bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tissue Transfer Techniques in the Management of Urethral Stricture Disease: Flaps and Grafts
Authors: Gelman Joel , Furr James
Published: November 2019

The ability to use different flaps and grafts is critical in the successful management of complex urethral strictures. Intimate knowledge of relevant anatomy and principles of tissue transfer are necessary to optimize outcomes. Here, we briefly review these principles and discuss a variety of techniques commonly used by reconstructive urologists depending on stricture length, stricture location, presence or absence of intact corpus spongiosum, and availability of healthy penile skin. We present our algorithms for flap or graft choice and review the pertinent literature supporting their uses.
Correlation functions at the bulk point singularity from the gravitational eikonal S-matrix
Authors: Cardona Carlos
Published: November 2019

Abstract

The bulk point singularity limit of conformal correlation functions in Lorentzian signature acts as a microscope to look into local bulk physics in AdS. From it we can extract flat space scattering processes localized in AdS that ultimate should be related to corresponding observables on the conformal field theory at the boundary. In this paper we use this interesting property to propose a map from flat space s-matrix to conformal correlation functions and try it on perturbative gravitational scattering. In particular, we show that the eikonal limit of gravitation scattering maps to a correlation function of the expected form at the bulk point singularity. We also compute the inverse map recovering a previous proposal in the literature.
Artificial Neural Network Controlled GMAW System: Penetration and Quality Assurance in a Multi-Pass Butt Weld Application
Authors: Penttilä Sakari , Kah Paul , Ratava Juho , Eskelinen Harri
Published: November 2019

Intelligent welding parameter control is fast becoming a key instrument for attaining quality consistency in automated welding. Recent scientific breakthroughs in intelligent systems have turned the focus of adaptive welding control to artificial intelligence-based welding parameter control. The aim of this study is to combine artificial neural network (ANN) decision-making software and a machine vision system to develop an adaptive artificial intelligence (AI)-based gas metal arc welding (GMAW) parameter control system. The machine vision system uses a laser sensor to scan the upcoming seam and gather seam profile data. Based on further processing of the seam profile data, welding parameters are optimized by the decision-making system. In this work, the developed system is tested in a multivariable welding condition environment and its performance is evaluated. The quality of the welds was consistent and surpassed the required quality level. Additionally, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) was evaluated by microscopy, X-ray, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging. It is concluded that the developed ANN system is suitable for implementation in automated applications, can improve quality consistency and cost efficiency, and reduce required workpiece preparation and handling.
Design of simulator training: a comparative study of Swedish dynamic decision-making training facilities
Authors: Aronsson Sanna , Artman Henrik , Brynielsson Joel , Lindquist Sinna , Ramberg Robert
Published: November 2019

Simulator training is becoming increasingly important for training of time-critical and dynamic situations. Hence, how simulator training in such domains is planned, carried out and followed up becomes important. Based on a model prescribing such crucial aspects, ten decision-making training simulator facilities have been analyzed from an activity theoretical perspective. The analysis reveals several conflicts that exist between the training that is carried out and the defined training objectives. Although limitations in technology and organization are often alleviated by proficient instructors, it is concluded that there is a need for a structured approach to the design of training to be able to define the competencies and skills that ought to be trained along with relevant measurable training goals. Further, there is a need for a pedagogical model that takes the specifics of simulator training into account. Such a pedagogical model is needed to be able to evaluate the training, and would make it possible to share experiences and make comparisons between facilities in a structured manner.
Invasive silver carp is empirically linked to declines of native sport fish in the Upper Mississippi River System
Authors: Chick John H. , Gibson-Reinemer Daniel K. , Soeken-Gittinger Lori , Casper Andrew F.
Published: November 2019

Empirical assessments of the influence of invasive species on native species are infrequent because the required long-term data are rarely available. The invasion of silver carp in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) provides a unique opportunity to assess the influence of this invasive species on native fishes because a highly standardized, long-term monitoring program has been sampling the fish communities in six reaches of the UMRS for over 20 years. We analyzed fish abundance (catch per unit effort from electrofishing) and water-quality data collected from 1994 to 2013 from three reaches where silver carp populations have been established since 2000, and three reaches where they are not established. Our results provide empirical evidence of a negative effect of invasive silver carp on native sport fish in the UMRS. Although water temperature, suspended solid concentration, and flooding also differed substantially between control and invaded reaches, only silver carp abundance had a direct negative relationship with the abundance of adult sport fish. Our analyses suggest that the mechanism for this decline may be competition for zooplankton between silver carp and larval/juvenile sport fish. In reaches where silver carp is established, recruitment of juvenile sport fish appears to be constrained relative to reaches where silver carp is not established.
Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation
Authors: Tóth Gergő , Lengyel Balázs
Published: November 2019

