bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creating ‘Local Publics’: Responsibility and Involvement in Decision-Making on Technologies with Local Impacts
Authors: Pesch Udo , Huijts Nicole M. A. , Bombaerts Gunter , Doorn Neelke , Hunka Agnieszka
Published: February 2020

This paper makes a conceptual inquiry into the notion of ‘publics’, and forwards an understanding of this notion that allows more responsible forms of decision-making with regards to technologies that have localized impacts, such as wind parks, hydrogen stations or flood barriers. The outcome of this inquiry is that the acceptability of a decision is to be assessed by a plurality of ‘publics’, including that of a local community. Even though a plurality of ‘publics’ might create competing normative demands, its acknowledgment is necessary to withstand the monopolization of the process of technology appraisal. The paper presents four ways in which such an appropriation of publicness takes place. The creation of dedicated ‘local publics’, in contrast, helps to overcome these problems and allows for more responsible forms of decision-making. We describe ‘local publics’ as those in which stakeholders from the different publics that are related to the process of technology implementation are brought together, and in which concerns and issues from these publics are deliberated upon. The paper will present eight conditions for increasing the effectiveness of such ‘local publics’.
Clinical outcomes and toxicity of proton radiotherapy for vestibular schwannomas: a systematic review
Authors: Koetsier Kimberley S. , Hensen Erik F. , Wiggenraad Rudolf , Lips Irene M. , van Benthem Peter Paul G. , van Vulpen Marco , Shih Helen A.
Published: February 2020

Objective

Vestibular schwannomas are benign tumors that are often managed by radiotherapy. Minimizing long-term toxicity is paramount for a population that remains at normal life expectancy and at risk for loss of quality of life for years if not decades. Whereas current radiotherapy standard utilizes photon radiation, proton radiotherapy characteristics may enable a reduction of toxicity by reducing the volume of collateral irradiated healthy tissue. A systematic review was conducted to assess tumor control and short- and long-term sequelae after proton irradiation.

Methods

Studies that reported on treatment outcomes of proton radiotherapy in vestibular schwannoma patients were included.

Results

Five peer-reviewed retrospective series met the inclusion criteria. Quality of the studies varied from low to good. There were 276 unique patients described. Tumor control rates ranged from 85 to 100% (radiological median follow-up of 2.2-7.4 years). Hearing loss rates, defined as losing Gardner Robertson class I/II hearing, showed an weighted crude average 52% (depending on follow-up duration). The weighted averages for post-irradiation facial and trigeminal neuropathy were 5% and 4%, respectively. The risk of neuropathy seems to decrease with lower radiation dosages.

Conclusion

Proton irradiation for vestibular schwannomas achieves high tumor control rates, equivalent to photon irradiation. Reported cranial nerve preservation rates vary, partly due to an apparent selection bias with a high percentage of patients with clinical symptoms prior to treatment. Results of cranial nerve function preservation, quality of life, and cognitive functioning are currently insufficiently reported. In addition, advances in proton radiotherapy technology warrant re-evaluation of current techniques and protocols for the management of vestibular schwannomas.
Barriers and Facilitators in Interorganizational Disaster Response: Identifying Examples Across Europe
Authors: Berchtold Claudia , Vollmer Maike , Sendrowski Philip , Neisser Florian , Müller Larissa , Grigoleit Sonja
Published: February 2020

Disaster response actors are facing new challenges, which encompass not only new and ever more complex threats but also the need to collaborate across organizational boundaries and even state borders. Depending on scale, these interactions have to work across governance setups, political and legal conditions, organizational cultures, as well as personal preferences and experiences that vary among actors, organizations, and countries. But which concrete measures are taken by crisis management actors at different scales to bridge these challenges and which of these could serve others as example to address comparable challenges in their contexts? This study made attempts to analyze whether certain solutions across organizations and states exist that facilitate effective interorganizational crisis management in the member states of the European Union (EU). It is based on selected expert interviews with representatives of different types of disaster response organizations (health services, police services, fire services, and other crisis management organizations) from seven EU member states (Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and Greece).
Hierarchical Self-assembly of Well-Defined Louver-Like P-Doped Carbon Nitride Nanowire Arrays with Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution
Authors: Li Bo , Si Yuan , Fang Qian , Shi Ying , Huang Wei-Qing , Hu Wangyu , Pan Anlian , Fan Xiaoxing , Huang Gui-Fang
Published: February 2020

