bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A novel process driving Alzheimer's disease validated in a mouse model: Therapeutic potential
Authors: Greenfield Susan A. , Cole Gregory M. , Coen Clive W. , Frautschy Sally , Singh Ram P. , Mekkittikul Marisa , Garcia‐Ratés Sara , Morrill Paul , Hollings Owen , Passmore Matt , Hasan Sibah , Carty Nikisha , Bison Silvia , Piccoli Laura , Carletti Renzo , Tacconi Stephano , Chalidou Anna , Pedercini Matthew , Kroecher Tim , Astner Hubert , Gerrard Philip A.
Published: April 2022

Introduction

The neuronal mechanism driving Alzheimer's disease (AD) is incompletely understood.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavioral testing are employed in two pathological contexts—AD and a transgenic mouse model—to investigate T14, a 14mer peptide, as a key signaling molecule in the neuropathology.

Results

T14 increases in AD brains as the disease progresses and is conspicuous in 5XFAD mice, where its immunoreactivity corresponds to that seen in AD: neurons immunoreactive for T14 in proximity to T14‐immunoreactive plaques. NBP14 is a cyclized version of T14, which dose‐dependently displaces binding of its linear counterpart to alpha‐7 nicotinic receptors in AD brains. In 5XFAD mice, intranasal NBP14 for 14 weeks decreases brain amyloid and restores novel object recognition to that in wild‐types.

Discussion

These findings indicate that the T14 system, for which the signaling pathway is described here, contributes to the neuropathological process and that NBP14 warrants consideration for its therapeutic potential.
Close follow‐up is associated with fewer stricture formation and results in earlier detection of histological relapse in the long‐term management of eosinophilic esophagitis
Authors: Bon Lorenz , Safroneeva Ekaterina , Bussmann Christian , Biedermann Luc , Schreiner Philipp , Vavricka Stephan R. , Schoepfer Alain M. , McCright‐Gill Talaya , Simon Hans‐Uwe , Straumann Alex , Chehade Mirna , Greuter Thomas
Published: April 2022

Background and aims

No recommendations exist regarding optimal follow‐up schedule in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) under maintenance treatment.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated a long‐term surveillance concept at the Swiss EoE clinic, where clinical, endoscopic and histological disease activity is assessed annually regardless of EoE symptoms. Data on 159 adult patients under maintenance steroid treatment with available follow‐up were analyzed. Patients were classified as having close (duration between visits <18 months) or non‐close follow‐up (≥18 months).

Results

We analyzed a total of 309 follow‐up visits of 159 patients (123 males, age at diagnosis 38.9 ± 15.4 years). 157 (51%) visits were within a close follow‐up schedule (median duration between visits of 1.0 years (interquartile range (IQR) 0.9–1.2)), while 152 visits (49%) were not (median duration between visits 2.9 years (IQR 2.0–4.1)). There was no difference regarding ongoing clinical, endoscopic, and histological disease activity, and adherence to prescribed steroid treatment between the two groups. However, stricture formation was significantly less frequently observed at visits within a close follow‐up schedule (22.9 vs. 33.6%, p = 0.038). Absence of close follow‐up was a significant risk factor for stricture development in a multivariate regression model. Patients who achieved histological remission and were followed within a close‐follow‐up schedule had significantly earlier detection of histological relapse compared to patients not within such close follow‐up.

Conclusion

Close follow‐up is associated with fewer stricture formation and appears to result in earlier detection of histological relapse in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis. We advocate for regular assessment of disease activity (every 12–18 months) in order to detect relapsing disease as early as possible, and therefore potentially minimize the risk for EoE complications.
Accelerating development of fish and wildlife professionals will take more than training
Authors: Siemer William F. , Baumer Meghan S. , Pomeranz Emily F. , Decker Daniel J. , Forstchen Ann B. , Riley Shawn J. , Schiavone Michael V. , Smith Christian A. , Lederle Patrick E.
Published: April 2022

Hastening the development of early and mid‐career fish and wildlife (hereafter wildlife) professionals in state and federal agencies is an acute need. In particular, development and application of exceptional reasoning and judgment skills is critical. It would be shortsighted, however, for wildlife agency administrators to assume professional development is simply a matter of staff training. Decker et al. (2019) completed an expert panel study in 2019 to identify habits and practices of consistently high performing wildlife management professionals. Decker et al. (2019) suggest 5 clusters of competencies are characteristic of consistently high‐performing wildlife professionals: being a critically inquisitive, continuous learner; practicing multi‐level, integrative systems thinking; being self‐disciplined; using a balanced approach; and having the emotional intelligence to interact successfully with others. Based on observations from a series of workshops with wildlife professionals, our collective professional experience, and literature review, we contend that impediments to expression of key habits/practices identified by Decker et al. (2019) exist at the group and organizational, as well as the individual level. We argue that providing individual training is necessary, but not sufficient to create work environments where wildlife professionals in state and federal wildlife agencies can develop and apply reasoning and judgment skills. Structural and cultural change in wildlife agencies would enhance effectiveness of public wildlife management. We hope this empirically‐grounded commentary stimulates reflection within wildlife agencies and a commitment to organizational behavior that catalyzes professional development.
NAD: Machine Learning Based Component for Unknown Attack Detection in Network Traffic
Authors: Krzysztoń Mateusz , Lew Marcin , Marks Michał
Published: April 2022

