bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Acupuncture Targeting SIRT1 in the Hypothalamic Arcuate Nucleus Can Improve Obesity in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Rats with Insulin Resistance via an Anorectic Effect
Authors: Shu Qing , Chen Li , Wu Song , Li Jia , Liu Jianmin , Xiao Ling , Chen Rui , Liang Fengxia
Published: January 2020

Objective: To investigate the anorexigenic and anti-obesity effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) on high-fat-diet-induced (HFDI) obese rats with insulin resistance (IR) and to reveal the possible mechanisms of EA affecting SIRT1 (silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1) in the central nervous system (CNS). Methods: We divided 60 rats into 6 groups. All interventions, including EA and intracerebroventricular administration, were performed after 8 weeks of model establishment. We tested obesity phenotypes like body weight (BW) gain; food intake; and IR levels including glucose infusion rate, intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test (IPITT), and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) during treatment. We detected protein expression and microscopic locations in hypothalamic SIRT1, the transcription factor FOXO1 (forkhead box protein O1), acetylated FOXO1 (Ac-FOXO1), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) via Western blotting and immunofluorescence, and monitored gene expression by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Like the SIRT1 agonist, EA suppressed BW gain and IR levels in obese rats, but this was only partially blocked by the SIRT1 antagonist. EA could upregulate protein expression of hypothalamic SIRT1 and downregulate the acetylation level of FOXO1 in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC), which decreased gene expression of NPY and increased that of POMC. The agonist targeted the hypothalamic SIRT1 gene, unlike EA, which targeted posttranscriptional regulation. Conclusion: EA could improve obesity in HFDI rats with IR via its anorectic effect. This effect targeted posttranscriptional regulation of the SIRT1 gene, which induced upregulation of ARC FOXO1 deacetylation and mediated the gene expression of POMC and NPY.
Hemodynamic and Laboratory Changes during Incremental Transition from Twice to Thrice-Weekly Hemodialysis
Authors: Hur Inkyong , Wenziger Cachet , Obi Yoshitsugu , Moradi Hamid , Streja Elani , Tantisattamo Ekamol , Choi Soo J. , Lau Wei Ling , Chang Yongen , Jin Anna , Chen Joline L.T. , Kovesdy Csaba P. , Rhee Connie M. , Kalantar-Zadeh Kamyar
Published: January 2020

Objective: Incremental hemodialysis (HD) is a strategy utilized to gradually intensify dialysis among patients with incident end-stage renal disease. However, there are scarce data about which patients’ clinic status changes by increasing treatment frequency. Methods: We retrospectively examined statistically de-identified data from 569 patients who successfully transitioned from twice- to thrice-weekly HD (2007–2011) and compared the differences in monthly-averaged values of hemodynamic and laboratory indices during the 3 months before and after the transition with the values at 1 month prior to transition serving as the reference. Results: At 3 months after transitioning from twice- to thrice-weekly HD, ultrafiltration volume decreased by 0.5 (95% CI 0.3–0.6) L/session among 189 patients (33%) with weekly interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) ≥5.4 kg/week, and increased by 0.4 (95% CI 0.3–0.5) L/session among 186 patients (33%) with weekly IDWG <3.3 kg/week. Weekly IDWG consistently increased after the transition irrespective of baseline values (1.7 [95% CI 1.5–1.9] kg/week). Pre-HD systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased by 12 (95% CI 9–14) mm Hg among 177 patients (31%) with baseline pre-HD SBP ≥160 mm Hg, which coincided with a decreasing trend in post-HD body weight (1.3 [95% CI 0.8–1.7] kg). Discussion: In conclusion, patients who increased HD frequency from twice to thrice weekly treatment experienced increased weekly IDWG and better pre-HD SBP control with lower post-HD body weight.
Analysis of Characteristics and Trends in Treatment Response of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients: A Southern US Cohort Study
Authors: Peterson Gregory C. , Preston Allie , Frieder Jillian , Wang Xuan , Paek So Yeon
Published: January 2020

