bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polysomnography outcomes in children with small tonsils undergoing drug‐induced sleep endoscopy–directed surgery
Authors: Miller Craig , Kirkham Erin , Ma Cheng‐Cheng , Filipek Natalia , Horn David L. , Johnson Kaalan , Chen Maida L. , Parikh Sanjay R.
Published: December 2018

Objectives/Hypothesis

The optimal surgical treatment to improve sleep apnea in children with small tonsils is not known. Drug‐induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) may be useful in selecting effective surgical procedures for this patient population. This study compared polysomnography (PSG) measures before and after DISE‐directed surgery in children with small tonsils. We hypothesize that DISE‐directed surgery improves PSG measures in children with small tonsils. We also aimed to identify the most common surgery performed in this population.

Study Design

Retrospective chart review.

Methods

A retrospective review was performed of subjects who underwent DISE at a single pediatric tertiary care center over a 6‐year period. Inclusion criteria were 1+ tonsils and PSG performed before and after DISE‐directed surgery. Exclusion criteria were previous tonsillectomy and tonsils score 2+ or greater. Pre‐ and postoperative PSG parameters were compared using paired t tests.

Results

Average age was 7 ± 4 years old at the time of surgery. The most common DISE‐directed intervention was supraglottoplasty (n = 23). DISE‐directed surgery significantly improved mean apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI) from 14.4 to 8.0 (P = .02). Although improvements were seen in mean obstructive AHI (12.5 to 5.5), O2 nadir (87.0 to 88.3), and ODI (10.6 to 5.8), these measures did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions

DISE‐directed surgery significantly improves AHI in children with small tonsils. The most common intervention performed on these children was supraglottoplasty. Interestingly, adenotonsillectomy was rarely performed in this cohort. Additionally, supraglottic collapse, prompting supraglottoplasty, is difficult to accurately assess in an awake child, supporting use of a DISE‐directed approach in this patient population.

Level of Evidence

4 Laryngoscope, 129:2771–2774, 2019
Efficacy of noninvasive multisource radiofrequency treatment on periorbital rhytids using an imaging device
Authors: Al‐Muriesh Maher , Zhang Xingping , Wang Qing , Huang Changzheng , An Xiangjie
Published: December 2018

Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of the multisource radiofrequency in periorbital wrinkles treatment using a VISIA imager.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort study involving 30 sites in 15 patients. Inclusion criteria: healthy subjects with periorbital wrinkles. Patients underwent five treatment sessions for each site using multisource radiofrequency. VISIA imager was used before and after each treatment, and in 12‐week follow‐up. The wrinkle scores were calculated and compared between baseline and 12‐week follow‐up. Changing in periorbital wrinkles were evaluated by blinded dermatologist using a scale of 0–3. After the study, patients rated their satisfaction using a scale of 0–3. The study protocol was approved by our institutional human research review committee, according to the ethics guideline of Helsinki (1975).

Results

The effect of treatment on subjects on follow‐up compared to baseline showed a highly significant difference with P‐values <0.05. Only two patients had no improvement according to blind dermatologist assessment of photographs. Thirteen patients reported satisfaction scale between 1 and 3.

Conclusions

The multisource radiofrequency is safe and effective in reducing periorbital rhytids, and with the help of VISIA imager we can get more objective data to evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency treatment on the periorbital areas. Lasers Surg. Med. 51:251–255, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Coplanar waveguide fed stacked dielectric resonator antenna on safety helmet for rescue workers
Authors: Das Saumya , Islam Hashinur , Bose Tanushree , Gupta Nisha
Published: December 2018

This paper presents the design of a compact dielectric resonator antenna for 2.4 GHz wireless local area network or industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band applications. The antenna consists of four stacked layers of dielectric resonators along with a rigid structure of coplanar waveguide feed. The complete antenna is placed on a safety helmet conformably to develop a wearable system for rescue workers. The achieved −10 dB bandwidth at 2.4 GHz is 6.6% (2.33–2.49 GHz). The maximum gain achieved with this proposed dielectric resonator antenna is 3.74 dBi. “On head performance” of this proposed helmet antenna is also observed including human head model in the simulation.
Study on modified curve fitting model in analyzing YIG resonator antenna
Authors: Othman Mohamadariff , Wan Ali Wan Fahmin Faiz , Ain Mohd Fadzil , Ahmad Zainal Arifin , Wan Mohd Mahiyiddin Wan Amirul , Qasaymeh Yazeed
Published: December 2018

In this study, a modified curve fitting model (CFM) for cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) exclusively using YIG resonator with excess Fe2O3 is proposed. The modified CFM is used to accelerate the analysis of YIG resonator antenna (YRA) without having to repeat the characterization process for similar resonator. Modification of CFM is done using least square method in which correlation and regression analyses are used. The modified equations of resonant frequency and Q‐factor are adapted for the YRA design using YIG resonator with excess Fe2O3 of 9%. Comparison between the simulation, measurement, and modified CFM results are very well matched.
International Consultation on Incontinence 2016; Executive summary: Urodynamic testing
Authors: Rosier Peter F. W. M. , Kuo Hann‐Chorng , De Gennaro Mario , Gammie Andrew , Finazzi Agro Enrico , Kakizaki Hidehiro , Hashim Hashim , Toozs‐Hobson Philip
Published: December 2018

Aims

The International Consultation on Incontinence has published an update of the recommendations for the diagnosis and management of urine incontinence (ICI2016). This manuscript summarizes the consultations committee—recommendations with regard to urodynamic assessment.