Detection of unknown attacks is challenging due to the lack of exemplary attack vectors. However, previously unknown attacks are a significant danger for systems due to a lack of tools for protecting systems against them, especially in fast-evolving Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The most widely used approach for malicious behaviour of the monitored system is detecting anomalies. The vicious behaviour might result from an attack (both known and unknown) or accidental breakdown. We present a Net Anomaly Detector (NAD) system that uses one-class classification Machine Learning techniques to detect anomalies in the network traffic. The highly modular architecture allows the system to be expanded with adapters for various types of networks. We propose and discuss multiple approaches for increasing detection quality and easing the component deployment in unknown networks by known attacks emulation, exhaustive feature extraction, hyperparameter tuning, detection threshold adaptation and ensemble models strategies. Furthermore, we present both centralized and decentralized deployment schemes and present preliminary results of experiments for the TCP/IP network traffic conducted on the CIC-IDS2017 dataset.
Signature-Based Detection of Botnet DDoS Attacks
Authors: Szynkiewicz Paweł
Published: April 2022

The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to disrupt the proper availability of a targeted server, service or network. The attack is achieved by corrupting or overwhelming the target’s communications with a flood of malicious network traffic. In the current era of mass connectivity DDoS attacks emerge as one of the biggest threats, staidly causing greater collateral damage and heaving a negate impacting on the integral Internet Infrastructure. DDoS attacks come in a variety of types and schemes, they continue to evolve, steadily becoming more sophisticated and larger at scale. A close investigation of attack vectors and refining current security measures is required to efficiently mitigate new DDoS threats. The solution described in this article concerns a less explored variation of signature-based techniques for DDoS mitigation. The approach exploits one of the traits of modern DDoS attacks, the utilization of Packet generation algorithms (PGA) in the attack execution. Proposed method performs a fast, protocol-level detection of DDoS network packets and can easily be employed to provide an effective, supplementary protection against DDoS attacks.
Chromite compositional variability and associated PGE enrichments in chromitites from the Gomati and Nea Roda ophiolite, Chalkidiki, Northern Greece
Authors: Bussolesi Micol , Grieco Giovanni , Zaccarini Federica , Cavallo Alessandro , Tzamos Evangelos , Storni Niccolò
Published: April 2022

The Gomati and Nea Roda ophiolites are located into the Serbo-Macedonian massif of the Chalkidiki peninsula (Northern Greece). The present work focuses on the variability of platinum-group elements (PGEs), geochemistry, spinel mineral chemistry, and platinum-group minerals (PGMs) — base metal minerals (BMMs) assemblage in chromitites of three Gomati localities (St. George, Tripes, and Limonadika) and Nea Roda. The studied chromitites show variable textures and are heavily altered. Primary silicates are almost completely replaced by chlorite, and chromite rims are altered into ferrian chromite. The variability of spinel mineral chemistry in terms of Cr# [Cr/(Cr + Al)] and Mg# [Mg/(Mg + Fe2+)], and the PGE contents, argues for a genesis in a supra-subduction setting (SSZ), at different stratigraphic positions in the ophiolite section. Chromitites from Tripes have the lowest Cr# (0.5–0.6) and the highest PGE contents (3516 ppb), similar to some chromitites formed in small magma chambers in the cumulate sections above the Moho. The high PGE contents of Tripes chromitites are due to an IPGEs-enriched melt derived from critical melting of mantle peridotites. Limonadika and St. George show the highest Cr# (0.77–0.96 and 0.74–0.87, respectively) and variable PGE contents (175 ppb and 383 ppb on average respectively), compatible with a genesis from boninitic magmas in the mantle section. Nea Roda chromitites have intermediate to high Cr# (0.66–0.75) and low PGE contents (135 ppb on average) and show similarities to other intermediate chromitites formed from evolving magma sources at subduction initiation. BMMs detected in both ophiolites are primary (pentlandite) and secondary (mainly millerite and heazlewoodite) sulfides. All the detected PGMs are primary, crystallized from the melt, and entrapped into chromite, and they are mainly laurites. In the studied chromitites, the absence of alloys indicates that the circulating fluids during chloritization were at high fS2and fO2, and did not remobilize the PGEs. The same fluids are probably responsible for the low-T crystallization of an uncommon suite of arsenides and antimonides at St. George.
An Erwinia amylovora inducible promoter for improvement of apple fire blight resistance
Authors: Gaucher Matthieu , Righetti Laura , Aubourg Sébastien , Dugé de Bernonville Thomas , Brisset Marie-Noëlle , Chevreau Elisabeth , Vergne Emilie
Published: April 2022

Key message

pPPO16, the first Ea-inducible promoter cloned from apple, can be a useful component of intragenic strategies to create fire blight resistant apple genotypes.

