bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Food quality effects on instar‐specific life histories of a holometabolous insect
Authors: Holmes Leslie A. , Nelson William A. , Lougheed Stephen C.
Published: January 2020

It is a long‐standing challenge to understand how changes in food resources impact consumer life history traits and, in turn, impact how organisms interact with their environment. To characterize food quality effects on life history, most studies follow organisms throughout their life cycle and quantify major life events, such as age at maturity or fecundity. From these studies, we know that food quality generally impacts body size, juvenile development, and life span. Importantly, throughout juvenile development, many organisms develop through several stages of growth that can have different interactions with their environment. For example, some parasitoids typically attack larger instars, whereas larval insect predators typically attack smaller instars. Interestingly, most studies lump all juvenile stages together, which ignores these ecological changes over juvenile development.

We combine a cross‐sectional experimental approach with a stage‐structured population model to estimate instar‐specific vital rates in the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus across a food quality gradient. We characterize food quality effects on the bean weevil's life history traits throughout its juvenile ontogeny to test how food quality impacts instar‐specific vital rates.

Vital rates differed across food quality treatments within each instar; however, their effect differed with instar. Weevils consuming low‐quality food spent 38%, 37%, and 18% more time, and were 34%, 53%, and 63% smaller than weevils consuming high‐quality food in the second, third, and fourth instars, respectively. Overall, our results show that consuming poor food quality means slower growth, but that food quality effects on vital rates, growth and development are not equal across instars. Differences in life history traits over juvenile ontogeny in response to food quality may impact how organisms interact with their environment, including how susceptible they are to predation, parasitism, and their competitive ability.
Selective Reduction of Oxygen on Non‐Noble Metal Copper Nanocatalysts
Authors: Kuhn Andrew N. , Ma Yanling , Zhang Cheng , Chen Zhitao , Liu Mingyan , Lu Yongqi , Yang Hong
Published: January 2020

Efficient removal of molecular oxygen (O2) from flue gas is necessary to capture and utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil‐fuel sources. Herein, the catalytic reduction of O2 in simulated flue gases using alumina‐supported copper (Cu) nanostructures is presented. The Cu catalyst outperformed conventional palladium systems for the selectivity toward CO2 over carbon monoxide (CO). Varying the reactant feed ratio can lead to structural rearrangements at the surface of Cu nanoparticles, resulting in significant differences in catalytic activity. Under optimal conditions, a favorable Cu@CuOx core‐shell structure is observed to exhibit both excellent activity and selectivity to CO2. The simulated flue gas is purified from 85% to >99.9% (v/v) CO2 after passing the catalytic system. The catalyst also exhibits high stability, showing only ≈0.1% drop in CO2 after 10 h on stream. This design marks progress toward the sequestration of CO2 and the development of non‐noble catalysts by tuning their dynamic nanostructures under controllable reaction conditions.
SorCS2 facilitates release of endostatin from astrocytes and controls post‐stroke angiogenesis
Authors: Malik Anna R. , Lips Janet , Gorniak‐Walas Malgorzata , Broekaart Diede W. M. , Asaro Antonino , Kuffner Melanie T. C. , Hoffmann Christian J. , Kikhia Majed , Dopatka Monika , Boehm‐Sturm Philipp , Mueller Susanne , Dirnagl Ulrich , Aronica Eleonora , Harms Christoph , Willnow Thomas E.
Published: January 2020

SorCS2 is an intracellular sorting receptor of the VPS10P domain receptor gene family recently implicated in oxidative stress response. Here, we interrogated the relevance of stress‐related activities of SorCS2 in the brain by exploring its role in ischemic stroke in mouse models and in patients. Although primarily seen in neurons in the healthy brain, expression of SorCS2 was massively induced in astrocytes surrounding the ischemic core in mice following stroke. Post‐stroke induction was likely a result of increased levels of transforming growth factor β1 in damaged brain tissue, inducing Sorcs2 gene transcription in astrocytes but not neurons. Induced astrocytic expression of SorCS2 was also seen in stroke patients, substantiating the clinical relevance of this observation. In astrocytes in vitro and in the mouse brain in vivo, SorCS2 specifically controlled release of endostatin, a factor linked to post‐stroke angiogenesis. The ability of astrocytes to release endostatin acutely after stroke was lost in mice deficient for SorCS2, resulting in a blunted endostatin response which coincided with impaired vascularization of the ischemic brain. Our findings identified activated astrocytes as a source for endostatin in modulation of post‐stroke angiogenesis, and the importance of the sorting receptor SorCS2 in this brain stress response.
Professional Development in Social Justice: Analysis of American Counseling Association Conference Programming
Authors: Dollarhide Colette T. , Rogols J. Tyler , Garcia Gayle L. , Ismail Bushra I. , Langenfeld Mary , Walker Tanesha L. , Wolfe Trisha , George Kelsey , McCord Lindsay , Aras Yahyahan
Published: January 2020

