bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some new results of nonlinear model arising in incompressible visco‐elastic Kelvin–Voigt fluid
Authors: Alam Md. Nur , Islam Shariful , İlhan Onur Alp , Bulut Hasan
Published: May 2022

The Oskolkov equation, which is a nonlinear model that describes the dynamics of an incompressible visco‐elastic Kelvin–Voigt fluid, is examined in the present study. It has been obtained by applying the modified
‐expansion method, especially using calculation results such as kink wave, cusp wave, periodic respiratory waves, and periodic wave solutions. This research has employed this process to seek novel computational results of the Oskolkov equation. The dynamics of obtained wave solutions are analyzed and illustrated in figures by selecting appropriate parameters. With three dimensional, two dimensional, and contour graphical illustration, mathematical results explicitly exhibit the proposed algorithm's complete honesty and high performance in physics, mathematics, and engineering.
Oscillatory behavior for certain higher order p$$ p $$‐Laplacians functional dynamic equations of neutral type on time scales
Authors: Wu Xin , Sun Taixiang , Wang Jiaying
Published: May 2022

This paper investigates a class of higher order neutral functional dynamic equations with Laplacians. By using the generalized Riccati technique, integral averaging technique, and inequality technique, several new oscillation criteria are established. Our findings build on many previous results (Hassan and Kong, doi:10.1002/mma.4283; Wu and Sun, https://doi.org/10.1515/ms‐2015‐0166) and address cases that are not covered by existing criteria in the literature. Finally, we present some interesting examples to illustrate the versatility of new theorems.
Failure diagnosis of linear arrays based on deep residual shrinkage network
Authors: Zheng Guoliang , Zhang Qinghe , Li Shaocong
Published: May 2022

A novel array antenna diagnosis method based on a deep residual shrinkage network (DRSN) is introduced in the case of linear arrangements. The failure of array elements often leads to significant changes in the far‐field pattern of an array antenna. Therefore, the failure diagnosis of array antennas can be carried out according to the far‐field pattern data. In this paper, the proposed method based on DRSN can automatically learn useful features from the sampled far‐field patterns of the linear array and find the mapping relationship between different far‐field patterns and failure scenarios, to find the locations and number of faulty array elements. Experimental results show that the proposed method based on DRSN has higher diagnostic accuracy in the noise environment at low signal‐to‐noise ratios by comparing with the traditional machine learning algorithm—support vector machine.
Classic concentration: Productivity and organization tools for remote and hybrid marketers
Authors: Talarico Donna
Published: May 2022

Last month's column featured resources for remote and hybrid higher education marketing teams that focused on three areas: communication, collaboration, and camaraderie.
Simple preparation and study of superhydrophobic surface of triple‐scale raspberry‐like composite particles
Authors: Mai Chongyang , Yang Li , Lv Chengcheng , Tian Junwen , Gu Qintian , Hu Jian , Jiang Yan , Zhang Hongwen
Published: May 2022

In this article, we introduce a facile method for preparing triple‐scale raspberry‐like composite particles. First, the copolymerized microspheres of styrene and 3‐methacryloyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane were prepared by suspension polymerization, and then double‐sized SiO2 particles were synthesized by one‐pot using the secondary nucleation phenomenon of ethyl orthosilicate. Finally, the styrene copolymer microspheres were combined with SiO2 particles to form raspberry‐like microspheres. Adjusting the feed rate of the precursor and the water content can achieve the transition from dual‐scale raspberry‐like particles to triple‐scale raspberry‐like particles. The structure and morphology of the composite particles were characterized by infrared analysis, scanning electron microscope, and so forth, and the contact angle to water was measured. The results show that the superhydrophobic surface prepared by triple‐scale raspberry‐like composite particles has a static contact angle of up to 158 ± 1°, and a high Cassie‐Baxter state stability, which can withstand a pressure of up to 565 Pa. It also shows great application potential in self‐cleaning, anti‐freezing and so on.
Mechanical, thermal, and acoustical studies on natural alternative material for partition walls: A novel experimental investigation
Authors: Prabhakaran Sivalingam , Sharma Shubham , Verma Akarsh , Rangappa Sanjay Mavinkere , Siengchin Suchart
Published: May 2022

The construction industry shows great interest in the use of technologically advanced materials which are light, environmentally friendly, possess high strength and durability for floors, roofs, partitions, etc. Apart from mechanical properties, the material should also possess excellent thermal and acoustic properties. In the same context, the aim of this study is to explore the flexural‐strength, thermal‐conductivity, flame resistance, and sound‐absorption capabilities of natural based material made with jute fiber and agglomerated cork. The natural based partition wall (jute board [JB]) was manufactured using vacuum bag molding process. Other alternative materials used in this study for comparison are gypsum and particle boards. A flexural test was carried out and it was observed that the JB has 80% of higher flexural strength than other test samples. It is also having lower thermal conductivity of 52.8% and 43.3% than gypsum and particle board, respectively. The JB have 35% and 10% higher sound absorption capabilities than gypsum and particle board, respectively. This is attributed to the multi‐scale arrangement and cellular structure of jute fiber and cork material. This study recommends that, if flame resistance of jute fiber is enhanced with help of flame retardants, JB that is, jute/cork sandwich panel could be an environmentally appealing alternative answer for use in the construction of partition walls.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major components in Qinghao Biejia decoction by UPLC‐Orbitrap Fusion‐MS/MS and UPLC‐QQQ‐MS/MS and evaluation of their antibacterial activities
Authors: Cheng Xin , Li Biao‐Ping , Han Zhong‐Xiao , Zhang Feng‐Lin , Jiang Zhi‐Rui , Yang Jia‐Shun , Luo Qi‐Zhi , Tang Ling
Published: May 2022

Objective

In the present study, the chemical components of Qinghao Biejia decoction (QBD) were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed using UPLC‐Orbitrap Fusion‐MS/MS and UPLC‐QQQ‐MS/MS techniques, followed by identification of each component's origin and evaluation of the antibacterial activity of QBD and its components.