Intragenesis is an important alternative to transgenesis to produce modified plants containing native DNA only. A key point to develop such a strategy is the availability of regulatory sequences controlling the expression of the gene of interest. With the aim of finding apple gene promoters either inducible by the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora (Ea) or moderately constitutive, we focused on polyphenoloxidase genes (PPO). These genes encode oxidative enzymes involved in many physiological processes and have been previously shown to be upregulated during the Ea infection process. We found ten PPO and two PPO-like sequences in the apple genome and characterized the promoters of MdPPO16 (pPPO16) and MdKFDV02 PPO-like (pKFDV02) for their potential as Ea-inducible and low-constitutive regulatory sequences, respectively. Expression levels of reporter genes fused to these promoters and transiently or stably expressed in apple were quantified after various treatments. Unlike pKFDV02 which displayed a variable activity, pPPO16 allowed a fast and strong expression of transgenes in apple following Ea infection in a Type 3 Secretion System dependent manner. Altogether our results does not confirmed pKFDV02 as a constitutive and weak promoter whereas pPPO16, the first Ea-inducible promoter cloned from apple, can be a useful component of intragenic strategies to create fire blight resistant apple genotypes.
Unterstützung der Handlungssicherheit von Pflegefachpersonen im Umgang mit Notfallsituationen in Pflegeheimen
Authors: Rubeis Giovanni , Hasseler Martina , Primc Nadia
Published: April 2022

Eine beträchtliche Anzahl an Notfalleinsätzen und Krankenhauszuweisungen bei Pflegeheimbewohner:innen wird als vermeidbar eingestuft und stellt eine unnötige Belastung oder Gefährdung für die Bewohner:innen dar. Ein Grund für diese unnötigen Einsätze liegt häufig in Handlungsunsicherheiten der verantwortlichen Pflegefachpersonen. Im Projekt NOVELLE sollen Handlungsempfehlungen für ausgewählte Notfallsituationen entwickelt werden, die den Pflegefachpersonen eine operationalisierte Entscheidung ermöglichen und so deren Handlungssicherheit stärken. Hierfür wurden Herausforderungen für die Handlungssicherheit von Pflegefachpersonen mittels einer qualitativen Interviewstudie erhoben und ausgewertet. Hier werden die Resultate der Studie vorgestellt.
The effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on cardiac function: a comparative echocardiography-conductance catheter study
Authors: Berger David , Wigger Olivier , de Marchi Stefano , Grübler Martin R. , Bloch Andreas , Kurmann Reto , Stalder Odile , Bachmann Kaspar Felix , Bloechlinger Stefan
Published: April 2022

Background

Echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function depend on cardiac loading conditions, which are altered by positive pressure ventilation. The direct effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on cardiac diastolic function are unknown.

Methods

Twenty-five patients without apparent diastolic dysfunction undergoing coronary angiography were ventilated noninvasively at PEEPs of 0, 5, and 10 cmH2O (in randomized order). Echocardiographic diastolic assessment and pressure–volume-loop analysis from conductance catheters were compared. The time constant for pressure decay (τ) was modeled with exponential decay. End-diastolic and end-systolic pressure volume relationships (EDPVRs and ESPVRs, respectively) from temporary caval occlusion were analyzed with generalized linear mixed-effects and linear mixed models. Transmural pressures were calculated using esophageal balloons.

Results

τ values for intracavitary cardiac pressure increased with the PEEP (n = 25; no PEEP, 44 ± 5 ms; 5 cmH2O PEEP, 46 ± 6 ms; 10 cmH2O PEEP, 45 ± 6 ms; p < 0.001). This increase disappeared when corrected for transmural pressure and diastole length. The transmural EDPVR was unaffected by PEEP. The ESPVR increased slightly with PEEP. Echocardiographic mitral inflow parameters and tissue Doppler values decreased with PEEP [peak E wave (n = 25): no PEEP, 0.76 ± 0.13 m/s; 5 cmH2O PEEP, 0.74 ± 0.14 m/s; 10 cmH2O PEEP, 0.68 ± 0.13 m/s; p = 0.016; peak A wave (n = 24): no PEEP, 0.74 ± 0.12 m/s; 5 cmH2O PEEP, 0.7 ± 0.11 m/s; 10 cmH2O PEEP, 0.67 ± 0.15 m/s; p = 0.014; E’ septal (n = 24): no PEEP, 0.085 ± 0.016 m/s; 5 cmH2O PEEP, 0.08 ± 0.013 m/s; 10 cmH2O PEEP, 0.075 ± 0.012 m/s; p = 0.002].

Conclusions

PEEP does not affect active diastolic relaxation or passive ventricular filling properties. Dynamic echocardiographic filling parameters may reflect changing loading conditions rather than intrinsic diastolic function. PEEP may have slight positive inotropic effects.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02267291, registered 17. October 2014.

Graphical abstract
Tubomanometry correlations with patient characteristics and other diagnostic tests of Eustachian tube dysfunction: a cohort study of 432 ears
Authors: Oehlandt Heidi , Lindfors Oskari , Sinkkonen Saku T.
Published: April 2022

Objectives

Currently, there is no consensus regarding the best protocol for diagnosing Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). We aimed to evaluate how patient characteristics affect tubomanometry (TMM) results. If an association between patient characteristics and TMM results exists, this should be considered in TMM interpretation. We also wanted to study if TMM correlates with other diagnostic tools of ETD.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was conducted on all patients with TMM results available from November 2011 to October 2020 at a tertiary referral center, including 432 ears from 219 patients. An association between diagnostic tests and patient characteristics was assessed using regression models. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to analyze correlations between diagnostic tests.

