bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nutritional interventions for heart failure patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition or cachexia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Habaybeh Dina , de Moraes Mariana Bordinhon , Slee Adrian , Avgerinou Christina
Published: March 2020

Malnutrition is common in heart failure (HF), and it is associated with higher hospital readmission and mortality rates. This review aims to answer the question whether nutritional interventions aiming to increase protein and energy intake are effective at improving outcomes for patients with HF who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition or cachexia. Systematic searches of four databases (Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)) were conducted on 21 June 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or other interventional studies using protein or energy supplementation for adult HF patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition or cachexia were included. Two independent reviewers assessed study eligibility and risk of bias. Five studies (four RCTs and one pilot RCT) met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were small and of limited quality. The pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) for body weight showed a benefit from the nutritional intervention by 3.83 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.17 to 7.50, P = 0.04) from three trials with no significant benefit for triceps skinfold thickness (WMD = − 2.14 mm, 95% CI − 9.07 to 4.79, P = 0.55) from two trials. The combination of personalized nutrition intervention with conventional treatment led to a decrease in all-cause mortality and hospital readmission in one study. Findings of this review suggest that nutritional interventions could potentially improve outcomes in HF patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. However, the strength of the evidence is poor, and more robust studies with a larger number of participants are needed.
Mothers’ Experiences of Having an Adolescent Child with Depression: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Authors: Armitage Sarah , Parkinson Monika , Halligan Sarah , Reynolds Shirley
Published: March 2020

Objectives

Adolescence represents a significant period of vulnerability for the development of depression. Whilst research has begun to explore factors associated with the development, maintenance and outcomes of adolescent depression, there is little research investigating this experience from a parental viewpoint. The aim of this study was to explore mothers’ experiences of having an adolescent child with depression.

Methods

Eight mothers of depressed adolescents were recruited following their child’s clinical assessment at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and participated in semi-structured interviews. The transcripts of the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results

The analysis revealed five interlinked superordinate themes: Finding a reason, something to blame; Living with uncertainty; Feelings of helplessness and frustration; Depression causes change; Hiding own emotions and needs. A key finding across the themes was the emotional distress and sense of uncertainty experienced by the mothers.

Conclusions

The findings highlight avenues for clinical practice and further research including exploring the type and format of information and support that parents would value most, the views of fathers, and more in-depth exploration of the identified themes with parents using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Dynamic changes in the signal-averaged electrocardiogram are associated with the long-term outcomes after ablation of ischemic ventricular tachycardia
Authors: Dinov Borislav , Schramm Lisa , Koenig Sebastian , Oebel Sabrina , Bollmann Andreas , Hindricks Gerhard , Arya Arash , Bode Kerstin
Published: March 2020

Purpose

Signal-averaged ECG (SAECG) can detect inhomogeneous myocardial conduction in patients presenting with ventricular tachycardia (VT) after myocardial infarction. Radiofrequency ablation (RFCA) aims at elimination of the endocardial late potentials and non-inducibility of VT. Previously, we demonstrated that abnormal SAECG at baseline can return to normal after a successful VT ablation. The present research investigates the post-ablation changes in SAECG after RFCA of VT and their relation to the procedural long-term outcomes.

Methods

Thirty-three patients (31 male; age 68 ± 9 years; EF 36 ± 12%) with ischemic VT were prospectively enrolled to receive RFCA. One VT (range 1–7) per patient was ablated using substrate-guided RFCA and complete success was achieved in 28 (85%) cases. SAECG was performed before (t1), immediately after (t2), and at least 6 months (t3) after the RFCA.

Results

After RFCA, the amount of patients showing abnormal SAECG decreased from 82% initially (t1) to 57.6% post-interventionally (t2); P = 0.008; and remained unchanged thereafter in 57% (t3). Patients who experienced VT recurrence (VT+) during the follow-up period had broader averaged QRS (t2): (VT+) 150 ± 26 vs. (VT−) 129 ± 21 ms; P = 0.015, as well as longer LAS40 (t2): (VT+) 60 ± 26 vs. (VT−) 43 ± 18 ms; P = 0.03. Abnormal SAECG (t2) was a strong predictor for VT recurrence: HR 5.4; 95% CI 1.5–21. SAECG detected more late potentials in patients with inferior than in those with anterior scars: 95% vs. 58%; P = 0.016.

Conclusions

RFCA of VT in the left ventricle can improve an abnormal SAECG in some patients after myocardial infarction. Normal SAECG after RFCA of VT is associated with a lower risk for VT recurrence and death.
Impact of re-definition of paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation in the 2012 and 2016 European Society of Cardiology atrial fibrillation guidelines on outcomes after pulmonary vein isolation
Authors: Weinmann Karolina , Aktolga Deniz , Pott Alexander , Bothner Carlo , Rattka Manuel , Stephan Tilman , Rottbauer Wolfgang , Dahme Tillman
Published: March 2020

Purpose

In the 2016 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF), the definition of AF type has been modified compared with the 2010 guidelines and its 2012 focused update. We compared the difference of single procedure outcomes using the definitions before and after 2016 on a cohort of patients with AF undergoing AF ablation.

