bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrated time-serial transcriptome networks reveal common innate and tissue-specific adaptive immune responses to PRRSV infection
Authors: Lim Byeonghwi , Kim Sangwook , Lim Kyu-Sang , Jeong Chang-Gi , Kim Seung-Chai , Lee Sang-Myeong , Park Choi-Kyu , te Pas Marinus F. W. , Gho Haesu , Kim Tae-Hun , Lee Kyung-Tai , Kim Won-Il , Kim Jun-Mo
Published: October 2020

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection is the most important viral disease causing severe economic losses in the swine industry. However, mechanisms underlying gene expression control in immunity-responsible tissues at different time points during PRRSV infection are poorly understood. We constructed an integrated gene co-expression network and identified tissue- and time-dependent biological mechanisms of PRRSV infection through bioinformatics analysis using three tissues (lungs, bronchial lymph nodes [BLNs], and tonsils) via RNA-Seq. Three groups with specific expression patterns (i.e., the 3-dpi, lung, and BLN groups) were discovered. The 3 dpi-specific group showed antiviral and innate-immune signalling similar to the case for influenza A infection. Moreover, we observed adaptive immune responses in the lung-specific group based on various cytokines, while the BLN-specific group showed down-regulated AMPK signalling related to viral replication. Our study may provide comprehensive insights into PRRSV infection, as well as useful information for vaccine development.
The effect of mining foreign direct investment inflow on the economic growth of Zimbabwe
Authors: Gochero Plaxedes , Boopen Seetanah
Published: October 2020

The study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to examine the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) in the mining sector on the Zimbabwe economy, while controlling for both non-mining FDI and domestic investment. Using data over the period 1988–2018, this research results show that foreign direct investment in the mining sector has a significant positive relationship with the country’s GDP in the long run. Mining FDI is revealed to have relatively higher effects as compared to FDI in non-mining sector and domestic investment. The short-run analysis observed that mining FDI as well as non-mining and domestic investment still has positive and significant impacts on growth but at a relatively lower extent. This implies that it takes some time for such investments to have their full effect on the economy.
Feasibility study on pre or postoperative accelerated radiotherapy (POP-ART) in breast cancer patients
Authors: Van Hulle Hans , Vakaet Vincent , Post Giselle , Van Greveling Annick , Monten Chris , Hendrix An , Van de Vijver Koen , Van Dorpe Jo , De Visschere Pieter , Braems Geert , Vandecasteele Katrien , Denys Hannelore , De Neve Wilfried , Veldeman Liv
Published: October 2020

Background

In early-stage breast cancer, the cornerstone of treatment is surgery. After breast-conserving surgery, adjuvant radiotherapy has shown to improve locoregional control and overall survival rates. The use of breast radiotherapy in the preoperative (preop) setting is far less common. Nevertheless, it might improve disease-free survival as compared to postoperative radiotherapy. There is also a possibility of downsizing the tumour which might lead to a lower need for mastectomy. There are some obstacles that complicate its introduction into daily practice. It may complicate surgery or lead to an increase in wound complications or delayed wound healing. Another fear of preop radiotherapy is delaying surgery for too long. At Ghent University Hospital, we have experience with a 5-fraction radiotherapy schedule allowing radiotherapy delivery in a very short time span.

Methods

Twenty female breast cancer patients with non-metastatic disease receiving preop chemotherapy will be randomized between preop or postoperative radiotherapy. The feasibility of preop radiotherapy will be evaluated based on overall treatment time. All patients will be treated in 5 fractions of 5.7 Gy to the whole breast with a simultaneous integrated boost to the tumour/tumour bed of 5 × 6.2 Gy. In case of lymph node irradiation, the lymph node regions will receive a dose of 27 Gy in 5 fractions of 5.4 Gy. The total duration of therapy will be 10 to 12 days. In the preop group, overall treatment time is defined as the time between diagnosis and the day of last surgery, in the postop group between diagnosis and last irradiation fraction. Toxicity related to surgery, radio-, and chemotherapy will be evaluated on dedicated case-report forms at predefined time points. Tumour response will be evaluated on the pathology report and on MRI at baseline and in the interval between chemotherapy and surgery.

Discussion

The primary objective of the trial is to investigate the feasibility of preop radiotherapy. Secondary objectives are to search for biomarkers of response and toxicity and identify the involved cell death mechanisms and the effect of preop breast radiotherapy on the in-situ immune micro-environment.
The Tie2 signaling pathway in retinal vascular diseases: a novel therapeutic target in the eye
Authors: Nguyen Quan Dong , Heier Jeffrey S. , Do Diana V. , Mirando Adam C. , Pandey Niranjan B. , Sheng Huan , Heah Theresa
Published: October 2020

Background

Retinal vascular diseases such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and/or diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion with macular edema—share several key pathophysiologic aspects including neovascularization, vascular permeability, and inflammation. The role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in these processes, and the therapeutic benefits of VEGF inhibition, have been well characterized. Anti-VEGF therapy is highly effective for many patients but is not uniformly effective in all patients and imposes a significant treatment burden. More recently, the role of the Tie2 signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of retinal vascular diseases has been investigated, and the Tie2 pathway represents a novel therapeutic target for these conditions.

