bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Concentration‐dependent coulombic effects in travelling wave ion mobility spectrometry collision cross section calibration
Authors: Eldrid Charles , O'Connor Eloise , Thalassinos Konstantinos
Published: October 2019

Rationale

Travelling wave ion mobility spectrometry (TWIMS) is increasingly being used as a method for calculating the collision cross sections (CCSs) of protein ions. To calculate the CCS values of unknown ions, however, the TWIMS device needs to be calibrated using calibrant proteins of known CCS values. The effect of calibrant protein concentration on the accuracy of the resulting calibration curve has not been explicitly studied so far. We hypothesised that at high protein concentrations the ion density within the TWIMS device will be such that ions will experience space charge effects resulting in deviations, as well as broadening, of ion arrival time distributions (ATDs). Calibration curves using these altered ATDs would therefore result in incorrect CCS values being calculated for the protein ions of interest.

Methods

Three protein CCS calibrants, avidin, bovine serum albumin and β‐lactgobulin, were prepared at different concentrations and used to calculate the CCS of a non‐calibrant protein. Data were collected on a Synapt G1 ion mobility mass spectrometer with a nano‐electrospray ionisation (nESI) source using capillaries prepared in house.

Results

Increasing the concentration of CCS calibrants caused ATD broadening and shifted the ATD peak tops, leading to a significant increase in calculated CCS values.

Conclusions

The concentration of protein calibrants can directly affect the quality of the CCS calibration in TWIMS experiments.
The use of extracted‐ion chromatograms to quantify the composition of condensed tannin subunits
Authors: Giribaldi Julien , Besson Martin , Suc Lucas , Fulcrand Hélène , Mouls Laetitia
Published: October 2019

Rationale

The analysis of tannins is currently usually done by liquid chromatography after the chemical depolymerization of tannins. However, one of the main limitations of this method is the difficulty in specifically detecting each constitutive tannin monomer in a complex matrix, as numerous compounds co‐elute with the monomers, thereby compromising the analysis.

Methods

The depolymerization of tannins under acidic conditions and in the presence of thioglycolic acid releases the various constitutive monomers, either as terminal units or as extension units. The tannin subunits were then quantified using extracted‐ion chromatogram (EIC) mass spectrometry, which required the determination of the ionization efficiency of the monomers. Thus, we used AgBF4‐assisted coupling for the hemisynthesis of the noncommercial epicatechin gallate dimer.

Results

The EIC showed that the derivatives of the extension units were twice as ionized as the terminal units. Unlike the UV chromatograms, this new EIC‐based method is more specific and accurate because it is not impacted by the co‐elution phenomenon. This result, when added to the linearity obtained on a large range of the calibration curves, allowed for quantification of tannin subunits from EIC in complex mixtures with less pretreatment of the samples.

Conclusions

Due to its specificity and sensitivity, this EIC‐based method represents a significant step toward improving the quantification of the tannin composition of samples. The results of this study should allow the oxidation markers to be quantified more accurately and taken into account, thereby providing a better indication of the actual tannin composition.
Implementation and study of dopant‐assisted photoionization with a miniature capillary inlet ion trap mass spectrometer
Authors: Zhang Qian , Tian Yuan , Aliang Mushage , Yu Quan , Wang Xiaohao
Published: October 2019

Rationale

Dopant‐assisted photoionization (PI) has been widely used in the mass spectrometric analysis of volatile compounds. Exploring simple doping methods will benefit parameter optimization and promote the application of this technique.

Methods

A previously built miniature ion trap mass spectrometer was used to study dopant‐assisted vacuum PI. The sampling system of this device was modified to provide three inlets for the simultaneous introduction of analytes, dopants, and auxiliary air. Then, dopant solution was directly injected into the ion trap chamber through a self‐aspirating capillary inlet and rapidly evaporated without heating. Various dopant solutions were prepared and switched during the experiments.

Results

When analyzing some aniline compounds, the signals of all analytes were improved by more than 10 times after the injection of 2% anisole solution as a dopant. In addition, anisole can provide analyte signals more than three times stronger than those provided by the other dopants. On the basis of the ionization energy selectivity of dopant‐assisted PI, some isomers in the mass spectrometric analysis were distinguished using different additives.

Conclusions

In general, liquid doping is as feasible and as effective as other traditional methods, and using appropriate dopants with high PI efficiency or feeding more dopants contributes to the ionization of analytes. The proposed method also offers several unique merits, such as simple operation, low consumption, and smooth switching with minimal residue.
Additive manufacturing of platinum group element (PGE) reference materials with a silica matrix
Authors: Sio Corliss K. , Parsons‐Davis Tashi , Lee Elaine , Wimpenny Josh , Pascall Andrew J. , Kuntz Joshua D. , Goodell John J. , Roberts Kevin E. , Bandong Bryan B. , Bennett Neil R.
Published: October 2019

Rationale

The microanalytical community has an outstanding need for platinum group element (PGE) reference materials, particularly for trace element analysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICPMS). National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) glasses contain Rh, Pd, and Pt, but lack Ru, Os, and Ir. Synthesis of silicate PGE standards has proven difficult due the tendency of PGEs to form metallic nuggets.