Inter-firm mobility of inventors is a major source of embodied knowledge transfer and receiving firms enjoy additional benefits from the collaboration networks of mobile inventors. However, there is still limited understanding on how the firm can maximize the impact of incoming inventors and what structure of co-inventor networks is the most beneficial for that. To answer this question, we construct a weighted and time-decayed co-inventor network from all IT-related patents in the harmonized OECD PATSTAT 1977–2010 database and analyze events of inter-firm inventor mobility. We look at the future impact of firm innovation and isolate the effect of mobile inventors’ network characteristics from the characteristics of the collaboration network in the receiving firm. Our results imply that high-impact innovations are produced if the firm hires broker inventors who have diverse networks and thus has the potential to channel a wide pool of knowledge into the firm. We find evidence that cohesive networks within the firm, measured by small world characteristics, exaggerate the effect of incoming brokers and high-impact inventors.
Präimplantationsdiagnostik für monogene Erkrankungen am PID-Zentrum Regensburg
Authors: Hehr Andreas , Paulmann Bernd , Gassner Claudia , Krauß-Dreher Susann , Seifert Bernd , Hehr Ute
Published: November 2019

Wir berichten über die Erfahrungen unseres PID-Zentrums bei der Präimplantationsdiagnostik (PID) für 149 Familien mit hohem Risiko für eine monogene Erkrankung bei den Nachkommen und die Ergebnisse aus 316 PID-Zyklen. Seit 2001 wurden bei uns insgesamt 251 Diagnostikzyklen mittels Polkörperdiagnostik (PKD) durchgeführt. Nach der Zulassung unserer Gruppe als PID-Zentrum im Juni 2015 haben wir inzwischen für 45 Familien insgesamt 65 Trophektoderm-Diagnostikzyklen (TED) nach Trophektoderm (TE)-Biopsie durchgeführt (1,4/Familie). Unsere vorläufigen Daten bestätigen eine hohe Diagnoseeffizienz beider Verfahren mit Verdopplung der klinischen Schwangerschaftsrate pro Transfer nach TED auf 48,2 % verglichen mit 22,9 % nach PKD. Bei einer durchschnittlichen Rate von 4,3 verfügbaren Blastozysten pro TED-Zyklus ist die Rate von Zyklen ohne transferierbare Embryonen mit 27,7 % (für 6/45 Familien = 13,3 %) erwartungsgemäß höher als bei der PKD (14,7 %) für durchschnittlich 8 Eizellen pro Zyklus mit erfolgreicher Biopsie beider Polkörper. Schon mit dem ersten Transfer konnte jedoch nach TED für 55,3 % der Paare eine klinische Schwangerschaft erreicht werden. Insgesamt ermöglichte die TED kumulativ nach durchschnittlich 1,4 Transferen eine klinische Schwangerschaft für 68,5 % der Familien mit Transfer und insgesamt eine schonendere Behandlung mit weniger TED-Zyklen (PKD: kumulativ 40,3 % nach 2,3 Transferen), weniger Hormonstimulationen und entsprechend auch geringeren Kosten. Insbesondere die Subgruppe der weiblichen Überträgerinnen von Repeaterkrankungen mit insgesamt niedrigeren Erfolgschancen scheint nach unseren vorläufigen Daten von der TED zu profitieren.
Personwürde in der pränatalen Ethik
Authors: Schallenberg Peter
Published: November 2019

Hintergrund des Beitrags sind die bioethischen Debatten der letzten Jahre, in denen Fragen von Art und Umfang des vorgeburtlichen Schutzes menschlicher Würde kontrovers diskutiert wurden. Ziel des Beitrags ist die Konturierung des spezifisch theologisch-ethischen Verständnisses von Menschenwürde und ihrer grundgesetzlich festgeschriebenen Unantastbarkeit im Rahmen einer katholischen Bioethik vor dem Hintergrund utilitaristischer Ansätze der Begründung und Relativierung vorgeburtlicher Personwürde und ihrer Konsequenzen für die pränatale Medizin und Diagnostik. Methodisch geschieht die Herleitung des theologischen Menschenwürdeverständnisses durch eine kritisch-hermeneutische Auseinandersetzung mit philosophischen Menschenwürdevorstellungen von der Antike bis zur Zeit der Aufklärung. Ergebnis: Die unantastbare Menschenwürde gemäß Grundgesetz findet in einem christlichen Menschenbild Ausdruck, das in seiner metaphysischen Dimension weit über eine rein empirisch wahrnehmbare, innerweltliche Begründung durch Natur- und Gemeinschaftsgebundenheit des Menschen, wie sie in den Begründungsansätzen antiker und neuzeitlicher Philosophie zu finden ist, hinausreicht. Das hat Konsequenzen für den Schutz der Würde auch des Embryos im Rahmen einer pränatalen Ethik mithin auf Basis des „benefit-of-the doubt“-Arguments.
Expression of the Tau Protein and Amyloid Protein Precursor Processing Genes in the CA3 Area of the Hippocampus in the Ischemic Model of Alzheimer’s Disease in the Rat
Authors: Pluta Ryszard , Ułamek-Kozioł Marzena , Kocki Janusz , Bogucki Jacek , Januszewski Sławomir , Bogucka-Kocka Anna , Czuczwar Stanisław J.
Published: November 2019

