bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Decomposition of electron ionization mass spectra for space application using a Monte‐Carlo approach
Authors: Gautier Thomas , Serigano Joseph , Bourgalais Jérémy , Hörst Sarah M. , Trainer Melissa G.
Published: November 2019

Rationale

Quadrupole mass spectrometers equipped with an electron ionization (EI) sources have been widely used in space exploration to investigate the composition of planetary surfaces and atmospheres. However, the complexity of the samples and the minimal calibration for the fragmentation of molecules in the ionization chambers have prevented the deconvolution of the majority of the mass spectra obtained at different targets, thus limiting the determination of the exact composition of the samples analyzed. We propose a Monte‐Carlo approach to solve this issue mathematically.

Methods

We decomposed simulated mass spectra of mixtures acquired with unit resolving power mass spectrometers and EI sources into the sum of the single components fragmentation patterns weighted by their relative concentration using interior‐point least‐square fitting. To fit compounds with poorly known fragmentation patterns, we used a Monte‐Carlo method to vary the intensity of individual fragment ions. We then decomposed the spectrum thousands of times to obtain a statistical distribution.

Results

By performing the deconvolution on a mixture of seven different molecules with interfering fragmentation patterns (H2O, O2, CH4, Ar, N2, C2H4, and C2H6) we show that this approach retrieves the mixing ratio of the individual components more accurately than regular mass spectra decomposition methods that rely on fragmentation patterns from general databases. It also provides the probability density function for each species's mixing ratio.

Conclusions

By removing the solution degeneracy in the decomposition of mass spectra, the method described herein could significantly increase the scientific retrieval from archived space flight mass spectrometry data, where calibration of the ionization source is no longer an option.
Enhancement of Fluorescence Emission for Tricolor Quantum Dots Assembled in Polysiloxane toward Solar Spectrum‐Simulated White Light‐Emitting Devices
Authors: Hu Guangqi , Sun Yuqiong , Zhuang Jianle , Zhang Xuejie , Zhang Haoran , Zheng Mingtao , Xiao Yong , Liang Yeru , Dong Hanwu , Hu Hang , Lei Bingfu , Hu Chaofan , Liu Yingliang
Published: November 2019

Commercial white light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) have the undesirable characteristics of blue‐rich emission and low color rendering index (CRI), while the constituent quantum dots (QDs) suffer from aggregation‐induced fluorescence quenching and poor stability. Herein, a strategy is developed to assemble tricolor QDs into a polysiloxane matrix using a polymer‐mediated hybrid approach whereby the hybrid composite exhibits a significant enhancement of aggregation‐dispersed emission, outstanding photostability, high thermal stability, and outstanding fluorescence recovery. Using the as‐prepared hybrid fluorescent materials, the fabricated LEDs exhibit solar spectrum‐simulated emission with adjustable Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage coordinates, correlated color temperature, and a recorded CRI of 97. Furthermore, they present no ultraviolet emission and weak blue emission, thus indicating an ideal healthy and high‐CRI white LED lighting source.
Magnetically Powered Shape‐Transformable Liquid Metal Micromotors
Authors: Liu Min , Wang Yongxin , Kuai Yanbing , Cong Jiawei , Xu Yunli , Piao Hong‐Guang , Pan Liqing , Liu Yiman
Published: November 2019

Shape‐transformable liquid metal (LM) micromachines have attracted the attention of the scientific community over the past 5 years, but the inconvenience of transfer routes and the use of corrosive fuels have limited their potential applications. In this work, a shape‐transformable LM micromotor that is fabricated by a simple, versatile ice‐assisted transfer printing method is demonstrated, in which an ice layer is employed as a “sacrificial” substrate that can enable the direct transfer of LM micromotors to arbitrary target substrates conveniently. The resulting LM microswimmers display efficient propulsion of over 60 µm s−1 (≈3 bodylength s−1) under elliptically polarized magnetic fields, comparable to that of the common magnetic micro/nanomotors with rigid bodies. Moreover, these LM micromotors can undergo dramatic morphological transformation in an aqueous environment under the irradiation of an alternating magnetic field. The ability to transform the shape and efficiently propel LM microswimmers holds great promise for chemical sensing, controlled cargo transport, materials science, and even artificial intelligence in ways that are not possible with rigid‐bodies microrobots.
Development and applications in computational fluid dynamics modeling for secondary settling tanks over the last three decades: A review
Authors: Gao Haiwen , Stenstrom Michael K.
Published: November 2019

Secondary settling tanks (SSTs) are a crucial process that determines the performance of the activated sludge process. However, their performance is often far from satisfactory. In the last 30 years, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a robust and cost‐efficient tool for designing new SSTs, modifying the geometries of existing SSTs and improved control techniques in wastewater treatment plants. The first part of this review paper discusses the different approaches to model the motion of particles in SSTs. The applications of different multiphase approaches and the widely applied single‐phase approach in different SST studies are reviewed. The second part reviews current CFD research and engineering practice, focusing on the formation and the effect of density currents, effects of different design variables, parameter uncertainties in modeling structures, and atmospheric conditions. Finally, challenges and future improvements of sub‐models (sludge settling, rheology, turbulence, and flocculation) in the SST model framework are identified.

