bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Feedback of tropical cyclones on El Niño diversity. Part II: possible mechanism and prediction
Authors: Wang Qiuyun , Li Jianping
Published: February 2022

Part I of this study has shown that the tropical cyclones (TCs) over the western North Pacific (WNP) can affect El Niño diversity. In this part, we further explore the possible mechanism of this phenomenon: Compared with the composite situation of all El Niño months, when the preceding (3 months earlier) accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) is strong, the Walker circulation is further weakened and the east–west thermocline gradient is reduced. The eastward transport of warm sea water over the western Pacific is enhanced, the center of the maximum positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is located in the equatorial eastern Pacific, supporting for the development of the eastern-Pacific (EP) El Niño. In contrast, compared with the composite situation of all El Niño months, when the preceding ACE is weak, the Walker circulation is enhanced and the east–west thermocline gradient is strengthened. Thus, the center of the maximum positive SST anomalies is limited to the equatorial central Pacific, supporting for the development of the central-Pacific (CP) El Niño. The modulation of thermocline depth by the WNP TCs mainly results from Kelvin wave propagation and Ekman pumping. In addition, WNP TCs are verified to contribute to the prediction of both the phase-locking of the peak of EP and CP El Niño events and the rapid decrease in SST anomalies during the decaying period of two types of El Niño.
Blood and saliva contamination on protective eyewear during dental treatment
Authors: Bergmann Nora , Lindörfer Isabell , Ommerborn Michelle Alicia
Published: February 2022

Objectives

Dental treatments are inherently associated with the appearance of potentially infective aerosols, blood and saliva splashes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quantitative contamination of protective eyewear during different dental treatments and the efficacy of the subsequent disinfection.

Materials and methods

Fifty-three standardized protective eyewear shields worn by students, dentists and dental assistants during different aerosol-producing dental treatment modalities (supragingival cleaning, subgingival periodontal instrumentation, trepanation and root canal treatment and carious cavity preparation; within all treatments, dental evacuation systems were used) were analysed, using common forensic techniques. For detection of blood contamination, luminol solution was applied onto the surface of safety shields. A special forensic test paper was used to visualize saliva contamination. Further analysis was conducted after standardized disinfection using the same techniques. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.

Results

Macroscopically detectable contamination was found on 60.4% of protective eyewear surfaces. A contamination with blood (median 330 pixels, equivalent to 0.3% of the total surface) was detected on all shields after dental treatment. Between various dental treatments, the contamination with blood tend to be statistically significant (p = 0.054). Highest amount of blood was observed after professional tooth cleaning (median 1,087 pixels). Significant differences of saliva contamination were detected between the different measurements (p < 0.001) with contamination only after dental treatment. Due to the low variance and right-skewed distribution for saliva contamination, no statistical analysis between different treatments could be performed. After disinfection, 0.02% blood contamination and no saliva contamination were detected.

Conclusions

Disinfection is effective against blood and saliva contamination. Macroscopically, clean protective eyewear contains up to 12% surface contamination with blood. Based on the results, it may be concluded that protective eyewear is essential for each dental practitioner.

Clinical relevance

As standard for infection prevention in the dental practice, disinfection of protective eyewear after each patient is necessary.
Merging of the Case 2 Regional Coast Colour and Maximum-Peak Height chlorophyll-a algorithms: validation and demonstration of satellite-derived retrievals across US lakes
Authors: Schaeffer Blake , Salls Wilson , Coffer Megan , Lebreton Carole , Werther Mortimer , Stelzer Kerstin , Urquhart Erin , Gurlin Daniela
Published: February 2022

Water quality monitoring is relevant for protecting the designated, or beneficial uses, of water such as drinking, aquatic life, recreation, irrigation, and food supply that support the economy, human well-being, and aquatic ecosystem health. Managing finite water resources to support these designated uses requires information on water quality so that managers can make sustainable decisions. Chlorophyll-a(chl-a, µg L−1) concentration can serve as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass and may be used as an indicator of increased anthropogenic nutrient stress. Satellite remote sensing may present a complement to in situ measures for assessments of water quality through the retrieval of chl-awith in-water algorithms. Validation of chl-aalgorithms across US lakes improves algorithm maturity relevant for monitoring applications. This study compares performance of the Case 2 Regional Coast Colour (C2RCC) chl-aretrieval algorithm, a revised version of the Maximum-Peak Height (MPH(P)) algorithm, and three scenarios merging these two approaches. Satellite data were retrieved from the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI), while field observations were obtained from 181 lakes matched with U.S. Water Quality Portal chl-adata. The best performance based on mean absolute multiplicative error (MAEmult) was demonstrated by the merged algorithm referred to as C15−M10(MAEmult = 1.8, biasmult = 0.97,n = 836). In the C15−M10algorithm, the MPH(P)chl-avalue was retained if it was > 10 µg L−1; if the MPH(P)value was ≤ 10 µg L−1, the C2RCC value was selected, as long as that value was < 15 µg L−1. Time-series and lake-wide gradients compared against independent assessments from Lake Champlain and long-term ecological research stations in Wisconsin were used as complementary examples supporting water quality reporting requirements. Trophic state assessments for Wisconsin lakes provided examples in support of inland water quality monitoring applications. This study presents and assesses merged adaptations of chl-aalgorithms previously reported independently. Additionally, it contributes to the transition of chl-aalgorithm maturity by quantifying error statistics for a number of locations and times.
Perceived and Observed Treatment Gains Following PEERS: A Preliminary Study with Latinx Adolescents with ASD
Authors: Veytsman Elina , Baker Elizabeth , Martin Ann Marie , Choy Tricia , Blacher Jan , Stavropoulos Katherine
Published: February 2022

