyrim selectively inhibited nAChD current with an half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 1.2 nmol L−1, with no activation. Unlike other Group 4 insecticides, it did not activate nAChN current, but inhibited it with an IC50 of 3.8 μmol L−1, indicating that the compound is a true antagonist. Spinosad and the spinosyn‐derived insecticide spinetoram potently and selectively activated nAChN receptors. GS‐ω/k‐hexatoxin‐Hv1a had no effect on nAChN currents and it had a complex action on nAChD currents, inhibiting at sub‐nanomolar concentrations and causing some activation and enhancement of ACh‐evoked currents at 30 nmol L−1 and above. Some cells express GS‐ω/k‐hexatoxin‐Hv1a‐resistant nAChD receptors.

CONCLUSIONS

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor competitive modulators (IRAC Group 4) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor allosteric modulators, site II (hexatoxins, IRAC Group 32) are selective for nAChD receptors, while nicotinic acetylcholine receptor allosteric modulators, site I (spinosyns, IRAC Group 5) are selective for nAChN receptors. It is proposed that IRAC Groups 5 and 32 be re‐named non‐desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine receptor allosteric modulators and desensitizing nicotinic acetylcholine receptor allosteric modulators, respectively. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
Do local labor market conditions impact bank profitability?
Authors: Swanson Andrew , Zanzalari Danielle
Published: April 2021

This paper studies the impact of local unemployment shocks on bank profitability. Our work advances on previous studies that use national‐ or state‐level data, as we create a bank‐specific measure of local unemployment in which the bank has exposure. Using this novel measure, we determine how shocks to unemployment affect each individual bank's profitability. Our results indicate that an increase in the local market unemployment rate decreases bank profitability on average by 3.2%. The impact of local market conditions on profitability is stronger for banks that are large, operate in more markets, face more competition, and have a greater reliance on lending. We further examine what components of bank profitability are most impacted by local labor market conditions and find that net interest income is most impacted.
NFR‐aware prioritization of software requirements
Authors: Roy Mandira , Deb Novarun , Cortesi Agostino , Chaki Rituparna , Chaki Nabendu
Published: April 2021

Non‐functional requirements (NFRs) play a significant role in the software development process. However, the classical requirement prioritization methods for incremental software development, typically, consider the attributes of functional features only, often neglecting the non‐functional constraints. This might lead to catastrophic defects in the system design, as the conflicts among the NFRs are ignored. In this paper, a novel prioritization approach for functional requirements (FRs) is introduced within the incremental software development process. The proposed approach considers the conflicts among NFRs, in the prioritization process, to minimize the incon sistencies of software development. The devised NFR‐aware prioritization algorithm can be tuned according to the weights that the analyst assigns to NFR conflicts and FR‐NFR dependencies. We have assessed our prioritization approach using available requirements data sets and have compared the results in different scenarios.
Climate Change May Cause Shifts in Growth and Instantaneous Natural Mortality of American Shad Throughout Their Native Range
Authors: Gilligan‐Lunda Erin K. , Stich Daniel S. , Mills Katherine E. , Bailey Michael M. , Zydlewski Joseph D.
Published: April 2021

American Shad Alosa sapidissima is an anadromous species with populations ranging along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Past American Shad stock assessments have been data limited and estimating system‐specific growth parameters or instantaneous natural mortality (M) was not possible. This precluded system‐specific stock assessment and management due to reliance on these parameters for estimating other population dynamics (such as yield per recruit). Furthermore, climate‐informed biological reference points remain a largely unaddressed need in American Shad stock assessment. Population abundance estimates of American Shad and other species often rely heavily on M derived from von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF) parameters. Therefore, we developed Bayesian hierarchical models to estimate coastwide, regional, and system‐specific VBGF parameters and M using data collected from 1982 to 2017. We tested predictive performance of models that included effects of various climate variables on VBGF parameters within these models. System‐specific models were better supported than regional or coast‐wide models. Mean asymptotic length (L∞) decreased with increasing mean annual sea surface temperature (SST) and degree days (DD) experienced by fish during their lifetime. Although uncertain, K (Brody growth coefficient) decreased over the same range of lifetime SST and DD. Assuming no adaptation, we projected changes in VBGF parameters and M through 2099 using modeled SST from two climate projection scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5). We predicted reduced growth under both scenarios, and M was projected to increase by about 0.10. It is unclear how reduced growth and increased mortality may influence population productivity or life history adaptation in the future, but our results may inform stock assessment models to assess those trade‐offs.
Dual credit enrollment: Let's get it right! Part1
Authors: Rainsberger Richard
Published: April 2021