Practitioner points

The first journal review for the CFD applications in SSTs over the last decade.

The controversy over the relationship between SOR and SST performance can be largely explained by the prediction of the CFD model.

Density decoupling in the turbulence model is possible for well‐baffled SSTs.

The relative importance of three modeling parameters is summarized.

Recommendations for future data collection are provided.
Summarizing Colorado's black bear two‐strike directive 30 years after inception
Authors: Lewis Jonathan H. , Alldredge Mathew W. , Dreher Brian P. , George Janet L. , Wait Scott , Petch Brad , Runge Jonathan P.
Published: November 2019

Colorado Parks and Wildlife implemented a new statewide management policy in 1985 for nuisance black bears (Ursus americanus), known today as the 2‐strike directive. It allowed wildlife managers to assess the repeatability of nuisance bear behavior after translocating them to quality bear habitat away from human food sources. We evaluated this directive using 30 years (1987–2016) of nuisance black bear capture records. Statewide, 53% of 1,093 bears caught, marked, and moved (1st strike) were never reported again, while 25% were killed for a 2nd strike, and hunters harvested 17%. Subadult males committed 2nd strikes more quickly than adult males and females. Although time between strikes was greatest for adult females (496 days), they had the largest probability of committing a 2nd strike among all cohorts. We found that the number of 1st strike captures, from late summer through fall was greatest during years of poor mast production. We suggest that the 2‐strike policy has been an effective management tool for nuisance black bears in Colorado, USA, because of low rates of nuisance behavior following 1st‐strike translocation. If a state or local management objective is to increase black bear populations, wildlife managers may increase tolerance of adult bears that have received their 1st strike in years when fall mast crops largely fail because they are less likely to commit a 2nd strike. Lower tolerance of subadult males may be warranted in bad food years, especially in areas where reductions in bear populations are desired, because they tend to repeat nuisance behaviors more quickly than other bears. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.
Defining the investment value of Water Entitlements
Authors: De Duonni Angela , Neto Susana , Camkin Jeff
Published: November 2019

As tradable rights to access an exclusive share of a water resource, Water Entitlements (WEs) may be regarded as assets that have the potential to provide substantial returns to investors. In this study, I investigated whether the classification of WEs as an “asset class” could improve the distribution of costs and benefits derived from water entitlement investment decisions between private investors, water entitlement (WE) holders, and regional communities. This study explored the intersectionality between the water entitlement investment strategies of asset managers and the water management strategies of water resource managers. This involved a review of literature in the areas of financial investment, water markets, Indigenous values of water, and common‐pool resource management, as well as surveys and interviews of investment industry (Group 1) and water resource managers (Group 2).

Key findings noted the consensus between the survey groups regarding the importance of the following on asset managers’ WE investment decisions:

the classification of WEs as financial assets but not as an asset class influences their selection, acquisition, and allocation within investor managed asset portfolios;

the classification of WEs as intangible assets impacts on the allocation of WEs within investor managed asset portfolios and reported rates of returns on portfolios; and

government policy regarding the water resource planning framework underpins investors’ long‐term WE investment strategies.

Overall, the findings of the survey, interviews, and literature review provide the basis for the inclusion of a common property regime within the water resource planning framework to improve the distribution of costs and benefits attributed to WE investment decisions. A common water entitlement (CWE), allocated to regional communities within an enforceable legal framework provides opportunity to integrate collective community values into the water allocation process. CWE, like WEs, are tradeable assets from which communities could reasonably expect to generate annual financial returns, realize capital appreciation, and manage the underlying physical water resource.
Best management practices for agricultural nonpoint source pollution: Policy interventions and way forward
Authors: Jain Chakresh Kumar , Singh Surya
Published: November 2019

Best management practices (BMPs) are the tools which are adopted to run any activity while inflicting least negative impacts on the surrounding environment. Since, water pollution is one of the most important issues in today's world; it is indispensable to discuss the activities which are deteriorating its quality. Although, a number of treatment technologies and methods are in place for treating the point sources of pollution, there is a need to address nonpoint sources of pollution. There are many successful practices which are capable of curtailing the impacts of nonpoint source pollution, if adopted. In this paper an attempt has been made to evaluate the performance and trade‐offs of various management practices to address the issues of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of guiding principles which can pave a way for adoption of these practices. Therefore, an attempt has also been made to explore the aspects of policy formulations along with emphasizing the factors which can lead to adoption/ non‐adoption of such practices.
Hilary Putnam on Perspectivism and Naturalism
Authors: De Caro Mario
Published: November 2019

In this chapter, I analyze the different views that Hilary Putnam developed during the seven decades of his brilliant philosophical career in order to address the question of realism (metaphysical realism, internal realism, quietism, and liberal naturalism). I also argue that the view Putnam defended at the end of his career was the most solid and consistent, and that such view could offer a useful inspiration to the advocates of perspectivism.
Scientific Perspectives, Feminist Standpoints, and Non-Silly Relativism
Authors: Ashton Natalie Alana
Published: November 2019

