bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in elderly patients scheduled for total knee arthroplasty
Authors: Delsmann Maximilian M. , Schmidt Constantin , Mühlenfeld Moritz , Jandl Nico Maximilian , Boese Christoph Kolja , Beil Frank Timo , Rolvien Tim , Ries Christian
Published: December 2021

Introduction

Osteoporosis is a common comorbidity in elderly patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and may increase perioperative complications in orthopedic surgery (e.g., component migration, periprosthetic fractures). As there is no investigation of bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly patients prior to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Europe, we investigated this issue with a particular focus on a potential treatment gap.

Materials and methods

We assessed the BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 109 consecutive elderly patients (age ≥ 70 years) scheduled for TKA. In addition to a detailed assessment of osteoporosis and osteopenia, the influence of clinical risk factors and radiological OA severity on BMD was evaluated using group comparisons and linear regression models. In addition, we analyzed differences in BMD between patients scheduled for TKA vs. total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Results

Of the included 109 patients, 19 patients (17.4%) were diagnosed with osteoporosis and 50 (45.9%) with osteopenia. In the osteoporotic patients, a clinically relevant underdiagnosis concomitant with a serious treatment gap was observed in 95.0% of the patients. Body mass index, OA grade, and glucocorticoid use were identified as independent factors associated with BMD. No differences in BMD were found between the patients scheduled for TKA vs. THA.

Conclusions

Considering the high prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in elderly patients, DXA screening should be recommended for patients ≥ 70 years indicated for TKA.
Grundprobleme und Perspektiven des Gentechnikrechts
Authors: Kloepfer Michael , Doerenbach Stella
Published: December 2021

Der vorliegende Beitrag zielt darauf ab, einen Überblick über aktuelle Entwicklungen des
Gentechnikrechts zu verschaffen. Neben einigen (immer noch bestehenden) Grundproblematiken im Spannungsfeld
zwischen Vorsorgeprinzip und Innovationsbestreben, gibt es sowohl Neuerungen in der europäischen Rechtsprechung,
als auch in der technischen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung, die vorgestellt und in Kontext gesetzt werden.
Einer engeren Untersuchung werden dabei u.a. das Mutagenese-Urteil des EuGH aus dem Jahr 2018 und sogenannte
“Gene-Drives” unterzogen.
Constitutivity in Flavour Perception
Authors: Skrzypulec Błażej
Published: December 2021

Within contemporary philosophy of perception, it is commonly claimed that flavour experiences are paradigmatic examples of multimodal perceptual experiences. In fact, virtually any sensory system, including vision and audition, is believed to influence how we experience flavours. However, there is a strong intuition, often expressed in these works, that not all of these sensory systems make an equal contribution to the phenomenology of flavour experiences. More specifically, it seems that the activities of some sensory systems are constitutive for flavour perception while others merely influence how we experience flavours. This paper aims to answer the question regarding the constitutive factors of flavour perception in a twofold way. First, a theoretical framework is developed, relying on debates regarding constitutivity in analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science, which defines the stronger and weaker senses in which the activities of sensory systems may be constitutive for flavour perception. Second, relying on empirical results in flavour science, the constitutive status of activities related to distinct sensory systems in the context of flavour perception is investigated.
Competition and physician-induced demand in a healthcare market with regulated price: evidence from Ghana
Authors: Dzampe Adolf Kwadzo , Takahashi Shingo
Published: December 2021

Using panel data of administrative claims spanning 36 months (2017–2019) and an instrumental variable method, this study examines whether physician-induced demand for hypertension disease care exists in Ghana’s healthcare system where price is regulated, and there is no co-payment. We find that an increase in competition—measured as a high doctor-to-population ratio at the district level—leads to an increase in the number of physician visits, suggesting physician-induced demand exists, and that effects are greater for large hospitals and public health providers. This result is further supported by alternative measures and specifications showing that physicians’ revenue from medication and gross revenue increase as the physician density increases. These pattern suggest that physicians in high density areas, faced with a decrease in number of patients per physician, make up for the decline in income by inducing more patient visits.
On the Efficient Computation of Large Scale Singular Sums with Applications to Long-Range Forces in Crystal Lattices
Authors: Buchheit Andreas A. , Keßler Torsten
Published: December 2021