Results

None of the studied patient characteristics (age, gender, body mass index, smoking, sinonasal disease) was associated with TMM results except for pollen allergy (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.15–2.63, P = 0.009). TMM results correlated with Valsalva maneuver performance (P < 0.001, ρ = 0.31) and otomicroscopic signs of inadequate middle ear ventilation (P < 0.001, ρ = 0.28). The Eustachian tube dysfunction questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7) score did not correlate with any diagnostic method.

Conclusions

TMM results are unaffected by patient characteristics other than pollen allergy. Thus, TMM may be used in ETD diagnostics in a wide variety of patients with straightforward interpretation. TMM correlates with other diagnostic tests studied but not with ETDQ-7. ETDQ-7 does not seem to correlate with other diagnostic tests and appears nonspecific in ETD diagnostics.
Patient functional recovery after a 23-h surgery — a prospective, follow-up study
Authors: Ruohoaho Ulla-Maija , Aaltomaa Sirpa , Kokki Hannu , Anttila Maarit , Kokki Merja
Published: April 2022

Purpose

We evaluated patients’ functional outcomes 2 weeks after a 23-h surgery model in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods

This prospective study comprised data on 993 consecutive adult patients who underwent a 23-h surgery. Patients were interviewed before surgery and at 14 days after surgery by telephone with a multidimensional structural survey including closed- and open-ended questions. Regarding functional outcomes, the patients were asked to assess their general wellbeing, energy levels and activities of daily living on a 5-point numeric rating scale (1 = poor to 5 = excellent). Data on patient characteristics, medical history, alcohol use, smoking status and pre-, peri- and postoperative pain and satisfaction with the care received were collected and analysed to determine whether these factors contributed to their recovery. The primary outcome measure was patient functional recovery at 14 days after surgery.

Results

Most patients reported moderate to excellent functional outcomes: 93.6% (95% CI, 92.1–-95.1) of the patients showed a score ≥ 3 on the 5-point numeric scale. One out of four patients (23%) scored all three domains as excellent. A weak inverse correlation was noted between functional recovery and most pain in the 23-h postanaesthesia care unit as well as pain at 2 weeks after surgery. A weak positive correlation was noted between functional recovery and patient satisfaction with the instructions at discharge.

Conclusions

Most patients showed ample functional recovery at 14 days after the 23-h surgery. Higher pain scores in the postanaesthesia care unit and 2 weeks after surgery predicted poor functional outcomes, and satisfaction with postoperative counselling predicted better outcomes.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04142203.
Forecasting solar photosynthetic photon flux density under cloud cover effects: novel predictive model using convolutional neural network integrated with long short-term memory network
Authors: Deo Ravinesh C. , Grant Richard H. , Webb Ann , Ghimire Sujan , Igoe Damien P. , Downs Nathan J. , Al-Musaylh Mohanad S. , Parisi Alfio V. , Soar Jeffrey
Published: April 2022

Forecast models of solar radiation incorporating cloud effects are useful tools to evaluate the impact of stochastic behaviour of cloud movement, real-time integration of photovoltaic energy in power grids, skin cancer and eye disease risk minimisation through solar ultraviolet (UV) index prediction and bio-photosynthetic processes through the modelling of solar photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). This research has developed deep learning hybrid model (i.e., CNN-LSTM) to factor in role of cloud effects integrating the merits of convolutional neural networks with long short-term memory networks to forecast near real-time (i.e., 5-min) PPFD in a sub-tropical region Queensland, Australia. The prescribed CLSTM model is trained with real-time sky images that depict stochastic cloud movements captured through a total sky imager (TSI-440) utilising advanced sky image segmentation to reveal cloud chromatic features into their statistical values, and to purposely factor in the cloud variation to optimise the CLSTM model. The model, with its competing algorithms (i.e., CNN, LSTM, deep neural network, extreme learning machine and multivariate adaptive regression spline), are trained with 17 distinct cloud cover inputs considering the chromaticity of red, blue, thin, and opaque cloud statistics, supplemented by solar zenith angle (SZA) to predict short-term PPFD. The models developed with cloud inputs yield accurate results, outperforming the SZA-based models while the best testing performance is recorded by the objective method (i.e., CLSTM) tested over a 7-day measurement period. Specifically, CLSTM yields a testing performance with correlation coefficient r = 0.92, root mean square error RMSE = 210.31 μ mol of photons m−2 s−1, mean absolute error MAE = 150.24 μ mol of photons m−2 s−1, including a relative error of RRMSE = 24.92% MAPE = 38.01%, and Nash Sutcliffe’s coefficient ENS = 0.85, and Legate and McCabe’s Index LM = 0.68 using cloud cover in addition to the SZA as an input. The study shows the importance of cloud inclusion in forecasting solar radiation and evaluating the risk with practical implications in monitoring solar energy, greenhouses and high-value agricultural operations affected by stochastic behaviour of clouds. Additional methodological refinements such as retraining the CLSTM model for hourly and seasonal time scales may aid in the promotion of agricultural crop farming and environmental risk evaluation applications such as predicting the solar UV index and direct normal solar irradiance for renewable energy monitoring systems.
Blitzentladungen im österreichischen Alpenraum mit Fokus auf Single-Stroke Flashes
Authors: Schwalt Lukas , Pack Stephan , Schulz Wolfgang , Pistotnik Georg
Published: April 2022

