bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effect of visitors on the behavior of zoo‐housed western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
Authors: Lewis Rebecca N. , Chang Yu‐Mei , Ferguson Amanda , Lee Tracey , Clifforde Lisa , Abeyesinghe Siobhan M.
Published: August 2020

Primates, especially apes, are popular with the public, often attracting large crowds. These crowds could cause behavioral change in captive primates, whether positive, neutral, or negative. We examined the impact of visitors on the behavior of six western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), observing the troop over 6 weeks during high season (4.5 hr/day, 35 days, May–July 2016). We used focal scan sampling to determine activity budget and enclosure usage, and focal continuous sampling to identify bouts of anxiety‐related behavior (visitor‐directed vigilance, self‐scratching, and aggression). Both daily zoo‐entry numbers (VGATE) and instantaneous crowds at the exhibit (VDENSITY) were measured. Overall, VGATE had little effect across behaviors. However, consistent with the more acute time frame of measurement, VDENSITY was a better predictor of behavior; at high crowd volumes, we observed significant group‐level changes in activity budget (increased inactivity, increased locomotion, and decreased environment‐related behaviors), increase in some anxiety‐related behaviors, and decreased enclosure usage. Although contributing similar effects, it could not be determined if crowd numbers, composition, or noise most affected the troop, nor any chronic effects of exposure to large crowds. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that measures to minimize the impacts of large crowds at the exhibit would be beneficial. Furthermore, we highlight potential discrepancies between common methods for measuring visitor numbers: VGATE is less sensitive to detecting visitor effects on behavioral indices than VDENSITY. Future studies should appropriately match the biological time frame of welfare indicators and visitor measures used to ensure the reliability of findings.
Organisational Identities, Boundaries, and Change Processes of Technical Universities
Authors: Larsen Katarina , Geschwind Lars , Broström Anders
Published: August 2020

The volume is concerned with how technical universities respond to external influences but also are guided by internal processes of identity formation and reshaping of ideals and boundaries. In this chapter, we present two lines of inquiry and introduce the chapter contributions of the volume. An overarching question driving our research is what it means to be, or not to be, a technical university. The two main lines of inquiry, both related to the organisational identity of technical universities, are focusing on: (i) formation of ideals and boundaries and (ii) responses to change and how it relates to formation and re-negotiations of identity. Empirically, the volume limits its scope to Europe drawing on experiences from various national contexts. The empirical analysis focuses on identity formation processes but is nevertheless informed about ideas (and ideals) associated with technical universities.
Technical Universities in Germany: On Justification of the Higher Education and Research Markets
Authors: Schneijderberg Christian
Published: August 2020

The chapter presents both an overview of technical universities (TUs) in Germany, and how the methodological and theoretical approach of the orders of worth framework by Boltanski and Thévenot (2006) is useful for analyzing public organizations/forms. Guided by the research questions a) “How do publicly set performance indicators empirically construct the form of TUs?” And b) “How does market evolution of education and research products alter the civic-industrial conventions of coordination?”, first, seven characteristics are generated to define a TU in Germany: Recognition by the state, history as technical higher school, name, minimum of 40 engineering professorships, about 60% of professorships in natural sciences, technological, engineering, and mathematical sciences (STEM), average proportion of 1 to 1.6 of professorships in mathematical and natural sciences to professorships in engineering or vice versa, and professorships in social sciences. Second, further developing the theory of Boltanski and Thévenot (2006) helps understanding TUs as a dynamic but stable construction nurtured by investments in a form (Thévenot 1984). This is achieved by theoretically and empirically elaborating on the comprehension of a situation as it is (in comparison to justification in a situation) by focusing on the civic-industrial compromise of public universities being challenged by the market order constructed around higher education and research products and services by the German federal states.
Urbanisation and Land Use Change
Authors: Nuissl Henning , Siedentop Stefan
Published: August 2020

Urbanisation is one of the major driving forces behind the formation of today’s land use systems. It almost always involves the conversion of land use from non-urban to urban uses. A great deal of contemporary urbanisation has been characterised as urban sprawl, i.e. a highly extensive form of land take for urban uses having environmentally detrimental effects. However, urban land use change can occur in relatively diverse forms in terms of layout, building density and speed of change, to name but a few aspects. In recent decades, researchers have made substantial progress in empirically addressing the various forms of urban land use and its change over time. As a consequence, the global dimension of urbanisation-related land use change is now on the agenda of policymakers and researchers worldwide. In order to provide an overview of the many geographical, environmental, sociological and political aspects that are relevant with respect to urban land use change, this contribution strives to make (1) some conceptual clarification regarding the notions associated with urban land use change, before (2) highlighting its (economic, social and political) drivers, as well as its (3) impacts. The text then moves on to (4) briefly systematising the instruments and strategies that have been put in place to cope with urban land use change. Finally, (5), we reflect on the current state of the art regarding research and policies on urban land use change.
Wellenablauf – wie sich Abflusswellen aufbauen und wie der Scheitel gemindert werden kann
Authors: Seibert Simon P. , Auerswald Karl
Published: August 2020