Methods

Consecutive AF ablation patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF were retrospectively reclassified applying the 2010, 2012, and 2016 ESC definitions on AF type.

Results

We included a total of 628 patients. Applying the 2010 ESC AF guidelines definition, 68% of patients were paroxysmal while according to the 2016 ESC AF guidelines, the proportion increased to 87%. Applying the 2010 ESC guidelines definition, recurrence rates of paroxysmal and persistent AF patients differ significantly (log-rank p < 0.001). Applying the 2012 focused update and the 2016 ESC AF guidelines, recurrence rates do not differ significantly. In a cox regression model applying the 2010 guidelines, persistent AF is the only independent predictor of AF recurrence in our cohort. However, when applying the 2016 guidelines, persistent AF is no longer a predictor of AF recurrence.

Conclusions

The revised definition of AF types in the 2016 ESC AF guidelines leads to a marked shift from persistent to paroxysmal AF. It appears that the old definition provided a better separator to predict rhythm outcome after AF ablation.
Plant-Based Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Aqueous Leaf Extract of Salvia officinalis: Characterization and its Antiplasmodial Activity
Authors: Okaiyeto Kunle , Hoppe Heinrich , Okoh Anthony I.
Published: March 2020

In the present study, an aqueous leaf extract of Salvia officinalis was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and characterized with different techniques such as UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Subsequently, its cytotoxic effect against human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cells and antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum were investigated. UV–vis spectrum of AgNPs displayed an absorption peak at 323 nm and TEM result revealed it to be spherical in shape with average size of 41 nm. FTIR results highlighted the key bioactive compounds that could be responsible for the reduction and capping of AgNPs and XRD analysis showed its crystalline nature with a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure. The synthesized AgNPs was found to be less cytotoxic against HeLa cells line and demonstrated good antiplasmodial potential (IC50 = 3.6 µg/mL). Findings from this study indicated that the AgNPs could serve as a template in the development of new drugs for the control of malaria and hence, further study is needed to identify and characterize the potent molecules that suppress the malaria parasite.
Efficient Collection and Representation of Preverbal Data in Typical and Atypical Development
Authors: Pokorny Florian B. , Bartl-Pokorny Katrin D. , Zhang Dajie , Marschik Peter B. , Schuller Dagmar , Schuller Björn W.
Published: March 2020

Human preverbal development refers to the period of steadily increasing vocal capacities until the emergence of a child’s first meaningful words. Over the last decades, research has intensively focused on preverbal behavior in typical development. Preverbal vocal patterns have been phonetically classified and acoustically characterized. More recently, specific preverbal phenomena were discussed to play a role as early indicators of atypical development. Recent advancements in audio signal processing and machine learning have allowed for novel approaches in preverbal behavior analysis including automatic vocalization-based differentiation of typically and atypically developing individuals. In this paper, we give a methodological overview of current strategies for collecting and acoustically representing preverbal data for intelligent audio analysis paradigms. Efficiency in the context of data collection and data representation is discussed. Following current research trends, we set a special focus on challenges that arise when dealing with preverbal data of individuals with late detected developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder or Rett syndrome.
A Note On the Weak Convergence of the Extragradient Method for Solving Pseudo-Monotone Variational Inequalities
Authors: Vuong Phan Tu
Published: March 2020

A corrigendum in Vuong (J Optim Theory Appl 176:399–409, 2018) is given.
Trauma, Violence, and Memory in African Child Soldier Memoirs
Authors: Hynd Stacey
Published: March 2020

Child soldiers have been heavily involved in contemporary African warfare. Since the 1990s, the ‘child soldier crisis’ has become a major humanitarian and human rights project. The figure of the child soldier has often been taken as evidence of the ‘barbarism’, dehumanization and trauma generated by modern warfare, but such images can obscure the complex reality of children’s experiences of being part of armed groups during conflict. This article uses the published memoirs of former child soldiers from Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to explore the instrumental and discursive nexus between child soldiers, memory, violence and humanitarianism. It assesses how (former-) children combatants remember and recount their experiences of war, and how these narratives can be shaped by humanitarian, literary and/or therapeutic framings. The article argues that these memoirs’ significance lies in their affective truths and what they reveal about children’s experience, and narrations, of war. Former child soldiers engage with, but also challenge, dominant contemporary humanitarian discourses surrounding childhood and violence to develop a ‘victim, savage, saviour, campaigner’ framework for their narratives. The article historically contextualizes the emergence of the ‘child soldier memoir’, before analysing the narratives of recruitment, indoctrination, and violence recounted by these former child soldiers, and their attempts to rework their identities in a post-conflict environment. It explores how former child soldiers narrate suffering and deploy discourses of trauma in their memoirs: some seeking to process wartime traumas, others leveraging their own suffering to position themselves as campaigners for those children still caught in conflict.
Making Votes Count with Internet Voting
Authors: Germann Micha
Published: March 2020

