bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic Mechanism and Key Active Ingredients of Shenfu Injection in Sepsis: A Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Approach
Authors: Yuan Huajing , Liu Yang , Huang Kai , Hao Hao , Xue Yi-tao
Published: August 2022

At present, although the early treatment of sepsis is advocated, the treatment effect of sepsis is unsatisfactory, and the mortality rate remains high. Shenfu injection (SFI) has been used to treat sepsis with good clinical efficacy. Based on network pharmacology, this study adopted a new research strategy to identify the potential therapeutic targets and key active ingredients of SFI for sepsis from the perspective of the pathophysiology of sepsis. This analysis identified 28 active ingredients of SFI based on UHPLC-QQQ MS, including 18 ginsenosides and 10 aconite alkaloids. 59 targets were associated with the glycocalyx and sepsis pathways. Based on the number of targets related to the pathophysiological process of sepsis, we identified songorine, ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside Re, and karacoline as the key active ingredients of SFI for the treatment of sepsis. According to the cluster analysis of MCODE and the validation on the GEO dataset, LGALS3, BCHE, AKT1, and IL2 were identified as the core targets. This study further explored the therapeutic mechanism and the key active ingredients of SFI in sepsis and provided candidate compounds for drug development.
Dynamic Evaluation of the Rectus Abdominis Muscle before and after Delivery by Ultrasonography
Authors: Wang Xinxia , Li Hezhou , Luan Bin , Han Ruizheng , Lun Weiwei
Published: August 2022

Objective. To evaluate the changes of rectus abdominis thickness and inter-rectus distance before and after delivery with high-frequency ultrasound. Methods. A total of 148 pregnant women at 12 weeks of gestation who underwent prenatal examination in our hospital from January 2019 to March 2020 were selected, and 140 of them cooperated with rectus abdominis examination. According to the results of rectus abdominis examination 42 days after delivery, 97 patients were divided into the DRA group with rectus abdominis isolated and 43 patients were divided into the normal group with rectus abdominis not isolated. At 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 37 weeks of pregnancy, 3 days and 42 days after delivery, the thickness and spacing of the left and right rectus abdominis muscle were measured by high-frequency ultrasound along the white linea at three positions: 5 cm above the navel, 3 cm below the umbilical edge, and 3 cm below the navel. Results. The thickness of rectus abdominis at 5 cm above the navel, 3 cm below the navel, and at the navel margin of the abdominal white line in the pregnant women of the two groups was gradually decreased with the increase of the pregnancy cycle and gradually recovered after delivery. At 42 days after delivery, the thickness of rectus abdominis in the DRA group was significantly lower than that in the normal group, which was 5 cm above the umbilicus, 3 cm below the umbilicus, and the umbilical margin of the abdominal white line (

P
<
0.05

). The space between rectus abdominis 5 cm above the navel, 3 cm below the navel, and the navel margin of the abdominal white line in the pregnant women of the two groups was gradually increased with the increase of the pregnancy cycle and gradually recovered after delivery. At 37 weeks of pregnancy, 3 days after delivery, and 42 days after delivery, the space of rectus abdominis along the umbilicus 5 cm above, 3 cm below the umbilicus, and the umbilicus border of the abdominal white line in the DRA group was significantly larger than that of the normal group (

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. Ultrasound can accurately measure the inter-rectus distance and rectus thickness, accurately evaluate the degree of DRA, and realize the one-stop evaluation from prenatal diagnosis and prediction to postpartum rehabilitation monitoring, so as to intervene during pregnancy and reduce the risk of postpartum DRA.
Hybrid LSTM‐PCA‐Powered Renewable Energy‐Based Battery Life Prediction and Management for IoT Applications
Authors: Siva T. , Beno A. , Lanitha B. , Yogalakshmi V. , Manikandan M. , Kumar S. Satheesh , Peroumal Vijayakumar , Darwin Nesakumar A. , Prasad Vasireddy Raghu Ram
Published: August 2022

To ensure self‐sustainable and long‐term requirement of Internet of Things (IoT) operation, energy harvesting (EH) is a promising technique. In this work, battery prediction problems and joint access control are studied in a IoT cell system with a base station (BS) and EH user equipment (UE) with limited uplink access channels. Every UE present holds a limited capacity rechargeable battery. In order to address this issue, we take into consideration the uplink wireless system with “N” EH user equipment (UE) along with the base station. To build the UE uplink access control, the first step involves the application of hybrid Q network (HQN) with long short‐term memory (LSTM) to tackle the access control issue. This technique maximizes the uplink transmission sum rate. The LSTM DQN network designed has two layers with battery prediction and joint access control solution. The first layer is developed to predict battery levels, while the next layer generates the access control information based on channel information along with the predicted values. This network is trained to decrease the discounted prediction loss and increase long‐term discounted sum rate, at the same time by training the two layers jointly. In recent years, IoT sensors have played a major role in collecting and monitoring data gathered from real‐world applications such as environmental monitoring, transportation, urban security, smart energy management, agriculture, and health care. Several of these appliances function with batteries. Hence, the primary task would be to predict the batter’s lifespan and provide a timeframe to replace or recharge the battery. The battery life used in an IoT network is predicted with the help of a hybrid random forest‐principal component analysis (PCA) regression algorithm with machine learning.
Vitamin D Toxicity from an Unusual and Unexpected Source: A Report of 2 Cases
Authors: Silva Carolina , Fung Angela W.S. , Masson Vanessa , Assen Katrina , Ward Valerie , McKenzie Jordan , Blydt-Hansen Tom D. , Cosme Jake , van der Gugten Grace , Barakauskas Vilte E. , Fox Danya Arielle
Published: August 2022

