bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Safety and Efficacy of Prasugrel in Elderly/Low Body Weight Japanese Patients with Ischemic Stroke: Randomized PRASTRO-II
Authors: Kitagawa Kazuo , Toyoda Kazunori , Kitazono Takanari , Nishikawa Masakatsu , Nanto Shinsuke , Ikeda Yasuo , Abe Kenji , Ogawa Akira
Published: March 2020

Introduction: The safety of prasugrel in elderly and/or low body weight Japanese patients with ischemic stroke who have a relatively high bleeding risk with antiplatelet therapy remains unknown. Objective: We aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of long-term prasugrel monotherapy for stroke prevention compared with clopidogrel in elderly and/or low body weight Japanese patients with non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, comparative, phase III study, elderly (age ≥75 years) and/or low body weight (≤50 kg) Japanese patients with a previous history of non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke were assigned to a prasugrel 3.75 mg (PRA3.75) group, a prasugrel 2.5 mg (PRA2.5) group, or a clopidogrel 50 mg (CLO50) group and followed up for 48 weeks. The primary safety endpoint was the combined incidence of primary safety events, defined as life-threatening, major, and other clinically relevant bleeding. The efficacy endpoint was a composite of ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and death from other vascular causes. Results: A total of 654 patients (age 76.4 ± 7.3 years, body weight 55.6 ± 9.3 kg, women 43.9%) from 74 medical institutions within Japan were enrolled. The combined incidence (95% CI) of primary safety events was 4.2% (1.9–7.8%), 1.9% (0.5–4.7%), and 3.6% (1.6–6.9%) in the PRA3.75 group (n = 216), PRA2.5 group (n = 215), and CLO50 group (n = 223), respectively (hazard ratios [HR] PRA3.75/CLO50, 1.13 [0.44–2.93]; PRA2.5/CLO50, 0.51 [0.15–1.69]). The incidences of bleeding leading to treatment discontinuation (95% CI) were 2.3% (0.8–5.3%), 0.9% (0.1–3.3%), and 2.2% (0.7–5.2%) in the PRA3.75, PRA2.5, and CLO50 groups, respectively (HRs PRA3.75/CLO50, 1.01 [0.29–3.48]; PRA2.5/CLO50, 0.41 [0.08–2.12]). There was no significant difference in all bleeding events between groups. The incidence of ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and death from other vascular causes was lower, but not significantly so, in patients treated with prasugrel than in patients treated with clopidogrel: PRA3.75, 0.0% (0/216); PRA2.5, 3.3% (7/215); and CLO50, 3.6% (8/223; HRs PRA3.75/CLO50, 0.00 [0.00–0.00]; PRA2.5/CLO50, 0.90 [0.32–2.47]). Conclusions: Elderly and/or low body weight ­Japanese patients with previous non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke who received PRA3.75 showed similar results in terms of primary safety endpoint, and a numerically lower incidence of ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and death from other vascular causes, compared with those who received CLO50.
Electromyographic Grasp Recognition for a Five Fingered Robotic Hand
Authors: Kakoty Nayan M. , Kaiborta Mantoo , Hazarika Shyamanta M.
Published: March 2020

This paper presents classification of grasp types based on surface electromyographic signals. Classification is through radial basis function kernel support vector machine using sum of wavelet decomposition coefficients of the EMG signals. In a study involving six subjects, we achieved an average recognition rate of 86%. The electromyographic grasp recognition together with a 8-bit microcontroller has been employed to control a five
fingered robotic hand to emulate six grasp types used during 70% daily living activities.
O futuro da (pesquisa em) inteligência artificial: algumas direções
Authors: Cozman Fabio G.
Published: March 2020

A área de inteligência artificial, ocupada com a criação de dispositivos que apresentem comportamento identificado como inteligente, teve explosivo crescimento nos últimos anos. Este artigo procura classificar as várias subáreas da inteligência artificial e sugerir algumas linhas de pesquisa que devem levar a resultados promissores nos próximos anos.
Inteligência artificial: da mecanização da matéria e do espírito ao desenho e construção científica de máquinas e algoritmos, e do Estado moderno como máquina
Authors: Chiappin José R. N. , Lucena Jojomar , Leister Carolina
Published: March 2020

Defendem-se duas teses. A primeira, de que há duas tradições para a pesquisa sobre inteligência artificial. Uma delas remonta à tradição milenar das observações astronômicas com a coleta e tratamento de dados. A outra é a ciência moderna A segunda tese é de que a primeira e mais importante contribuição da pesquisa e m inteligência artificial é a proposta, por Hobbes, de desenhar o Estado como uma máquina autônoma – aproveitar os benefícios das máquinas de precisão – para a industrialização da sociedade e de que esse modelo de Estado é o principal fator da Revolução Industrial.
KÜLTÜREL FARKLILIKLARIN MÜŞTERİ MEMNUNİYETİ ÜZERİNDEKİ ROLÜ: TURİZM SEKTÖRÜNDE ÇEVRİMİÇİ YORUMLARIN ANALİZİ
Authors: MURADİ Ramazan , AKBIYIK Adem
Published: March 2020