Self-assembled nanostructure arrays integrating the advantages of the intrinsic characters of nanostructure as well as the array stability are appealing in advanced materials. However, the precise bottom-up synthesis of nanostructure arrays without templates or substrates is quite challenging because of the general occurrence of homogeneous nucleation and the difficult manipulation of noncovalent interactions. Herein, we first report the precisely manipulated synthesis of well-defined louver-like P-doped carbon nitride nanowire arrays (L-PCN) via a supramolecular self-assembly method by regulating the noncovalent interactions through hydrogen bond. With this strategy, CN nanowires align in the outer frame with the separation and spatial location achieving ultrastability and outstanding photoelectricity properties. Significantly, this self-assembly L-PCN exhibits a superior visible light-driven hydrogen evolution activity of 1872.9 μmol h−1 g−1, rendering a ~ 25.6-fold enhancement compared to bulk CN, and high photostability. Moreover, an apparent quantum efficiency of 6.93% is achieved for hydrogen evolution at 420 ± 15 nm. The experimental results and first-principles calculations demonstrate that the remarkable enhancement of photocatalytic activity of L-PCN can be attributed to the synergetic effect of structural topology and dopant. These findings suggest that we are able to design particular hierarchical nanostructures with desirable performance using hydrogen-bond engineering.
Impact of academic integrity on workplace ethical behaviour
Authors: Guerrero-Dib Jean Gabriel , Portales Luis , Heredia-Escorza Yolanda
Published: February 2020

Corruption is a serious problem in Mexico and the available information regarding the levels of academic dishonesty in Mexico is not very encouraging. Academic integrity is essential in any teaching-learning process focussed on achieving the highest standards of excellence and learning. Promoting and experiencing academic integrity within the university context has a twofold purpose: to achieve the necessary learnings and skills to appropriately perform a specific profession and to develop an ethical perspective which leads to correct decision making. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between academic integrity and ethical behaviour, particularly workplace behaviour. The study adopts a quantitative, hypothetical and deductive approach. A questionnaire was applied to 1203 college students to gather information regarding the frequency in which they undertake acts of dishonesty in different environments and in regards to the severity they assign to each type of infraction. The results reflect that students who report committing acts against academic integrity also report being involved in dishonest activities in other contexts, and that students who consider academic breaches less serious, report being engaged in academic misconduct more frequently in different contexts. In view of these results, it is unavoidable to reflect on the role that educational institutions and businesses can adopt in the development of programmes to promote a culture of academic integrity which: design educational experiences to foster learning, better prepare students to fully meet their academic obligations, highlight the benefits of doing so, prevent the severity and consequences of dishonest actions, discourage cheating and establish clear and efficient processes to sanction those students who are found responsible for academic breaches.
Links between parental socialization of coping on affect: Mediation by emotion regulation and social exclusion
Authors: Szkody Erica , Steele Ellen H. , McKinney Cliff
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Parental socialization of coping strategies is associated with various emotion regulation difficulties and continues to impact individuals during emerging adulthood. As emerging adults’ transition into adulthood, they experience social stressors that put their emotion regulation skills to the test.

Methods

The current study examined the associations of the parental socialization of coping strategies and emotion regulation difficulties with emerging adult positive and negative affect in response to social exclusion. Emerging adults (N = 402, 206 males and 196 females) from a large Southern university in the United States were recruited for the study. Participants completed survey measures of parental socialization of coping, positive and negative affect, and emotion regulation difficulties before engaging in a social exclusion task called Cyberball. After the task, participants completed a measure of positive and negative affect again.

Results

Primary parental socialization of coping was associated with emotion regulation difficulties, both of which were associated with affect after the exclusion task, thus supporting the indirect effect of parental coping socialization on affect through a preexisting variable (i.e., emotion regulation) and a causal manipulation (i.e., exclusion task).

Conclusions

The impact of parental suggestions of coping strategies and emotion regulation difficulties during emerging adulthood indicate that parents continue to be an important point of intervention as individuals’ transition to adulthood.
The deepfake threat to face biometrics
Authors: Wojewidka John
Published: February 2020

For better or worse, the world is going fully digital. Our indispensable personal communication devices have become all-important gateways to innumerable information sources and services, and we simply can't get enough of it. Our connected devices are even seen more like companions than pieces of hardware 1 , and are affecting our very physiology. Ready access to all types of information has literally begun to change how we think and what we do, appearing to have only just started to fundamentally impact our lives forever 2 .
Patient race, ethnicity, and care in the emergency department: A scoping review
Authors: Owens Allison , Holroyd Brian R. , McLane Patrick
Published: February 2020

Objectives

Health disparities between racial and ethnic groups have been documented in Canada, the United States, and Australia. Despite evidence that differences in emergency department (ED) care based on patient race and ethnicity exist, there are no comprehensive literature reviews in this area. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the literature on the impact of patient ethnicity and race on the processes of ED care.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted to capture the broad nature of the literature. A database search was conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, Social Sciences Citation Index, SCOPUS, and JSTOR. Five journals and reference lists of included articles were hand searched. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined iteratively to ensure literature captured was relevant to our research question. Data were extracted using predetermined variables, and additional extraction variables were added as familiarity with the literature developed.