Methods

High‐resolution mass spectrometry was used to obtain information on the precise molecular weight, retention time, and fragmentation ion peaks of the compounds used to identify the components of QBD and establish a method for their quantification. In vitro assays including determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration and growth curves were used to assess the antibacterial activity of QBD and its components.

Results

A total of 39 components, including fatty acids, phenolic acids, amino acids, flavonoids, coumarins, terpenoids, and alkaloids, were identified by UPLC‐Orbitrap Fusion‐MS/MS. A high‐performance analytical method was also established to quantify 12 components of QBD. The content of mangiferin was relatively high (estimated to be 814 μg/g). The results of the antibacterial assays indicated that mangiferin exhibits antibacterial effects against two strains causing respiratory tract infections.

Conclusions

The present study suggests that mangiferin may serve as a natural compound which shows high antibacterial activity. The results can aid the discovery and analysis of the active antimicrobial components present in QBD and further provide a reference for quality assessment of multi‐component herbal prescriptions.
An application of the standardised reference extract quantification strategy in the quality control of ginseng infusions by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection
Authors: Semenova Irina , Bryskina Diana , Cvetanović Kljakić Aleksandra , Ražić Slavica , Ananiev Vasiliy , Rodin Igor , Shpigun Oleg , Stavrianidi Andrey
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Limited availability of individual standards is a bottleneck for quality control of functional foods and natural medicines. The use of standard mixtures or secondary standards is a possible alternative in this case. Earlier, an approach known as standardised reference extract (RE) strategy was introduced for HPLC‐UV analysis of different plant materials; however, its application in HPLC‐MS analysis has not been investigated.

Objective

To establish an HPLC‐MS‐based RE method for determination of ginsenoside content in ginseng infusions using commercially available extract reference material of Panax quinquefolius L.

Results

The developed HPLC‐MS method was validated as precise (1.1%–9.4% intra‐day variation; 1.6%–12.8% inter‐day variation) and highly sensitive [limit of detection (LOD): 1–40 ng/mL; limit of quantification (LOQ): 4–120 ng/mL]. The stability of samples was satisfactory (5.7%–16.3%). The RE quantification method was compared with the external standard method, and the obtained difference was not significant, mostly in the range of 5%–10%. Matrix effects for the diluted samples of RE and ginseng infusions, determined via the standard addition method, were in the range of 85%–115% and 80%–126%, respectively, and were also positively correlated with the ginsenoside concentration. Eleven batches of ginseng infusions from different manufacturers were analysed using the established method.

Conclusion

The method for HPLC‐MS‐based ginsenoside quantification using RE as a secondary standard was established for the first time. The results of this study demonstrate that the application of the standardised RE strategy in HPLC‐MS can minimise the matrix effect‐related error in addition to the cost‐effective quality control of herbal products, foods, and traditional medicines.
Parental origins of the cultivated tetraploid sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.)
Authors: Bird Kevin A. , Jacobs MacKenzie , Sebolt Audrey , Rhoades Kathleen , Alger Elizabeth I. , Colle Marivi , Alekman Mitchell L. , Bies Paulina K. , Cario Adare J. , Chigurupati Ramya S. , Collazo Delaney R. , Finley Savannah , Garland Brooke , Hein Kaitlyn M. , Hicks Jailyn , Hillenberg Annie R. , Kado Lawrence I. , Kilian Vanessa R. , Longueuil Philip F. , Mahesha Vibha , Mervak Charlie , Munsell Kat , Patel Roshan M. , Peters Nicole M. L. , Steffes Megan O. , Suryadevara Sathvik , Thummalapally Akshita , Urban Grace , Walia Aditya K. , Wirsing Taylor B. , McKain Michael R. , Iezzoni Amy F. , Edger Patrick P.
Published: May 2022

Societal impact statement

Sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) is an agriculturally valuable tree that produces fruits used in a range of culinary dishes, beverages, and other products. The progenitor species and number of origins of sour cherry remain unresolved. Here, we performed phylogenetic analyses of plastid genomes and nuclear genes from nine wild species and three historically important sour cherry cultivars. Our analyses identified Prunus fruticosa and Prunus avium as the closest extant relatives of the progenitor species of tetraploid sour cherry. Furthermore, our analyses revealed P. fruticosa as the likely maternal contributor. These findings and transcriptomic datasets should serve as valuable new resources to guide future breeding efforts in sour cherry.
HIDEA syndrome: A rare cause of congenital hypoventilation in a premature infant
Authors: Lim Alicia May , Tan Pih Lin , Visruthan Nirmal Kavalloor , Fong Nikki , Viegelmann Guadalupe Cara , Tan Yi Hua
Published: May 2022

Background

HIDEA (hypotonia, hypoventilation, intellectual disability, dysautonomia, epilepsy and eye abnormalities) syndrome is a rare and novel disease. We describe a premature patient who required extensive work up for his hypoventilation with a diagnosis of HIDEA syndrome.