Introduction: Hypervitaminosis D is a relatively uncommon etiology of hypercalcemia. Toxicity is usually caused by very high doses, mostly secondary to erroneous prescription or administration of vitamin D, and less commonly, contaminated foods or manufacturing errors of vitamin D-containing supplements. Case Presentation: A 16-year-old male, previously healthy, presented with 2-week history of nonspecific symptoms (fatigue, gastrointestinal complaints). Investigations showed acute kidney injury and hypercalcemia (total calcium 3.81 mmol/L). Further diagnostic workup revealed markedly elevated 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (1,910 nmol/L). He denied taking any vitamin D supplements; however, he reported consumption of creatine and protein supplements. Mass spectrometry analysis of the creatine supplement estimated a vitamin D content of 425,000 IU per serving (100 times the upper tolerable daily dose). A few months later, another previously healthy adolescent presented with severe hypercalcemia and acute kidney injury secondary to hypervitaminosis D. He was also using a creatine supplement, from the same manufacturer brand and lot. Both patients were treated with intravenous hydration, calcitonin, and pamidronate. They maintained normocalcemia after their initial presentation but required low-calcium diets and laboratory testing for months after this exposure. Discussion/Conclusion: We present 2 cases of hypervitaminosis D caused by a manufacturing error of a natural health product which did not claim to contain vitamin D. The use of dietary supplements is highly prevalent; this should be incorporated while taking medical history, and considered a potential source of toxicity when an alternative source cannot be found, regardless of the product label.
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA IN EASTERN WATERS OF SEGARA ANAK LAGOON IN CILACAP
Authors: WINANTO TJAHJO , HARY TJAHJA PETRUS , AMRON  , HARISAN TAUFAN , HENDRAYANA
Published: August 2022

Benthic foraminifera are types of organisms that are sensitive to environmental changes, so they are often used as a bioindicator for aquatic environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the community structure of benthic foraminifera community, sediment types and the relationship between the abundance of foraminifera with the sediment types in the eastern waters of Segara Anakan Lagoon in Cilacap. Method used in this study was a survey method. Samples were taken by using random sampling method. The study was conducted at 5 stations with 3 repetitions. Laboratory observations carried out included the types and numbers of benthic foraminifera. Community structure of foraminifera among stations were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, while the relationship between community structures and water quality parameters was analyzed using Pearson correlation. The results showed that in the the eastern waters of Segara Anakan Lagoon there were 58 species of foraminifera which abundance ranged from 532 ind/m2 to 927 ind/m2. The diversity index of foraminifera was in the medium to high diversity categories. The uniformity index of foraminifera was in the high uniformity in a stable community. The dominance index of foraminifera was in the low category. The sediment types was fine sand, medium sand and coarse sand. The relationship between the abundance of foraminifera with the sediment types was strong with high R values (0.763-0.809).
The checklist of birds of Rajkot district, Gujarat, India with a note on probable local extinction
Authors: Neel Sureja  , Hemanya Radadia  , Bhavesh Trivedi  , Varagiya Dhavalkumar , Mayurdan Gadhavi
Published: August 2022

Rajkot District in Gujarat, India harbours abundant avifauna, yet systematic checklists of this region are lacking. Here we present a checklist of bird in key habitats both natural and man-made, including grasslands, open lands with scattered scrub forests, wetlands (urban lakes) and reservoirs in Rajkot District. We report 348 species of birds belonging to 74 families and 22 orders, of which 281 species were observed by us during the survey and 67 species were compiled from published literature. Species recorded were from the orders Passeriformes (140), Charadriiformes (50), Accipitriformes (28), Anseriformes (19), and Pelecaniformes (19); 316 species were classed as  Least Concern (LC), 18 Near Threatened (NT), eight Vulnerable (VU), two Endangered (EN), and four Critically Endangered (CR) as per IUCN. One-hundred-and-forty-six species are resident, 138 winter visitors, 13 monsoon migrants, 12 vagrants, 12 local migrant, and the rest have multiple migratory status. With regards to habitat suitability, 116 species are aquatic (wetland dependant), 67 open land, 66 forest, 19 grassland, and the remainder show overlaps in habitat preference. A total of 124 species are found to breed in Rajkot District. It is important to note that 17 species have not been sighted in and around Rajkot District since 1990, hence they are listed as locally extinct, along with four Data Deficient species.
DNA barcoding of a lesser-known catfish, Clupisoma bastari (Actinopterygii: Ailiidae) from Deccan Peninsula, India
Authors: Laskar Boni Amin , Adimalla Harikumar , Kundu Shantanu , Jaiswal Deepa , Chandra Kailash
Published: August 2022