Results

Searching yielded 1,157 citations, reduced to 153 following removal of duplicates, and title and abstract screening. After full-text screening, 83 articles were included. Included articles report that, in EDs, patient race and ethnicity impact analgesia, triage scores, wait times, treatments, diagnostic procedure utilization, rates of patients leaving without being seen, and patient subjective experiences. Authors of included studies propose a variety of possible causes for these disparities.

Conclusions

Further research on the existence of disparities in care within EDs is warranted to explore the causes behind observed disparities for particular health conditions and population groups in specific contexts.
Ideology and social cognition
Authors: Mansell Jordan
Published: February 2020

Research links liberal and conservative ideological orientations with variation on psychological and cognitive characteristics that are important for perceptual processes and decision-making. This study investigates whether this variation can impact the social behaviors of liberals and conservatives. A sample of subjects (n = 1,245) participated in a modified public goods game in which an intragroup inequality was introduced to observe the effect on individuals’ tendency toward self-interested versus prosocial behavior. Overall, the contributions of neither liberal- nor conservative-oriented individuals were affected by conditions of a general intragroup inequality. However, in response to the knowledge that group members voted to redress the inequality, levels of contribution among liberals significantly increased in comparison to the control. This was not true for conservatives. The results provide evidence that differences in ideological orientation are associated with individual differences in social cognition.
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONSCIENCE IN HEALTHCARE DECISIONS: MOVING TOWARDS A COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORK
Authors: Smith Stephen W
Published: February 2020

Claims of conscience are a substantial area of concern in relation to healthcare decisions but are often only considered in a limited context. Broadening our understanding of claims of conscience, however, might lead to claims that we are moving back towards a doctor-centred understanding of medical care. This article argues that we can allow claims of conscience without unduly penalising patients by focusing on the responsibilities that ought to attach to conscience claims. This article sets out three responsibilities – humility, universality and reciprocal respect – which ought to be part of any claim of conscience. TheCharlie Gardcase is then used as an example to explore the use of responsibilities. The article then moves to consider possible issues that arise from this view.
Defining the Boundaries of Orthodoxy: Eunomius in the Anti-Jewish Polemic of his Cappadocian Opponents
Authors: Shepardson Christine
Published: February 2020

Scholars have long recognized that the theological arguments of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa against their opponent Eunomius helped to shape the development of Christian orthodoxy, and thus Christian self-definition, in the late fourth-century Roman Empire. The cultural and theological significance of the strong anti-Judaizing rhetoric contained within these Cappadocian authors’ anti-Eunomian treatises, however, remains largely unexamined. Recent scholarship has demonstrated the critical role of anti-Judaizing rhetoric in the arguments that early Christian leaders Athanasius of Alexandria and Ephrem of Nisibis used against “Arian” Christian opponents in the middle of the fourth century, and the implications of this rhetoric for understanding early Christian-Jewish and intra-Christian relations. Scholars have yet to recognize, however, that anti-Judaizing rhetoric similarly helped to define the terms and consequences of the anti-Eunomian arguments made by Basil, Gregory, and Gregory in the decades that followed. The anti-Judaizing rhetoric of their texts attests to the continuing advantages that these leaders gained by rhetorically associating their Christian opponents with Jews. By claiming that Eunomius and his followers were too Jewish in their beliefs to be Christian, and too Christian in their behaviors to be Jewish, Basil, Gregory, and Gregory deployed anti-Judaizing rhetoric to argue that Eunomians were significantly inferior to both true Christians and Jews. The Cappadocians’ strategic comparisons with Jews and Judaism rhetorically distanced their Eunomian opponents from Christianity and thus strengthened the Cappadocians’ own claims to represent Christian orthodoxy.
Guardians of the Sacred: The Nuns of Soissons and the Slipper of the Virgin Mary
Authors: Clark Anne L.
Published: February 2020

What could it mean to a medieval monastic community to own a valuable object? Certainly, property in general was crucial to the survival of a stable community, ideals of poverty and the thirteenth-century Franciscan experiment in radical poverty notwithstanding. More specifically, what did it mean to own not simply a field or mill that generated revenue, but an object that was believed to have power beyond its material qualities? Such objects—saints’ relics and wonder-working images—did of course also generate revenue, but their meaning and role for the monastic community and the wider society could be much richer than that. And what if the monastic community was a convent of nuns, of professed religious women whose lives were shaped not just by the rule they shared with their male counterparts, but also by the codes, both implicit and increasingly explicit, that constrained the range of women's religious activities?