Abfluss läuft immer in Form einer Welle ab. Wesentliche Eigenschaften einer Welle sind Anstiegs- und Ablaufzeit, Scheitelhöhe sowie Wellenvolumen. Je kürzer die Scheitelanstiegszeit und je größer das Wellenvolumen, umso höher und potenziell schadauslösender wird der Hochwasserscheitel. Wellenvolumen und Anstiegszeit sind daher die wichtigsten Kenngrößen einer Abflusswelle und erlauben es, die Scheitelhöhe zu ermitteln. Dieses Kapitel stellt unterschiedliche Verfahren vor, über die entweder nur der Scheitelwert oder die ganze Abflussganglinie konstruiert werden können. Mithilfe dieser Verfahren lassen sich auch die Einflüsse von Maßnahmen der Landnutzung oder der Landschaftsgestaltung quantifizieren, die entweder das Abflussvolumen und/oder die Anstiegszeit ändern. Die Schätzung des Scheitelabflusses und der Abflussganglinie hat daher grundlegende Bedeutung, auch wenn in der ländlichen Starkregen- und Sturzflutvorsorge bisher nur selten in diesen Kategorien gedacht und argumentiert wird.
Consistent numerical implementation of hypoelastic constitutive models
Authors: Palizi Mehrdad , Federico Salvatore , Adeeb Samer
Published: August 2020

In hypoelastic constitutive models, an objective stress rate is related to the rate of deformation through an elasticity tensor. The Truesdell, Jaumann, and Green–Naghdi rates of the Cauchy and Kirchhoff stress tensors are examples of the objective stress rates. The finite element analysis software ABAQUS uses a co-rotational frame which is based on the Jaumann rate for solid elements and on the Green–Naghdi rate for shell and membrane elements. The user subroutine UMAT is the platform to implement a general constitutive model into ABAQUS, but, in order to update the Jacobian matrix in UMAT, the model must be expressed in terms of the Jaumann rate of the Kirchhoff stress tensor. This study aims to formulate and implement various hypoelastic constitutive models into the ABAQUS UMAT subroutine. The developed UMAT subroutine codes are validated using available solutions, and the consequence of using wrong Jacobian matrices is elucidated. The UMAT subroutine codes are provided in the “Electronic Supplementary Material” repository for the user’s consideration.
Geografische Ansätze in der Gesundheitsberichterstattung
Authors: Koller Daniela , Wohlrab Doris , Sedlmeir Georg , Augustin Jobst
Published: August 2020

Das Interesse an geografischen Darstellungen in der Gesundheitsberichterstattung (GBE) ist in den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten stark gewachsen. Gesundheitsdaten können mit diesen Methoden anschaulich und zielgruppenorientiert visualisiert werden. Neue technische Möglichkeiten und die breitere Verfügbarkeit von Daten tragen zur verstärkten Anwendung in der GBE bei. In diesem Artikel soll gezeigt werden, welche geografischen Ansätze in der GBE auf Bundes‑, Länder- und Kommunalebene jeweils aktuell verfolgt werden. Insbesondere soll dabei auf die verwendeten Methoden fokussiert werden.

Es wird gezeigt, dass auf Bundesebene geografische Methoden z. B. in der Surveillance angewendet werden; auf Länderebene gibt es z. B. Gesundheitsatlanten und auf der Kommunalebene verschiedene geografische Analysen. Die methodische Spannweite reicht von einfacheren Kartendarstellungen auf unterschiedlichen Aggregationsebenen bis hin zu komplexeren Verfahren wie raum-zeitlichen Darstellungen und räumlichen Glättungsverfahren.

Fehlender Datenzugang oder datenschutzrechtliche Aspekte behindern noch häufig die Verbindung mit weiteren Datenquellen oder kleinräumigere Darstellungen. Vor allem ein besserer Zugang zu Daten auf kleinräumiger Ebene könnte die GBE aber erheblich erleichtern. Die Bevölkerung und Entscheidungsträger könnten dadurch noch umfassender informiert und folglich die Gesundheit und die gesundheitliche Versorgung der Bevölkerung verbessert werden.
A new species of the deuterostome Herpetogaster from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota of South China
Authors: Yang Xianfeng , Kimmig Julien , Lieberman Bruce S. , Peng Shanchi
Published: August 2020

The Cambrian radiation represents a key time period in the history of life. Here, we add to the mounting evidence accumulating on the nature of deuterostomes from this time period through description of a new species of stalked deuterostome, Herpetogaster haiyanensis nov. sp., from the lower Cambrian (series 2, stage 3) Chengjiang biota of China. This represents the first occurrence of the genus in Gondwana, the first juvenile specimen, and the oldest specimens to date. Herpetogaster haiyanensis nov. sp. differs from H. collinsi Caron et al. (2010) in having a stolon that is separated into an outer and inner layer, the segmentation of the body and in the shape and number of branches of the tentacles. The new species reiterates earlier suggestions of deuterostome affinities of the genus―it appears closely related to Phlogites and then successively more distantly related to Cotyledon and Eldonia―and may have fed on hyolithids.
Direct analysis of lateral flow immunoassays for deoxynivalenol using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
Authors: Geballa-Koukoula Ariadni , Gerssen Arjen , Nielen Michel W. F.
Published: August 2020