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that has a substantial impact on patients’ quality of life. As the exact pathogenesis remains unclear, treatment is complex and not yet standardized. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe patient characteristics and to broadly examine trends in treatment response of various therapeutic strategies in patients with HS in a single academic referral center in the southern USA. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of a cohort of HS patients seen in a faculty general dermatology practice with academic affiliation to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX, between February 2015 and February 2018. Patient demographics, clinical features, prescribed treatments, and response to treatment were analyzed using the Pearson χ2 test or Fisher exact test, and by the Mann-Whitney U test for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Results: A total of 149 patients (113 females, 36 males) were included. Hurley stages I, II, and III were diagnosed in 29.6, 36.5, and 33.9% of patients, respectively. 44.2% of patients had a positive family history of HS, 39.5% of patients were current or former smokers, and 52.8% reported alcohol use. 80.9% of patients were overweight or obese (BMI ≥25), compared to 68.5% in Texas in 2016 (p = 0.0012). The most frequently prescribed treatments were oral antibiotic therapy (83.9%), topical antibiotic therapy (74.5%), metabolic medications such as metformin/zinc (67.1%), intralesional Kenalog (63.1%), and biologic therapies (tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors; TNF-α inhibitors; 49%). In examining the response rate, patients with disease localized to the buttocks had significantly higher response rates (60.4 vs. 25%, p = 0.043) and approached statistical significance in responders versus nonresponders in treatment with biologics (p = 0.0632) when compared against all other treatments. Conclusions: HS is a complex inflammatory skin condition associated with obesity and smoking. In this cohort, the most frequently prescribed therapies were oral and topical antibiotics. However, the use of biologic agents (TNF-α inhibitors) appears to be associated with the most significant treatment response. Key Points: This is the first study to evaluate trends in treatment response of various therapeutic strategies in HS patients at an academic referral center in Dallas, TX, a unique geographic region of the southern USA. Biologic therapy (TNF-α inhibitor) appears to be associated with the most significant treatment response.
SERINC5 Is an Unconventional HIV Restriction Factor That Is Upregulated during Myeloid Cell Differentiation
Authors: Zutz Ariane , Schölz Christian , Schneider Stephanie , Pierini Virginia , Münchhoff Maximilian , Sutter Kathrin , Wittmann Georg , Dittmer Ulf , Draenert Rika , Bogner Johannes R. , Fackler Oliver T. , Keppler Oliver T.
Published: January 2020

Classical antiviral restriction factors promote cellular immunity by their ability to interfere with virus replication and induction of their expression by proinflammatory cytokines such as interferons. The serine incorporator proteins SERINC3 and SERINC5 potently reduce the infectivity of HIV-1 particles when overexpressed, and RNA interference or knockout approaches in T cells have indicated antiviral activity also of the endogenous proteins. Due to lack of reagents for detection of endogenous SERINC proteins, it is still unclear whether SERINC3/5 are expressed to functionally relevant levels in different primary target cells of HIV infection and how the expression levels of these innate immunity factors are regulated. In the current study, analysis of SERINC3/5 mRNA steady-state levels in primary lymphoid and monocyte-derived cells revealed selective induction of their expression upon differentiation of myeloid cells. Contrary to classical antiviral restriction factors, various antiviral α-interferon subtypes and proinflammatory interleukins had no effect on SERINC levels, which were also not dysregulated in CD4+ T cells and monocytes isolated from patients with chronic HIV-1 infection. Notably, HIV-1 particles produced by terminally differentiated monocyte-derived macrophages with high SERINC5 expression, but not by low-expressing monocytes, showed a Nef-dependent infectivity defect. Overall, these findings suggest endogenous expression of SERINC5 to antivirally active levels in macrophages. Our results classify SERINC5 as an unconventional HIV-1 restriction factor whose expression is specifically induced upon differentiation of cells towards the myeloid lineage.
Hyperprolactinemia Impaired the Effects of Lipopolysaccharide on Both Body Temperature and Sickness Behavior in Virgin Female Rats
Authors: do Nascimento Amanda Florentina , Thompsom Brooke , Dell’Armelina Rocha Paulo Ricardo , Kirychuk Shelley , Bernardi Maria Martha , Felicio Luciano Freitas
Published: January 2020

Objective: Previously we observed an attenuation of body temperature in lactating rats treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) compared with virgin saline-treated females. We proposed that high levels of prolactin (PRL) during lactation may induce this attenuation because PRL has a suppressive effect on inflammation. In the present study, we induced hyperprolactinemia in female virgin rats to investigate the effects of PRL on body temperature and sickness behavior induced by LPS. Methods: To induce hyperprolactinemia, female rats in the estrous phase received domperidone 3 times/day for 5 days and an LPS injection (D + LPS group). Two other groups were treated with saline solution for 5 days, and one of them received a saline injection (S + S group) and the other LPS (S + LPS group). Tympanic temperature was assessed 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after treatment. Body weight gain and food and water consumption were observed 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after treatment. Results: Hyperprolactinemia impaired LPS-induced hypothermia and hyperthermia phases of body temperature. Body weight gains in the S + LPS group and the D + LPS group were similar. A decrease in food consumption was observed in the D + LPS rats at 72 and 96 h compared to the S + LPS group. Conclusion: Hyperprolactinemia impaired the body temperature increase induced by LPS and several signs of sickness behavior, suggesting that febrile responses to LPS can be modulated by the physiological state. These phenomena may have adaptive value for reproduction.
Assessment of CCL27 and IL-11 in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with Interferon-β and Glatiramer Acetate
Authors: Ebrahimi Monfared Mohsen , Shapoori Shima , Mosayebi Ghasem , Khansarinejad Behzad , Ghazavi Ali , Rezagholizamenjany Masoud , Ganji Ali
Published: January 2020