We develop a new expansion for representing singular sums in terms of integrals and vice versa. This method provides a powerful tool for the efficient computation of large singular sums that appear in long-range interacting systems in condensed matter and quantum physics. It also offers a generalised trapezoidal rule for the precise computation of singular integrals. In both cases, the difference between sum and integral is approximated by derivatives of the non-singular factor of the summand function, where the coefficients in turn depend on the singularity. We show that for a physically meaningful set of functions, the error decays exponentially with the expansion order. For a fixed expansion order, the error decays algebraically both with the grid size, if the method is used for quadrature, or the characteristic length scale of the summand function in case the sum over a fixed grid is approximated by an integral. In absence of a singularity, the method reduces to the Euler–Maclaurin summation formula. We demonstrate the numerical performance of our new expansion by applying it to the computation of the full nonlinear long-range forces inside a domain wall in a macroscopic one-dimensional crystal with $$2\times 10^{10}$$

2
×

10
10

particles. The code of our implementation in Mathematica is provided online. For particles that interact via the Coulomb repulsion, we demonstrate that finite size effects remain relevant even in the thermodynamic limit of macroscopic particle numbers. Our results show that widely-used continuum limits in condensed matter physics are not applicable for quantitative predictions in this case.
An Arbitrary High Order Well-Balanced ADER-DG Numerical Scheme for the Multilayer Shallow-Water Model with Variable Density
Authors: Fernández E. Guerrero , Díaz M. J. Castro , Dumbser M. , de Luna T. Morales
Published: December 2021

In this work, we present a novel numerical discretization of a variable pressure multilayer shallow water model. The model can be written as a hyperbolic PDE system and allows the simulation of density driven gravity currents in a shallow water framework. The proposed discretization consists in an unlimited arbitrary high order accurate (ADER) Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method, which is then limited with the MOOD paradigm using an a posteriori subcell finite volume limiter. The resulting numerical scheme is arbitrary high order accurate in space and time for smooth solutions and does not destroy the natural subcell resolution inherent in the DG methods in the presence of strong gradients or discontinuities. A numerical strategy to preserve non-trivial stationary solutions is also discussed. The final method is very accurate in smooth regions even using coarse or very coarse meshes, as shown in the numerical simulations presented here. Finally, a comparison with a laboratory test, where empirical data are available, is also performed.
Feasibility of an Assessment Tool as a Data-Driven Approach to Reducing Racial Bias in Biomedical Publications
Authors: Wescott Siobhan , Johnson Ronn , Lamba Sangeeta , Olson Devon , Haywood Yolanda , Meltzer Carolyn C , Correa Ricardo
Published: December 2021

The editorial independence of biomedical journals allows flexibility to meet a wide range of research interests. However, it also is a barrier for coordination between journals to solve challenging issues such as racial bias in the scientific literature. A standardized tool to screen for racial bias could prevent the publication of racially biased papers. Biomedical journals would maintain editorial autonomy while still allowing comparable data to be collected and analyzed across journals. A racially diverse research team carried out a three-phase study to generate and test a racial bias assessment tool for biomedical research. Phase 1, an in-depth, structured literature search to identify recommendations, found near complete agreement in the literature on addressing race in biomedical research. Phase 2, construction of a framework from those recommendations, provides the major innovation of this paper. The framework includes three dimensions of race: 1) context, 2) tone and terminology, and 3) analysis, which are the basis for the Race Equity Vetting Instrument for Editorial Workflow (REVIEW) tool. Phase 3, pilot testing the assessment tool, showed that the REVIEW tool was effective at flagging multiple concerns in widely criticized articles. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed REVIEW tool to reduce racial bias in research. Next steps include testing this tool on a broader sample of biomedical research to determine how the tool performs on more subtle examples of racial bias.
Quantification of Fracture Roughness by Change Probabilities and Hurst Exponents
Authors: Gutjahr Tim , Hale Sina , Keller Karsten , Blum Philipp , Winter Steffen
Published: December 2021

The objective of the current study is to utilize an innovative method called “change probabilities” for describing fracture roughness. In order to detect and visualize anisotropy of rock joint surfaces, the roughness of one-dimensional profiles taken in different directions is quantified. The central quantifiers, change probabilities, are based on counting monotonic changes in discretizations of a profile. These probabilities, which usually vary with the scale, can be reinterpreted as scale-dependent Hurst exponents. For a large class of Gaussian stochastic processes, change probabilities are shown to be directly related to the classical Hurst exponent, which generalizes a relationship known for fractional Brownian motion. While related to this classical roughness measure, the proposed method is more generally applicable, therefore increasing the flexibility of modeling and investigating surface profiles. In particular, it allows a quick and efficient visualization and detection of roughness anisotropy and scale dependence of roughness.
A Riemannian Newton trust-region method for fitting Gaussian mixture models
Authors: Sembach Lena , Burgard Jan Pablo , Schulz Volker
Published: December 2021