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) social skills intervention has demonstrated effectiveness for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, studies have been limited by a lack of objective outcome measures and an underrepresentation of Latinx families. This pilot study extends the PEERS literature by utilizing an observational measure of conversational skills (Contextual Assessment of Social Skills; CASS) with a diverse sample of 13 adolescents with ASD (with parent groups conducted in English and Spanish simultaneously) and a control group of 11 neurotypical adolescents. Consistent with previous research, adolescents with ASD and their parents perceived improvements in social functioning following intervention, which were maintained four months later and corroborated by improvements in conversational skills.
Quality of experience of 360 video – subjective and eye-tracking assessment of encoding and freezing distortions
Authors: van Kasteren Anouk , Brunnström Kjell , Hedlund John , Snijders Chris
Published: February 2022

The research domain on the Quality of Experience (QoE) of 2D video streaming has been well established. However, a new video format is emerging and gaining popularity and availability: VR 360-degree video. The processing and transmission of 360-degree videos brings along new challenges such as large bandwidth requirements and the occurrence of different distortions. The viewing experience is also substantially different from 2D video, it offers more interactive freedom on the viewing angle but can also be more demanding and cause cybersickness. The first goal of this article is to complement earlier research by Tran, et al. (2017) [39] testing the effects of quality degradation, freezing, and content on the QoE of 360-videos. The second goal is to test the contribution of visual attention as an influence factor in the QoE assessment. Data was gathered through subjective tests where participants watched degraded versions of 360-videos through a Head-Mounted Display with integrated eye-tracking sensors. After each video they answered questions regarding their quality perception, experience, perceptual load, and cybersickness. Our results showed that the participants rated the overall QoE rather low, and the ratings decreased with added degradations and freezing events. Cyber sickness was found not to be an issue. The effects of the manipulations on visual attention were minimal. Attention was mainly directed by content, but also by surprising elements. The addition of eye-tracking metrics did not further explain individual differences in subjective ratings. Nevertheless, it was found that looking at moving objects increased the negative effect of freezing events and made participants less sensitive to quality distortions. More research is needed to conclude whether visual attention is an influence factor on the QoE in 360-video.
Shear behaviour of subgrade soil with reference to varying initial shear stress and plasticity index
Authors: Silva Isabella Novais , Indraratna Buddhima , Nguyen Thanh Trung , Rujikiatkamjorn Cholachat
Published: February 2022

The influence of stress anisotropy (K) (i.e. the ratio between effective horizontal and vertical stresses) on the shear behaviour of soils has received significant attention in past studies, but how its influence depends on different values of the plasticity index (PI) has not been properly quantified. In this study, the results of a series of undrained triaxial tests on anisotropically consolidated soil at different values of K are reported, and together with past experimental data, the interactive roles of K and PI on the shear behaviour of soil are rigorously interpreted. The findings indicate that the peak shear strength increases with higher brittleness, whereas the peak excess pore pressure diminishes when the value of K decreases. Moreover, increasing the value of PI up to 35 tends to increase the peak shear strength, but beyond that the influence of PI seems marginal. Based on the findings of this study, empirical equations incorporating PI and K to estimate the undrained shear strength are proposed with acceptable accuracy.
Effect of Process and Formulation Variables on the Structural and Physical Properties in Cream Cheese using GDL Acidulant
Authors: Kim Jiuk , Watkinson Philip , Lad Mita , Matia-Merino Lara , Smith Jeremy R. , Golding Matt
Published: February 2022