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are widely used for rapid food safety screening analysis. Thanks to simplified protocols and smartphone readouts, LFIAs are expected to be increasingly used on-site, even by non-experts. As a typical follow-up in EU regulatory settings, suspect samples are sent to laboratories for confirmatory analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). However, re-analysis by LC-MS/MS is laborious and time-consuming. In this work, an identification LFIA (ID-LFIA) approach followed by quadrupole-orbitrap MS or triple quadrupole MS/MS analysis is presented. As a proof of concept, a dedicated ID-LFIA strip was developed for the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) following its initial screening by a commercial smartphone LFIA. The ID-LFIA strip can be simply immersed in the same sample extract used for the smartphone LFIA screening, and next, DON is retrieved from the monoclonal antibody with a dissociation solution consisting of methanol/ammonia. The solution thus obtained was analyzed directly in MS in order to rapidly confirm the presence of DON and any cross-reacting species. The protocol developed is capable of coping with severe ion suppression caused by LFIA buffers and nitrocellulose substrate residues. Initial analysis of blank, spiked, and incurred samples showed that the newly developed ID-LFIA-MS method was able to confirm the presence or absence of mycotoxins in the samples previously analyzed by LFIA and also differentiate between DON and DON 3-glucoside yielding the positive screening result. The concept and technique developed are envisaged to complement on-site screening and confirmation of any low molecular weight contaminant in future food control frameworks.
Early Prediction of Post‐hepatectomy Liver Failure in Patients Undergoing Major Hepatectomy Using a PHLF Prognostic Nomogram
Authors: Chin Ken Min , Koh Ye Xin , Syn Nicholas , Teo Jin Yao , Goh Brian K. P. , Cheow Peng Chung , Chung Yaw Fui Alexander , Ooi London Lucien , Chan Chung Yip , Lee Ser Yee
Published: August 2020

Background

Liver resection (LR) is the main modality of treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM). Post‐hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) remains the most dreaded complication. We aim to create a prognostic score for early risk stratification of patients undergoing LR.

Methodology

Clinical and operative data of 472 patients between 2000 and 2016 with HCC or CRLM undergoing major hepatectomy were extracted and analysed from a prospectively maintained database. PHLF was defined using the 50–50 criteria.

Results

Liver cirrhosis and fatty liver were histologically confirmed in 35.6% and 53% of patients. 4.7% (n = 22) of patients had PHLF. A 90‐day mortality was 5.1% (n = 24). Pre‐operative albumin–bilirubin score (p = 0.0385), prothrombin time (p < 0.0001) and the natural logarithm of the ratio of post‐operative day 1 to pre‐operative serum bilirubin (SB) (ln(POD1Bil/pre‐opBil); p < 0.0001) were significantly independent predictors of PHLF. The PHLF prognostic nomogram was developed using these factors with receiver operating curve showing area under curve of 0.88. Excellent sensitivity (94.7%) and specificity (95.7%) for the prediction of PHLF (50–50 criteria) were achieved at cut‐offs of 9 and 11 points on this model. This score was also predictive of PHLF according to PeakBil > 7 and International Study Group for Liver Surgery criteria, intensive care unit admissions, length of stay, all complications, major complications, re‐admissions and mortality (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The PHLF nomogram (https://tinyurl.com/SGH‐PHLF‐Risk‐Calculator) can serve as a useful tool for early identification of patients at high risk of PHLF before the ‘point of no return’. This allows enforcement of closer monitoring, timely intervention and mitigation of adverse outcomes.
Magma water content of Pico Volcano (Azores Islands, Portugal): a clinopyroxene perspective
Authors: Nazzareni S. , Barbarossa V. , Skogby H. , Zanon V. , Petrelli M.
Published: August 2020

Clinopyroxenes from the Pico Volcano (Pico Island, Azores Archipelago) have been used as a proxy to define the water content of primitive magmas and the volcanological history of the erupted rocks. This very young volcano (53 ± 5 ka) is at a primordial stage of its evolution in comparison with the other volcanoes of the Azores. Clinopyroxenes from Pico Volcano underwent important dehydration processes and after annealing experiments under H2gas flux, a pre-eruptive H2O content between 93 and 182 ppm was recovered. A moderately high cooling rate for the cpx-host lavas expressed by the clinopyroxene closure temperature (Tc = 755–928 °C ± 20 °C) correlates with the dehydration, suggesting that this process may have occurred during magma ponding at the Moho Transition Zone (17.3–17.7 km) and/or after the eruption. By applying anIVAl-dependent partition coefficient to the measured H amount in clinopyroxene, the pre-eruptive water content of the parental magma was calculated to vary between 0.71 and 1.20 (average of 1.0) wt%. Clinopyroxene geobarometry performed by combining X-ray diffraction with mineral chemistry points to a general crystallisation from the mantle lithosphere (~ 8–9 kbar) to the oceanic mantle/crust boundary (~ 4–5 kbar). The similar major and trace chemistry, water content and Fe3+/Fetotratio of clinopyroxene, suggest similar conditions of oxygen fugacity, water content and fractional crystallisation of the magma from which clinopyroxene cores crystallised during the Pico Volcano central eruptions from 40 ka to historical times.
Byproduct-free geraniol glycosylation by whole-cell biotransformation with recombinant Escherichia coli
Authors: Priebe Xenia , Hoang Manh Dat , Rüdiger Julian , Turgel Maria , Tröndle Julia , Schwab Wilfried , Weuster-Botz Dirk
Published: August 2020