Gaussian Mixture Models are a powerful tool in Data Science and Statistics that are mainly used for clustering and density approximation. The task of estimating the model parameters is in practice often solved by the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm which has its benefits in its simplicity and low per-iteration costs. However, the EM converges slowly if there is a large share of hidden information or overlapping clusters. Recent advances in Manifold Optimization for Gaussian Mixture Models have gained increasing interest. We introduce an explicit formula for the Riemannian Hessian for Gaussian Mixture Models. On top, we propose a new Riemannian Newton Trust-Region method which outperforms current approaches both in terms of runtime and number of iterations. We apply our method on clustering problems and density approximation tasks. Our method is very powerful for data with a large share of hidden information compared to existing methods.
Delivering Urgent Care Using Telemedicine: Insights from Experienced Clinicians at Academic Medical Centers
Authors: Laub Natalie , Agarwal Anish K. , Shi Catherine , Sjamsu Arianna , Chaiyachati Krisda
Published: December 2021

Background

Care delivered using telemedicine has been steadily growing in the USA but represented a small fraction of overall visits before the COVID-19 pandemic as few clinicians had been providing care using telemedicine. Understanding how experienced clinicians have practiced telemedicine can help guide today’s exponential adoption of telemedicine.

Objective

The objective of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to providing effective, high-quality urgent care using telemedicine (“tele-urgent care”) from the perspective of clinicians experienced in telemedicine.

Approach

We conducted semi-structured interviews between July 2018 and March 2019 of clinicians who had been providing tele-urgent care services to patients as a part of their routine clinical practice. Themes were identified using content analysis with a constant comparative coding approach.

Key Results

Among the 20 clinicians interviewed, the majority were female (90%) and nurse practitioners (65%). We identified four themes related to barriers and facilitators to providing effective, high-quality tele-urgent care. Workplace factors such as a strong information technology (IT) infrastructure, real-time IT support, an electronic health record, and a collegial work environment, often virtual, were necessary standards. Communication and exam techniques from in-person encounters were adapted to tele-urgent care including active listening skills and teaching patients to conduct specific exam maneuvers virtually. The convenience of tele-urgent care should be preserved to support improvements in access to care. Finally, patients and clinicians occasionally had mismatched expectations about what could or would be provided during a tele-urgent care encounter. Managing the added tension that can occur during a telemedicine encounter was important.

Conclusion

As telemedicine becomes an integral part of the care continuum, incorporating and accounting for these key insights when we train and support clinicians will be necessary to provide effective, high-quality care to patients in the future.
Attitudes of administrative decision-makers towards nature-based solutions for flood risk management in Germany
Authors: Tafel Leopold , Ott Edward , Brillinger Mario , Schulze Christoph , Schröter Barbara
Published: December 2021

Over the last two decades, alternative and holistic concepts, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) were introduced and adopted by policy-makers, including to the field of flood protection, thereby causing a paradigm shift towards flood risk management. The inclusion of natural water retention measures (NWRM) such as dike relocation and floodplain restoration into the German guidelines for flood protection institutionalized the new concepts in Germany. Whereas small scale NbS and the affected population have already been subject to thorough scientific research, large-scale NbS and the decision-makers assigned with the measure’s implementation have yet to be studied. How do administrative decision-makers perceive the new approach and measures? Are there particular attitudes among the decision-makers regarding NbS? Which aspects of implementing large-scale NbS influence possible attitudes? Which hurdles do decision-makers concern for the implementation of the new concepts? This paper investigates these questions on the example of dike relocation and floodplain restoration using Q-methodology with administrative decision-makers of flood protection authorities in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The consecutive statistical analysis unveiled three significant viewpoints among the decision-makers. The viewpoints/attitudes were classified as 1. The Convinced, 2. The Concerned and, 3. The Evaluators, defined by varying and individual concerns on the implementation of dike relocation and floodplain restoration. Hereby, this study delivers insights on large-scale NbS as well as on the issues of their implementation.
Deep learning-based automated characterization of crosscut tests for coatings via image segmentation
Authors: Zhang Gaoyuan , Schmitz Christian , Fimmers Matthias , Quix Christoph , Hoseini Sayed
Published: December 2021

A manual scratch test to measure the scratch resistance of coatings applied to a certain substrate is usually used to test the adhesion of a coating. Despite its significant amount of subjectivity, the crosscut test is widely considered to be the most practical measuring method for adhesion strength with a good reliability. Intelligent software tools help to improve and optimize systems combining chemistry, engineering based on high-throughput formulation screening (HTFS) technologies and machine learning algorithms to open up novel solutions in material sciences. Nevertheless, automated testing often misses the link to quality control by the human eye that is sensitive in spotting and evaluating defects as it is the case in the crosscut test. In this paper, we present a method for the automated and objective characterization of coatings to drive and support Chemistry 4.0 solutions via semantic image segmentation using deep convolutional networks. The algorithm evaluated the adhesion strength based on the images of the crosscuts recognizing the delaminated area and the results were compared with the traditional classification rated by the human expert.
Robot-Fish Interaction Helps to Trigger Social Buffering in Neon Tetras: The Potential Role of Social Robotics in Treating Anxiety
Authors: Romano Donato , Stefanini Cesare
Published: December 2021