DNA barcoding substantiates species identification, and simultaneously indicates the misnomer taxa. Based on the morphological descriptions, we identified a lesser-known catfish, Clupisoma bastari, from Godavari River basin, and contributed novel DNA barcode data to the GenBank. The Kimura 2 parameter genetic divergence between species, and the neighbour-joining phylogeny clearly depicted a distinct clade of C. bastari in the studied dataset. Clupisoma bastari maintained sufficient K2P genetic divergence (8.3% to 11.2%) with other congeners, and branched as a sister-species of C. garua. The present study highlights possible existence of a few misnomer taxa in the GenBank. We encourage further extensive sampling of different congeners of Clupisoma from a wide range of habitats to explore the species diversity and phylogenetic relationship.
Checklist of Carabidae (Coleoptera) in the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, a dry forest in the rain shadow region of the southern Western Ghats, India
Authors: M.C. Sruthi  , Thomas Sabu K.
Published: August 2022

The first report on the composition of carabids from a natural forest in peninsular India as well as from a dry forest belt in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats is provided, with data on the subfamilies, tribes, genera, species, geographic range, collection techniques, and the relevant literature details for all the listed species. Fifty-four species belonging to 11 subfamilies and 31 genera were recorded. Harpalinae, Lebiinae, and Scaritinae with 15, 14, and seven species, respectively, are the species-rich subfamilies. The species list also includes two first records from India, four first records from southern India, and six species endemic to the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hot spot.
First record of Xanthia (Cirrhia) icteritia (Hufnagel, 1766) (Noctuidae: Xyleninae) from India
Authors: Riyaz Muzafar , K. Sivasankaran
Published: August 2022

In the present paper, we report the first occurrence of the Xanthia (Cirrhia) icteritia (Hufnagel, 1766) (Noctuidae: Xyleninae) from the Indian subcontinent. The specimen was collected from Tehsil Herman, district Shopian of Kashmir valley, which is situated at the foothills of Pir Panjal Mountain range, northwestern Himalaya, India.
Incidence, Characteristics, and Outcomes of Ventricular Fibrillation Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction in Women Admitted Alive in the Hospital
Authors: Weizman Orianne , Marijon Eloi , Narayanan Kumar , Boveda Serge , Defaye Pascal , Martins Raphael , Deharo Jean‐Claude , Laurent Gabriel , Klug Didier , Sadoul Nicolas , Hocini Meleze , Mansencal Nicolas , Anselme Frédéric , Da Costa Antoine , Maury Philippe , Ferrières Jean , Schiele François , Simon Tabassome , Danchin Nicolas ,   the FAST‐MI Program Investigators
Published: August 2022

Background

Little data are available in women presenting with ventricular fibrillation (VF) in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We assessed frequency, predictors of VF, and outcomes, with a special focus on women compared with men.

Methods and Results

Data were analyzed from the FAST‐MI (French Registry of Acute ST‐Elevation or Non‐ST‐Elevation Myocardial Infarction) program, which prospectively included 14 406 patients admitted to French cardiac intensive care units ≤48 hours from AMI onset between 1995 and 2015 (mean age, 66±14 years; 72% men; mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 52±12%; 59% with ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction). A total of 359 patients developed VF during AMI, including 81 women (2.0% of 4091 women) and 278 men (2.7% of 10 315 men,
P
=0.02). ST‐segment–elevation myocardial infarction (odds ratio [OR], 2.29 [95% CI, 1.75–2.99];
P
<0.001) was independently associated with the onset of VF during AMI. In contrast, female sex (OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.56–0.95];
P
=0.02), hypertension (OR, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.60–0.94];
P
=0.01), and prior myocardial infarction (OR, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.50–0.96];
P
=0.03) were protective factors. Women were less likely to have cardiac intervention than men (percutaneous coronary intervention during hospitalization 48.1% versus 66.9%, respectively;
P
=0.04) with a higher 1‐year mortality in women compared with men (50.6% versus 37.4%, respectively;
P
=0.03), including increased in‐hospital mortality (42.0% versus 32.7%, respectively;
P
=0.12). After adjustment, female sex was no longer associated with a worse 1‐year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.75–1.61];
P
=0.63).