Potansiyel müşteriler satın alma kararları sürecinde riskten kaçınmak için ikna edici ve açıklayıcı bilgi kaynaklarına başvurmaktadır. Bu kaynakların en bilindikleri geçmişte aile, arkadaşlar ve yakın çevre iken, günümüzde artık internet siteleri, forumlar, bloglar ve sosyal medya gibi çevrimiçi platformlar, bu platformlarda yapılmış olan çevrimiçi yorumlar ve bu yorumlara verilmiş yıldız derecelendirmeleridir. Turizm gibi çok uluslu sektörlerde memnuniyet algısını etkileyen birçok faktör vardır. Bu faktörlerin başında kültür gelmektedir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı kültürel farklılıkların memnuniyet algısına etkisini bulmak olarak belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada Antalya’da bulunan bir otele ait 5 farklı kültürden yapılmış çevrimiçi yorumlar analiz edilmiştir. Yorumlar WordStat 8.0 programı kullanılarak içerik analizi yöntemi ile analiz edilmiş ve farklı kültürdeki müşterilerin otelde neleri memnuniyet kriteri olarak baz aldıkları ortaya çıkarılarak bu kriterler arasındaki ilişkiler incelenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, kültürel farklılıkların memnuniyet algısı üzerindeki etkileri çalışmaya konu edinilen kültürler düzeyinde ortaya çıkarılmıştır.
YALIN YÖNETİM ANLAYIŞIYLA YÖNETİLEN MAVİ YAKALILARIN MOTİVASYON, İŞ TATMİNİ VE YETENEK YÖNETİMİ ALGILARININ BELİRLENMESİNE YÖNELİK İMALAT SEKTÖRÜNDE BİR ARAŞTIRMA
Authors: AKGEMCİ Tahir , CANBOLAT Mehmet Ali , KALFAOĞLU Serap
Published: March 2020

Karaman ili imalat sektöründe faaliyet gösteren iki farklı fabrikada çalışan işgörenlerin yalın yönetim, motivasyon, iş tatmini ve yetenek yönetimi algılarının belirlenmesi amacıyla kesitsel tipte, tanımlayıcı ve ilişki arayıcı olarak planlanan bu araştırma, 199 mavi yakalı üzerinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplama formu olarak demografik bilgileri içeren 5 soru, yalın yönetim bilgi sahipliğini sorgulayan 1 soru, Minnesota doyum ölçeği, motivasyon ölçeği, yetenek yönetimi algısı ölçeği ve yalın yönetim algısı ölçeği uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin yorumlanması için SPSS yazılımında tanımlayıcı istatistikler ve ANOVA, K. Wallis, T-testi, Korelasyon analizleri ile değerlendirme yapılmış, ileri analiz için Bonferroni testi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulgularına göre; ölçekler ile yaş, eğitim durumu ve iş tecrübesi arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca cinsiyet ve medeni durumun iş tatmini ile arasında anlamlı farklılık bulunmadığı ve ölçek puanlarının korelasyonuna göre ölçekler arasında pozitif yönde anlamlı ilişki bulunduğu saptanmıştır.
TÜRKİYE’DE BİREYLERİN SERBEST ÇALIŞMA TERCİHİNİN BELİRLEYİCİLERİ
Authors: ŞENTÜRK İsmail
Published: March 2020

Bu çalışmada Türkiye’de istihdam içinde yer alan bireylerin serbest çalışma tercihinin belirleyicileri incelenmiştir. Bu amaca uygun şekilde, TÜİK Hanehalkı İşgücü Anketi verileri kullanılarak, iki aşamalı bir yöntem ile analiz yapılmıştır. Veri seti, istihdamda bulunanlar haricinde bireyleri de içerdiğinden, örnek seçim yanlılığı sorundan kaçınmak için öncelikle Heckman örnek seçimi uygulanmıştır. Örnek seçim yanlılığı sorununun varlığı ve bu yöntemin uygulanmasının gerekli olduğu görülmüştür. Sonrasında ise probit yöntemi tüm bireyler, erkekler ve kadınlar için kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre yaşanılan bölge, yaş, eğitim düzeyi, medeni durum, sosyal güvenliğe kayıtlı olma, evde çalışma imkanı ve çalışma süresi etkili faktörler olarak belirlenmiştir. Bölgeler arası farklılıkların giderilmesi, gençlerin teşvik edilmesi, eğitim sisteminde serbest çalışmayı teşvik edici düzenlemelerin yapılması, çalışma süresinin ise özellikle kadınlar için düşürülmesi bireylerin serbest çalışmayı tercih etmesi için etkili olabilecektir.
TÜRKİYE’DE TOPLAM VERGİ YÜKÜNÜN OECD ÜLKELERİ İLE KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI
Authors: ÇAĞDAŞ Yüksel
Published: March 2020

Kamu harcamalarının gerçekleştirebilmesi için ihtiyaç duyulan finansman kaynaklarının başında vergiler gelmektedir. Vergiler, gelir dağılımında adaletin ve kaynak dağılımında etkinliğin sağlanabilmesi açısından önemli bir role sahiptir. Evrensel bildirgelerde ve anayasalarda da belirtildiği gibi adil bir vergi sisteminde ödenecek vergi miktarının kişinin ödeme gücüne, daha geniş anlamıyla mali gücüne bağlı olarak alınması beklenir. Bu nedenle ödenen vergilerin bireylerde ve toplumda hissettirdiği yük önem taşımaktadır. Vergi yükü ülkelerin kişi başı milli gelirine bağlı olarak değişiklik göstermektedir. Türkiye ve OECD ülkelerinde vergi yükünün yıllık seyrinin karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirilmesi bu çalışmanın ana amacını oluşturmaktadır.
MODERN TÜRKİYE’DE ORTA SINIF ÇALIŞMALARI: TARİHSEL LİTERATÜR DEĞERLENDİRMESİ
Authors: KAYA Barışcan , SUZUKİ HİM Miki
Published: March 2020