We report on the properties of analogue cream cheeses prepared using glucono delta-lactone (GDL) acidulant, notably the impact of particular processing and formulation variables, (homogenisation pressure, coagulation pH and temperature, and stabiliser level) on cream cheese physical, material and microstructural properties. Protein–protein and protein-fat interactions were seen to be the primary structural contributors to the physical properties of cream cheese. Cream cheese microstructure and its properties demonstrated well-defined correlations to specific and controllable processing elements within the manufacturing process, showing significance in interactions between parameters in multivariable linear regression analysis (P < 0.05). Summarising the effect of processing variables on key cheese properties, we observed that a progressive reduction in fat particle size of cheese milk arising from increasing homogenisation pressures was seen to increase the total surface area of fat that could be incorporated into the curd during coagulation. The greater extent of fat-fat and fat-proteins interactions during coagulation provided a reinforcing effect on the microstructure of the final cream cheese, with a corresponding increase in compressive fracture stress, shear storage modulus (G′) and shear loss modulus (G″). In terms of other processing variables, cream cheese firmness was also observed to progressively increase through lowering of coagulation pH from 5.13 to 4.33. Increasing coagulation temperature from 58 °C to 78 °C similarly caused an increase in cheese firmness. Finally, increasing the levels of added stabiliser were shown to correlate with increasing cheese firmness. Similar correlations could be observed in relation to physical properties, notably forced expressible serum separation. This model cream cheese preparation method has provided a useful model system for relating food structure to material and functional properties. In addition, it has the advantage of being able to rapidly screen many formulation and process variables because it is faster than the traditional cheesemaking. This study showed that the adjustment of process and formulation variables, either in isolation or in combination, in the manufacture of cream cheese can significantly influence the final material and textural properties of the product, thereby enabling controllable functional attributes capable of meeting different customer needs.
Diagnostic performance of CT lung severity score and quantitative chest CT for stratification of COVID-19 patients
Authors: Caruso Damiano , Zerunian Marta , Polici Michela , Pucciarelli Francesco , Guido Gisella , Polidori Tiziano , Rucci Carlotta , Bracci Benedetta , Tremamunno Giuseppe , Laghi Andrea
Published: February 2022

Purpose

Lung severity score (LSS) and quantitative chest CT (QCCT) analysis could have a relevant impact to stratify patients affected by COVID-19 pneumonia at the hospital admission. The study aims to assess LSS and QCCT performances in severity stratification of COVID-19 patients.

Materials and methods

From April 19, 2020, until May 3, 2020, patients with chest CT suggestive for interstitial pneumonia and tested positive for COVID-19 were retrospectively enrolled and stratified for hospital admission as Group 1, 2 and 3 (home isolation, low intensive care and intensive care, respectively). For LSS, lungs were divided in 20 regions and visually assessed by two radiologists who scored for each region from non-lung involvement as 0, < 50% assigned as 1 and > 50% as 2. QCCT was performed with a dedicated software that extracts pulmonary involvement expressed in liters and percentage. LSS and QCCT were analyzed with ROC curve analysis to predict the performance of both methods. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

Final population enrolled included 136 patients (87 males, mean age 66 ± 16), 19 patients in Group 1, 86 in Group 2 and 31 in Group 3. Significant differences for LSS were observed in almost all comparisons, especially in Group 1 vs 3 (AUC 0.850, P < 0,0001) and Group 1 + 2 vs 3 (AUC 0.783, P < 0,0001). QCCT showed significant results in almost all comparisons, especially between Group 1 vs 3 (AUC 0.869, P < 0,0001). LSS and QCCT comparison between Group 1 and Group 2 did not show significant differences.

Conclusions

LSS and QCCT could represent promising tools to stratify COVID-19 patient severity at the admission.
Testing marginal homogeneity in Hilbert spaces with applications to stock market returns
Authors: Ditzhaus Marc , Gaigall Daniel
Published: February 2022

This paper considers a paired data framework and discusses the question of marginal homogeneity of bivariate high-dimensional or functional data. The related testing problem can be endowed into a more general setting for paired random variables taking values in a general Hilbert space. To address this problem, a Cramér–von-Mises type test statistic is applied and a bootstrap procedure is suggested to obtain critical values and finally a consistent test. The desired properties of a bootstrap test can be derived that are asymptotic exactness under the null hypothesis and consistency under alternatives. Simulations show the quality of the test in the finite sample case. A possible application is the comparison of two possibly dependent stock market returns based on functional data. The approach is demonstrated based on historical data for different stock market indices.
Flowability, Rehydration Behaviour and bioactive Compounds of an Orange Powder Product as Affected by Particle Size
Authors: Camacho M. M. , Silva-Espinoza M. A. , Martínez-Navarrete N.
Published: February 2022

By offering a powder that ensures the healthy value of the fruits, a proper flowability and adequate viscosity after rehydration, there could be an opportunity to promote fruit consumption. The particle size is of critical importance with regard to the properties of a powder. But the separation of a product by particle size is usually associated with compositional changes. In this study, an orange powder product with the same composition but different particle size was compared. The particle sizes considered (269 ± 4, 189 ± 4, 118 ± 3 µm) offer a product with the same bioactive compound content and guarantee a good powder flowability: angle of repose, compressibility, density, porosity and Hausner’s and Carr’s indexes. Nevertheless, grinding can be used as a simple green technology with which to adjust the particle size so as to obtain rehydrated products with differing viscosities and, therefore, powders with different applications: the smaller the particle size, the lower the viscosity.
Integrating Social Assistive Robots, IoT, Virtual Communities and Smart Objects to Assist at-Home Independently Living Elders: the MoveCare Project
Authors: Luperto Matteo , Monroy Javier , Renoux Jennifer , Lunardini Francesca , Basilico Nicola , Bulgheroni Maria , Cangelosi Angelo , Cesari Matteo , Cid Manuel , Ianes Aladar , Gonzalez-Jimenez Javier , Kounoudes Anastasis , Mari David , Prisacariu Victor , Savanovic Arso , Ferrante Simona , Borghese N. Alberto
Published: February 2022