Objective

Geraniol, a fragrance of great importance in the consumer goods industry, can be glucosylated by the UDP-glucose-dependent glucosyltransferase VvGT14a from Vitis vinifera, yielding more stable geranyl glucoside. Escherichia coli expressing VvGT14a is a convenient whole-cell biocatalyst for this biotransformation due to its intrinsic capability for UDP-glucose regeneration. The low water solubility and high cytotoxicity of geraniol can be overcome in a biphasic system where the non-aqueous phase functions as an in situ substrate reservoir. However, the effect of different process variables on the biphasic whole-cell biotransformation is unknown. Thus, the goal of this study was to identify potential bottlenecks during biotransformation with in situ geraniol supply via isopropyl myristate as second non-aqueous phase.

Results

First, insufficient UDP-glucose supply could be ruled out by measurement of intracellular UDP-glucose concentrations. Instead, oxygen supply was determined as a bottleneck. Moreover, the formation of the byproduct geranyl acetate by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) was identified as a constraint for high product yields. The use of a CAT-deficient whole-cell biocatalyst prevented the formation of geranyl acetate, and geranyl glucoside could be obtained with 100% selectivity during a biotransformation on L-scale.

Conclusion

This study is the first to closely analyze the whole-cell biotransformation of geraniol with Escherichia coli expressing an UDP-glucose-dependent glucosyltransferase and can be used as an optimal starting point for the design of other glycosylation processes.
Heat-induced changes in cellulose nanocrystal/amino-aldehyde biocomposite systems
Authors: Nagy Sebestyén , Fekete Erika , Móczó János , Koczka Krisztina , Csiszár Emília
Published: August 2020

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were extracted from natural cellulosic fibres such as bleached cotton and flax with a controlled multi-step sulphuric acid hydrolysis. From the aqueous suspensions of CNCs, the biocomposite films were prepared by casting and evaporation, with an amino-aldehyde (AA) compound in a wide concentration range from 0 to 30%. The AA compound (dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea) was considered both as a cross-linker of the CNC and as a matrix polymer for the CNC-reinforced composite system. Two series of films were prepared using different polyols such as sorbitol and glycerol as plasticizers to improve tractability. Heat treatment of the films was performed at elevated temperatures ranging from 140 to 200 °C for 10 min. Results clearly proved that besides temperature, the factors affecting the response of CNC-based nanocomposites to heat treatment were the source of cellulose, the type of plasticizer and the amount of cross-linking agent. Films based on flax–CNC and plasticized with glycerol showed a higher increase in yellowness and a more significant decrease in haze than those derived from cotton–CNC and plasticized with sorbitol, respectively. The cross-linking agent (AA) had a moderating effect on the heat-induced changes of properties. Furthermore, thermal gravimetric analysis (TG) of films revealed that thermal stability of the CNC films improved considerably when AA was added and cross-linking occurred. The increase inTmaxwas more significant for the flax–CNC films (from about 230 to 290 °C) than for the cotton–CNC ones (from about 250 to 280 °C).
Ectopic hyperprolactinaemia due to a malignant uterine tumor resembling ovarian sex cord tumors (UTROCST)
Authors: Dimitriadis Georgios K. , Wajman Delane S. , Bidmead John , Diaz-Cano Salvador J. , Arshad Sobia , Bakhit Mohamed , Lewis Dylan , Aylwin Simon J. B.
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Moderate hyperprolactinaemia (2–5 times upper limit of normal) occurring in a patient with a normal pituitary MRI is generally considered to be due to a lesion below the level of detection of the MRI scanner assuming macroprolactin and stress have been excluded. Most patients with mild-to-moderate hyperprolactinaemia and a normal MRI respond to dopamine agonist therapy. We present the rare case of a patient who had prolactin elevation typical of a prolactin-secreting pituitary macroadenoma,with a normal cranial MRI, and in whom the prolactin rose further with dopamine agonist treatment. Subsequent investigations revealed ectopic hyperprolactinaemia to a uterine tumor resembling ovarian sex cord tumor (UTROSCT) which resolved following tumor resection. Although mostly considered to be benign, the UTROSCT recurred with recurrent hyperprolactinaemia and intraabdominal metastases.

Methods

We have systematically and critically reviewed existing literature relating to ectopic hyperprolactinaemia in general and UTROCST specifically.

Results

Fewer than 80 cases of UTROSCTs have been reported globally of which about 23% have shown malignant behaviour. There are fewer than 10 cases of paraneoplastic hyperprolactinaemia originating from uterine neoplasms including one other case of ectopic hyperprolactinaemia to a UTROSCT.