This paper reassesses the claim that electronic voting systems help voters to avoid common mistakes that lead to their votes remaining uncounted. While prior studies have come to mixed conclusions, I provide new, more robust evidence based on a case study of extended Internet voting trials in Geneva canton, Switzerland. The trials almost exclusively involved referendum votes. For causal identification I exploit the unique circumstance that federal safety legislation created a near-natural experiment, with some of the canton’s municipalities participating in the trials and others not. Using difference-in-differences estimation, I find that the residual vote rate decreased by an average of 0.3 percentage points if municipalities offered the possibility to vote online in addition to (mostly optically scanned) paper ballots. For cantonal measures, which are located towards the bottom of ballot papers in Geneva, the reduction increases to 0.5 percentage points. These remain relatively modest effects, and I find no evidence for a knock-on effect on electoral outcomes. However, on average only around 20% of votes were cast online where the opportunity existed, and online voting was most popular among voters with high levels of education. Despite the small effect sizes, the results of this study therefore point to the potential of Internet and, more generally, electronic voting technology to reduce avoidable voter mistakes.
Signatures of Coronal Loop Opening via Interchange Reconnection in the Slow Solar Wind at 1 AU
Authors: Owens Mathew , Lockwood Mike , Macneil Allan , Stansby David
Published: March 2020

The opening of closed magnetic loops via reconnection with open solar flux, so called “interchange reconnection”, is invoked in a number of models of slow solar wind release. In the heliosphere, this is expected to result in local switchbacks or inversions in heliospheric magnetic flux (HMF). When observed at 1 AU, inverted HMF has previously been shown to exhibit high ion charge states, suggestive of hot coronal loops, and to map to the locations of coronal magnetic separatrices. However, simulations show that inverted HMF produced directly by reconnection in the low corona is unlikely to survive to 1 AU without the amplification by solar wind speed shear. By considering the surrounding solar wind, we show that inverted HMF is preferably associated with regions of solar wind shear at 1 AU. Compared with the surrounding solar wind, inverted HMF intervals have lower magnetic field intensity and show intermediate speed and density values between the faster, more tenuous wind ahead and the slower, denser wind behind. There is no coherent signature in iron charge states, but oxygen and carbon charge states within the inverted HMF are in agreement with the higher values in the slow wind behind. Conversely, the iron-to-oxygen abundance ratio is in better agreement with the lower values in the solar wind ahead, while the alpha-to-proton abundance ratio shows no variation. One possible explanation for these observations is that the interchange reconnection (and subsequent solar wind shear) that is responsible for generation of inverted HMF involves very small, quiet-Sun loops of approximately photospheric composition, which are impulsively heated in the low corona, rather than large-scale active region loops with enhanced first-ionisation potential elements. Whether signatures of such small loops could be detected in situ at 1 AU still remains to be determined.
Doping Manganese Oxides with Ceria and Ceria Zirconia Using a One-Pot Sol–Gel Method for Low Temperature Diesel Oxidation Catalysts
Authors: O’Donnell Ruairi , Ralphs Kathryn , Grolleau Maxime , Manyar Haresh , Artioli Nancy
Published: March 2020

Octahedral molecular sieves (OMS-2) are an interesting form of manganese oxide with a 2 × 2 edge sharing tunnel structure and a cation positioned inside. Cryptomelane is an OMS-2 material with K+ cations within the crystalline tunnel and has been widely used in catalytic oxidation reactions, due to a mixed valency of Mn3+ and Mn4+ cations. Cryptomelane (K-OMS-2) can be modified by structural incorporation of various dopants and tunnel cations which can enhance the catalytic activity of the material. It also offers to be a promising alternative material for the low temperature emission control of combustion vehicles; particularly during cold start and low temperature conditions of diesel vehicles. In this work we used a one-pot sol–gel route to synthesize a range of manganese oxide based supports doped with Ce and CeZrO2, as alternative low temperature diesel oxidation catalysts. We have investigated the combination of manganese, ceria and zirconia in mixed oxide catalyst supports. The synthesized samples were loaded with 1 wt% Pt and their activity in the oxidation reactions of CO and C3H6, were compared with a commercial diesel oxidation catalyst with the same metal loading. The reductions in CO and C3H6 oxidation temperature T50 of 109 K and 81 K respectively was achieved compared to a commercial diesel oxidation catalyst.
Cadmium-induced endothelial dysfunction mediated by asymmetric dimethylarginine
Authors: Al-Naemi Hamda A. , Das Sandra Concepcion
Published: March 2020