Areas covered

The index review describes the Tie2 pathway and its complementary role to the VEGF pathway in the angiogenesis cascade and will summarize studies of molecules in development to therapeutically modulate the Tie2 pathway in retinal vascular diseases.

Conclusions

Activation of the Tie2 pathway leads to downstream signaling that promotes vascular health and stability and decreases vascular permeability and inflammation. AXT107 is a collagen IV–derived synthetic peptide with a dual mechanism of action that involves suppression of VEGF signaling and activation of the Tie2 pathway; these actions are accomplished by AXT107 binding to and disrupting different integrin, leading to blockade of the VEGF receptor and rearrangement of cellular Tie2 rendering it susceptible to Ang2 agonism. Other Tie2 agonist compounds are also in development, including faricimab and razuprotafib. Tie2 activation only modestly impacts angiogenesis on its own but significantly potentiates VEGF suppression. Co-regulation of the VEGF and Tie2 signaling pathways has the potential to improve functional and structural outcomes in eyes with retinal vascular diseases.
Evaluation of augmentative biological control strategy against major borer insect pests of sugarcane—a large-scale field appraisal
Authors: Sharma Sudhendu , Shera P. S. , Kaur Rabinder , Sangha K. S.
Published: October 2020

Background

Biological alternatives to pesticides in agriculture do not harm non-targets organisms including natural enemies of insect pests. Experiments were conducted at sugarcane fields during 2015 to 2019 to assess large scale biocontrol practices, involving inundative releases of trichogrammatids against lepidopteran borers in comparison to conventional chemical-based farmers’ practice.

Main body

Eight releases each of Trichogramma chilonis Ishii and Trichogramma japonicum Ashmead were made at 50,000 ha−1 at 10 days interval for the management of sugarcane stem borer, Chilo infuscatellus Snellen and the sugarcane top borer, Scirpophaga excerptalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), respectively. Likewise, 10–12 releases of T. chilonis were made at 50,000 ha−1 at 10 days interval for the management of sugarcane stalk borer, Chilo auricilius Dudgeon (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). The biocontrol intervention was compared with farmer’s practice (chemical control) in managing these borers. The results showed that farmers’ practices and biocontrol treated fields resulted in a lower incidence of C. infuscatellus (1.1, 2.9%) and S excerptalis (1.7, 3.9%) than the untreated control fields, wherein the mean per cent incidence of these borers (6.8, 8.5%) was significantly higher. The incidence of C. auricilius was also lower in augmented fields (2.8%) than untreated fields (7.3%). The yield data indicated that farmers adopting biocontrol practices were able to get comparable yield and benefit: cost ratio than farmers’ practice, both being better than untreated control. Moreover, in biocontrol fields, parasitism rate on the factitious host, Corcyra cephalonica Stainton cards was estimated.

Conclusion

Thus, the study highlights the significance of adoption of biocontrol-based technology over a long run to provide sustainable system of sugarcane insect pest management and economic benefits to the stakeholders.
A Reverend on Trial: Debating the Proper Place of Christianity in the North Korean Revolution
Authors: Park Sandra H.
Published: October 2020

As the early North Korean state (1945–50) sought to groom “proper” revolutionary subjects, many Christian leaders publicly confronted the state. When Presbyterian minister Cho Ponghwan upset revolutionary sensibilities with political commentaries during an evangelical circuit around Hwanghae Province, the people’s courts tried him as a reactionary. This article draws on surviving court records in the North Korean Captured Documents collection to elucidate the pedagogic aims that the state invested into Cho’s trial. Instead of dismissing the people’s courtroom as revolutionary excess, I engage Cho’s trial as an intelligible debate over early North Korea’s secularizing project. Beyond discipline, I demonstrate that the state laboriously instructed Christians on embodying desire for the revolution and refraining from transgressing the state-drawn boundary between religion and politics. Yet, due to the instability of this boundary, the courts also used Cho’s trial to articulate and assert the state’s sole authority over defining and redefining this boundary as a way to manage the sacred in North Korean society. Reading along and against the state’s pen, this article excavates the North Korean people’s court as a crucial site for ironing out the state pedagogy on the reactionary and the sacred in a postcolonial, socialist revolution.
Evolution and development of complex eyes: a celebration of diversity
Authors: Koenig Kristen M. , Gross Jeffrey M.
Published: October 2020