Bu çalışmada, özellikle 20. Yüzyıl kapitalist gelişim sürecinde şekillenmeye başlayan “orta sınıf” analizlerinin teorik bir incelemesi yapılarak, orta sınıflar ve orta sınıfları konu alan çalışmaların modern Türkiye’nin farklı dönemleri içerisinde nasıl bir gelişim gösterdiği sorusuna odaklanılmaktadır. Bu araştırma sorusuna yanıt aramak için, literatür değerlendirmesi yapılmış ve literatür değerlendirme yöntemlerinden “tarihsel değerlendirme” yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada amaçlanan; literatür değerlendirme analizinin önemli bulgularına bağlı kalınarak ve kronolojik bir sıra dikkate alınarak, modern Türkiye’de orta sınıfların sınıfsal özelliklerini, gelişimini, bu gelişime etki eden toplumsal değişimleri ve orta sınıfları kavramlaştırma konusundaki güçlükleri anlayabilmektir. Bu amaç üzerinden gerçekleştirilen tartışmada, modern Türkiye’de orta sınıfların daha çok Bourdieucü bir perspektifle tüketim örüntüleri üzerinden açıklanmaya çalışıldığı dikkat çekici olmuştur.
The Good Country Index, Cognitive Ability and Culture
Authors: Rindermann Heiner , Carl Noah
Published: March 2020

The Good Country Index (GCI) measures countries’ contributions to global prosperity in domains such as peace, climate and health. It is known that political institutions and wealth can enhance a country’s ability to be ‘good’. However, past research has shown that the cognitive ability of a society – and of its intellectual classes in particular – as well as education and background factors such as culture and evolutionary history, may be particularly important for socio-economic development. Using correlations, cross-sectional path analyses and longitudinal path analyses, we examined the GCI’s relationships with the following variables: average cognitive ability, cognitive level of intellectual classes, evolutionary history, culture (indicated by religion), consanguinity, education, politics (rule of law, freedom, democracy) and wealth (GDP per capita). There was considerable overlap between measures of politics and the GCI (e.g., freedom; empirically r = .76 to .84). The most important variable for explaining international differences in the GCI was the cognitive level of intellectual classes (around r = .72), followed by indicators of culture (r = .64 to .69). Benefits and limitations of the intellectual class approach are discussed.
Lessons Learned from Cultural Features in Kibbutz Industries
Authors: Moskovich Yaffa
Published: March 2020

Research was conducted in a non-privatized community at T Kibbutz Industries. Its aim was to analyze the unique T factory culture and to understand its covert source. The study develops a typology of cultural features observed at kibbutz industries (based on four previous case studies, with focus on T Industries) that can also be applied to other businesses. Research was conducted using qualitative methods, namely a case study including ethnographic interviews and document analysis. The findings identified an organizational culture embodying two contradicting traditions: socialistic and capitalistic values and norms. The former comprised collective principles, transparent information, teamwork, egalitarian and amicable human relationships and future management orientation, while the latter upheld professionalism, innovation, creativity and global aspirations. The managers’ ability to overcome the conflictual culture yielded an open and innovative organization that responded well to competitive environmental markets. The case study was analyzed through development of the typology first devised by Cameron and Quinn (1999, reprinted 2010), perceiving T Industries according to its clanlike, bureaucratic and competitive market attributes, whereas other kibbutz industries studied are more compatible with the combination of bureaucratic and competitive market features.
Rule and Construction: The Transitivity of Resultatives in English
Authors: Shi Yuzhi
Published: March 2020

The resultative construction has been one of the focuses in exploring the interfaces between semantics and syntax. In the generativist tradition, constructions are regarded as the surface structures that are generated by a set of phrasal rules. In cognitive linguistics, especially the approach of construction grammar, constructions are viewed as the fixed pairings of forms and meanings that are regarded as symbolic like lexical items. This article argues that constructions are schemas determined by certain rules, and a set of subconstructions may be produced by a base construction. The article shows that the transitivity of the resultative construction is governed by the semantic relationship between the verb and the resultative phrase, which in turn determines concrete syntactic configurations. Grammar constructions consisting of two or more elements are essentially different from those atomic lexical items, a point distinguishing my analysis from construction grammar. Without the assumption of any underlying structures, unlike the generativist model, this article uncovers the surface rules that determine concrete constructions.
Bridging, Tunneling, and Towering: How Human Interaction with Artifacts Influences the Meanings of Converted Verbs
Authors: Falck Marlene Johansson , Lundmark Carita
Published: March 2020

What determines the meaning of a converted verb? Why do some verbs that have been converted from nouns that refer to artifacts mean making the artifact, and others not? How come some of them, but not others, are connected with motion? And how do speakers’ experiences of the artifacts involved influence the meanings of the verbs? Noun-to-verb conversion has been dealt with at phonological, grammatical and word semantic levels, and explained in terms of metonymic processes and event schema. Yet few studies, if any, have looked into why and how converted verbs acquire the meanings that they do. This article is a corpus linguistic investigation of the converted verbs bridge, tunnel, and tower. Our aim is to find out how speakers’ experiences of the artifacts that the corresponding nouns refer to influence the meanings of the converted verbs.
A new species of Paraproto (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from southern New SouthWales, Australia
Authors: GUERRA-GARCÍA JOSÉ M. , KEABLE STEPHEN J. , AHYONG SHANE T.
Published: March 2020