This study was designed as a content analysis of 2012–2017 American Counseling Association conference sessions to examine how social justice was presented. Four findings emerged from the qualitative content analysis: (a) rates of social justice sessions varied over time; (b) there were more multicultural sessions than social justice sessions; (c) populations that were addressed least often and most often were identified; and (d) there was a decline in the number of social justice content sessions. Implications are presented.
A Validation of a Multicultural Competency Measure Among South Korean Counselors
Authors: Lim Eun‐Mi , Kim Seong‐Hyeon
Published: January 2020

The authors translated the California Brief Multicultural Competence Scale (CBMCS; Gamst et al., 2004), a measure of multicultural competence, into Korean for cross‐cultural validation. An exploratory factor analysis followed by a confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of Korean counselors (N = 365) supported a 3‐factor model: Multicultural Ability, Multicultural Knowledge, and Multicultural Awareness. The Korean version was deemed to possess sound psychometric properties, such as high test‐retest reliability and criterion‐related validity.

Los autores tradujeron al idioma coreano la Escala Breve de Competencia Multicultural de California (CBMCS, por sus siglas en inglés; Gamst et al., 2004), un instrumento de medida de competencia multicultural, para su validación intercultural. Un análisis factorial exploratorio seguido de un análisis factorial confirmatorio sobre una muestra de consejeros coreanos (N = 365) respaldó un modelo de 3 factores: Habilidad Multicultural, Conocimiento Multicultural y Conciencia Multicultural. Se concluyó que la versión en coreano tenía propiedades psicométricas sólidas, como una alta fiabilidad de la repetición de las pruebas y una alta validez de criterio.
Help‐Seeking Attitudes of Chinese Americans and Chinese Immigrants in the United States: The Mediating Role of Self‐Stigma
Authors: Yee Terence , Ceballos Peggy , Lawless Alexis
Published: January 2020

In this study, the authors examined the relationship between age, gender, self‐stigma, and help‐seeking attitudes of Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants, hypothesizing that self‐stigma would mediate the relationship between demographic variables (age and gender) and help‐seeking attitude. Utilizing a path analysis, the authors found that self‐stigma mediated the relationship between demographic variables and help‐seeking attitude. Self‐stigma was a moderately strong predictor for help‐seeking attitude (β = –.41, p < .001). Implications are discussed.

Es este estudio, los autores examinaron la relación entre edad, sexo, autoestigma y actitudes de búsqueda de ayuda en personas estadounidenses de origen chino e inmigrantes chinos, con la hipótesis de que el autoestigma mediaría la relación entre las variables demográficas (edad y sexo) y la actitud de búsqueda de ayuda. Mediante un análisis de ruta, los autores hallaron que el autoestigma medió la relación entre las variables demográficas y la actitud de búsqueda de ayuda. El autoestigma fue un indicador moderadamente fuerte de la actitud de búsqueda de ayuda (β = –.41, p < .001). Se discuten las implicaciones.
Beliefs About Psychological Services Among Guatemalan College Students
Authors: Figueroa Chantal , Zheng Yi , Adams Joshua
Published: January 2020

This mixed‐methods study identified the help‐seeking attitudes of Guatemalan college students. A random sample of 248 students across 2 universities responded to a cultural adaptation of the Beliefs About Psychological Services (BAPS; Ægisdóttir & Gerstein, 2009) survey. The directors of both universities and a subsample of participants were also interviewed. Quantitative findings demonstrated low levels of stigma and positive help‐seeking attitudes among students. Qualitative findings indicated that psychological services were limited, financially out of reach, or failed to address students’ gender‐specific concerns. Recommendations to address these challenges are presented.

Este estudio de métodos mixtos identificó las actitudes de búsqueda de ayuda de estudiantes universitarios guatemaltecos. Una muestra aleatoria de 248 estudiantes de dos universidades respondió a una adaptación cultural de la encuesta Creencias sobre Servicios Psicológicos (BAPS, por sus siglas en inglés; Ægisdóttir & Gerstein, 2009). También se entrevistó a los directores de ambas universidades y a una submuestra de participantes. Los hallazgos cuantitativos demostraron bajos niveles de estigma y actitudes de búsqueda de ayuda positivas entre los estudiantes. Los hallazgos cualitativos indicaron que los servicios psicológicos eran limitados, no eran lo bastante asequibles o no abordaban las preocupaciones relativas al sexo de los estudiantes. Se presentan recomendaciones para abordar estos desafíos.
Estimating Survival for Elusive Juvenile Pond‐Breeding Salamanders
Authors: Messerman Arianne F. , Semlitsch Raymond D. , Leal Manuel
Published: January 2020

