bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
MRI image features with an evident relation to low back pain: a narrative review
Authors: van der Graaf Jasper W. , Kroeze Robert Jan , Buckens Constantinus F. M. , Lessmann Nikolas , van Hooff Miranda L.
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent health condition worldwide and responsible for the most years lived with disability, yet the etiology is often unknown. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used for treatment decision even though it is often inconclusive. There are many different image features that could relate to low back pain. Conversely, multiple etiologies do relate to spinal degeneration but do not actually cause the perceived pain. This narrative review provides an overview of all possible relevant features visible on MRI images and determines their relation to LBP.

Methods

We conducted a separate literature search per image feature. All included studies were scored using the GRADE guidelines. Based on the reported results per feature an evidence agreement (EA) score was provided, enabling us to compare the collected evidence of separate image features. The various relations between MRI features and their associated pain mechanisms were evaluated to provide a list of features that are related to LBP.

Results

All searches combined generated a total of 4472 hits of which 31 articles were included. Features were divided into five different categories:’discogenic’, ‘neuropathic’,’osseous’, ‘facetogenic’, and’paraspinal’, and discussed separately.

Conclusion

Our research suggests that type I Modic changes, disc degeneration, endplate defects, disc herniation, spinal canal stenosis, nerve compression, and muscle fat infiltration have the highest probability to be related to LBP. These can be used to improve clinical decision-making for patients with LBP based on MRI.
Spatial distribution and stable isotopic composition of invertebrates uncover differences between habitats on the glacier surface in the Alps
Authors: Jaroměřská Tereza Novotná , Ambrosini Roberto , Mazurkiewicz Mikołaj , Franzetti Andrea , Klimaszyk Piotr , Rozwalak Piotr , Poniecka Ewa , Vondrovicová Lenka , Zawierucha Krzysztof
Published: March 2023

Glacier surfaces are the most biologically productive parts of glaciers with a variety of organisms and habitats. However, distinctiveness of habitats and communities of dominant invertebrate consumers on the ice surface is poorly documented. We focused on dominant consumers in three supraglacial (on the glacier surface) habitats on the alpine glacier Forni – cryoconite holes (water-filled reservoirs with a thin layer of sediment at the bottom), supraglacial debris (layer of stones and gravel covering glacier surface), and surface ice of the weathering crust. We analyzed carbon and nitrogen contents and stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N), organic matter (OM) content, biomass of consumers, and the community composition of consumers to investigate differences between supraglacial habitats. In cryoconite holes, tardigrades (Tardigrada) were dominant consumers. In supraglacial debris, only springtails (Collembola) occurred mainly between stones and ice. No active animals were found in the surface ice of the weathering crust. Carbon and nitrogen contents, δ13C, and δ15N of invertebrates and OM differed between habitats. Cryoconite was enriched in OM with high δ13C and low δ15N compared to supraglacial debris likely indicating differences in major components of OM serving as food of invertebrates. Also, the OM, and carbon and nitrogen contents differed between habitats with the highest concentration in cryoconite. The dry biomass of tardigrades was similar compared to springtails. We present the first observation of differences between supraglacial habitats in the Alps based on the community composition of invertebrates, OM and stable isotopes. This initial study highlights the importance of differences in habitats and its consumers in the functioning of supraglacial ecosystem.
Blind Subgrouping of Task-based FMRI
Authors: Fisher Zachary F. , Parsons Jonathan , Gates Kathleen M. , Hopfinger Joseph B.
Published: March 2023

Significant heterogeneity in network structures reflecting individuals’ dynamic processes can exist within subgroups of people (e.g., diagnostic category, gender). This makes it difficult to make inferences regarding these predefined subgroups. For this reason, researchers sometimes wish to identify subsets of individuals who have similarities in their dynamic processes regardless of any predefined category. This requires unsupervised classification of individuals based on similarities in their dynamic processes, or equivalently, in this case, similarities in their network structures of edges. The present paper tests a recently developed algorithm, S-GIMME, that takes into account heterogeneity across individuals with the aim of providing subgroup membership and precise information about the specific network structures that differentiate subgroups. The algorithm has previously provided robust and accurate classification when evaluated with large-scale simulation studies but has not yet been validated on empirical data. Here, we investigate S-GIMME’s ability to differentiate, in a purely data-driven manner, between brain states explicitly induced through different tasks in a new fMRI dataset. The results provide new evidence that the algorithm was able to resolve, in an unsupervised data-driven manner, the differences between different active brain states in empirical fMRI data to segregate individuals and arrive at subgroup-specific network structures of edges. The ability to arrive at subgroups that correspond to empirically designed fMRI task conditions, with no biasing or priors, suggests this data-driven approach can be a powerful addition to existing methods for unsupervised classification of individuals based on their dynamic processes.
The Impact of Host Abundance on the Epidemiology of Tick-Borne Infection
Authors: O’Neill Xander , White Andy , Gortázar Christian , Ruiz-Fons Francisco
Published: March 2023