For centuries, the eye has fascinated scientists and philosophers alike, and as a result the visual system has always been at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technology in research. We are again at a turning point at which technical advances have expanded the range of organisms we can study developmentally and deepened what we can learn. In this new era, we are finally able to understand eye development in animals across the phylogenetic tree. In this Review, we highlight six areas in comparative visual system development that address questions that are important for understanding the developmental basis of evolutionary change. We focus on the opportunities now available to biologists to study the developmental genetics, cell biology and morphogenesis that underlie the incredible variation of visual organs found across the Metazoa. Although decades of important work focused on gene expression has suggested homologies and potential evolutionary relationships between the eyes of diverse animals, it is time for developmental biologists to move away from this reductive approach. We now have the opportunity to celebrate the differences and diversity in visual organs found across animal development, and to learn what it can teach us about the fundamental principles of biological systems and how they are built.
β1 integrin regulates convergent extension in mouse notogenesis, ensures notochord integrity and the morphogenesis of vertebrae and intervertebral discs
Authors: Guo Shiny Shengzhen , Au Tiffany YK , Wynn Sarah , Aszodi Attila , Chan Danny , Fässler Reinhard , Cheah Kathryn SE
Published: October 2020

The notochord drives longitudinal growth of the body axis by convergent extension, a highly conserved developmental process that depends on non-canonical Wnt/PCP (planar cell polarity) signaling. However, the role of cell-matrix interactions mediated by integrins in the development of the notochord is unclear. We developed transgenic Cre mice, in which β1 integrin gene is ablated at E8.0 in the notochord only or in the notochord and tail bud. These β1 integrin conditional mutants display misaligned, malformed vertebral bodies, hemi-vertebrae and truncated tails. From early somite stages, the notochord was interrupted and displaced in these mutants. Convergent extension of the notochord was impaired with defective cell movement. Treatment of E7.25 wild-type embryos with anti-β1 integrin blocking antibodies to target node pit cells, disrupted asymmetric localization of VANGL2. Our study implicates pivotal roles of β1 integrin for the establishment of PCP and convergent extension of the developing notochord, its structural integrity and positioning, thereby ensuring development of the nucleus pulposus and the proper alignment of vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs. Failure of this control may contribute to human congenital spine malformations.
PLP-1 is essential for germ cell development and germline gene silencing inC. elegans
Authors: Vishnupriya Rajaram , Thomas Linitha , Wahba Lamia , Fire Andrew , Subramaniam Kuppuswamy
Published: October 2020

The germ line genome is guarded against invading foreign genetic elements by small RNA-dependent gene-silencing pathways. Components of these pathways localize to, or form distinct aggregates in the vicinity of, germ granules. These components and their dynamics in and out of granules are currently being intensively studied. Here, we report the identification of PLP-1, a C. elegans protein related to the human single-stranded nucleic acid-binding protein called Pur-alpha, as a component of germ granules in C. elegans. We show that PLP-1 is essential for silencing different types of transgenes in the germ line, and for suppressing the expression of several endogenous genes controlled by the germline gene-silencing pathways. Our results reveal that PLP-1 functions downstream of small RNA biogenesis during initiation of gene silencing. Based on these results and the earlier findings that Pur-alpha proteins interact with both RNA and protein, we propose PLP-1 couples certain RNAs with their protein partners in the silencing complex. Its orthologs localized on RNA granules may similarly contribute to germline gene silencing in other organisms.
Highlighting the latest research: September 2020
Authors: Palmer Sarah Jane
Published: October 2020

Sarah Jane Palmer presents a selection of recently published articles of interest to nurses working in cardiovascular nursing. The aim of this roundup is to provide a brief overview of the research papers selected. A full reference is provided for those who wish to look at the research in further detail.
Analysis of Kindergarten Teachers on Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Authors: Dewi Mutiara Sari , Setyosari Punaji , Kuswandi Dedi , Ulfa Saida
Published: October 2020

This research aims to determine the relationship between the seven components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge possessed by kindergarten teachers. The animal theme was chosen to determine the pedagogical content knowledge component profile of 30 kindergarten teachers, with data obtained through classroom observation, interviews, learning plan documentation. This study employed a mixed-method design, a type of sequential explanatory research with the structural equation modeling-partial least squares and descriptive tests used to quantitative and qualitatively analyze the data obtained. The result showed that: the relationship between the components is specified in the context of using themes to learn in the kindergarten; analysis of the relationships between the components is carried out separately, such as the relationship of all 7 (seven) components to 1 (one) pedagogical content knowledge component of kindergarten teachers; Orientation of teaching has the strongest relationship with Knowledge of Instructional Strategies for Teaching; Knowledge of assessment of early childhood education has the weakest relationship with knowledge of early childhood education subject matter; pedagogical content knowledge components for kindergarten teachers that are often found and associated with other components in a learning episode are orientation of teaching, knowledge of early childhood education curriculum, and knowledge of instructional strategies; there are pedagogical content knowledge component for kindergarten teacher that often found and connection with other component in a learning episode.
Parathyroid hormone (1-34) ameliorates cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone deterioration in collagenase-induced osteoarthritis model in mice
Authors: Shao Li-tao , Gou Yu , Fang Jia-kang , Hu Yun-peng , Lian Qiang-qiang , Zhang Yu-ying , Wang Yu-dan , Tian Fa-ming , Zhang Liu
Published: October 2020

Aims

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) (1-34) exhibits potential in preventing degeneration in both cartilage and subchondral bone in osteoarthritis (OA) development. We assessed the effects of PTH (1-34) at different concentrations on bone and cartilage metabolism in a collagenase-induced mouse model of OA and examined whether PTH (1-34) affects the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway in this process.