Defences of perspectival realism are motivated, in part, by an attempt to find a middle ground between the realist intuition that science seems to tell us a true story about the world, and the Kuhnian intuition that scientific knowledge is historically and culturally situated. The first intuition pulls us towards a traditional, absolutist scientific picture, and the second towards a relativist one. Thus, perspectival realism can be seen as an attempt to secure situated knowledge without entailing epistemic relativism. A very similar motivation is behind feminist standpoint theory, a view which aims to capture the idea that knowledge is socially situated whilst retaining some kind of absolutism. Elsewhere I argue that the feminist project fails to achieve this balance; its commitment to situated knowledge unavoidably entails epistemic relativism (though of an unproblematic kind), which allows them to achieve all of their feminist goals. In this paper I will explore whether the same arguments apply to perspectival realism. And so I will be asking whether perspectival realism too is committed to an unproblematic kind of relativism, capable of achieving scientific goals; or, whether it succeeds in carving out a third view, between or beyond the relativism/absolutism dichotomy.
Data Protection and Ethical Issues in European P5 eHealth
Authors: Sanchini Virginia , Marelli Luca
Published: November 2019

In spite of its promise to significantly ameliorate health and care practices, the momentous rise of eHealth technologies has been fraught with significant ethical and societal concerns. Focusing on the unfolding of eHealth within the European Union, this contribution will explore its underpinning regulatory landscape with regard to data protection, focusing on the impact of the recently enforced Regulation (EU) 2016/679, also known as the General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, this chapter will chart relevant ethical issues related to the emergence of novel eHealth technologies. Finally, the conclusion will briefly explore ethical issues and their solutions in the light of the P5 approach.
Participatory Aspects of ICT Infrastructures for Cancer Management
Authors: Kondylakis Haridimos , Koumakis Lefteris , Mazzocco Ketti , Tsiknakis Manolis , Marias Kostas
Published: November 2019

Significant improvements in cancer research have led to more cancer patients being cured, and many more enabled to live with their cancer. As the disease is now managed as a chronic illness, it requires long-term surveillance and maintenance treatment. This requires a transformation in the nature of healthcare from reactive to preventive, personalized and participatory. To this direction, in this chapter we present relevant approaches developed within five European funded projects and we report on experiences and lessons learnt. More specifically, we describe the eHealth solutions developed, enabling patients to actively participate in their disease management, the results out of those projects towards the P5 vision and more especially on the participatory aspect and we present a set of requirements and guidelines for future technological solutions.
Role of Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies in Personalized Medicine
Authors: Morganti Stefania , Tarantino Paolo , Ferraro Emanuela , D’Amico Paolo , Viale Giulia , Trapani Dario , Duso Bruno Achutti , Curigliano Giuseppe
Published: November 2019

Following the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, research in oncology has progressively focused on the sequencing of cancer genomes, with the aim of better understanding the genetic basis of oncogenesis and identifying actionable alterations. The development of next-generation-sequencing (NGS) techniques, commercially available since 2006, allowed for a cost- and time-effective sequencing of tumor DNA, leading to a “genomic era” of cancer research and treatment. NGS provided a significant step forward in Personalized Medicine (PM) by enabling the detection of somatic driver mutations, resistance mechanisms, quantification of mutational burden, germline mutations, which settled the foundation of a new approach in cancer care. In this chapter, we discuss the history, available techniques, and applications of NGS in oncology, with a particular referral to the PM approach and the emerging role of the research field of pharmacogenomics.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 24-h urinary output of children and adolescents: impact on the assessment of iodine status using urinary biomarkers
Authors: Beckford Kelsey , Grimes Carley A. , Margerison Claire , Riddell Lynn J. , Skeaff Sheila A. , West Madeline L. , Nowson Caryl A.
Published: November 2019

Purpose

Urinary iodine concentration (UIC (μg/ml) from spot urine samples collected from school-aged children is used to determine the iodine status of populations. Some studies further extrapolate UIC to represent daily iodine intake, based on the assumption that children pass approximately 1 L urine over 24-h, but this has never been assessed in population studies. Therefore, the present review aimed to collate and produce an estimate of the average 24-h urine volume of children and adolescents (> 1 year and < 19 years) from published studies.

Methods

EBSCOHOST and EMBASE databases were searched to identify studies which reported the mean 24-h urinary volume of healthy children (> 1 year and < 19 years). The overall mean (95% CI) estimate of 24-h urine volume was determined using a random effects model, broken down by age group.