Cadmium (Cd) is a naturally occurring toxic heavy metal with no known essential biological functions. Exposure to Cd increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by disrupting vascular homeostasis at the endothelium. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of chronic low-dose Cd on vascular structure and function. Fifty adult male Sprague Dawley rats were grouped and assigned to one of two treatments for 14 weeks. The control group received normal water for 14 weeks while the Cd-treated group received 15 mg Cd/kg B.W. as CdCl2 in water for 10 weeks. A subset of the Cd-treated group received 15 mg Cd/kg B.W. as CdCl2 in water for 10 weeks followed by 4 weeks of normal water. Results show an overall decline in vascular function and structure. Withdrawal of Cd treatment showed a considerable restoration of vascular structure and vasorelaxation function. Additionally, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) bioavailability was found to be lowered over time. Interestingly, the expression of eNOS in the Cd-treated group was found to be significantly elevated during the exposure by more than 3-fold in comparison with that in the control group. This protein expression was similar to the control group after the withdrawal of Cd treatment. Taken together, the results suggest that ADMA, an eNOS inhibitor, may play a role in altering endothelial function in the presence of cadmium. In conclusion, the findings indicate that even at low doses, Cd leads to endothelial dysfunction mediated by ADMA.
Evaluation of Liver Function Tests and Risk Score Assessment to Screen Patients for Significant Liver Disease Prior to Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery
Authors: Antipass Anthony , Austin Andrew , Awad Sherif , Hughes David , Idris Iskandar
Published: March 2020

Bariatric and metabolic surgery is associated with significant improvement in obesity-related comorbidities, but for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), clinical outcomes are dependent on the severity of liver disease, i.e. improvement of NAFLD in most patients but increased risks of fulminant hepatic failure and/or bleeding varices in patients with more advanced cirrhosis. Our study showed that absolute values of liver enzymes were poor indicator of risk of liver fibrosis. The use of AST/ALT ratio, Fib 4 or NAFLD scores were appropriate screening tools, with each risk score appearing to pick out a certain phenotype of patients based on age, BMI or individual values of ALT, AST or platelet count. There is lack of agreement in some cases between FIB-4 scores and NAFLD scores when ruling out patients at high risk of liver fibrosis. Meticulous screening of patients at risk of liver fibrosis is crucial in order to reduce the risk of liver-related complications following bariatric and metabolic surgery.
Evaluation of Industry 4.0 Data formats for Digital Twin of Optical Components
Authors: Schmetz Arno , Lee Tae Hun , Hoeren Maximilian , Berger Marvin , Ehret Susanne , Zontar Daniel , Min Soo-Hong , Ahn Sung-Hoon , Brecher Christian
Published: March 2020

A wide range of software and hardware components are present in today’s production systems and plants using a variety of interfaces and data formats for information exchange on different levels of the system. To increase the traceability, the lifecycle management and providing a single point of source of component-specific data, the Digital Twin technology is proposed, linking different data sets tailored to the requirements of different kind of users (e.g., machines, technicians, logistics, manufacturing execution systems). The data exchange between entities in the manufacturing network relies on machine-readable, flexible and self-describing data formats. When implementing or integrating different components into complex systems, the interoperability challenge is a major concern to address by the system designers and becomes a central task for the creation and integration of Digital Twin technology. In this paper, we evaluate different formats that are used in real environments and create a requirements framework for an ideal format for exchanging flexible and self-describing data in context of optical components manufacturing process and their special requirements.
Petrology, physicochemical and thermal analyses of selected cretaceous coals from the Benue Trough Basin in Nigeria
Authors: Akinyemi S. A. , Adebayo O. F. , Nyakuma B. B. , Adegoke A. K. , Aturamu O. A. , OlaOlorun O. A. , Adetunji A. , Hower J. C. , Hood M. M. , Jauro A.
Published: March 2020

Abundant coal resources that were previously neglected due to a crude oil boom need revitalisation and integration into the national electricity mix to address the energy demands of the Nigerian population. Selected coal samples from the Benue Trough sedimentary basin in Nigeria were examined by various techniques, including proximate and ultimate analyses, organic petrography, Fourier transform infrared ray spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Based on vitrinite reflectance, the Lafia-Obi (OLB), Garin Maiganga (GMG), Imiegba (IMG), and Okaba (OKB) coals are classified as subbituminous, while the Lamja1 (LMJ1), Lamja2 (LMJ2) and Chikila (CHK) coals are high volatile B bituminous. The Enugu (ENG) coal is on the boundary between subbituminous and high volatile C bituminous. Organic petrographic results indicate vitrinite and fusinite contents steadily increase from the Lower Benue Trough coals to the Upper Benue Trough coals, while semifusinite and total mineral contents follow a reverse pattern. Thermal decomposition occurred in three stages, i.e., drying, devolatilization, and coke formation above 700 °C; and the coal reactivity follows the following order, ENG > IMG > IGH > CHK > LMJ > OKB > GMG > LFB. The higher temperatures (above 900 °C) are required to decompose the coals for efficient energy recovery. The LMJ1, LMJ2, OLB, CHK, GMG, and OKB coals can be exploited for electricity power generation. However, the Imeagha and Enugu coals are best suitable for both cement and power generation.
International Valuation Standards (IVS) – Bedarf, Reichweite, Würdigung, diskutiert anhand der Bewertung von Unternehmen und Goodwill
Authors: Ballwieser Wolfgang
Published: March 2020