Methods

Expert consensus on the basis of structured evidence assessment has been the basis of the consultations publication and has been summarized by the committee for this manuscript.

Results

Patients that are not satisfied with their initial management on the basis of their reported signs and symptoms of urinary incontinence, as well as all patients with neurological abnormalities that are potentially relevant for the function of the lower urinary tract, may very likely profit from objective diagnosis and staging and grading of their dysfunction, with urodynamic testing, regardless their age, vulnerability and/or comorbidities. The principles and technical innovations as well as the principal recommendations for the utilization of (invasive) urodynamic assessment for women, men, children, and vulnerable elderly, with or without neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction with urinary incontinence are provided in this abbreviated ICI recommendations‐document.

Conclusions

The ICI2016 committee on urodynamics presents an executive summary of the most important reasons and recommendations for the use of urodynamic investigations for patients with urinary incontinence.
Defecation disorders in Spina Bifida: Realistic goals and best therapeutic approaches
Authors: Brochard Charlène , Peyronnet Benoît , Hascoet Juliette , Olivier Raphael , Manunta Andréa , Jezequel Magali , Alimi Quentin , Ropert Alain , Neunlist Michel , Bouguen Guillaume , Siproudhis Laurent
Published: December 2018

Aims

Spina Bifida (SB) is a rare congenital condition that frequently impairs the neurological control of both fecal continence and defecation. Several therapeutic strategies have been proposed but impact assessment is lacking. Our objectives were to quantify the symptomatic improvement and to determine the optimal strategy in this rare condition where randomized controlled trials are difficult to conduct.

Methods

Data were extracted from a prospective database. The present analysis focused on patients having undergone at least two gastroenterological assessments. A standardized therapeutic approach was used from the first visit. Improvement was quantified by the variation of quantified symptomatic scores.

Results

The data of of 57 adults with SB (gender F/M: 30/27 [52.6/47.4%]; mean age: 33.8 [18.5] years) were extracted. After a mean follow‐up of 46 months, 23/57 patients (40.4%) had at least improvement of one point of the Cleveland Clinic Incontinence score (CCIS); 13/57 (22.8%) reported a significant improvement of continence (delta score >50%). Five of the twelve patients (41.6%) with CCIS < 5 at baseline became incontinent over time. The neurological level was not associated with a worse continence outcome. Work on stool consistency and transanal irrigation were the most useful strategies in those with significant improvement of continence.

Conclusions

Using conventional strategies, a benefit on fecal continence occurs in only one out of five patients suffering from Spina Bifida and continent patients at baseline can develop fecal incontinence over time. A strategy targeting improved control of defecation (transanal irrigation) and a standardization of follow‐up protocol might be beneficial.
Assessing the predictive value of a binary surrogate for a binary true endpoint based on the minimum probability of a prediction error
Authors: Meyvisch Paul , Alonso Ariel , Van der Elst Wim , Molenberghs Geert
Published: December 2018

The individual causal association (ICA) has recently been introduced as a metric of surrogacy in a causal‐inference framework. The ICA is defined on the unit interval and quantifies the association between the individual causal effect on the surrogate (ΔS) and true (ΔT) endpoint. In addition, the ICA offers a general assessment of the surrogate predictive value, taking value 1 when there is a deterministic relationship between ΔT and ΔS, and value 0 when both causal effects are independent. However, when one moves away from the previous two extreme scenarios, the interpretation of the ICA becomes challenging. In the present work, a new metric of surrogacy, the minimum probability of a prediction error (PPE), is introduced when both endpoints are binary, ie, the probability of erroneously predicting the value of ΔT using ΔS. Although the PPE has a more straightforward interpretation than the ICA, its magnitude is bounded above by a quantity that depends on the true endpoint. For this reason, the reduction in prediction error (RPE) attributed to the surrogate is defined. The RPE always lies in the unit interval, taking value 1 if prediction is perfect and 0 if ΔS conveys no information on ΔT. The methodology is illustrated using data from two clinical trials and a user‐friendly R package Surrogate is provided to carry out the validation exercise.
Environmental effects on the charge transfer properties of Graphene quantum dot based interfaces
Authors: Osella Silvio , Knippenberg Stefan
Published: December 2018

Graphene quantum dots (GQD) are interesting materials due to the confined sizes which allow to exploit their optoelectronic properties, especially when they interface with organic molecules through physisorption. In particular, when interfaces are formed, charge transfer (CT) processes can occur, in which electrons can flow either from the GQD to the absorbed molecule, or vice versa. These processes are accessible by modeling and computational analysis. Yet, the presence of different environments can strongly affect the outcome of such simulations which, in turn, can lead to wrong results if not taken into account. In this multiscale study, we assess the sensibility of the computational approach and compute the CT, calculated at interfaces composed by GQD and amino‐acene derivatives. The hole transfer is strongly affected by dynamic disorder and the nature of the environment, and imposes stringent descriptions of the modeled systems to ensure enhanced accuracy of the transfer of charges.
Corrosion resistance in chloride solution of the AlSi10Mg alloy obtained by means of LPBF
Authors: Cabrini Marina , Lorenzi Sergio , Pastore Tommaso , Testa Cristian , Manfredi Diego , Cattano Giulio , Calignano Flaviana
Published: December 2018