Methods

Collagenase-induced OA was established in C57Bl/6 mice. Therapy with PTH (1-34) (10 μg/kg/day or 40 μg/kg/day) was initiated immediately after surgery and continued for six weeks. Cartilage pathology was evaluated by gross visual, histology, and immunohistochemical assessments. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by TUNEL staining. Microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) was used to evaluate the bone mass and the microarchitecture in subchondral bone.

Results

Enhanced matrix catabolism, increased apoptosis of chondrocytes in cartilage, and overexpressed JAK2/STAT3 and p-JAK2/p-STAT3 were observed in cartilage in this model. All of these changes were prevented by PTH (1-34) treatment, with no significant difference between the low-dose and high-dose groups. Micro-CT analysis indicated that bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume/trabecular volume (BV/TV), and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) levels were significantly lower in the OA group than those in the Sham, PTH 10 μg, and PTH 40 μg groups, but these parameters were significantly higher in the PTH 40 μg group than in the PTH 10 μg group.

Conclusion

Intermittent administration of PTH (1-34) exhibits protective effects on both cartilage and subchondral bone in a dose-dependent manner on the latter in a collagenase-induced OA mouse model, which may be involved in regulating the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2020;9(10):675–688.
Taming the snake instabilities in a polariton superfluid
Authors: Claude Ferdinand , Koniakhin Sergei V. , Maître Anne , Pigeon Simon , Lerario Giovanni , Stupin Daniil D. , Glorieux Quentin , Giacobino Elisabeth , Solnyshkov Dmitry , Malpuech Guillaume , Bramati Alberto
Published: October 2020

The dark solitons observed in a large variety of nonlinear media are unstable against the modulational (snake) instabilities and can break in vortex streets. This behavior has been investigated in nonlinear optical crystals and ultra-cold atomic gases. However, a deep characterization of this phenomenon is still missing. In a resonantly pumped two-dimensional polariton superfluid, we use an all-optical imprinting technique together with the bistability of the polariton system to create dark solitons in confined channels. Due to the snake instabilities, the solitons are unstable and break into arrays of vortex streets whose dynamical evolution is frozen by the pump-induced confining potential, allowing their direct observation in our system. A deep quantitative study shows that the vortex street period is proportional to the quantum fluid healing length, in agreement with the theoretical predictions. Finally, the full control achieved on the soliton patterns is exploited to give proof of principle of an efficient, ultra-fast, analog, all-optical maze solving machine in this photonic platform.
Multi-terawatt femtosecond 10 µm laser pulses by self-compression in a CO2 cell
Authors: Panagiotopoulos Paris , Hastings Michael G. , Kolesik Miroslav , Tochitsky Sergei , Moloney Jerome V.
Published: October 2020

We propose and numerically investigate a novel direct route to produce multi-terawatt femtosecond self-compressed 10 µm laser pulses suitable for the next generation relativistic laser-plasma studies including laser-wakefield acceleration at long wavelengths. The basic concept involves selecting an appropriate isotope of CO2 gas as a compression medium. This offers a dispersion/absorption landscape that is shifted in frequency relative to the driving CO2 laser used for 10 µm picosecond pulse generation. We show numerically that as a consequence of low losses and a broad anomalous dispersion window, a 3.5 ps duration pulse can be compressed to ∼300 fs while carrying ∼7 TW of peak power in less than 7 m. An interplay of self-phase modulation and anomalous dispersion leads to a ∼3.5 times compression factor, followed by the onset of filamentation near the cell exit to get below 300 fs duration.
Midsomer Murders AKA L’ispettore Barnaby: How did it find its way into the Italian market and why was it successful?
Authors: Antoniazzi Luca
Published: October 2020

This article looks at the process of national mediation of the British TV series Midsomer Murders (1997–present), which has been broadcast on Italian television since 2003 under the title L’ispettore Barnaby. The programme has enjoyed considerable popularity in Italy since its early days and it is still broadcast regularly. The programme was deemed to be an interesting case study in investigating national mediation as it is strongly characterized by what one might call ‘Englishness’. The article first delineates the ways in which Italian broadcasters placed the product within the Italian market, and subsequently explains why it might have been successful.
Mediating prestige television: The Italian promotion of Big Little Lies and The Deuce
Authors: Brembilla Paola
Published: October 2020