Der Beitrag zielt auf eine Bedarfsanalyse des International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) und der von ihm entwickelten International Valuation Standards (IVS) aus deutscher Sicht. Die akademische Beschäftigung mit IVSC und IVS ist bisher rudimentär und erschöpft sich weitgehend in einer Wiedergabe von Standards. Diese Sichtweise zu erweitern ist das übergeordnete Ziel des Beitrags. Betrieben wird die Analyse für die Unternehmens- und Goodwillbewertung, denn zur Unternehmensbewertung existieren IVS und zur Goodwillbehandlung äußert sich das IVSC. Dies erlaubt einen Vergleich mit der ausdifferenzierten Unternehmensbewertung in Deutschland und mit den ökonomischen Resultaten zum Informationswert der Wertminderungen von Goodwill.
Effect of spark plasma sintering temperature on the pore characteristics, porosity and compression strength of porous titanium foams
Authors: Makena Isaac M. , Shongwe Mxolisi B. , Machaka Ronald , Masete Mosimanegape S.
Published: March 2020

In this work, porous titanium (Ti) foams were successfully produced using spark plasma sintering technique at four different temperatures (up to 650 °C), in conjunction with vacuum sintering (used as a post-treatment) at a constant temperature of 1200 °C. To obtain a porous structure, 60 vol% of sodium chloride was included as a pore spacer, with the addition of polyethylene glycol solution for Ti–NaCl interparticle binding. The work aimed at studying the effect of sintering temperature on the final pore features and compression resistance of the porous titanium foams. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy as characterization techniques were used to analyze phases and pore evolutions, respectively. The results showed that the pore characteristics and the final porosity of porous titanium foams profoundly depend on the sintering temperature. The lowest porosity of approximately 53.9 vol%, with denser pore walls, was seen at the highest sintering temperature. Such foams sintered at 650 °C can resist the compression stress as high as 123 MPa while exhibiting the stiffness value of 8.1 GPa. The results indicate that the porous Ti foams produced have great potential for applications in hard tissue engineering.
Adverse effects of interactions between antipsychotics and medications used in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders
Authors: Siwek Marcin , Woroń Jarosław , Gorostowicz Aleksandra , Wordliczek Jerzy
Published: March 2020

Background

High level of comorbidity between bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in clinical practice may contribute to drug–drug interactions between medications used in these conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate harmful interactions between antipsychotics and medications used in treatment of CVD.

Methods

The analysis of 52 cases of adverse reactions with a clinical picture indicates that they were the result of the combination of antipsychotic with cardiovascular medications.

Results

The highest number of interactions with antipsychotics was recorded among beta-blockers (n = 13, 25% of all cases), including cardiac arrhythmias [atrial fibrillation (n = 1): risperidone plus atenolol; bradycardia (n = 1): perphenazine with metoprolol; ventricular arrhythmias: sertindole with metoprolol (n = 1) and ziprasidone with sotalol (n = 3)] and hypotension [chlorprotixene with nebivolol or metoprolol (n = 2)]. 12 cases concerned statins—myalgia, myopathy, or creatine kinase elevation appeared after combination of atorvastatin with haloperidol (n = 1), quetiapine (n = 3) or risperidone (n = 1), and simvastatin with quetiapine (n = 5) or risperidone (n = 2). There were also cases of interactions observed for the use of antipsychotics with anti-arrhythmic drugs (amiodarone, flecainide, propafenone) (n = 11), calcium channel blockers (n = 6), and other cardiac medications: clonidine, dabigatran, doxazosin, ivabradine, and losartan (n = 10).

Conclusions

Due to a high risk of interactions and related adverse effects, particular attention should be paid while using cardiovascular medications with antipsychotics. Clinical decisions should be preceded by a detailed analysis of safety, risk–benefit ratio to search for, as safe as possible, drug combinations.
Editorial
Authors: Barrett Steve
Published: March 2020

Cross-border initiatives are an interesting variation on full-on international collaborations, and we report on several in this issue.
Prosper Weil and the Mask of Classicism
Authors: Tasioulas John
Published: March 2020

Prosper Weil's scintillating intervention of 1983 warned against pathological doctrinal tendencies that threatened to “disable international law from fulfilling what have always been its proper functions.” Weil concluded his sweeping critique of these supposed pathologies with an urgent call for remedial action: “[A]ll is not yet lost . . . . There is still time for jurists to react.” But, as José Alvarez points out in his contribution to this symposium, the manifestations of “relative normativity” that Weil decried—such as the doctrine of jus cogens and the transmutation of customary law into universal law—have only entrenched themselves more firmly in the decades since his famous article was published. So, what is the point of engaging with “Towards Relative Normativity in International Law?” today beyond its historical significance as a celebrated, but ultimately failed, rallying cry against the doctrinal revolution that has swept over international law in the period since decolonization?
An Island-Wide Disaster Drill to Train the Next Generation of Anesthesiologists: The SIAARTI Academy Experience
Authors: Carenzo Luca , Bazurro Simone , Colombo Davide , Petrini Flavia , Ingrassia Pier Luigi
Published: March 2020

Objective:

Anesthesiologists play a pivotal role in mass-casualty incidents management. Disaster medicine is part of the anesthesiologist’s core skills; however, dedicated training is still scarce and, often, it does not follow a standardized program.