The paper deals with the corrosion resistance in chloride solutions of an AlSi10Mg alloy obtained by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process. The potentiodynamic tests were carried out in solutions having different chloride contents. The results emphasize the role of chloride concentration on localized corrosion. The increase of concentration reduces pitting potential. In addition, the influence of the post‐processing heat treatment temperature was recognized. Penetrating attacks occurred either on after low temperatures stress relieving or specimens without any treatment, promoted by selective dissolution of the α‐Al phase stimulated by galvanic coupling with noble silicon precipitates at the border of the melt pool. Such penetrating morphology was not observed after heat treatments at high temperature.
Relative efficiencies of two‐stage sampling schemes for mean estimation in multilevel populations when cluster size is informative
Authors: Innocenti Francesco , Candel Math J.J.M. , Tan Frans E.S. , van Breukelen Gerard J.P.
Published: December 2018

In multilevel populations, there are two types of population means of an outcome variable ie, the average of all individual outcomes ignoring cluster membership and the average of cluster‐specific means. To estimate the first mean, individuals can be sampled directly with simple random sampling or with two‐stage sampling (TSS), that is, sampling clusters first, and then individuals within the sampled clusters. When cluster size varies in the population, three TSS schemes can be considered, ie, sampling clusters with probability proportional to cluster size and then sampling the same number of individuals per cluster; sampling clusters with equal probability and then sampling the same percentage of individuals per cluster; and sampling clusters with equal probability and then sampling the same number of individuals per cluster. Unbiased estimation of the average of all individual outcomes is discussed under each sampling scheme assuming cluster size to be informative. Furthermore, the three TSS schemes are compared in terms of efficiency with each other and with simple random sampling under the constraint of a fixed total sample size. The relative efficiency of the sampling schemes is shown to vary across different cluster size distributions. However, sampling clusters with probability proportional to size is the most efficient TSS scheme for many cluster size distributions. Model‐based and design‐based inference are compared and are shown to give similar results. The results are applied to the distribution of high school size in Italy and the distribution of patient list size for general practices in England.
Green Approach for the Domino Reduction/Reductive Amination of Nitroarenes and Chemoselective Reduction of Aldehydes Using Fe/aq. Citric Acid/Montmorillonite K10
Authors: Nagi Reddy Koti Siva , Reddy Karra Purushotham , Sabitha Gowravaram
Published: December 2018

We have developed a new and mild method for the direct one‐pot reduction/reductive amination of nitroarenes with arylaldehydes using Fe/aq citric acid/montmorillonite K10 catalytic system under ambient conditions. This catalyst has excellent functional group compatibility and the reaction provides rapid access to a diverse range of secondary amines. Under the conditions, aromatic aldehydes are selectively reduced to benzyl alcohols in the presence of ketones. A concise and efficient approach to the synthesis of diverse range of 1,2‐disubstituted benzimidazoles has also been accomplished for the first time from 1,2‐dinitrobenzene and aromatic aldehydes using the above catalytic system. The method involves the domino nitro reduction/cyclization/reduction cascade.
Phytochemical Process for the Functionalization of Materials with Metal Nanoparticles: Current Trends and Future Perspectives
Authors: Hariram Muruganandham , Vivekanandhan Singaravelu
Published: December 2018

The bioreduction process, that utilizes the plant extracts, have been explored extensively as a green chemical route for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles due to their eco‐friendly protocol as well as versatility in the selection of various plant resources. Recent advances in this plant extract mediated biological process are the fabrication of functional nanostructures. Bioreduction mechanism catalyzes the combining process of metal nanoparticles with other kind of materials including metal, metal oxides, cellulosic, zeolite and carbon nanomaterials. Integrating metal nanoparticles with various materials offers new functional properties and improves their performance comparing to their pristine counterpart. In this review, plant‐based biochemical substances, which influence the metal ion into metal and their controlled nucleation on the surface of other kinds of materials are highlighted, and the future prospect of this bio‐based synthesis of functional nanostructures are discussed.
2‐(1,1‐dioxidobenzo[b]thiophen‐3(2H)‐ylidene)malononitrile (BTD) Based Styryl Chromophores‐ Solvatochomic and Computational Investigation of Linear and NLO properties
Authors: Bhagwat Archana A. , Sekar Nagaiyan
Published: December 2018