Tick-borne diseases are an increasing global public health concern due to an expanding geographical range and increase in abundance of tick-borne infectious agents. A potential explanation for the rising impact of tick-borne diseases is an increase in tick abundance which may be linked to an increase in density of the hosts on which they feed. In this study, we develop a model framework to understand the link between host density, tick demography and tick-borne pathogen epidemiology. Our model links the development of specific tick stages to the specific hosts on which they feed. We show that host community composition and host density have an impact on tick population dynamics and that this has a consequent impact on host and tick epidemiological dynamics. A key result is that our model framework can exhibit variation in host infection prevalence for a fixed density of one host type due to changes in density of other host types that support different tick life stages. Our findings suggest that host community composition may play a crucial role in explaining the variation in prevalence of tick-borne infections in hosts observed in the field.
The policing culture: an exploration into the mental health of former British police officers
Authors: Porter Cody Normitta , Lee Rory
Published: March 2023

Effective policing is essential for reducing crime and ensuring public safety. As part of their role police officers are regularly exposed to traumatic incidents. Without adequate support, prolonged exposure to such events can lead to a deterioration in a police officer’s mental health. As a result of police culture, more specifically the negative attitudes towards seeking help for mental ill-health, many police officers suffer in isolation. This can lead to serious mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We interviewed 12 former police officers with an average of 26 years in service, regarding their experiences of police culture and how this relates to mental health. We found that although a macho culture (and stigma) exist within policing, attitudes towards mental health appear to be slowly changing. The role of policing has changed in recent years due to increased awareness of mental ill-health. We discuss how this impacts the general wellbeing of police officers, and what this might mean for the future of policing.
‘The wrong’ kind of students or ‘Santa’s workshop’? Teaching practices for newly arrived migrant students in Swedish upper secondary VET
Authors: Paul Enni
Published: March 2023

At some upper secondary schools in Sweden, newly arrived migrant youths can attend vocational courses while studying in the language introduction programme. The teaching practices in relation to language learning for newly arrived migrant students in this kind of school-based VET and how these practices are conditioned are investigated in the article. Eight VET-teachers were interviewed, and the narratives were analyzed using concepts from the theory of practice architectures. Three teaching practices in relation to language learning were identified within the broader project of teaching newly arrived students in VET: i) Swedish language first, ii) second language learning-in-action, and iii) joint VET and second language teaching. These practices were in turn connected to three different approaches to language learning in VET: language learning understood as a) segregated skills instruction, b) as happening ‘naturally’ while participating in VET-practice, c) integrated in VET but requiring explicit instruction and daily interaction with Swedish-speaking students. A conclusion drawn from the study is that newly arrived migrant students are provided unequal opportunities for development of vocational knowing and language competences in Swedish upper secondary schools depending on local conditions. The results also show how economic resources and support from school-leaders provides conditions for re-shaping teaching practices.
BioNoMo: the Biodiversity Network of Mozambique
Authors: Malatesta Luca , Alves Tereza , Attorre Fabio , Brito Denise , Cianciullo Silvio , Datizua Castigo , De Abreu Daniela , De Felici Stefano , De Sousa Camila , Langa Clayton , Mate Boavida , Matimele Hermenegildo , Nicosia Enrico , Odorico Delcio , Raiva Raquel , Sandramo Domingos , Santana Afonso Paula , Sardinha Celso , Souane Joelma , Timane Renato , Tomo Gerson , Ntumi Cornelio
Published: March 2023

Mozambique biodiversity richness plays a pivotal role to achieve the sustainable development of the country. However, Mozambique’s flora and fauna diversity still remains broadly unknown and poorly documented. To properly address this issue, one of the strategic needs expressed by the Mozambican institutions was the development of a national biodiversity data repository to aggregate, manage and make data available online. Thus, a sustainable infrastructure for the standardisation, aggregation, organisation and sharing of primary biodiversity data was developed. Named the “Biodiversity Network of Mozambique” (BioNoMo), such a tool serves as a national repository of biodiversity data and aggregates occurrence records of plants and animals in the country obtained from floristic and faunistic observations and from specimens of biological collections. In this paper, the authors present the structure and data of BioNoMO, including software details, the process of data gathering and aggregation, the taxonomic coverage and the WebGIS development. Currently, aggregating a total of 273,172 records, including 85,092 occurrence records of plants and 188,080 occurrence records of animals (41.2% terrestrial, 58,8% aquatic), BioNoMo represents the largest aggregator of primary biodiversity data in Mozambique and it is planned to grow further by aggregating new datasets.
For the greater good? Bereidheid van ouders om hun kinderen van 5 tot 11 jaar te vaccineren tegen corona
Authors: Mevissen Fraukje E. F. , van Deursen Babette , Merkelbach Inge , Voeten Helene A. C. M.
Published: March 2023