Case Description

The patient was born to a pair of consanguineous parents at 32‐week gestation. His intermittent bradypnoea requiring significant respiratory support during his postnatal clinical course was atypical for bronchopulmonary dysplasia and this required further extensive work up to look for a cause for his hypoventilation. A trio whole exon sequencing was done which identified homozygous variants in P4HTM, in keeping with the diagnosis of autosomal recessive HIDEA syndrome. He is currently doing well on BiPAP 18 cm H2O / 8 cm H2O, Rate 30 breaths per minute in room air and full nasogastric feeding. He also has cortical blindess and severe global developmental delay.

Conclusion

Early diagnosis is crucial to optimise adequate ventilatory management including early tracheostomy as many require lifelong continuous or intermittent ventilation. This minimises the complications of chronic hypoxia and reduces mortality risk.
Selection of landcover types by translocated female eastern wild turkeys in east Texas
Authors: Sullivan Daniel J. , Little Andrew R. , Poteet Micah L. , Collier Bret A. , Chamberlain Michael J.
Published: May 2022

Restoration of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) is among the greatest conservation achievements in North America. However, restoration efforts in east Texas have had limited success, resulting in a fragmented distribution of turkeys across the landscape. Restoration success is largely dependent on the ability of translocated individuals to quickly select habitat patches on the landscape. Information on habitat selection of translocated wild turkeys is important to identify high quality release locations that should reduce the probability of translocation failure. Our objective was to describe selection of landcover types by translocated female wild turkeys in east Texas. During 2016–2017, we translocated 78 GPS‐tagged wild turkeys to Angelina National Forest in east Texas. We quantified third order selection for females during 3 temporal periods—the exploratory phase (days 1–20), the exploitation phase (days 21–80), and within the annual range. During the exploratory phase, females selected shrub‐scrub and open landcover types, as well as linear paths (roads, rights‐of‐way). During the exploitation phase, females selected shrub‐scrub, mixed, and open landcover types, but not linear paths. Overall, wild turkeys translocated into forested landscapes of east Texas selected for early successional and other open landcover types. Prior to translocation attempts in forest‐dominated landscapes, managers should consider ways to increase availability of open landcover types with herbaceous cover for nesting and brood rearing.
Effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on 2020 spring turkey hunting across the United States
Authors: Danks Zachary D. , Schiavone Michael V. , Butler Adam B. , Fricke Kent , Davis Alicia , Cobb David T.
Published: May 2022

Spring wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunting is a foundational activity for many hunters across North America. Managing turkey hunters and turkey hunting is, therefore, a priority for state and provincial fish and wildlife management agencies. Early stages of the current SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) pandemic in the United States coincided with 2020 spring turkey hunting seasons across the U.S. Potential effects of increases in peoples' time available for hunting on effort and turkey populations could have been substantial. We surveyed the primary wildlife biologist tasked with wild turkey management for each state and provincial jurisdiction with a huntable wild turkey population to determine turkey hunter and hunting dynamics before and during the spring 2020 turkey season. Biologists in 47 states responded to the survey. Results varied among states but hunting license sales, the number of hunters afield, harvest, total hunter‐days afield, and the number of days individual hunters were afield were greater in 2020 than the mean from the previous 3 years (2017–2019) in many states. Although hunting effort and total reported harvest increased in most states in 2020 from the previous 3‐year average, take‐per‐unit‐effort (i.e., harvest per hunter day) decreased in 93% of jurisdictions from which data were available, supporting the finding that increases in turkey harvest in spring 2020 were a result of a COVID‐related increase in participation and effort and not increases in turkey abundance. We recommend using these reference data for turkey population and turkey hunter monitoring pre‐ and post‐pandemic. Monitoring efforts should include wildlife population and habitat evaluations and study of hunter dynamics in a social science framework.
Electron probe microanalysis of light elements: Improvements in the measurement and signal extraction methods
Authors: Schweizer Pia , Brackx Emmanuelle , Jonnard Philippe
Published: May 2022

Quantitative electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) by wavelength dispersive spectrometry of light elements is a significant challenge due to difficulties of signal extraction for low intensities. Therefore, a good choice of measurement parameters and a suitable signal treatment, accurate background description and interference correction are crucial. For light elements, peak to background ratios (P/B) can easily approach unity and special care needs to be paid to the setting of the pulse height analyser (PHA) to avoid noise contribution to the emission peak. Furthermore, the background may have a high curvature and the classical approach of a linear background fit is no longer valid. This work investigates the EPMA of light elements from Be to F with the aim to determine the best experimentation parameters (dispersive element, accelerating voltage, PHA). It also provides detailed information about peak shifts, peak broadening and the influence of different background fits on quantification. In total, 25 samples containing light elements were analysed and Monte Carlo simulations were carried out. These simulations show that the X‐ray intensity of the light element's characteristic line can be increased by working with low accelerating voltages around 5 kV. PHA should be used in automatic differential or integral mode. Our work also shows that a third degree linear polynomial describes the background better than an exponential or linear function. Consequently overestimation of P/B values leading to large quantification errors can be avoided. This paper provides a large database containing peak position and peak shifts, peak full width at half maximum, as well as P/B ratios and information about peak enlargement for different materials of various compositions.
Introduction
Authors: Romero-Ruiz Maria Isabel , Cuder-Domínguez Pilar
Published: May 2022