Although the first two of these questions—about monastic property and the religious value of sacred objects—have been extensively discussed in scholarship on the Middle Ages, a specific focus on gender in relation to monastic ownership of sacred objects has not been widely examined. My focus on gender here is generated by two salient aspects of religious life in the twelfth century, the period of this study. First, there was an increasing articulation of the priesthood as the sole means of mediating divine presence, and of that priesthood as exclusively male.
Mission Delayed: The Russian Orthodox Church after the Conquest of Kazan'
Authors: Romaniello Matthew P.
Published: February 2020

Muscovy's active period of eastward expansion began with the conquest of the Khanate of Kazan’ in 1552. By the seventeenth century, one observer claimed that the conquest of Kazan’ was the event that made Ivan IV a tsar and Muscovy an empire. With this victory, the tsar claimed new lands, adding to his subjects the diverse animistic and Muslim population of Turkic Tatars and Chuvashes, and Finno-Ugric Maris, Mordvins, and Udmurts. The conquest of Kazan’ provided both the Metropolitan of Moscow and Ivan IV (the Terrible) an opportunity to transform the image of Muscovy into that of a victorious Orthodox power and to justify the title of its Grand Prince as a new caesar (tsar). Since the conquest was the first Orthodox victory against Islam since the fall of Constantinople, commemorations of it were immediate, including the construction of the Church of the Intercession by the Moat (St. Basil's) on Red Square.

The incorporation of the lands and peoples of Kazan’ has served traditionally to date the establishment of the Russian Empire. Accounts of the conquest have emphasized the victory of Orthodoxy against Islam, with the Russian Orthodox Church and its Metropolitan as the motive force behind this expansion. The conversion of the Muslims and animists of the region is portrayed frequently as automatic, facing little resistance. More recently, scholars have criticized this simplistic account of the conquest by discussing the conversion mission as a rhetorical construct and have placed increasing emphasis on the local non-Russian and non-Orthodox resistance to the interests of the Church and state.
“The Flame of Life Was Kindled in All Animal and Sensitive Creatures”: One Quaker Colonist's View of Animal Life
Authors: Plank Geoffrey
Published: February 2020

In the winter of 1771, the colonial assembly of Pennsylvania received a petition from voters in Lancaster County asking for the construction of a turnpike from the Susquehanna River to Philadelphia. Supporters of the project believed that the new road would spur economic development, and in support of this claim they cited developments in England. England's turnpikes, they argued, had made long-distance travel efficient and safe, had contributed to an expansion of commerce and manufacturing, and had increased the value of agricultural land. Shortly after these claims were published in thePennsylvania Gazette,John Woolman, a Quaker reformer in Mount Holly, New Jersey, began hearing troubling stories about the English roads. Woolman was best known as an opponent of slavery, but in his writings and travels he had voiced concerns on an array of other economic issues, including exploitative labor relations generally, and the overwork and abuse of animals. In 1772, Woolman was planning to travel in England, and thus he had reason to pay attention to reports about the English roads.

One of the innovations of England's turnpike era was the “flying coach.” This was a carriage pulled by a team of six horses, and it achieved efficiency not so much by running fast as by starting early in the morning and going for long hours continuously. Woolman heard that flying coaches could cover one hundred miles in twenty-four hours, and that they “often run over foot people in the dark.”
Rumen function in goats, an example of adaptive capacity
Authors: Giger-Reverdin Sylvie , Domange Céline , Broudiscou Laurent P. , Sauvant Daniel , Berthelot Valérie
Published: February 2020

The aim of this Research Reflection is to describe the basic rumen function of goats and its modification in response to environmental factors, as well as to discuss similarities and differences when compared to other ruminants. In so doing we shall reveal the adaptive capacity of goats to harsh environments. The basic rumen function in goats is similar to other species of ruminants, as stressed by the opportunity to apply the updates of feeding systems for ruminants to goats. The rumen epithelium acts as a protective barrier between the rumen and the host, but it can be damaged by toxic compounds or acidosis. The rumen also plays an important role in water balance, both for dehydration and rehydration. Recent studies show that the microbiota exhibits a high fractional stability due to functional redundancy and resilience, but this needs more investigation. The microbial community structure differs between goats and cows, which explains the difference in sensitivity to milk fat depression following intake of high lipid diets. Goats also differ from other ruminants by their enhanced ability to feed-sort, but as with cows they can suffer from acidosis. Nevertheless, goats can be considered to be very resistant to environmental factors such as water stress, salt stress or heat stress, and this is especially so in some endogenous breeds. They also are able to detoxify tannins, polyphenols and other secondary metabolites. Some new trials involving feeding behaviour, microbiota and omics or approaches by meta-analyses or modelling will improve our knowledge of rumen function in goats.
The effect of quantity and quality of dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue inflammatory responses
Authors: Dewhurst-Trigg R. , Hulston C.J. , Markey O.
Published: February 2020