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of the twelve styryl dyes are investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Range‐separated hybrid CAM−B3LYP and global hybrid BHandHLYP estimate high second order hyperpolarizability. Mean polarizability (α0), polarizability anisotropy (Δα), static first‐order hyperpolarizability (β0) and second hyperpolarizability (γ) were found to be overestimated in CAM−B3LYP than in BHandHLYP. As bond length alternation (BLA) increases first order hyperpolarizability increases. Multilinear regression analysis (MLR) shows the solvent basicity, polarizability and dipolarizabilty are responsible for absorption solvatochromism. The ratio of the dipole moments increases as donor strength and conjugation increases which support charge transfer. The figure of merit (FOM) and intrinsic hyperpolarizability found more in chromophores with dialkylamine donors. As the stability indicated by electrophilicity indices decreases the hyperpolarizability increases. Interrelationships between α0, β0 and γ were evaluated and it shows good linear fit. Absorption is red shifted and hyperpolarizability increases with the amplitude of the sine‐shaped potential along the conjugation chain. A high molecular electrostatic potential was observed in dyes containing 2‐piperidinothiophene donor.
SYK/AdS duality with Yang-Baxter deformations
Authors: Lala Arindam , Roychowdhury Dibakar
Published: December 2018

Abstract

In this paper, based on the notion of SYK/AdS duality we explore the effects of Yang-Baxter (YB) deformations on the SYK spectrum at strong coupling. In the first part of our analysis, we explore the consequences of YB deformations through the Kaluza-Klein (KK) reduction on (AdS2)
η
× (S
1)/Z
2. It turns out that the YB effects (on the SYK spectrum) starts showing off at quadratic order in 1/J expansion. For the rest of the analysis, we provide an interpretation for the YB deformations in terms of bi-local/collective field excitations of the SYK model. Using large N techniques, we evaluate the effective action upto quadratic order in the fluctuations and estimate 1/J
2 corrections to the correlation function at strong coupling.
Pati-Salam explanations of the B-meson anomalies
Authors: Heeck Julian , Teresi Daniele
Published: December 2018

Abstract

We provide a combined explanation of the increasingly tantalizing B-meson anomalies, both in

$$ {R}_{K^{\left(\ast \right)}} $$

R

K

∗

and

$$ {R}_{D^{\left(\ast \right)}} $$

R

D

∗

, in the Pati-Salam model with minimal matter content. This well-known model, based on the gauge group SU(4)
LC
× SU(2)
L
× SU(2)
R
, naturally contains a variety of scalar leptoquarks with related and restricted couplings. In particular we show that the seesaw-motivated scalar leptoquark within the representation (

$$ \overline{\mathbf{10}} $$

10
¯

,
3
,
1) and its right-handed parity partner (

$$ \overline{\mathbf{10}} $$

10
¯

,
1
,
3) can solve both anomalies while making testable predictions for related observables such as B → Kνν and B → Kμτ. The solution of the

$$ {R}_{K^{\left(\ast \right)}} $$

R

K

∗

anomaly alone can be related to a type-II seesaw neutrino mass structure. Explaining also

$$ {R}_{D^{\left(\ast \right)}} $$

R

D

∗

requires the existence of a light right-handed neutrino, which constrains the UV structure of the model.
The genetics of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome
Authors: Feitz Wouter J. C. , van de Kar Nicole C. A. J. , Orth-Höller Dorothea , van den Heuvel Lambert P. J. W. , Licht Christoph
Published: December 2018

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a disorder characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia due to endothelial injury. aHUS is felt to be caused by defective complement regulation due to underlying genetic mutations in complement regulators or activators, most often of the alternative pathway. Mutations causing aHUS can be subdivided into two groups, loss of function mutations (affecting factor H, factor H-related proteins, membrane co-factor protein, and factor I), and gain of function mutations (affecting factor B and C3). As more information becomes available on the relationship between specific mutations and clinical outcome, complete genetic workup of aHUS patients becomes more and more important.

In this review, we will discuss the genetic background of aHUS, the role of complement for aHUS pathogenesis, and the different groups of specific mutations known to be involved in the pathogenesis of aHUS.
REPRESENTATION IN MODELS OF EPISTEMIC DEMOCRACY
Authors: Grim Patrick , Bramson Aaron , Singer Daniel J. , Berger William J. , Jung Jiin , Page Scott E.
Published: December 2018

Epistemic justifications for democracy have been offered in terms of two different forms of information aggregation and decision-making. The Condorcet Jury Theorem is appealed to as a justification in terms of votes, and the Hong–Page ‘diversity trumps ability’ result is appealed to as a justification in terms of deliberation in the form of collaborative search. Both results, however, are models of full and direct participation across a population. In this paper, we contrast how these results hold up within the familiar structure of a representative hierarchy. We first consider extant analytic work that shows that representation inevitably weakens the voting results of the Condorcet Jury Theorem. We then go on to show that collaborative search, as modeled by Hong and Page, holds its own within hierarchical representation. In a variation on the dynamics of group search, representation even shows a slight edge over direct participation. This contrast illustrates how models of information aggregation vary when put into a representative structure. While some of the epistemic merits of democracy are lost when voting is done hierarchically, modeling results show that representation can preserve and even slightly amplify the epistemic virtues of collaborative search.
Bifurcations from steady to quasi-periodic flows in a laterally heated cavity filled with low Prandtl number fluids
Authors: Medelfef A. , Henry D. , Bouabdallah A. , Kaddeche S.
Published: December 2018