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the selective susceptibility to ischemia of the CA3 region is very important to explain the neuropathology of memory loss after brain ischemia. We used a rat model to study changes in gene expression of the amyloid protein precursor and its cleaving enzymes and tau protein in the hippocampal CA3 sector, after transient 10-min global brain ischemia with survival times of 2, 7, and 30 days. The expression of the α-secretase gene was below control values at all times studied. But, the expression of the β-secretase gene was below the control values at 2–7 days after ischemia and the maximal increase in its expression was observed on day 30. Expression of the presenilin 1 gene was significantly elevated above the control values at 2–7 days after ischemia and decreased below the control values at day 30. Expression of the presenilin 2 gene showed an opposite trend to the expression of presenilin 1. Expression of the amyloid protein precursor gene after ischemia was at all times above the control values with a huge significant overexpression on day 7. Additionally, the expression of the tau protein gene was below the control values 2 days after ischemia, but the significant increase in its expression was observed on days 7–30. Data show that brain ischemia activates neuronal changes and death in the CA3 region of the hippocampus in a manner dependent on amyloid and tau protein, thus determining a new and important way to regulate the survival and/or death of ischemic neurons.
Layered THz waveguides for SPPs, filter and sensor applications
Authors: Liu Jiamin , Khan Zia Ullah , Sarjoghian Siamak
Published: November 2019

Theory of five kinds of layered structure THz waveguides is presented. In these waveguides, the modified and hybrid THz surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) are researched in detail. On these modes, the effects of material in each layer are discussed. The anti-resonant reflecting mechanism is also discussed in these waveguides. The mode characteristics of both TM mode and TE mode are analyzed for guiding TM mode with low loss and TE modes with huge loss in one waveguide: the TE modes filter application is put forward. The mode characteristics for one waveguide have useful sensor applications: for TE1 mode, we find that the low cut-off frequency has a sensitivity (S) to the refractive index of the dielectric slab. The highest S can be 666.7 GHz/RIU when n2 = 1.5, w = 0 and t = 0.1 mm. We believe these results are very useful for designing practical THz devices for SPPs, filter and sensor applications.
WIPER: Weighted in‐Path Edge Ranking for biomolecular association networks
Authors: Yue Zongliang , Nguyen Thanh , Zhang Eric , Zhang Jianyi , Chen Jake Y.
Published: November 2019

Background

In network biology researchers generate biomolecular networks with candidate genes or proteins experimentally‐derived from high‐throughput data and known biomolecular associations. Current bioinformatics research focuses on characterizing candidate genes/proteins, or nodes, with network characteristics, e.g., betweenness centrality. However, there have been few research reports to characterize and prioritize biomolecular associations (“edges”), which can represent gene regulatory events essential to biological processes.

Method

We developed Weighted In‐Path Edge Ranking (WIPER), a new computational algorithm which can help evaluate all biomolecular interactions/associations (“edges”) in a network model and generate a rank order of every edge based on their in‐path traversal scores and statistical significance test result. To validate whether WIPER worked as we designed, we tested the algorithm on synthetic network models.

Results

Our results showed WIPER can reliably discover both critical “well traversed in‐path edges”, which are statistically more traversed than normal edges, and “peripheral in‐path edges”, which are less traversed than normal edges. Compared with other simple measures such as betweenness centrality, WIPER provides better biological interpretations. In the case study of analyzing postanal pig hearts gene expression, WIPER highlighted new signaling pathways suggestive of cardiomyocyte regeneration and proliferation. In the case study of Alzheimer’s disease genetic disorder association, WIPER reports SRC:APP, AR:APP, APP:FYN, and APP:NES edges (gene‐gene associations) both statistically and biologically important from PubMed co‐citation.

Conclusion

We believe that WIPER will become an essential software tool to help biologists discover and validate essential signaling/regulatory events from high‐throughput biology data in the context of biological networks.

Availability

The free WIPER API is described at discovery.informatics.uab.edu/wiper/
Surrounding rock deformation and stress evolution in pre-driven longwall recovery rooms at the end of mining stage
Authors: Wang Bonan , Dang Faning , Chao Wei , Miao Yanping , Li Jun , Chen Fei
Published: November 2019

Two case studies were conducted in the Shennan mining area of Shaanxi Province, China to evaluate the surrounding rock deformation and stress evolution in pre-driven longwall recovery rooms. These studies mainly monitored the surrounding rock deformation and coal pillar stress in the recovery rooms of the N1206 panel of 2−2 coal seam at Ningtiaota Coal Mine and the 15205 panel of 5−2 coal seam at Hongliulin Coal Mine. The monitoring results showed that the surrounding rock deformation of the main recovery room and the coal pillar stress in the N1206 and 15205 panels began to increase significantly when the face was 36 m and 42 m away from the terminal line, respectively. After the face entered the main recovery room, the maximum roof-to-floor convergence in the N1206 and 15205 panels was 348.03 mm and 771.24 mm, respectively, and the coal pillar stresses increased more than 5 MPa and 7 MPa, respectively. In addition, analysis of the periodic weighting data showed that the main roof break position of the N1206 and 15205 panels after the longwall face entered the main recovery room was − 3.8 m and − 8.2 m, respectively. This research shows that when the main roof breaks above the coal pillar, the surrounding rock deformation of the main recovery room and the coal pillar stress increase sharply. The last weighting is the key factor affecting the stability of the main recovery room and the coal pillar; main roof breaks at disadvantageous positions are the main cause of the support crushing accidents.
Study on the relation between damage and permeability of sandstone at depth under cyclic loading
Authors: Zhao Yang , Zhou Hongwei , Zhong Jiangcheng , Liu Di
Published: November 2019