A new species of the caprellid genus Paraproto, P. murrayae n. sp. is described based on specimens collected from New South Wales, Australia. The new species was collected from brown algae in shallow water (16–19 m deep). Paraproto murrayae n. sp. is very similar to P. tasmaniensis Guerra-García & Takeuchi, 2004 but can be distinguished mainly by the following characteristics: (1) adults of P. murrayae are significantly smaller than P. tasmaniensis (5–6 mm and 10–11 mm respectively); (2) in larger males of P. tasmaniensis, gnathopod 2 is inserted on the anterior half of pereonite 2, rather than the posterior half as in P. murrayae; (3) the dactylus of the male gnathopod 2 is thickened medially in P. murrayae, but not thickened in P. tasmaniensis; (4) the setal formula of mandibular palp is 1-3-1 in P. murrayae versus 1-9-1 or 1-10-1 in P. tasmaniensis; (5) the lower lip is glabrous in P. murrayae but strongly setose in P. tasmaniensis; and (6) the anterolateral projections on pereonite 2 are lacking or vestigial in males of P. murrayae rather than distinct as in P. tasmaniensis. An illustrated key to the species of Paraproto is provided.
Ingenious Traffic Control System with Green Signal Timings Using Image Processing
Authors: Ganesh Venkateshwaran , Sujatha C.
Published: March 2020

In metropolis, traffic congestion affects the daily routine of passengers and in the long run there will be a declination in productivity if such situation is left unaddressed. If an Ambulance, unfortunately, stuck in the middle of congested road, any delay can endanger the life of
the patient and, such cases require intelligent, powerful and reliable traffic control system. In this paper, the Infra-Red (IR) Sensors keep track of vehicle density across the lane. The micro-controller in turn, generates the control signals to alter the traffic accordingly. During each
transition phase, the Voice Recognition (VR) modules installed on lanes sense the emergency siren and thus temporarily allow passage by turning the signal green for the corresponding lane, while others, being remained at red. Using Image Processing analysis, the exact count of vehicles can
be visualized in the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Tool and the green light timings for the consecutive turns can be estimated.
An Overview of the Different Principal Spectrum Sensing Techniques in Cognitive Radio Systems
Authors: Maali Asmaa , Semlali Hayat , Laafar Sara , Boumaaz Najib , Soulmani Abdallah
Published: March 2020

Cognitive radio is a technology proposed to increase the effective use of the spectrum. This can be done through the main function of cognitive radio technology, which is the spectrum sensing. In our work, we propose an analysis of the following spectrum sensing techniques: the matched
filter detector, the cyclostationary feature detector, the energy detector and the maximum eigenvalue detector. More attention is given to blind sensing techniques that they do not need any knowledge of the primary user signal characteristics, namely the energy detection and maximum eigenvalue
detection. These methods are evaluated in terms of Receiver Operational Characteristic curves and detection probability for various values of Signal to Noise Ratio based on Monte Carlo simulations, using MATLAB. As a result of this study, we found that the energy detection offers a good performance
only for high SNR. Furthermore, with the maximum eigenvalue detector, the noise uncertainty problem encountered by the energy detection is solved when the value of the smoothing factor L ≥ 8 and. Finally, a summary of the comparative analysis is presented.
Fast Sleep Onset Pharmaceutical Formulation of the Chronobiotic Hormone Melatonin
Authors: Vlachou Marilena , Siamidi Angeliki , Pippa Natassa , Fikioris Nikolaos
Published: March 2020

The Sedar, formulation of this investigation is a composition of natural ingredients, which has a relaxant, anxiolytic, and sleep-inducing action. The active ingredients of the formulations are melatonin, L-tryptophan (an important amino acid, which is converted in the brain to serotonin
(neurotransmitter that contributes to normal sleep cycle); serotonin is sequentially converted to Melatonin), Pasiflora, valeriana, hawthorn and escholtsia increase GABA levels in the brain. The aim of this investigation is to study the release profile of melatonin from the tablets
of the above formulation. This formulation is a unique food supplement, which offers numerous advantages including sleep onset dysfunctions. Tablets' uniformity (in terms of weight and thickness) was achieved and the disintegration time as well as the dissolution profile matched the requirements
for immediate release formulations. Tablet formulations are also required to be hard enough such that they do not break up in the packaging (bottle or blister container) but also friable enough to disintegrate in the gastrointestinal tract. The tablets' strength (in terms of friability and
hardness) as a consequence of the choice of the appropriate type, but also the quantity of excipients in the tablet formulation, along with the application of the suitable compression force, was evaluated ensuring right handling/packaging, safe transportation and facile release in the gastrointestinal
environment.
Celiac Disease Nutritional Status and Poor Adherence to Follow-up
Authors: Moya Diana A. , Nugent Colleen A. , Baker Robert D. , Baker Susan S.
Published: March 2020