We're now into the middle third of 2021. By this fall, we should be getting back to something close to normal. Of course, things can change. From this writer's current perspective, however, the trend line looks positive.
A Framework for Resilient Urban Futures
Authors: Iwaniec David M. , Grimm Nancy B. , McPhearson Timon , Berbés-Blázquez Marta , Cook Elizabeth M. , Muñoz-Erickson Tischa A.
Published: April 2021

Resilient urban futures provides a social–ecological–technological systems (SETS) perspective on promoting and understanding resilience. This chapter introduces the concepts, research, and practice of urban resilience from the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (UREx SRN). It describes conceptual and methodological approaches to address how cities experience extreme weather events, adapt to climate resilience challenges, and can transform toward sustainable and equitable futures.
Anticipatory Resilience Bringing Back the Future into Urban Planning and Knowledge Systems
Authors: Muñoz-Erickson Tischa A. , Selkirk Kaethe , Hobbins Robert , Miller Clark , Feagan Mathieu , Iwaniec David M. , Miller Thaddeus R. , Cook Elizabeth M.
Published: April 2021

Anticipatory thinking is a critical component in urban planning practices and knowledge systems in an era of unpredictability and conflicting expectations of the future. This chapter introduces “anticipatory resilience” as a futures-oriented knowledge system that intentionally addresses uncertain climate conditions and explores alternative, desirable future states. It suggests a portfolio of tools suitable for building long-term foresight capacity in urban planning. Examples of knowledge systems interventions are presented to explore the trade-offs, constraints, possibilities, and desires of diverse future scenarios co-generated in settings with people that hold different perspectives, knowledge, and expectations.
How We Got Here: Producing Climate Inequity and Vulnerability to Urban Weather Extremes
Authors: Hamstead Zoé A.
Published: April 2021

This collected volume is intentionally future-oriented; it is authored by a team of interdisciplinary scientists and practitioners who collaborate to translate research findings into networked adaptive practices that we hope will protect urban communities against the impacts of extreme weather. While future-oriented, we cannot protect future generations against urban weather extremes without understanding the historical processes through which these existential and ethical crises came about. This chapter describes how economic and political institutions produced the climate crisis in ways that also constitute a humanitarian crisis, inscribing climate inequity into the urban built environment and institutions. It offers reflections on ways in which this history must be wrestled with in the context of equitable and resilient urban futures.
Modeling Urban Futures: Data-Driven Scenarios of Climate Change and Vulnerability in Cities
Authors: Ortiz L. , Mustafa A. , Rosenzweig B. , Carrero Rocio , McPhearson Timon
Published: April 2021

Cities are complex systems where social, ecological, and technological processes are deeply coupled. This coupling complicates urban planning and land use development, as changing one facet of the urban fabric will likely impact the others. As cities grapple with climate change, there is a growing need to envision urban futures that not only address more frequent and intense severe weather events but also improve day-to-day livability. Here we examine climate risks as functions of the local land use with numerical models. These models leverage a wide array of data sources, from satellite imagery to tax assessments and land cover. We then present a machine-learning cellular automata approach to combine historical land use change with local coproduced urban future scenarios. The cellular automata model uses historical and ancillary data like existing road systems and natural features to develop a set of probabilistic land use change rules, which are then modified according to stakeholder priorities. The resulting land use scenarios are evaluated against historical flood hazards, showcasing how they perform against stakeholder expectations. Our work shows that coproduced scenarios, when grounded with historical and emerging data, can provide paths that increase resilience to weather hazards as well as enhancing ecosystem services provided to citizens.
International Organizations, Care and Migration: The Case of Migrant Health Care Workers
Authors: Yeates Nicola , Pillinger Jane
Published: April 2021