This study deals with the transition toward quasi-periodicity of buoyant convection generated by a horizontal temperature gradient in a three-dimensional parallelepipedic cavity with dimensions $4\times 2\times 1$ (length $\times$ width $\times$ height). Numerical continuation techniques, coupled with an Arnoldi method, are used to locate the steady and Hopf bifurcation points as well as the different steady and periodic flow branches emerging from them for Prandtl numbers ranging from 0 to 0.025 (liquid metals). Our results highlight the existence of two steady states along with many periodic cycles, all with different symmetries. The bifurcation scenarios consist of complex paths between these different solutions, giving a succession of stable flow states as the Grashof number is increased, from steady to periodic and quasi-periodic. The change of these scenarios with the Prandtl number, in connection with the crossing of bifurcation points, was carefully analysed.
Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987 from the late Paleocene of North America is not a heron, but resembles the early Eocene Indian taxon Vastanavis Mayr et al., 2007
Authors: Mayr Gerald , Gingerich Philip D. , Smith Thierry
Published: December 2018

We revisit the holotype of Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987 from the latest Paleocene (Clarkforkian) of the Willwood Formation (Wyoming, USA). The species is based on a partial skeleton and was originally assigned to the Ardeidae (herons). As we show, this classification cannot be upheld and Calcardea Gingerich, 1987 more closely resembles the taxon Vastanavis Mayr et al., 2007 (Vastanavidae), a parrot-like bird from the early Eocene of India. Even though C. junnei is a large bird, its long wings and short tarsometatarsus argue against a predominantly terrestrial way of living, and the morphology of the tarsometatarsus and pedal phalanges instead suggest strong grasping feet. We conclude that an assignment of Calcardea to the landbird clade (Telluraves) is better supported than its classification into the waterbird clade (Aequornithes), which includes Ardeidae and other ‘ciconiiform’ and ‘pelecaniform’ taxa. Calcardea junnei is one of the oldest known representatives of Telluraves and its morphology shows plesiomorphic features, which contributed to its previous misidentification as a heron. Calcardea exhibits a distinctive osteology and affords a glimpse of a previously unknown late Paleocene avian morphotype.
A FORCING NOTION COLLAPSING $\aleph _3 $ AND PRESERVING ALL OTHER CARDINALS
Authors: ASPERÓ DAVID
Published: December 2018

I construct, in ZFC, a forcing notion that collapses $\aleph _3 $ and preserves all other cardinals. The existence of such a forcing answers a question of Uri Abraham from 1983.
SOME MODEL THEORY OF GUARDED NEGATION
Authors: BÁRÁNY VINCE , BENEDIKT MICHAEL , CATE BALDER TEN
Published: December 2018

The Guarded Negation Fragment (GNFO) is a fragment of first-order logic that contains all positive existential formulas, can express the first-order translations of basic modal logic and of many description logics, along with many sentences that arise in databases. It has been shown that the syntax of GNFO is restrictive enough so that computational problems such as validity and satisfiability are still decidable. This suggests that, in spite of its expressive power, GNFO formulas are amenable to novel optimizations. In this article we study the model theory of GNFO formulas. Our results include effective preservation theorems for GNFO, effective Craig Interpolation and Beth Definability results, and the ability to express the certain answers of queries with respect to a large class of GNFO sentences within very restricted logics.
Judicial constitutional comparativism at the UK Supreme Court
Authors: Lienen Christina
Published: December 2018

In 2008, Lord Reed in his paper ‘Foreign precedents and judicial reasoning: the American debate and British practice’ noted the lack of full scholarly consideration of judicial comparativism in the UK. Ten years later, judicial reference to foreign judgments is still a very common phenomenon in this jurisdiction, however very little has been written about it. This paper assesses the UK Supreme Court's constitutional law jurisprudence in light of the main themes and arguments underlying the international debate concerning judicial comparativism. I argue that: (i) the use of foreign law is constitutionally legitimate where clear statutory language is respected; (ii) transferability concerns are mitigated by the interwovenness of the global common law system; and (iii) methodology concerns are mitigated by the UK Supreme Court's flexible, humble approach, which applies careful scrutiny to the foreign authorities put before it. Foreign judgments, I conclude, are never followed blindly or arbitrarily, and perhaps this is why there is no domestic debate about judicial comparativism, not even in the constitutional sphere.
William Caferro, Petrarch's War: Florence and the Black Death in Context
Authors: Fredona Robert
Published: December 2018

Late in the spring of 1349, Petrarch, famous for his lyrical cries for peace on the Italian peninsula, wrote the priors of Florence urging the city to war. Two of the poet's dearest friends had been attacked while passing through the mountainous terrain controlled by the rural Ubaldini clan, renegade Ghibellines who menaced crucial trade routes between Florence and Bologna and were taking advantage of Florence's vulnerability in the wake of the 1348 outbreak of the Black Plague. The two campaigns that Florence launched against the Ubaldini, one in 1349 and one in 1350, although little known (overshadowed by the plague on one side and, less so, by the 1351–1353 Florentine war with Milan on the other), are better documented than any contemporary war and, as such, serve as the perfect material for William Caferro's new book, Petrarch's War, whose declared subject is “contradiction” and whose method, ultimately, is the subjection of received ideas and fashionable methods to interrogation in the face of the experience of rigorous and self-conscious archival research (p. 1). “Archives are subversive,” Caferro says, and this is, in many ways, a subversive book (p. 13). Resolutely revisionist and sometimes demandingly démodé—in an age of “big data” and global history and “usable” history—Caferro embraces the problematic and the anomalous, the short term and the small scale. Together with his impressive and prizewinning 2006 book, John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy, Petrarch's War secures Caferro's place as one of the most important economic historians working today.
Effects of dairy shed effluent dry matter content on ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions from a pasture soil
Authors: Clough T. J. , Balaine N. , Cameron K. C. , Petersen S. O. , Sommer S. G.
Published: December 2018