Juvenile vital rates have important effects on population dynamics for many species, but this demographic is often difficult to locate and track. As such, we frequently lack reliable estimates of juvenile survival, which are necessary for accurately assessing population stability and potential management approaches to conserve biodiversity. We estimated survival rates for elusive juveniles of 3 species, the ringed salamander (Ambystoma annulatum), spotted salamander (A. maculatum), and small‐mouthed salamander (A. texanum), using 2 approaches. First, we conducted an 11‐month (2016–2017) mark‐recapture study within semi‐natural enclosures and used Bayesian Cormack‐Jolly‐Seber models to estimate survival and recapture probabilities. Second, we inferred the expected annual juvenile survival rate given published vital rates for pre‐metamorphic and adult ambystomatids assuming stable population growth. For all 3 species, juvenile survival probabilities were constant across recapture occasions, whereas recapture probability estimates were time‐dependent. Further, survival and recapture probabilities among study species were similar. Post‐study sampling revealed that the initial study period median estimate of annual survival probability (0.39) underestimated the number of salamanders known alive at 11 months. We therefore appended approximately 1 year of opportunistic data, which produced a median annual survival probability of 0.50, encompassing salamanders that we knew to have been alive. Calculation from literature values suggested a mean annual terrestrial juvenile ambystomatid survival probability of 0.49. Similar results among our approaches indicated that juvenile survival estimates for the study species were robust and likely comparable to rates in nature. These estimates can now be confidently applied to research, monitoring, and management efforts for the study species and ecologically similar taxa. Our findings indicated that similarly robust vital rate estimates for subsets of ecologically and phylogenetically similar species can provide reasonable surrogate demographic information that can be used to reveal key factors influencing population viability for data‐deficient species. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.
Firm performance and ownership structure: Dynamic network data envelopment analysis approach
Authors: Kuo Kuo‐Cheng , Lu Wen‐Min , Dinh Thanh Nhan
Published: January 2020

This paper applies dynamic network slacks‐based data envelopment analysis to measure financial performance based on the interrelationship among investment, financing, and dividend decisions. The empirical results show that financial performance is determined simultaneously by the efficiency of decisions, and sample firms have good performance in investment stage, but need to improve their financing and dividend policies. The proposal financial performance measure explains the multicriteria of decision‐making rather than the single financial ratios. Besides, the research contributes a novel on the significant relationship between firm's ownership structure in the form of managers, government and foreign shareholders, and the firm's financial performance.
Existence and decay rates for a coupled Balakrishnan‐Taylor viscoelastic system with dynamic boundary conditions
Authors: Feng Baowei , Soufyane Abdelaziz
Published: January 2020

In this paper, we are concerned with a coupled viscoelastic wave system with Balakrishnan‐Taylor dampings, dynamic boundary conditions, source terms, and past histories. Under suitable assumptions on relaxation functions and source terms, we prove the global existence of solutions by potential well theory and we establish a more general decay result of energy, in which the exponential decay and polynomial decay are only special cases, by introducing suitable energy and perturbed Lyapunov functionals.
Enrichment designs using placebo nonresponders
Authors: Benda Norbert , Haenisch Britta
Published: January 2020

Enrichment designs that select placebo nonresponders have gained much attention during the last years in areas with high placebo response rates, eg, in depression. Proposals were made that re‐randomize patients who did not respond to placebo during a first study phase as the sequential parallel design (SPD). This design uses in a second phase an enriched patient population where the treatment effect is expected to be more pronounced. This may be problematic if an effect in the overall population is claimed. Proposals were made to combine the treatment effects in the overall population from study phase 1 and the enriched population from study phase 2, alleviating but not solving the issue of a potential selection bias. This paper shows how this bias corresponding to the effect difference between the overall population and the enriched population depends on the variability of a potential subject‐by‐treatment interaction. Sample sizes are given, which lead to a significant result in the combining test with a given probability if actually the average effect in the overall population is zero. If, on the other hand, no subject‐by‐treatment interaction is given, the enrichment is shown to be inefficient. We conclude that enrichment designs using placebo nonresponders are not able to claim a positive average effect in the overall population if a subject‐by‐treatment interaction cannot be excluded. It cannot be used to demonstrate positive efficacy in the overall population in a pivotal phase III trial but may be used in early phases to demonstrate varying treatment effects between patients.
Partition of analysis and forecast error variance into growing and decaying components
Authors: Feng Jie , Toth Zoltan , Peña Malaquias , Zhang Jing
Published: January 2020

Due to the scarcity of and errors in observations, direct measurements of errors in numerical weather prediction (NWP) analyses and forecasts with respect to nature (i.e. “true” error) are lacking. Peña and Toth (2014) introduced an inverse method called SAFE‐I where true errors are (a) theoretically assumed to follow exponential error growth, and (b) estimated from the perceived errors (i.e. forecast minus verifying analysis) that they affect. While decaying or neutral errors, by definition will not have a significant impact on longer‐range forecast errors, they can still accumulate in, and negatively influence NWP data assimilation–forecast cycles. In a new, generalized version of the inverse method (SAFE‐II), analysis and forecast error variance is decomposed into exponentially growing and decaying components, assuming they are independent as they comprise vectors from the leading and trailing ends of the Lyapunov spectrum, respectively. SAFE‐II uses the initial variance and decay rate associated with non‐growing perturbations to describe and estimate their behaviour. The assumptions behind SAFE‐II are first validated in a simulated environment. SAFE‐II is then applied to estimate the error variance in both simulated and operational analyses/forecast environments. Perceived error measurements are found to be statistically consistent (at the 95% significance level) with the SAFE‐II error behaviour model, which offers a more accurate description of error variance than SAFE‐I that neglects decaying errors. At various levels and for different variables, decaying errors are found to constitute up to 60% of the total analysis error variance, much of which decays during the first 12–18 hr of forecast integrations.
Consensus control of output‐constrained multiagent systems with unknown control directions under a directed graph
Authors: Wang Gang , Wang Chaoli , Cai Xuan
Published: January 2020