The emerging field of social robotics comprises several multidisciplinary applications. Anxiety and stress therapies can greatly benefit by socio-emotional support provided by robots, although the intervention of social robots as effective treatment needs to be fully understood. Herein,Paracheirodon innesi, a social fish species, was used to interact with a robotic fish to understand intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms causing anxiety, and how social robots can be effectively used as anxiety treatments. In the first experiment we tested the effects of a conspecific-mimicking robot on the fish tendency to swim in the bottom when transferred in a new tank. Here,P. innesispent a significantly longer time in the upper section of the test tank when the robotic fish was present, clearly indicating a reduction of their state of anxiety due to social stimuli. The second experiment was based on a modification of the dark/light preference test, since many teleost fish are scototactic, preferring dark environments. However, when the robotic fish was placed in the white half of the test tank,P. innesiindividuals swam longer in this section otherwise aversive. Social support provided by the robotic fish in both experiments produced a better recovery from anxiety due to social buffering, a phenomenon regulated by specific neural mechanisms. This study provides new insights on the evolution and mechanisms of social buffering to reduce anxiety, as well as on the use of social robots as an alternative to traditional approaches in treating anxiety symptoms.
Prognostic and predictive value of radiomics features at MRI in nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Authors: Bao Dan , Zhao Yanfeng , Liu Zhou , Zhong Hongxia , Geng Yayuan , Lin Meng , Li Lin , Zhao Xinming , Luo Dehong
Published: December 2021

Purpose

To explore the value of MRI-based radiomics features in predicting risk in disease progression for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods

199 patients confirmed with NPC were retrospectively included and then divided into training and validation set using a hold-out validation (159: 40). Discriminative radiomic features were selected with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test from tumors and normal masticatory muscles of 37 NPC patients. LASSO Cox regression and Pearson correlation analysis were applied to further confirm the differential expression of the radiomic features in the training set. Using the multiple Cox regression model, we built a radiomic feature-based classifier, Rad-Score. The prognostic and predictive performance of Rad-Score was validated in the validation cohort and illustrated in all included 199 patients.

Results

We identified 1832 differentially expressed radiomic features between tumors and normal tissue. Rad-Score was built based on one radiomic feature: CET1-w_wavelet.LLH_GLDM_Dependence-Entropy. Rad-Score showed a satisfactory performance to predict disease progression in NPC with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.604, 0.732, 0.626 in the training, validation, and the combined cohort (all 199 patients included) respectively. Rad-Score improved risk stratification, and disease progression-free survival was significantly different between these groups in every cohort of patients (p = 0.044 or p < 0.01). Combining radiomics and clinical features, higher AUC was achieved of the prediction of 3-year disease progression-free survival (PFS) (AUC, 0.78) and 5-year disease PFS (AUC, 0.73), although there was no statistical difference.

Conclusion

The radiomics classifier, Rad-Score, was proven useful for pretreatment prognosis prediction and showed potential in risk stratification for NPC.
An evolutionary optimization approach to prevent electronics burnout in subsea oil and gas equipment
Authors: Somassoundirame Ramechecandane , Nithiyananthan Eswari
Published: December 2021

The electronics burnout in subsea engineering equipment caused by the excessive heating of electronics due to improper cooling mechanism is an area of major concern in subsea oil and gas fields. Very often the electronic canisters are encapsulated by insulation to prevent hydrate formation in the subsea completion equipment. The electronic equipment with a set of sensors is usually deployed subsea for live monitoring of data and to regulate the functioning of the equipment. This study presents a numerical methodology to predict and prevent electronics burnout in a pressure/temperature transmitter (PT/TT) that is truly representative of a wide class of PT/TT deployed subsea. An optimization study of the insulation system around the PT/TT sensors that encompasses the various contradicting constraints that are routinely encountered in subsea engineering has been presented for the benefit of the readers. In the present study, the optimal design of the insulation system around the electronics equipment is generated using a combination of thermal finite element analysis and evolutionary optimization algorithms. The results obtained show that the proposed methodology can yield results which could be a tremendous improvement in the traditional means of designing the insulation systems for such electronics equipment. It is also shown that locating the electronic housing far from the production fluid in the PT/TT sensors can lead to proper cooling and thereby avoid the burnout to a significant extent.
Prenatal 3D-Ultrasound Diagnosis of “Tessier 3” Lateral Facial Cleft
Authors: Krishnan Vivek , Thomas Mathew , Sharma Mohit , Elayedatt Rinshi Abid
Published: December 2021