Atmospheric emissions of nitrogen (N) from New Zealand dairy farms are significant but have the potential to be affected by manure management prior to land application. The current work examined whether reducing cattle manure dry matter (DM) from 0.16 high DM (HDM) to 0.06 low DM (LDM), to enhance infiltration and reduce ammonia (NH3) emissions when applied to grassland, would affect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Pasture was cut, simulating grazing, and either amended with HDM (173 kg N/ha) or LDM manure (48 kg N/ha) or left unamended. Ammonia emissions from HDM manure were higher than from LDM manure, as a flux or as a percentage of total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN, i.e. NH3 + NH4+) applied, due to more TAN being retained near the soil surface and the higher soil surface pH under HDM manure treatment. Cumulative N2O emissions over 37 days from HDM plots were higher than from the control but not from the LDM plots. After 5 days, the daily N2O emission rate was larger from HDM plots than from LDM and control plots. The N2O fluxes from LDM and HDM treatments did not differ, either as a proportion of TAN applied or as a proportion of total-N applied. Increasing DM contributed to reductions in both oxygen (O2) availability and relative gas diffusivity, and thus potentially N2O production. Under the conditions of the current study, lower manure DM content reduced NH3 emissions but did not increase cumulative losses of N2O.
Coskewness Risk Decomposition, Covariation Risk, and Intertemporal Asset Pricing
Authors: Kalev Petko S. , Saxena Konark , Zolotoy Leon
Published: December 2018

We develop an intertemporal asset pricing model where cash-flow news, discount-rate news, and their second moments are priced by the market. This model generalizes the market-return decomposition framework, showing that intertemporal considerations imply a decomposition of squared market returns (coskewness risk). Our model accounts for 68% of the return variation across portfolios sorted by size, book-to-market ratio, momentum, investment, and profitability for a modern U.S. sample period. Further, our findings highlight the importance of covariation risk, that is, the risk of simultaneous unfavorable shocks to cash flows and discount rates, in understanding equity risk premia.
In Behalf of the Feminine Side of the Commercial Stage: The Institute of the Woman's Theatre and Stagestruck Girls
Authors: White Ann Folino
Published: December 2018

By Mabel Rowland's public accounting, the Institute of the Woman's Theatre helped hundreds of so-called stagestruck girls realize their ambitions by providing a safety net for the pitfalls of the commercial theatre. The organization, officially established in 1926 and in operation until roughly 1930, was said to have begun years earlier, “the outgrowth of a group which was formed in 1910 and used to meet in the Fitzgerald Building.” As president, Rowland—a press agent, well-known comedic monologist, and all-around theatre factotum—was supported by society women and a cadre of famous female writers and performers, including Florence Reed, who served as Vice President, and charter members Julia Arthur, Irene Castle, Rachel Crothers, Helen Hayes, Violet Heming, Elsie Janis, Anita Loos, Mary Pickford, and Mary Shaw, plus about a dozen more. At the time of its official founding, the institute announced that it would undertake three activities. First, it sought to establish aprofessionalBroadway theatre as exclusively a women's operation, employing female playwrights, designers, directors, managers, producers, box-office staff, and so forth: “The only men who will be connected with the enterprise … are the actors and stagehands.” Second and third, the institute would give “aid and advice to girls from out of town who think they have something to offer the theater, read scripts and give opinions thereon, and in other ways labor in behalf of the feminine side of the stage.” The institute's goal of a theatre in tandem with discovering talented women looked to create a meaningful shift in women's inclusion and power within commercial theatre.
Activating Whiteness: Racializing the Ordinary in US American Postmodern Dance
Authors: Chaleff Rebecca
Published: December 2018

“Activating Whiteness: Racializing the Ordinary in US American Postmodern Dance” explores how the choreographic turn to postmodernism twisted the trope of racial exclusion from a focus on trained bodies to a focus on ordinary bodies. Analyses of Yvonne Rainer's Trio A (1966) and Trisha Brown's Locus (1975) demonstrate how ordinary bodies shape racially exclusive spaces and activate the biopolitical mechanisms of normalization that their choreography allegedly contests. This essay argues that the spaces activated by the bodies that shaped them carry the physical trace of the performers’ race through the enduring invisibility of whiteness.
Avoiding Capture
Authors: Burt Ramsay
Published: December 2018