This paper presents a novel distributed adaptive control algorithm for uncertain higher‐order nonlinear multiagent systems subject to output constraints and unknown control directions. Regarding the latter, a generic class of cases is considered, allowing completely unknown and even nonidentical control directions. Furthermore, the communication topology is only required to contain a fixed directed spanning tree. To guarantee the output constraints and address the asymmetric directed communication topology, a new reference output using the transformation strategy is introduced for each agent, benefiting from which the consensus problem of the multiagent system is recast as local tracking control problems of single agents. Then, the distributed control algorithm is recursively established based on the backstepping technique and the Nussbaum‐type function. By leveraging the unique properties of the Laplacian matrix on directed graphs and matrix theory, it is shown that, under the proposed distributed algorithm, uniform boundedness of all closed‐loop signals can be ensured, and asymptotic consensus is achieved without violation of the output constraints. Finally, simulation studies on the angle control of single‐link robots are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Droplet and Microchamber‐Based Digital Loop‐Mediated Isothermal Amplification (dLAMP)
Authors: Yuan Hao , Chao Youchuang , Shum Ho Cheung
Published: January 2020

Digital loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (dLAMP) refers to compartmentalizing nucleic acids and LAMP reagents into a large number of individual partitions, such as microchambers and droplets. This compartmentalization enables dLAMP to be an excellent platform to quantify the absolute number of the target nucleic acids. Owing to its low requirement for instrumentation complexity, high specificity, and strong tolerance to inhibitors in the nucleic acid samples, dLAMP has been recognized as a simple and accurate technique to quantify pathogenic nucleic acid. Herein, the general process of dLAMP techniques is summarized, the current dLAMP techniques are categorized, and a comprehensive discussion on different types of dLAMP techniques is presented. Also, the challenges of the current dLAMP are illustrated together with the possible strategies to address these challenges. In the end, the future directions of the dLAMP developments, including multitarget detection, multisample detection, and processing nucleic acid extraction are outlined. With recently significant advances in dLAMP, this technology has the potential to see more widespread use beyond the laboratory in the future.
Physical Properties of Carbon Nanomaterials and Nanoceria Affect Pathways Important to the Nodulation Competitiveness of the Symbiotic N2‐Fixing Bacterium Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens
Authors: Mortimer Monika , Li Dong , Wang Ying , Holden Patricia A.
Published: January 2020

The pathogenicity and antimicrobial properties of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are relatively well studied. However, less is known regarding the interactions of ENMs and agriculturally beneficial microorganisms that affect food security. Nanoceria (CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs)), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and carbon black (CB) have been previously shown to inhibit symbiotic N2 fixation in soybeans, but direct rhizobial susceptibility is uncertain. Here, Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens associated with symbiotic N2 fixation in soybeans is assessed, evaluating the role of soybean root exudates (RE) on ENM–bacterial interactions and the effects of CeO2 NPs, MWCNTs, GNPs, and CB on bacterial growth and gene expression. Although bacterial growth is inhibited by 50 mg L−1 CeO2 NPs, MWCNTs, and CB, all ENMs at 0.1 and 10 mg L−1 cause a global transcriptomic response that is mitigated by RE. ENMs may interfere with plant‐bacterial signaling, as evidenced by suppressed upregulation of genes induced by RE, and downregulation of genes encoding transport RNA, which facilitates nodulation signaling. MWCNTs and CeO2 NPs inhibit the expression of genes conferring B. diazoefficiens nodulation competitiveness. Surprisingly, the transcriptomic effects on B. diazoefficiens are similar for these two ENMs, indicating that physical, not chemical, ENM properties explain the observed effects.
Tweedie regression models and its geometric sums for (semi‐)continuous data
Authors: Kokonendji Célestin C. , Bonat Wagner H. , Abid Rahma
Published: January 2020

Tweedie regression models (TRMs) are flexible tools to deal with non‐negative right‐skewed data and can handle semi‐continuous data, that is, continuous data with probability mass at zero. The geometric sums of Tweedie random variables lead to the geometric Tweedie distributions. Their corresponding regression models (GTRMs) provide not only additional flexibility to deal with continuous, semi‐continuous, heavily right‐skewed data but also a possibility of under‐variation than TRMs. Estimation and inference based on the likelihood approach for TRMs and GTRMs are challenging owing to the presence of an infinity sum and an intractable integral in the probability function along with non‐trivial restrictions on the Tweedie power parameter space. Thus, methods based on quasi‐likelihood have been proposed and successfully applied for estimation and inference in these classes of regression models. In this paper, our central focus is upon characterizing as well as comparing TRMs and GTRMs taking into consideration their variation and zero‐mass indices. Besides, we attempt to illustrate their application through some data analyses. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges for the computational implementation of such probability distributions and corresponding regression models referring to some available implementations in R.