The damage and permeability evolution of rock under stress is of great significance to engineering safety. In this paper, the evolution law of rock damage and permeability is studied by means of acoustic emission (AE) seepage experiment on deep roof sandstone with cyclic loading. Characterization of damage uses the changes in acoustic emission fractal characteristics and compression parameter which based on elastic modulus. The experimental results show that the AE events has fractal characteristic, in which the AE b-value and correlation dimension can represent the damage of rock. When the fractal characteristic value of AE increases, it indicates that the rock is in the compaction stage and the damage is not obvious. When the fractal characteristic value of AE drops, it indicates that the rock was damaged, and the permeability increase. Under the cyclic load increasing step by step, the elastic modulus first increases and then decrease. Introducing compression parameter C to characterize the state of compaction and damage, it is obtained that the rock damage state and hydrostatic permeability show a power law function relationship with porosity and have the same monotonicity. When compression parameter is less than zero, the evolution law of permeability and damage can be described by functional relationship between hydrostatic permeability K and compression parameter C.
Presentation of a suitable approach for green programming of urban ways through integrative method CA-Markov: case study—Azadi Street of Tehran, Iran
Authors: Allahyari Hadis , Salehi Esmaeel
Published: November 2019

Greenways are networks of some connected linear elements that are designed and programmed for a variety of recreational, cultural, aesthetic, and some other purposes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to check out the land cover changes around the Azadi Street in past and to predict its future changes. This is done in order for checking the connections of the green spaces around the street, connecting Azadi Street and its surroundings, providing solution for future planning and management, and applying greenway principles. For this purpose, using remote sensing techniques, we extracted land cover maps from satellite pictures of years 1986, 2000, and 2016. We used CA-Markov integrated model to predict future changes—in year 2032. The results demonstrate a decrease of 474 ha of the green spots’ area while there is an increase of 658 ha of the built lands during 1986–2016. If the security and management plans on the street area are not going to be changed, this area will transform to a machine-centered space and the limited level of the existing walking-oriented area will disappear soon. The results of this research are effective in reviewing the management approaches of the region so that by providing effective solutions, they can lead the policy makers and planners to follow some of the principles of greenways.
Healthy and Sustainable Diets and Food Systems: the Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2?
Authors: Fanzo Jessica
Published: November 2019

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are considered a unifying global goal setting agenda that every country is meant to achieve. One of those goals, SDG2, promises to ensure food security and nutrition within sustainable food systems. However, achieving that goal is riddled with uncertainty because of the way in which the world currently produces and consumes foods. The global trends of diets and the food systems that produce those diets suggest that they are neither healthy nor sustainable, which has implications for achieving SDG2. This paper characterizes the current state of global diets and food systems, the concept of “healthy and sustainable diets,” and the ethical considerations to achieving healthy and sustainable diets for sustainable development.
Radiomics in prostate cancer: basic concepts and current state-of-the-art
Authors: Yao Shan , Jiang Hanyu , Song Bin
Published: November 2019

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common type of cancer among males and the fifth major contributor to cancer-related mortality and morbidity worldwide. Radiomics, as a superior method of mining big data in medical imaging, has enormous potential to assess PCa from diagnosis to prognosis to treatment response, empowering clinical medical strategies accurately, reliably, and effectively. Hence, this article reviews the basic concepts of radiomics and its current state-of-the-art in PCa as well as put forwards the prospects of future directions.
The Use of Copyrighted Works by AI Systems: Art Works in the Data Mill
Authors: DEGLI ESPOSTI Mirko , LAGIOIA Francesca , SARTOR Giovanni
Published: November 2019

We shall first introduce the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing new intellectual creations, distinguishing approaches based on knowledge representation and on machine learning. Then we shall provide an overview of some significant applications of AI to the production of intellectual creations, distinguishing the extent to which they depend on pre-existing works, and the different ways in which such pre-existing works are used in the creative process. In addition, we shall discuss some methods to automatically assess the similarity of works and styles, in the context of AI technologies for text generation. Finally, we shall discuss the legal aspects of AI-reuse of copyrighted works, focusing on the rights of the authors of such works relative to the process and the outputs of AI.
Changes in human gut microbiota composition are linked to the energy metabolic switch during 10 d of Buchinger fasting
Authors: Mesnage Robin , Grundler Franziska , Schwiertz Andreas , Le Maho Yvon , Wilhelmi de Toledo Françoise
Published: November 2019