Samenvatting

We hebben onderzocht wat de bereidheid van ouders is om hun kinderen van 5 tot 11 jaar te laten vaccineren tegen corona en factoren die hieraan bijdragen. Op boostervaccinatielocaties in Rotterdam is aan ouders (N = 214, 57,8 % vrouw) een vragenlijst uitgedeeld met open en gesloten vragen. De vragenlijst was onderverdeeld in drie categorieën: achtergrondvariabelen van de deelnemer (ouder), achtergrondvariabelen van zijn/haar kinderen, en determinanten van vaccinatiebereidheid en informatiebehoeften. De resultaten laten zien dat 43,0 % van de ouders bereid was hun kinderen te vaccineren. Ouders hadden een ambivalente attitude ten aanzien van vaccineren, en schatten de kans op corona bij kinderen relatief hoog en de ernst van corona bij kinderen relatief laag in. De visie op schadelijkheid van het vaccin was ambivalent. Attitude was de sterkste voorspeller van vaccinatie-intentie en medieerde de effecten van kans, ernst en schadelijkheid. Veel ouders zouden de beslissing met de partner, maar ook met het kind nemen. In de open vragen gaven ze als redenen om het kind wel te vaccineren vooral dat ze het kind of anderen wilden beschermen. Redenen om het kind niet te vaccineren waren vooral zorgen over bijwerkingen en twijfel over de meerwaarde van het vaccineren van kinderen. De beschouwing beschrijft communicatie- en interventiemogelijkheden om vaccinatiebereidheid te bevorderen.
Essential Oil of Origanum vulgare as a Green Corrosion Inhibitor for Carbon Steel in Acidic Medium
Authors: Ihamdane Rachid , Tiskar Malika , Outemsaa Brahim , Zelmat Lamyaa , Dagdag Omar , Berisha Avni , Berdimurodov Elyor , Ebenso Eno E. , Chaouch Abdelaziz
Published: March 2023

In this study, Oregano (Origanum vulgare) leaf essential oil was studied as an environmental-friendly anticorrosion agent for carbon steel in aggressive hydrochloric acid. The corrosion inhibition of O. vulgare was characterized by surface morphology, electrochemical, weight loss, theoretical and computational methods. It was found that the highest inhibition performance of O. vulgare was 85.64% at 2 g/l in 1 M HCl. The results of Langmuir isotherm and adsorption thermodynamics investigation demonstrated that the O. vulgare inhibitor adsorbed on the metal surface by the formation of rigid covalent bonds. The adsorption and inhibition centers of the selected inhibitor were studied by the computational methods, resulting in that the hydroxyl functional groups and benzoyl rings are mainly responsible for the high inhibition efficiency.
Coexisting Behavior and Status Transition of the Hodgkin-Huxley Cardiac Purkinje Fiber Model Under External AC Injection
Authors: Zhang Xiaohong , Wang Ping , Lu Zhongliang , Moshayedi Ata Jahangir
Published: March 2023

The membrane current $$I_m$$

I
m

of the Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) cardiac Purkinje fiber (CPF) model is usually calculated as direct current (DC). In this paper, a conventional alternating current (AC) is used, namely $$I_{AC} = \textrm{Asin}(2 \pi ft)$$

I

AC

=
Asin

(
2
π
f
t
)

, as the impressed injection. Dynamic characters of the model with different AC parameters and various initial conditions are observed through phase plane orbits, waveforms, bifurcation diagrams, and Lyapunov exponent spectra, which reveal multiple coexisting membrane action potential patterns, corresponding to the coexisting attractors of the same or different periods in the phase diagram. Meanwhile, the model undergoes period, quasi-period and local forward or inverse period-doubling bifurcations with changes in amplitude A or frequency f, which further proves the complex nonlinear property of the AC-injected model. In addition, by changing the external current $$I_m$$

I
m

, the sodium-ion and potassium-ion equilibrium potentials, i.e. $$E_{Na}$$

E

Na

and $$E_{K}$$

E
K

, respectively, the regularity of the CPF heartbeat frequency is observed. The state transformations of CPF are found between normal, abnormal and sudden cardiac arrest, and the method adjusting from the dangerous state to the normal heartbeat frequency range is investigated. This study may provide a reference for exploring the evolution of nonlinear dynamics in HH CPF model and protecting the health of life and heart.
Impact of Circular Economy Measures in the European Union Built Environment on a Net-Zero Target
Authors: Sharmina M. , Pappas D. , Scott K. , Gallego-Schmid A.
Published: March 2023

Environmental benefits of circular economy (CE) measures, such as waste reduction, need to be weighed against the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions to zero, in line with the Paris Agreement climate goals of 1.5–2 °C. Several studies have quantified CO2 emissions associated with CE measures in the construction sector in different EU countries, with the literature’s focus ranging from bricks and insulation products, to individual buildings, to the entire construction sector. We find that there is a lack of synthesis and comparison of such studies to each other and to the EU CO2 emission reduction targets, showing a need for estimating the EU-wide mitigation potential of CE strategies. To evaluate the contribution that CE strategies can make to reducing the EU’s emissions, we scale up the CO2 emission estimates from the existing studies to the EU level and compare them to each other, from both construction-element and sector-wide perspectives. Our analysis shows that average CO2 savings from sector-wide estimates (mean 39.28 Mt CO2 eq./year) slightly exceeded construction-element savings (mean 25.06 Mt CO2 eq./year). We also find that a conservative estimate of 234 Mt CO2 eq./year in combined emission savings from CE strategies targeting construction elements can significantly contribute towards managing the EU’s remaining carbon budget. While this is a significant mitigation potential, our analysis suggests caution as to how the performance and trade-offs of CE strategies are evaluated, in relation to wider sustainability concerns beyond material and waste considerations.
Levels and trends in key socioeconomic inequalities in childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia: evidence from Ethiopia demographic and health surveys 2000-2019
Authors: Shiferaw Negussie , Regassa Nigatu
Published: March 2023