This article takes the case of Sky Atlantic Italia to examine some of the strategies of national mediation that the player has employed to position itself as the prime Italian outlet of prestige television. First, I analyse the ways Sky has made the promotional rhetoric of US prestige television its own, also pouring it into the production of its original high-end dramas. Second, I focus on the promotion of two HBO series aired by Sky Atlantic, Big Little Lies (2017–present) and The Deuce (2017–19). By comparing these strategies to those originally employed by HBO, I highlight the ways the series were re-packaged for the Italian audience, ultimately reasoning on the meaning alterations brought about by the interplay between exploitation and negotiation of brand identities.
The origin of imported TV content and the public service remit in European PSBs: RTVE and the BBC
Authors: Navarro Celina
Published: October 2020

This article analyses the role of foreign content in the public broadcasting corporations from two major European markets, Spain and the United Kingdom. Through a quantitative approach to schedules and in-depth interviews with the heads of the acquisitions departments, it is demonstrated that RTVE and BBC, both public media corporations, have a very different approach to the scheduling of acquisitions due to their distinct concept of public service remit. While in Spain this is focused on the cultural diversity of programmes, the approach in the United Kingdom is to only promote British productions.
Distributing CanCon: CBC strategies for international distribution
Authors: Taurino Giulia
Published: October 2020

This article tackles the evolution of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation international distribution strategies at the intersection of the contemporary television landscape, by providing a context and definition for Canadian content (CanCon) rules, so as to consider more recent debates on the positioning of foreign streaming services in Canada in relation to existing broadcasting companies. The aim is to problematize media policies, by outlining the present state of the debate and updating the conversation to include global streaming TV players. Key questions are explored, such as whether CanCon rules are outdated forms of cultural protectionism or still represent viable answers to the risks of media imperialism.
Il proemio alle leggi (in Platone, Leggi V 726-734)
Authors: Rossetti Livio
Published: October 2020

In Plato’s Laws several passages have been clearly conceived of as preambles. The most extended, and prominent, is the one we find at the beginnings of Book five. It amounts to a complicate tour de force, not easy to be accounted for.What surfaced during the present investigation is a meandrical line of thought which ends with the unexpected adoption of a proto-utilitarianist point of view. This turn is not only interesting (and possibly surprising) per se, since it implies that the author fully acknowledges the role of subjective evaluations that may well ignore the ontological hierarchy between gods-souls-bodies as well as the force of persuasion a wise legislator avails of.
Identification and analysis of the driving factors for product modularity by Interpretive Structural Modelling
Authors: Shamsuzzoha Ahm , Piya Sujan
Published: October 2020

Goal: The purpose of this study is to identify the driving factors that affects modular product design and development and to determine the contextual relationships between the identified factors.

Design / Methodology / Approach: This research study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In qualitative part, an extensive literature review is conducted along with interviews with the experts experienced in product design and development in order to identify and sorted out the driving factors for product modularity. In quantitative part, all the identified factors were analyzed through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method. MICMAC (Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquéeáun Classement (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) analysis is carried out to determine the relative driving and dependency power of the factors.

Results: The contribution of this paper is the identification of the factors associated with developing a modular product. Through the use of ISM diagraph, the identified factors were clustered into different layers based on their driving and dependency characteristics. The ISM diagram also presented the relationship between one factor over others and the reason for such relationship. Such a diagram offers decision maker better visibility on the factor that they need to consider or strategy they need to implement to improve their modular product design and development architecture. The results from this research study encompass organizational managers for handling multiple design views, controlling design related interfaces and ranking the status and progress of product modularity and design completeness.    

Practical implications: The study outcomes support product designers to optimize their product development processes, especially to develop modular products. The presented methodology can be used extensively used by the product designers/planners/managers to find the driving factors related to modular product design and development.

Originality / Value: The originality of this research study is to deploy the ISM approach, which can be used by the organizational managers and/or product designers to plan product development strategies. Such strategies help to them to make necessary decisions on resources allocations.      

Limitations of the investigation: The outcomes from this research may not be generalize sufficiently due to subjectivity of the interviewers.
Differentiability of projective transformations in dimension 2
Authors: Lang Julius
Published: October 2020

It is proven by elementary methods that in dimension 2, every locally injective continuous map, sending the curves of a Ck
-spray to curves of another Ck
-spray as oriented point sets, is a Ck
-diffeomorphism. This extends the result [1] for dimension three and higher from 1965.
New dense superball packings in three dimensions
Authors: Dostert Maria , Vallentin Frank
Published: October 2020

We construct a new family of lattice packings for superballs in three dimensions (unit balls for the

l
3
p

$\begin{array}{}
\displaystyle
l^p_3
\end{array}$

norm) with p ∈ (1, 1.58]. We conjecture that the family also exists for p ∈ (1.58, log2 3 = 1.5849625…]. Like in the densest lattice packing of regular octahedra, each superball in our family of lattice packings has 14 neighbors.
Rough variation on lacunary quasi Cauchy triple difference sequences
Authors: Subramanian Nagarajan , Esi Ayhan
Published: October 2020

In the present paper, we extend the notion of rough ideal
lacunary statistical quasi Cauchy triple difference sequence of order α
using the concept of ideals, which automatically extends the earlier notions of
rough convergence and rough statistical convergence. We prove several results
associated with this notion.
Price Versus Quantity Competition in a Vertically Related Market with Retailer’s Effort
Authors: Liu Qian , Wang Leonard F. S.
Published: October 2020