Cultural Representations of Gender Vulnerability and Resistance: A Mediterranean Approach to the Anglosphere aims to fill a gap within Literary and Cultural Studies by undertaking the analysis of concepts such as vulnerability, resilience, precarity and resistance in a wide range of cultural texts written in English and published or circulated in the last two decades across a wide geography encompassing India, Ireland, Canada, the USA and the UK: memoirs and testimonies, films, TV series, crime fiction and literary fiction. Thus, the collection provides a rich array of cultural case studies to explore gender vulnerability in a transnational framework, in turn providing fresh insights into vulnerability itself as a “travelling theory,” following Edward Said’s formulation (The World, the Text, the Critic, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1983).
The Vulnerable Posthuman in Popular Science Fiction Cinema
Authors: Carrasco-Carrasco Rocío
Published: May 2022

Following feminist critical posthuman thinking (Braidotti, Vint, Ferrando), this chapter analyses two recent popular science fiction movies portraying female characters that embody the concept of the vulnerable posthuman: Glazer’s Under the Skin (2013) and Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell (2017). In spite of the fact that in these two movies the posthuman (female) characters are depicted as vulnerable beings apparently doomed to privileging and perpetuating the normative idea of the body in terms of gender and race, they still manage to somehow disrupt established configurations of power by offering audiences an unfamiliar experience. Viewers see life through the posthuman perspective thanks to filmic strategies, such as identification or sympathy, enabling us to temporarily refuse normative human ethics and to understand the posthuman subject as it is, with its alien/transhuman body and non-normative actions and desires.
A Trans Journey Towards Resistance: Vulnerability and Resilience in the Dystopian Narrative of Manjula Padmanabhan
Authors: Navarro-Tejero Antonia
Published: May 2022

This chapter explores how the idea of womanhood intersects with concepts of vulnerability and resistance in two feminist dystopian novels by South Asian writer Manjula Padmanabhan,Escape(2008) and its sequelThe Island of Lost Girls(2015). It addresses how Padmanabhan brings out the fluid gendered resistance in the context of female genocide in India, in the dimensions of techno culture. By looking at sexual violence through the lenses of aligned resilience in solidarity as an analytical tool, through which the victims achieve empowerment, we argue that the presence of trans protagonists in the novels brings originality to the dystopian trope.
Becoming Resilient Subjects: Vulnerability and Resistance in Emma Donoghue’s Room
Authors: Jaime de Pablos María Elena
Published: May 2022

Emma Donoghue’s novelRoomnarrates the story of Ma, a 26-year-old woman who has been imprisoned for seven years in an eleven-by-eleven-foot soundproof garden shed in an unnamed place in America with her 5-year-old boy, Jack. This present chapter deals with the abusive conditions of oppression and confinement that Ma and Jack must face both in captivity and after escape, the impact that these conditions have on their body, psyche and social life, the different practices of resistance that mother and child enact to cope with them and the transforming process they must undergo to bounce back from them. Judith Butler’s Theory of Vulnerability helps us understand how Emma Donoghue resorts to the notion of vulnerability in resistance to shapeRoomcharacters’ subjectivity, Julia Kristeva’s Theory of the Abject lets us explain why Ma and Jack fall into the category of socially disturbing elements in a patriarchal symbolic order and Boris Cyrulnik’s Theory of Resilience is paramount to examine the process that the protagonists must undergo to overcome trauma.
Of Mice and Women: Gendered and Speciesist Violence in Joyce Carol Oates’s ‘Martyrdom’
Authors: Pimentel-Biscaia Maria Sofia
Published: May 2022

In this chapter, I investigate how Joyce Carol Oates has conceptualised martyrdom in terms of gender and non-human animal perspectives in “Martyrdom” (1994). I suggest that a biopolitical approach to gendered violence and to the instrumentalisation of animal bodies allows the revelation of systemic and ontological violence exerted over oppressed subjectivities. This violence is of an anthropocentric and androcentric nature and, therefore, not exclusive to the North American context. Judith Butler’s and Sarah Bracke’s remapping of subjectivity as relational and interdependent politics provides a deconstructive alternative to the binary coding which positions the male human as sole active agent. Butler and Bracke propose policies of resilience and vulnerability as operative processes in the struggle for radical resistance counteracting/supplementing the discourse of martyrdom.
Resisting Binaries: Vulnerability, Agency and the Sovereign Subject Through a Feminist Critical Gaze
Authors: Iglesias-Díaz E. Guillermo
Published: May 2022

Vulnerability has been traditionally opposed to resistance and agency. However, this proposition has been contested recently as a simplistic opposition of the binary kind: my argument is predicated on the idea that Andrea Arnold is a filmmaker who problematizes these concepts through a self-conscious critical gaze, in particular, in her film Red Road (2008). Drawing from Teresa De Lauretis’ approach to the technologies of gender, I will pay attention to how Arnold inverts the roles traditionally assigned in film: in this case, it is the male character the one under the female gaze, a strategy used by Arnold to question the myth of the sovereign subject. My focus will be on how Arnold presents her characters as vulnerable but always with full agency, and never as victims.
Two Library Projects
Authors: Ibrahim Jimoh , Loch Christoph , Sengupta Kishore
Published: May 2022

The case studies give the narratives of where the projects came from, how decisions were made, including, for example, how lack of financial safeguarding and corruption led to problems. The narratives “bring the statistical analysis to life” and give the reader an impression (relatively succinctly in about five pages per case) of what the project problems “feel” like. This chapter discusses the first matched project pair, the Abuja National Library and the Obasanjo Presidential Library.