Introduction

The global burden of childhood undernutrition is mainly concentrated in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. In Ethiopia, childhood undernutrition varies significantly across different population groups. The present study is aimed at examining the levels and trends in key socioeconomic inequalities in childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was based on a total pooled sample of 48,782 under-five children drawn from five rounds of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Surveys (2000–2019). We used multilevel binary logistic regression analysis to determine the key socioeconomic determinants of undernutrition among under five children. In addition, we applied concentration index and decomposition rate analysis techniques to explore the levels and trends in key socioeconomic inequalities in childhood undernutrition.

Results

Place of residence, household wealth status (approximated by asset-based wealth index), and maternal education, among others, were the key socioeconomic variables significantly associated (p < 0.001) with childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia. The level of inequality was the highest with children from rural areas, poor households and uneducated mothers. Absolute socioeconomic inequality in childhood undernutrition prevalence rate was declined by 9.72 during the study period (2000 to 2019).

Conclusion

Childhood undernutrition was unequally distributed among under-five children in Ethiopia, and largely concentrated among low socioeconomic status population groups. The identified key socioeconomic drivers of inequality in childhood undernutrition can be used to inform localized interventions and communication strategies to improve nutritional status of under-five children in Ethiopia. The study underscores development of poverty reduction strategies that directly address the existing challenges of the food insecurity and childhood undernutrition for the low-income population groups in the country.
Postoperative chemotherapy use and survival in non-high-risk young and high-risk old-aged patients with stage II colon cancer
Authors: Jin Tian , Zhu Yingshuang , Lu Wei , Le Chenqin , Wang Lijuan , Xiao Qian , Ding Kefeng
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Intensive postoperative chemotherapy treatment use in early-onset colon cancer and late-onset colon cancer remains to be defined and their effects on prognosis were unclear. This study aims to investigate whether intensive adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer would result in matched survival improvement in young patients (< 50 years) without risk factors and old-aged (70–85 years) patients with risk factors defined by guidelines.

Methods

We extracted eligible patients with pathologically confirmed TNM stage II colon cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2004 and 2015. Patients aged < 50 years old without risk factors were defined as non-high-risk early-onset colon cancer (non-HREOCC), and those aged 70 to 85 years with risk factors were defined as high-risk late-onset colon cancer (HRLOCC). Kaplan–Meier (KM) method with log-rank test was performed to calculate the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Multivariate Cox model was used to estimate the association of adjuvant chemotherapy with CSS by adjusting potential confounding factors.

Results

Of 55,366 eligible stage II colon cancer patients, 3341 non-HREOCC patients and 11,722 HRLOCC patients were included. 37.68% and 16.8% of patients received adjuvant chemotherapy among non-HREOCC and HRLOCC patients, respectively. For non-HREOCC patients, there was no significant association between adjuvant chemotherapy and CSS (HR = 1.09, 95%CI0.83–1.44). For HRLOCC patients, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a better CSS (HR = 0.88, 95%CI0.79–0.99).

Conclusion

Our findings suggested that potential overuse of adjuvant chemotherapy among non-high-risk young patients with stage II colon cancer did not lead to survival improvement, and caution should be called when using chemotherapy in these patients. However, chemotherapy can be used appropriately for high-risk stage II colon cancer patients aged 70 to 85 years.
An Introduction to Optimization on Smooth Manifolds
Authors: Boumal Nicolas
Published: March 2023

Optimization on Riemannian manifolds-the result of smooth geometry and optimization merging into one elegant modern framework-spans many areas of science and engineering, including machine learning, computer vision, signal processing, dynamical systems and scientific computing. This text introduces the differential geometry and Riemannian geometry concepts that will help students and researchers in applied mathematics, computer science and engineering gain a firm mathematical grounding to use these tools confidently in their research. Its charts-last approach will prove more intuitive from an optimizer's viewpoint, and all definitions and theorems are motivated to build time-tested optimization algorithms. Starting from first principles, the text goes on to cover current research on topics including worst-case complexity and geodesic convexity. Readers will appreciate the tricks of the trade for conducting research and for numerical implementations sprinkled throughout the book.
Twilight of the Godlings
Authors: Young Francis
Published: March 2023