In diesem Beitrag werden Messdaten von Wolke-Erde-Blitzentladungen im österreichischen Alpenraum mit Fokus auf Single-Stroke Flashes ausgewertet, welche über sechs Gewittersaisonen im Zeitraum 2009 bis 2018 im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts aufgezeichnet wurden. Ziel des Projekts war es, einen so genannten Ground-Truth-Datensatz realer Bodeneinschläge von Blitzentladungen zu generieren. Das verwendete Messsystem besteht aus einer Hochgeschwindigkeitskamera und einem elektrischen Feldmesssystem, als Video and Field Recording System (VFRS) bezeichnet, um die räumlichen und zeitlichen Abläufe von Blitzentladungen optisch analysieren zu können und das transiente elektrische Feld aufzuzeichnen. Die VFRS-Messungen wurden an 33 verschiedenen Messorten im österreichischen Alpenraum durchgeführt, dabei wurden an 61 Tagen insgesamt 735 Wolke-Erde-Blitze mit negativer Polarität aufgezeichnet. Für die Auswertung werden Daten des österreichischen Blitzortungssystems „Austrian Lightning Detection and Information System“ (ALDIS) mit den VFRS-Daten korreliert. Der Anteil an Single-Stroke Flashes beeinflusst die Statistik über die Anzahl der Teilblitze pro Gesamtblitzentladung, welche z. B. für die Auslegung von Blitzschutzmaßnahmen von Hochspannungssystemen relevant ist. Die berechneten Prozentwerte der Single-Stroke Flashes der vorliegenden Analyse (27 %) werden mit bereits veröffentlichten Werten aus verschiedenen Ländern (12 % bis 24 %) verglichen. Um den Einfluss der Gewitterorganisation auf den Anteil von Single-Stroke Flashes zu untersuchen, werden zusätzlich Wetterradardaten und Windmessungen zur Klassifizierung der unterschiedlichen Gewittertypen herangezogen und analysiert.
Bullying at 8 years and violent offenses by 31 years: the Finnish nationwide 1981 birth cohort study
Authors: Tiiri Elina , Uotila Jaakko , Elonheimo Henrik , Sillanmäki Lauri , Brunstein Klomek Anat , Sourander Andre
Published: April 2022

This study explored the associations between bullying perpetration and victimization at 8 years of age and violent offenses by the age of 31. Data were obtained for subjects enrolled in a population-based longitudinal birth cohort study. In 1989, 5813 8-year-old children (attrition 3.4%), and their parents and teachers, were surveyed about bullying. When 5405 subjects (attrition 10.2%) were 15–31 years of age, violent offenses were extracted from the Finnish National Police Register. We analyzed the data by sex and categorized bullying perpetration and victimization by frequency. Violent offenses were categorized by severity. Cox regression analyses estimated the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). When they were compared to males who had not been bullies at 8 years of age, frequent male bullies had an increased hazard for violent offenses (adjusted HR 3.01, 95% CI 2.11–4.33) and severe violent offenses (adjusted HR 2.86, 95% CI 1.07–7.59) as adults, even when the data were controlled for them being victims, parental education level, family structure and child psychopathology. Frequent female bullies also had an increased hazard for violent offenses, compared to those who had not bullied others (adjusted HR 5.27, 95% CI 1.51–18.40). Frequent male bullying was associated with higher odds for violent offenses compared to only bullying sometimes. Being a victim was not associated with violent offenses. Preventing childhood bullying could reduce violent offenses by both sexes.
The geometries of Jordan nets and Jordan webs
Authors: Bik Arthur , Eisenmann Henrik
Published: April 2022

A Jordan net (resp. web) is an embedding of a unital Jordan algebra of dimension 3 (resp. 4) into the space$${\mathbb{S}}^n$$Snof symmetric$$n\times n$$n×nmatrices. We study the geometries of Jordan nets and webs: we classify the congruence orbits of Jordan nets (resp. webs) in$${\mathbb{S}}^n$$Snfor$$n\le 7$$n≤7(resp.$$n\le 5$$n≤5), we find degenerations between these orbits and list obstructions to the existence of such degenerations. For Jordan nets in$$\mathbb{S}^n$$Snfor$$n\le 5$$n≤5, these obstructions show that our list of degenerations is complete . For$$n=6$$n=6, the existence of one degeneration is still undetermined. To explore further, we used an algorithm that indicates numerically whether a degeneration between two orbits exists. We verified this algorithm using all known degenerations and obstructions and then used it to compute the degenerations between Jordan nets in$$\mathbb {S}^7$$S7and Jordan webs in$$\mathbb {S}^n$$Snfor$$n=4,5$$n=4,5.
What Can You Do as an Eco-hero? A Study on the Ecopedagogical Potential of Dutch Non-fictional Environmental Texts for Children
Authors: van der Beek Suzanne , Lehmann Charlotte
Published: April 2022