Methods

Additive manufacturing methods were used to produce PGE standards with a silica matrix. Monodispersed submicron PGE‐doped Stöber particles were used as feedstock materials for electrophoretic deposition (EPD). Two‐cm‐sized samples produced by EPD were subsequently densified by thermal processing. The homogeneity of PGEs was tested using LA‐ICPMS and concentrations were measured by laser ablation and solution ICPMS.

Results

The PGE concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 3 μg/g. The inhomogeneity was at the 3% RSD level for Ru, Rh, Ir, and Os throughout and 5% for Pt and Pd in the interior of the samples. Based on LA‐ICPMS analyses, the interiors of the two samples have near identical concentrations in PGEs.

Conclusions

The samples fabricated in this study represent the most complete and homogeneous PGE standards produced with a silicate matrix. The ability to produce multiple samples with the same composition provides opportunities for validating methods, monitoring long‐term reproducibility, and facilitating interlaboratory comparisons.
Open‐source add‐on kit for automation of zone elution in planar chromatography
Authors: Häbe Tim T. , Morlock Gertrud E.
Published: October 2019

Rationale

High‐throughput capacity, maximal efficiency and automation are missing key features for thin‐layer chromatography/high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography‐mass spectrometry (TLC/HPTLC‐MS) hyphenations. So far, commercial interfaces have been operated without an automated positioning system. Hence, a 3D‐printed, fully automated, open‐source add‐on user interface was built for elution‐head‐based TLC/HPTLC‐MS.

Methods

Precise plate movement, batch‐wise zone elution, and cleaning processes were automated and synchronized with MS data acquisition. The elution head cleaning was made adjustable in intensity and interval, and remaining elution solvent or particles were thoroughly blown out of the MS transfer line. An adjustable short gas beam across the elution zone was integrated to avoid contamination or leakage by released layer particles, or zone distortion by residual eluent flow when lifting the elution head.

Results

By clicking on zones on the chromatogram, these were selected for consecutive automated positioning below the elution head, sealing and elution. Mean spatial deviations of the positioning on 294 target zones were determined to be 160 μm for track‐wise and 190 μm for randomized zone positioning order. Reproducibility of the elution of butyl paraben zones (5.4%, 10 ng/band, n = 70) and its quantitative performance (R2 = 0.992–0.999, 5–50 ng/band) were proven.

Conclusions

The stand‐alone electronic system design and the compact footprint were achieved by a minimalistic positioning system and internally installed valves. The open‐source OC_manager software opened new perspectives in terms of combining MS data evaluation with previous HPTLC results. The successfully demonstrated TLC/HPTLC‐MS automation presents a highly efficient, user‐independent hyphenation for a broad range of application fields.
Symmetric graphs for equally weighted tests, with application to the Hochberg procedure
Authors: Xi Dong , Bretz Frank
Published: October 2019

The graphical approach to multiple testing provides a convenient tool for designing, visualizing, and performing multiplicity adjustments in confirmatory clinical trials while controlling the familywise error rate. It assigns a set of weights to each intersection null hypothesis within the closed test framework. These weights form the basis for intersection tests using weighted individual p‐values, such as the weighted Bonferroni test. In this paper, we extend the graphical approach to intersection tests that assume equal weights for the elementary null hypotheses associated with any intersection hypothesis, including the Hochberg procedure as well as omnibus tests such as Fisher's combination, O'Brien's, and F tests. More specifically, we introduce symmetric graphs that generate sets of equal weights so that the aforementioned tests can be applied with the graphical approach. In addition, we visualize the Hochberg and the truncated Hochberg procedures in serial and parallel gatekeeping settings using symmetric component graphs. We illustrate the method with two clinical trial examples.
Analyzing discrete competing risks data with partially overlapping or independent data sources and nonstandard sampling schemes, with application to cancer registries
Authors: Lee Minjung , Feuer Eric J. , Wang Zhuoqiao , Cho Hyunsoon , Zou Zhaohui , Hankey Benjamin F. , Mariotto Angela B. , Fine Jason P.
Published: October 2019

This paper demonstrates the flexibility of a general approach for the analysis of discrete time competing risks data that can accommodate complex data structures, different time scales for different causes, and nonstandard sampling schemes. The data may involve a single data source where all individuals contribute to analyses of both cause‐specific hazard functions, overlapping datasets where some individuals contribute to the analysis of the cause‐specific hazard function of only one cause while other individuals contribute to analyses of both cause‐specific hazard functions, or separate data sources where each individual contributes to the analysis of the cause‐specific hazard function of only a single cause. The approach is modularized into estimation and prediction. For the estimation step, the parameters and the variance‐covariance matrix can be estimated using widely available software. The prediction step utilizes a generic program with plug‐in estimates from the estimation step. The approach is illustrated with three prognostic models for stage IV male oral cancer using different data structures. The first model uses only men with stage IV oral cancer from population‐based registry data. The second model strategically extends the cohort to improve the efficiency of the estimates. The third model improves the accuracy for those with a lower risk of other causes of death, by bringing in an independent data source collected under a complex sampling design with additional other‐cause covariates. These analyses represent novel extensions of existing methodology, broadly applicable for the development of prognostic models capturing both the cancer and noncancer aspects of a patient's health.
Hierarchical Structure of Silk Materials Versus Mechanical Performance and Mesoscopic Engineering Principles
Authors: Qiu Wu , Patil Aniruddha , Hu Fan , Liu Xiang Yang
Published: October 2019