This article is categorized under:

Statistical Models > Fitting Models

Statistical Models > Generalized Linear Models

Statistical and Graphical Methods of Data Analysis > Modeling Methods and Algorithms
PSK1 coordinates glucose metabolism and utilization and regulates energy‐metabolism oscillation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Xu Xianyan , Huang Meixian , Ouyang Yuhui , Iha Hidekatsu , Xu Zhaojun
Published: January 2020

Energy‐metabolism oscillations (EMO) are ultradian biological rhythms observed in in aerobic chemostat cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. EMO regulates energy metabolism such as glucose, carbohydrate storage, O2 uptake, and CO2 production. PSK1 is a nutrient responsive protein kinase involved in regulation of glucose metabolism, sensory response to light, oxygen, and redox state. The aim of this investigation was to assess the function of PSK1 in regulation of EMO. The mRNA levels of PSK1 fluctuated in concert with EMO, and deletion of PSK1 resulted in unstable EMO with disappearance of the fluctuations and reduced amplitude, compared with the wild type. Furthermore, the mutant PSK1Δ showed downregulation of the synthesis and breakdown of glycogen with resultant decrease in glucose concentrations. The redox state represented by NADH also decreased in PSK1Δ compared with the wild type. These data suggest that PSK1 plays an important role in the regulation of energy metabolism and stabilizes ultradian biological rhythms. These results enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of biorhythms in the budding yeast.
Becoming a Good Farmer—Becoming a Good Farm Worker: On Colonial Educational Policies in Germany and German South-West Africa, Circa 1890 to 1918
Authors: Zollmann Jakob
Published: January 2020

This chapter analyzes the training provided to Germans who were eager to become farmers in German South-West Africa (GSWA) and considers related debates on the uses of colonial knowledge and tropical agriculture for the profit of the colony. The chapter considers (1) how colonial enthusiasts and administrators viewed the need for an improved tropical agricultural education given the setbacks encountered in GSWA; (2) how knowledge related to tropical agriculture was institutionalized and administered; (3) how, in Germany, two schools for tropical agriculture were set up; and (4) how the debate about an “education to work” for the African workforce in GSWA resulted in the willful exclusion of this group from the most elementary forms of education.
Engineering Socialism: The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) in the 1970s and 1980s
Authors: Burton Eric
Published: January 2020

Higher education was a central concern of postcolonial governments as they set out to produce national academic elites. In socialist Tanzania, the elitism inherent to systems of higher education was challenged by policies aiming to create an egalitarian society. This chapter analyzes the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Dar es Salaam as an “arena” of competing interests in which actors of different generational, national, ideological, and class backgrounds struggled over the meaning of the engineering profession, which has traditionally been at the heart of modernization projects, and the allocation of resources. It discusses how the faculty was established and run with foreign (particularly West German) aid and personnel, what critiques were brought forward against this orientation, and how the economic crisis and engineers’ peculiar position eventually provided a pretext for the commercialization of the faculty—a process that signaled the gradual demise of Tanzanian socialism in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Quasistatischer Normalstoß axialsymmetrischer Körper
Authors: Willert Emanuel
Published: January 2020

Basierend auf den geschilderten kontaktmechanischen Grundlagen (teilweise in deren Interpretation durch die MDR) sind in diesem Kapitel die Lösungen des Normalstoßproblems in unterschiedlichen Fällen dargestellt. Betrachtet werden homogene und inhomogene elastische Medien mit und ohne Adhäsion sowie elasto-plastische und viskoelastische Materialien.
The Evolution of Rice Farming in the Lower Mekong Basin
Authors: Cramb Rob
Published: January 2020

In the 1970s, small-scale, labour-intensive, low-yield, semi-subsistence rice farming predominated in the Lower Mekong Basin. Rural poverty and the threat of famine were rife. In the 40 years since, rice farming in the Basin has undergone a dramatic transformation. This can be characterised as “commercialisation”, meaning the opening up of semi-subsistence rice farming to domestic and international input and output markets and the corresponding adaptation of farmers to the associated opportunities and risks. This book is about understanding the processes involved in this transformation and the commercial opportunities and challenges of rice-based farming systems in the Lower Mekong in the 2010s, with a view to outlining prospects for the 2020s. The motivation for the research was to: (a) compare the current situation and trajectories of rice farmers within and between different regions of the Lower Mekong, (b) explore the value chains linking rice farmers with input and output markets within and across national borders, and (c) understand the changing role of government policies in facilitating the on-going evolution of commercial rice farming. This chapter sets the scene for the country studies that follow.
Trends in Rice-Based Farming Systems in the Mekong Delta
Authors: Van Kien Nguyen , Hoang Han Nguyen , Cramb Rob
Published: January 2020