In the context of a global crisis around climate change, children continue to be largely excluded from environmental conversations. In order to change this, there has been an increased effort to produce children’s media that educates young readers about the origins, effects, and possible solutions to climate change. These environmental texts for children can contribute to the ecopedagogical project and provide children with the information and the language that are necessary to become conscious ecocitizens. This paper analyzes how children’s non-fiction books from the Netherlands enable young readers to develop socio-political agency regarding climate change and position themselves within discussions about this topic. A potential trap for children’s environmental literature lies in its tendency to simplify the complex issue of climate change and to offer potential ways for fighting climate change which are not accessible to all young readers. Therefore, the paper pays specific attention to the processes of inclusion and exclusion that are used in these books. The analysis is structured around Greta Gaard’s critical model for inclusive ecopedagogical texts, based on recognizing and dismantling alienation, hierarchy, and ultimately domination. The study finds that the books selected use contrasting techniques that alienate the reader from the already abstract concept of climate change. They encourage the reader to see themselves as possible “eco heroes” and propose different strategies for contributing to help the direct victims of climate change who are frequently positioned as distanced from the intended young reader. Nature is largely represented as a passive entity, which can play no role in restoring ecological balance.
Do presumptions of negligence incentivize optimal precautions?
Authors: Guerra Alice , Luppi Barbara , Parisi Francesco
Published: April 2022

In most jurisdictions, the burden of producing evidence on a contested issue traditionally falls on plaintiffs. In a tort claim, this de facto creates a presumption of non-negligence in favor of injurers. Some legal systems in Europe placed renewed attention on “presumed liability” rules, which instead create a presumption of negligence against injurers. In this paper, we analyze the effects of alternative legal presumptions on parties’ care incentives in the presence of discovery errors. Differently from what was suggested in prior research, we show that legal presumptions do affect primary behavior: presuming that the injurer was (not) negligent strengthens (weakens) his care incentives in situations where the plaintiff faces probatory difficulties. We analyze how these effects should inform the choice of evidence regimes to improve the robustness of liability rules, and to minimize the dilutive effect of imperfect discovery on individuals’ care incentives.
Engaging solution-based design process for integrated STEM program development: an exploratory study through autoethnographic design practice
Authors: Zhou Ding , Gomez Rafael , Davis James , Rittenbruch Markus
Published: April 2022

The role ofdesignin the exploration of integratedScience,Technology,Engineering, andMathematics(STEM) education has rapidly expanded in recent years.Designhas made an important contribution by providing instructional scaffolds in synthesising knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve real-world problems. Despite the potential ofDesign-based Pedagogy(DBP), there is a paucity of applicable DBP process models for constructing integrated STEM tasks and formulating implementation approaches. To address this issue, we enquire into theSolution-based Design Process(SBDP) that reconciles curriculum content knowledge and teaching through authentic problem finding and solving. Through an exploratory study of a self-critical reflection in autoethnographic design practice, we explore how the optimised SBDP can inform (i) Thedesign skillsandmindsetsof DBP forintegrated STEM education, and (ii) Theinstructional processesfor constructing and implementing integrated STEM tasks involving design models. As found in this study, a unique feature of the Solution-based DBP is that it relates to the processes of thinking and reasoning—highly cognitive and logical; its application requires the skilled operation of 3D printing-based digital fabrication. Additionally, we demonstrated a Solution-based DBP, combined with 3D printing-based digital fabrication, and providing teachers with a structural blueprint for developing integrated STEM programs. Overall, this research contributes to the corpus of methodologically rigorous and evidence-based studies on design-led integrated STEM curriculums in the context of a specific country’s education system.
Salinity-induced chemical, mechanical, and behavioral changes in marine microalgae
Authors: Novosel N. , Mišić Radić T. , Levak Zorinc M. , Zemla J. , Lekka M. , Vrana I. , Gašparović B. , Horvat L. , Kasum D. , Legović T. , Žutinić P. , Gligora Udovič M. , Ivošević DeNardis N.
Published: April 2022

This study examines how salinity reduction triggers the response of three marine microalgae at the molecular and unicellular levels in terms of chemical, mechanical, and behavioral changes. At the lowest salinity, all microalgal species exhibited an increase in membrane sterols and behaved stiffer. The glycocalyx-coated species Dunaliella tertiolecta was surrounded by a thick actin layer and showed the highest physiological activity, negatively affecting cell motility and indicating the formation of the palmella stage. The lipid content of membrane and the hydrophobicity of cell were largely preserved over a wide range of salinity, confirming the euryhaline nature of Dunaliella. The species with calcite-encrusted theca Tetraselmis suecica exhibited the highest hydrophobicity at the lowest salinity of all cells examined. At salinity of 19, the cells of T. suecica showed the lowest growth, flagellar detachment and the lowest cell speed, the highest physiological activity associated with a dense network of extracellular polymeric substances, and a decrease in membrane lipids, which could indicate develepment of cyst stage. The organosilicate encrusted species Cylindrotheca closterium appeared to be salinity tolerant. It behaved hydrophobically at lower salinity, whereas becoming hydrophilic at higher salinity, which might be related to a molecular change in the released biopolymers. This study highlighted the interplay between chemistry and mechanics that determines functional cell behavior and shows that cell surface properties and behavior could serve as stress markers for marine biota under climate change.