Introduction. Celiac disease, an autoimmune enteropathy, occurs in susceptible individuals and is treatable with a gluten-free diet. These may not be supplemented with vitamins. Objective. To assess the nutritional health of children who have biopsy-proven celiac disease. Methods. Charts were reviewed between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2017. Results. A total of 252 children ages 0 to 21 years had biopsy-proven celiac disease, mean age 11 ± 4.1 years. Body mass index Z-score was 0.2 ± 1.2 at diagnosis. Except for vitamin D, few had deficiencies at diagnosis. At 1-year follow-up, there was no significant change in anthropomorphics or vitamin status. Adherence to follow-up was poor; at 5 years after diagnosis, 39% adhered to follow-up. Conclusion. Despite a rigorous, proactive protocol for contacting and following children with celiac disease, adherence to follow-up was poor. New strategies, such as follow-up through the primary care provider, are needed.
Geographic Divides and Cosmopolitanism: Evidence From Switzerland
Authors: Maxwell Rahsaan
Published: March 2020

Large cities are cosmopolitan environments where people embrace inter-national connections whereas small towns, villages, and the countryside are more likely to prioritize the maintenance of national traditions. These geographic divides are at the center of contemporary politics but we do not know why they exist. One possibility is that cities make people more cosmopolitan while smaller areas make people less cosmopolitan. However, credibly measuring geographic effects is difficult because people sort across geography in ways that are correlated with political attitudes. I address these methodological challenges with longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel. My central result is that evidence of contextual effects is limited and unlikely to account for the broad geographic divides. Instead, sorting is likely to be the most important explanation for spatial polarization over cosmopolitanism. These findings have several implications for our understanding of geographic divides.
Co-creation of social services on the example of social hackathon: The case of Estonia
Authors: Toros Karmen , Kangro Kadri , Lepik Katri-Liis , Bugarszki Zsolt , Sindi Ingrid , Saia Koidu , Medar Marju
Published: March 2020

Drawing on three semi-structured focus group interviews with a sample of 14 social hackathon participants in southern Estonia, this article reports the findings of participants’ experiences of the co-creation process in developing new services or innovative solutions to community problems by using a method of social hackathon. In general, hackathon was perceived as a creative and ‘out-of-the-box’ type of approach, a non-traditional way of thinking and an openness to constructing solutions in a new and creative way. Furthermore, the hackathon was recognised as a fitting tool for the social worker to find solutions in the community with service users.
Turbulent Times Inside and Outside the Consulting Room: The Politics of Polarization and Hate and the Illusion of the Therapist’s Freedom from Impingement
Authors: Goldsmith Barbara L.
Published: March 2020

Today’s toxic political climate has intruded into the therapeutic space. Both therapists and clients wonder about whether politics is an appropriate subject for therapy. Stronger treatment alliances were noted when clients perceived political similarity with their therapists. Inside the consulting room, polarizing political splits can occur and lead to impasses and alliance ruptures that can be difficult to bridge. Therapists, like their clients, can become overwhelmed, exhausted, and numb as they continue to listen, support, and contain political shock waves day after day. The ability to maintain empathy, think analytically and stay alert for enactments can be difficult to sustain when politics enters the room. Various politically based countertransference reactions are addressed, and self-care and connection rather than retreat through detachment or dissociation is the desired goal.
Novel Approaches to Teaching Aging and Disability: Active Learning Through Design and Exploration
Authors: Revell Andrew J. , Ayotte Brian J.
Published: March 2020

Active learning emphasizes student engagement and collaboration instead of more passive learning, which involves primarily listening to lectures in the classroom setting. The benefits of active learning are many with an emphasis on the expansion of higher-order processing and critical thinking skills. Active learning can be found in many best practice approaches in the Medicine, Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (MSTEM) fields. Hack-a-thon and hack events are examples of active learning. These are gaining popularity in research institutes, and specifically in engineering, computer science, business, and healthcare settings. Wikipedia defines hack-a-thon as the blending of the words “hack,” referring to exploratory programming, and “marathon,” referring to a timed event. This article describes a hack-a-thon approach for active learning in the classroom setting.
Collaboration in Giftedness and Talent Development Research
Authors: Makel Matthew C. , Smith Kendal N. , Miller Erin M. , Peters Scott J. , McBee Matthew T.
Published: March 2020

Existing research practices in gifted education have many areas for potential improvement so that they can provide useful, generalizable evidence to various stakeholders. In this article, we first review the field’s current research practices and consider the quality and utility of its research findings. Next, we discuss how open science practices increase the transparency of research so readers can more effectively evaluate its validity. Third, we introduce five large-scale collaborative research models that are being used in other fields and discuss how they could be implemented in gifted education research. Finally, we review potential challenges and limitations to implementing collaborative research models in gifted education. We believe greater use of large-scale collaboration will help the field overcome some of its methodological challenges to help provide more precise and accurate information about gifted education.
Analyzing the Relationship between Road Safety Pillars and the World Health Organization Member States’ Mortality Rate using Structural Equation Modeling Approach
Authors: Torres Caio Assunção , Xavier Vanessa Jamille Mesquita , Cunto Flávio José Craveiro
Published: March 2020

Road deaths phenomenon suggests the development of studies that consider the complex causal relationship between the factors that influence it at the compatible level with the definition of road safety policies. This paper analyzes the influence of 48 road safety performance indicators on the mortality rate of 175 World Health Organization Member States in 2016. Structural equation models were proposed to evaluate the proposition and use of latent variables that represent five major road safety policy areas and the influence on mortality rates. The proposed model structure indicated that management has a strategic role in public policies, having an indirect influence on reducing the mortality rate through safe vehicles, user safety, and safe roads and mobility. The results indicated that policies aimed at encouraging users’ safe behavior were the ones that had the greatest influence in reducing road deaths followed by policies in safer vehicles, road safety management, safer roads and mobility, and post-crash response.
Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Alveolar Bone Destruction in Adult Rats Using CBCT
Authors: Kamburoğlu Kıvanç , Ereş Gülden , Akgün Ceren
Published: March 2020