Fasting is increasingly popular to manage metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Despite the role that the human gut microbiota plays in health and diseases, little is known about its composition and functional capacity during prolonged fasting when the external nutrient supply is reduced or suppressed. We analysed the effects of a 10-d periodic fasting on the faecal microbiota of fifteen healthy men. Participants fasted according to the peer-reviewed Buchinger fasting guidelines, which involve a daily energy intake of about 1046 kJ (250 kcal) and an enema every 2 d. Serum biochemistry confirmed the metabolic switch from carbohydrates to fatty acids and ketones. Emotional and physical well-being were enhanced. Faecal 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that fasting caused a decrease in the abundance of bacteria known to degrade dietary polysaccharides such as Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae. There was a concomitant increase in Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria (Escherichia coliandBilophila wadsworthia), known to use host-derived energy substrates. Changes in taxa abundance were associated with serum glucose and faecal branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), suggesting that fasting-induced changes in the gut microbiota are associated with host energy metabolism. These effects were reversed after 3 months. SCFA levels were unchanged at the end of the fasting. We also monitored intestinal permeability and inflammatory status. IL-6, IL-10, interferon γ and TNFα levels increased when food was reintroduced, suggesting a reactivation of the postprandial immune response. We suggest that changes in the gut microbiota are part of the physiological adaptations to a 10-d periodic fasting, potentially influencing its beneficial health effects.
A novel tilt sensor for studying ice deformation: application to streaming ice on Jarvis Glacier, Alaska
Authors: Lee Ian R. , Hawley Robert L. , Bernsen Steven , Campbell Seth W. , Clemens-Sewall David , Gerbi Christopher C. , Hruby Kate
Published: November 2019

We developed a tilt sensor for studying ice deformation and installed our tilt sensor systems in two boreholes drilled close to the shear margin of Jarvis Glacier, Alaska to obtain kinematic measurements of streaming ice. We used the collected tilt data to calculate borehole deformation by tracking the orientation of the sensors over time. The sensors' tilts generally trended down-glacier, with an element of cross-glacier flow in the borehole closer to the shear margin. We also evaluated our results against flow dynamic parameters derived from Glen's exponential flow law and explored the parameter space of the stress exponentnand enhancement factorE. Comparison with values from ice deformation experiments shows that the ice on Jarvis is characterized by highernvalues than that is expected in regions of low stress, particularly at the shear margin (~3.4). The highernvalues could be attributed to the observed high total strains coupled with potential dynamic recrystallization, causing anisotropic development and consequently sped up ice flow. Jarvis'nvalues place the creep regime of the ice between basal slip and dislocation creep. TuningEtowards a theoretical upper limit of 10 for anisotropic ice with single-maximum fabric reduces thenvalues by 0.2.
Early Silurian recovery of Baltica crinoids following the end-Ordovician extinctions (Llandovery, Estonia)
Authors: Ausich William I. , Wilson Mark A. , Toom Ursula
Published: November 2019

Three new Llandovery (early Silurian) crinoids from Estonia provide an improved understanding of the paleogeographic aspects of the crinoid diversification following the end-Ordovician extinctions. The new taxa areEuspirocrinus hintsaenew species (Rhuddanian eucladid),Oepikicrinus perensaenew genus new species (Aeronian camerate), andRozhnovicrinus isakaraenew genus new species (Aeronian eucladid). This brings the total of described Llandovery crinoids in Estonia to eight nominal species and a further three taxa in open nomenclature. The Rhuddanian radiation in Baltica mirrored that on Laurentia and Avalonia and was dominated by Ordovician clades that continued to diversify during the Silurian. Known Aeronian crinoids from Estonia continue these clades, whereas new clades diversified on Laurentia and Avalonia. However, by the Wenlock, a largely cosmopolitan fauna existed on Laurentia, Avalonia, and Baltica.

UUID:http://zoobank.org/b5e613f1-c211-4676-8967-5a38a7d8d40e
Three approaches to labor-market vulnerability and political preferences
Authors: Marx Paul , Picot Georg
Published: November 2019

This contribution starts by presenting the three main approaches that political scientists use to analyze labor market vulnerability. We proceed to discuss various operationalizations of labor market vulnerability. We examine how they relate to the three theoretical approaches and we evaluate the consistency between theory and measurement. Finally, we recommend three measures that political scientists should deploy when analyzing the effect of labor market vulnerability on political preferences. We point out what each of these variables captures and what methodological challenges should be taken into account when using them.
The Future of Welfare State Politics
Authors: Rehm Philipp
Published: November 2019

This essay argues that several ongoing and future developments are likely to undermine the broad public support welfare states historically and currently enjoy. These developments—skill-biased technological change, privatization of pensions, higher rates of assortative mating, and the information revolution—can be expected to increase risk inequality, the predictability of risk, income and wealth inequality, and the overlap between income and risk. As a result, a plausible prediction is that intense polarization about social policy programs will replace their current broad appeal, pitting an increasing share of people with no jobs or poor jobs and little upward mobility against an increasing share of people with few incentives to support mandatory risk pooling because they can self-insure.
Seryl-tRNA synthetase is involved in methionine stimulation of β-casein synthesis in bovine mammary epithelial cells
Authors: Dai Wenting , Zhao Fengqi , Liu Jianxin , Liu Hongyun
Published: November 2019