The national library project suffered from design changes, budget cuts (because of unstable funding) and conflicts with the contractor, and it is an unfinished ruin today. The Obasanjo Presidential Library was privately funded, had a clear goal and ambition, and was completed close to schedule in spite of setbacks (although it was far over budget and has an uncertain financial future). The two case studies contrast project environments that can cause different project paths.
Two Bridge Projects
Authors: Ibrahim Jimoh , Loch Christoph , Sengupta Kishore
Published: May 2022

This case study contrasts the Second Niger Bridge (stalled) and the Third Mainland Bridge (completed) projects. Both bridges had strong support and good business cases. But the Second Niger Bridge became a pawn of political promises, had insufficient financial assurances and then was stalled after a government change. The Third Mainland Bridge had also been stalled and was rescued by the (military) President for idiosyncratic reasons, but then run with a sufficient budget and pushed by an insistent owner (the president himself), so it was finally completed. But even in this case of a political power holder successfully bringing about completion, questions remain whether the decision process resulted in the right project being rescued.
Two Power Plants
Authors: Ibrahim Jimoh , Loch Christoph , Sengupta Kishore
Published: May 2022

This first project, the Egbin Power Plant, was initiated under a civilian government and delayed because of two coups. But then the military government supported the project (which had a strong value proposition) and saw it through.

The second project, the Calabar Power Plant, was a part of a large highly ambitious scheme to build 11 power plants, which ran out of money as well as neglecting critical components of the network surrounding a plant (gas supplies and power distribution lines). So, the power plant hardware itself was completed after a delay, but the plant still delivers little power because gas supplies are too expensive and power delivery is subject to capacity limits and price controls that make operation of the plant unaffordable.
Two Express Road Rehabilitation Projects
Authors: Ibrahim Jimoh , Loch Christoph , Sengupta Kishore
Published: May 2022

The Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Badagry roads were built in the 1970s and 1990s, but had become outgrown by traffic needs and catastrophically congested, so widening and refurbishing projects were initiated. The Lagos-Ibadan Road will likely be completed in 2022, but it is not an example of a good project. It was started with a private–public partnership (PPP) scheme, which was then sabotaged after a government change, so funding became unstable leading to walk outs by contractors. Finally, the government repossessed the project and may finally get to completion, but only after design degradations, delays and overruns.

The Lagos-Ibadan project is stalled, an example of overambitious design, unreliable funding, questionable accounting and misrepresentations to the public, with excuses that point away from the sources of the problems. The currently visible final result is a reduction of the project to “palliative measures” (i.e. repairing what is there rather than the expansion that the project started out to achieve).
Je mehr desto besser? – Der Einfluss von studienorientierten Auslandsaufenthalten auf Fremdenfeindlichkeit unter Berücksichtigung der Aufenthaltsdauer, interkulturellen Kompetenz und Kontaktqualität
Authors: Genkova Petia , Schreiber Henrik , Schneider Jan
Published: May 2022

Trotz der steigenden Bedeutung von kultureller Vielfalt sind fremdenfeindliche Ansichten in Deutschland noch immer weit verbreitet. Kontakt zu Mitgliedern anderer Kulturen kann unter bestimmten Bedingungen zu einem Abbau solcher negativer Einstellungen führen. Während Auslandsaufenthalte im Studium und im Beruf ausgezeichnete Möglichkeiten bieten, in Kontakt mit Menschen aus mindestens einer fremden Kultur zu treten, stellen sie auch herausfordernde Ereignisse dar, die als stressig, oder bedrohlich erlebt werden können. Die zentrale Fragestellung dieser Untersuchung ist daher, ob längere Auslandssemester mit einem geringeren Maß an Fremdenfeindlichkeit einhergehen. Dafür wird in einem Querschnittsdesign untersucht, ob die interkulturelle Kompetenz den Zusammenhang von Aufenthaltsdauer und Fremdenfeindlichkeit moderiert und ob die Qualität der Kontakte zu Einheimischen als Mediatorvariable fungiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass gute Kontakte zu Einheimischen während eines Auslandssemesters mit weniger Fremdenfeindlichkeit verbunden waren, unabhängig von der Länge des Aufenthalts. Die Zeit, die eine Person im Ausland verbracht hat, stellte sich nur bei hoher interkultureller Kompetenz als negativer Prädiktor für die Fremdenfeindlichkeit heraus. Praktische und wissenschaftliche Implikationen sowie Limitationen der Studie werden diskutiert.
Diversität in Unternehmen: Binnen- und Außenperspektive auf Diversität in Unternehmen
Authors: Semke Edwin , Meixner Sarah
Published: May 2022