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has strong potential to be utilized in various aspects of veterinary dentistry. Using ex vivo rat maxillary bone and teeth, the purpose of this study was to compare gray value, surface area, and volumetric measurements of teeth with and without experimental periodontitis by CBCT. Periodontitis was induced in 36 molar teeth, while 36 teeth with a healthy periodontium served as control. Images of each specimen along with teeth were obtained using CBCT. The following measurements for each tooth with periodontitis (n = 36) were recorded: gray value measurement, width, height, depth, surface area, and volume of the alveolar bone loss. For the control group (n = 36), gray value measurement, surface area, and volume of the alveolar bone were recorded. All measurements were repeated after 3 weeks. As the gold standard, the rat maxillas were decalcified and paraffin-embedded for further immunocytochemical study. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. Significance level was set at P < .05. Correlation values for gray value, width, height, depth, surface area, and volume measurements were 0.983, 0.966, 0.962, 0.880, 0.998, and 0.999, respectively, for the first and second measurements. One way ANOVA showed statistically significant differences between teeth with and without alveolar bone destruction conducted for gray value, surface area, and volume measurements ( P = .000). Mean gray value, surface area, and volume measurements decreased 56.46%, 81.89%, and 78.56%, respectively, for teeth with alveolar bone destruction in comparison to healthy teeth. Cone-beam computed tomography provided useful qualitative and quantitative information regarding induced periodontitis in the rat maxilla.
Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Tissue Regeneration
Authors: Zhang Bocheng , Tian Xiaoyuan , Hao Jun , Xu Gang , Zhang Weiguo
Published: March 2020

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that have attracted increasing interest in the field of regenerative medicine. Previously, the differentiation ability of MSCs was believed to be primarily responsible for tissue repair. Recent studies have shown that paracrine mechanisms play an important role in this process. MSCs can secrete soluble molecules and extracellular vesicles (EVs), which mediate paracrine communication. EVs contain large amounts of proteins and nucleic acids, such as mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs), and can transfer the cargo between cells. The cargoes are similar to those in MSCs and are not susceptible to degradation due to the protection of the EV bimolecular membrane structure. MSC-EVs can mimic the biological characteristics of MSCs, such as differentiation, maturation, and self-renewal. Due to their broad biological functions and their ability to transfer molecules between cells, EVs have been intensively studied by an increasing number of researchers with a focus on therapeutic applications, especially those of EVs secreted by MSCs. In this review, we discuss MSC-derived EVs and their therapeutic potential in tissue regeneration.
Human rights and nursing codes of ethics in Canada 1953–2017
Authors: Tisdale Dawn , Symenuk Paisly Michele
Published: March 2020

Human rights are foundational to the health and well-being of all individuals and have remained a central tenet of nursing’s ethical framework throughout history. The purpose of this study is to explore continuity and changes to human rights in nursing codes of ethics in the Canadian context. This study examines nursing codes of ethics between the years 1953 and 2017, which spans the very first code in Canada to the most recently adopted. The historical method is used to compare and contrast human rights language, positioning and descriptions between different code editions. The findings suggest there has been very little change in how human rights have been included within the Canadian nursing codes of ethics. Furthermore, we consider how changes within the nursing profession have influenced the authority of codes of ethics and their ability to support nurses in carrying out ethical obligations specific to human rights. Finally, the impacts and implications of these changes are discussed concerning the protection of human rights in today’s healthcare landscape in Canada.
Quality Assessment of Transit Potential of the Transport–Logistics System of Ukraine
Authors: Kolodiichuk Volodymyr , Cherevko Heorhii , Popivniak Roman
Published: March 2020

In the article the place of Ukraine is determined in a global transport system and attention is accented on disparity between the potential possibilities of the transport and logistics system and the real parameters of international transit through the territory of Ukraine. It is proved that a qualitative assessment of the transport and logistics system, for its adaptation to the world requirements, needs to be carried out according to the internationally recognized methods, in particular, the Logistics Performance Index ( LPI) developed and implemented by the World Bank. The method takes into account the assessment of six indicators: “Customs”; Infrastructure; “International shipments”; “Logistics competence”; “Tracking & tracing”; “Timeliness”. The most developed components of the Ukrainian logistics system are the possibility of laying routes and tracking of goods, and, accordingly, timeliness of their deliveries, and the least developed - the quality of trade and transport infrastructure. The outlined problems of logistics in Ukraine and the explored causes of their occurrence allowed to structure the directions of improvement of all components of LPI, which will help to increase the transit potential of the country’s transport and logistics system.
Sustainable Agri-food Supply Chain Practices: Few Empirical Evidences from a Developing Economy
Authors: Joshi Sudhanshu , Singh Rohit Kumar , Sharma Manu
Published: March 2020