Conclusions

Women have lower risk of developing VF during AMI compared with men. However, they are less likely to receive cardiac interventions than men, possibly contributing to missed opportunities of improved outcomes.
The Effect of Observability on Professed Moral Values and Pro-social Behavior in an Asian Context: An Experimental Study
Authors: Ch'ng Kean-Siang , Narayanan Suresh
Published: August 2022

Minority communities frequently draw upon voluntary donations to support their unique needs and giving prominent recognition to donors is a widely used strategy, although anonymous donors are not uncommon. Studies in the West suggest that consequentialists (those concerned with the overall benefit from the outcomes, including to themselves) value the recognition gained by engaging in pro-social behavior. Deontologists, or those holding to values that stress right conduct, would engage in pro-social behavior even without recognition. The latter values parallel principles espoused in Eastern thought. What would be the optimal strategy to maximize donations from both groups? Using the methods of experimental economics, we examined the effect of observability on pro-sociality, and the interaction of moral judgment and observability on the cooperative behavior of participants in a Public Good game. The finding shows that participants who felt they were being observed made significantly higher contributions to the public pool as compared to those who felt anonymous, regardless of the values they professed. This validates the strategy of promising recognition to donors used by Asian immigrant communities because it motivates those who value recognition to donate, and prods those who give without recognition to donate more than they otherwise would.
Does Corruption Discourage Entrepreneurship?
Authors: Park Donghyun , Shin Kwanho
Published: August 2022

Although entrepreneurship plays a key role in economic development, its precise effect remains largely unknown. This is because it is challenging to objectively measure entrepreneurship and identify its determinants. In this paper, we analyze the effect of a particular feature of the institutional landscape, namely, corruption, on entrepreneurship. It is expected that corruption discourages entrepreneurship because it undermines fair competition. We use two proxies for entrepreneurship that are widely used in the literature: (1) nascent entrepreneurship collected from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, and (2) entry rate defined as the number of new firms divided by the total number of previous year's registered businesses, collected from World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey. We find that better control of corruption promotes entrepreneurship. Our evidence is stronger when we use entry rate as a proxy of entrepreneurship. Our findings are preserved when we add other determinants of entrepreneurship drawn from the literature. When we use legal origins as instruments for corruption, our results remain essentially the same. The size of population, a proxy for market size, is positively associated with entrepreneurship while corporate taxes are negatively associated.
Disentangled Representation Learning and Generation With Manifold Optimization
Authors: Pandey Arun , Fanuel Michaël , Schreurs Joachim , Suykens Johan A. K.
Published: August 2022

Disentanglement is a useful property in representation learning, which increases the interpretability of generative models such as variational autoencoders (VAE), generative adversarial models, and their many variants. Typically in such models, an increase in disentanglement performance is traded off with generation quality. In the context of latent space models, this work presents a representation learning framework that explicitly promotes disentanglement by encouraging orthogonal directions of variations. The proposed objective is the sum of an autoencoder error term along with a principal component analysis reconstruction error in the feature space. This has an interpretation of a restricted kernel machine with the eigenvector matrix valued on the Stiefel manifold. Our analysis shows that such a construction promotes disentanglement by matching the principal directions in the latent space with the directions of orthogonal variation in data space. In an alternating minimization scheme, we use the Cayley ADAM algorithm, a stochastic optimization method on the Stiefel manifold along with the Adam optimizer. Our theoretical discussion and various experiments show that the proposed model is an improvement over many VAE variants in terms of both generation quality and disentangled representation learning.
A Generalized Framework of Multifidelity Max-Value Entropy Search Through Joint Entropy
Authors: Takeno Shion , Fukuoka Hitoshi , Tsukada Yuhki , Koyama Toshiyuki , Shiga Motoki , Takeuchi Ichiro , Karasuyama Masayuki
Published: August 2022

Bayesian optimization (BO) is a popular method for expensive black-box optimization problems; however, querying the objective function at every iteration can be a bottleneck that hinders efficient search capabilities. In this regard, multifidelity Bayesian optimization (MFBO) aims to accelerate BO by incorporating lower-fidelity observations available with a lower sampling cost. In our previous work, we proposed an information-theoretic approach to MFBO, referred to as multifidelity max-value entropy search (MF-MES), which inherits practical effectiveness and computational simplicity of the well-known max-value entropy search (MES) for the single-fidelity BO. However, the applicability of MF-MES is still limited to the case that a single observation is sequentially obtained. In this letter, we generalize MF-MES so that information gain can be evaluated even when multiple observations are simultaneously obtained. This generalization enables MF-MES to address two practical problem settings: synchronous parallelization and trace-aware querying. We show that the acquisition functions for these extensions inherit the simplicity of MF-MES without introducing additional assumptions. We also provide computational techniques for entropy evaluation and posterior sampling in the acquisition functions, which can be commonly used for all variants of MF-MES. The effectiveness of MF-MES is demonstrated using benchmark functions and real-world applications such as materials science data and hyperparameter tuning of machine-learning algorithms.
On Suspicious Coincidences and Pointwise Mutual Information
Authors: Williams Christopher K. I.
Published: August 2022

Barlow (1985) hypothesized that the co-occurrence of two events A and B is “suspicious” if P(A,B)≫P(A)P(B). We first review classical measures of association for 2 × 2 contingency tables, including Yule's Y (Yule, 1912), which depends only on the odds ratio λ and is independent of the marginal probabilities of the table. We then discuss the mutual information (MI) and pointwise mutual information (PMI), which depend on the ratio P(A,B)/P(A)P(B), as measures of association. We show that once the effect of the marginals is removed, MI and PMI behave similarly to Y as functions of λ. The pointwise mutual information is used extensively in some research communities for flagging suspicious coincidences. We discuss the pros and cons of using it in this way, bearing in mind the sensitivity of the PMI to the marginals, with increased scores for sparser events.
L’Ekphrasis de Samuel Beckett
Authors: Brown Llewellyn
Published: August 2022