Throughout the recorded history of Britain, belief in earthbound spirits presiding over nature, the home and human destiny has been a feature of successive cultures. From the localised deities of Britannia to the Anglo-Saxons' elves and the fairies of late medieval England, Britain's godlings have populated a shadowy, secretive realm of ritual and belief running parallel to authorised religion. Twilight of the Godlings delves deep into the elusive history of these supernatural beings, tracing their evolution from the pre-Roman Iron Age to the end of the Middle Ages. Arguing that accreted cultural assumptions must be cast aside in order to understand the godlings – including the cherished idea that these folkloric creatures are the decayed remnants of pagan gods and goddesses – this bold, revisionist book traces Britain's 'small gods' to a popular religiosity influenced by classical learning. It offers an exciting new way of grasping the island's most mysterious mythical inhabitants.
Impact of specialty on the self-reported practice of using oral antibiotic therapy for definitive treatment of bloodstream infections
Authors: Marcelin Jasmine R. , Keintz Mackenzie R. , Ma Jihyun , Van Schooneveld Trevor C. , Alexander Bryan T. , Bergman Scott J. , Miller Molly M. , Stohs Erica J.
Published: March 2023

Background:

No established guidelines exist regarding the role of oral antibiotic therapy (OAT) to treat bloodstream infections (BSIs), and practices may vary depending on clinician specialty and experience.

Objective:

To assess practice patterns regarding oral antibiotic use for treatment of bacteremia in infectious diseases clinicians (IDCs, including physicians and pharmacists and trainees in these groups) and non–infectious diseases clinicians (NIDCs).

Design:

Open-access survey.

Participants:

Clinicians caring for hospitalized patients receiving antibiotics.

Methods:

An open-access, web-based survey was distributed to clinicians at a Midwestern academic medical center using e-mail and to clinicians outside the medical center using social media. Respondents answered questions regarding confidence prescribing OAT for BSI in different scenarios. We used χ2 analysis for categorical data evaluated association between responses and demographic groups.

Results:

Of 282 survey responses, 82.6% of respondents were physicians, 17.4% pharmacists, and IDCs represented 69.2% of all respondents. IDCs were more likely to select routine use of OAT for BSI due to gram-negative anaerobes (84.6% vs 59.8%; P < .0001), Klebsiella spp (84.5% vs 69.0%; P < .009), Proteus spp (83.6% vs 71.3%; P < .027), and other Enterobacterales (79.5% vs 60.9%; P < .004). Our survey results revealed significant differences in selected treatment of Staphylococcus aureus syndromes. Fewer IDCs than NIDCs selected OAT to complete treatment for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) BSI due to gluteal abscess (11.9% vs 25.6%; P = .012) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) BSI due to septic arthritis (13.9% vs 20.9%; P = .219).

Conclusions:

Practice variation and discordance with evidence for the use of OAT for BSIs exists among IDCs versus NIDCs, highlighting opportunities for education in both clinician groups.
How do we overcome the current limitations of environmental bioelectronic sensors?
Authors: Chakrabarty Samit , Yin Heyu
Published: March 2023

There are a number of concerns with the use of bioelectronic sensors for environmental monitoring:

1.

Durability: Bioelectronic sensors can be vulnerable to physical damage and degradation from exposure to harsh environmental conditions.

2.

Interference: Bioelectronic sensors can be susceptible to interference from other electrical signals or devices, leading to inaccurate readings.

3.

Power supply: Bioelectronic sensors often require a power source to operate, which can be a challenge in remote or inaccessible locations.

4.

Sensitivity: Bioelectronic sensors can be sensitive to a wide range of environmental variables, making it difficult to isolate the specific signals of interest.

5.

Data processing: Bioelectronic sensors generate substantial amounts of data, which can be challenging to process, analyse, and interpret.

6.

Cost: Bioelectronic sensors can be expensive to manufacture, maintain, and replace, which can limit their widespread deployment.

7.

Biofouling: Bioelectronic sensors can be susceptible to fouling or build-up of biological material on their surfaces, reducing their performance over time.
Modeling the wall shear stress in large-eddy simulation using graph neural networks
Authors: Dupuy Dorian , Odier Nicolas , Lapeyre Corentin , Papadogiannis Dimitrios
Published: March 2023

As the Reynolds number increases, the large-eddy simulation (LES) of complex flows becomes increasingly intractable because near-wall turbulent structures become increasingly small. Wall modeling reduces the computational requirements of LES by enabling the use of coarser cells at the walls. This paper presents a machine-learning methodology to develop data-driven wall-shear-stress models that can directly operate, a posteriori, on the unstructured grid of the simulation. The model architecture is based on graph neural networks. The model is trained on a database which includes fully developed boundary layers, adverse pressure gradients, separated boundary layers, and laminar–turbulent transition. The relevance of the trained model is verified a posteriori for the simulation of a channel flow, a backward-facing step and a linear blade cascade.
The Association Between Music Preferences and Well-Being After the Fukushima Disaster: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Yoneshiro Akira , Takebayashi Yoshitake , Murakami Michio
Published: March 2023

Objective:

Those affected by the Fukushima disaster have reported a decline in well-being. Although listening to music is expected to promote well-being, no study has revealed this association after a disaster. This study’s objective is to clarify the association between well-being and music listening habits in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.