The global prevalence of obesity and obesity-associated cardiometabolic diseases is a significant public health burden. Chronic low-grade inflammation in metabolic tissues such as white adipose tissue (WAT) is linked to obesity and may play a role in disease progression. The overconsumption of dietary fat has been suggested to modulate the WAT inflammatory environment. It is also recognised that fats varying in degree of fatty acid saturation may elicit differential WAT inflammatory responses. This information has originated predominantly from animal or cell models and translation into human participantsin vivoremains limited. This review will summarise human intervention studies investigating the effect of dietary fat quantity and quality on subcutaneous WAT inflammation, with a specific focus on the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB and nucleotide-binding and oligomerisation domain-like receptor, leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome molecular signalling pathways. Overall, firm conclusions are hard to draw regarding the effect of dietary fat quantity and quality on WAT inflammatory responses due to the heterogeneity of study designs, diet composition and participant cohorts recruited. Previous studies have predominantly focused on measures of WAT gene expression. It is suggested that future work includes measures of WAT total content and phosphorylation of proteins involved in TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3 signalling as this is more representative of alterations in WAT physiological function. Understanding pathways linking the intake of total fat and specific fatty acids with WAT metabolic-inflammatory responses may have important implications for public health by informing dietary guidelines aimed at cardiometabolic risk reduction.
Apathy predicts rate of cognitive decline over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease
Authors: Andrews S. C. , Langbehn D. R. , Craufurd D. , Durr A. , Leavitt B. R. , Roos R. A. , Tabrizi S. J. , Stout J. C. ,   the TRACK-HD Investigators
Published: February 2020

Background

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of Huntington's disease (HD), however, the onset and rate of cognitive decline is highly variable. Apathy is the most common neuropsychiatric symptom of HD, and is associated with cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate apathy as a predictor of subsequent cognitive decline over 2 years in premanifest and early HD, using a prospective, longitudinal design.

Methods

A total of 118 premanifest HD gene carriers, 111 early HD and 118 healthy control participants from the multi-centre TRACK-HD study were included. Apathy symptoms were assessed at baseline using the apathy severity rating from the Short Problem Behaviours Assessment. A composite of 12 outcome measures from nine cognitive tasks was used to assess cognitive function at baseline and after 24 months.

Results

In the premanifest group, after controlling for age, depression and motor signs, more apathy symptoms predicted faster cognitive decline over 2 years. In contrast, in the early HD group, more motor signs, but not apathy, predicted faster subsequent cognitive decline. In the control group, only older age predicted cognitive decline.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that in premanifest HD, apathy is a harbinger for cognitive decline. In contrast, after motor onset, in early diagnosed HD, motor symptom severity more strongly predicts the rate of cognitive decline.
Should we be concerned about stigma and discrimination in people at risk for psychosis? A systematic review
Authors: Colizzi Marco , Ruggeri Mirella , Lasalvia Antonio
Published: February 2020

Background

Previous studies have provided initial evidence that people at risk for psychosis (PR) suffer from stigma and discrimination related to their condition. However, no study has systematically reviewed stigma and discrimination associated with being at PR and the potential underlying mechanisms.

Methods

This work aimed to systematically review all studies addressing stigma and discrimination in PR people in order to assess: (1) the occurrence of this phenomenon and its different components (public, internalized, perceived, and labeling-related), (2) whether stigma affects outcomes of the PR state, and (3) whether other factors modulate stigma among PR individuals.

Results

The reviewed studies (n = 38) widely differ in their design, methodological quality, and populations under investigation, thus limiting direct comparison of findings. However, converging evidence suggests that the general public endorses stigmatizing attitudes towards PR individuals, and that this is more frequent in people with a low educational level or with no direct experience of the PR state. PR individuals experience more internalized stigma and perceive more discrimination than healthy subjects or patients with non-psychotic disorders. Further, PR labeling is equally associated with both positive (e.g. validation and relief) and negative effects (e.g. status loss and discrimination). Moreover, stigma increases the likelihood of poor outcome, transition to full-psychosis, disengagement from services, and family stigma among PR individuals. Finally, very limited evidence awaiting replication supports the efficacy of cognitive therapies in mitigating the negative effects of stigma.