Au lieu de se réduire à un discours ‘sur’ une œuvre d’art, l’ekphrasis est révélatrice de la logique double réunissant le visuel et le verbal, où chacun décomplète l’autre. Ce caractère double trouve expression dans les « pseudocouples » que forment Beckett et Duthuit, ou encore les frères van Velde, tels que Beckett les évoque. Tout comme le registre spéculaire de l’image, ces couples sont destinés à se défaire, pour cerner la « dérobade » de l’objet et les limites internes du langage.
Beckett & Brecht au Palais de la République
Authors: Clabaut Alice
Published: August 2022

Pour la toute première fois en 1986, une pièce de Beckett est jouée en RDA, dans le lieu très symbolique qu’était le Palais de la République à Berlin-Est. Ce n’est pas le tant attendu Godot qui marquera la fin officielle de la censure pesant sur l’auteur mais La Dernière Bande, mise en scène par David Leveaux et Ekkehard Schall. Toutefois, dans le climat tendu précédant de peu la chute du mur de Berlin, représenter une pièce de Beckett seule n’aurait pas été possible. Celle-ci est couplée avec le poème épique de Brecht « L’Éducation du millet ». Entrent en dialogue deux auteurs de renom, deux héros a priori très opposés, deux blocs politiques en conflit. On retient moins l’événement pour ses qualités dramaturgiques que pour sa résonance politique.
Libanophlebotomites ramyi, a new genus and species of phlebotomine sandflies from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)
Authors: AZAR DANY , MAALOUF MOUNIR , MAKSOUD SIBELLE
Published: August 2022

Libanophlebotomites ramyi gen. et sp. nov. is characterised, illustrated, and described from the lower Barremian amber of Qanat Bakish (Baskinta, Lebanon). It represents the first phlebotomine fly with slightly ellipsoid head without bump on occiput, round wing tip, and legs very slightly shorter than body length. The discovery of this Cretaceous psychodid fly improves our knowledge of the palaeobiodiversity of sandflies.
A new species, Cricotopus cataractaenostocicola, living in a cyanobacterial colony on vertical rocky substrates with trickling water film in Japan (Diptera: Chironomidae)
Authors: TACHIBANA SATORU
Published: August 2022

Trickling water on nearly vertical rocky substrates is a common feature of mountainous regions of Japan. The thin water film is inhabited by discoid colonies of the cyanobacteria Nostoc. This species resembles the North American Nostoc parmelioides Kützing, which forms ear-like colonies in stream beds and is inhabited by symbiotic chironomid larvae. The Nostoc colony in Japan was inhabited by a chironomid larva inside a ring-shaped burrow in the colony. Morphological analyses suggested that these individuals belong to a new species closely related to Cricotopus spp. symbiotic with Nostoc parmelioides. Here, we described the chironomid species Cricotopus cataractaenostocicola sp. nov. The species was distinguished from other congeneric species mainly by the morphology of male hypopygia. It has an anal point and long setae on the outside of the gonocoxite, and does not have setae near the apex of the inner lobe in the gonocoxite. Almost all the Nostoc colonies contained one large larva or pupa. The outer layer of the chironomid-symbiotic Nostoc colony had an elastic hardness. The 3D computer tomography (3DCT) scan showed a connected network of internal passages that are sufficiently wide to be traversed by the larvae, suggesting that cavities are present for the larvae to pass through. Future studies should investigate the formation of cavities and their purpose. As pioneers in the observation of living organisms using 3DCT, we provided the CT data to the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Innoculating Fandom: Riding the Roller Coaster of Sports During the Pandemic
Authors: Gantz Walter , Wenner Lawrence
Published: August 2022

Using a critical events theoretic analytic lens, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic had the disruptive power to shake the foundation of sports fanship, much as it affected all aspects of contemporary life across the globe. We conducted a survey of 613 adults in the United States, all of whom self-identified as sports fans. Sports fanship avidity dipped during the height of the pandemic when games, matches, and seasons were cancelled or conducted in protective bubbles without fans in the stands. That dip was temporary. With sports back in full-throttle mode, fanship avidity returned to pre-pandemic levels. Those who identified as strong fans appeared to cherish its return, some even more avid than before. The impact of the pandemic on sports fanship was most acute among those who were not ardent sports fans to begin with—and its impact appears to have extended over time.
Midwives in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Israel: An Intersectional Investigation
Authors: Yee Gale A.
Published: August 2022