Allowing downstream retailers to engage in demand-enhancing investment, this paper demonstrates that the classical conclusions regarding the comparison of Cournot and Bertrand competition in a vertically related market with decentralized bargaining are completely reversed. It shows that Bertrand competition is more efficient than Cournot competition, in the sense that both consumer surplus and social welfare are always higher in the former.
Three philosophical perspectives on the relation between technology and society, and how they affect the current debate about artificial intelligence
Authors: Poel Ibo van de
Published: October 2020

Three philosophical perspectives on the relation between technology and society are distinguished and discussed: 1) technology as an autonomous force that determines society; 2) technology as a human construct that can be shaped by human values, and 3) a co-evolutionary perspective on technology and society where neither of them determines the other. The historical evolution of the three perspectives is discussed and it is argued that all three are still present in current debates about technological change and how it may affect society. This is illustrated for the case of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is argued that each of the three perspectives contributes to the debate of AI but that the third has the strongest potential to uncover blind spots in the current debate.
Russell on technology and common sense
Authors: Leach Stephen
Published: October 2020

This article examines the distinction that Russell drew between his work as a philosopher and his work as a journalist. It explains why, when warning against the threat posed by a nuclear arms race, Russell thought it better to write as a journalist (speaking on behalf of common sense) rather than as a philosopher. It is argued that to put aside philosophy in favour of common sense is, in this instance, a mistake.
Freedom and control in the digital age
Authors: Erol Alkim
Published: October 2020

Many conceive information and communications technologies (ICT) as providing a free space which bolsters the freedom of individuals. This is because the technologies, and the ways we use them, are thought to be grounded in consent given by individuals. However, it will be argued that individuals, by their own self-regulated consent-based actions when using ICT, are actually alleviating their own individual freedoms. This novel phenomenon, which Deleuze and Guattari have drawn our attention to, is a consequence of the de-territorialization and re-territorialization of desires, shaped by power processes, and practiced within Control Societies. This process is disguised as ‘choices’ made by free and self-aware individuals who give their ‘consent’.
Artificial intelligence and philosophical creativity: From analytics to crealectics
Authors: Miranda Luis de
Published: October 2020

The tendency to idealise artificial intelligence as independent from human manipulators, combined with the growing ontological entanglement of humans and digital machines, has created an “anthrobotic” horizon, in which data analytics, statistics and probabilities throw our agential power into question. How can we avoid the consequences of a reified definition of intelligence as universal operation becoming imposed upon our destinies? It is here argued that the fantasised autonomy of automated intelligence presents a contradistinctive opportunity for philosophical consciousness to understand itself anew as holistic and co-creative, beyond the recent “analytic” moment of the history of philosophy. Here we introduce the concept of “crealectic intelligence”, a meta-analytic and meta-dialectic aspect of consciousness. Intelligent behaviour may consist in distinguishing discrete familiar parts or reproducible functions in the midst of noise via an analytic process of segmentation; intelligence may also manifest itself in the constitution of larger wholes and dynamic unities through a dialectic process of association or assemblage. But, by contrast, crealectic intelligence co-creates realities in the image of an ideal or truth, taking into account the desiring agent imbued with a sense of possibility, in a relationship not only with the Real but also with the creative sublime or “Creal”.
From a figment of your imagination: Disabled marginal cases and underthought experiments
Authors: Shew Ashley
Published: October 2020

Philosophers often enroll disabled bodies and minds as objects of thought in their arguments from marginal cases and in thought experiments: for example, arguments for animal ethics use cognitively disabled people as a contrast case, and Merleau-Ponty uses a blind man with a cane as an exemplar of the relationship of technology to the human, of how technology mediates. However, these philosophers enroll disabled people without engaging significantly in any way with disabled people themselves. Instead, disabled people are treated in philosophy as literal objects—and in many cases, as less than human. (This sense of a categorical difference between disabled and nondisabled people is becoming especially clear during the Covid-19 pandemic, as I write this article.) Philosophical reflection thus makes assumptions—often wrong—about disabled people’s lives, experiences, and relationships to technology. Outside of philosophy as well as in, disabled people are not regarded as experts about our own experiences and lives; our testimony is paternalistically written over. We need better consideration of disabled people as people as we consider the future. Lack of disabled people’s points of view in philosophy colors—and sometimes invalidates—views of technological change.
A description of the Xhosa constructionya‘go’ plus subordinate imperfective
Authors: Persohn Bastian
Published: October 2020