Methods:

We designed and delivered a crash course in disaster medicine for Italian anesthesiology residents participating in the nationwide program, Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) Academy Critical Emergency Medicine 2019. Residents totaling 145, from 39 programs, participated in a 75-minute workstation on the principles of disaster management. Following this, each participant was involved in a full-scale mass-casualty drill. A plenary debriefing followed to present simulation data, maximize feedback, and highlight all situations needing improvement.

Results:

Overall, participant performance was good: Triage accuracy was 85% prehospital and 84% in-hospital. Evacuation flow respected triage priority. During the debriefing, residents were very open to share and reflect on their experiences. A narrative qualitative analysis of the debriefing highlights that many participants felt overwhelmed by events during the exercise. Participants in coordination positions shared how they appreciated the need to switch from a clinical mindset to a managerial role.

Conclusion:

This was an invaluable experience for anesthesiology trainees, providing them with the skill set to understand the fundamental principles of a mass-casualty response.
Who Runs the Firm? A Long-Term Analysis of Gender Inequality on Swiss Corporate Boards
Authors: GINALSKI STEPHANIE
Published: March 2020

The recent arrival of women on corporate boards has been extensively discussed in the literature. However, most of the studies focus on very recent times. This article analyzes the presence of women on the corporate boards of the largest firms in Switzerland across the past hundred years. It shows that until the beginning of the 1970s, the very few women sitting on the boardrooms belonged to the families owning the firms. Two main factors contributed then to the progressive opening of the corporate elites to women. First, the extending in 1971 of “universal suffrage” to women led to a feminization of the political elites, and women with a political profile entered the boardrooms of firms in the distribution and retailing sector. Second, the increasing globalization of the economy at the end of the twentieth century contributed to weaken the cohesion of the very male and Swiss corporate elite. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, the presence of women remained low in international comparison, and they were still hitting the “glass ceiling” regarding the top positions in the firm.
On Origins and Species: Hegel on the Genus-Process
Authors: Lindquist Daniel
Published: March 2020

There is a broad consensus in the literature that in the section on ‘The Genus’ in theScience of Logic, Hegel argues that any living being must exist among other instances of its kind, with which it reproduces to create future generations, and out of which it was itself produced. This view is not only hard to motivate philosophically, it also seems to contradict many things Hegel says elsewhere in his system about the details of living nature, especially concerning the reality of spontaneous generation. After an examination of the secondary literature on ‘The Genus’, I offer an alternative view of this section, which I call ‘the Modal Reading’. The Modal Reading sees the language of pluralities in ‘The Genus’ as really Hegel's peculiar way of articulating certain modal features of thoughts about the living: to grasp a living individual as living, we need to distinguish not only between this individual and its environment, but also between the things this individual actually does and other possibilities which it does not actualize. The Modal Reading has a logical motivation insofar as it articulates what is needed to think of a living being as living, but it also avoids saddling Hegel with the problematic entailments he is usually read as taking on in this section. A further upshot of the Modal Reading is that approaching Hegel in this way provides us with a way to see Hegel as defending a non-nominalistic alternative to essentialist accounts of living kinds. Finding a way to read ‘The Genus’ which coheres with Hegel's views elsewhere in his system thus shows Hegel to have been an especially subtle and penetrating thinker, with continuing relevance for the philosophy of biology.
The Lie group approach to solving differential equations
Authors: Allen Rory
Published: March 2020

Certain ideas recur in many areas of mathematics. One example is groups of symmetries, which appear in the Galois theory of equations and in Lie groups. Lie groups are of great value in physics, where Noether’s theorem enables us to derive a conservation law for every case in which a function known as the Lagrangian is invariant under a one-parameter Lie group. The importance of this approach can be seen from the fact that the laws of the conservation of energy, linear momentum and angular momentum are all outcomes of Noether’s theorem, though they can of course be derived by simpler methods. The full power of Noether’s approach is shown in its applications to quantum field theory, where it can be used to find conserved currents and charges.
The convexity of the function y = E(x) defined by xy = yx
Authors: Beardon Alan F. , Gordon Russell A.
Published: March 2020