In diesem Kapitel werden die Außendarstellung von MINT-Unternehmen hinsichtlich Diversity Management (Außenperspektive) sowie seine unternehmensinterne Implementierung (Binnenperspektive) untersucht. Die Bewertung der beiden Perspektiven wird anhand von vier Kriterien vorgenommen: Unternehmenskultur, Mitarbeiterentwicklung, Erfolgskriterien und Management. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es Großunternehmen am besten gelingt, Diversity Management umzusetzen und transparent zu gestalten. Besonders hinsichtlich der Unternehmenskultur gibt es einen deutlichen Zusammenhang zwischen der Binnen- und Außenperspektive. In den Dimensionen Mitarbeiterentwicklung und Erfolgskriterien ist der Zusammenhang weniger stark ausgeprägt und für das Management fehlt er gänzlich. Die vorliegende Studie betont die Relevanz einer transparenten Außendarstellung von Maßnahmen, die Unternehmen ergreifen, um einen angemessenen Umgang mit Vielfalt zu ermöglichen.
Diversity nutzen und annehmen: Leitfaden
Authors: Genkova Petia , Semke Edwin , Schreiber Henrik
Published: May 2022

In der Literatur oder auch unter der Charta der Vielfalt existieren mehrere gute Leitfäden, welche sich mit dem Thema Diversity und der Umsetzung von Diversity in Unternehmen beschäftigen.

In der Literatur oder auch unter der Charta der Vielfalt existieren mehrere gute Leitfäden, welche sich mit dem Thema Diversity und der Umsetzung von Diversity in Unternehmen beschäftigen.

Aus diesem Grund wollen wir die bereits gut ausgearbeiteten Strukturen an dieser Stelle nicht wiederholen oder kopieren.

Wir richten unseren Leitfaden daher an den Fragen aus, die von Führungskräften und Multiplikatorinnen und Multiplikatoren im Laufe des Forschungsprojektes an uns herangetragen wurden. Exemplarisch hierfür steht die Frage „Was soll ich denn machen, wenn ich Probleme im Alltag habe und keiner mich versteht?“.
Diversity Kompetenz und Führungspersönlichkeit
Authors: Genkova Petia
Published: May 2022

Das folgende Kapitel befasst sich mit der Nutzbarmachung von Diversity in Organisationen und der Rolle von Führung in diesem Prozess. Zu Beginn werden aktuelle gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen, wie Migration und Globalisierung, aufgegriffen, um die Relevanz von Diversity und Diversity Management aufzuzeigen. Zudem wird die aktuelle Arbeitsmarktsituation von Migrierenden in Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich betrachtet. Darüber hinaus wird das Konstrukt der sozialen Diskriminierung eingehend beleuchtet und auf die Entstehung, Wirkung und Aufrechterhaltung diskriminierender Strukturen und Verhaltensweisen im heutigen Deutschland eingegangen. Anschließend werden die Vor- und Nachteile der Arbeit in heterogenen Teams eingehend diskutiert sowie Modelle und Führungsstile im Hinblick auf die Führung diverser Arbeitsgruppen erläutert. Führungsverhalten und die Erwartung an die Führungskraft werden ergänzend aus einer kulturvergleichenden Perspektive betrachtet und es wird herausgearbeitet, welche Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede diesbezüglich vorhanden sein können. Abschließend wird auf die Operationalisierung von Führungserfolg in interkulturellen Kontexten eingegangen. Einerseits wird die Beziehung zwischen Mitarbeitenden und Führungskraft beleuchtet, andererseits die Wahrnehmung von angemessenem Verhalten der Führungskraft durch die Mitarbeitenden diskutiert.
Sind MINT-Studierende anders? Relevanz von Diversity Aspekten und Diversity
Authors: Genkova Petia , Schreiber Henrik , Semke Edwin
Published: May 2022

Im folgenden Kapitel wird eine Untersuchung zum Thema Diversity und Diversity Management im MINT-Studium präsentiert. Aufgrund des Fachkräftemangels in den Bereichen Mathematik, Ingenieurwesen, Naturwissenschaften und Technik (MINT) und vor dem Hintergrund der hohen kulturellen Diversität auf dem MINT-Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland, ist der Umgang mit kultureller Vielfalt an Hochschulen für MINT-Studiengänge von besonderer Bedeutung. In diesem Beitrag wird die Übertragbarkeit bereits etablierter Diversity Management Konzepte auf MINT-Studierende anhand 90 qualitativer Interviews mit MINT-Studierenden mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund exploriert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich der größte Teil der Studierenden ohne Migrationshintergrund der Diversität im eigenen Umfeld kaum bewusst ist und viele Diversität für ein Hindernis halten. Studierende mit Migrationshintergrund berichten von wahrgenommenen Faultlines (Trenngrenzen zwischen sozialen Gruppen), die ihrerseits mit einer weniger sensiblen Wahrnehmung für diskriminierendes Verhalten sowie Stereotypenbedrohung und einer weniger kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit Diversity einhergehen. Anhand der Ergebnisse wird geraten, Diversity systematisch in den Curricula von MINT-Studiengängen umzusetzen, um die zukünftigen Fach- und Führungskräfte in diesem wirtschaftlich bedeutsamen Fachbereich adäquat auf die Anforderungen im Arbeitsalltag vorzubereiten.
Sind MINT-Studierende Global Player? Prädiktoren von Diversity Beliefs bei MINT-Studierenden in Deutschland
Authors: Genkova Petia , Schreiber Henrik
Published: May 2022

Die in diesem Kapitel dargestellte Studie befasst sich mit verschiedenen Prädiktoren von Diversity Beliefs bei MINT-Studierenden ohne Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland. Trotz der hohen kulturellen Diversität in der MINT-Branche ist der Umgang mit und die Einstellung zu Vielfalt noch nicht in MINT-Curricula integriert. Diversity Beliefs stehen für die individuelle Überzeugung, dass Diversität innerhalb einer Gruppe mit positiven Effekten verbunden ist. Unterschiedliche Studien konnten aufzeigen, dass Diversity Beliefs einen entscheidenden Einfluss darauf haben, ob vielfältige Gruppen erfolgreich zusammenarbeiten.