Conclusions

Our case demonstrates the importance of screening for extracranial hyperprolactinaemia in the context of: (1) substantially raised prolactin (10× ULN) and (2) normal cranial MRI assuming macroprolactin has been excluded. The majority of extracranial ectopic prolactin-secreting tumors occur in the reproductive organs.
Risk factors associated with experienced stigma among people diagnosed with mental ill-health: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Nugent C. , Rosato M. , Hughes L. , Leavey G.
Published: August 2020

Purpose: to examine the relationship between religiosity, social support, trauma, quality of life and experienced stigma of mental illness amongst a population diagnosed with mental ill-health. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of day service users in Northern Ireland (n = 295) covering a range of issues including religiosity, social support, quality of life and prior experience of trauma. Stigma was measured using a recognised stigma scale. We used multinomial logistic regression to examine risk factors associated with experienced stigma. Results: Univariate analysis showed significant associations between stigma and age, number of friends, social support, quality of life and prior experience of trauma. Age, quality of life, and trauma remained independently associated with stigma in a multivariate logistic regression model (x2(12) = 98.40, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Younger people, those with less social support, prior experience of trauma and with poorer quality of life are at increased risk of experiencing stigma related to their diagnosis of mental illness. The findings provide further understanding of stigma and are useful for those overseeing programmes to improve access to mental health treatment.
Hungarian Language and Law: Developing a Grammar for Social Inclusion, a Vocabulary for Political Emancipation. Special Issue (IJSL)—Editorial Preface
Authors: Paksy Mate , Szabó Miklós , Vinnai Edina
Published: August 2020

Having been invited by editor-in-chief, Professor Anne Wagner, to edit the present special issue, we decided to fulfil a longstanding wish to provide a panorama about the Hungarian Language and Law. Along with other ‘law and …’ movements, Law and Language has attracted a great deal of attention from subsequent generations of Hungarian academic lawyers, because the political transition served as a wonderful subject and context for scholarly papers and text books, for examining the putative or real influence of this or that popular social scientist or for undertaking literature overviews. Unfortunately, there have been relatively few academic papers that have sought to draw general conclusions from empirically well-founded case studies. In order to fill that important gap, this special issue has taken the opportunity to select only those interdisciplinary papers whose goals include an analysis of Hungarian legal discourse written from a critical angle and using critical empirical methodology. At the very outset of the editing process—back in 2018—for the purposes of this special issue we defined as ‘empirical’ any sufficiently coherent fact-based research that reflects the language of legal discourse. And ‘critical’ means an engagement with the values of the Rule of Law. This double methodological and axiological feature is manifest throughout the selected papers classified as ‘law and language’.
Water dynamics at the urban soil-atmosphere interface—rainwater storage in paved surfaces and its dependence on rain event characteristics
Authors: Nehls Thomas , Peters Andre , Kraus Fabian , Rim Yong Nam
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The surface store governs the rainwater partition, e.g., water storage and evaporation on paved surfaces, especially for low-intensity and low-sum rain events, which account for the greatest part of the total rainfall in a temperate climate city like Berlin, Germany. The surface storeSis a fixed value, dependent on surface relief and pore system characteristics. Contrary, in this study, the surface storage was assumed to depend also on the rain intensity, thus being variable from event to event.

Materials and methods

The surface store filling dynamics for dense (DP), porous (PP), and highly infiltrative (IP) paving materials were studied in a rainfall simulator. Irrigation intensitiespranged from 0.016 to 0.1 mm min−1which represent the 25 to 88% quantiles of the rain event distribution in Berlin, Germany (1961 to 1990).

Results and discussion

Three surface stores can be separated: storage until initial runoff,Sf, at maximum filling,Sm, and for steady-state runoff,Seq—all of them can be regarded as effective stores depending on the aim of its use. The equilibrium store varies from 0.2 to 3 mm for DP, PP, and IP for the investigated rainfall intensities.

Conclusions

For all pavers, the surface store depends on rainfall intensity, which was shown experimentally and confirmed by numerical simulation of the infiltration. We introduce a simple and robust method to describeSf,Sm=f(p) for different pavers. Pavers can evaporate a multiple of their surface store per day, depending on the rainfall distribution, which implicates the need for high temporal resolutions in urban hydrology modeling. Pavers can evaporate a multiple of their surface store per day, depending on the rainfall distribution. That implicates the need for high temporal resolutions in urban hydrology modeling.
Does too much liquidity generate instability?
Authors: Calcagnini Giorgio , Gardini Laura , Giombini Germana , Carrera Edgar S.
Published: August 2020

Corporate demand for cash is related to a number of firm-specific characteristics, like the presence of transaction costs, information asymmetry in credit markets, uncertainty and risk aversion. The purpose of this paper is to build a dynamic model that describes the potential chaotic effects of the accumulation of cash by firms over a prolonged period of time. By exploring the theoretical connections between firm financial policies and investment decisions, we show that too much liquidity might generate economic instability. When firm increases the share of cash devoted to risky investment, and reduces the share of cash distributed to shareholders as dividends, the fixed point of the system changes from being stable to being unstable. Moreover, the impact of such a policy on the stability of the system is larger the greater the investment risk. The chaotic behavior is mainly observable in the dynamics of cash, which in turn may affect all investment decisions.
Bone Mineral Density, Parathyroid Hormone, and Vitamin D After Gastric Bypass Surgery: a 10-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up
Authors: Raoof Mustafa , Näslund Ingmar , Rask Eva , Szabo Eva
Published: August 2020

Background

The aim of the present study was to study longitudinal changes in bone mineral density (BMD), vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in females over a 10-year period after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB).

Methods

Twenty-three women, mean age 43.4 ± 8.7 years and mean body mass index (BMI) 44.6 ± 5.17 kg/m2 at baseline, were included. BMD, BMI, S-calcium, S-25(OH)-vitamin D, and fP-PTH were measured preoperatively and 2, 5, and 10 years postoperatively.