Atypical facial clefts are rare and result from partial or total non-fusion of embryonal craniofacial tissue. Tessier classified facial clefts and numbered them from 0 to 14, using the orbit as the primary structure of reference. The Tessier three cleft which extends through the upper lip, alar groove, and medial canthus is one of the most destructive of all facial clefts albeit one of the rarest. We report a case of isolated Tessier 3 facial cleft diagnosed on prenatal three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound examination. Two-dimensional sonography revealed a normally growing fetus with an absence of left alae nasi and normal appearing lips, palate, and alveolar ridges. However, a 3D imaging in surface rendering mode showed a large Tessier 3 lateral facial cleft, thus confirming the utility of 3D sonography in the prenatal diagnosis of such rare lateral facial clefts.
Continuous self-adaptive optimization to learn multi-task multi-agent
Authors: Liang Wenqian , Wang Ji , Bao Weidong , Zhu Xiaomin , Wang Qingyong , Han Beibei
Published: December 2021

Multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) methods have shown superior performance to solve a variety of real-world problems focusing on learning distinct policies for individual tasks. These approaches face problems when applied to the non-stationary real-world: agents trained in specialized tasks cannot achieve satisfied generalization performance across multiple tasks; agents have to learn and store specialized policies for individual task and reliable identities of tasks are hardly observable in practice. To address the challenge continuously adapting to multiple tasks in MARL, we formalize the problem into a two-stage curriculum. Single-task policies are learned with MARL approaches, after that we develop a gradient-based Self-Adaptive Meta-Learning algorithm, SAML, that cannot only distill single-task policies into a unified policy but also can facilitate the unified policy to continuously adapt to new incoming tasks. In addition, to validate the continuous adaptation performance on complex task, we extend the widely adopted StarCraft benchmark SMAC and develop a new multi-task multi-agent StarCraft environment, Meta-SMAC, for testing various aspects of continuous adaptation method. Our experiments with a population of agents show that our method enables significantly more efficient adaptation than reactive baselines across different scenarios.
Radioecology
Authors: Pentreath R. J.
Published: December 2021

Natural radiation arises from many sources, from the unstable atoms within our own bodies and in the materials around us, from the Sun, and even from beyond the Solar System. Additional sources include the legacy of testing nuclear weapons, nuclear waste, and nuclear accidents. All these sources have provided means of dating environmental materials and tracing the movements of substances through land, sea, and air. But ionising radiation also interacts with DNA, which has led to a remarkable range of studies to examine how and how quickly these unstable atoms are accumulated by both humans and biota, and their various effects on both. Providing an overview of the sources, uses and impacts of ionising radiation in the environment, and the frameworks developed to manage exposures to them, this is a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers interested in radioecology, environmental science and radiological protection.
Disaggregating democracy aid to explain peaceful democratisation after civil wars
Authors: Mross Karina
Published: December 2021

Democratisation is hailed as a pathway to peace by some, yet, blamed for provoking renewed violence by others. Can democracy aid explain the effect of democratisation after civil war? Building upon findings that transitions to democracy are prone to violence, this article shows that external democracy aid can mitigate such negative effects. It is the first to disaggregate democracy aid and analyse its effect on peace after civil war. To this end, it uses a configurational approach and focuses on support for competition (for example, promoting free and fair elections), institutional constraints (for example, strengthening the judiciary), and cooperation (for example, facilitating reconciliation). Combining Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) with an illustrative case study on Liberia, it demonstrates that democracy aid can help to prevent recurrence during postconflict democratisation. Two pathways can explain peaceful democratisation: first, fostering ‘cooperative democratisation’ characterised by substantial support for cooperation in lower-risk contexts; and second, fostering ‘controlled competition’ by combining substantial support for institutional constraints and competition. Importantly, democracy support does not trigger renewed violence. These findings speak to the academic debate on the destabilising potential of democratisation processes after civil wars and inform policymakers designing postconflict support strategies.
Expansion of the Low-Risk Substances in the Framework of the European Pesticide Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009
Authors: Robin Diane C. , Marchand Patrice A.
Published: December 2021

Signed in 2009, the plant protection Commission Regulation EC No 1107/2009 created a new category of active substances, the low-risk substances, with specific status defined in Article 22. The initial and specific criteria, not suitable for microorganisms and natural substances, were modified in 2018, and the first low-risk substance, allocating Part D of Regulation EC No 540/2011, was granted in the same year. Since then, thirty-three low-risk substances have been granted with this specific status through approvals and renewals, while a larger list of potential low-risk substances from already-approved active substances was published. This list is only exploited during renewals, and this process would take another five years to complete. After four years of the implementation of this status, the number of such substances is still low, but is intended to increase slowly. Two more low-risk substances are already pending in 2021, which will bring the number of low-risk substances to thirty-five, while the initial list of potential low-risk substances (only renewals) included fifty-seven substances.
Divorced from Citizenship: Palestinian-Christian Women between the Church and the Jewish State
Authors: Yefet Karin Carmit , Shahar Ido
Published: December 2021