The set of solutions to the equation xy = yx has been studied extensively over the past three centuries, including work by well known mathematicians such as Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), and Christian Goldbach (1690–1764). Various mathematicians have focused on the integer, rational, real, and complex solutions. For example, it has been shown (see [1]) that the equality 24 = 42 gives the only distinct integer solutions. Our exposition below presents some of the key ideas behind the positive real solutions to this equation and illustrates how rational solutions can be found. To learn more about the various solutions, the reader can consult the articles listed at the end of this paper, as well as the extensive references given in these articles. It is also possible to find some of this material on the Web.
The Thébault configuration keeps on giving
Authors: Viglione Raymond
Published: March 2020

Given a parallelogram, construct squares outwardly on its sides; hereafter we will call this the ‘Thébault configuration’. Our name derives from Thébault’s celebrated first problem, which states that the centres of these newly constructed squares also form a square.
Insights from new cestodes of the crocodile shark,Pseudocarcharias kamoharai(Lamniformes: Pseudocarchariidae), prompt expansion ofScyphyophyllidumand formal synonymization of seven phyllobothriidean genera – at last!
Authors: Caira J.N. , Jensen K. , Hayes C. , Ruhnke T.R.
Published: March 2020

Three new cestode species are described from the crocodile shark (Pseudocarcharias kamoharai) in Ecuador. All three were examined with light and scanning electron microscopy. The unique combination of morphological features in one of the new species prompted formal investigation of the non-monophyly ofParaorygmatobothriumrelative to the morphologically similar generaDoliobothrium,Guidus,Marsupiobothrium,Nandocestus,Orectolobicestus,RuhnkecestusandScyphophyllidium. Sequence data generated for part of the 28S rDNA gene were subjected to maximum likelihood (ML) analysis. The resulting tree led to the synonymization of six of these seven genera withScyphophyllidium, and transfer of their species to the latter genus. With the new species, the number of described members ofScyphophyllidiumis now 45. The diagnosis ofScyphophyllidiumis revised to accommodate these species. In addition, to expedite future descriptions, eight categories ofScyphophyllidiumspecies are circumscribed, based largely on bothridial features.Scyphophyllidium timvickiorumn. sp. is a category 1 species. Beyond being the smallest category 1 species, it bears, rather than lacks, apical suckers and lacks, rather than bears, strobilar scutes. The two other new species are members ofClistobothrium.Clistobothrium amyaen. sp. differs from its congeners in bothridial shape, elongate cephalic peduncle and tiny size.Clistobothrium gabywalterorumn. sp. differs from the two of its congeners that also possess foliose bothridia in overall size and testis number. Despite their substantial morphological differences, the ML tree indicates they are sister taxa. Both are unique among their congeners in possessing cephalic peduncle spinitriches. The diagnosis ofClistobothriumis revised accordingly.
Electromagnetic full- gyrokinetics in the tokamak edge with discontinuous Galerkin methods
Authors: Mandell N. R. , Hakim A. , Hammett G. W. , Francisquez M.
Published: March 2020

We present an energy-conserving discontinuous Galerkin scheme for the full-$f$electromagnetic gyrokinetic system in the long-wavelength limit. We use the symplectic formulation and solve directly for$\unicode[STIX]{x2202}A_{\Vert }/\unicode[STIX]{x2202}t$, the inductive component of the parallel electric field, using a generalized Ohm’s law derived directly from the gyrokinetic equation. Linear benchmarks are performed to verify the implementation and show that the scheme avoids the Ampère cancellation problem. We perform a nonlinear electromagnetic simulation in a helical open-field-line system as a rough model of the tokamak scrape-off layer using parameters from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). This is the first published nonlinear electromagnetic gyrokinetic simulation on open field lines. Comparisons are made to a corresponding electrostatic simulation.
Efficiency of telemedicine for acute stroke: a cost-effectiveness analysis from a French pilot study
Authors: Wallut Laure , Peyron Christine , Hervieu-Bègue Marie , Osseby Guy-Victor , Giroud Maurice , Legris Nicolas , Quantin Catherine , Béjot Yannick , Lejeune Catherine
Published: March 2020

Objectives

Telestroke is an effective way to improve care and health outcomes for stroke patients. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of a French telestroke network.

Methods

A decision analysis model was built using population-based data. We compared short-term clinical outcomes and costs for the management of acute ischemic stroke patients before and after the implementation of a telestroke network from the point of view of the national health insurance system. Three effectiveness endpoints were used: hospital death, death at 3 months, and severe disability 3 months after stroke (assessed with the modified Rankin scale). Most clinical and economic parameters were estimated from the medical files of 742 retrospectively included patients. Sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results

The analyses revealed that the telestroke strategy was more effective and slightly more costly than the reference strategy (25 disability cases avoided per 1,000 at 3 months, 6.7 avoided hospital deaths, and 13 avoided deaths at 3 months for an extra cost of EUR 97, EUR 138, and EUR 154, respectively). The results remained robust in the sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions

In France, telestroke is an effective strategy for improving patient outcomes and, despite the extra cost, it has a legitimate place in the national health care system.
ON THE RESIDUAL AND PAST LIFETIMES OF COHERENT SYSTEMS UNDER RANDOM MONITORING
Authors: Amini-Seresht Ebrahim , Kelkinnama Maryam , Zhang Yiying
Published: March 2020

This paper discusses stochastic comparisons for the residual and past lifetimes of coherent systems with dependent and identically distributed (d.i.d.) components under random monitoring in terms of the hazard rate, the reversed hazard rate, and the likelihood ratio orders. Some stochastic comparisons results are also established on the residual lifetimes of coherent systems under random observation times when all of the components are alive at that time. Sufficient conditions are established in terms of the aging properties of the components and the distortion functions induced from the system structure and dependence among components lifetimes. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results as well.
A Critique of Islamophobia – in Defence of European Culture
Authors: Črnič Aleš
Published: March 2020

The fear of refugees and migrants that has flooded Europe in the last few years emphasises the threat posed to contemporary European culture by the supposedly radically different Islamic culture. However, the roots of European Islamophobia reach far beyond that, all the way back to the Crusades; while Central and parts of Eastern Europe have mostly been feeding these roots with memories of Ottoman invasions. After inspecting these roots, this article sheds light on the irrefutable Christian sources of European culture, but also exposes other influences without which the culture would not exist today – especially the antecedent Greco-Roman antiquity, and the subsequent Renaissance, Humanism and Enlightenment. This outlines modern European and Western culture, characterised mainly by secularity, which is the precondition for religious freedom of non-Christian, alternative, and ‘non-native’ religions as well. This article emphasises that it would be difficult to include Islam amongst these latter religions since it has been an important contribution to the shaping of European culture for centuries. The old antagonisms between European and Islamic cultures therefore do not stem from their irreconcilable differences but from their resemblances – in other words: in the West, we are not afraid of Muslims because they are so radically different but because they are strikingly similar. The real threat to European and Western culture is therefore not Muslim migrants but a demagogic fuelling of the fears of the supposed Islamic threat.
MIXED HODGE STRUCTURES WITH MODULUS
Authors: Ivorra Florian , Yamazaki Takao
Published: March 2020

We define a notion of mixed Hodge structure with modulus that generalizes the classical notion of mixed Hodge structure introduced by Deligne and the level one Hodge structures with additive parts introduced by Kato and Russell in their description of Albanese varieties with modulus. With modulus triples of any dimension, we attach mixed Hodge structures with modulus. We combine this construction with an equivalence between the category of level one mixed Hodge structures with modulus and the category of Laumon 1-motives to generalize Kato–Russell’s Albanese varieties with modulus to 1-motives.
Seeing More Clearly
Authors: Fuchs Sarah
Published: March 2020

The spate of sharply critical think-pieces published over the past few years might seem to suggest that the digital humanities are in crisis, but the discipline continues to thrive: public and private funding bodies remain robustly supportive of digital humanities initiatives, laying the groundwork for research that is orientated towards the capacity for communication beyond traditional readerships. The digital humanities glow with such promise that some of us – among whom I must include myself – have quietly set aside our misgivings, instead finding ways of incorporating digital technologies and methodologies into our work. But mute complicity is not the only alternative to vocal censure, as is made clear by the many accounts of experiments and other personal experiences posted on blogs and, increasingly, published in peer-reviewed journals. Grounded in self-reflective practices, this sort of autoethnography offers a productive means of coming to terms with our complex and sometimes contradictory motivations for engaging with the digital humanities. In this essay, I reflect on a digital network visualization and analysis project I have pursued over the past five years, the final iteration of which – entitled ‘Visualizing the French Voice’ – attempted to use algorithms to make sense of the relationships between professors and pupils active at the Paris Conservatoire around the turn of the nineteenth century. I try to understand my motives at each turn, which are clearly bound up with that seductive promise of a broader readership, but also, albeit much less clearly, of ‘impact’.
Earthquake Cycles in Fault‐Bend Folds
Authors: Sathiakumar Sharadha , Barbot Sylvain , Hubbard Judith
Published: March 2020

In fold‐and‐thrust belts and accretionary prisms, fault bends induce folding in the hanging wall that can alter the long‐term loading rate on the megathrust and profoundly influence earthquake‐related processes. To understand the impact of nonplanar faults and off‐fault deformation on the seismic cycle, we incorporate fault‐bend fold theory into fault dynamics and develop two‐dimensional numerical simulations of slip evolution under a physics‐based rate‐ and state‐dependent friction law. Fault bends can play an important role in earthquake segmentation as a result of nonlinear fault dynamics, affecting the initiation and termination of earthquakes and the details of long‐term interseismic behavior. Shallow earthquakes that initiate, propagate, and terminate near the surface are facilitated when the stratigraphy within incoming thrust sheets is not parallel to the underlying fault, as this can change the loading rate across the fault bend.