Results

Ten years after surgery, BMD of the spine and femoral neck decreased by 20% and 25%, respectively. Changes in serum levels of vitamin D, PTH, and calcium over the same period were small.

Conclusion

After LRYGB with subsequent massive weight loss, a large decrease in BMD of the spine and femoral neck was seen over a 10-year postoperative period. The fall in BMD largely occurred over the first 5 years after surgery.
The Emerging Role of Cardiac Conduction System Pacing as a Treatment for Heart Failure
Authors: Ali Nadine , Shin Mathew Shun , Whinnett Zachary
Published: August 2020

Purpose of Review

The aim of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is to improve cardiac function by delivering more physiological cardiac activation to patients with heart failure and conduction abnormalities. Biventricular pacing (BVP) is the most commonly used method for delivering CRT; it has been shown in large randomized controlled trials to significantly improve morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure. However, BVP delivers only modest reductions in ventricular activation time and is only beneficial in patients with prolonged QRS duration. In this review, we explore conduction system pacing as a method for delivering more effective ventricular resynchronization and to extend pacing therapy for heart failure to patients without left bundle branch block (LBBB).

Recent Findings

The aim of conduction system pacing is to provide physiological ventricular activation by directly stimulating the conduction system. Current modalities include His bundle and left conduction system pacing. His bundle pacing is the most established method; it has the potential to correct left bundle branch block and deliver more effective ventricular resynchronization than BVP. This translates into greater acute haemodynamic improvements and observational data suggests that His-CRT results in improvements in cardiac function and symptoms. AV-optimized His bundle pacing is being investigated in patients with heart failure and long PR interval without LBBB, to see if this improves exercise capacity. More recently, a technique for pacing the left bundle branch has been developed. Early studies show potential advantages including low and stable capture thresholds.

Conduction system pacing can deliver more effective ventricular resynchronization than BVP, which has the potential to deliver greater improvements in cardiac function. It may also provide the opportunity to extend pacing therapy for heart failure to patients who do not have LBBB. Further data is required from randomized trials to assess these promising pacing techniques.
Hypothyreose: Guidelines, neue Erkenntnisse und klinische Praxis
Authors: Pilz Stefan , Theiler-Schwetz Verena , Malle Oliver , Steinberger Eva , Trummer Christian
Published: August 2020

Eine Hypothyreose (Schilddrüsenunterfunktion) findet sich bei ca. 5 % der Bevölkerung, wobei man bei der primären Hypothyreose eine manifeste Hypothyreose mit erhöhtem Thyreoidea-stimulierendem Hormon (TSH) und reduziertem freiem Thyroxin (fT4) von einer latenten (subklinischen) Hypothyreose mit zwar erhöhtem TSH, aber im Normbereich gelegenem fT4 unterscheidet. Die Indikationen für eine TSH-Testung sind nicht klar festgelegt, wobei aber von den meisten Fachgesellschaften kein generelles Screening empfohlen wird, es jedoch in der klinischen Routine häufig eine Überdiagnostik gibt. Während eine manifeste Hypothyreose eine klare Therapieindikation für eine Schilddrüsenhormonsubstitution darstellt, wird die Therapieindikation bei der latenten Hypothyreose zunehmend infrage gestellt, da sich häufig mit Hypothyreose in Verbindung gebrachte Beschwerden wie reduzierte Lebensqualität, Müdigkeit oder Übergewicht durch eine Therapie der latenten Hypothyreose nicht verbessern. Andererseits legen neue Erkenntnisse zur Homöostase und Allostase nahe, dass eine differenzierte Betrachtung der Schilddrüsenfunktion inklusive Berücksichtigung individueller Setpoints und adaptiver Mechanismen die Diagnostik und Therapie der Hypothyreose verbessert und die lineare, TSH-zentrierte Vorgehensweise verdrängen könnte. In diesem kurzen Übersichtsartikel gehen wir auf die aktuellen Richtlinien in Bezug auf Diagnostik und Therapie der Hypothyreose ein, wobei wir diese im Hinblick auf rezente Erkenntnisse auf diesem Gebiet beleuchten und großen Wert auf praktische Handlungsempfehlungen für die tägliche Routine legen.
HybridSucc: A Hybrid-Learning Architecture for General and Species-Specific Succinylation Site Prediction
Authors: Ning Wanshan , Xu Haodong , Jiang Peiran , Cheng Han , Deng Wankun , Guo Yaping , Xue Yu
Published: August 2020

As an important protein acylation modification, lysine succinylation (Ksucc) is involved in diverse biological processes, and participates in human tumorigenesis. Here, we collected 26,243 non-redundant known Ksucc sites from 13 species as the benchmark data set, combined 10 types of informative features, and implemented a hybrid-learning architecture by integrating deep-learning and conventional machine-learning algorithms into a single framework. We constructed a new tool named HybridSucc, which achieved area under curve (AUC) values of 0.885 and 0.952 for general and human-specific prediction of Ksucc sites, respectively. In comparison, the accuracy of HybridSucc was 17.84%–50.62% better than that of other existing tools. Using HybridSucc, we conducted a proteome-wide prediction and prioritized 370 cancer mutations that change Ksucc states of 218 important proteins, including PKM2, SHMT2, and IDH2. We not only developed a high-profile tool for predicting Ksucc sites, but also generated useful candidates for further experimental consideration. The online service of HybridSucc can be freely accessed for academic research at http://hybridsucc.biocuckoo.org/.
Shimmering with Deborah Rose: Posthuman theory-making with feminist ecophilosophers and social ecologists
Authors: Malone Karen , Logan Marianne , Siegel Lisa , Regalado Julie , Wade-Leeuwen Bronwen
Published: August 2020