Methods:

A self-report online survey was conducted with 420 residents who were asked to rate 5 types of well-being: life satisfaction, positive emotion, negative emotion, psychological distress, and mental health changes after the Fukushima disaster. To meet inclusion criteria, the participants had to be research company monitors between the ages of 20 and 59 and living in Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the survey. Their music listening habits (eg, recent favorite music) and demographic information (eg, evacuation experience due to the disaster: 20.7%) were also collected. We examined the associations between well-being and music listening habits by univariate analysis followed by a logistic analysis with an adjustment for covariates.

Results:

Positive emotions were significantly associated with any type of music listening habits that participants practiced. We also observed gender and age differences between the associations.

Conclusion:

This study provides foundational insights into the role of music in improving post-disaster well-being.
Reduced hack and squirt treatment with aminocyclopyrachlor and aminopyralid for invasive shrub control
Authors: Enloe Stephen F. , Leary James K. , Lastinger Cody , Lauer Dwight K.
Published: March 2023

Invasive shrubs often present extremely difficult challenges for individual plant treatment approaches due to multiple basal stems with complex branching patterns. Basal bark and cut stump individual plant treatments have been the standard methods for managing large-statured shrubs, while hack and squirt has been disregarded as operationally too difficult. However, hack and squirt is a more discriminant treatment technique that may lead to a reduction in herbicide use. Here, we evaluated the speed, herbicide use, and performance of a reduced hack and squirt approach using single hacks per stem injected with 0.5 ml of either aminocyclopyrachlor (240 g L−1) or aminopyralid (240 g L−1) against conventional low-volume basal bark treatment with triclopyr ester (96 g L−1) and cut stump treatment with triclopyr amine (180 g L−1). The experiments were conducted on three subtropical shrub species: Eugenia uniflora, Lagerstroemia indica, and Schinus terebinthifolia. Across species, we found the reduced hack and squirt approach resulted in comparable treatment efficacy to basal bark and cut stump treatment, was faster than cut stump treatment, and used less herbicide and carrier than basal bark treatment. A single hack per stem is a significant shift for hack and squirt treatment, which typically employs a narrow or continuous spacing of hacks around the entire circumference of each stem. Future work should seek to clarify the applicability of this approach over a wide range of invasive shrubs.
The capture of airborne particulates by rain
Authors: Speirs Nathan B. , Belden Jesse L. , Hellum Aren M.
Published: March 2023

Rain cleans pollution out of the atmosphere, as droplets collide with airborne particles during free fall. Such particle–droplet collisions have been presumed to be capture events, but the details of such collisions lack thorough investigation. We show that rain droplets and pollution particles interact through multiple collision behaviours, including captures on the droplet surface, cavity-forming droplet entries and ricochets. Rain drop diameter and free fall velocity, in addition to pollution particle density, size, wettability and droplet impact location, determine which capture or escape behaviour occurs. Our findings reveal that rain does not capture all airborne pollutants equally even upon collision, and certain pollutants prove more difficult to remove from the air than others. Consequently, we must account for both rain and pollution characteristics to understand pollution capture mechanisms and pollution fluxes in the environment.
On the nonlinear behaviour of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability with a tangential electric field for inviscid and perfect dielectric fluids
Authors: Guo Wenxuan , Zhang Qiang , He Dongdong
Published: March 2023

Fluid interfacial instability induced by gravity or external acceleration, known as the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, plays an important role in both scientific research and industrial application. How to control this instability is challenging. Researchers have been actively exploring the suppression method of applying electric fields parallel to dielectric fluid interfaces. The instability is characterized by the penetration of fingers at the interface. The velocities at the finger tips are the most important quantities since they characterize how fast the penetration occurs. The dynamics of the fingers is nonlinear. We present a nonlinear perturbation procedure for determining the amplitude and velocity of fingers at a Rayleigh–Taylor unstable interface between two incompressible, inviscid, immiscible and perfectly dielectric fluids in the presence of a horizontal electric field in two dimensions. The analytic formulas are displayed explicitly up to the third order of the initial disturbance. The comparison with the data from numerical simulations based on the vortex sheet method shows the theoretical formulas can capture well the nonlinear behaviour of the fingers. It is known that the interplay between the electric field and the fluids can lead to the suppression of interfacial instability. We further analyse the electrical force along the interface and show how this force leads to the instability suppression in our setting. It has been reported numerically in the literature that switching the electric permittivities of the fluids leads to quantitative differences in finger velocity. We show theoretically this phenomenon can only be explained by the nonlinear behaviour of the system.
Viscoplastic flow between hinged plates
Authors: Taylor-West Jesse J. , Hogg Andrew J.
Published: March 2023