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory autoimmune disease which involves the central nervous ­system. Although the primary cause of MS is obscure, effects of some cytokine and chemokine patterns in both innate and adaptive immune systems have been described. ­Objectives: Since limited studies have examined the role of interleukin (IL)-11 and chemokine CCL27 in MS, we aimed to identify changes in IL-11 and CCL27 gene expression and serum levels in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients, treated with interferon (IFN)-β and glatiramer acetate (GA). Methods: The serum level and gene expression of IL-11 and CCL27 were measured and compared between treatment-naïve MS patients and RRMS patients who were treated with high-dose IFN-β1a, low-dose IFN-β1a, IFN-β1b, and GA via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: A significant decrease was observed in the serum level of CCL27 in treatment-naïve patients and IFN-β1b-treated patients compared to the healthy controls. On the other hand, a significant increase was found in the protein level of CCL27 in low-dose and high-dose IFN-β1a groups compared to the treatment-naïve group. In addition, CCL27 gene expression was higher in patients treated with GA than in the treatment-naïve group. There were no significant changes in the gene expression or protein level of IL-11 in all experimental groups. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between IL-11 and CCL-27. Conclusion: Our results suggest the inflammatory role of CCL27 in MS patients, while IFN-β1a seems to play a compensatory role for this chemokine.
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: A Contemporary Pediatric Experience
Authors: Alfandary Hadas , Rinat Choni , Gurevich Evgenia , Eisenstein Israel , Goldberg Ori , Kropach Nesia , Landau Daniel
Published: January 2020

Background: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a significant cause for complicated acute kidney injury. In Western countries, >90% of HUS are Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC) associated. Methods: This is a retrospective review of all Israeli children diagnosed with HUS in 4 major medical centers in Israel during 1999–2016. Patients were categorized into 4 HUS etiological groups according to international guidelines: I, inherited or acquired damage to the complement cascade (“atypical HUS” [aHUS]); II, infection associated (“typical” HUS – STEC associated, Pneumococcus); III, coexisting disease; IV: other and unknown causes. Results: Seventy-five children with HUS were identified; the mean annual incidence was 1.5 ± 0.7 cases/106 per year. Distribution according to etiological groups was: I: 24.0%; II: 14.7%; III: 9.3%; IV: 52.0%. Group I comprised high proportions of Arabs (55.6%), children of consanguineous parents (61.0%), and hypertension. Group II included a high proportion of children with diarrhea on presentation and central nervous system involvement. Only 5 (6.6%) had proven STEC-HUS. Group IV was similar in most characteristics to group II. Logistic regression analysis revealed 3 independent factors associated with the diagnosis of aHUS: consanguinity, lack of diarrhea, and lack of leukocytosis at presentation. Receiver operating analysis curve showed an area under the curve of 0.9 (95% CI 0.82–0.98). Conclusions: HUS incidence is lower in Israel than in most countries, especially because STEC-HUS is very rare. aHUS is the largest defined etiological group; some distinctive characteristics were identified that could facilitate its diagnosis. The current classification system leaves a high rate of “unknown cause” HUS.
Circulating Endocannabinoids and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Moradi Hamid , Park Christina , Streja Elani , Argueta Donovan A. , DiPatrizio Nicholas V. , You Amy S. , Rhee Connie M. , Vaziri Nosratola D. , Kalantar-Zadeh Kamyar , Piomelli Daniele
Published: January 2020

Background: Mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) remains exceptionally high. While traditional risk factors such as obesity are paradoxically associated with better survival, nontraditional risk factors including cachexia increase the likelihood of poor outcomes. There is accumulating evidence that the endocannabinoid (ECB) system plays a major role in energy preservation and storage, factors which can prevent the deleterious effects of cachexia. Hence, in this study, we evaluated the association of circulating ECB levels with mortality in MHD patients. Methods: Serum concentrations of anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol (2-AG), major ECB ligands, were measured in MHD patients. Their correlation with various clinical/laboratory indices and association with 12-month all-cause mortality were examined. Results: Serum 2-AG levels positively correlated with body mass index, serum triglycerides and body anthropometric measures. Meanwhile, serum AEA levels correlated positively with serum interleukin-6, and negatively with serum very low-density lipoprotein levels. While increased serum 2-AG levels were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.52, 95% CI 0.28–0.98), there was no clear association between serum AEA levels and mortality (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.48–1.72). Conclusions: In MHD patients, the circulating levels of ECB ligand, 2-AG, may play an important role in determining body mass and risk of mortality. These observations were unique to 2-AG as similar findings were not obtained with serum AEA. Future studies need to investigate the mechanisms responsible for these associations and examine the modulation of the ECB system as a potential target for therapy in ESRD.
Differentiating Atrioventricular Reentry Tachycardia and Atrioventricular Node Reentry Tachycardia Using Premature His Bundle Complexes
Authors: Padanilam Benzy J. , Ahmed Asim S. , Clark Brad A. , Gilge Jasen L. , Patel Parin J. , Prystowsky Eric N. , Steinberg Leonard A.
Published: January 2020

Background:

Current maneuvers for differentiation of atrioventricular node reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) and atrioventricular reentry tachycardia (AVRT) lack sensitivity and specificity for AVRT circuits located away from the site of pacing. We hypothesized that a premature His complex (PHC) will always perturb AVRT because the His bundle is obligatory to the circuit. Further, AVNRT could not be perturbed by a late PHC (≤20 ms ahead of the His) due to the retrograde His conduction time. Earlier PHCs can advance the AVNRT circuit but only by a quantity less than the prematurity of the PHC.