Drawing on a posthuman lens we walk — with Deborah Bird Rose and her conceptual framing ofshimmer. We explore shimmering as incorporating a sensorial richness, as beauty and grandeur, as constantly in flux, moving between past, future and back again. Shimmering has potentiality in a posthuman context in its encompassing of spiritual and ancestral energies and illumination of the human (settler) story of exceptionalism. By theorising shimmer with this posthuman lens, we acknowledge and honour the eco-ethico consciousness raised by Australian ecophilosophers and ecofeminists such as Deborah Bird Rose and Val Plumwood, and the social ecologists who have continued to walk with them. In order to disrupt anthropocentricism and present a moral wake-up call that glows from dull to brilliance in these precarious times, we bring to environmental education the potential of holding the shimmering past tracings of theory along with us on our journeys.
The Instrumental Rule
Authors: FIX JEREMY DAVID
Published: August 2020

Properly understood, the instrumental rule says to take means that actually suffice for my end, not, as is nearly universally assumed, to intend means that I believe are necessary for my end. This alternative explains everything the standard interpretation can—and more, including grounding certain correctness conditions for exercises of our will unexplained by the standard interpretation.
The social and economic origins of child abuse and neglect
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: August 2020

This commentary aims to start a debate about various dimensions of social disadvantage and the relationship to child abuse and neglect (CAN). These dimensions include poverty, educational attainment, employment status, sub-standard housing, disadvantaged neighbourhoods and social isolation from family. Other aspects such as mental health issues, domestic violence and substance misuse are compounding factors that are critical influences on the relationship between disadvantage and CAN. New South Wales is used as the exemplar Australian state.
Verheggen on Davidson and Kripke on Rule-Following and Meaning
Authors: MILLER ALEXANDER
Published: August 2020

This paper discusses Claudine Verheggen's account of what she takes to be Donald Davidson's response to the sceptical paradox about rule-following and meaning developed in Saul Kripke's interpretation of Wittgenstein's ‘rule-following considerations.’ It focusses on questions about the normativity of meaning, the social character of meaning, and the role of triangulation in Davidson's account of the determination of meaning, and invites Verheggen to compare the non-reductionism she finds in Davidson with that developed in Crispin Wright's judgement-dependent account of meaning.
Davidson's Debt to Anscombe
Authors: HURLEY PAUL
Published: August 2020

Robert Myers’ interpretation of Donald Davidson's practical philosophy gets Davidson right in many fundamental respects. Myers rightly argues that Davidson avoids inconsistencies among internalism, ethical objectivity, and the belief-desire theory by modifying central elements of the Humean belief-desire theory, and that Davidson's alternative legitimizes the extension of his interpretation and triangulation arguments into the practical sphere. But at a crucial fork in the interpretive road Myers loses his way. Davidson follows G.E.M. Anscombe down a different path, one that takes individual desires to be constituted in part by evaluative judgements.
Replies to Kirk Ludwig and Paul Hurley
Authors: MYERS ROBERT H.
Published: August 2020

In response to Paul Hurley, I argue that Donald Davidson's triangulation argument can be applied to normative beliefs only if such beliefs are answerable to properties that are at once normative and causal. The argument thus commits Davidson to a non-reductive and strikingly non-revisionary form of naturalism. In response to Kirk Ludwig, I argue that Davidson had good reason to abandon Humean accounts of pro-attitudes because he had good reason to welcome the non-reductive and non-revisionary form of naturalism that comes into view once the triangulation argument is applied to normative beliefs.
Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies
Authors: MacLeod Andrea A. N. , Meziane Rabia Sabah , Pesco Diane
Published: August 2020

Since 2015, more than 58,000 Syrian refugees have settled in Canada and, at the time of the 2016 national census, more than a fifth had settled in the province of Quebec. The rising numbers of refugees and the risks associated with families’ forced displacement have underscored the need to better understand and support the language of refugee children. The article reports on the oral language of three Syrian children ages five and six years, drawing on data from parent interviews, teacher reports, measures of the children’s language, and observations of their language use in a dual-language stimulation group, StimuLER. By triangulating this data, we were able to develop a rich and realistic portrait of each child’s language abilities. For these three boys, we observed that the home language was vulnerable to delays and weaknesses, and that learning the language of school was a drawn-out process. We also documented that parents and teachers had difficulties communicating with one another, and thus had difficulty meeting the educational needs of these children. We conclude that to foster resiliency in these children who are refugees, schools must find a way to build bridges with the parents to support the children’s language learning in both the language of school and at home.
“We also can. We're not worse”: The Anglophone Wave in Russian indie music (Indi), 2008–2012
Authors: Biasioli Marco
Published: August 2020