The integration of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) frameworks with Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) has proven useful for monitoring and assisting older adults in their own home. However, the difficulties associated with long-term deployments in real-world complex environments are still highly under-explored. In this work, we first present the MoveCare system, an unobtrusive platform that, through the integration of a SAR into an AAL framework, aimed to monitor, assist and provide social, cognitive, and physical stimulation in the own houses of elders living alone and at risk of falling into frailty. We then focus on the evaluation and analysis of a long-term pilot campaign of more than 300 weeks of usages. We evaluated the system’s acceptability and feasibility through various questionnaires and empirically assessed the impact of the presence of an assistive robot by deploying the systemwithandwithoutit. Our results provide strong empirical evidence that Socially Assistive Robots integrated with monitoring and stimulation platforms can be successfully used for long-term support to older adults. We describe how the robot’s presence significantly incentivised the use of the system, but slightly lowered the system’s overall acceptability. Finally, we emphasise that real-world long-term deployment of SARs introduces a significant technical, organisational, and logistical overhead that should not be neglected nor underestimated in the pursuit of long-term robust systems. We hope that the findings and lessons learned from our work can bring value towards future long-term real-world and widespread use of SARs.
Enhancing informed empathy as a key to promoting social justice in religious education classes
Authors: Kimanen Anuleena
Published: February 2022

In the field of education concerning cultural diversity it has been recognized as vital to address justice in social structures. Although justifications for religious education in non-confessional contexts are heavily based on religious diversity, their advocates have paid little attention to justice and power relations. In this article, I analyse observations of five observed classroom activities on social justice designed for religious education and related pupil interviews. The participants were in the eighth and ninth grades of Finnish comprehensive school. The main question is: how do elements of informed empathy and perception of social justice emerge in interviews and RE classroom activities with Finnish lower secondary school pupils? The results show that the concept of informed empathy well describes the pupils’ emerging awareness of social justice, that pupils’ critical agency should be carefully fostered and that social justice has potential to make religious education more relevant for certain pupils.
Health Protection Using Clay Minerals: A Case Study Based on the Removal of BPA and BPS from Water
Authors: Rytwo Giora , Levy Shem , Shahar Yuval , Lotan Ido , Zelkind Arye Lev , Klein Tomer , Barak Chen
Published: February 2022

Anthropogenic activity releases hazardous contaminants and pollutants that are not removed fully by water treatments. Among such pollutants, bisphenol-A (BPA) and bisphenol-S (BPS) are included in a series of Endocrine Disruptive Compounds, which may cause disruption due to hormone blockage or mimicking. Thus, even though those pollutants are not considered lethal, they are hazardous to health due to their similarity to 17β-estradiol, and they have been shown to cause developmental malformation in Zebrafish and breast and prostate tumors in rodents. Both BPA and BPS have been found in water sources at concentrations >30 μg L–1 and since water treatment plants are ineffective at removing them, their concentration is constantly increasing. The purpose of the present study, using a collection of experiments performed by B.Sc. and M.Sc. students, was to apply clay-based materials to the removal of such health hazards from water. Specifically adapted modified clays as neutral organoclays can optimize the interaction between pollutants and the matrix to achieve efficient adsorption. Such an approach is very effective for relatively insoluble pollutants such as BPA, but less so for the more soluble BPS. On the other hand, BPS can be photodegraded catalytically using raw clay or TiO2-impregnated clay. At low catalyst concentration, the modified clay was as effective as a commercial TiO2 catalyst, whereas combining it with H2O2 yielded considerably better results. In summary, clay minerals offer solutions for the removal of health-hazardous pollutants from water, based on different procedures and mechanisms. The versality of clay minerals allows 'tailoring' specifically adapted materials that might improve their efficiency based on such very specific pollutant-matrix interactions.
Polydopamine coating of living diatom microalgae
Authors: Vona Danilo , Cicco Stefania R. , Ragni Roberta , Vicente-Garcia Cesar , Leone Gabriella , Giangregorio Maria Michela , Palumbo Fabio , Altamura Emiliano , Farinola Gianluca M.
Published: February 2022

Many microorganisms produce specific structures, known as spores or cysts, to increase their resistance to adverse environmental conditions. Scientists have started to produce biomimetic materials inspired by these natural membranes, especially for industrial and biomedical applications. Here, we present biological data on the biocompatibility of a polydopamine-based artificial coating for diatom cells. In this work, living Thalassiosira weissflogii diatom cells are coated on their surface with a polydopamine layer mimicking mussel adhesive protein. Polydopamine does not affect diatoms growth kinetics, it enhances their resistance to degradation by treatment with detergents and acids, and it decreases the uptake of model staining emitters. These outcomes pave the way for the use of living diatom cells bearing polymer coatings for sensors based on living cells, resistant to artificial microenvironments, or acting as living devices for cells interface study.