A comprehensive review on the five levels of hierarchical structures of silk materials and the correlation with macroscopic properties/performance of the silk materials, that is, the toughness, strain‐stiffening, etc., is presented. It follows that the crystalline binding force turns out to be very important in the stabilization of silk materials, while the β‐crystallite networks or nanofibrils and the interactions among helical nanofibrils are two of the most essential structural elements, which to a large extent determine the macroscopic performance of various forms of silk materials. In this context, the characteristic structural factors such as the orientation, size, and density of β‐crystallites are very crucial. It is revealed that the formation of these structural elements is mainly controlled by the intermolecular nucleation of β‐crystallites. Consequently, the rational design and reconstruction of silk materials can be implemented by controlling the molecular nucleation via applying sheering force and seeding (i.e., with carbon nanotubes). In general, the knowledge of the correlation between hierarchical structures and performance provides an understanding of the structural reasons behind the fascinating behaviors of silk materials.
Pulsatile Flow in Microfluidic Systems
Authors: Dincau Brian , Dressaire Emilie , Sauret Alban
Published: October 2019

This review describes the current knowledge and applications of pulsatile flow in microfluidic systems. Elements of fluid dynamics at low Reynolds number are first described in the context of pulsatile flow. Then the practical applications in microfluidic processes are presented: the methods to generate a pulsatile flow, the generation of emulsion droplets through harmonic flow rate perturbation, the applications in mixing and particle separation, and the benefits of pulsatile flow for clog mitigation. The second part of the review is devoted to pulsatile flow in biological applications. Pulsatile flows can be used for mimicking physiological systems, to alter or enhance cell cultures, and for bioassay automation. Pulsatile flows offer unique advantages over a steady flow, especially in microfluidic systems, but also require some new physical insights and more rigorous investigation to fully benefit future applications.
Variation with temperature of octanol/water partition coefficient for the homologous series from benzene to propylbenzene
Authors: David Victor , Moldoveanu Serban C.
Published: October 2019

Variation of octanol/water partition coefficient, log Kow, with temperature is seldom reported in the literature. A precise method for the evaluation of log Kow has been developed and the values of this parameter were measured for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and n‐propylbenzene at six temperatures between 15 and 60°C. The procedure is based on a direct “shake flask” method, but utilizes a gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method for the measurement of the concentration of analytes in the water and octanol extracts. The results indicate that log Kow values for these analytes have only small variations with the temperature, and that this variation does not depend linearly on 1/T. The results for log Kow in the evaluated temperature interval are close to the values reported in the literature for log Kow at 25°C. The variations of log Kow were found to be small and are non‐linear in 1/T. Based on these variations the enthalpy ΔH0 and entropy ΔS° for the partition process were calculated. The obtained values for ΔH0 and ΔS0 indicated that for temperatures below about 40°C the process is entropy‐driven and does not involve large Gibbs free energies.
DEMINER: test generation for high test coverage through mutant exploration
Authors: Kim Yunho , Hong Shin
Published: October 2019

Most software testing techniques test a target program as it is and fail to utilize valuable information of diverse test executions on many variants/mutants of the original program in test generation.

This paper proposes a new test generation technique DEMINER, which utilizes mutant executions to guide test generation on the original program for high test coverage.

DEMINER first generates various mutants of an original target program and then extracts runtime information of mutant executions, which covered unreached branches by the mutation effects. Using the obtained runtime information, DEMINER inserts guideposts, artificial branches to replay the observed mutation effects, to the original target programs. Finally, DEMINER runs automated test generation on the original program with guideposts and achieves higher test coverage.

We implemented DEMINER for C programs through software mutation and guided test generation such as concolic testing and fuzzing. We have shown the effectiveness of DEMINER on six real‐world target programs: Busybox‐ls, Busybox‐printf, Coreutils‐sort, GNU‐find, GNU‐grep and GNU‐sed. The experiment results show that DEMINER improved branch coverage by 63.4% and 19.6% compared with those of the conventional concolic testing techniques and the conventional fuzzing techniques on average, respectively.
A New Time–Frequency Attention Tensor Network for Language Identification
Authors: Miao Xiaoxiao , McLoughlin Ian , Yan Yonghong
Published: October 2019

In this paper, we aim to improve traditional DNN x-vector language identification performance by employing wide residual networks (WRN) as a powerful feature extractor which we combine with a novel frequency attention network. Compared with conventional time attention, our method learns discriminative weights for different frequency bands to generate weighted means and standard deviations for utterance-level classification. This mechanism enables the architecture to direct attention to important frequency bands rather than important time frames, as in traditional time attention methods. Furthermore, we then introduce a cross-layer frequency attention tensor network (CLF-ATN) which exploits information from different layers to recapture frame-level language characteristics that have been dropped by aggressive frequency pooling in lower layers. This effectively restores fine-grained discriminative language details. Finally, we explore the joint fusion of frame-level and frequency-band attention in a time–frequency attention network. Experimental results show that firstly, WRN can significantly outperform a traditional DNN x-vector implementation; secondly, the proposed frequency attention method is more effective than time attention; and thirdly, frequency–time score fusion can yield further improvement. Finally, extensive experiments on CLF-ATN demonstrate that it is able to improve discrimination by regaining dropped fine-grained frequency information, particularly for low-dimension frequency features.
Sport – zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen
Authors: Niedermeier M. , Frühauf A. , Bichler C. , Rosenberger R. , Kopp M.
Published: October 2019