Conclusions

Evidence confirms previous concerns about stigma and its negative consequences for PR individuals, thus having important public health implications.
The formation of collective, political and cultural memory in the Middle Bronze Age: foundation and termination rituals at Toprakhisar Höyük
Authors: Akar Murat , Kara Demet
Published: February 2020

Constructing and deconstructing public spaces in second-millennium BC Anatolia, the Near East and the Levant was not only a collaborative physical act but also involved deeply embodied ritual symbolism. This symbolism is materialised in the practice of conducting public foundation and termination rituals that unified individual memories in space and time, transforming the physical act into a collective memory: a process that contributed to the formation of political and cultural memory. The recent rescue excavations conducted by the Hatay Archaeological Museum at the hinterland site of Toprakhisar Höyük in Altinözü (in the foothills above the Amuq valley) add to the understanding of the practice of foundation and termination rituals during the Middle Bronze Age and how these moments may have contributed to the political and cultural memory of a rural community living away from the centre. The practice of foundation/termination rituals is archaeologically documented by caches of artefacts from votive contexts stratigraphically linked to the construction and termination of a Middle Bronze Age administrative structure.
Paediatric cardiomyopathies: echocardiographic diagnosis, clinical profile, and demographic characteristics: the experience of a tertiary referral centre for Latin American paediatric cardiology
Authors: Huertas-Quiñones Víctor M. , Mestra Camilo F. , Peña-Trujillo Valeria , Gallo-Bernal Sebastián , Villaveces Mariana , Alarcón-Forero Laura C.
Published: February 2020

Background:

Although multiple studies have been conducted in the adult population, there is a vast knowledge gap regarding the epidemiologic characteristics of cardiomyopathies in the paediatric population. This issue is even more crucial when the precarious situation of medical research in Latin America is considered. Given the potential impact that these disorders could have on Latin American health systems, a comprehensive epidemiologic study regarding the clinical profile and sociodemographic characteristics of these patients will influence the way we approach paediatric cardiomyopathies.

Methods:

An observational retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary referral centre for Colombian and Latin American paediatric cardiology. We analysed all cases of primary cardiomyopathies in children younger than 18 years of age who presented at our institution between 2010 and 2016. Cases of cardiomyopathies were classified according to World Health Organization guidelines.

Results:

From a total of 29,533 children who attended our institution during the study period, 89 new cases of primary cardiomyopathies were identified. The median age at diagnosis was 11 years (interquartile range 4–9). Dilated cardiomyopathy accounted for 57.3% (n = 51) of cases; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 12.3% (n = 11); restrictive cardiomyopathy, 8.9% (n = 8); non-compacted cardiomyopathy, 7.8% (n = 7); arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy, 6.7% (n = 6); and unspecified cardiomyopathy, 6.7% (n = 6). Heart failure was observed in 53.93% of the patients. The overall mortality was 12.36% (n = 11), which included two of eight patients who underwent cardiac transplantation.
Introduction: Open Ecologies
Authors: Griffiths Devin , Kreisel Deanna K.
Published: February 2020

This collection of essays turns to the nineteenth century in order to weigh the legacy of its holistic conception of systems and to resurrect alternative discourses of openness, permeability, and indeterminate relation. If modern ecocriticism has sometimes been hobbled by a restrictively organic, harmonious conception of how ecologies work, we wager that a return to Victorian interrogations of natural and social collectives can furnish more open, less integrated models for how assemblages operate. The nineteenth century saw both the first acceleration of anthropogenic climate change and the birth of a host of sciences-economic, social, geological, energetic, and (yes) ecological-that now struggle to address the planetary implications of that acceleration. Our growing awareness that we are now living in the long tail of this conjuncture and at the birth of the Anthropocene has prompted a re-evaluation of what we think we know about how nature and society work, and how they might work together.
Drill, Baby, Drill: Extraction Ecologies, Open Temporalities, and Reproductive Futurity in the Provincial Realist Novel
Authors: Miller Elizabeth Carolyn
Published: February 2020

The temporal structures of provincial realist novels set in extraction landscapes convey the new understanding of futurity that attended the nineteenth-century rise of an industrial system powered by a nonrenewable, diminishing stock of underground resources. Focusing on Joseph Conrad'sNostromo(1904), George Eliot'sThe Mill on the Floss(1860), and Fanny Mayne'sJane Rutherford; Or, the Miners' Strike(1853), this article demonstrates how these works adapt the provincial realist novel's emphasis on social renewal by way of marriage, reproduction, and inheritance to the extraction-based society of industrial Britain, undergirded by a trajectory of depletion and exhaustion rather than renewal. These works' deviation from novelistic chrononormativity expresses a new understanding of an extraction-based present that is claimed at the expense of future generations.
The Uniform Dataset 3.0 Neuropsychological Battery: Factor Structure, Invariance Testing, and Demographically Adjusted Factor Score Calculation
Authors: Kiselica Andrew M. , Webber Troy A. , Benge Jared F.
Published: February 2020

Objective:

The goals of this study were to (1) specify the factor structure of the Uniform Dataset 3.0 neuropsychological battery (UDS3NB) in cognitively unimpaired older adults, (2) establish measurement invariance for this model, and (3) create a normative calculator for factor scores.