Graphical Abstract
Spanish Adaptation of the Parenting Practices Interview (PPI-25) for Families with Substantiated Reports or at Risk for Child Maltreatment
Authors: Rivas Gabriela R. , Arruabarrena Ignacia , De Paúl Joaquín
Published: April 2022

Parenting practices are a central focus of many family preventive and treatment programs due to their influence on children’s well-being. Reliable measures of parenting practices are relevant not only for research purposes, but also for assessment, selection of intervention goals, and evaluation of expected changes in clinical practice. However, measurement of parenting practices has been a challenge for researchers and practitioners. The Parenting Practice Interview (PPI) has been developed to assess both positive and negative parenting dimensions and has been used in clinical contexts. The present study aimed to develop a Spanish adaptation of the PPI and to analyze its main psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 213 parents with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment with significant problems in coping with their children’s behavioral problems, recruited from Child Welfare and Child Protection Services. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), measurement invariance (MI), convergent validity, and differences based on parents’ and children’s age and gender were analyzed. A four-factor model with 25 items (Appropriate Discipline, Verbal Praise and Incentives, Inconsistent Discipline, and Physical Punishment) met statistical requirements (RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91) and showed adequate internal consistency and convergent validity. MI analyses allowed comparison across time and groups. Although more research is needed, the PPI-25’s psychometric properties are encouraging for its use with families with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment in Spain.
What Drives Happiness? The Interviewer’s Happiness
Authors: Stefkovics Ádám , Sik Endre
Published: April 2022

Interviewers in face-to-face surveys can potentially introduce bias both in the recruiting and the measurement phase. One reason behind this is that the measurement of subjective well-being has been found to be associated with social desirability bias. Respondents tend to tailor their responses in the presence of others, for instance by presenting a more positive image of themselves instead of reporting their true attitude. In this study, we investigated the role of interviewers in the measurement of happiness. We were particularly interested in whether the interviewer’s happiness correlates with the respondent’s happiness. Our data comes from a face-to-face survey conducted in Hungary, which included the attitudes of both respondents and interviewers. The results of the multilevel regression models showed that interviewers account for a significant amount of variance in responses obtained from respondents, even after controlling for a range of characteristics of both respondents, interviewers, and settlements. We also found that respondents were more likely to report a happy personality in the presence of an interviewer with a happy personality. We argue that as long as interviewers are involved in the collection of SWB measures, further training of interviewers on raising awareness on personality traits, self-expression, neutrality, and unjustified positive confirmations is essential.
Parallelism Between Sentence Structure and Nominal Phrases in Japanese: Evidence from Scrambled Instrumental and Locative Adverbial Phrases
Authors: Tamaoka Katsuo , Ito Takane , Mansbridge Michael P.
Published: April 2022

The present study investigated the canonical position of instrumental and locative adverbial phrases in both Japanese sentences and noun phrases to determine whether the canonical positions are parallel. A series of sentence/phrase decision tasks were used to compare sentences with different word-orders, including sentences with SAdvOV (S is subject phrase, Adv adverb, O object phrase and V verb), AdvSOV, SAdvOV and SOAdvV word orders. SAdvOV word order was found to be the most quickly processed, for both instrumental adverbial (Experiment 1) and locative adverbial phrases (Experiment 2). Thus, the canonical position for these adverbial phrases is identified as the position immediately preceding the object (Theme argument). This finding was replicated when the same experimental methods were applied to event-denoting noun phrases. Adverbial adjuncts in the initial position (AdvON, N is noun phrase) were processed more quickly and accurately than noun phrases with adverbial phrases in the second position (OAdvN), for both instrumental adverbial (Experiment 3) and locative adverbial phrases (Experiment 4). Therefore, the position immediately preceding the object is the canonical position for both instrumental and locative adverbial phrases in sentences and in noun phrases. In conclusion, this indicates that the base structure of a sentence is shared by its related noun phrase.
Minority and Majority Adolescents’ Attitudes toward Mutual Acculturation and its Association with Psychological Adjustment
Authors: Sidler Petra , Baysu Gülseli , Kassis Wassilis , Janousch Clarissa , Chouvati Raia , Govaris Christos , Graf Ulrike , Rietz Christian
Published: April 2022

Although acculturation is considered a mutual process, no measure assesses attitudes toward mutual acculturation. Through a novel four-dimensional measurement, this study addresses this research gap by assessing attitudes toward minority and majority acculturation and its relation to psychological adjustment for immigrant-background minority and non-immigrant majority adolescents in public secondary schools in three European countries: in Germany (n = 346, 46% female,Mage = 12.78 years, range 11–16), Greece (n = 439, 56% female,Mage = 12.29 years, range 11–20), and Switzerland (n = 375, 47% female,Mage = 12.67 years, range 11–15). Latent profile analyses led to three distinct acculturation profiles in all three countries: strong and mild mutual integration profiles, where both migrant and majority students are expected to integrate, and a third profile assuming lower responsibility upon the majority. Additionally, those in the strong- and mild-integration profiles reported stronger psychological adjustment than those assuming lower responsibility upon the majority, which held for all students in Switzerland and mostly for those without a migration background in Germany. The findings demonstrate the importance of a mutual acculturation framework for future research. Moreover, as most adolescents fit in with one of the mutual integration patterns, findings stress that no matter their migration background, adolescents favor mutual integration including the expectation on schools to enhance intercultural contact.
Can Flip-Chart Assisted Maternal Education Improve Essential New Born Care Knowledge and Skills? A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Eluri Swathi , Baliga B. Shantharam , Rao Suchetha S. , Vinayagamoorthy V. , Kamath Nutan
Published: April 2022

Background

Despite the implementation of essential newborn care (ENC) by the World Health Organization, knowledge gaps among postpartum women persist. Inappropriate breastfeeding practices and lack of knowledge regarding ENC among mothers has resulted in higher neonatal mortality.