This essay discusses three recent British contemporary dance works that radically rework the spatial relation between audience and performer. These are Nicola Conibere's Assembly (2013), Katye Coe's (To) Constantly Vent (2014), and Alexandrina Hemsley and Jamila Johnson-Small's Voodoo (2017). The essay draws on Henri Lefebvre theorization of the social and political production of space to analyze the kinds of reworkings of space-time that these works enact. It argues that the works evade capture by the apparatuses that maintain normative ideologies, not only those governing the reception of art but also the apparatuses of racial classification.
Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking
Authors: Reinhardt Jonathon
Published: December 2018

This review surveys and synthesizes the findings of 87 focal pieces, published primarily since 2009 and mid 2018, on the formal and informal use of social media—blogs, wikis, and social networking—for second and foreign language teaching and learning (L2TL), including studies on the use of educational sites like Livemocha and Busuu and vernacular sites like Facebook and Twitter. The article frames the review in the development of social media and the history of social computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research. Synthesis identifies common findings, including that social media can afford the development of intercultural, sociopragmatic, and audience awareness, language learner and user identities, and particular literacies. Presentation of the focal pieces and common findings is intertwined with discussion of problematic issues, and each section concludes with a summary and implications for future research and practice.
Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation in patients after Ross procedure: role of intravascular ultrasound
Authors: Zbroński Karol , Tomkiewicz-Pająk Lidia , Kochman Janusz , Huczek Zenon
Published: December 2018

Coronary compression exclusion during right ventricle outflow tract stenting is recommended and potential oversight may be fatal. Balloon inflation in right ventricle outflow tract with simultaneous aortography can be inconclusive or falsely negative. We present a case of 27-year-old male post Ross operation qualified for percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation. Neither of the conventional views obtained provided a definite exclusion of coronary compression, therefore an intravascular ultrasound of the left coronary artery before and during balloon inflation in right ventricle outflow tract was performed. Acquired images allowed excluding potential constriction, thus a covered stent and pulmonary valve were implanted and the procedure was concluded. Two hours later, the patient complained of chest pain. Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a significant pericardial effusion. Retrospective analysis of the final angiogram revealed a possibility of subtle extravasation at the distal part of the homograft. A hybrid procedure consisting of additional covered stent implantation, pericardial drainage, and second pulmonary valve implantation was performed with an acceptable result. To conclude, in case of doubtful or unconvincing images obtained from aortography or selective angiography during balloon inflation in right ventricle outflow tract, intravascular ultrasound might be a feasible and useful technique. Signs of homograft rupture may be subtle, whereas symptoms of cardiac tamponade delayed. In selected patients percutaneous treatment of homograft rupture is achievable and beneficial.
Jerusalem vs. Mecca in Ibn Qutayba's Kitāb Aʿlām al Nubuwwa
Authors: MAZUZ HAGGAI
Published: December 2018

This article investigates one polemical issue, the substitution of Mecca for Jerusalem, in the writings of Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim b. Qutayba (828–889 ce). In his Book of the Signs of Prophethood (Kitāb Aʿlām al-Nubuwwa), Ibn Qutayba interprets five Biblical verses that speak of Jerusalem as actually alluding to Mecca. The investigation queries the quality of several Biblical allusions in Ibn Qutayba's work, probes Ibn Qutayba's reasoning in using them, and asks how they fit into the larger and longer-lasting polemic between Islam and Judaism concerning the identity of the son whom Abraham bound on the altar. It is found that the two issues—the place most sacred to God and the identity of the bound son—are strongly connected in the polemic between Islam and Judaism and between different schools of Islamic exegesis.
Wellspring of Inspiration: TheMandarin Union Versionand Modern Chinese Poetry in the Early Twentieth Century
Authors: LAI JOHN T. P.
Published: December 2018

Coinciding with the May Fourth new cultural and literary movement, the publication of theMandarin Union Version, the vernacular Chinese translation of the Bible, in 1919 had a profound impact on the formation of modern Chinese literature. This paper examines the ways in which theUnion Versionprovided a novel source of imageries, poetic genres and worldviews for the experimentation of modern Chinese poetry during the Republican period, particularly between the 1920s and 1940s. Revering the Bible as the Holy Scripture, young Christian poetess Bing Xin (1900–99) spontaneously expressed her religious sentiments and commitment by composing a series of “sacred poems” as her own poetic response to the striking beauty of biblical images. Zhou Zuoren (1885–1967), a renowned May Fourth Chinese writer and intellectual, regarded the Bible as a treasured anthology of Jewish literature and appreciated the humanistic values embodied in the teachings of Jesus. Placing the biblical references of the wilderness, Jesus's universal love and Moses's legalistic position in the forefront, Zhou Zuoren's poem“Qilu,”or “Crossroads,” captured the perplexity of his contemporary intellectuals, Zhou himself included, in their sabbathless search for cultural rejuvenation and national salvation during the transitional and tumultuous Republican era. An ardent admirer of W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot, Chinese modernist poet Mu Dan (1918–77) studied their poetry at the Southwest United University in Kunming during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). Imbued with biblical allusions, for instance, the fall of humankind and the loss of paradise, Mu Dan's poems, like“She de youhuo,”or “The Temptation of the Serpent,” articulate his penetrating critique of modernity. These works of poetry represent the multiple voices and diverse reactions of the early twentieth-century Chinese poets towards theUnion Versionwhich had not only firmly established its canonical status as the predominant Chinese translation of the Bible used by the Protestant Church, but also emerged as a literary tour-de-force to propel the evolution of modern Chinese poetry.
ON SOME NEW MOCK THETA FUNCTIONS
Authors: GU NANCY S. S. , HAO LI-JUN
Published: December 2018