This article analyses the main cultural and political factors that contributed to the emergence of local Anglophone music in Russia between 2008 and 2012. While Russian indie groups had extensively sung in English before (with scarce public recognition), a conjunction of circumstances encouraged the appearance of a conspicuous Russian Anglophone music scene in the Medvedev years. These were a perceived political relaxation, internally and in East–West relations; Russian economic growth and the subsequent renovation of Moscow; and the connectivity and expansion of the independent music community. The article also argues that the success of local Anglophone bands, as well as the appearance of an ‘indie’ sound and an ‘indie’ music scene (indi), was the result of a concerted effort by Russian music participants to bring and incorporate the Other – the West – into Russia's everyday life. The English language, correspondingly, functioned as a ‘tool’ for this operation.
Beyond the street: the institutional life of rap
Authors: Bramwell Richard , Butterworth James
Published: August 2020

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted over the course of one year in London and Bristol to examine the performance of rap in English youth centres. Youth centres play a significant role in supporting and shaping rap culture. However, historically dominant narratives within hip-hop studies and hip-hop culture depict rap as a vernacular cultural form that emerges from ‘the street’, and which derives its authenticity through its relation to ‘the street’. We seek to move beyond such discourses and towards a recognition of the institutional processes, structures and networks that shape and sustain rap culture. Our focus on the institutional life of rap leads to an analysis of the various possibilities, limitations and tensions that arise in the coming together of public funding, and social policy priorities, local organisations and black vernacular culture.
Going down to the crossroads: popular music and transformative magic
Authors: Angus Bill
Published: August 2020

If there is a single narrative that captures the modern understanding of transformative crossroads magic it is the spurious fable of the selling of Robert Johnson's soul. When, in the palaeoanthropology of 20thcentury rock and roll music, the biographers of the short-lived blues legend claimed that he had been down to the Dockery Plantation crossroads at midnight to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for guitar skills, they were perhaps unwitting witnesses to the deep history of myth and ritual that has long been associated with the transformative space of the crossroads. They were not lacking in foresight, however, about the way in which such a claim would enhance their subject's credibility. The value of such a sulphurous reputation for a musician is not merely a recent phenomenon but also has historical precedents. A hundred years before Johnson (who lived 1911–1938), the guitarist and violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840) was considered such a suspiciously devilish virtuoso that his audiences were reputed to cross themselves before his concerts in hope of protection from subtle demonic influence. One audience member even fled a concert after reporting seeing the Devil himself aiding Paganini's performance. Going a little further back, Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770) explained of his best-known sonata,The Devil's Trill(1713), that he had ‘written down the piece after waking from a particularly vivid dream of the Devil playing a violin with ferocious virtuosity’, and claimed that it was ‘but a shadow of what he had witnessed in the dream, for he was unable to capture on the page the Devil's full intensity’. His long career was certainly not harmed by this youthful excursion into Hell.
Dirac’s theorem for random regular graphs
Authors: Condon Padraig , Espuny Díaz Alberto , Girão António , Kühn Daniela , Osthus Deryk
Published: August 2020

We prove a ‘resilience’ version of Dirac’s theorem in the setting of random regular graphs. More precisely, we show that whenever d is sufficiently large compared to
$\epsilon > 0$
, a.a.s. the following holds. Let
$G'$
be any subgraph of the random n-vertex d-regular graph
$G_{n,d}$
with minimum degree at least
$$(1/2 + \epsilon )d$$
. Then
$G'$
is Hamiltonian.

This proves a conjecture of Ben-Shimon, Krivelevich and Sudakov. Our result is best possible: firstly the condition that d is large cannot be omitted, and secondly the minimum degree bound cannot be improved.
Novel use of Konar-multifunctional occluder
Authors: Mukherji Aritra , Chattopadhyay Amitabha , Ghosh Sanjiban , Mohapatra Soumya Kanti , De Arnab , Singhi Anil Kumar
Published: August 2020

Introduction:

Lifetech Konar-multifunctional occluder is a novel device which is primarily used for the closure of ventricular septal defects. Being “multifunctional”, the occluder has the potential to be useful in various structural cardiac defects.

Materials and methods:

We share our retrospective review from two centres regarding non-conventional usage of multifunctional occluders in CHD. Eight patients who underwent interventions using multifunctional occluders for lesions other than ventricular septal defects between March 2019 to September 2019 were included in the study. The patients were analysed based on demography, the size and type of lesion, procedural success, and development of complications. All patients were followed up in the outpatient department for a minimum period of 6 months.

Results:

The median age and weight of the cohort were 3.2 years and 9 kg, respectively. Six patients had patent ductus arteriosus, while one patient had aorto-pulmonary window and one had a coronary arterio-venous fistula. The sizing of the occluders and the procedural approach were based on the underlying pathology. The most commonly used occluder was 6 × 4 mm variant. One patient had successful implantation but had significant intra-device residual flow and was thus replaced by a different occluder. There were no major complications, nor any incidences of device embolisation or malposition. On follow-up, all patients had uneventful course.

Conclusion:

Konar-multifunctional occluder can be safely used in lesions other than ventricular septal defects, when needed under specific circumstances. Its unique characteristics make it a versatile choice in a variety of cardiac lesions.