Purpose

Our study focused on evaluating the effectiveness of flip-chart assisted postpartum maternal education in improving ENC knowledge and skills.

Material and Methods

A single blind parallel randomized controlled trial was carried out with 120 primigravidae. Participants were allocated to the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG) by block randomization. A pretested validated questionnaire was administered to participants in both groups within 24 h post-delivery. Women in the IG were provided flip-chart assisted education regarding ENC approximately 24 h post-delivery. Women in both groups received verbal advice on ENC from the postnatal ward nurses, as per the existing hospital policy. ENC skills were observed in all participants in postnatal wards by independent observers. 6 months later, knowledge retention was assessed and analyzed in both groups.

Results

Antenatal education remained at 32% among all postnatal women. Postnatal flip-chart-assisted maternal education had a significant impact on ENC skills in the IG (p < 0.01) and precipitated higher knowledge scores at the end of 6 months (p < 0.01) in the IG.

Conclusion for Practice

Flip-chart assisted education soon after delivery had a sustained effect on ENC knowledge and practices that persisted for 6 months post-delivery.
Does corporate social responsibility impact equity risk? International evidence
Authors: Monti Alice , Pattitoni Pierpaolo , Petracci Barbara , Randl Otto
Published: April 2022

Based on a large panel of listed firms from 52 countries in the period 2002–2020, we investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and equity risk. We confirm previous evidence that higher CSR scores are related to lower risk measures, considering all types of risks: total, systematic, and idiosyncratic. Analyzing a large international sample allows us to investigate the role of country and company characteristics in the relationship between CSR scores and risk measures. The risk-reducing effect is more pronounced in weaker institutional environments. It is stronger in civil-law countries, in countries with low security regulation or disclosure requirement levels and where financial information is less widespread. Firms in high impact or high profile industries benefit more from CSR than firms in other industries as do firms that are not cross-listed. The financial crisis has increased the risk-reducing effect of CSR. The main results are confirmed in the COVID-19 period.
What is it like to be a chimpanzee?
Authors: Tomasello Michael
Published: April 2022

Chimpanzees and humans are close evolutionary relatives who behave in many of the same ways based on a similar type of agentive organization. To what degree do they experience the world in similar ways as well? Using contemporary research in evolutionarily biology and animal cognition, I explicitly compare the kinds of experience the two species of capable of having. I conclude that chimpanzees’ experience of the world, their experiential niche as I call it, is: (i) intentional in basically the same way as humans’; (ii) rational in the sense that it is self-critical and operates with logically structured causal and intentional inferences; but (iii) not normative at all in that it does not operate with “objective” evaluative standards. Scientific data do not answer philosophical questions, but they provide rich raw material for scientists and philosophers alike to reflect on and clarify fundamental psychological concepts.
A coupled hydro-mechanical model for subsurface erosion with analyses of soil piping and void formation
Authors: Scheperboer I. C. , Suiker A. S. J. , Bosco E. , Clemens F. H. L. R.
Published: April 2022

A coupled hydro-mechanical erosion model is presented that is used for studying soil piping and erosion void formation under practical, in-situ conditions. The continuum model treats the soil as a two-phase porous medium composed of a solid phase and a liquid phase, and accounts for its elasto-plastic deformation behaviour caused by frictional sliding and granular compaction. The kinetic law characterizing the erosion process is assumed to have a similar form as the type of threshold law typically used in interfacial erosion models. The numerical implementation of the coupled hydro-mechanical model is based on an incremental-iterative, staggered update scheme. A one-dimensional poro-elastic benchmark problem is used to study the basic features of the hydro-mechanical erosion model and validate its numerical implementation. This problem is further used to reveal the interplay between soil erosion and soil consolidation processes that occur under transient hydro-mechanical conditions, thereby identifying characteristic time scales of these processes for a sandy material. Subsequently, two practical case studies are considered that relate to a sewer system embedded in a sandy soil structure. The first case study treats soil piping caused by suffusion near a sewer system subjected to natural ground water flow, and the second case study considers the formation of a suffosion erosion void under strong ground water flow near a defect sewer pipe. The effects on the erosion profile and the soil deformation behaviour by plasticity phenomena are elucidated by comparing the computational results to those obtained by modelling the constitutive behaviour of the granular material as elastic. The results of this comparison study point out the importance of including an advanced elasto-plastic soil model in the numerical simulation of erosion-driven ground surface deformations and the consequent failure behaviour. The numerical analyses further illustrate that the model realistically predicts the size, location, and characteristic time scale of the generated soil piping and void erosion profiles. Hence, the modelling results may support the early detection of in-situ subsurface erosion phenomena from recorded ground surface deformations. Additionally, the computed erosion profiles may serve as input for a detailed analysis of the local, residual bearing capacity and stress redistribution of buried concrete pipe systems.