Sportliche Aktivität wird im Allgemeinen mit einer positiven Wirkung auf die Gesundheit in Verbindung gebracht. Unter verschiedenen Umständen kann Sportausübung aber riskant für die Gesundheit sein. Dies betrifft in erster Linie körperliche Beeinträchtigungen durch Verletzungen, die durch die Sportausübung entstehen können. Wenn Sport in einem exzessiven Umfang betrieben wird, erhöht sich zudem das Risiko für psychische Störungsbilder wie Essstörungen, Substanzmissbrauch sowie Sportabhängigkeit. Der vorliegende Beitrag hat zum Ziel, potenzielle Risiken und Nebenwirkungen, die mit Sportausübung verbunden sein können, zu beleuchten und in Relation zu den positiven Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit zu setzen.
Diversity and phenotypic analyses of salt- and heat-tolerant wild bean Phaseolus filiformis rhizobia native of a sand beach in Baja California and description of Ensifer aridi sp. nov.
Authors: Rocha Guadalupe , Le Queré Antoine , Medina Arturo , Cuéllar Alma , Contreras José-Luis , Carreño Ricardo , Bustillos Rocío , Muñoz-Rojas Jesús , Villegas María del Carmen , Chaintreuil Clémence , Dreyfus Bernard , Munive José-Antonio
Published: October 2019

In northern Mexico, aridity, salinity and high temperatures limit areas that can be cultivated. To investigate the nature of nitrogen-fixing symbionts of Phaseolus filiformis, an adapted wild bean species native to this region, their phylogenies were inferred by MLSA. Most rhizobia recovered belong to the proposed new species Ensifer aridi. Phylogenetic analyses of nodC and nifH show that Mexican isolates carry symbiotic genes acquired through horizontal gene transfer that are divergent from those previously characterized among bean symbionts. These strains are salt tolerant, able to grow in alkaline conditions, high temperatures, and capable of utilizing a wide range of carbohydrates and organic acids as carbon sources for growth. This study improves the knowledge on diversity, geographic distribution and evolution of bean-nodulating rhizobia in Mexico and further enlarges the spectrum of microsymbiont with which Phaseolus species can interact with, including cultivated bean varieties, notably under stressed environments. Here, the species Ensifer aridi sp. nov. is proposed as strain type of the Moroccan isolate LMR001T (= LMG 31426T; = HAMBI 3707T) recovered from desert sand dune.
Implementation of a Surgical Simulation Care Pathway Approach to Training in Emergency Abdominal Surgery
Authors: Beyer‐Berjot Laura , Patel Vishal , Sirimanna Pramudith , Hashimoto Daniel A. , Berdah Stéphane , Darzi Ara , Aggarwal Rajesh
Published: October 2019

Background

Simulation‐based care pathway approach (CPA) training is a novel approach in surgical education. The objective of the present study was to determine whether CPA was feasible for training surgical residents and could improve efficiency in patients’ management. A common disease was chosen: acute appendicitis.

Methods

All five junior residents of our department were trained in CPA: preoperative CPA consisted in virtual patients (VPs) presenting with acute right iliac fossa pain; intraoperative CPA involved a virtual competency‐based curriculum for laparoscopic appendectomy (LAPP); finally, post‐operative VP were reviewed after LAPP. Thirty‐eight patients undergoing appendectomy were prospectively included before (n = 21) and after (n = 17) the training. All demographic and perioperative data were prospectively collected from their medical records, and time taken from admission to management was measured.

Results

All residents had performed less than 10 LAPP as primary operator. Pre‐ and intraoperative data were comparable between pretraining and post‐training patients. Times to liquid and solid diet were significantly reduced after training [7 h (2–20) vs. 4 (4–6); P = 0.004, and 17 h (4–48) vs. 6 (4–24); P = 0.005] without changing post‐operative morbidity [4 (19%) vs. 0 (0); P = 0.11] and length of stay [48 h (30–264) vs. 44 (21–145); P = 0.22].

Conclusions

CPA training is feasible in abdominal surgery. In the current study, it improved patients’ management in terms of earlier oral intake.
Comparison of coated meshes for intraperitoneal placement in animal studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Liu H. , van Steensel S. , Gielen M. , Vercoulen T. , Melenhorst J. , Winkens B. , Bouvy N. D.
Published: October 2019

Purpose

Laparoscopic intraperitoneal onlay mesh in hernia repair can result in adhesions leading to intestinal obstruction and fistulation. The aim of this systematic review is to compare the effects of mesh coatings reducing the tissue-to-mesh adhesion in animal studies.

Methods

Pubmed and Embase were systematically searched. Animal experiments comparing intraperitoneally placed meshes with coatings were eligible for inclusion. Only studies with comparable follow-up, measurements, and species were included for data pooling and subsequent meta-analysis.