Methods:

High-output pacing at the distal His location delivered PHCs. AVRT was predicted when late PHCs perturbed tachycardia or when earlier PHCs led to atrial advancement by an amount equal or greater than the degree of PHC prematurity.

Results:

Among the 73 supraventricular tachycardias, the test accurately predicted AVRT (n=29) and AVNRT (n=44) in all cases. Late PHC advanced the circuit in all 29 AVRTs and none of the AVNRTs (sensitivity and specificity, 100%). With earlier PHCs, the degree of atrial advancement was equal or greater than the PHC prematurity in 26/29 AVRTs and none of the AVNRTs (90% sensitivity and 100% specificity). The mean prematurity of the PHC required to perturb AVNRT was 48 ms (range, 28–70 ms) and the advancement less than the prematurity of the PHC (mean, 32 ms; range, 18–54 ms).

Conclusions:

The responses to PHCs distinguished AVRT and AVNRT with 100% specificity and sensitivity.
A Local Apocalypse: District Fairs and Poetry Recitation in Rural India
Authors: Tabor Nathan L.M.
Published: January 2020

Since the early twentieth century, Urdu poets have recited verse at locally-organized poetry gatherings held in country fairs across North India’s Gangetic plain. Critical engagement with these mushāʿarahs overturns assumptions about historical and affiliative aspects of vernacular and elite literary practices, revealing a patchwork of patronage, influence, and taste among poets and their audiences, while also highlighting unexpected routes of textual circulation outside urban locales. This essay examines poetry gatherings in and around the city of Muzaffarnagar located in North India’s Upper Doab. Ethnographic and archival materials tell a history of the performance arenas, tea stalls, and municipal structures of a semi-urban milieu that changes the scale of Urdu literary spaces over time.
North American Opuntias (Cactaceae) in Argentina? Remarks on the phylogenetic position of Opuntia penicilligera and a closer look at O. ventanensis

Authors: MAJURE LUCAS C. , KÖHLER MATIAS , FONT FABIÁN
Published: January 2020

Opuntia, the most widespread genus of cacti, occurs throughout the Americas from Patagonia to Canada. Various species have very wide distributions in the Americas, and thus may be considered as both native and aliens. We reexamined data based on recent work on the phylogenetics and taxonomy of Opuntia from southern S-America and showed that two presumed endemic species to Argentina—O. penicilligera and O. ventanensis—are likely derived from, or may be conspecific, with North American species. In particular, O. penicilligera is most closely related to members of the O. macrorhiza species complex and is morphologically similar to both O. macrorhiza and O. cymochila. O. ventanensis shares nearly all vegetative and reproductive morphological characters with O. fragilis and likely is conspecific with that taxon. Owed to the wide distribution of Opuntia species and the movement of many taxa by people, extra care must be exercised when describing new species or for carrying out taxonomic treatments. A phylogenetic perspective, as well as a careful study of species across the distribution of the genus, is recommended.
Additions to Sphaeronemoura (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from Oriental China
Authors: LI WEIHAI , LI WENLIANG , YANG DING
Published: January 2020

A new species of the Amphinemurinae genus Sphaeronemoura is described, S. multicurvata sp. n., from Sichuan Province of southwestern China. The relationships with other related species are discussed. Sphaeronemoura elephas (Zwick, 1974) is also for the first time reported from Jiangxi Province of southeastern China.
New and rare micro-pagurid hermit crabs (Crustacea: Anomura: Paguridae) from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico
Authors: LEMAITRE RAFAEL
Published: January 2020

Six species of hermit crabs of the family Paguridae from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico region, including two new species, Anisopagurus asteriscus sp. nov. and Pagurus alarius sp. nov., are documented. The two new species are described, and recognition characters summarized for the four previously known species. Reports of the latter, Nematopaguroides fagei Forest & de Saint Laurent, 1968, N. karukera Lemaitre, Felder & Poupin, 2017, Paguriscus robustus Lemaitre, Felder & Poupin, 2017, and Pylopaguridium markhami McLaughlin & Lemaitre, 2001, represent range extensions for all four species. Color photographs are included for four of the species, as well as remarks on their taxonomy and distributions. All six species included can be categorized as micro-pagurids (with shield length rarely exceeding 2.0 mm), and were collected from cryptic reef habitats in Bocas del Toro, Panama; the French Antillean island of Guadeloupe; and the Gulf of Mexico coasts of Louisiana, Yucatán, and Florida Keys. The discovery of these new or rare species supports the conclusion of recent studies that the diversity of pagurids from the Caribbean region has yet to be fully realized.
Biomechanical Evaluation of Passive Back-Support Exoskeletons in a Precision Manual Assembly Task: “Expected” Effects on Trunk Muscle Activity, Perceived Exertion, and Task Performance
Authors: Madinei Saman , Alemi Mohammad Mehdi , Kim Sunwook , Srinivasan Divya , Nussbaum Maury A.
Published: January 2020

Objective

To assess the efficacy of two different passive back-support exoskeleton (BSE) designs, in terms of trunk muscle activity, perceived low-back exertion, and task performance.