Auf Grundlage der vorausgegangenen qualitativen Studien, die explorativ Wechselwirkungen zur Diversity Orientierung untersucht haben, werden in dieser Studie die Intergruppenangst, soziale Dominanzorientierung, autoritäre Aggression, vorherige Kontakterfahrungen, die Akkulturationsstrategie und die Intergruppenbedrohung als Prädiktoren von Diversity Beliefs berücksichtigt. In einem Querschnittsdesign wurden 271 Studierende verschiedener deutscher Hochschulen und Universitäten befragt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die positiven Kontakterfahrungen und eine integrative Akkulturationsstrategie signifikant positiv mit den Diversity Beliefs der Studierenden zusammenhängen. Zudem konnte ein signifikanter indirekter Zusammenhang zwischen der sozialen Dominanzorientierung und den Diversity Beliefs der Studierenden über die Intergruppenbedrohung ermittelt werden.

Diese Studie leistet damit einen Beitrag zum weiteren Verständnis des Umgangs mit Vielfalt in der MINT-Branche und bietet wissenschaftliche und praktische Implikationen für das Diversity Management an Hochschulen, insbesondere im Fachbereich MINT.
Acute tryptophan depletion alters affective touch perception
Authors: Trotter Paula D. , Smith Sharon A. , Moore David J. , O’Sullivan Noreen , McFarquhar Martyn M. , McGlone Francis P. , Walker Susannah C.
Published: May 2022

Rationale

Affiliative tactile interactions help regulate physiological arousal and confer resilience to acute and chronic stress. C-tactile afferents (CTs) are a population of unmyelinated, low threshold mechanosensitive cutaneous nerve fibres which respond optimally to a low force stimulus, moving at between 1 and 10 cm/s. As CT firing frequencies correlate positively with subjective ratings of touch pleasantness, they are hypothesised to form the first stage of encoding affiliative tactile interactions. Serotonin is a key modulator of social responses with known effects on bonding.

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of acutely lowering central serotonin levels on perceptions of CT-targeted affective touch.

Methods

In a double blind, placebo-controlled design, the effect of acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) on 25 female participants’ ratings of directly and vicariously experienced touch was investigated. Psychophysical techniques were used to deliver dynamic tactile stimuli; some velocities were targeted to optimally activate CTs (1–10 cm/s), whereas other, faster and slower strokes fell outside the CT optimal range. Discriminative tactile function, cold pain threshold and tolerance were also measured.

Results

ATD significantly increased pleasantness ratings of both directly and vicariously experienced affective touch, increasing discrimination of the specific hedonic value of CT targeted velocities. While ATD had no effect on either tactile or cold pain thresholds, there was a trend for reduced tolerance to cold pain.

Conclusions

These findings are consistent with previous reports that depletion of central serotonin levels modulates neural and behavioural responsiveness to appetitive sensory signals.
Clinical validity of non-contrast-enhanced VI-RADS: prospective study using 3-T MRI with high-gradient magnetic field
Authors: Watanabe Masanaka , Taguchi Satoru , Machida Haruhiko , Tambo Mitsuhiro , Takeshita Yuhei , Kariyasu Toshiya , Fukushima Keita , Shimizu Yuta , Okegawa Takatsugu , Fukuhara Hiroshi , Yokoyama Kenichi
Published: May 2022

Objectives

To develop a modified Vesical Imaging Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) without dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCEI), termed “non-contrast-enhanced VI-RADS (NCE-VI-RADS)”, and to assess the additive impact of denoising deep learning reconstruction (dDLR) on NCE-VI-RADS.

Methods

From January 2019 through December 2020, 163 participants who underwent high-gradient 3-T MRI of the bladder were prospectively enrolled. In total, 108 participants with pathologically confirmed bladder cancer by transurethral resection were analyzed. Tumors were evaluated based on VI-RADS (scores 1–5) by two readers independently: an experienced radiologist (reader 1) and a senior radiology resident (reader 2). Conventional VI-RADS assessment included all three imaging types (T2-weighted imaging [T2WI], diffusion-weighted imaging [DWI], and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging [DCEI]). Also evaluated were NCE-VI-RADS comprising only non-contrast-enhanced imaging types (T2WI and DWI), and “NCE-VI-RADS with dDLR” comprising T2WI processed with dDLR and DWI. All systems were assessed using receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis and simple and/or weighted κ statistics.

Results

Muscle invasion was identified in 23/108 participants (21%). Area under the curve (AUC) values for diagnosing muscle invasion were as follows: conventional VI-RADS, 0.94 and 0.91; NCE-VI-RADS, 0.93 and 0.91; and “NCE-VI-RADS with dDLR”, 0.96 and 0.93, for readers 1 and 2, respectively. Simple κ statistics indicated substantial agreement for NCE-VI-RADS and almost perfect agreement for conventional VI-RADS and “NCE-VI-RADS with dDLR” between the two readers.

Conclusion

NCE-VI-RADS achieved predictive accuracy for muscle invasion comparable to that of conventional VI-RADS. Additional use of dDLR improved the diagnostic accuracy of NCE-VI-RADS.