Results

A total of 131 articles met inclusion criteria, with four studies integrated into one comparison and five studies integrated into another comparison. Compared to uncoated polypropylene (PP) mesh, PP mesh coated with hyaluronic acid/carboxymethyl cellulose (HA/CMC) showed significantly reduced adhesion formation at follow-up of 4 weeks measured with adhesion score of extent (random effects model, mean difference,−  0.96, 95% CI − 1.32 to − 0.61, P < 0.001, I2 = 23%; fixed effects model, mean difference,− 0.94, 95% CI − 1.25 to − 0.63, P < 0.001, I2 = 23%). Compared to PP mesh, polyester mesh coated with collagen (PC mesh) showed no significant difference at follow-up of 4 weeks regarding percentage of adhesion-area on a mesh, using random effects model (mean difference − 11.69, 95% CI − 44.14 to 20.76, P = 0.48, I2 = 92%). However, this result differed using fixed effects model (mean difference − 25.55, 95% CI − 33.70 to − 7.40, P < 0.001, I2 = 92%).

Conclusion

HA/CMC coating reduces adhesion formation to PP mesh effectively at a follow-up of 4 weeks, while the anti-adhesive properties of PC mesh are inclusive comparing all study data.
Development of a Concussion Risk Function for a Youth Population Using Head Linear and Rotational Acceleration
Authors: Campolettano Eamon T. , Gellner Ryan A. , Smith Eric P. , Bellamkonda Srinidhi , Tierney Casey T. , Crisco Joseph J. , Jones Derek A. , Kelley Mireille E. , Urban Jillian E. , Stitzel Joel D. , Genemaras Amaris , Beckwith Jonathan G. , Greenwald Richard M. , Maerlender Arthur C. , Brolinson Per Gunnar , Duma Stefan M. , Rowson Steven
Published: October 2019

Physical differences between youth and adults, which include incomplete myelination, limited neck muscle development, and a higher head-body ratio in the youth population, likely contribute towards the increased susceptibility of youth to concussion. Previous research efforts have considered the biomechanics of concussion for adult populations, but these known age-related differences highlight the necessity of quantifying the risk of concussion for a youth population. This study adapted the previously developed Generalized Acceleration Model for Brian Injury Threshold (GAMBIT) that combines linear and rotational head acceleration to model the risk of concussion for a youth population with the Generalized Acceleration Model for Concussion in Youth (GAM-CY). Survival analysis was used in conjunction with head impact data collected during participation in youth football to model risk between individuals who sustained medically-diagnosed concussions (n = 15). Receiver operator characteristic curves were generated for peak linear acceleration, peak rotational acceleration, and GAM-CY, all of which were observed to be better injury predictors than random guessing. GAM-CY was associated with an area under the curve of 0.89 (95% confidence interval: 0.82–0.95) when all head impacts experienced by the concussed players were considered. Concussion tolerance was observed to be lower for youth athletes, with average peak linear head acceleration of 62.4 ± 29.7 g compared to 102.5 ± 32.7 g for adults and average peak rotational head acceleration of 2609 ± 1591 rad/s2compared to 4412 ± 2326 rad/s2. These data provide further evidence of age-related differences in concussion tolerance and may be used for the development of youth-specific protective designs.
Historicizing Modern Slavery: Free-Grown Sugar as an Ethics-Driven Market Category in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Authors: Smith Andrew , Johns Jennifer
Published: October 2019

The modern slavery literature engages with history in an extremely limited fashion. Our paper demonstrates to the utility of historical research to modern slavery researchers by explaining the rise and fall of the ethics-driven market category of “free-grown sugar” in nineteenth-century Britain. In the first decades of the century, the market category of “free-grown sugar” enabled consumers who were opposed to slavery to pay a premium for a more ethical product. After circa 1840, this market category disappeared, even though considerable quantities of slave-grown sugar continued to arrive into the UK. We explain the disappearance of the market category. Our paper contributes to the on-going debates about slavery in management by historicizing and thus problematizing the concept of “slavery”. The paper challenges those modern slavery scholars who argue that lack of consumer knowledge about product provenance is the main barrier to the elimination of slavery from today’s international supply chains. The historical research presented in this paper suggests that consumer indifference, rather than simply ignorance, may be the more fundamental problem. The paper challenges the optimistic historical metanarrative that pervades much of the research on ethical consumption. It highlights the fragility of ethics-driven market categories, offering lessons for researchers and practitioners seeking to tackle modern slavery.
Wireless Communications for the Hospital of the Future: Requirements, Challenges and Solutions
Authors: Ahmed Iqrar , Karvonen Heikki , Kumpuniemi Timo , Katz Marcos
Published: October 2019