The incompressible motion of viscoplastic fluid between two semi-infinite rigid plates, hinged at their ends and rotating towards one another at constant angular velocity, generates self-similar flow fields because there is no externally imposed length scale in the absence of inertia. The magnitude of the strain rate scales with the angular velocity of the plates and the dimensionless deviatoric stresses are functions only of the polar angle and a dimensionless measure of the yield stress; they are independent of the radial distance from the corner. These flows feature unyielded regions adjacent to the boundaries for sufficiently large angles between the plates. Moreover, when the dimensionless yield stress is large, there are viscoplastic boundary layers that are attached to the boundary or the plug, the asymptotic structures of which are constructed.
Investigation of hydrodynamics of water impact and tail slamming of high-speed water entry with a novel immersed boundary method
Authors: Liu Wen-Tao , Zhang A-Man , Miao Xu-Hong , Ming Fu-Ren , Liu Yun-Long
Published: March 2023

High-speed water entry is a transient hydrodynamic process that is accompanied by strongly compressible flow, free surface splash, cavity evolution and other nonlinear hydrodynamic phenomena. To address these problems, a novel fluid–structure interaction (FSI) scheme based on the immersed boundary method is proposed which is suitable for strongly compressible multiphase flows. In this scheme, considering the multiphase interfaces at the immersed boundary, an improved immersed boundary method for effectively suppressing the non-physical force oscillation is proposed. Additionally, a quaternion-based six degrees of freedom motion system is used to describe rigid body motion, and the multiphase flow Eulerian finite element method is applied as the fluid solver. Using analytical solutions, experimental data and literature data, the accuracy and robustness of the FSI scheme are validated. Finally, the high-speed water entry of the slender body with different noses is investigated, and the hydrodynamic loads including the axial and normal drag forces and the bending moment are extensively discussed. The hydrodynamic load and motion trajectory are determined by the nose configuration. The tail slamming phenomenon is the primary focus, and it is revealed that its formation is primarily related to the pitch moment formed at the stage of crossing the free surface. Tail slamming also causes violent impact loads, especially bending moments, which may cause slender projectiles to break off. Finally, to combine the features of the flat and hemispherical noses, the water entry of the projectile with a truncated hemispherical nose is simulated and discussed.
The Rush to Personalize: Power Concentration after Failed Coups in Dictatorships
Authors: Timoneda Joan C. , Escribà-Folch Abel , Chin John
Published: March 2023

How do failed coups influence power personalization in dictatorships? While scholars have studied the mechanisms of personalism in dictatorships in detail, little attention has been paid to the timing and determinants of surges in personalism levels. In this article, we propose that personalism can evolve non-linearly, and show that large, quite rapid increases in personalization by dictators occur after a failed coup attempt. The logic is that failed coups are information-revealing events that provide the dictator with strong motives and ample opportunities to accumulate power. The leader uses this window of opportunity to rapidly consolidate his power at the expense of the ruling coalition. We test the theory using time-series, cross-sectional data on dictatorships in 114 countries in the period between 1946 and 2010. Two placebo tests indicate that disruptive events by regime outsiders – failed assassination attempts and civil war onsets – do not promote the rush to personalize.
LIBERTY AND ITS EXCEPTIONS
Authors: Graham Lewis
Published: March 2023

Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights enshrines the right to liberty, one of the oldest and most fundamental rights in the human rights tradition, and one of the core rights in the Convention. Central to the judicial understanding of Article 5 is the ‘exhaustive justification principle’: unlike with other rights, such as the right to privacy, interferences with liberty can only be justified by one of the specific reasons listed in Article 5 itself. This article shows that this rigidity has posed problems in practice: faced with modern developments unforeseeable at the time of the Convention's writing, such as the use of novel policing techniques and the COVID-19 pandemic, judges have interpreted Article 5 in an unusual and artificial way, sacrificing the exhaustive justification principle in doing so, in order to achieve sensible outcomes. The integrity of Article 5 has been threatened, with serious consequences for the future protection of the right to liberty. This trend is explained, evidenced and evaluated, and some (partial) solutions and concessions are considered.
Fluctuations in allomorphy domains: Applying Stump 2010 to Armenian ordinal numerals
Authors: DOLATIAN HOSSEP
Published: March 2023

Numerals and ordinals occupy a special place in the typology of suppletion. In generative work, one basic cross-linguistic parameter is whether ordinal allomorphy displays internal vs. external marking. Internal marking is when irregular forms propagate from lower ordinals to higher ones (English ‘first’$ \to $‘twenty-first’), whereas external marking is the lack of propagation. We catalog ordinal formation in Armenian dialects through both formal-generative and functional-typological perspectives. We find that Eastern Armenian and Early Western Armenian are uniformly external-marking systems for the ordinals of ‘1–4’. However, Modern Western Armenian is a mixed system: ‘1’ displays external-marking while ‘2–4’ display internal-marking. Simultaneously, the ordinal of ‘1’ uses a suppletive portmanteau, while the ordinals of ‘2–4’ use agglutinative allomorphs. We formalize these differences in a derivational approach to morphology (Distributed Morphology). We argue that mixed systems arise from allomorphy rules that are sensitive to either constituency or linearity. The Western mixed system seems typologically rare and novel. Given our formal analysis, we then uncover other asymmetries in the propagation of irregular ordinals and the retention of portmanteau morphology across 35 Armenian varieties. The end result is a strong functional correlation between suppletion, external marking, and lower numerals.
Explaining region creation conflicts in Ghana
Authors: Penu Dennis Amego Korbla
Published: March 2023