Although we have some artifacts of birth equipment from archaeology, this study will argue that the knowledge we have about midwives in ancient Israel, Egypt, and Mesopotamia primarily comes to us from the hegemonic domain of ideologies, myths, ideas, and symbols. Texts about the goddesses of birth relate something about the social roles and practices of midwives in the human sphere. The decline or complete absence of the goddess in these mythic or religious texts may offer clues about gendered, raced, and classed relations among humans in their respective ancient societies. Moreover, midwives will continue to play symbolic and ideological roles in the textual arena of today’s modern world.
Reading Esther as Abigail Redux
Authors: Zucker David J.
Published: August 2022

One way of reading the book of Esther is that parts of the work consciously serve as a subversive sequel to 1 Samuel 25. The plot in Esther “mines and undermines” the episode which features Abigail of Maon meeting with a hot-headed bent-on-revenge pre-monarchic David. Through her actions Abigail successfully neutralizes David, just as Esther neutralizes the hot-headed bent-on-revenge Haman.
Re-Picturing the Reception of the Spirit with Ritual Experience: The Role of Baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:13
Authors: Chang Kai Hsuan
Published: August 2022

In this article, I argue that the ritual experience of water-baptism plays an essential role in Paul's metaphorical expression and rhetorical purpose in 1 Corinthians 12:13. To explore the role of baptism, I use conceptual blending theory from cognitive linguistics to define and demonstrate the metaphorical ways in which ritual functions in the human mind. In so doing, I emphasize the performance of a ritual itself and the contextual perception of its performance, arguing for a metaphorical relationship between the two. I apply conceptual blending analysis to interpret the complex interplay of three metaphors in 1 Corinthians 12:13. I argue that Paul forms a conceptual blend of three metaphors in this verse, and that baptism, the water-rite, plays a pivotal role in this blend by providing the physical pattern of immersion and the cultural understanding of this immersion as a new belonging. Using baptism, Paul achieves his purpose of re-picturing the reception of the Spirit and appealing for social union. This verse thus presents an excellent case of the role of ritual in the emergence of early Christianity and the explanatory power of ritual studies to the New Testament texts.
Beauty and Accounting Academic Career
Authors: Liu Yanju , Lu Hai , Veenstra Kevin
Published: August 2022

We examine the impact of beauty on the academic career success of tenure-track accounting professors at top business schools in America and show that beauty plays a significant role. Specifically, after controlling for gender, ethnicity, publication history, work experience, and quality of alma mater, more attractive professors obtain better first school placements post-PhD and are granted tenure in a shorter period of time. These findings are broadly consistent with behavioral theory which predicts that facial attractiveness irrationally affects the perception of performance characteristics. Interestingly, there is no incremental benefit of attractiveness for the career progression from associate to full professor. This finding is consistent with the notion that the role played by beauty in promotion diminishes when the individual’s ability and competency become apparent over time.
The Association of the Qualitative Informativeness of Market Risk Disclosures With Stock Liquidity
Authors: Kohlbeck Mark , Luo Xin
Published: August 2022

The SEC’s 2016 Concept Release summarizes the ongoing debate regarding the usefulness of market risk disclosures and calls for additional discussion. We respond to the SEC’s call and investigate market risk disclosures. Using textual analysis, we evaluate and classify the qualitative content of market risk disclosures and expect that more informative disclosures are associated with improved liquidity, consistent with disclosure theory. We find that informative textual contents of market risk disclosures are associated with higher liquidity levels and lower liquidity uncertainty (i.e., an improved investors’ information environment). Our study is relevant to the ongoing discussion regarding the usefulness of market risk disclosures, calls for more detailed regulatory guidance for market risk disclosures, and contributes to the literature on stock liquidity and risk factor disclosures.
States or social networks? Popular attitudes amid health crises in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Albrecht Holger , Loewe Markus
Published: August 2022

The article draws on nationally representative telephone surveys in Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon to unpack popular beliefs about who can best handle the social and economic consequences from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It therefore offers insights into state–society relations under stress and contributes to the debate on whether or not the state should play a key role in social protection. Findings reveal intriguing differences between countries, but also among social groups within societies. Communal identities and economic status do not appear to drive differences, with roughly half of the three countries’ populations sharing trust in their respective state authorities. In turn, the article challenges findings on the gender gap in people’s expectations about the provision of public goods amid crisis. On the country-level, Egyptians exhibit significantly greater trust in their state authorities than Tunisians and Lebanese, which substantiates arguments about the perceived advantage of autocratic governance to fight health crises.
Lime Treatment of Lake Texcoco Clays with Some Insights on the Application of Deep Mixing Columns
Authors: Naik Saureen R. , Akula Pavan , Hariharan Narain , Puppala Anand J. , Little Dallas N. , Castaneda Javier
Published: August 2022