Rice-based farming systems in the Mekong Delta have been transformed over the last four decades. Needing to boost rice production after 1975, the government increased investment in water control and irrigation and promoted intensification of rice farming through green revolution technology, leading to widespread adoption of double- and triple-cropping systems. As a result, the area of rice increased from 2.0 million ha in the late 1970s to 4.3 million ha in 2016. The yield of the wet-season crop increased from 2 t/ha in 1975 to 5.3 t/ha in 2016. Total paddy production increased from 4 million t in 1975 to 24.2 million t in 2016, the increase attributable equally to the increase in area and the increase in yields. From being a net importer of rice in the 1970s and 1980s, Vietnam exported 4.5 million t worth USD 2 billion in 2016, 90% of which was produced in the Delta. However, the focus on rice intensification has shifted since 2000 as the impacts on farmer livelihoods and the environment have become apparent. Locking farmers into producing low-quality rice for export has not provided adequate returns, especially as demand has shifted in favour of higher-quality rice and more diverse diets. Intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides has led to soil and water pollution and reduction in wild food supply. Moreover, the “total management” of hydrology in the Delta has had major impacts on water flows, sedimentation processes, aquatic species, and land-use options. In response, the government has progressively relaxed its restrictions on the use of paddy lands and rice-based farming systems have become more diversified, with the increased use of paddy lands for non-rice field crops, orchards, and freshwater and brackish-water aquaculture. The current policy promotes high-quality rice, reduced rice area, further diversification of farming systems, and promotion of agro-ecological and organic agriculture.
The Supply of Inputs to Rice Farmers in Savannakhet
Authors: Kousonsavath Chitpasong , Sacklokham Silinthone
Published: January 2020

The policy of rice intensification in Laos is dependent on an adequate supply of key inputs such as high-yielding seeds, good-quality fertilizers, reliable irrigation, affordable finance, and appropriate information. This study focused on two crucial inputs—seeds and fertilizers. Six villages in Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, were selected for the study. Farmers had mostly adopted the seed-fertilizer technology. Mechanization of land preparation through the use of hand tractors was also widespread. Many also used irrigation to cultivate a dry-season crop. However, the productivity and profitability of rice farming remained low. Constraints to the supply of seeds and fertilizers explain part of this dilemma. There is scope for policy intervention to improve the supply and use of productive inputs for more intensive rice production. Further investment in the rice breeding and seed production centres may be needed to develop suitable varieties for the range of rice environments encountered by farmers and to improve the quality of seeds supplied. Intervening to control or subsidize the price of fertilizer is unlikely to be effective. The government could, however, simplify the import process, helping reduce farmers’ costs; increase the capacity to monitor and enforce fertilizer quality standards; and provide more site- and variety-specific information to farmers regarding optimal fertilizer use.
Short-term cognitive fatigue effect on auditory temporal order judgments
Authors: Simon Júlia , Takács Endre , Orosz Gábor , Berki Borbála , Winkler István
Published: January 2020

Fatigue is a core symptom in many psychological disorders and it can strongly influence everyday productivity. As fatigue effects have been typically demonstrated after long hours of time on task, it was surprising that in a previous study, we accidentally found a decline of temporal order judgment (TOJ) performance within 5–8 min. After replicating prior relevant findings we tested whether pauses and/or feedback relating the participant’s performance to some “standard” can eliminate or reduce this short-term performance decline. We also assessed whether the performance decline is specific to the processes evoked by the TOJ task or it is a product of either general inattentiveness or the lack of willingness to thoroughly follow the task instructions. We found that both feedback and introducing pauses between successive measurements can largely reduce the performance decline, and that these two manipulations likely mobilize overlapping capacities. Performance decline was not present in a similar task when controlling for the TOJ threshold and it was not a result of uncooperative behavior. Therefore, we conclude that the TOJ threshold decline is either specific to temporal processing in general or to the TOJ task employed in the study. Overall, the results are compatible with the notion that the decline of TOJ threshold with repeated measures represents a short-term cognitive fatigue effect. This objective fatigue measure did not correlate with subjective fatigue. The latter was rather related to perceived difficulty/effort, the reduction of positive affectivity, heightened sensitivity to criticism, and the best TOJ threshold.
Differences in medical treatment and clinical characteristics between men and women with heart failure – a single-centre multivariable analysis
Authors: Norberg Helena , Pranic Veronica , Bergdahl Ellinor , Lindmark Krister
Published: January 2020

Purpose

The aims of this study were to examine sex differences in a heart failure population with regards to treatment and patient characteristics and to investigate the impact of sex on achieved doses of heart failure medications.

Methods and results

A total of 1924 patients with heart failure in a regional hospital were analysed, 622 patients had ejection fraction ≤ 40% of which 30% were women. In patients with reduced ejection fraction, women were older (79 ± 11 vs. 74 ± 12 years, P < 0.001), had lower body weight (70 ± 17 vs. 86 ± 18 kg, P < 0.001), lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (49 ± 24 vs. 71 ± 30 ml/min, P < 0.001) and received lower doses of heart failure medications than men. Multivariable linear regression on patients with reduced ejection fraction showed that sex was not associated with achieved dose of any heart failure medication. For angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers associated factors were eGFR, systolic blood pressure, age, ejection fraction, and heart rate. For beta-blockers associated factors were body weight, atrial fibrillation and age. For mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists associated factors were eGFR, serum potassium, age, systolic blood pressure, ejection fraction and heart rate.