In this conceptual paper, we discuss the concept of hospital of the future (HoF) and the requirements for its wireless connectivity. The HoF will be mostly wireless, connecting patients, healthcare professionals, sensors, computers and medical devices. Spaces of the HoF are first characterized in terms of communicational performance requirements. In order to fulfil the stringent requirements of future healthcare scenarios, such as enhanced performance, security, safety, privacy, and spectrum usage, we propose a flexible hybrid optical-radio wireless network to provide efficient, high-performance wireless connectivity for the HoF. We introduce the concept of connected HoF exploiting reconfigurable hybrid optical-radio networks. Such a network can be dynamically reconfigured to transmit and receive optical, radio or both signals, depending on the requirements of the application. We envisage that HoF will consist of numerous communication devices and hybrid optical-radio access points to transmit data using radio waves and visible light. Light-based communications exploit the idea of visible light communications (VLC), where solid-state luminaries, white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) provide both room illumination as well as optical wireless communications (OWC). The hybrid radio-optical communication system can be used in principle in every scenario of the HoF. In addition to the hybrid access, we also propose a reconfigurable optical-radio communications wireless body area network (WBAN), extending the conventional WBAN to more generic and highly flexible solution. As the radio spectrum is becoming more and more congested, hybrid wireless network approach is an attractive solution to use the spectrum more efficiently. The concept of HoF aims at enhancing healthcare while using hospital resources efficiently. The enormous surge in novel communication technologies such as internet of things (IoT) sensors and wireless medical communications devices could be undermined by spectral congestion, security, safety and privacy issues of radio networks. The considered solution, combining optical and radio transmission network could increase spectral efficiency, enhancing privacy while reducing patient exposure to radio frequency (RF). Parallel radio-optical communications can enhance reliability and security. We also discuss possible operation scenarios and applications that can be introduced in HoF as well as outline potential challenges.
Social networks and tax avoidance: evidence from a well-defined Norwegian tax shelter
Authors: Alstadsæter Annette , Kopczuk Wojciech , Telle Kjetil
Published: October 2019

In 2005, over 8% of Norwegian shareholders transferred their shares to new (legal) tax shelters intended to defer taxation of capital gains and dividends that would otherwise be taxable in the aftermath of a reform implemented in 2006. Using detailed administrative data, we identify family networks and describe how take-up of tax avoidance progresses within a network. A feature of the reform was that the eligibility to set up a tax shelter changed discontinuously with individual shareholding of a firm and we use this fact to estimate the causal effect of availability of tax avoidance for a taxpayer on tax avoidance by others in the network. We find that eligibility in a social network increases the likelihood that others will take-up. This suggests that taxpayers affect each other’s decisions about tax avoidance, highlighting the importance of accounting for social interactions in understanding enforcement and tax avoidance behavior, and providing a concrete example of optimization frictions in the context of behavioral responses to taxation.
The gut microbiota to the brain axis in the metabolic control
Authors: Grasset Estelle , Burcelin Remy
Published: October 2019

The regulation of glycemia is under a tight neuronal detection of glucose levels performed by the gut-brain axis and an efficient efferent neuronal message sent to the peripheral organs, as the pancreas to induce insulin and inhibit glucagon secretions. The neuronal detection of glucose levels is performed by the autonomic nervous system including the enteric nervous system and the vagus nerve innervating the gastro-intestinal tractus, from the mouth to the anus. A dysregulation of this detection leads to the one of the most important current health issue around the world i.e. diabetes mellitus. Furthemore, the consequences of diabetes mellitus on neuronal homeostasis and activities participate to the aggravation of the disease establishing a viscious circle. Prokaryotic cells as bacteria, reside in our gut. The strong relationship between prokaryotic cells and our eukaryotic cells has been established long ago, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in our body have evolved synbiotically. For the last decades, studies demonstrated the critical role of the gut microbiota on the metabolic control and how its shift can induce diseases such as diabetes. Despite an important increase of knowledge, few is known about 1) how the gut microbiota influences the neuronal detection of glucose and 2) how the diabetes mellitus-induced gut microbiota shift observed participates to the alterations of autonomic nervous system and the gut-brain axis activity.
Contemporary ‘people from hideouts’ and the problem of the lack of social involvement
Authors: Wędzińska Magdalena Maria
Published: October 2019

The aim of this paper is to present Tischner’s concept of ‘people from hideouts’ in the context of contemporary problems of lack of social involvement, characteristic of Polish society. According to Tischner’s intention, the concept of ‘people from hideouts’ is understood as a manifestation of the pathology of hope, which, in my opinion, is expressed in the reluctance to participate in social life and fulfill civic duties. The paper presents key issues for Tischner’s concept related to the role of hope in human life and fear as an exemplification of an abandonment for hope. The text also describes concepts related to values, freedom, and the role of encounter and dialogue in interpersonal relations.
Auswirkungen verkürzter Ruhezeiten auf Gesundheit und Work-Life-Balance bei Vollzeitbeschäftigten: Ergebnisse der BAuA-Arbeitszeitbefragung 2017
Authors: Backhaus Nils , Brauner Corinna , Tisch Anita
Published: October 2019

Flexible Arbeitszeitmodelle gewinnen in der modernen Arbeitswelt zunehmend an Bedeutung. Vielfach wird in Frage gestellt, ob bestehende Regelungen des Arbeitszeitgesetzes den Wandel der Arbeitswelt noch angemessen berücksichtigen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde auch eine Diskussion über die gesetzliche Mindestruhezeit von elf Stunden zwischen zwei Arbeitstagen angestoßen. Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf Basis der BAuA-Arbeitszeitbefragung 2017 (n = 6136 Vollzeitbeschäftigte), dass die Verkürzung von Ruhezeiten, über alle Berufe hinweg, negativ mit psychosomatischen Beschwerden und Work-Life-Balance assoziiert ist. Zudem kann gezeigt werden, dass der vielfach bestätigte negative Zusammenhang zwischen täglichen Arbeitszeiten bzw. Überstunden mit Gesundheit und Work-Life-Balance zum Teil auf verkürzte Ruhezeiten zurückzuführen ist. Aus den Analysen wird deutlich, dass bereits eine gelegentliche Unterschreitung der elfstündigen Mindestruhezeit mit Risiken für Gesundheit und einer schlechteren Work-Life-Balance einhergeht.