The soils across Lake Texcoco (LT) basin are notorious for the presence of highly compressible salt-affected lacustrine clays. The geological formation of the area accompanied by the unmonitored flow of water from Mexico City region has resulted in a unique sodium-rich clay that is highly plastic (plasticity index~200), and impermeable ( k~1.5 × 10−9 m/s) and possesses low compressive strength (unconfined compressive strength < 10 kPa). Over the last few decades, the entire basin has settled at an average of 13.2 cm per year and will continue further with increased loads as a result of rapid urbanization. In planning a solid foundation for the airport, as well as developing the surrounding area, trial sections were built to analyze the effect of quicklime (CaO) on the natural clay s physical, chemical, and engineering properties through laboratory testing. The lab-scale investigations were accompanied with field measurements using the variable energy dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) and plate load tests. Additionally, a numerical analysis of the effect of deep mixed columns (DMC) to reduce consolidation settlement was performed. The numerical analysis comprised of various DMC stabilizers, loading pressures, column lengths, and area replacement ratios. DMC lengths were observed to be the most dominant parameter to reduce consolidation settlements. Settlement reduction was more sensitive to the area replacement ratio for end-bearing columns, and to the loading pressures for floating columns. Based on the stabilizers evaluated, a combination lime and Portland cement performed the best across all loading pressures and column lengths. Other stabilizer combinations also had a remarkable effect on limiting the consolidation settlement.
Insights into Increasing the Implementation of Concrete Overlay Rehabilitation Methods for Highway Pavements
Authors: Sheffield Matthew T. , Cavalline Tara L. , Dean Greg
Published: August 2022

Concrete overlays provide a promising solution to extending pavement life, and are currently the focus of the Federal Highway Administration Every Day Counts initiative. Despite their potential benefits, concrete overlays are not commonly used in many areas of the U.S.A., including the Southeast. A survey of 19 paving contractors active in the Southeastern U.S.A. was performed to quantify recent concrete overlay projects performed by these contractors, to assess the capabilities of contractors to construct concrete overlays in this region, and to identify barriers to implementation of concrete overlays as well as opportunities to increase their use. Findings indicated contractors in the region either had extensive overlay experience or no experience constructing concrete overlays. Regardless of the experience level of the contractor, the primary barrier to implementation is that this type of work is not being let for bid. Concerns about traffic control and safety was the second most important barrier among all contractors. Experienced contractors indicated the lack of available and skilled construction personnel were also key barriers. Inexperienced contractors cited concerns about the length and duration of construction as the third most important barrier. Respondents indicated an eagerness to bid on and complete overlays. The results of this study provide insight to regional state highway agencies, municipalities, and design engineers of the capabilities of concrete pavement contractors in the region to complete concrete overlay projects. The findings will help agencies understand the capabilities and concerns of concrete paving contractors and aid in informed decisions about overlays.
A Typology of Aging Internet Users: Exploring Digital Gradations in Internet Skills and Uses
Authors: Petrovčič Andraž , Reisdorf Bianca C. , Grošelj Darja , Prevodnik Katja
Published: August 2022

Research suggests that older internet users are not a homogeneous group of users, as their level of digital inclusion varies widely, depending not only on their age, but also on their socio-demographic background, internet access characteristics, and the availability of social resources associated with “age-graded” life events (e.g., retirement and widowhood). This study presents a typology of internet users in late middle and late adulthood according to their levels of skills and uses and examines how socio-demographic characteristics, social networks and resources, and internet access shape differences between groups. Based on representative survey data, cluster analysis was used to identify four groups of users aged 50+: Apprehensive, Level-headed, Savvy, and Reluctant users. Three main conclusions emerge from their comparison. First, both internet skills and uses need to be considered, as more skills do not always lead to more varied use and the relationship is affected by access characteristics and proxy internet use. Second, socio-demographics remain critical in explaining gradations in digital inclusion, but their effects must be contextualized. Not all younger older adults were highly digitally engaged, so their broader life contexts need to be considered. Third, social networks and resources had little impact on aging internet users’ digital engagement.
Researching Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy. Opportunities and Challenges With Two Methods of Data Acquisition
Authors: Binder Annette , Preiser Christine , Hanke Sara , Banabak Meryem , Huber Clara , Petersen Kay Uwe , Batra Anil
Published: August 2022

Qualitative research methods, primarily interviews, have become more common in the field of addiction research. Other data sources were often neglected, although sources such as social media can offer insights into the realities of people, since social media also plays a relevant role in today's living environments. This article examines the use of online forums as an underutilized data source in contrast to telephone interviews, to identify methodological opportunities and challenges. We analyzed nine discussion threads and seven interviews about ‘alcohol consumption during pregnancy’. Discursive comparison of the results was performed with a focus on sampling issues, comparability and risks for participants and researchers. Key issues were present in both data sources. People with different opinions were openly hostile in forums, while tolerance was more often expressed in interviews. The interviews showed a rather mild communication style, which could be attributed to social desirability. In the forum discussions, the participants often expressed themselves very directly. To comprehensively grasp the subject matter of the research, it is important to recognize the types of communication promoted by different data sources. These results have implications for research about female substance use. Knowledge of the issues will bestow a valuable contribution to researchers working in the field of substance use to help develop appropriate research approaches, as they engage in research into this highly stigmatized and controversial area.
Modeling harmonic drive with small deformation of flexspline and assessment of tooth wear by sliding coefficient
Authors: Yu Zhenjiang , Ling Siying , Wang Xiaodong , Zheng Yuansong
Published: August 2022