Conclusion

Women with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction were prescribed lower doses of heart failure medications, were older, had worse renal function, and lower body weight than men. Sex was not independently associated with achieved doses of heart failure medications, instead age, renal function and body weight explained the differences in treatment.
Engineering viable foot-and-mouth disease viruses with increased acid stability facilitate the development of improved vaccines
Authors: Yuan Hong , Li Pinghua , Bao Huifang , Sun Pu , Bai Xingwen , Bai Qifeng , Li Na , Ma Xueqing , Cao Yimei , Fu Yuanfang , Li Kun , Zhang Jing , Li Dong , Chen Yingli , Zhang Jie , Lu Zengjun , Liu Zaixin
Published: January 2020

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), the most acid-unstable virus among picornaviruses, tends to disassemble into pentamers at pH values slightly below neutrality. However, the structural integrity of intact virion is one of the most important factors that influence the induction of a protective antibody response. Thus, improving the acid stability of FMDV is required for the efficacy of vaccine preparations. According to the previous studies, a single substitution or double amino acid substitutions (VP1 N17D, VP2 H145Y, VP2 D86H, VP3 H142D, VP3 H142G, and VP1 N17D + VP2 H145Y) in the capsid were introduced into the full-length infectious clone of type O FMDV vaccine strain O/HN/CHN/93 to develop seed FMDV with improved acid stability. After the transfection into BSR/T7 cells of constructed plasmids, substitution VP1 N17D or VP2 D86H resulted in viable and genetically stable FMDVs, respectively. However, substitution VP2 H145Y or VP1 N17D + VP2 H145Y showed reverse mutation and additional mutations, and substitution VP3 H141G or VP3 H141D prevented viral viability. We found that substitution VP1 N17D or VP2 D86H could confer increased acid resistance, alkali stability, and thermostability on FMDV O/HN/CHN/93, whereas substitution VP1 N17D was observed to lead to a decreased replication ability in BHK-21 cells and mildly impaired virulence in suckling mice. In contrast, substitution VP2 D86H had no negative effect on viral infectivity. These results indicated that the mutant rD86H carrying substitution VP2 D86H firstly reported by us could be more adequate for the development of inactivated FMD vaccines with enhanced acid stability.
A Real‐World, Population‐Based Analysis of the Outcomes of Colorectal Cancer Patients with Isolated Synchronous Liver or Lung Metastases Treated with Metastasectomy
Authors: Oweira Hani , Mehrabi Arianeb , Reissfelder Christoph , Abdel‐Rahman Omar
Published: January 2020

Objective

To assess the survival outcomes among a contemporary cohort of colorectal cancer patients with isolated synchronous liver or lung metastases treated with or without surgical resection of the metastases.

Methods

Surveillance, epidemiology and end results database has been accessed and cases with isolated liver or lung metastases diagnosed 2010–2015 have been accessed. Kaplan–Meier survival estimates were used to compare overall survival among patients who had or had not undergone metastasectomy. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was then used to assess the impact of metastasectomy on colorectal cancer‐specific survival.

Results

A total of 16,372 patients with colorectal cancer with isolated liver or lung metastases (M1a disease) were included in the current analysis (including 14,832 patients with isolated liver metastases and 1540 patients with isolated lung metastases). Patients who had undergone surgical resection of liver metastases have better overall survival compared to patients who had not undergone surgical resection of liver metastases (median overall survival: 38.0 months vs. 13.0 months; P < 0.001). Likewise, patients who had undergone surgical resection of lung metastases have better overall survival compared to patients who had not undergone surgical resection of lung metastases (median overall survival: 45.0 months vs. 19.0 months; P < 0.001). In a multivariable Cox regression analysis and among patients with isolated liver metastases, surgery to the metastases was associated with a reduced hazard of death (hazard ratio (HR) 0.567; 95% CI 0.529–0.609; P < 0.001). Likewise, and among patients with isolated lung metastases, surgery to the metastases was associated with a reduced hazard of death (HR 0.482; 95% CI 0.349–0.665; P < 0.001).