Results

Of the 44 studies identified, a meta-analysis of 27 studies, with at least one criterion for assessing the completeness of urine collections, indicated that the mean urine volume of 2–19 year olds was 773 (654, 893) (95% CI) mL/24-h. When broken down by age group, mean (95% CI) 24-h urine volume was 531 mL/day (454, 607) for 2–5 year olds, 771 mL/day (734, 808) for 6–12 year olds, and 1067 mL/day (855, 1279) for 13–19 year olds.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate that the average urine volume of children aged 2–12 years is less than 1 L, therefore, misclassification of iodine intakes may occur when urine volumes fall below or above 1 L. Future studies utilizing spot urine samples to assess iodine status should consider this when extrapolating UIC to represent iodine intakes of a population.
Human adenovirus binding to host cell receptors: a structural view
Authors: Stasiak Aleksandra Cecylia , Stehle Thilo
Published: November 2019

Human Adenoviruses (HAdVs) are a family of clinically and therapeutically relevant viruses. A precise understanding of their host cell attachment and entry mechanisms can be applied in inhibitor design and the construction of targeted gene delivery vectors. In this article, structural data on adenovirus attachment and entry are reviewed. HAdVs engage two types of receptors: first, an attachment receptor that is bound by the fibre knob protein protruding from the icosahedral capsid, and next, an integrin entry receptor bound by the pentameric penton base at the capsid vertices. Adenoviruses use remarkably diverse attachment receptors, five of which have been studied structurally in the context of HAdV binding: Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor, CD46, the glycans GD1a and polysialic acid, and desmoglein-2. Together with the integrin entry receptors, they display both symmetrical and asymmetrical modes of binding to the virus as demonstrated by the structural analyses reviewed here. The diversity of HAdV receptors contributes to the broad tropism of these viruses, and structural studies are thus an important source of information on HAdV-host cell interactions. The imbalance in structural data between the more and less extensively studied receptors remains to be addressed by future research.
Relevant parameters for recommendations of physical activity in patients suffering from multiple myeloma
Authors: Cenik Fadime , Keilani Mohammad , Hasenöhrl Timothy , Huber Dominikus , Stuhlpfarrer Bianca , Pataraia Anna , Crevenna Richard
Published: November 2019

Purpose

This pilot study aimed to describe physical performance, self-reported physical activity, health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression in patients who were assigned from Austrian self-help groups for multiple myeloma patients. These parameters were then discussed in the context of clinical decision-making concerning the recommended type of regular physical activity and exercise.

Methods

Members of the self-help groups were invited to participate. Physical performance and physical activity were assessed with the 6 min walk test (6MWT), handgrip strength test, timed up and go test (TUG), Tinetti performance oriented mobility assessment (POMA), falls efficacy scale (FES), international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), health-related quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).

Results

A total of 40 patients (female:male = 15:25, mean age: 63.8 ± 9.0 years, range 41–80 years) were identified. In total 20 (50%) reached the performance of healthy peers in the tests 6MWT, handgrip strength, TUG and POMA, while 50% showed at least 1 result below the reference value or cut-off-point for each test. Self-reported activity levels were high. Patients showed a tendency to overestimate the risk of falling but a case by case analysis revealed a tendency for underestimating the actual performance in the respective tests (TUG, POMA).

Conclusion

The performance of healthy peers was reached by a substantial number of the participants in tests of physical performance and they reported high levels of physical activity. Nevertheless, they tended to overestimate the specific risk of falling. Patients with notably impaired physical performance might be suitable to perform regular physical activity and exercise in an individual therapy, whereas those with good physical performance are suited for training in exercise groups; however, individual contraindications and clinical considerations should be noted in a multiprofessional and interdisciplinary setting.
Private Hospital Workflow Optimization via Secure k-Means Clustering
Authors: Spini Gabriele , van Heesch Maran , Veugen Thijs , Chatterjea Supriyo
Published: November 2019

Optimizing the workflow of a complex organization such as a hospital is a difficult task. An accurate option is to use a real-time locating system to track locations of both patients and staff. However, privacy regulations forbid hospital management to assess location data of their staff members. In this exploratory work, we propose a secure solution to analyze the joined location data of patients and staff, by means of an innovative cryptographic technique called Secure Multi-Party Computation, in which an additional entity that the staff members can trust, such as a labour union, takes care of the staff data. The hospital, owning location data of patients, and the labour union perform a two-party protocol, in which they securely cluster the staff members by means of the frequency of their patient facing times. We describe the secure solution in detail, and evaluate the performance of our proof-of-concept. This work thus demonstrates the feasibility of secure multi-party clustering in this setting.
The effect of drought and intercropping on chicory nutrient uptake from below 2 m studied in a multiple tracer setup
Authors: Rasmussen Camilla Ruø , Thorup-Kristensen Kristian , Dresbøll Dorte Bodin
Published: November 2019

Aims

We tested if chicory acquires nutrients from soil layers down to 3.5 m depth and whether the deep nutrient uptake increases as a result of drought or intercropping with ryegrass and black medic. We also tested whether application of the trace elements Cs, Li, Rb, Sr and Se, as tracers, result in similar uptake rates.