Nicola Yeates and Jane Pillinger offer a much-needed summary of the historical development of health care worker migration as a global social policy field in which distinct fields of care and migration overlap. Focusing on international governmental and non-governmental organizations, the chapter draws attention to shifting constellations of ideas, actors and institutions in this field since the end of WWII to the present day. It emphasizes the necessity of a pluralistic and dynamic understanding of the field, and the role of contestation, cooperation and coordination in the unfolding of global policy, in order to better comprehend the origins of this field and its key characteristics. Emphasizing a multi-sectoral perspective and lateral connections in the construction of this global social policy field, Yeates and Pillinger explore the methodological and analytical implications of this for the study of IOs in global social policy more generally.
International Organizations and the Global Social Governance of Pensions
Authors: Heneghan Martin
Published: April 2021

The chapter on international organizations (IOs) and the global social governance of pensions analyzes the way in which IOs have competed to shape the pensions discourse. It shows how the organizational field has been shaped by the dominant economic paradigm, which has created space for IOs to operate in the policy area. A paradigmatic change creates the environmental conditions for new IOs to enter the field and compete or cooperate with the existing IOs to shape the discourse. The intrinsic features of each IO operating in the pension reform arena will be shown to determine their approach to influencing the pensions discourse and how they respond to rivals entering the field.
Governing Children’s Rights in Global Social Policy—International Organizations and the Thin Line Between Child Protection and Empowerment
Authors: Holzscheiter Anna
Published: April 2021

This chapter locates children’s rights in the context of global social governance. Social policy literature has hitherto neglected the centrality of child protection and children’s rights to many key areas of social governance such as education and healthcare. The chapter traces the history of children’s rights as a distinct sphere in international law from the first recognition of the special status of children, to the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to the growth of the contemporary complex International Organization (IO) landscape. Children’s rights enjoy growing visibility and relevance and continue to be a cross-cutting issue in international organizations of all kinds, making them a central dimension of global social governance. Nonetheless, the chapter highlights that the growth of the children’s rights agenda has not been without conflict. International norms and measures surrounding children’s rights continue to be challenged and questioned by scholars and practitioners alike. Furthermore, the analysis of children’s rights provides opportunities to reconsider traditional approaches to global social policy.
Urban Governance
Authors: Singleton Alex D. , Spielman Seth E.
Published: April 2021

In this chapter, we discuss how the availability of new urban data has the potential to transform the governance of cities. Such effects are realized in several ways: by increasing transparency; creating greater scope to appropriately set and measure municipal policy outcomes; and by design of well-planned and managed digital infrastructure, better empower citizens to hold decision-makers to account. However, such potential is not without risks, and without critical reflection, the proliferation of new data and their integration into software delivering algorithmic insight or automation may reproduce or develop new inequalities. We conclude that for digital urban governance to make a future that we want, it is important that we reflect upon how and where these technologies are implemented to ensure these are optimized in favor of the public good.
Urban Pollution
Authors: Nichol Janet E. , Bilal Muhammad , Nazeer Majid , Wong Man Sing
Published: April 2021

This chapter depicts the state of the art in remote sensing for urban pollution monitoring, including urban heat islands, urban air quality, and water quality around urban coastlines. Recent developments in spatial and temporal resolutions of modern sensors, and in retrieval methodologies and gap-filling routines, have increased the applicability of remote sensing for urban areas. However, capturing the spatial heterogeneity of urban areas is still challenging, given the spatial resolution limitations of aerosol retrieval algorithms for air-quality monitoring, and of modern thermal sensors for urban heat island analysis. For urban coastal applications, water-quality parameters can now be retrieved with adequate spatial and temporal detail even for localized phenomena such as algal blooms, pollution plumes, and point pollution sources. The chapter reviews the main sensors used, and developments in retrieval algorithms. For urban air quality the MODIS Dark Target (DT), Deep Blue (DB), and the merged DT/DB algorithms are evaluated. For urban heat island and urban climatic analysis using coarse- and medium- resolution thermal sensors, MODIS, Landsat, and ASTER are evaluated. For water-quality monitoring, medium spatial resolution sensors including Landsat, HJ1A/B, and Sentinel 2, are evaluated as potential replacements for expensive routine ship-borne monitoring.
Introduction to Urban Sensing
Authors: Shi Wenzhong
Published: April 2021