Conclusion

In a contemporary cohort, metastasectomy seems to be associated with improvement in overall and cancer‐specific survival among patients with isolated synchronous liver or lung metastases from colorectal cancer. Whether this survival difference is totally ascribed to the effect of metastasectomy or it is the fact that patients who were eligible for surgical resection have limited disease extent and better medical profile (thus, leading to better survival) is unclear from such a population‐based study.
Experimental investigation of a single-degree-of-freedom system with Coulomb friction
Authors: Marino Luca , Cicirello Alice
Published: January 2020

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the dynamic behaviour of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDoF) system with a metal-to-metal contact under harmonic base or joined base-wall excitation. The experimental results are compared with those yielded by mathematical models based on a SDoF system with Coulomb damping. While previous experiments on friction-damped systems focused on the characterisation of the friction force, the proposed approach investigates the steady response of a SDoF system when different exciting frequencies and friction forces are applied. The experimental set-up consists of a single-storey building, where harmonic excitation is imposed on a base plate and a friction contact is achieved between a steel top plate and a brass disc. The experimental results are expressed in terms of displacement transmissibility, phase angle and top plate motion in the time and frequency domains. Both continuous and stick-slip motions are investigated. The main results achieved in this paper are: (1) the development of an experimental set-up capable of reproducing friction damping effects on a harmonically excited SDoF system; (2) the validation of the analytical model introduced by Marino et al. (Nonlinear Dyn, 2019.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-019-04983-x) and, particularly, the inversion of the transmissibility curves in the joined base-wall motion case; (3) the systematic observation of stick-slip phenomena and their validation with numerical results.
Evolution of quality culture in an HEI: critical insights from university staff in Bangladesh
Authors: Rahnuma Naureen
Published: January 2020

This paper evaluates experiences of quality culture as actualized by academic and administrative leaders in a nonprofit, private Bangladeshi university, ensuing the recent implementation of a state-stipulated national quality framework. Based on the data derived from ten interviews integrated with the Quality Assurance Framework document objectives, the purpose of this paper is to gain critical insight on what is working and what might need changing or developing in the future to support quality culture at higher education institutions. The article translates the key themes and elements of the evaluation process into a logic model to show the processes and structures through which the university can support the development of its internal quality culture. It offers a focused pathway for quality assurance activities, crucial in reinforcing and strengthening a culture of quality in Bangladeshi universities. As such, the paper seeks to make a contribution to Bangladesh’s higher education by providing a broad, evaluative insight into the preparedness and receptivity of the institutions to integrate sustainability into their teaching and learning as guided by the new quality assurance framework, mindful of the imperatives for quality assurance and enhancement coming mainly from the Western perspective, hence placing its development in the regional, and then global, context.
Vocabulary, metacognitive knowledge and task orientation as predictors of narrative picture book comprehension: from preschool to grade 3
Authors: Lepola Janne , Kajamies Anu , Laakkonen Eero , Niemi Pekka
Published: January 2020

This is a study of early picture book comprehension, its determinants and later development through primary school. More specifically, picture book comprehension was analyzed longitudinally from age 5 to age 9, delineating the unique contributions of vocabulary, metacognitive knowledge and task orientation to the initial level as well as to the growth of comprehension. A total of 90 Finnish-speaking children participated in the study. The children’s narrative picture book comprehension was assessed at age 5, age 6 and age 9. Vocabulary, metacognitive knowledge and task orientation were evaluated at age 5. Latent growth curve modeling showed a pattern of decreasing achievement gaps in narrative picture book comprehension. Vocabulary and metacognitive knowledge uniquely contributed to the concurrent level of narrative picture book comprehension. The results further showed that metacognitive knowledge and task orientation were positive and statistically significant predictors of the growth of picture book comprehension over and above the initial level of narrative picture book comprehension. These findings add to our knowledge about the development of inter-individual differences in narrative picture book comprehension and the roles of vocabulary, metacognitive knowledge and task orientation in it. They also suggest a novel way to assess the narrative comprehension potential among students with compromised working memory or decoding ability.
Analysis of surface runoff potential in ungauged basin using basin parameters and SCS-CN method
Authors: Nageswara Rao K.
Published: January 2020

The present research work was carried out to understand the influence of basin morphometric parameters on runoff potential in an ungauged basin using satellite images, topographical maps, and rainfall data combined with geospatial techniques. The upper Gosthani river basin is an ungauged basin which is located in the Eastern Ghats of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh State, Southern India. The river Gosthani and its tributaries are draining through the basin area covering about 321.1 km2. The quantitative analysis of basin morphometry reveals that the area is under influenced by steep ground slopes, with moderate to less permeable rocks, leading to high runoff. The basin is elongated in shape resulting to flatter peak of flow for longer duration. The daily rainfall data during 2008–2016 were used in the estimation of runoff potential with the help of the Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) model. The weighted curve number was determined by the integration of land use and land cover, antecedent moisture condition, and hydrological soil groups. It was observed from the analysis that the overall increase in runoff corresponding to the rainfall. The area receives a good amount of rainfall, but most of it lost as surface runoff (nearly 40% of total rainfall) due to rapid overland flow and impermeable rocks. Analysis of morphometric parameters combined with SCS-CN-based approaches can be explored as an alternative for simulating the hydrological response of the basins.
An order approach to SPDEs with antimonotone terms
Authors: Scarpa Luca , Stefanelli Ulisse
Published: January 2020

We consider a class of parabolic stochastic partial differential equations featuring an antimonotone nonlinearity. The existence of unique maximal and minimal variational solutions is proved via a fixed-point argument for nondecreasing mappings in ordered spaces. This relies on the validity of a comparison principle.