Methods

The methodological tests were carried out in a pilot experiment where the tracers were applied to 1 m depth in lucerne and red beet grown in tube rhizotrons. The dynamics of deep nutrient uptake in chicory was studied in large 4 m deep rhizoboxes. A drought was induced when roots had reached around 2 m depth.

Results

Chicory acquired 15N from 3.5 m depth and trace element tracers from 2.3 m depth. We found no compensatory tracer uptake with depth during drought. We found some indications of a compensatory tracer uptake from 2.3 and 2.9 m depth in intercropped chicory. Application of equimolar amounts of trace elements resulted in similar excess tracer concentrations within species.

Conclusion

Chicory demonstrates nutrient uptake from below 3 m but does not increase deep nutrient uptake as a response to limited topsoil nutrient availability induced by drought or intercropping.
Cyclodextrin conjugated ferritin nanocages reduce intracellular cholesterol level in foam cells
Authors: Ravishankar Samyukta , Lim Sierin
Published: November 2019

Accumulation of lipid-laden macrophages (foam cells) is characteristic of atherosclerosis development in the arterial walls. Ferritin nanocages have been found to passively accumulate in the atherosclerotic plaque. Ferritin has been actively investigated as a carrier for contrast agents in atherosclerosis diagnosis. We demonstrate the potential of ferritin as a carrier for therapeutic molecules to mediate cholesterol reduction from foam cells. Cyclodextrin molecules are chemically conjugated to the ferritin nanocages surface or encapsulated within the nanocages using metal co-loading methods. The cyclodextrin-conjugated ferritin has nanomolar affinity to cholesterol molecules. Treatment of foam cells with the conjugates shows decreased levels of intracellular accumulated cholesterol. The preferential localization of ferritin to foam cells is due to transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis process. These findings show that ferritin nanocages as carriers localize cyclodextrin molecules to foam cells which mediate intracellular cholesterol reduction, thus highlighting its potential use as a therapeutic agent.
Soil carbon enhancing practices: a systematic review of barriers and enablers of adoption
Authors: Ng’ang’a Stanley Karanja , Jalang’o Dorcas Anyango , Girvetz Evan Hartunian
Published: November 2019

Sustained adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices (SCEPs) at scale remains an aspiration goal to maintain sufficient amount of soil carbon in household farms in order to impact on the sustained farm productivity caused by sustained soil fertility. The objective of this study is to systematically evaluate the current evidence base to identify: (a) which factors enable or constrain adoption of SCEPs and hence maintain soil carbon in Kenya and Ethiopia; (b) to be able to lessons learnt concerning what influences the adoption of the SCEPs for the purpose of maintaining soil fertility among smallholder farms; and (c) how this can be improved going into the future for the purpose of formulating appropriate policies in Kenya and Ethiopia in both the short and long run. A systematic review was conducted using established review methodology and extensive searches of published and unpublished literature sources. Data extraction and quality appraisal of quantitative, qualitative and case studies that met the inclusion criteria were conducted while checking for reliability. A broad range of interrelated enabling and constraining factors was identified for the SCEPs. All the factors matter, and some of most of these factors are important to be considered during planning and implementation of SCEPs aiming at promoting soil carbon sequestration. Despite the limitation in the quantity of evidence, this systematic review provides a useful starting point for the scaling up programmes to ensure more effective adoption of SCEPs. This review also underscores the need for a multidisciplinary approach in understanding what determines the adoption of SCEPs to capture a holistic view.
Brief report: Patterns of prosocial behaviors in middle childhood predicting peer relations during early adolescence
Authors: Ma Ting‐Lan , Zarrett Nicole , Simpkins Sandra , Vandell Deborah L. , Jiang Su
Published: November 2019

Introduction

Early adolescence is a developmental period in which peer victimization, bullying, relational aggression, and social exclusion are particularly prominent. As these behaviors have long‐term implications for children, in this study, we investigated early variations of prosocial behaviors as one of the critical precedents that shape youth's subsequent peer relational outcomes. Specifically, we identified different profiles of prosocial behaviors in middle childhood (Grade 4) and related these profiles to peer relationships in early adolescence (Grade 6).

Method

Using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 914; 52% girls), a three‐step latent profile analysis was conducted on Grade 4 prosocial behaviors, which were then related to Grade 6 teacher‐ and student‐rated peer relationships (e.g., relational aggression).

Results

Four patterns of prosocial behaviors emerged: low prosocial (18%), high prosocial (67%), primarily friendly (8%), and primarily kind (7%). These four patterns of prosocial behaviors were differentially related to later problematic peer relationships: Low prosocial youth demonstrated the most problematic peer relationships (Mdiff = 0.36‐0.93, all p < .001). Primarily friendly (but not kind) youth displayed more general and relational aggression (Mdiff = 0.22, SE = 0.07, p = .002; and Mdiff = 0.18, SE = 0.06, p = .006, respectively).