This paper offers a descriptive analysis of an aspectual periphrasis in Xhosa (Bantu S41). The construction in question consists of a form ofya‘go’ plus a verb in the subordinate imperfective paradigm. It is argued that this construction works at the level of actionality (“lexical aspect” or “aktionsart”), rather than constituting an aspectual operator sensu stricto. The overall actional profile of this verbal unit is that of a degree achievement (Dowty 1979) or directed activity (Croft 2012), i.e. a process of change along a property scale. This change is construed as involving a plurality of successive steps. The contribution of the lexical item and its arguments is that of a property scale and/or target state. Throughout the description remarkable semantic parallels to a structure-wise comparable construction in Spanish (Romance, Indoeuropean) are pointed out. These structural and semantic parallels have implications for an oft-mentioned grammaticalization path leading from a motion-based construction to a marker of progressive aspect (Heine and Kuteva 2002, among others). The description of the construction is complemented by a note on a frequent collocation with an instrumental infinitive of the same verb stem.
Neutral douche: a hydrotherapeutic tool to manage pain and systemic symptoms in primary dysmenorrhea - a randomised controlled study
Authors: Rahmania Sataz , Shetty Vanitha , Ragavendrasamy Balakrishnan
Published: October 2020

Background & Objectives

The douche, one of the hydrotherapeutic treatment modality is commonly used by Naturopathy physicians as a treatment of choice in the management of several ailments. This study was done to assess the effect of full body neutral douche in the management of pain and systemic symptoms in adult females with primary dysmenorrhoea.

Methods

68 subjects of age 18-22 years with primary dysmenorrhoea were recruited for the study and were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (n = 34) and the control group (n = 34). The experimental group received whole body neutral douche, whereas the control group followed the routine as usual. Assessments for the pain, systemic symptoms and menstrual cramps were done by using McGill Pain Questionnaire, Verbal multidimensional scoring system and analog scale for severity of pain and menstrual cramps respectively at baseline, day 30 and day 60 of intervention. Two- way repeated measures of ANOVA was performed to understand the between group changes, adjusted for the respective baseline values and age.

Result

Data was analyzed with SPSS (Version 21.0) package. Neutral douche resulted in significant improvement in pain [F(2,66) = 114.564, p < 0.0005, partial ?2 = 0.771], severity of pain [F(2,66) = 70.418, p < 0.0005, partial ?2 = 0.681], cramps [F(2,66) = 75.986, p < 0.0005, partial ?2 = 0.697] and systemic symptoms [F(2,66) = 14.64, p < 0.0005, partial ?2 = 0.307] as compared to the control group.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that neutral douche can be used as a non-pharmacological intervention in the management of pain and systemic symptoms in primary dysmenorrhea.
Model for High Dynamic Range Imaging System Using Hybrid Feature Based Exposure Fusion
Authors: Kiran Bagadi Ravi , Kumari Vatsavayi Valli , Raju KVSVN
Published: October 2020

The luminous value is high for many natural scenes, which causes loss of information and occurs in dark images. The High Dynamic Range (HDR) technique captures the same objects or scene for multiple times in different exposure and produces the images with proper illumination. This technique is used in the various applications such as medical imaging and observing the skylight, etc. HDR imaging techniques usually have the issue of lower efficiency due to capturing of multiple photos. In this paper, an efficient method is proposed for HDR imaging technique to achieve better performance and lower noise. The Luminance-Chrominance-Gradient High Dynamic Range (LCGHDR) method is proposed to obtain the proper luminous value of images. The same scenario is captured at different exposure are processed by the proposed method. Based on these feature values extracted from the different images and exposure fusion technique was developed that helps for the proper imaging. This experiment was evaluated and analyzed by comparing with the other methods, which showed the efficiency of the proposed method. This method needs only 124.594 seconds for the computation, while existing method need 139.869 seconds for the same number of images.
Treatment response to long term antiresorptive therapy in osteogenesis imperfecta type VI: does genotype matter?
Authors: Celik Nur Berna , Gonc Nazli , Ozon Alev , Alikasifoglu Ayfer , Rauch Frank , Kandemir Nurgun
Published: October 2020

Objectives

Osteogenesis imperfecta type VI (OI VI) follows a progressive and severe course, yet unlike other forms of severe OI it has a later onset of fractures, and extra-skeletal findings are not part of the clinical picture. Another difference is that there is an increase in unmineralized osteoid tissue in OI VI, which hinders the effect of bisphosphonates-the current standard of treatment for OI. Therefore, the response to standard treatments in OI VI is not satisfactory. Herein, we report long-term follow-up of two cases with novel SERPINF1 mutations, who show great variation in their treatment response to bisphosphonates.

Case presentation

The first case was given pamidronate at the age of 15 months when he could sit independently, followed a fluctuating course under treatment, fracture rate did not decrease, however he was able to mobilize with walker at the age of 10 years. On the other hand, the second case developed severe deformities and became wheelchair-bound under pamidronate, thus the treatment was switched to denosumab. Unfortunately, there was no improvement under denosumab after 15 months too, and since bone pain increased, denosumab treatment was stopped. He was put on zoledronic acid instead.