Praktische Relevanz: Verkürzte Ruhezeiten zeigen negative Zusammenhänge zu Gesundheit und Work-Life-Balance. Die gesetzlichen Ruhezeiten stellen aus Sicht des Arbeitsschutzes daher einen notwendigen Mindeststandard dar, dessen Einhaltung für eine gesunde Arbeitszeitgestaltung für alle Tätigkeiten maßgeblich ist. Eine Flexibilisierung der Arbeitszeit, in Form einer Absenkung der Mindestruhezeit, ist aus arbeitswissenschaftlicher Sicht abzulehnen. Darüber hinaus sollten die bestehenden Ausnahmeregelungen kritisch reflektiert werden. Bei der Gestaltung und Bewertung von Arbeitszeiten sollte neben der Länge der Arbeitszeit stets auch die Ruhezeit berücksichtigt werden. Eine Unterschreitung der Mindestruhezeit sollte in jedem Fall vermieden werden.
Secular trends in cognitive trajectories of diverse older adults
Authors: Vonk Jet M.J. , Arce Rentería Miguel , Avila Justina F. , Schupf Nicole , Noble James M. , Mayeux Richard , Brickman Adam M. , Manly Jennifer J.
Published: October 2019

Introduction

This study aimed to determine if later birth year influences trajectory of age‐related cognitive decline across racial/ethnic groups and to test whether years of school, childhood socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular disease burden explain such secular trends.

Methods

We compared cognitive trajectories of global cognition and subdomains in two successive racially/ethnically and educationally diverse birth cohorts of a prospective cohort study.

Results

Later birth year was associated with higher initial cognitive levels for Whites and Blacks, but not Hispanics. Later birth year was also associated with less rapid rate of decline in all three racial/ethnic groups. More years of education, higher childhood socioeconomic status, and, to a smaller extent, greater cardiovascular disease burden accounted for higher intercepts in the later‐born cohort, but did not account for attenuated slope of cognitive decline.

Discussion

Later birth year is related to a slower rate of age‐related decline in some cognitive domains in some racial/ethnic groups. Our analyses suggest that racial/ethnic and social inequalities are part of the mechanisms driving secular trends in cognitive aging and dementia.
In Favor of the Classical Quine on Ontology
Authors: Kemp Gary
Published: October 2019

I make a Quinean case that Quine’s ontological relativity marked a wrong turn in his philosophy, that his fundamental commitments point toward the classical view of ontology that was worked out in most detail in hisWord and Object(1960). This removes the impetus toward (a version of) structuralism in his later philosophy.
Experiencing Silence
Authors: Meadows Phillip John
Published: October 2019

This paper identifies three claims that feature prominently in recent discussions concerning the experience of silence: (i) that experiences of silence are the most “negative” of perceptions, (ii) that we do not hear silences because those silences cause our experiences of silence, and (iii) that to hear silence is to hear a temporal region devoid of sound. The principal proponents of this approach are Phillips and Soteriou, and here I present a series of objections to common elements of their attempts to place these three claims within an account of experience of silence. The final section of the paper returns to the first of the three claims and argues that, in fact, there is no good reason to accept it as initially formulated. However, when properly formulated, the claim ceases to offer support for Phillips’s and Soteriou’s approach to experience of silence.
Migraine with Aura as a Stroke Mimic
Authors: Park Jeong-Jin , Kim Soo Jeong , Kim Hahn Young , Roh Hong Gee , Kim Dong Wook
Published: October 2019

Migraine with aura is one of the causes of stroke mimics. We retrospectively reviewed the 10-year medical records of patients who were treated with acute stroke management protocol. We analyzed the frequency and characteristics of patients with a final diagnosis of migraine with aura. Among the 1355 patients with stroke mimics, migraine with aura was the final diagnosis in 36 patients (2.7%). The most common auras included sensory and brainstem auras followed by motor, visual, and speech/language auras. One patient manifested transient atrial fibrillation during the migraine attack, which can be a link with acute stroke.
Reconceptualising the politics of knowledge authority in post/conflict interventions: From a peacebuilding field to transnational fields of interventionary objects
Authors: Danielsson Anna
Published: October 2019