The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.
“Revolution is the Equality of Children and Adults”: Yaşar Kemal Interviews Street Children, 1975
Authors: Maksudyan Nazan
Published: December 2021

In 1975, the world-famous novelist Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015) undertook a series of journalistic interviews with street children in Istanbul. The series, entitled “Children Are Human” (Çocuklar İnsandır), reflects the author's rebellious attitude as well as the revolutionary spirit of hope in the 1970s in Turkey. Kemal's ethnographic fieldwork with street children criticized the demotion of children to a less-than-human status when present among adults. He approached children's rights from a human rights angle, stressing the humanity of children and that children's rights are human rights. The methodological contribution of this research to the history of children and youth is its engagement with ethnography as historical source. His research provided children the opportunity to express their political subjectivities and their understanding of the major political questions of the time, specifically those of social justice, (in)equality, poverty, and ethnic violence encountered in their everyday interactions with politics in the country. Yaşar Kemal's fieldwork notes and transcribed interviews also bring to light immense injustices within an intersectional framework of age, class, ethnicity, and gender. The author emphasizes that children's political agency and their political protest is deeply rooted in their subordination and misery, but also in their dreams and hopes. Situating Yaşar Kemal's “Children Are Human” in the context of the 1970s in Turkey, I hope to contribute to childhood studies with regard to the political agency of children as well as to the history of public intellectuals and newspapers in Turkey and to progressive representations of urban marginalization.
Molecular evidence of a putative new Atractolytocestus Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea) species parasitic on common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Fu P.P. , Li W.X. , Cheng Y.Y. , Zou H. , Wu S.G. , Li M. , Wang G.T.
Published: December 2021

Three tapeworm species belonging to the genus Atractolytocestus Anthony, 1958 (Cestoda: Caryophyllidea) were reported from the common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., 1758 in the People's Republic of China so far: Atractolytocestus sagittatus; Atractolytocestus tenuicollis; and Atractolytocestus huronensis. In this study, we identified a putatively new tapeworm species in common carp from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Central China (Hubei Province). The species is morphologically similar to A. sagittatus, but it differed conspicuously in sequences of three molecular markers. Ribosomal internal transcribed spacers 2 sequence identity of the new species was 94.7–95.5%, 91.8–92.7% and 80.0–83.9% with A. huronensis, A. tenuicollis and A. sagittatus, respectively. cytochrome c oxidase and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 sequence identity with these three species was lower than 92%. We conclude that this is a new tapeworm species, and we named it after the locality: Atractolytocestus danjiangkouensis n. sp.
The use of Passeriformes in the eastern Amazonia of Brazil: culture encourages hunting and profit encourages trade
Authors: Silva Samantha , Braga Brenda , Brasil Leandro , Baía-Júnior Pedro , Guimarães Diva
Published: December 2021

This study characterized the ethnoornithological knowledge of passerine bird keepers, known locally ascriadoresorpassarinheiros, who capture, train, breed and sell wild species in the eastern Amazonia of Brazil. The data were collected from 62 bird keepers through informal, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The family Thraupidae was the most captured group, with 23 species used, predominantly of the genusSporophila.Sporophila angolensishad the highest use value and price. Our findings suggest that conservation strategies should be a priority forSporophila maximiliani,S. angolensesandSaltator maximus. The Passeriformes are obtained by capturing them from the wild, by captive breeding or in trade. They are trapped and sold locally, in nearby municipalities, and also in more distant locations as far as the border with Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana. On the international market, sale prices can reach USD 5,400 per individual bird. Species with both significant economic value and regional cultural significance are of the greatest importance to the bird keepers. To mitigate the negative effects of this activity, we recommend implementation of environmental education programmes for bird keepers, to improve their capacity to raise awareness about wildlife, and to inform them of the legal processes for bird keeping and for breeding birds in captivity for legal trade. Long-term strategies for bird conservation should also be considered, such as the implementation of ecotourism in protected areas to encourage the practice of birdwatching.
Perform hand hygiene and the doors will open – the effectiveness of new system implementation on paediatric intensive care unit visitors’ handwashing compliance
Authors: Shapiro Eli , Mahlab-Guri Keren , Scheier Eric , Ciobotaro Pnina , Guri Alex
Published: December 2021