Conclusion

SERPINF1 transcript amount may be an important factor to explain the variation in response to pamidronate therapy. In OI VI patients, the factors affecting the clinical course should be identified and new or combined treatment options should be established.
First photographic records of bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) from camera-traps in Guyana
Authors: Hallett Matthew T. , Roberts Anthony , Holland Ashley P. , Jackman Angus
Published: October 2020

The bush dog (Speothos venaticus) is rare, elusive, and difficult to study in the wild. Guyana contains a wealth of intact tropical forest (∼18.4 million ha) and savanna (1.6 million ha) habitats, but management of this species is hindered by a lack of data. We present two photographic records (consisting of nine individuals) of bush dogs from camera-traps set in the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA) – the first of this species in Guyana. These records highlight the importance of Guiana Shield forests and Guyana’s expanding protected areas system to the conservation of these wide-ranging carnivores. Additionally, we recommend that detailed measurement and reporting of site variables become standard, as it will improve the efficacy of camera-trap studies of bush dogs and allow for broad-scale modelling of space use not otherwise possible due to the low detection rates at the scale of each individual study.
Predictor of postoperative dyspnea for Pierre Robin Sequence infants
Authors: Yin Ning , Fang Lei , Zhang Li , Cai Yousong , Fan Guoxiang , Shi Xiaohua , Huang Hongqiang
Published: October 2020

The aim of this retrospective study is to determine the predictive factors of postoperative dyspnea in infants with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS). Forty children with PRS, who underwent general anesthesia, were retrospectively analyzed. The patient’s physiological status and anesthesiology data were collected accordingly, demographic characteristics including age, gender, height and weight at surgery, weight gain, preoperative airway status, tracheal intubation route, American Society of Anesthesiologists grading and airway Cormack–Lehane classification. Weight gain, dyspnea before the operation, Cormack–Lehane grade distribution showed a significant difference between patients with and without postoperative dyspnea (p = 0.0175, p = 0.0026, and p = 0.0038, respectively). Incompetent weight gain was identified as a predictor (p = 0.0371) of PRS postoperative dyspnea through the binary logistic regression model. In conclusion, this study established an early alerting model by monitoring the weight gain, dyspnea before the operation, Cormack–Lehane grade as potential combinations to predict the risk of postoperative dyspnea for PRS.
Crystal structure of 1,4-bis(methylpyridinium benzene) bis(1,2-dicyanoethene-1,2-dithiolato-κ2
S:S)nickel(II), C26H18N6NiS4
Authors: Yan Wei-Hong , Pan Hui-Yan
Published: October 2020

C26H18N6NiS4, triclinic, P

1
¯

$\overline{1}$

(no. 2), a = 8.2947(4) Å, b = 8.9964(5) Å, c = 9.4210(5) Å, α = 70.988(1)°, β = 79.971(1)°, γ = 82.567(1)°, V = 652.52(6) Å3, Z = 1, R

gt
(F) = 0.0340, wR

ref
(F
2) = 0.0643, T = 296(2) K.
Crystal structure of poly[aqua-(μ
2-3,3′,4,5′-biphenyl tetracarboxylate- κ
3
O,O′:O′′) -(μ
2-4,4′-bis(pyrid-4-yl)biphenyl-κ
2
N:N′)zinc(II)], C27H18NO9Zn
Authors: Luo Jie , Wang Xiao‐Wei , Zheng Ying‐Li
Published: October 2020

C27H18NO9Zn, triclinic,

P

1
¯

$P\overline{1}$

(no. 2), a = 8.4357(10) Å, b = 10.1228(10) Å, c = 13.5186(10) Å, α = 83.830(7)°, β = 10.1228(10)°, γ = 13.5186(10)°, V = 1142.05(19) Å3, Z = 2, R

gt
(F) = 0.0665, wR

ref
(F
2) = 0.1427, T = 293(2) K.
Separation of phenols from oils using deep eutectic solvents and ionic liquids
Authors: Hou Yucui , Feng Zhi , Sossa Cuellar Jaime Ruben , Wu Weize
Published: October 2020

Phenolic compounds are important basic materials for the organic chemical industry, such as pesticides, medicines and preservatives. Phenolic compounds can be obtained from biomass, coal and petroleum via pyrolysis and liquefaction, but they are mixtures in oil. The traditional methods to separate phenols from oil using alkaline washing are not environmentally benign. To solve the problems, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and ionic liquids (ILs) have been developed to separate phenols from oil, which shows high efficiency and environmental friendliness. In this article, we summarized the properties of DESs and ILs and the applications of DESs and ILs in the separation of phenols and oil. There are two ways in which DESs and ILs are used in these applications: (1) DESs formed in situ using different hydrogen bonding acceptors including quaternary ammonium salts, zwitterions, imidazoles and amides; (2) DESs and ILs used as extractants. The effect of water on the separation, mass transfer dynamics in the separation process, removal of neutral oil entrained in DESs, phase diagrams of phenol + oil + extractant during extraction, are also discussed. In the last, we analyze general trends for the separation and evaluate the problematic or challenging aspects in the separation of phenols from oil mixtures.