Peacebuilding debates increasingly revolve around questions about knowledge and expertise. Of particular interest is what (and whose) knowledge(s) ends up authoritative in interventions. This article addresses a problem in the literature on the epistemics and epistemic authority of peacebuilding interventions: the acknowledgement of but lacking attention to plural knowledges, the transgressive character of expertise, and knowledge struggles. It does this by discussing recent suggestions that peacebuilding epistemic authority can be fruitfully analysed as a Bourdieusian field. The article identifies a tension in Bourdieu's own thinking about fields, which has shaped some of these recent proposals. This tension, nevertheless, also enables a reconsideration of fields and struggles, and thereby an analysis that takes plurality and transgressiveness into account. By developing such an alternative conceptual position, the article sees peacebuilding epistemic authority as object- and struggle-bound; conditioned and dependent on dynamics that go beyond peacebuilding as a distinct field of practice. This position is illustrated in an analysis of the emergence and (temporary) establishment of epistemic authority in peacebuilding interventions on informal economies.
Predicting hospital-onset Clostridium difficile using patient mobility data: A network approach
Authors: Bush Kristen , Barbosa Hugo , Farooq Samir , Weisenthal Samuel J. , Trayhan Melissa , White Robert J. , Noyes Ekaterina I. , Ghoshal Gourab , Zand Martin S.
Published: October 2019

Objective:

To examine the relationship between unit-wide Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) susceptibility and inpatient mobility and to create contagion centrality as a new predictive measure of CDI.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Methods:

A mobility network was constructed using 2 years of patient electronic health record data for a 739-bed hospital (n = 72,636 admissions). Network centrality measures were calculated for each hospital unit (node) providing clinical context for each in terms of patient transfers between units (ie, edges). Daily unit-wide CDI susceptibility scores were calculated using logistic regression and were compared to network centrality measures to determine the relationship between unit CDI susceptibility and patient mobility.

Results:

Closeness centrality was a statistically significant measure associated with unit susceptibility (P < .05), highlighting the importance of incoming patient mobility in CDI prevention at the unit level. Contagion centrality (CC) was calculated using inpatient transfer rates, unit-wide susceptibility of CDI, and current hospital CDI infections. The contagion centrality measure was statistically significant (P < .05) with our outcome of hospital-onset CDI cases, and it captured the additional opportunities for transmission associated with inpatient transfers. We have used this analysis to create easily interpretable clinical tools showing this relationship as well as the risk of hospital-onset CDI in real time, and these tools can be implemented in hospital EHR systems.

Conclusions:

Quantifying and visualizing the combination of inpatient transfers, unit-wide risk, and current infections help identify hospital units at risk of developing a CDI outbreak and, thus, provide clinicians and infection prevention staff with advanced warning and specific location data to inform prevention efforts.
Decomposition of the forces on a body moving in an incompressible fluid
Authors: Graham W. R.
Published: October 2019

In analysing fluid forces on a moving body, a natural approach is to seek a component due to viscosity and an ‘inviscid’ remainder. It is also attractive to decompose the velocity field into irrotational and rotational parts, and apportion the force resultants accordingly. The ‘irrotational’ resultants can then be identified as classical ‘added mass’, but the remaining, ‘rotational’, resultants appear not to be consistent with the physical interpretation of the rotational velocity field (as that arising from the fluid vorticity with the body stationary). The alternative presented here splits the inviscid resultants into components that are unquestionably due to independent aspects of the problem: ‘convective’ and ‘accelerative’. The former are associated with the pressure field that would arise in an inviscid flow with (instantaneously) the same velocities as the real one, and with the body’s velocity parameters – angular and translational – unchanging. The latter correspond to the pressure generated when the body accelerates from rest in quiescent fluid with its given rates of change of angular and translational velocity. They are reminiscent of the added-mass force resultants, but are simpler, and closer to the standard rigid-body inertia formulae, than the developed expressions for added-mass force and moment. Finally, the force resultants due to viscosity also include a contribution from pressure. Its presence is necessary in order to satisfy the equations governing the pressure field, and it has previously been recognised in the context of ‘excess’ stagnation-point pressure. However, its existence does not yet seem to be widely appreciated.
An Early Ordovician (Floian) asterozoan (Echinodermata) of problematic class-level affinities
Authors: Blake Daniel B. , Gahn Forest J. , Guensburg Thomas E.
Published: October 2019

Falloaster anquiroisitusnew genus new species (Asterozoa, Echinodermata) is described from the Floian (Early Ordovician) Garden City Formation of Idaho. The new taxon is known from a single small specimen. Because of weathering, remaining disk elements are incomplete. Dorsal surfaces of the ambulacral ossicles of two arms are available, one well preserved, whereas those of a third arm expose the ambulacrals essentially as they would appear in ventral view. Ambulacral ossicles were all but entirely lost on the remaining two arms.

Albeit asterozoan,F. anquiroisitusis not assignable at the class level. It is suggestive of the Asteroidea in presence of a domal disk, five abruptly tapering triangular, arched arms, and ambulacral ossicles vaulted to form a furrow. Ambulacral morphology, including the presence of very large podial pores, is unlike that of early asteroids. In addition, no adambulacral or other virgal-series derivatives are present; ambital framework ossicles are absent; a single series of enlarged, plate-like arm ossicles, one series on each side of the arm, come together at the arm midline; and the plate-like series were supported laterally by recurved ambulacral margins. Only remnants of the disk near the periphery survive, these of overall expression unlike any other echinoderm, including asterozoans. The mouth frame is unknown.Falloaster anquiroisitusis argued to represent an extinct lineage apart from the four recognized asterozoan classes, thereby joining a limited number of other problematic early Asterozoa.

UUID:
http://zoobank.org/a13a5417-44b6-4ac3-90cf-9dc8fb5902bd