Hand hygiene (HH) performance on entering intensive care units (ICUs) is commonly accepted but often inadequately performed. We developed a simple, inexpensive module that connects touchless dispensers of alcohol sanitiser (TDAS) to the automatic doors of a paediatric ICU, and assessed the impact of this intervention on HH compliance of hospital staff and visitors. A prospective observational study was conducted over a 3-week period prior to the intervention, followed by a 4-week period post intervention. HH performance was monitored by a research assistant whose office location enabled direct and video-assisted observation of the ICU entrance. A total of 609 entries to the ICU was recorded. Overall HH performance was 46.9% (92/196) before and 98.5% (406/413) after the intervention. Our findings suggest that HH performance on entering an ICU can be improved via a mechanism that makes operation of an automatic door dependent on use of a TDAS system, and thus contribute to infection control.
Pelvic lymph node recurrence in high-risk prostate cancer following prostate-only radiotherapy
Authors: Hussain Sameed , Imran Wajid Muhammad , Omer Muhammad , Yousuf Khan Muhammad , Maqsood Talha , Zeb Adnan
Published: December 2021

Introduction:

High-risk prostate cancer is the most common presentation at our institute among patients with non-metastatic prostate cancer. Traditionally, pelvic lymph nodes were given a prophylactic dose of radiotherapy while the prostate was given a curative dose of radiation. This study aims to evaluate patterns of failure in patients who had prostate-only radiation at our centre.

Materials and Methods:

All high-risk prostate cancer patients who underwent radical radiotherapy to prostate only since 2014 were retrospectively analysed. Local T stage, baseline prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score were recorded. Bone scan and staging CT scan data were collected. Various dose levels prescribed to prostate were analysed. The follow-up records of these patients were assessed. Patients who failed in pelvic lymph nodes were recorded separately. Overall survival and failure-free survival were calculated using Kaplan–Meier curve.

Results:

One-hundred five patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analysed. Only three patients developed recurrence in pelvic lymph node following prostate-only radiotherapy (PORT). Five year overall survival was 77% while failure-free survival was 64%. Forty patients had a PSA failure after a median follow-up of 62 months.

Conclusions:

Most high-risk prostate cancer patients who progress following hormone therapy and PORT have metastases outside pelvis. Till further conclusive evidence is available PORT can be considered as a safe option.
Data Localization and the National Treatment Obligation in International Investment Treaties
Authors: Zhang Qianwen , Mitchell Andrew
Published: December 2021

Data localization hurts foreign investment and brings potential economic advantages to domestic corporations relative to foreign corporations. This leads to the argument that data localization violates the national treatment principle in international investment treaties. By applying the ‘three-step’ approach to assess the legality of data localization with respect to the national treatment principle, this article finds that the legality of data localization depends on certain circumstances, including the domestic catalogues of foreign investment, the definition of data localization in domestic legislation, and whether international investment treaties explicitly or implicitly incorporate data protection through exceptions for the protection of the state's essential security interests, public order, or public morals. China's acceleration of its legislation processes to regulate cross-border data transfer has significant implications for the negotiations and modifications of Chinese international investment treaties.
Predictors of Caregiver Burden Among Carers of Suicide Attempt Survivors
Authors: Maple Myfanwy , Wayland Sarah , Sanford Rebecca L. , Bhullar Navjot
Published: December 2021

Abstract. Background: Family members often provide informal care following a suicide attempt. Carers may be vulnerable to caregiver burden. Yet, little is known about what contributes to this. Aims: To determine the predictors of caregiver burden in those carers who support people who have attempted suicide. Method: An online survey of 435 participants assessed exposure to suicide, caring behaviors, and psychological variables and caregiver burden. Results: A multivariate model explained 52% of variance in caregiver burden. Being female, closeness to the person, impact of suicide attempt, frequency of contact pre-attempt, and psychological distress were positively associated with caregiver burden. Confidence in supporting the person after suicide attempt, perceived adequacy of healthcare the person received and the support the carer received, and suicidal ideation of the carer were negatively associated with caregiver burden. Moderation analysis suggested that carers with high levels of distress reported negative association between suicidal ideation and caregiver burden. Limitations: The cross-sectional online survey design of self-identified carers is a limitation of the study. Conclusion: Carers are highly distressed, and if unsupported report increased suicide ideation. In their caring roles they may have contact with support services, thus attending to their needs may ameliorate caregiver burden and associated negative outcomes.
Ebbinghaus Illusion
Authors: Krantz John H.
Published: December 2021