Graphical abstract
Observation of significant Doppler shift in deuterium-deuterium neutron energy caused by neutral beam injection in the large helical device
Authors: Sangaroon S. , Ogawa K. , Isobe M. , Kobayashi M. I. , Fujiwara Y. , Kamio S. , Yamaguchi H. , Seki R. , Nuga H. , Takada E. , Murakami S. , Zhong G. Q. , Osakabe M.
Published: February 2022

The compact neutron emission spectrometer (CNES) having a tangential sightline was installed to observe a significant Doppler shift of the neutron energy due to the high-energy tangential neutral beam (NB) injections in the Large Helical Device (LHD) for understanding of the energy distribution of fast-ion. The CNES is based on a 1-inch diameter and 1-inch height EJ301 liquid scintillator coupled with a conventional 1-inch photomultiplier tube. The histogram of the integrated pulse signal (Qtotal) during different NBs heating phases measured by the CNES shows that the edge of Qtotal changes depending on NB directions. Using the simple derivative unfolding technique, the neutron energy spectra were unfolded from the measured Qtotal histogram. Peaks of the neutron energy shift to 2.0 MeV, 2.42 MeV, and 3.0 MeV according to the injection direction of NBs. The obtained neutron energy is almost consistent with the virgin deuterium-deuterium neutron energy evaluated by the simple two-body kinematics considering the sightline of CNES, NB injection angle, and NB injection energy.
Resilience of human settlements to climate change needs the convergence of urban planning and urban climate science
Authors: Ye Xinyue , Niyogi Dev
Published: February 2022

The impact of climate extremes upon human settlements is expected to accelerate. There are distinct global trends for a continued rise in urban dwellers and associated infrastructure. This growth is occurring amidst the increasing risk of extreme heat, rainfall, and flooding. Therefore, it is critical that the urban development and architectural communities recognize climate impacts are expected to be experienced globally, but the cities and urban regions they help create are far more vulnerable to these extremes than nonurban regions. Designing resilient human settlements responding to climate change needs an integrated framework. The critical elements at play are climate extremes, economic growth, human mobility, and livability. Heightened public awareness of extreme weather crises and demands for a more moral climate landscape has promoted the discussion of urban climate change ethics. With the growing urgency for considering environmental justice, we need to consider a transparent, data-driven geospatial design approach that strives to balance environmental justice, climate, and economic development needs. Communities can greatly manage their vulnerabilities under climate extremes and enhance their resilience through appropriate design and planning towards long-term stability. A holistic picture of urban climate science is thus needed to be adopted by urban designers and planners as a principle to guide urban development strategy and environmental regulation in the context of a growingly interdependent world.
Feeder Cattle Basis Risk and Determinants
Authors: Bina Justin D. , Schroeder Ted C. , Tonsor Glynn T.
Published: February 2022

The feeder cattle futures contract has been criticized in recent years as not providing an effective hedging instrument. Following historically volatile cattle markets in 2014–2015, feeder cattle basis risk escalated, fueling futures contract concerns. This study assesses these concerns, utilizing weekly auction data from 32 feeder cattle markets from 1992 to 2021. Examined for the first known time, feeder cattle market variation had a statistically and economically significant influence on basis risk. Basis variation differed across regions and marketing periods. Feeder cattle basis risk was historically high in 2014–2015 but declined to levels similar to 2011 by 2018.
Promising Trail or Perilous Trap? Engaging China in the WTO and Beyond
Authors: Gao Henry
Published: February 2022

How to deal with China? This is the biggest question confronting U.S. trade policy—or even the United States’ entire foreign policy—today. Over the past few years, the debate on this important issue has benefited from the contributions of many trade law scholars, including those by Mark Wu, Jennifer Hillman, Petros Mavroidis, André Sapir, Rob Howse, Weihuan Zhou, and the present author. In “Governing the Interface of U.S.-China Trade Relations,” Gregory Shaffer offers refreshing insights. Building on the framework developed by the U.S.-China Trade Policy Working Group, of which he is a member, Shaffer further adjusts the group's “four-buckets” model and provides an updated framework. Calling his approach “Rebalancing Within a Multilateral Framework,” Shaffer argues that his framework avoids the pitfalls of both “Power-Based Bargaining” and “Rule-Based Neoliberalism” and is the most promising “middle path.” As a trade lawyer, I am naturally more inclined toward Shaffer's approach and its firmer grounding in trade law, in contrast to the heavily econ-centric approach in the Joint Statement by the Working Group, which does not reference law. Coming from the other side of the Pacific, however, I would approach the issue a bit differently by asking the questions that rarely gets asked: What are China's reactions to these proposals? Will China be willing to trail along, or, perhaps more likely, will it view them suspiciously as “traps,” as China's former World Trade Organization (WTO) Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen once put it?
Beyond U.S.-China Rivalry: Rule Breaking, Economic Coercion, and the Weaponization of Trade
Authors: Hopewell Kristen
Published: February 2022