Despite the well-characterised mechanisms of amino acids (AA) regulation of milk protein synthesis in mammary glands (MG), the underlying specific AA regulatory machinery in bovine MG remains further elucidated. As methionine (Met) is one of the most important essential and limiting AA for dairy cows, it is crucial to expand how Met exerts its regulatory effects on dairy milk protein synthesis. Our previous work detected the potential regulatory role of seryl-tRNA synthetase (SARS) in essential AA (EAA)-stimulated bovine casein synthesis. Here, we investigated whether and how SARS participates in Met stimulation of casein production in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC). With or without RNA interference against SARS, BMEC were treated with the medium in the absence (containing all other EAA and devoid of Met alone)/presence (containing 0·6 mm of Met in the medium devoid of Met alone) of Met. The protein abundance of β-casein and members of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) pathways was determined by immunoblot assay after 6 h treatment, the cell viability and cell cycle progression were determined by cell counting and propidium iodide-staining assay after 24 h treatment, and protein turnover was determined by l-[ring-3H5]phenylalanine isotope tracing assay after 48 h treatment. In the absence of Met, there was a general reduction in cell viability, total protein synthesis and β-casein production; in contrast, total protein degradation was enhanced. SARS knockdown strengthened these changes. Finally, SARS may work to promote Met-stimulated β-casein synthesis via affecting mTOR and GCN2 routes in BMEC.
SKĒPTRON IN SOPHOCLES’ OEDIPVS REX
Authors: Cannizzaro Francesco , Fanucchi Stefano , Morosi Francesco , Ozbek Leyla
Published: November 2019

In Sophocles’ Oedipus Coloneus, after laying hands on Antigone and Ismene, Creon ridicules Oedipus by saying these words (OC 848–9):οὔκουν ποτ’ ἐκ τούτοιν γε μὴ σκήπτροιν ἔτιὁδοιπορήσῃς.

Then you shall never more walk with the aid of these two props!

It is possible that Creon is here alluding to Oedipus’ actual appearance throughout the play. As far as we know, Oedipus comes on stage with no walking stick, and uses Antigone and Ismene as a crutch while walking. Creon's comparing Oedipus’ daughters to a crutch, however, is also metaphorical. Such a metaphor is quite common in some modern languages (for example in Italian, ‘bastone della vecchiaia’, or in French, ‘bâton de vieillesse’), but was known by ancient Greek poetry as well. In Euripides’ Hecuba, for instance, Hecuba depicts her daughter Polyxena as her crutch (281 βάκτρον).
Diversity of the sponge fauna associated with white coral banks from two Sardinian canyons (Mediterranean Sea)
Authors: Bertolino M. , Ricci S. , Canese S. , Cau A. , Bavestrello G. , Pansini M. , Bo M.
Published: November 2019

The three-dimensional coral scaffolds formed by the skeletons of the cold-water corals Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa represent an important deep-sea hard substratum and create an optimal shelter for a rich associated fauna in which the contribution of Porifera has still not been fully considered. The taxonomic analysis of sponges collected from two Sardinian canyons (Nora and Coda Cavallo, 256–408 m) and associated with the dead coral matrix resulted in 28 species, including new records for the Mediterranean Sea, Italian fauna or Central Tyrrhenian Sea. In addition, for many species this is the first finding associated with the coral framework or the first documentation of the in situ morphology. The taxonomic comparison with sponge assemblages associated with coral frameworks from Santa Maria di Leuca, Strait of Sicily and Bari Canyon, gave the opportunity to evaluate the similarities among geographically separated banks. Overall, the percentage of exclusive species (recorded only in one site), is very high (81%) and only one species is shared by all four sites, suggesting a low connectivity among the sponge communities. The percentage of shared species is higher for the Maltese community, supporting the role of the Sicily Channel as a crossroads between the communities of the eastern and western Mediterranean basins. Here, 55% of the sponges associated to the coral framework are also reported in shallow-water coralligenous assemblages, indicating a high bathymetric connectivity as well as an ecological plasticity allowing these species to occupy a wide range of small, dark refuges.
Action learning and grounding in simulated human–robot interactions
Authors: Roesler Oliver , Nowé Ann
Published: November 2019

In order to enable robots to interact with humans in a natural way, they need to be able to autonomously learn new tasks. The most natural way for humans to tell another agent, which can be a human or robot, to perform a task is via natural language. Thus, natural human–robot interactions also require robots to understand natural language, i.e. extract the meaning of words and phrases. To do this, words and phrases need to be linked to their corresponding percepts through grounding. Afterward, agents can learn the optimal micro-action patterns to reach the goal states of the desired tasks. Most previous studies investigated only learning of actions or grounding of words, but not both. Additionally, they often used only a small set of tasks as well as very short and unnaturally simplified utterances. In this paper, we introduce a framework that uses reinforcement learning to learn actions for several tasks and cross-situational learning to ground actions, object shapes and colors, and prepositions. The proposed framework is evaluated through a simulated interaction experiment between a human tutor and a robot. The results show that the employed framework can be used for both action learning and grounding.
Two-level Q-learning: learning from conflict demonstrations
Authors: Li Mao , Wei Yi , Kudenko Daniel
Published: November 2019