Conclusion

Both low prosocial and primarily friendly youth are at risk for displaying peer‐related problems; interventions that build prosocial behaviors in youth with a low prosocial or primarily friendly profile may help prevent problematic peer relationships at early adolescence.
Self-audits as alternatives to travel-audits for improving data quality in the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology
Authors: Lotspeich Sarah C. , Giganti Mark J. , Maia Marcelle , Vieira Renalice , Machado Daisy Maria , Succi Regina Célia , Ribeiro Sayonara , Pereira Mario Sergio , Rodriguez Maria Fernanda , Julmiste Gaetane , Luque Marco Tulio , Caro-Vega Yanink , Mejia Fernando , Shepherd Bryan E. , McGowan Catherine C. , Duda Stephany N.
Published: November 2019

Introduction:

Audits play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of observational cohort data. While previous work has validated the audit process, sending trained auditors to sites (“travel-audits”) can be costly. We investigate the efficacy of training sites to conduct “self-audits.”

Methods:

In 2017, eight research groups in the Caribbean, Central, and South America network for HIV Epidemiology each audited a subset of their patient records randomly selected by the data coordinating center at Vanderbilt. Designated investigators at each site compared abstracted research data to the original clinical source documents and captured audit findings electronically. Additionally, two Vanderbilt investigators performed on-site travel-audits at three randomly selected sites (one adult and two pediatric) in late summer 2017.

Results:

Self- and travel-auditors, respectively, reported that 93% and 92% of 8919 data entries, captured across 28 unique clinical variables on 65 patients, were entered correctly. Across all entries, 8409 (94%) received the same assessment from self- and travel-auditors (7988 correct and 421 incorrect). Of 421 entries mutually assessed as “incorrect,” 304 (82%) were corrected by both self- and travel-auditors and 250 of these (72%) received the same corrections. Reason for changing antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen, ART end date, viral load value, CD4%, and HIV diagnosis date had the most mismatched corrections.

Conclusions:

With similar overall error rates, findings suggest that data audits conducted by trained local investigators could provide an alternative to on-site audits by external auditors to ensure continued data quality. However, discrepancies observed between corrections illustrate challenges in determining correct values even with audits.
Reappraisal of arctostylopid mammal Kazachostylops occidentalis from the late Paleocene of Kazakhstan and phylogenetic relationships within Arctostylopida
Authors: Averianov Alexander O.
Published: November 2019

Kazachostylops occidentalis Nesov, 1987b, based on partial maxilla and dentary from the upper Paleocene Zhylga locality in South Kazakhstan, is redescribed. A new phylogenetic hypothesis of Arctostylopida is proposed based on phylogenetic analysis of 26 characters and 17 taxa. Kazachostylops is recovered as a sister taxon to the Arctostylopinae, the advanced clade of Asian and North American arctostylopids characterized by pseudohypocone on upper molars and reduced trigonid of lower molars, with the ectolophid being attached labial on the trigonid. Kazachostylops differs from more basal arctostylopids (Asiostylops, Allostylops, Bothriostylops, and Wanostylops) by higher-crowned molars, M1–3 metaconule absent, m1–3 entoconid connected with ectolophid by entolophid, and m2 wider than m1 and m3. Principal component analyses of the upper and lower dentition of arctostylopids show great distinctness of Kazachostylops from other members of the group. The arctostylopid taxa are reviewed, and the new genus Enantiostylops is erected for ‘Sinostylops’ progressus Tang and Yan, 1976 from the lower Eocene of China, because of uniquely concave parastylar area on upper molars.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/a46d8f29-fd73-4e59-88dc-fcc55b12d1d3
“The Paradise of the Latrine”: American Toilet-Building and the Continuities of Colonial and Postcolonial Development
Authors: Toner Simon
Published: November 2019

The Sanitary Hamlet Program, a rural health project intended to serve counterinsurgency goals in wartime Vietnam, focused on ending open-air defecation and instructing Vietnamese in the correct use of latrines. This program belongs within a larger arc of American nation-buildingcumtoilet-building at home and abroad in the twentieth century; American toilet-building shared common features and served common functions from the age of formal empire through the postcolonial era. Looking beyond the rhetoric of modernization to on-the-ground practices reveals how American approaches to international development after 1945 continued to be shaped by racialized perceptions of foreign peoples. But the project was not simply the product of an American neo-colonial impulse. It was also an expression of South Vietnamese leaders’ postcolonial worldview—one that similarly targeted unsanitary peasants for hygienic reform.
Arginine promotes porcine type I muscle fibres formation through improvement of mitochondrial biogenesis
Authors: Chen Xiaoling , Luo Xiaoming , Chen Daiwen , Yu Bing , He Jun , Huang Zhiqing
Published: November 2019