This study aims to identify the factors influencing the adoption of sustainable agribusiness practices in India and examines the most pertinent issues related to sustainable agri-supply chains and their management. The constructs of the study were identified through two sequential phases involving a review of literature and semi-structured interviews with supply chain enablers and intermediary (traders, government officials, local mandis or local markets) operating in Uttarakhand region, India. Data were collected from 1100 supply chain entities (including agri-farmers, partners and enablers across the supply chain) using semi-structured interviews. Twenty five items emerged as significantly influencing the adoption of sustainable agribusiness practices among farmers which have branched out of five factors. Further, it was found that low adoption capabilities and lack of uniform sustainable agribusiness policy were the major issues reported by the respondents. Identification of factors influencing adoption of sustainable agribusiness in Uttarakhand, India, can serve as a guiding tool for agribusiness regulators (government departments including Department of Rural Development), intermediaries (traders, NGOs, etc.). The examination of pertinent issues with the focus on major support required, bottlenecks in adoption, key benefits of sustainable agribusiness activities and most common sustainable practices is expected to provide a new understanding about the sustainable agribusiness-based issues in India.
Regional Economic Growth and Inequality in India: A Sector-wise Decomposition Analysis
Authors: Aneja Ranjan , Barkha  , Banday Umer Jeelanie
Published: March 2020

This article attempts to examine the behaviour of various sectors, with emphasis on the role of income inequality. First, the article estimates the sectoral decomposition in terms of net state domestic product (NSDP) among different states from years 1991–1992 to 2016–2017. Second, we analyse the sector-wise decomposition of regional inequality in term of per capita income. Finally, we analyse the role of developmental expenditure in regional inequalities in term of per capita developmental expenditure across various states.

Based on empirical results, India has witnessed a high growth in per capita income in the post-reform period. With high growth rate, the sectoral composition of income has also registered a major change. The tertiary sector is the major contributor to growth in the post-reform period. At the sectoral level, disparity decreased within the sectors in case of primary and tertiary sector and increased in secondary sector. However, overall, the tertiary and secondary sectors are more responsible for raising the income inequality among the states while primary sector is offsetting this gap.

JEL: O15, I14, I32, O12
TAS2R38 PAV Haplotype Predicts Vegetable Consumption in Community-Dwelling Caucasian Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Smith Jennifer L. , Estus Steven , Lennie Terry A. , Moser Debra K. , Chung Misook L. , Mudd-Martin Gia
Published: March 2020

Introduction:

A heart-healthy diet might reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Genetic variants that affect taste are associated with food choices. This study aims to investigate the associations of the TAS2R38 haplotype with consumption of sodium, sugar, saturated fats, and vegetables.

Hypothesis:

We hypothesized that, compared to people who are alanine-valine-isoleucine (AVI) homozygous for the TAS2R38 gene, those who are heterozygous or homozygous for the proline-alanine-valine (PAV) haplotype would have (a) a higher intake of sodium, sugar, and saturated fat, and (b) a lower vegetable intake.

Methods:

DNA from participants at risk for CVD was genotyped, and participants were assigned to groups by haplotype. Intake for sodium, sugar, saturated fat, and vegetables was assessed using the Viocare Food Frequency Questionnaire. Intake was categorized as higher versus lower consumption, divided at the median, and examined by logistic regressions. All models controlled for age, sex, smoking status, body mass index, education level, and financial status.

Results:

The 175 participants had a mean age of 52 ± 13 years, 72.6% were female, 100% were Caucasian, 89.1% were overweight or obese, and 82.9% were nonsmokers. Participants with one or two PAVs were grouped together, as PAV is the dominant gene, and comprised a majority of the sample (80.6%). Haplotype did not predict intake of sodium, sugar, or saturated fats. Compared to AVI homozygotes, participants with PAV homozygous or heterozygous haplotype had lower odds of being in the higher vegetable intake group (95% CI [0.17, 0.92], p = .032).

Conclusions:

PAV haplotype predicted lower consumption of vegetables. Variants of taste-related genes appear to play a role in food choices.
Large-eddy simulation of the flow in a direct injection spark ignition engine using an open-source framework
Authors: Dias Ribeiro Mateus , Mendonça Bimbato Alex , Araújo Zanardi Maurício , Perrella Balestieri José Antônio , Schmidt David P
Published: March 2020

Direct injection spark ignition engines aim at reducing specific fuel consumption and achieving the strict emission standards in state of the art internal combustion engines. This can be achieved by research comprising experimental methods, which are normally expensive and limited, and computational fluid dynamics methods, which are often more affordable and less restricted than their experimental counterpart. In the latter approach, the costs are mainly related to the acquisition, usage, and maintenance of computational resources, and the license cost when commercial computational fluid dynamics codes are used. Therefore, in order to make the research of direct injection spark ignition engines and their internal processes more accessible, this article proposes a novel open-source and free framework based on the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics library for the simulation of the internal flow in direct injection spark ignition engines using a large-eddy simulation closure for modeling the turbulence within the gas phase. Finally, this framework is tested by simulating the Darmstadt engine in motored operation, validating the results with experimental data compiled by the Darmstadt Engine Workshop.
Integrative Analysis for the Roles of lncRNAs in the Immune Responses of Mouse PBMC Exposed to Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation
Authors: Qi Zhenhua , Guo Sitong , Li Changyong , Wang Qi , Li Yaqiong , Wang Zhidong
Published: March 2020