One way to address this low sample efficiency of reinforcement learning (RL) is to employ human expert demonstrations to speed up the RL process (RL from demonstration or RLfD). The research so far has focused on demonstrations from a single expert. However, little attention has been given to the case where demonstrations are collected from multiple experts, whose expertise may vary on different aspects of the task. In such scenarios, it is likely that the demonstrations will contain conflicting advice in many parts of the state space. We propose a two-level Q-learning algorithm, in which the RL agent not only learns the policy of deciding on the optimal action but also learns to select the most trustworthy expert according to the current state. Thus, our approach removes the traditional assumption that demonstrations come from one single source and are mostly conflict-free. We evaluate our technique on three different domains and the results show that the state-of-the-art RLfD baseline fails to converge or performs similarly to conventional Q-learning. In contrast, the performance level of our novel algorithm increases with more experts being involved in the learning process and the proposed approach has the capability to handle demonstration conflicts well.
An outbreak of hepatitis A in Canada: The use of a control bank to conduct a case-control study
Authors: Smith C. R. , Kershaw T. , Johnson K. , Meghnath K.
Published: November 2019

An outbreak of 18 cases of hepatitis A virus infection across five Canadian provinces was investigated. Case onsets occurred between October 2017 and May 2018. A retrospective matched case-control study was conducted to identify the likely source of the outbreak. Three matched controls were recruited for each case using a previously established control bank, supplemented by landline and cell phone call lists. Univariate and multivariate matched analyses were conducted to identify a potential outbreak source. Seventy-two per cent of controls were recruited through the control bank, and required on average 25.5 calls per recruited control; 20% of controls were recruited through a landline sample and 8% of controls were recruited through a cell phone sample, requiring an average of 847.3 and 331.7 calls per recruited control, respectively. Results of the analysis pointed to shrimp/prawns (odds ratio (OR) 15.75,p= 0.01) and blackberries (OR 7.21,p= 0.02) as foods of interest, however, an outbreak source could not be confirmed. The control bank proved to be a more efficient method for control recruitment than random call lists. Expanding the control bank size and using alternative methods, such as online surveys, may prove beneficial for increasing the timeliness of a case-control study during an outbreak investigation.
From Defectors to Cooperators: The Impact of 1956 on Athletes, Sport Leaders and Sport Policy in Socialist Hungary
Authors: Mellis Johanna
Published: November 2019

This article examines three case studies between 1951 and 1960 to illustrate how the 1956 Revolution and mass defection of Hungarian Olympic athletes following the Melbourne Games impacted the relations between Hungarian sport leaders and athletes. While sport leaders recognised the need to soften their policies towards athletes, athletes learned that socialist Hungary, and not the capitalist West, oftentimes offered them the best opportunities for their sport career and desired lifestyle. These changes shaped the emerging politics of cooperation in the post-1956 Hungarian sport community, in which cooperative members of both groups could achieve their respective diplomatic, career and lifestyle goals.
Improving understanding of the retirement earnings test
Authors: Rabinovich Lila , Perez-Arce Francisco
Published: November 2019

This paper presents results from an online experiment that tested the effect of simple, concise information on respondents' knowledge of the rules of Social Security's Retirement Earnings Test (RET). We find that a straightforward, simple information treatment has a large effect on knowledge of the RET and on prospective choices regarding working and claiming benefits. We tested two additional information treatments that provided more comprehensive information and used illustrative examples. One of the additional treatments used only text, while the other one included a visual tool. Our results suggest that the additional treatments did not further improve knowledge; the simplest intervention yielded the same effect as the more comprehensive ones.
Benchmark selection and performance
Authors: Broeders Dirk , de Haan Leo
Published: November 2019

Using regulatory data free of self-reporting bias for 2007–16, we decompose investment returns of 455 Dutch pension funds according to their key investment decisions, i.e., asset allocation, market timing and security selection. In extension to existing papers, we also assess the impact of benchmark selection. Over time, asset allocation explains 39% of the variation of returns, whereas benchmark selection, timing and selection explain 11%, 9% and 16%, respectively. Across pension funds, asset allocation explains on average only 19% of the variation in pension fund returns. Benchmark selection dominates this by explaining 33% of cross-sectional returns. We relate the choice for a specific benchmark to investment, risk and style preferences.
Demoralization and chronic illness in rural Australia: A cross-sectional survey
Authors: Bailey Claire , Doyle Zelda , Dearin John , Michael Natasha , Kissane David
Published: November 2019

Objective

Demoralization is prevalent in patients with life-limiting chronic illnesses, many of whom reside in rural areas. These patients also have an increased risk of disease-related psychosocial burden due to the unique health barriers in this population. However, the factors affecting demoralization in this cohort are currently unknown. This study aimed to examine demoralization amongst the chronically ill in Lithgow, a town in rural New South Wales, Australia, and identify any correlated demographic, physical, and psychosocial factors in this population.