This chapter overviews the urban sensing technologies for unban informatics to be introduced in the subsequent chapters under Part III of this book. To be covered is a wide range of technologies for urban sensing from the space, the air, the ground, the underground, and on individuals, including optical remote sensing, interferometric synthetic aperture radar, light detection and ranging, photogrammetry, underground sensing, mobile mapping, indoor positioning, ambient sensing, and the use of user-generated content.
Introduction to Urban Science
Authors: Batty Michael
Published: April 2021

This introduction outlines a portfolio of theory and methods in the chapters that develop a basic urban science for urban informatics. Inductive and deductive methods for generating data, analytics, and urban simulation, form the focus. In this first Part of the book, the emphasis is on mobility, space-time theory, energy and infrastructure, the spatial economy, and the role of modelling in understanding and planning the smart city.
Optical Remote Sensing
Authors: Wong Man Sing , Zhu Xiaolin , Abbas Sawaid , Kwok Coco Yin Tung , Wang Meilian
Published: April 2021

Applications of Earth-observational remote sensing are rapidly increasing over urban areas. The latest regime shift from conventional urban development to smart-city development has triggered a rise in smart innovative technologies to complement spatial and temporal information in new urban design models. Remote sensing-based Earth-observations provide critical information to close the gaps between real and virtual models of urban developments. Remote sensing, itself, has rapidly evolved since the launch of the first Earth-observation satellite, Landsat, in 1972. Technological advancements over the years have gradually improved the ground resolution of satellite images, from 80 m in the 1970s to 0.3 m in the 2020s. Apart from the ground resolution, improvements have been made in many other aspects of satellite remote sensing. Also, the method and techniques of information extraction have advanced. However, to understand the latest developments and scope of information extraction, it is important to understand background information and major techniques of image processing. This chapter briefly describes the history of optical remote sensing, the basic operation of satellite image processing, advanced methods of object extraction for modern urban designs, various applications of remote sensing in urban or peri-urban settings, and future satellite missions and directions of urban remote sensing.
Introduction to Urban Big Data Infrastructure
Authors: Goodchild Michael F.
Published: April 2021

This chapter provides a brief introduction to Part IV of the book and its focus on urban big data infrastructure. Eight chapters (Chaps. 31 to 38) explore the various dimensions of the topic, ranging from massive archives of 3D data and the Internet of Things to spatial search and the social issues of privacy that are raised by big geospatial data.
Geoprivacy, Convenience, and the Pursuit of Anonymity in Digital Cities
Authors: Dobson Jerome E. , Herbert Willam A.
Published: April 2021

Cities demand spatial efficiencies that can be achieved only through sharing of information. Current technologies support collection, processing, and dissemination of unprecedented quantities of personal, public, and corporate information. Inherent in this milieu is an inevitable contest among societal efficiency, corporate profits, consumer convenience, personal privacy, and even freedom. The authors examine current trends in technology, data collection, legislation, and public acceptance. They find that without broad specific regulations limiting location data collection and use—including a universal protected right for individuals to pursue anonymity—governments, commercial enterprises, employers, and individuals increasingly will exploit tracking technologies at the expense of geoprivacy.
CityEngine: An Introduction to Rule-Based Modeling
Authors: Kelly Tom
Published: April 2021

CityEngine is a rule-based urban modeling software package. It offers a flexible pipeline to transform 2D data into 3D urban models. Typical applications include processing 2D urban cartographic geographic information system (GIS) data to create a detailed 3D city model, creating a detailed visualization of a proposed development, or exploring the design space of a potential project. The rule-based core of Esri’s CityEngine has some unique advantages: Huge cities can be created as easily as small ones, while the quality of the models is consistent throughout. Additionally, this rule-based approach means that large design spaces can be explored quickly, interactively, and analytically compared. Such advantages must be carefully balanced against the increased time to create and parameterize the rules and the sometimes stylistic or approximate models created; coming from more traditional workflows, CityEngine’s pipeline can be initially overwhelming. We introduce the principal workflows and the flexibility they afford, sketch the procedural programming language used, and discuss the export pathways available.
Integrating CyberGIS and Urban Sensing for Reproducible Streaming Analytics
Authors: Wang Shaowen , Lyu Fangzheng , Wang Shaohua , Catlett Charles E. , Padmanabhan Anand , Soltani Kiumars
Published: April 2021