Reducing the flexspline (FS) deformation is important for decreasing the alternating stress, flare angle in the axial direction, spatial deformation of teeth, and tube length. However, it may increase the probability of insufficient engagement depth and nonexistent conjugate tooth profiles. In this study, a mathematical model of the harmonic drive (HD) with a new tooth profile is proposed to reduce the FS deformation while satisfying the engagement depth and existence of a conjugated tooth profile. First, the generation mechanism of the new tooth profile is discussed in detail and the connection method of the circular arc tooth profile and transition tooth profile in the FS were presented. Then, two key parameters of the model, the translation distance and offset distance were studied to design the ideal tooth profile. Finally, a tooth root chamfer method was proposed to achieve smooth operation of the HD. Additionally, owing to the lack of a wear assessment of the new tooth profile, a sliding coefficient calculation model was presented. To verify the feasibility of the models, a prototype with a radial deformation coefficient of 0.8 was designed, processed, and tested. The experimental results were consistent with the theoretical analyzes.
Paramagnetic rims are a promising diagnostic imaging biomarker in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Meaton Isobel , Altokhis Amjad , Allen Christopher Martin , Clarke Margareta A , Sinnecker Tim , Meier Dominik , Enzinger Christian , Calabrese Massimiliano , De Stefano Nicola , Pitiot Alain , Giorgio Antonio , Schoonheim Menno M , Paul Friedemann , Pawlak Mikolaj A , Schmidt Reinhold , Granziera Cristina , Kappos Ludwig , Montalban Xavier , Rovira Àlex , Wuerfel Jens , Evangelou Nikos
Published: August 2022

Background:

White matter lesions (WMLs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) may contribute to misdiagnosis. In chronic active lesions, peripheral iron-laden macrophages appear as paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs).

Objective:

To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of PRLs in differentiating MS from mimics using clinical 3T MRI scanners.

Method:

This retrospective international study reviewed MRI scans of patients with MS ( n = 254), MS mimics ( n = 91) and older healthy controls ( n = 217). WMLs, detected using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI, were analysed with phase-sensitive imaging. Sensitivity and specificity were assessed for PRLs.

Results:

At least one PRL was found in 22.9% of MS and 26.1% of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) patients. Only one PRL was found elsewhere. The identification of ⩾1 PRL was the optimal cut-off and had high specificity (99.7%, confidence interval (CI) = 98.20%–99.99%) when distinguishing MS and CIS from mimics and healthy controls, but lower sensitivity (24.0%, CI = 18.9%–36.6%). All patients with a PRL showing a central vein sign (CVS) in the same lesion ( n = 54) had MS or CIS, giving a specificity of 100% (CI = 98.8%–100.0%) but equally low sensitivity (21.3%, CI = 16.4%–26.81%)

Conclusion:

PRLs may reduce diagnostic uncertainty in MS by being a highly specific imaging diagnostic biomarker, especially when used in conjunction with the CVS.
Innovation in the legal service industry: Examining the roles of human and social capital, and knowledge and technology transfer
Authors: Michalakopoulou Kalliopi , Nikitas Alexandros , Njoya Eric Tchouamou , Johnes Jill
Published: August 2022

Business research has rarely explored service innovation for the traditionally conservative legal industry. Using a resource-based and practice-based view blend as its theoretical backbone we develop an understanding of the parameters underpinning law firm innovation as a facilitator of operations management enhancement and possible source of entrepreneurship. The paper presents a survey answered by 106 legal professionals from 19 countries exploring four thematic areas referring to human capital, social capital, knowledge and technology transfer that were hypothesised to define innovation. Ordered probit regression modelling was used. Evidence is presented that cybersecurity threats, inadequate and limited training on IT, excessive paperwork and lack of efficient teamwork, collaboration and communication are key challenges to innovation adoption, which is a pathway to sustainable, inclusive and resilient firm growth. Firm size and internationalisation are innovation-altering factors; SMEs differ from large global firms in their ability to operate ‘outside-the-box’. Our results recommend that legal enterprises need to adopt innovation as a robust transformation-enabling toolkit that could facilitate a performance-enhancing business ethos.
Research on textile defects detection based on improved generative adversarial network
Authors: Rui Jin , Qiang Niu
Published: August 2022

Fabric defects seriously affect the textile industry in China. Given that traditional manual detection methods have low efficiency and poor accuracy, using automatic textile defect detection methods is urgently needed. A fabric defect detection method based on an improved generative adversarial network is thus developed to address the shortage of fabric defect samples. This method learns to reconstruct the fabric image in an unsupervised manner and locates the defect areas based on the differences between the original image and the reconstruction. Afterward, the defect-related features are extracted from these areas to further recognize specific fabric defects. The central loss constraint is introduced to improve the recognition performance of this method, and lightweight processing is applied to guarantee its real-time operation in embedded systems. The application of this method is then evaluated on the publicly available Tianchi dataset. Both quantitative and qualitative results show that the proposed method can accurately detect fabric defects.