Background

BSEs have the potential to be an effective intervention for reducing low-back physical demands, yet little is known about the impacts of different designs in work scenarios requiring varying degrees of symmetric and asymmetric trunk bending during manual assembly tasks.

Method

Eighteen participants (gender balanced) completed lab-based simulations of a precision manual assembly task using a “grooved pegboard.” This was done in 26 different conditions (20 unsupported; 6 supported, via a chair), which differed in vertical height, horizontal distance, and orientation.

Results

Using both BSEs reduced metrics of trunk muscle activity in many task conditions (≤47% reductions when using BackX™ and ≤24% reductions when using Laevo™). Such reductions, though, were more pronounced in the conditions closer to the mid-sagittal plane and differed between the two BSEs tested. Minimal effects on task completion times or ratings of perceived exertion were found for both BSEs.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that using passive BSEs can be beneficial for quasi-static manual assembly tasks, yet their beneficial effects can be task specific and specific to BSE design approaches. Further work is needed, though, to better characterize this task specificity and to assess the generalizability of different BSE design approaches in terms of physical demands, perceived exertion, and task performance.

Application

These results can help guide the choice and application of passive BSE designs for diverse work scenarios involving nonneutral trunk postures.
Relative pose determination of uncooperative known target based on extracting region of interest
Authors: Yin Fang , Chou Wusheng , Wu Yun , Dong Mingjie
Published: January 2020

This paper deals with the problem of relative pose determination between a model-known uncooperative space target and a chaser spacecraft using three-dimensional point cloud. A novel, reliable and real-time relative pose determination framework is proposed, which is composed of a region of interest–based initial pose acquisition method and a template matching iterative closest point algorithm for tracking pose. The initial pose is obtained by the principal component analysis method which aligns the region of interest extracted from the scanning point cloud with the region of interest of the known model point cloud, and a three-dimensional convex hull is constructed to extract the region of interest fast. To improve the iterative closest point, the registration between the template point cloud generated by the pose of last frame and the point cloud of the current frame is used to replace the registration between the local scanning point cloud and the global model point cloud. In addition, the performance (stability, low cost and their robustness against noise) of the proposed initial pose acquisition method and the accuracy and reliability of the pose tracking algorithm have been demonstrated by the numerical experiments. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the field experiment.
Distributed trajectory tracking and formation control without velocity measurements by the notion of prior bounded local neighborhood synchronization error
Authors: Lin Boxian , Zhang Te , Zhu Bo , Qin Kaiyu
Published: January 2020

This paper investigates the robust consensus tracking and formation control problems of multiple second-order systems having exogenous disturbances and no velocity measurements. To account for the input saturation constraint in controller design, a novel notion of local neighborhood synchronization error is proposed, which is obtained using generalized saturation functions and can be regarded as a nonlinear variation of the well-known linear local neighborhood synchronization error. An important property of the notion is proved and then a continuous distributed controller is designed using it. To improve the robustness of the controller with respect to exogenous disturbance, a disturbance estimator–based design and a simple parameter mapping for parameter tuning are proposed. The resulting error system is proven to be small-signal [Formula: see text] stable and input-to-output stable. In particular, the synchronization errors and tracking errors converge asymptotically to zero if the disturbances converge to some constants. By the parameter mapping, the steady-state synchronization errors and tracking errors can be made arbitrarily small. The control scheme is finally modified to adapt to formation control applications by adding the desired position deviation from the leader’s trajectory. The performance of the scheme is demonstrated by the simulation results.
Making the silicon cape of Africa: Tales, theories and the narration of startup urbanism
Authors: Pollio Andrea
Published: January 2020

Silicon alleys, hills, peaks, beaches, savannahs, islands, lagoons and gulfs have mushroomed across cities of all continents, in the hope of fuelling profitable, innovative startup hubs. These Silicon-Valley replicas deploy economic theories, managerial fads, success stories and best practices that are metonymically linked to Northern California, but they also draw upon local arrangements of heterogeneous constituents: policy experts, entrepreneurs, reports, IT infrastructures, universities, coworking spaces, networking protocols and so forth. The making of one such ecosystem, Cape Town’s so-called ‘silicon cape’, is the topic of this article, which, however, does not try to uncover the specific economic and geographic factors of tech clustering. Rather, it addresses some of the narrative discourses that have framed Cape Town as the entrepreneurial capital of South Africa and Africa at large. It shows how these narrative praxes are both reflexive and ontological: they at once work as metatheories of entrepreneurial innovation in an African city and lay the groundwork for its very possibility. Via an ethnographic engagement of these textual discourses in the making, this article charts the uneasy relationship between technocapitalism and economic development in a city scarred by its colonial past and its racialised inequalities. In doing so, it shows how the discursive making of the silicon cape of Africa mobilised multiple economic sentiments, weaving together the search for profitable technology-based economies and the demand for social justice in a city of the Global South.
Environmental ethics in the perception of urban planners: A case study of four city councils
Authors: Pineda Pinto Melissa
Published: January 2020