The present study aimed to investigate whether arginine (Arg) promotes porcine type I muscle fibres formation via improving mitochondrial biogenesis. In the in vivo study, a total of sixty Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire weaning piglets with an average body weight of 6·55 (sd 0·36) kg were randomly divided into four treatments and fed with a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 0·5, 1·0 and 1·5 % l-Arg, respectively, in a 4-week trial. Results showed that dietary supplementation of 1·0 % Arg significantly enhanced the activity of succinate dehydrogenase, up-regulated the protein expression of myosin heavy chain I (MyHC I) and increased the mRNA levels of MyHC I, troponin I1, C1 and T1 (Tnni1, Tnnc1 and Tnnt1) in longissimus dorsi muscle compared with the control group. In addition, ATPase staining analysis indicated that 1·0 % Arg supplementation significantly increased the number of type I muscle fibres and significantly decreased the number of type II muscle fibres. Furthermore, 1·0 % Arg supplementation significantly up-regulated PPAR-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), sirtuin 1 and cytochrome c (Cytc) protein expressions, increased PGC-1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), mitochondria transcription factor B1 (TFB1M), Cytc and ATP synthase subunit C1 (ATP5G) mRNA levels and increased mitochondrial DNA content. In the in vitro study, mitochondrial complex I inhibitor rotenone (Rot) was used. We found that Rot annulled Arg-induced type I muscle fibres formation. Together, our results provide for the first time the evidence that Arg promotes porcine type I muscle fibres formation through improvement of mitochondrial biogenesis.
MOVING BEYOND COLONIAL CONTROL? ECONOMIC FORCES AND SHIFTING MIGRATION FROM RUANDA-URUNDI TO BUGANDA, 1920–60
Authors: DE HAAS MICHIEL
Published: November 2019

Migration was a crucial component of the spatially uneven formation of labour markets and export-oriented economies in colonial Africa. Much of this mobility was initiated by migrants themselves rather than by colonial authorities. Building on analytical concepts from economic history and migration theory, this study explains the changing composition and magnitude of one such uncontrolled migration flow, from Ruanda-Urundi to Buganda. Migrants’ mobility choices – when to migrate, for how long, and with whom – proved highly responsive to shifting economic opportunity structures on the sending and receiving ends. Initially, large differences in terms of land and labour endowments, socio-economic structures, and colonial interventions, combined with substantial scope for price arbitrage, created large spatial inequalities of opportunity and strong incentives for circular male labour migration. Over time, however, migration contracted as opportunities in Ruanda-Urundi and Uganda converged, not in the least as a result of large-scale mobility itself.
A new species ofAtriophallophorusDeblock & Rosé, 1964 (Trematoda: Microphallidae) described fromin vitro-grown adults and metacercariae fromPotamopyrgus antipodarum(Gray, 1843) (Mollusca: Tateidae)
Authors: Blasco-Costa I. , Seppälä K. , Feijen F. , Zajac N. , Klappert K. , Jokela J.
Published: November 2019

The adult and metacercaria life stages of a new species of the microphallid genusAtriophallophorusDeblock & Rosé, 1964 are described from specimens collected at Lake Alexandrina (South Island, New Zealand). In addition to molecular analyses of ribosomal and mitochondrial genes, metacercariae ofAtriophallophorus winterbournin. sp. from the snail hostPotamopyrgus antipodarum(Gray) were grownin vitroto characterize internal and external morphology of adults using light and scanning electron microscopy and histological techniques.Atriophallophorus winterbournin. sp. is readily distinguishable fromAtriophallophorus coxiellaeSmith, 1973 by having a different structure of the prostatic chamber, sub-circular and dorsal to genital atrium, rather than cylindrical, fibrous, elongate and placed between the seminal vesicle and the genital atrium. The new species is most similar toAtriophallophorus minutus(Price, 1934) with regards to the prostatic chamber and the morphometric data, but possesses elongate-oval testes and subtriangular ovary rather than oval and transversely oval inA. minutus. Phylogenetic analyses including sequence data forA. winterbournin. sp. suggested a congeneric relationship of the new species to a hitherto undescribed metacercariae reported from Australia, both forming a strongly supported clade closely related toMicrophallusandLevinseniella. In addition, we provide an amended diagnosis ofAtriophallophorusto accommodate the new species and confirm the sinistral interruption of the outer rim of the ventral sucker caused by the protrusion of the dextral parietal atrial scale at the base of the phallus.
Rehabilitation as the Wage of Starvation: The 1941 Local 313 Sharecropper Strike's Critical Theory of Normativity
Authors: Kalina Kasia
Published: November 2019