Method

A cross-sectional survey of 73 participants drawn from Lithgow Hospital, the adjoining retirement village and nursing home, assessing correlating demographic, physical, psychiatric, and psychosocial factors.

Results

The total mean score of the DS-II was 7.8 (SD 26.4), and high demoralization scores were associated with the level of education (p = 0.01), comorbid condition (p = 0.04), severity of symptom burden (p = <0.001), depression (p = <0.001), and psychological distress (p = <0.001). Prevalence of serious demoralization in this population was 27.4% according to a cutoff of a DS-II score ≥11. Of those, 11 (15%) met the criteria for clinical depression, leaving 9 (12.3%) of the cohort demoralized but not depressed.

Significance of results

Prevalence of demoralization was high in this population. In line with the existing literature, demoralization was associated with the level of education, symptom burden, and psychological distress, demonstrating that demoralization is a relevant psychometric factor in rural populations. Further stratification of the unique biopsychosocial factors at play in this population would contribute to better understanding the burdens experienced by people with chronic illness in this population and the nature of demoralization.
‘Peaceful change’ in International Relations: a conceptual archaeology
Authors: Kristensen Peter Marcus
Published: November 2019

As the so-called liberal international order has come under duress, the problem of ‘peaceful change’ has reappeared on the agenda of International Relations (IR), mainly in a realist guise drawing upon E.H. Carr and Robert Gilpin's renditions of the problem. Making a conceptual archaeological intervention, this paper recovers long-neglected multidisciplinary debates on ‘peaceful change’ taking place in the tumultuous interwar period. It concurs that peaceful change is an IR problem par excellence, central to academic debates in the burgeoning interwar discipline, but also a more complex conceptual figure than posterity portrays it. The paper explores the debates between negative and positive conceptions of peaceful change, between political, legal-institutional and communitarian mechanisms of peaceful change, and different policies of peaceful change, particularly its troubled relationship to appeasement. The paper concludes that the interwar debate on peaceful change, while highly embedded in its context, does offer IR an alternative and more aspirational perspective on the problem of power and order transitions.
Overview of the NASA Solar Irradiance Science Team (SIST) Program Special Section
Authors: DeLand Matthew T. , Kopp Greg , Considine David B.
Published: November 2019

Solar irradiance represents the dominant energy source heating the Earth's atmosphere and climate. Both total solar irradiance and spectral solar irradiance vary over the 11‐year solar cycle. Characterizing these variations with sufficient accuracy for climate studies over multidecadal timescales requires a combination of multiple observational data sets, solar activity proxies, and irradiance models. NASA established the Solar Irradiance Science Team (SIST) program in 2015 to pursue this goal using a range of technical approaches. This paper summarizes those investigations, whose results are reported in separate papers in a special section of this journal.
Iron Distribution in the Subtropical North Atlantic: The Pivotal Role of Colloidal Iron
Authors: Kunde K. , Wyatt N. J. , González‐Santana D. , Tagliabue A. , Mahaffey C. , Lohan M. C.
Published: November 2019

Key Points

Size‐fractionation reveals that colloidal iron is more important than soluble iron for distribution of dissolved iron in North Atlantic

Colloidal iron is the predominantly active species at key supply and removal processes of the dissolved iron cycle

Global comparison suggests that the colloidal iron fraction in mesopelagic zone is determined by the local lithogenic contribution
Origin of High Mg and SO4 Fluids in Sediments of the Terceira Rift, Azores‐Indications for Caminite Dissolution in a Waning Hydrothermal System
Authors: Schmidt C. , Hensen C. , Wallmann K. , Liebetrau V. , Tatzel M. , Schurr S. L. , Kutterolf S. , Haffert L. , Geilert S. , Hübscher C. , Lebas E. , Heuser A. , Schmidt M. , Strauss H. , Vogl J. , Hansteen T.
Published: November 2019

During R/V Meteor cruise 141/1, pore fluids of near surface sediments were investigated to find indications for hydrothermal activity in the Terceira Rift (TR), a hyperslow spreading center in the Central North Atlantic Ocean. To date, submarine hydrothermal fluid venting in the TR has only been reported for the D. João de Castro seamount, which presently seems to be inactive. Pore fluids sampled close to a volcanic cone at 2,800‐m water depth show an anomalous composition with Mg, SO4, and total alkalinity concentrations significantly higher than seawater and a nearby reference core. The most straightforward way of interpreting these deviations is the dissolution of the hydrothermally formed mineral caminite (MgSO4 0.25 Mg (OH)2 0.2H2O). This interpretation is corroborated by a thorough investigation of fluid isotope systems (δ26Mg, δ30Si, δ34S, δ44/42Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr). Caminite is known from mineral assemblages with anhydrite and forms in hydrothermal recharge zones only under specific conditions such as high fluid temperatures and in altered oceanic crust, which are conditions generally met at the TR. We hypothesize that caminite was formed during hydrothermal activity and is now dissolving during the waning state of the hydrothermal system, so that caminite mineralization is shifted out of its stability zone. Ongoing fluid circulation through the basement is transporting the geochemical signal via slow advection toward the seafloor.