Methods:

Data from 2520 cognitively intact older adults were submitted to confirmatory factor analyses and invariance testing across sex, age, and education. Additionally, a subsample of this dataset was used to examine invariance over time using 1-year follow-up data (n= 1061). With the establishment of metric invariance of the UDS3NB measures, factor scores could be extracted uniformly for the entire normative sample. Finally, a calculator was created for deriving demographically adjusted factor scores.

Results:

A higher order model of cognition yielded the best fit to the data χ2(47) = 385.18,p< .001, comparative fit index = .962, Tucker-Lewis Index = .947, root mean square error of approximation = .054, and standardized root mean residual = .036. This model included a higher order general cognitive abilities factor, as well as lower order processing speed/executive, visual, attention, language, and memory factors. Age, sex, and education were significantly associated with factor score performance, evidencing a need for demographic correction when interpreting factor scores. A user-friendly Excel calculator was created to accomplish this goal and is available in the online supplementary materials.

Conclusions:

The UDS3NB is best characterized by a higher order factor structure. Factor scores demonstrate at least metric invariance across time and demographic groups. Methods for calculating these factors scores are provided.
A qualitative study exploring men’s experience of sexual dysfunction as a result of radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy to treat prostate cancer
Authors: Kinnaird W. , Stewart-Lord A.
Published: February 2020

Aim:

Sexual dysfunction is a common side effect of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to treat prostate cancer. Men are likely to experience erectile dysfunction, low libido, ejaculatory problems and penile shortening. This qualitative study explored men’s perceptions of sexual dysfunction, including factors such as self-perception, relationships and information and support needs.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with n = 8 men living 18–30 months after EBRT ± ADT. The interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was carried out.

Results:

All men experienced sexual dysfunction following treatment. The main themes arising were: (i) priorities—sexual issues were not a priority when making treatment decisions, (ii) information and support—men described a lack of information and support about sexual dysfunction and (iii) impact—sexual dysfunction impacted on their self-perception and relationships.

Findings:

Men undergoing EBRT/ADT for prostate cancer may be affected by post-treatment changes in sexual function in a range of ways. This study suggests that they would benefit from early and wide-ranging information and support on sexual dysfunction, even if they do not consider it as a priority. Candid discussions about self-perception and relationships, as well as physical changes, may equip them to cope with post-treatment changes.
Building, Dwelling, Dying: Architecture and History in Pakistan
Authors: Moffat Chris
Published: February 2020

There is a long history of scholars finding in architecture tools for thinking, whether this is the relationship between nature and culture in Simmel's ruins, industrial capitalism in Benjamin's Parisian arcades, or the rhythms of the primordial in Heidegger's Black Forest farmhouse. But what does it mean to take seriously the concepts and dispositions articulated by architects themselves? How might processes of designing and making constitute particular forms of thinking? This article considers the words and buildings of Lahore-based architect Kamil Khan Mumtaz (b. 1939) as an entry point into such questions. It outlines how professional architecture in Pakistan has grappled with the unsettled status of the past in a country forged out of two partitions (1947 and 1971). Mumtaz's work and thought—engaging questions of tradition, authority, craft and the sacred—demonstrates how these predicaments have been productive for conceptualizing time, labor and the nature of dwelling in a postcolonial world.
Understanding how maternal social and biological factors are related to fetal growth in an urban South African cohort
Authors: Prioreschi Alessandra , Wrottesley Stephanie V. , Said-Mohamed Rihlat , Nyati Lukhanyo , Newell Marie-Louise , Norris Shane A.
Published: February 2020

The aim of this study was to identify social and biological drivers of fetal growth by examining associations with household, preconception, and pregnancy factors in a cohort from Soweto, South Africa. Complete data and ultrasound scans were collected on 519 women between 2013 and 2016 at 6 time points during pregnancy (<14, 14–18, 19–23, 24–28, 29–33 weeks, and 34–38 weeks). Household-level factors, preconception health, baseline body mass index (BMI), and demographic data were collected at the first visit. During pregnancy, gestational weight gain (GWG; kg/week) was calculated. At 24–28 weeks of gestation, oral glucose tolerance test was used to determine gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) status, and hypertension status was characterised. Longitudinal growth in head circumference, abdominal circumference, biparietal diameter, and femur length were modelled using the Superimposition by Translation and Rotation, a shape-invariant model which produces growth curves against gestational age. A priori identified exposure variables were then included in a series of sex-stratified hierarchical regression models for each fetal growth outcome. No household-level factors were associated with fetal growth. Maternal BMI at baseline was positively associated with all outcome parameters in males and females. Both GWG (in males and females) and GDM (in males) were significant positive predictors of abdominal growth. Males showed more responsiveness to abdominal growth, while females were more responsive to linear growth. Thus, fetal growth was largely predicted by maternal biological factors, and sexual dimorphism in the responsiveness of fetal biometry to biological exposures was evident.
Telecoupling through tomato trade: what consumers do not know about the tomato on their plate
Authors: Ibarrola-Rivas Maria-Jose , Castro Antonio J. , Kastner Thomas , Nonhebel Sanderine , Turkelboom Francis
Published: February 2020