Urban planning plays a crucial role in rethinking the relationships between cities and ecosystems. Environmental ethics can provide a framework for rethinking these relationships. However, the integration of urban planning and environmental ethics in the literature has not been extensive. Their integration is crucial because city planning is influenced by the ethical perspectives of decision-makers. This article uses a case study methodology to explore whether and how environmental ethics informs urban planning. Urban planners from four Australian councils were interviewed. Thematic analysis of these in-depth interviews as well as of relevant planning documents for each council was conducted. The article focuses on the key finding that the perceptions of urban planners and planning processes were mainly driven by an anthropocentric rather than a non-anthropocentric environmental ethic. The article concludes by offering recommendations and a guide as to how these topics can be researched in the future.
Postdemocracy, Postpolitics, and Populism: Fresh Political Thinking and Podemos
Authors: Monedero Juan Carlos
Published: January 2020

The failure of the Keynesian model in the 1970s opened the way for a neoliberal model that works at an economic level by privileging financial capital and at a political level as a rational frame of reference for a new postdemocratic “common sense.” Populism has both a collision dimension (a supposedly nonideological take on the neoliberal crisis) and an institutional dimension (a heavily ideological conception of proposals aimed at overcoming current political impasses). Within the Spanish political party Podemos, a debate has emerged between Ernesto Laclau’s “empty signifiers” and the theory put forward by Boaventura de Sousa Santos. The former is stronger on the deconstituent dimension, but only the latter is capable of formulating post-neoliberal agendas. The primacy of discourse in Laclau’s theory of populism impedes the construction of a new political subject and the consideration of a new identity. In contrast, Santos’s theory, especially his emphasis on “translation,” lends itself to a more transformative political practice in that it widens the spectrum of what is possible.

El fracaso del modelo keynesiano en la década de 1970 abrió el camino para un modelo neoliberal que funciona a nivel económico privilegiando el capital financiero y a nivel político como un marco de referencia racional para un nuevo “sentido común” posdemocrático. El populismo tiene tanto una dimensión de la colisión (una visión supuestamente no ideológica de la crisis neoliberal) y una dimensión institucional (una concepción fuertemente ideológica de las propuestas destinadas a superar los actuales impases políticos). Dentro del partido político español Podemos, ha surgido un debate entre los “significantes vacíos” de Ernesto Laclau y la teoría presentada por Boaventura de Sousa Santos. La primera es más fuerte en la dimensión desconstituyente, pero solo la segunda es capaz de formular agendas post-neoliberales. La primacía del discurso en la teoría del populismo de Laclau impide la construcción de un nuevo sujeto político y consideración de una nueva identidad. En contraste, la teoría de Santos, especialmente su énfasis en “traducción,” se presta a una práctica política más transformadora, ya que amplía el espectro de lo que es posible.
Ant lion optimized hybrid intelligent PID-based sliding mode controller for frequency regulation of interconnected multi-area power systems
Authors: AH Gomaa Haroun , Li Yin-Ya
Published: January 2020

In this article, a novel hybrid intelligent Proportional Integral Derivative (PID)-based sliding mode controller (IPID-SMC) is proposed to solve the LFC problem for realistic interconnected multi-area power systems. The optimization task for best-regulating parameters of the suggested controller structure is fulfilled by the ant lion optimizer (ALO) technique. To assess the usefulness and practicability of the suggested ALO optimized IPID-SMC controller, three test systems – that is, four-area hybrid power system, two-area reheat thermal-photovoltaic system and two-area multi-sources power system – are employed. Different nonlinearities such as generation rate constraint (GRC) and governor dead band (GDB) as a provenance of physical constraints are taken into account in the model of the two-area multi-sources power systems to examine the ability of the proposed strategy for handling the practical challenges. The acceptability and novelty of the ALO-based IPID-SMC controller to solve the systems mentioned above are appraised in comparison with some recently reported approaches. The specifications of time-domain simulation disclose that the designed proposed controller provides a desirable level of performance and stability compared with other existing strategies. Furthermore, to check the robustness of the suggested technique, sensitivity analysis is fulfilled by varying the operating loading conditions and plant parameters within a particular tolerable range.
Visual inspection system for trackside communication and signal infrastructure
Authors: Du Xinyu , Wu Dan
Published: January 2020