Growing U.S.-China rivalry undoubtedly poses a profound threat to the multilateral trading system. In “Governing the Interface of U.S.-China Trade Relations,” Gregory Shaffer provides a highly nuanced and balanced analysis of the nature of this threat and potential solutions to address it. Yet managing trade conflict between the United States and China is, I argue, only one of the twin challenges currently facing the multilateral trading system. The other is how to rein in growing economic coercion and the arbitrary abuse of power by dominant states in the system. The United States and China have each become highly disruptive forces in the liberal trading order—not simply because of their bilateral trade relations but also, and just as importantly, because of their behavior toward the rest of the world. Both of these countries have increasingly turned away from trade multilateralism and toward aggressive unilateralism and the raw use of coercive power in their dealings with other states. It is this flagrant disregard for the rule of law on the part of the system's two dominant powers that has thrown the World Trade Organization (WTO) into crisis and ultimately poses the greatest threat to the global trade regime.
A Cross-sectional Study About Nurses’ and Physicians’ Experience of Disaster Management Preparedness Throughout COVID-19
Authors: Farghaly Abdelaliem Sally Mohammed , Baghdadi Nadiah A. , Al Anizi Amira Suliman
Published: February 2022

Objective:

The aim of this study was to assess and compare nurses’ and physicians’ knowledge of disaster management preparedness. An effective health-care system response to various disasters is paramount, and nurses and physicians must be prepared with appropriate competencies to be able to manage the disaster events.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 636 nurses and 257 physicians were recruited from 1 hospital in Saudi Arabia. Of them, 608 (95.6%) nurses and 228 (83.2%) physicians completed self-administered, online questionnaires. The questionnaire assessed participants’ sociodemographic data, and disaster management knowledge.

Results:

The findings revealed that participants had more knowledge regarding the disaster preparedness stage than mitigation and recovery stages. They also reported a need for advanced disaster training areas. A total of 10.1% of nurses’ and 15.6% of physicians’ overall knowledge is explained by their demographic and work-related characteristics.

Conclusions:

Both nurses and physicians had to some extent knowledge regarding the information and practices required for disaster management process. It is proposed that hospital managers must look for opportunities to effectively adopt national standards to manage disasters and include nurses and physicians in major-related learning activities because experience has suggested a somewhat low overall perceived competence in managing disaster situations.
Strategic robustness in bi-level system-of-systems design
Authors: Stern Jordan L. , Valencia-Romero Ambrosio , Grogan Paul T.
Published: February 2022

Robust designs protect system utility in the presence of uncertainty in technical and operational outcomes. Systems-of-systems, which lack centralized managerial control, are vulnerable to strategic uncertainty from coordination failures between partially or completely independent system actors. This work assesses the suitability of a game-theoretic equilibrium selection criterion to measure system robustness to strategic uncertainty and investigates the effect of strategically robust designs on collaborative behavior. The work models interactions between agents in a thematic representation of a mobile computing technology transition using an evolutionary game theory framework. Strategic robustness and collaborative solutions are assessed over a range of conditions by varying agent payoffs. Models are constructed on small world, preferential attachment and random graph topologies and executed in batch simulations. Results demonstrate that systems designed to reduce the impacts of coordination failure stemming from strategic uncertainty also increase the stability of the collaborative strategy by increasing the probability of collaboration by partners; a form of robustness by environment shaping that has not been previously investigated in design literature. The work also demonstrates that strategy selection follows the risk dominance equilibrium selection criterion and that changes in robustness to coordination failure can be measured with this criterion.
TREES AND STATIONARY REFLECTION AT DOUBLE SUCCESSORS OF REGULAR CARDINALS
Authors: GILTON THOMAS , LEVINE MAXWELL , STEJSKALOVÁ ŠÁRKA
Published: February 2022

We obtain an array of consistency results concerning trees and stationary reflection at double successors of regular cardinals
$\kappa $
, updating some classical constructions in the process. This includes models of
$\mathsf {CSR}(\kappa ^{++})\wedge {\sf TP}(\kappa ^{++})$
(both with and without
${\sf AP}(\kappa ^{++})$
) and models of the conjunctions
${\sf SR}(\kappa ^{++}) \wedge \mathsf {wTP}(\kappa ^{++}) \wedge {\sf AP}(\kappa ^{++})$
and
$\neg {\sf AP}(\kappa ^{++}) \wedge {\sf SR}(\kappa ^{++})$
(the latter was originally obtained in joint work by Krueger and the first author [9], and is here given using different methods). Analogs of these results with the failure of
$\sf {SH}(\kappa ^{++})$
are given as well. Finally, we obtain all of our results with an arbitrarily large
$2^\kappa $
, applying recent joint work by Honzik and the third author.
Long-term feeding of Atlantic salmon with varying levels of dietary EPA + DHA alters the mineral status but does not affect the stress responses after mechanical delousing stress
Authors: Selvam Chandrasekar , Philip Antony J. Prabhu , Lutfi Esmail , Sigholt Trygve , Norberg Birgitta , Bæverfjord Grete , Rosenlund Grethe , Ruyter Bente , Sissener Nini H.
Published: February 2022