Abstract. For 25 years, the web has been used for psychological research ( Krantz et al., 1997 ; Reips, 1997 ). While many areas of psychology have benefitted from the increased access to participants and other benefits of web-based research, one area of psychology has rarely taken advantage of the online format, that is, sensation and perception. Largely, sensation and perception research has not used the web because of the need for carefully calibrated equipment to successfully run their experiments. However, there may be classes of phenomena in our sensory processes that might be studied online where the equipment and stimuli vary. Suppose the critical feature of the stimulus is an abstraction of the physical stimulus that does not vary with different displays. In that case, these features can be successfully studied online, meaning that results from online studies will match those from controlled laboratories. This study will examine the Ebbinghaus illusion to illustrate the successful use of the web for perceptual research. The implications and some discussion of types of perceptual studies conducted on the web will be discussed.
Advanced Training in Web-Based Psychology Research
Authors: Birnbaum Michael H.
Published: December 2021

Abstract. This article describes Advanced Training Institutes (ATIs) and workshops on psychological experimentation conducted via the Internet. These programs, conducted since 2002, presented instruction that evolved over the decades to reflect changes in Web-based methods and techniques. The need for instruction in the methods and methodology of Web-based research has increased over the years, as more researchers adopted these methods without necessarily learning the methodological lessons developed from theory and experience. Links to instructional materials created for the workshops are provided. From events and trends that played out over time, including the story of methods that were once state-of-the-art and are no longer functional today, lessons hard-won from the past can be used to anticipate and plan future directions in Web-based experimentation.
Web-Based Research in Psychology
Authors: Reips Ulf-Dietrich
Published: December 2021

Abstract. The present article reviews web-based research in psychology. It captures principles, learnings, and trends in several types of web-based research that show similar developments related to web technology and its major shifts (e.g., appearance of search engines, browser wars, deep web, commercialization, web services, HTML5…) as well as distinct challenges. The types of web-based research discussed are web surveys and questionnaire research, web-based tests, web experiments, Mobile Experience Sampling, and non-reactive web research, including big data. A number of web-based methods are presented and discussed that turned out to become important in research methodology. These are one-item-one-screen design, seriousness check, instruction manipulation and other attention checks, multiple site entry technique, subsampling technique, warm-up technique, and web-based measurement. Pitfalls and best practices are described then, especially regarding dropout and other non-response, recruitment of participants, and interaction between technology and psychological factors. The review concludes with a discussion of important concepts that have developed over 25 years and an outlook on future developments in web-based research.
Anthropogenic Aerosols Modulated 20th‐Century Sahel Rainfall Variability Via Their Impacts on North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature
Authors: Zhang Shipeng , Stier Philip , Dagan Guy , Wang Minghuai
Published: December 2021

The Sahel rainfall has a close teleconnection with North Atlantic sea surface temperature (NASST) variability, which has separately been shown to be affected by aerosols. Therefore, changes in regional aerosols emission could potentially drive multidecadal Sahel rainfall variability. Here we combine ensembles of state‐of‐the‐art global climate models (the CESM and CanESM large ensemble simulations and CMIP6 models) with observational data sets to demonstrate that anthropogenic aerosols have significantly impacted 20th‐century detrended Sahel rainfall multidecadal variability through modifying NASST. We show that aerosol‐induced multidecadal variations of downward solar radiative fluxes over the North Atlantic cause NASST variability during the 20th century, altering the ITCZ position and dynamically linking aerosol effects to Sahel rainfall variability. This process chain is caused by aerosol‐induced changes in radiative surface fluxes rather than changes in ocean circulations. CMIP6 models further suggest that aerosol‐cloud interactions modulate the inter‐model uncertainty of simulated NASST and potentially the Sahel rainfall variability.
Data‐Driven Prediction of Turbulent Flow Statistics Past Bridge Piers in Large‐Scale Rivers Using Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Zhang Zexia , Flora Kevin , Kang Seokkoo , Limaye Ajay B. , Khosronejad Ali
Published: December 2021

Prediction of statistical properties of the turbulent flow in large‐scale rivers is essential for river flow analysis. The large‐eddy simulation (LES) provides a powerful tool for such predictions; however, it requires a very long sampling time and demands significant computing power to calculate the turbulence statistics of riverine flows. In this study, we developed encoder‐decoder convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to predict the first‐ and second‐order turbulence statistics of the turbulent flow of large‐scale meandering rivers using instantaneous LES results. We train the CNNs using a data set obtained from LES of the flood flow in a large‐scale river with three bridge piers—a training testbed. Subsequently, we employed the trained CNNs to predict the turbulence statistics of the flood flow in two different meandering rivers and bridge pier arrangements—validation testbed rivers. The CNN predictions for the validation testbed river flow were compared with the simulation results of a separately done LES to evaluate the performance of the developed CNNs. We show that the trained CNNs can successfully produce turbulence statistics of the flood flow in the large‐scale rivers, that is, the validation testbeds.