Trackside communication and signal infrastructure (TCSI) plays an important role in the safe operation of a high-speed railway system. However, it is a challenge to inspect such infrastructure using a vision-based system because of the uneven illumination and various reflection properties of the TCSI surfaces. This paper puts forward a visual inspection system installed on an inspection car for TCSI. The visual inspection system first captures the trackside images using the image acquisition system. Then, an image processing method using a varying-scale Retinex algorithm is implemented so that the visual inspection system can enhance the contrast of these trackside images. The method changes the size of the Gaussian kernel adaptively according to the image details in order to prevent halo artifacts and graying-out effects inherent in many image enhancement algorithms. By comparison with several state of the art methods, varying-scale Retinex is validated to overcome the local inhomogeneous brightness of images and make those images more suitable for browsing and analysis for inspectors. Composed of the image acquisition system and varying-scale Retinex, the visual inspection system is installed on many inspection cars in China for performing visual inspection.
Application of metaheuristic algorithms in optimum thermal design analysis of a rectangular porous fin subjected to both insulated and convective tip conditions
Authors: Deshamukhya Tuhin , Bhanja Dipankar , Nath Sujit
Published: January 2020

In this novel optimization analysis, a rectangular porous fin subjected to convective tip conditions along with insulated end condition is studied. The aim is to optimize the important variables responsible for transferring heat from fin with insulated as well as convective tip to the surrounding in order to get a higher rate of heat transfer from the fin surface. Temperature-dependent solid and fluid thermal conductivities as well as variable internal heat generation is considered. To obtain heat dissipation rate through porous fin, the nonlinear governing equation is first solved analytically using Adomian decomposition method. Then the heat transfer rate, i.e., objective function of this problem is optimized with three powerful metaheuristic techniques, namely firefly algorithm, particle swarm optimization and gravitational search algorithm. A comparative analysis has revealed that fins with convective end show significantly higher heat transfer rate compared to their insulated end counterparts. Particle swarm optimization showed marginally higher heat transfer values compared to firefly algorithm but firefly algorithm took less computational effort to reach the optimum value.
Churn: Mobilization–demobilization and the fungibility of American military life
Authors: MacLeish Ken
Published: January 2020

This article posits an analytic of mobilization–demobilization that attends to the instrumentalization and fungibility of military lives as both a primary source of embodied war-related harm and an undertheorized logic of the US war-making apparatus. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among post-9/11 military veterans in a US military community, the article explores mobilization–demobilization across three registers. First, I contrast it with dominant scholarly framings of ‘transition’, ‘reintegration’, and ‘militarization’, terms that analytically compartmentalize war in space and time. Second, I show how mobilization–demobilization drives the uptake and release of military labor and accounts for continuities between war violence and ‘war-like’ domestic political relations in 20th- and 21st-century US military recruiting, welfare, and personnel practices. Finally, I describe the trajectory of one veteran caught up in some elements of mobilization–demobilization, including injury, post-traumatic stress, substance use, and law-breaking, which are structured by the military’s management of his labor. These dynamics demonstrate crucial empirical links between the domestic and global faces of US war-making, and between war and nominally non-war domains.
Sensate regimes of war: Smell, tracing and violence
Authors: McSorley Kevin
Published: January 2020

This article explores the fabrication of ‘sensate regimes of war’, concentrating on the typically under-analysed sense of smell. Smell is a sensory mode capable of apprehending potential threat and enmity in ways that are orthogonal to other ways of sensing. Accordingly, the organization and interpretation of olfactory sensation occupies a distinctive place in war. The article details a particular genealogy of martial olfaction, exploring the olfactory capacities of soldiers and their augmentation through various non-human and technological means in specific milieus of combat. It notes how the distinctive affordances of smell have underpinned numerous wartime practices, from tracing improvised explosive devices to militarized manhunting. These developments supplement and trouble ocularcentric accounts of martial sensation and power that concentrate on the increasingly abstracted co-production of vision and violence in wartime. They highlight rather the significance of an alternative ontology of the signature or trace of enmity, and emphasize how in particular warscapes to smell is to kill. The article concludes by arguing that critical inquiry into war would benefit from a broader theorization of all its sensate regimes right across a sensorium that is itself being continuously transformed through war.
Patients’ Experiences of Emergency Hospital Care Following Self-Harm: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research
Authors: MacDonald Sarah , Sampson Catherine , Turley Ruth , Biddle Lucy , Ring Nicola , Begley Roisin , Evans Rhiannon
Published: January 2020

Rates of hospital presentation for self-harm have increased in recent years, and although clinical practice guidelines on clinical provision prioritize positive patient experiences, the quality of provision remains variable. This systematic review provides an updated and extended synthesis of qualitative research on the following: (a) patients’ experiences of treatment following presentation to hospital; and (b) patients’ perceptions of the impact of treatment on recurrent self-harm and/or suicidal ideation, and future help-seeking. Twenty-six studies were identified for inclusion in the final synthesis. Three meta-themes emerged: (a) individuals undertake extensive identity work when presenting with self-harm, navigating the process of becoming a patient, and negotiating the type of patient they want to be; (b) care ranges from gentle to hostile, with care at admission and discharge being particularly disorientating; and (c) negative experiences of clinical treatment may increase future self-harm. Emerging research gaps include the need for further theoretically informed qualitative research in this area.
Family Implicit Rules, Shame, and Adolescent Prosocial and Antisocial Communication Behaviors
Authors: Crane Jeffrey , Harper James M. , Bean Roy A. , Holmes Erin
Published: January 2020