For the first time in its history, Ghana held a referendum in 2018 to divide some of its regions to create new ones. Though the regions are purely administrative, the division faced resistance in some areas and not in others. This study combines qualitative comparative analysis with process tracing to show that the resistance occurred within regions with relatively high support for the opposition party, but only in the combined presence of (traditional) elites competing from either side of the region and controversies regarding claims to (traditional) political authority. Further, it finds a bottom-up mechanism of the resistance, evolving as the threatened interests of stakeholders grew from the community to the regional, national and diaspora levels. As in other African cases, this suggests that the sources of conflicts in Africa are not so much about ethnic differences but more about elites’ unequal access to political and economic resources.
Predicting depressed and elevated mood symptomatology in bipolar disorder using brain functional connectomes
Authors: Sankar Anjali , Shen Xilin , Colic Lejla , Goldman Danielle A. , Villa Luca M. , Kim Jihoon A. , Pittman Brian , Scheinost Dustin , Constable R. Todd , Blumberg Hilary P.
Published: March 2023

Background

The study is aimed to identify brain functional connectomes predictive of depressed and elevated mood symptomatology in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) using the machine learning approach Connectome-based Predictive Modeling (CPM).

Methods

Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were obtained from 81 adults with BD while they performed an emotion processing task. CPM with 5000 permutations of leave-one-out cross-validation was applied to identify functional connectomes predictive of depressed and elevated mood symptom scores on the Hamilton Depression and Young Mania rating scales. The predictive ability of the identified connectomes was tested in an independent sample of 43 adults with BD.

Results

CPM predicted the severity of depressed [concordance between actual and predicted values (r= 0.23,pperm (permutation test)= 0.031) and elevated (r= 0.27,pperm= 0.01) mood. Functional connectivity of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and supplementary motor area nodes, with inter- and intra-hemispheric connections to other anterior and posterior cortical, limbic, motor, and cerebellar regions, predicted depressed mood severity. Connectivity of left fusiform and right visual association area nodes with inter- and intra-hemispheric connections to the motor, insular, limbic, and posterior cortices predicted elevated mood severity. These networks were predictive of mood symptomatology in the independent sample (r⩾ 0.45,p= 0.002).

Conclusions

This study identified distributed functional connectomes predictive of depressed and elevated mood severity in BD. Connectomes subserving emotional, cognitive, and psychomotor control predicted depressed mood severity, while those subserving emotional and social perceptual functions predicted elevated mood severity. Identification of these connectome networks may help inform the development of targeted treatments for mood symptoms.
Never Obsolete: Private Household Workers and the Transaction of Domestic Work
Authors: Boris Eileen
Published: March 2023

Faced with the most up to date washing machine, the undocumented Rosa, newly arrived from Guatemala to Los Angeles, does what many resourceful Mayan women would: She handwashes clothes and lays them on the lawn to dry.1 Played for comic relief in the 1983 movie El Norte, this confrontation of the domestic worker with the machine represents how, presumably in the face of dirty wars in Latin America and rising labor force participation of mothers with small children in the United States, well-to-do households had it both ways: They purchased the latest appliances and relied upon the labor of immigrant women. Recent migrants appeared more tractable than the African Americans who historically had worked in other women's homes. New models superseded old Maytags, but domestic workers never became obsolete, despite the predictions of sociologists and the panicked laments of would-be employers.
There might be more to syntactic bootstrapping than being pragmatic: A look at grammatical person and prosody in naturalistic child-directed speech
Authors: HAVRON Naomi , DE CARVALHO Alex , BABINEAU Mireille , BARBIR Monica , DAUTRICHE Isabelle , CHRISTOPHE Anne
Published: March 2023

In ‘Being pragmatic about syntactic bootstrapping’, Hacquard (2022) argues that abstract syntax is useful for word learning, but that an additional cue, pragmatics, is both necessary and available for young children during the first steps of language acquisition. She focuses on modals and attitude verbs, where the physical context seems particularly impoverished as the sole basis for deriving meanings, and thus where linguistic cues may be particularly helpful. She convincingly shows how pragmatic and syntactic cues could be combined to help young language learners learn and infer the possible meanings of attitude verbs such as “think”, “know” or “want”. She also argues that, in some circumstances, syntax and pragmatics would need to be supplemented by semantic information from context – for instance, in the case of modals such as “might”, “can”, or “must”. We agree with Hacquard on the importance of the synergies between these different cues to meaning, and wish to add two other aspects of the input that might also be used by young children in these contexts. The aspects we describe can only be noticed when one analyzes concrete examples of what children hear in their everyday lives, something which Hacquard does very often in her work (e.g., Dieuleveut, van Dooren, Cournane & Hacquard, 2022; Huang, White, Liao, Hacquard & Lidz, 2022; Yang, 2022). Taking into account different cues for meaning would help the field go beyond current models of syntactic bootstrapping, and create an integrated picture of the synergies between different levels of linguistic information.