Key Points

• Non-contrast-enhanced Vesical Imaging Reporting and Data System (NCE-VI-RADS) was developed to avoid risk related to gadolinium-based contrast agent administration.

• NCE-VI-RADS had predictive accuracy for muscle invasion comparable to that of conventional VI-RADS.

• The additional use of denoising deep learning reconstruction (dDLR) might further improve the diagnostic accuracy of NCE-VI-RADS.
Altered DNA methylation at age-associated CpG sites in children with growth disorders: impact on age estimation?
Authors: Mayer F. , Becker J. , Reinauer C. , Böhme P. , Eickhoff S. B. , Koop B. , Gündüz T. , Blum J. , Wagner W. , Ritz-Timme S.
Published: May 2022

Age estimation based on DNA methylation (DNAm) can be applied to children, adolescents and adults, but many CG dinucleotides (CpGs) exhibit different kinetics of age-associated DNAm across these age ranges. Furthermore, it is still unclear how growth disorders impact epigenetic age predictions, and this may be particularly relevant for a forensic application. In this study, we analyzed buccal mucosa samples from 95 healthy children and 104 children with different growth disorders. DNAm was analysed by pyrosequencing for 22 CpGs in the genes PDE4C, ELOVL2, RPA2, EDARADD and DDO. The relationship between DNAm and age in healthy children was tested by Spearman’s rank correlation. Differences in DNAm between the groups “healthy children” and the (sub-)groups of children with growth disorders were tested by ANCOVA. Models for age estimation were trained (1) based on the data from 11 CpGs with a close correlation between DNAm and age (R ≥ 0.75) and (2) on five CpGs that also did not present significant differences in DNAm between healthy and diseased children. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the healthy group and the group with growth disorders (11 CpGs), the subgroup with a short stature (12 CpGs) and the non-short stature subgroup (three CpGs). The results are in line with the assumption of an epigenetic regulation of height-influencing genes. Age predictors trained on 11 CpGs with high correlations between DNAm and age revealed higher mean absolute errors (MAEs) in the group of growth disorders (mean MAE 2.21 years versus MAE 1.79 in the healthy group) as well as in the short stature (sub-)groups; furthermore, there was a clear tendency for overestimation of ages in all growth disorder groups (mean age deviations: total growth disorder group 1.85 years, short stature group 1.99 years). Age estimates on samples from children with growth disorders were more precise when using a model containing only the five CpGs that did not present significant differences in DNAm between healthy and diseased children (mean age deviations: total growth disorder group 1.45 years, short stature group 1.66 years). The results suggest that CpGs in genes involved in processes relevant for growth and development should be avoided in age prediction models for children since they may be sensitive for alterations in the DNAm pattern in cases of growth disorders.
Hypoxia pretreatment enhances the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on ozone-induced lung injury in rats
Authors: Abdelrahman Shaimaa A. , Abdelrahman Abeer A. , Samy Walaa , Dessouky Arigue A. , Ahmed Samah M.
Published: May 2022

Ozone (O3) gas is a double-sided weapon. It provides a shield that protects life on earth from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, but ground-level O3 is considered an urban air pollutant. So, a rat model of chronic O3 inhalation was established to assess the biochemical and morphological alterations in the lung tissue and to investigate the ameliorative effects of bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with or without hypoxia pre-treatment. Forty-two adult male albino rats were divided into four groups: control, ozone-exposed, normoxic BMSC-treated, and hypoxic BMSC-treated groups. Lung tissue sections were processed for light and electron microscope examination, immunohistochemical staining for caspase 3, and iNOS. Quantitative real-time PCR for IL-1α, IL-17, TNF-α, and Nrf2 mRNA gene expression were also performed. Chronic O3 exposure caused elevated inflammatory cytokines and decreased antioxidant Nrf2 mRNA expression. Marked morphological alterations with increased collagen deposition and elevated apoptotic markers and iNOS were evident. BMSC treatment showed immunomodulatory (decreased inflammatory cytokine gene expression), antioxidant (increased Nrf2 expression and decreased iNOS), and anti-apoptotic (decreased caspase3 expression) effects. Consequently, ameliorated lung morphology with diminished collagen deposition was observed. Hypoxia pretreatment enhanced BMSC survival by MTT assay. It also augmented the previously mentioned effects of BMSCs on the lung tissue as proved by statistical analysis. Lung morphology was similar to that of control group. In conclusion, hypoxia pretreatment represents a valuable intervention to enhance the effects of MSCs on chronic lung injury.
American options and stochastic interest rates
Authors: Battauz Anna , Rotondi Francesco
Published: May 2022

We study finite-maturity American equity options in a stochastic mean-reverting diffusive interest rate framework. We allow for a non-zero correlation between the innovations driving the equity price and the interest rate. Importantly, we also allow for the interest rate to assume negative values, which is the case for some investment grade government bonds in Europe in recent years. In this setting we focus on American equity call and put options and characterize analytically their two-dimensional free boundary, i.e. the underlying equity and the interest rate values that trigger the optimal exercise of the option before maturity. We show that non-standard double continuation regions may appear, extending the findings documented in the literature in a constant interest rate framework. Moreover, we contribute by developing a bivariate discretization of the equity price and interest rate processes that converges in distribution as the time step shrinks. This discretization, described by a recombining quadrinomial tree, allows us to compute American equity options’ prices and to analyze their free boundaries with respect to time and current interest rate. Finally, we document the existence of non-standard optimal exercise policies for American call options on a non-dividend-paying equity.