Atlantic salmon were fed diets containing graded levels of EPA + DHA (1·0, 1·3, 1·6 and 3·5 % in the diet) and one diet with 1·3 % of EPA + DHA with reduced total fat content. Fish were reared in sea cages from about 275 g until harvest size (about 5 kg) and were subjected to delousing procedure (about 2·5 kg), with sampling pre-, 1 h and 24 h post-stress. Delousing stress affected plasma cortisol and hepatic mRNA expression of genes involved in oxidative stress and immune response, but with no dietary effects. Increasing EPA + DHA levels in the diet increased the trace mineral levels in plasma and liver during mechanical delousing stress period and whole body at harvest size. The liver Se, Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn and plasma Se levels were increased in fish fed a diet high in EPA + DHA (3·5 %) upon delousing stress. Furthermore, increased dietary EPA + DHA caused a significant increase in mRNA expression of hepcidin antimicrobial peptide (HAMP), which is concurrent with downregulated transferrin receptor (TFR) expression levels. High dietary EPA + DHA also significantly increased the whole-body Zn, Se, and Mn levels at harvest size fish. Additionally, the plasma and whole-body Zn status increased, respectively, during stress and at harvest size in fish fed reduced-fat diet with less EPA + DHA. As the dietary upper limits of Zn and Se are legally added to the feeds and play important roles in maintaining fish health, knowledge on how the dietary fatty acid composition and lipid level affect body stores of these minerals is crucial for the aquaculture industry.
Tinnitus: impact on patients in relation to audiological findings
Authors: Gabr T A , Alshabory H F , Kotait M A
Published: February 2022

Objective

Tinnitus is a common auditory disorder in which patients experience noise in the absence of an external source. It is a consequence of irreversible cochlear damage. This study examined the distortion product otoacoustic emissions and P300 components of event-related potentials.

Method

This study included a control group of 25 normal-hearing adults not complaining of tinnitus and a study group that consisted of 45 normal-hearing adults complaining of tinnitus. Measures included patient history, basic audiological evaluation, the Arabic version of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, distortion product otoacoustic emissions testing and P300 recording.

Results

The study group showed significantly higher hearing thresholds at all frequencies as well as delayed latencies and reduced amplitude of P300. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory showed mean scores of 35.2 ± 16.9, and the distortion product gram showed higher amplitudes in the control group.

Conclusion

Patients with tinnitus might have neural dysfunction at either peripheral or central levels of the auditory pathway.
Idiopathic subglottic stenosis in Saskatchewan Hutterite population
Authors: Holmes C , Aravinthan K , Murphy R A , Gore-Hickman R , Nair S P , Sharma A R
Published: February 2022

Background

By studying the odds of developing idiopathic subglottic stenosis in the isolated and genetically unique Hutterite population, this study sought to strengthen the hypothesis that an underlying genetic predisposition may exist for its development.

Methods

A retrospective chart review examined the medical records of all adult patients treated for idiopathic subglottic stenosis in Saskatchewan between 2008 and 2018. Cases were segregated into Hutterite and non-Hutterite.

Results

Four out of 36 cases of idiopathic subglottic stenosis occurred among Hutterites. The odds of a Hutterite developing idiopathic subglottic stenosis are 21.89 times higher than for non-Hutterites. Positive family history was only observed in the Hutterite population.

Conclusion

The study strengthens the hypothesis that genetics may play a role in the aetiology of idiopathic subglottic stenosis by demonstrating that the genetically and socially unique Hutterites are more likely to develop this rare disease. This study is the first to demonstrate that a specific subpopulation is at a higher risk for developing idiopathic subglottic stenosis.
Analysis of anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio in predicting thyroid malignancy on ultrasonography
Authors: Guo Q , Li J , Xin J , Chen X
Published: February 2022

Objective

To explore the diagnostic value of anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio for predicting thyroid cancer.

Methods

A total of 2306 nodules were divided into 5 groups according to their size. The ability of the anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio to predict thyroid cancer was analysed in each group on the basis of the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Youden index.

Results

The median anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio was 0.83, with an interquartile range of 0.28. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.709 (p < 0.001). When the diameter of a thyroid nodule was less than 1.5 cm, an anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio of more than 0.9 was associated with higher sensitivity, accuracy and Youden index, compared with an anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio of greater than 1.0, but the specificity was lower. When the diameter of a thyroid nodule was 1.5 cm or more, an anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio of greater than 0.9 was associated with higher sensitivity and Youden index, compared with an anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio of greater than 1.0, but specificity and accuracy were lower.