In 1991, Andrews and Hickerson established a new Bailey pair and combined it with the constant term method to prove some results related to sixth-order mock theta functions. In this paper, we study how this pair gives rise to new mock theta functions in terms of Appell–Lerch sums. Furthermore, we establish some relations between these new mock theta functions and some second-order mock theta functions. Meanwhile, we obtain an identity between a second-order and a sixth-order mock theta functions. In addition, we provide the mock theta conjectures for these new mock theta functions. Finally, we discuss the dual nature between the new mock theta functions and partial theta functions.
A VON NEUMANN ALGEBRA CHARACTERIZATION OF PROPERTY (T) FOR GROUPOIDS
Authors: LUPINI MARTINO
Published: December 2018

For an arbitrary discrete probability-measure-preserving groupoid $G$, we provide a characterization of property (T) for $G$ in terms of the groupoid von Neumann algebra $L(G)$. More generally, we obtain a characterization of relative property (T) for a subgroupoid $H\subset G$ in terms of the inclusions $L(H)\subset L(G)$.
WHEN DEMOCRACY DISAPPEARS
Authors: Seamster Louise
Published: December 2018

In this case study, I look at Benton Harbor, Michigan’s tenure under a state-appointed “emergency manager,” with extensive local powers replacing all local elected government, and a single imperative to balance the city’s budget. The law, ostensibly race-neutral, wound up targeting almost all of Michigan’s cities with significant Black population. The law ultimately disenfranchised half the state’s Black population but only two percent of Whites. This law invalidates a basic civil right and prerequisite for urban political theory: electoral democracy. Who holds power in the urban regime when the state takes over? Drawing on forty-four interviews, observations and archival research, I argue aWhite urban regimegoverns without elected representation in this majority-Black city. The ideological framing of emergency management as “neutral,” and Black politics as “corrupt” or “self-interested,” provides the logic to blame Black governance for structural disinvestment and White-led extraction.
Influence of a Cereal Rye Cover Crop and Conservation Tillage on the Critical Period for Weed Control in Cotton
Authors: Price Andrew J. , Korres Nicholas E. , Norsworthy Jason K. , Li Steve
Published: December 2018

Cover crops are being increasingly recommended as an integrated approach to controlling glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth and other troublesome weeds. Thus, a field experiment was conducted in 2010 through 2012 to evaluate the critical period for weed control (CPWC) in cotton as affected by a cereal rye cover crop and tillage. The management systems evaluated included conventional tillage following winter fallow, conservation tillage (CT) following winter fallow, and CT following a cereal rye cover crop managed for maximum biomass. Throughout most of the growing season, weed biomass in cereal rye cover crop plots was less than the CT winter-fallow system in both years and less than both CT winter fallow and conventional tillage in 2012. The CPWC was shortest in 2010 following conventional tillage; however, in 2012, production system influences on CPWC were less. The presence of the rye cover crop delayed the critical timing for weed removal (CTWR) approximately 8 d compared with fallow treatment both years, while conventional tillage delayed CTWR about 2 wk compared with winter fallow. Relative yield losses in both years did not reach the 5% threshold limit until about 2 wk after planting (WAP) for CT following winter fallow, 3 WAP for CT following a cover crop, and 3.5 WAP following conventional tillage. Thus, CT following winter fallow should be avoided to minimize cotton yield loss.
Tolpyralate Efficacy: Part 1. Biologically Effective Dose of Tolpyralate for Control of Annual Grass and Broadleaf Weeds in Corn
Authors: Metzger Brendan A. , Soltani Nader , Raeder Alan J. , Hooker David C. , Robinson Darren E. , Sikkema Peter H.
Published: December 2018

Tolpyralate is a new 4-hydroxyphenyl-pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibiting herbicide for POST weed management in corn; however, there is limited information regarding its efficacy. Six field studies were conducted in Ontario, Canada, over 3 yr (2015 to 2017) to determine the biologically effective dose of tolpyralate for the control of eight annual weed species. Tolpyralate was applied POST at six doses from 3.75 to 120 g ai ha−1and tank mixed at a 1:33.3 ratio with atrazine at six doses from 125 to 4,000 g ha−1. Regression analysis was performed to determine the effective dose (ED) of tolpyralate, and tolpyralate+atrazine, required to achieve 50%, 80%, or 90% control of eight weed species at 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk after application (WAA). The ED of tolpyralate for 90% control (ED90) of velvetleaf, common lambsquarters, common ragweed, redroot pigweed or Powell amaranth, and green foxtail at 8 WAA was ≤15.5 g ha−1; however, tolpyralate alone did not provide 90% control of wild mustard, barnyardgrass, or ladysthumb at 8 WAA at any dose evaluated in this study. In contrast, the ED90for all species in this study with tolpyralate+atrazine was ≤13.1+436 g ha−1, indicating that tolpyralate+atrazine can be highly efficacious at low field doses.