This paper examines the 1941 pamphlet “Down with Starvation-Wages!,” written by Local 313 striking sharecroppers in Southeast Missouri, as it both anticipates and places into deep historical tension theories of normativity that would come to be associated with continental European critique after World War Two. The pamphlet's contents are both a local response to and critical theory of New Deal struggles over the meaning and bureaucratic administration of rehabilitation. I first examine the schematic history of federal Rehabilitation programs as they emerged in the biomedical context of the First World War and were then transformed in the agricultural-economic context of the New Deal era. Across these contexts, I demonstrate that their main discursive and procedural function was the cultivation of their white beneficiaries as economic and political self-sovereigns. I then argue that the brief attempt to extend this Agricultural Adjustment Administration-administered form of Rural Rehabilitation programming, ostensibly an index of citizenship, to 1939 striking sharecroppers constituted one attempt to dull the normative force of an organized population, which had long been treated as surplus. I outline the relocation of remaining protesters to the farming cooperative of Cropperville by the St. Louis Committee for the Rehabilitation of Sharecroppers as an intermediary mode of social management that aimed to prevent organized sharecropper protest without extending the promise of full citizenship. The Local's 1941 subsequent “starvation-wage” is thus a relational theory of racist exploitation that allowed the state of starvation to emerge among black persons. In its maintenance of various orders of black persons’ virtual value as perpetually unrealized, its economy is made to run through cycles of starvation, bondage, and debt; as well as nutrition, rehabilitation, and repair. The Local's subsequent endorsement of the 1941 strike and of coalitional organizing with white sharecroppers thus instrumentalizes the very uneven racist distribution of history and life chances by the starvation-wage as a political resource in elaborating potentially novel arrangements of life.
Dispatcher Identification of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and Neurologically Intact Survival: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Mapp Julian G. , Darrington Anthony M. , Harper Stephen A. , Kharod Chetan U. , Miramontes David A. , Wampler David A. ,   Prehospital Research and Innovation in Military and Expeditionary Environments (PRIME) Research Group
Published: November 2019

Introduction:

To date, there are no published data on the association of patient-centered outcomes and accurate public-safety answering point (PSAP) dispatch in an American population. The goal of this study is to determine if PSAP dispatcher recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is associated with neurologically intact survival to hospital discharge.

Methods:

This retrospective cohort study is an analysis of prospectively collected Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI) data from the San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD; San Antonio, Texas USA) OHCA registry from January 2013 through December 2015. Exclusion criteria were: Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-witnessed arrest, traumatic arrest, age <18 years old, no dispatch type recorded, and missing outcome data. The primary exposure was dispatcher recognition of cardiac arrest. The primary outcome was neurologically intact survival (defined as Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] 1 or 2) to hospital discharge. The secondary outcomes were: bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED) use, and prehospital return of spontaneous return of circulation (ROSC).

Results:

Of 3,469 consecutive OHCA cases, 2,569 cases were included in this analysis. The PSAP dispatched 1,964/2,569 (76.4%) of confirmed OHCA cases correctly. The PSAP dispatched 605/2,569 (23.6%) of confirmed OHCA cases as another chief complaint. Neurologically intact survival to hospital discharge occurred in 99/1,964 (5.0%) of the recognized cardiac arrest group and 28/605 (4.6%) of the unrecognized cardiac arrest group (OR = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.71–1.70). Bystander CPR occurred in 975/1,964 (49.6%) of the recognized cardiac arrest group versus 138/605 (22.8%) of the unrecognized cardiac arrest group (OR = 3.34; 95% CI, 2.70–4.11).

Conclusion:

This study found no association between PSAP dispatcher identification of OHCA and neurologically intact survival to hospital discharge. Dispatcher identification of OHCA remains an important, but not singularly decisive link in the OHCA chain of survival.
Soundwalks: An experiential path to new sonic art
Authors: Carras Christos
Published: November 2019

The diverse practice of soundwalking is approached through its constituent parts (walking and listening) as an ideal ‘way in’ to the appreciation of new sonic art. It is argued that, because it engages the subject in a manner that encourages an aural perception of the environment not only as a physical space but also as a space of social and political tensions, divisions and flows, it can act as an experiential foundation for understanding how sound inflects our thoughts about and our relationships to agencies, human or not, that we interact with. This in turn renders possible modes of listening that are particularly adapted to contemporary forms of sonic art. Furthermore, soundwalking ties in to important contemporary discussions about participation, its potential for radical engagement of audiences and also the various forms of mediation it involves.
Empowerment and Disempowerment in the Participatory Culture of TransCoding
Authors: Lüneburg Barbara
Published: November 2019

In this article, I consider implications of outreach practices in the field of contemporary music for the field itself and for the professional artists involved. I am interested in what happens if we facilitate access to contemporary music for audiences of any kind of demographic, break down barriers, share authority between participating non-professionals and professional artists and allow all participants of a project influence on jointly created artworks. I investigate in how far the organisational or structural change in the creative practice and the creative outcome – that comes along with bringing new players into the field – has consequences on the personal practice of the professional actors in such a project. I base my article on theories of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, communication scholar Henry Jenkins, art historian Claire Bishop, musicologist Elena Ungeheuer and my own research into social structures of the contemporary art field, and apply them to a single case study: the artistic research project TransCoding – From ‘Highbrow Art’ to Participatory Culture, funded by the Austrian Science Fund. Using the method of thick description, I take the reader through the history of TransCoding, give account of field experiences and put the found patterns of cultural-social experiences into a theoretical context. I investigate the power shifts from professional artists to audience that occurred on the basis of creative, participatory processes within this project. In doing so, I would like to raise questions and stimulate discussion with regard to the conditions and social organisations of creative practice in the contemporary music field, the distribution of power and how this is felt when ‘bringing new audiences to new music’ into the core practice of professional artists, the actual creation of a new work.