Conclusion

The anteroposterior-to-transverse ratio was a meaningful indicator of thyroid cancer, and its predictive effectiveness could be influenced by nodule size.
When Coethnicity Fails
Authors: Pardelli Giuliana , Kustov Alexander
Published: February 2022

Why do communities with larger shares of ethnic and racial minorities have worse public goods provision? Many studies have emphasized the role of diversity in hindering public outcomes, but the question of causality remains elusive. The authors contribute to this debate by tracing the roots of both contemporary racial demography and public goods provision to the uneven historical expansion of the state. Focusing on new historical data from Brazil, the authors show that more remote municipalities with lower levels of state capacity in the past were more frequently selected by escaped slaves to serve as permanent settlements. Consequently, such municipalities have worse public services and larger shares of Afro-descendants today. These results highlight the pervasive endogeneity of the relationship between ethnic demography and public outcomes. The failure to account for context-dependent historical confounders raises concerns about the validity of previous findings regarding the social costs and benefits of any particular demographic composition.
How Does the Content of Deservingness Criteria Differ for More and Less Deserving Target Groups? An Analysis of Polish Online Debates on Refugees and Families with Children
Authors: THEISS MARIA
Published: February 2022

The article analyses opinions on deservingness expressed by social media users in debates about social welfare granted to refugees and families with dependent children in Poland. The article’s focus is on the content of deservingness criteria. This term describes the variety of factual and specific expectations applied to beneficiaries within each of the deservingness criteria. Qualitative content analysis of Facebook comments led to the finding that when users evaluate beneficiaries’ deservingness, they take into account their control over their own neediness, attitude, reciprocity in relation to the general population, identity and the level of need. However, within each of these deservingness criteria there is a plenitude of diverse, specific, often contradictory concepts of what exactly the sign of (un)deservingness is. The study shows that in the case of refugees, a group deemed less deserving, those content categories are more demanding and exclusive. In particular, the content of the need category proved broad and biased toward favouring a generally ‘more deserving’ group. The understanding of families’ need was often based on collective relative deprivation and the assumption that those who are needy have been neglected in previous social welfare programs, whereas refugees’ ‘real need’ was often a logically empty category.
Early life adversity, inflammation, and immune function: An initial test of adaptive response models of immunological programming
Authors: Cunningham Katja , Mengelkoch Summer , Gassen Jeffrey , Hill Sarah E.
Published: February 2022

Much research indicates that exposure to early life adversity (ELA) predicts chronic inflammatory activity, increasing one’s risk of developing diseases of aging later in life. Despite its costs, researchers have proposed that chronic inflammation may be favored in this context because it would help promote immunological vigilance in environments with an elevated risk of infection and injury. Although intuitively appealing, the assumption that exaggerated inflammatory activity predicts favorable immunological outcomes among those exposed to ELA has not been tested. Here, we seek to address this gap, examining the links between exposure to ELA, inflammation, and immune function. Consistent with others’ work, results revealed that those from low socioeconomic status (SES) childhood environments exhibited exaggerated unstimulated inflammatory activity relative to what was observed among those from higher SES childhood environments. Further, results revealed that – although levels of inflammation predicted the magnitude of immunological responses in those from higher SES backgrounds – for those who grew up in low SES environments, higher levels of inflammation were unrelated to the magnitude of immunological responses. Results suggest that exaggerated inflammatory activity in the context of ELA may not predict improved ability to manage acute immunological threats.
RICE CYCLES AND PRICE CYCLES: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND GLOBAL TRADE IN KOREA, 1870–1933
Authors: Stephens Holly
Published: February 2022

This article examines a hitherto neglected aspect of the expansion of international trade in nineteenth-century East Asia—that of how ordinary people understood changing trade patterns. Rather than the political debates and imperial competition that have been the focus of existing research, I use the diary of Sim Wŏn’gwŏn (1850–1933), a farmer from Ulsan, southeastern Korea, to assess how knowledge shaped Sim’s perception of, and response to, the international grain trade. Sim used his diary to develop an economic world view based on his observation of cyclical, seasonal changes in the weather, harvests, and prices. While this enabled Sim to anticipate some fluctuations, the international rice trade posed a challenge as local market prices began to reflect events beyond Sim’s sphere of information. I argue that uneven access to knowledge influenced Sim’s participation in international trade, which in turn cannot be understood without reference to Sim’s existing understanding of the economy.
“THE INITIATED”: AARON DIRECTOR AND THE CHICAGO MONETARY TRADITION
Authors: Tavlas George S.
Published: February 2022

Aaron Director taught at the University of Chicago from 1930 to 1934 and from 1946 to 1965. Both periods corresponded to crucial stages in the development of Chicago monetary economics under the leaderships of Henry Simons and Milton Friedman, respectively. Any impact that Director may have had in the development of those stages and on the relationship between the views of Simons and Friedman has been frustrated by Director’s lack of publications. I provide evidence, much of it for the first time, showing the important role played by Director in the development of Chicago monetary economics, including his role as a transmitter of Simons’s ideas to Friedman.