This study examined the relationship between implicit family process rules and adolescent prosocial and antisocial communication behaviors. Data came from two-parent families in Wave 5 of the Flourishing Families Project which consisted of 322 families (fathers, mothers, and children ages 13–17). Both observational and questionnaire data were used in data collection. Prosocial and antisocial behaviors were assessed using observational codes from the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales. Each of the family members’ perceptions was used to assess constraining family rules and facilitative family rules. Findings showed a direct positive relationship between facilitative family process rules and prosocial communication and a negative relationship with antisocial communication for both girls and boys. Constraining family process rules were also positively related to antisocial communication behaviors in adolescents. Shame was a significant mediator of the relationship between facilitative family rules and prosocial behavior as well as between constraining family rules and antisocial behavior.
Vehicle–track interaction with consideration of rail irregularities at three-dimensional space
Authors: Xu Lei , Zhang Qiang , Yu Zhiwu , Zhu Zhihui
Published: January 2020

Modelling of vehicle–track interaction has long been a hot and interesting topic. In multibody dynamics based on force-equilibrium methods, Hertzian contact and creep theories have been applied in vehicle–track model constructions. In another aspect, the complementarity-based methods have also been widely used in establishing vehicle–track interaction, but still having drawbacks on characterization of wheel–rail contact geometry/creepage in three-dimensional space. In this study, we draw essences from methodologies of refined wheel–rail coupling models and energy-variational principle, and a model for vehicle–track three-dimensional interactions with inclusion of rail irregularity excitations is newly developed. This model possesses high accuracy compared with Hertzian contact, FastSim, and vehicle–track coupled model in the middle-low frequency domain, and also, the advantages in computational stability are possessed. In this model, the unevenness of rail irregularities at the three-dimensional space is preliminarily considered by taking a hypothesis of normal distribution and accordingly, the wheel–rail three-dimensional constraint equations are presented. Extensively, a series of numerical examples are shown to verify the effectiveness and engineering practicability of this model. Besides, the influence of rail three-dimensional irregularities on the dynamic performance of vehicle–track systems is further explored, which shows when the trochoid of the wheel–rail contact points changes rapidly, the additional inertial effects brought out by rail irregularities might exert great influence on wheel–rail forces.
Bandgap enhancement of periodic nonuniform metamaterial beams with inertial amplification mechanisms
Authors: Muhammad Shoaib , Wang Shuai , Li Fengming , Zhang Chuanzeng
Published: January 2020

The aim of this study was to obtain bandgaps that are much better, that is at lower frequencies and in broader frequency ranges. Novel nonuniform metamaterial beams with periodically variable cross sections and inertial amplification mechanisms are designed and investigated by numerical and experimental methods. Flexural vibration equations of the nonuniform metamaterial beams are established, and the enhanced bandgap and vibration reduction properties are achieved by combining Bragg scattering and the inertial amplification mechanisms. Numerical results of the bandgaps for the periodic elastic beams with and without the inertial amplification mechanisms are validated by comparing them with the results of vibration experiments. Effects of the amplification mass and angle on the bandgap properties are investigated. Larger amplification mass and angle lead to much enhanced bandgap performances of the nonuniform metamaterial beams in lower to higher frequency ranges.
Machine learning for parameter auto-tuning in molecular dynamics simulations: Efficient dynamics of ions near polarizable nanoparticles
Authors: Kadupitiya JCS , Fox Geoffrey C , Jadhao Vikram
Published: January 2020

Simulating the dynamics of ions near polarizable nanoparticles (NPs) using coarse-grained models is extremely challenging due to the need to solve the Poisson equation at every simulation timestep. Recently, a molecular dynamics (MD) method based on a dynamical optimization framework bypassed this obstacle by representing the polarization charge density as virtual dynamic variables and evolving them in parallel with the physical dynamics of ions. We highlight the computational gains accessible with the integration of machine learning (ML) methods for parameter prediction in MD simulations by demonstrating how they were realized in MD simulations of ions near polarizable NPs. An artificial neural network–based regression model was integrated with MD simulation and predicted the optimal simulation timestep and optimization parameters characterizing the virtual system with 94.3% success. The ML-enabled auto-tuning of parameters generated accurate dynamics of ions for ≈ 10 million steps while improving the stability of the simulation by over an order of magnitude. The integration of ML-enhanced framework with hybrid Open Multi-Processing / Message Passing Interface (OpenMP/MPI) parallelization techniques reduced the computational time of simulating systems with thousands of ions and induced charges from thousands of hours to tens of hours, yielding a maximum speedup of ≈ 3 from ML-only acceleration and a maximum speedup of ≈ 600 from the combination of ML and parallel computing methods. Extraction of ionic structure in concentrated electrolytes near oil–water emulsions demonstrates the success of the method. The approach can be generalized to select optimal parameters in other MD applications and energy minimization problems.