It is well accepted that low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) modulates a variety of immune responses that have exhibited the properties of immune hormesis. Alterations in messenger RNA (mRNA) and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression were to crucially underlie these LDIR responses. However, lncRNAs in LDIR-induced immune responses have been rarely reported, and its functions and molecular mechanisms have not yet been characterized. Here, we used microarray profiling to determine lncRNA in BALB/c mice exposed to single (0.5 Gy×1) and chronic (0.05 Gy×10) low-dose γ-rays radiation (Co60). We observed that a total of 8274 lncRNAs and 7240 mRNAs were altered in single LDIR, while 2077 lncRNAs and 796 mRNAs in chronic LDIR. The biological functions of these upregulated mRNAs in both 2 groups using Gene Ontology functional and pathway enrichment analysis were significantly enriched in immune processes and immune signaling pathways. Subsequently, we screened out the lncRNAs involved in regulating these immune signaling pathways and examined their potential functions by lncRNAs-mRNAs coexpression networks. This is the first study to comprehensively identify lncRNAs in single and chronic LDIR responses and to demonstrate the involvement of different lncRNA expression patterns in LDIR-induced immune signaling pathways. Further systematic research on these lncRNAs will provide new insights into our understanding of LDIR-modulated immune hormesis responses.
Estimation of the rotordynamic characteristics of a single brush seal using least-squares and instrumental variable methods under super-heated steam environment
Authors: Ha Yunseok , Ha Tae-Woong , Byun Jaeseung , Lee Yongbok
Published: March 2020

The exact understanding of the dynamic characteristic of the seal is a crucial parameter for designing the system. This article presents an experiment that estimates the dynamic characteristics of a brush seal under a super-heated steam environment for a steam turbine. The super-heated steam facility makes super-heated steam (523.15 K) to replicate the real steam turbine environment. Two brush seal units are utilized with a housing connected by springs to measure the modal parameters of the system. To extract the brush seal characteristics, the modal parameters of the pure housing were subtracted from the overall dynamic system. Moreover, to predict modal parameters more accurately, the least-squares method and the instrumental variable method were used to reduce the noise caused by the steam. Two major effects were experimentally investigated by varying the operating speed (0–16,900 r/min) of the rotor and the injection flow of super-heated steam. The results showed that the direct stiffness and damping of the brush seal increased significantly when the steam was injected. Under steam exposure, obtaining the modal parameters using instrumental variable method was confirmed to reduce more noise than obtaining the parameters via least-squares method.
Condition monitoring and vibration analysis of wind turbine
Authors: Xiao Feng , Tian Chen , Wait Isaac , Yang Zhaohui (Joey) , Still Benjamin , Chen Gang S
Published: March 2020

Health condition monitoring through comprehensive monitoring, incipient fault diagnosis, and the prediction of impending faults allows for the promotion of the long-term performance of wind turbines, particularly those in harsh environments such as cold regions. The condition monitoring of wind turbines is characterized by the difficulties associated with the lack of measured data and the nonstationary, stochastic, and complicated nature of vibration responses. This article presents a characterization of the vibrations of an operational wind turbine by spectrogram, scalogram, and bi-spectrum analyses. The results reveal varied nonstationary stochastic properties and mode-coupling instability in the vibrations of the tested wind turbine tower. The analysis illustrates that the wind turbine system vibrations exhibit certain non-Gaussian stochastic properties. An analytical model is used to evaluate the nonstationary, stochastic phenomena and mode-coupling phenomena observed in the experimental results. These results are of significance for the fault diagnosis of wind turbine system in operation as well as for improving fatigue designs beyond the wind turbulence spectral models recommended in the standards.
Continuous reinforcement learning to adapt multi-objective optimization online for robot motion
Authors: Zhang Kai , McLeod Sterling , Lee Minwoo , Xiao Jing
Published: March 2020

This article introduces a continuous reinforcement learning framework to enable online adaptation of multi-objective optimization functions for guiding a mobile robot to move in changing dynamic environments. The robot with this framework can continuously learn from multiple or changing environments where it encounters different numbers of obstacles moving in unknown ways at different times. Using both planned trajectories from a real-time motion planner and already executed trajectories as feedback observations, our reinforcement learning agent enables the robot to adapt motion behaviors to environmental changes. The agent contains a Q network connected to a long short-term memory network. The proposed framework is tested in both simulations and real robot experiments over various, dynamically varied task environments. The results show the efficacy of online continuous reinforcement learning for quick adaption to different, unknown, and dynamic environments.
Theoretical, spectroscopical, and experimental investigations of small azomethine molecules for organic solar cells
Authors: Yorur Goreci Cigdem
Published: March 2020

Small azomethine molecules ( 4,4′-bis((2-hydroxy-4-octyloxyphenyl)methylimino)diphenylmethane (BP-DPM) and 4,4′-bis((2-hydroxy-4-octyloxyphenyl)methylimino)diphenyl ether (BP-DPE)) for photovoltaic applications were synthesized by condensation of appropriate arylaldehydes and arylendiamines and characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Azomethine molecules are additives in organic solar cells. The effect of a possible energy transfer between BP-DPE and P3HT on the photovoltaic performance of devices employing ternary blends of BP-DPE:P3HT: phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) was investigated by absorption and emission spectra. The devices employing BP-DPE:P3HT:PCBM with 1:4 ratio exhibited a Jsc of 4.2 mA cm−2, Voc of 575 mV, and FF of 0.27 which led to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.65%. In addition, density functional theory calculations (DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d)) were used to determine the optimized molecular geometry, highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies, electronic structures, and the molecular electrostatic potential surfaces of the molecules.