Non-technical abstract

A large share of our food comes from international supply food chains that are difficult to trace. Therefore, consumers are not aware of their environmental and social effects. We analysed the tomato supply system for Germany. Tomatoes consumed in Germany are produced either in The Netherlands by Polish workers and using large amounts of energy, or in Spain by West African workers and depleting the aquifer. The analysis shows the long-distance effects of food consumption that should be considered when designing strategies for a sustainable global food system. Comparable results can be expected for other food products traded around the world.
Der Verlauf von lehrbezogenen Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen angehender MINT-Lehrkräfte im Studium
Authors: Weß Raphael , Priemer Burkhard , Weusmann Birgit , Ludwig Tobias , Sorge Stefan , Neumann Irene
Published: February 2020

Zusammenfassung. Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen (SWE) gelten als zentrale Komponente der Motivation von Lehrkräften und sind ein wichtiger Aspekt in der Entwicklung einer professionellen Kompetenz. Bisherige Studien zeigen aufgrund verschiedener Zielgruppen, unterschiedlicher Domänen und variierender SWE-Konstrukte divergente Befunde bzgl. der Entwicklung von lehrbezogenen SWE im Verlauf des Studiums sowie bzgl. des Einflusses von Praxisphasen. Um zu differenzierten Aussagen zu kommen, wurden zwei Erhebungen durchgeführt, die 1. ausschließlich Studentinnen und Studenten eines Lehramts rekrutierten, 2. mit MINT-Fächern die Domänen eingrenzten und 3. auf lehrbezogene SWE hinsichtlich Planung, Durchführung und Reflexion von Lernsequenzen fokussierten. In einem Querschnitt mit N = 1165 Testpersonen von sechs Hochschulen konnten wir zeigen, dass sich die lehrbezogenen SWE als recht stabil im Verlauf des Studiums erweisen und dass Praxiselemente einen geringen Einfluss haben. Ein realer Längsschnitt mit einer Teilstichprobe von N = 47 Testpersonen zeigte jedoch positive signifikante Effekte der SWE bzgl. Planung, Durchführung und Reflexion von Lehr-Lern-Situationen in einer Prä-Post-Erhebung vor bzw. nach einem Seminar mit Praxisphasen. Dabei scheinen sich Praxiselemente – wenn sie von den Studentinnen und Studenten mit konkreten Situationen in Verbindung gebracht werden und durch ein konstruktives Feedback begleitet sind – positiv auf die SWE auszuwirken. Beziehen sich die SWE eher auf abstrakte und nicht unmittelbar mit einer Situation verbundene Erfahrungen, bleiben diese offenbar konstant.
Appraisal of Data Assimilation Techniques for Dynamical Downscaling of the Structure and Intensity of Tropical Cyclones
Authors: Malakar Pampi , Kesarkar Amit P. , Bhate Jyoti , Deshamukhya Atri
Published: February 2020

The dynamical downscaling technique is used for the understanding of physical mechanisms associated with the atmospheric phenomena. We have developed high‐resolution analysis (6 km) for three tropical cyclones (TCs), namely, Phailin (2013), Nilofar (2014), and Chapala (2015) originated over the North Indian Ocean using the dynamical downscaling approach. The study aimed at the identification of appropriate methodology for generating analysis so that it becomes useful for identifying the role of environmental and internal dynamics on intensification processes and structural changes of TCs. The simulations using Weather Research and Forecasting model and four‐dimensional variational (4DVAR), hybrid three‐dimensional ensemble‐variational (3DEnVAR), and a hybrid four‐dimensional ensemble‐variational (4DEnVAR) data assimilation (DA) techniques are compared. The impact of DA is quantified by comparing errors in position, minimum sea level pressure, and maximum wind speed with the best track data set of India Meteorological Department. The intensities of TCs simulated by three downscaling methods are validated in terms of changes in minimum sea level pressure, maximum surface winds, and boundary layer and middle tropospheric relative humidity. The skills scores, namely, equitable threat score, false alarm ratio, the probability of detection, and biases (BIAS), are calculated to identify the best suitable DA technique. It is found that the hybrid DA techniques improve the overall quality of analysis compared to those developed using only variational DA techniques. The simulation using the hybrid 4DEnVAR DA technique is found to be better for simulation of the track, intensity changes, and structural characteristics of TCs.