Increasingly pervasive location-aware sensors interconnected with rapidly advancing wireless network services are motivating the development of near-real-time urban analytics. This development has revealed both tremendous challenges and opportunities for scientific innovation and discovery. However, state-of-the-art urban discovery and innovation are not well equipped to resolve the challenges of such analytics, which in turn limits new research questions from being asked and answered. Specifically, commonly used urban analytics capabilities are typically designed to handle, process, and analyze static datasets that can be treated as map layers and are consequently ill-equipped in (a) resolving the volume and velocity of urban big data; (b) meeting the computing requirements for processing, analyzing, and visualizing these datasets; and (c) providing concurrent online access to such analytics. To tackle these challenges, we have developed a novel cyberGIS framework that includes computationally reproducible approaches to streaming urban analytics. This framework is based on CyberGIS-Jupyter, through integration of cyberGIS and real-time urban sensing, for achieving capabilities that have previously been unavailable toward helping cities solve challenging urban informatics problems.
Microsimulation
Authors: Birkin Mark
Published: April 2021

From origins in economics and financial analysis, microsimulation has become an important technique for spatial analysis. The method relies on conversion of aggregate census tables, sometimes complemented by sample data at the individual level, to synthetic lists of people and households. The individual records generated by the microsimulation can be aggregated flexibly to small areas, linked to create new attributes, and projected forward in time under stable conditions, or in the context of ‘what-if’ policy scenarios. The chapter outlines the basic building blocks of microsimulation and shows how these are combined within a representative practical application. It is argued that further progress can be expected through advances in computation, assimilation of data into models, and greater capacity to handle uncertainty and dynamics. We also expect the creation of more sophisticated architectures to reflect the interdependence between population structures at the micro-scale, and the supply-side infrastructures and urban environments in which they evolve.
Agent-Based Modeling and the City: A Gallery of Applications
Authors: Crooks Andrew , Heppenstall Alison , Malleson Nick , Manley Ed
Published: April 2021

Agent-based modeling is a powerful simulation technique that allows one to build artificial worlds and populate these worlds with individual agents. Each agent or actor has unique behaviors and rules which govern their interactions with each other and their environment. It is through these interactions that more macro-phenomena emerge: for example, how individual pedestrians lead to the emergence of crowds. Over the past two decades, with the growth of computational power and data, agent-based models have evolved into one of the main paradigms for urban modeling and for understanding the various processes which shape our cities. Agent-based models have been developed to explore a vast range of urban phenomena from that of micro-movement of pedestrians over seconds to that of urban growth over decades and many other issues in between. In this chapter, we introduce readers to agent-based modeling from simple abstract applications to those representing space utilizing geographical data not only for the creation of the artificial worlds but also for the validation and calibration of such models through a series of example applications. We will then discuss how big data, data mining, and machine learning techniques are advancing the field of agent-based modeling and demonstrate how such data and techniques can be leveraged into these models, giving us a new way to explore cities.
Searching for GeV-scale Majorana Dark Matter: inter spem et metum
Authors: Jueid Adil , Nasri Salah , Soualah Rachik
Published: April 2021

Abstract

We suggest a minimal model for GeV-scale Majorana Dark Matter (DM) coupled to the standard model lepton sector via a charged scalar singlet. We show that there is an anti-correlation between the spin-independent DM-Nucleus scattering cross section (σSI) and the DM relic density for parameters values allowed by various theoretical and experimental constraints. Moreover, we find that even when DM couplings are of order unity, σSI is below the current experimental bound but above the neutrino floor. Furthermore, we show that the considered model can be probed at high energy lepton colliders using e.g. the mono-Higgs production and same-sign charged Higgs pair production.