bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Correlation measures and the entanglement wedge cross-section after quantum quenches in two-dimensional conformal field theories
Authors: Kudler-Flam Jonah , Kusuki Yuya , Ryu Shinsei
Published: April 2020

Abstract

We consider the time evolution of mixed state correlation measures in two-dimensional conformal field theories, such as logarithmic negativity, odd entropy, and reflected entropy, after quantum quenches of various kinds. These correlation measures, in the holographic context, are all associated to the entanglement wedge cross section. We contrast various classes of conformal field theories, both rational and irrational (pure) conformal field theories. First, for rational conformal field theories, whose dynamics can be well described by the quasi-particle picture, we find all four quantities for disjoint intervals to be proportional, regardless of the specific quench protocol. Second, using the light cone boot- strap, we generalize our results to irrational conformal field theories where we find sharp distinctions from the quasi-particle results and striking differences between mutual information and the other measures. The large surplus of logarithmic negativity relative to mutual information forces us to reconsider what mutual information and logarithmic negativity really measure. We interpret these results as a signature of information scrambling and chaos in irrational theories. These CFT results perfectly agree with our gravitational (holographic) calculations. Furthermore, using holography, we are able to generalize the results to outside of the light cone limit. Finally, due to the breakdown of the quasi-particle picture for irrational theories, we appeal to the “line-tension picture,” motivated by random unitary circuits, as a phenomenological description. We observe that random unitary circuits, with local Hilbert space dimension determined by the Cardy formula, have precisely the same entanglement dynamics as irrational (including holographic) conformal field theories.
Herz und Herz-Kreislauf-System in der (kultur-)historischen Betrachtung
Authors: Koehler Ulrich , Hildebrandt Olaf , Hildebrandt Wulf , Aumüller Gerhard
Published: April 2020

Wer waren die Entdecker des Herz-Kreislauf- und des Kapillarsystems? Fragt man die Studenten eines höheren Semesters nach historischen Bewandtnissen, die den Weg der Medizin in die Gegenwart entscheidend beeinflusst haben, so gibt es in der Regel keine oder eine falsche Antwort. Wer wissenschaftliches Denken und Handeln erfahren will, kommt nicht umhin, sich auch mit der historischen und kulturellen Entwicklung der Medizin auseinanderzusetzen. Die Naturwissenschaften und die Medizin liefern jedoch wie kaum eine andere Wissenschaft den Beweis, dass im Sinne der Patienten beständig nach neuen Wegen und Erkenntnissen gesucht werden muss. Dieser Artikel soll einen Beitrag dazu leisten, daran zu erinnern, wie es zur Entdeckung des Herz-Kreislauf-Systems und der kulturhistorischen Bedeutung des Herzens gekommen ist. Nicht zuletzt soll er jedoch auch einen Eindruck vermitteln, unter welch großem Einsatz – mitunter des eigenen Lebens – und auf welch steinigem Wege der Erkenntnisgewinn zustande gekommen ist.
Knowledge recombination along the technology life cycle
Authors: Kalthaus Martin
Published: April 2020

This study sheds light on how recombination of different kinds of knowledge changes along the technology life cycle. From a theoretical point of view, the cyclical technology life cycle model is extended to account for the influence of recombination of different kinds of knowledge in the different life cycle phases. This model is empirically tested for the technological life cycle of wind power and photovoltaics in Germany for the period from 1970 until 2006. Patent forward citations are considered as recombinatorial success and inventors’ patenting experience proxy different kinds of knowledge. Negative binomial regressions as well as rolling-window regressions are used to estimate the relevance of different kinds of knowledge along the technology life cycle. Results reveal that different kinds of knowledge matter along the technology life cycle. In the era of ferment, knowledge from domains external to the technology is relevant, but for the dominant design and the era of incremental change, new and specialized knowledge is most important. However, there are technological differences and deviations from the model. Rolling-window regressions reveal nuanced changes in the life cycle phases. The results have several policy and management implications, especially for the timing of whom to fund or hire for inventive activity.
Direct infrared spectroscopy for the size-independent identification and quantification of respirable particles relative mass in mine dusts
Authors: Stach Robert , Barone Teresa , Cauda Emanuele , Krebs Patrick , Pejcic Bobby , Daboss Sven , Mizaikoff Boris
Published: April 2020

Due to the global need for energy and resources, many workers are involved in underground and surface mining operations where they can be exposed to potentially hazardous crystalline dust particles. Besides commonly known alpha quartz, a variety of other materials may be inhaled when a worker is exposed to airborne dust. To date, the challenge of rapid in-field monitoring, identification, differentiation, and quantification of those particles has not been solved satisfactorily, in part because conventional analytical techniques require laboratory environments, complex method handling, and tedious sample preparation procedures and are in part limited by the effects of particle size. Using a set of the three most abundant minerals in limestone mine dust (i.e., calcite, dolomite, and quartz) and real-world dust samples, we demonstrate that Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in combination with appropriate multivariate data analysis strategies provides a versatile tool for the identification and quantification of the mineral composition in relative complex matrices. An innovative analytical method with the potential of in-field application for quantifying the relative mass of crystalline particles in mine dust has been developed using transmission and diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) within a unified multivariate model. This proof-of-principle study shows how direct on-site quantification of crystalline particles in ambient air may be accomplished based on a direct-on-filter measurement, after mine dust particles are collected directly onto PVC filters by the worker using body-mounted devices. Without any further sample preparation, these loaded filters may be analyzed via transmission infrared (IR) spectroscopy and/or DRIFTS, and the mineral content is immediately quantified via a partial least squares regression (PLSR) algorithm that enables the combining of the spectral data of both methods into a single robust model. Furthermore, it was also demonstrated that the size regime of dust particles may be classified into groups of hazardous and less hazardous size regimes. Thus, this technique may provide additional essential information for controlling air quality in surface and underground mining operations.
Investigation of an Elevational Gradient Reveals Strong Differences Between Bacterial and Eukaryotic Communities Coinhabiting Nepenthes Phytotelmata
Authors: Gilbert Kadeem J. , Bittleston Leonora S. , Naive Mark Arcebal K. , Kiszewski Anthony E. , Buenavente Perry Archival C. , Lohman David J. , Pierce Naomi E.
Published: April 2020

Elevation is an important determinant of ecological community composition. It integrates several abiotic features and leads to strong, repeatable patterns of community structure, including changes in the abundance and richness of numerous taxa. However, the influence of elevational gradients on microbes is understudied relative to plants and animals. To compare the influence of elevation on multiple taxa simultaneously, we sampled phytotelm communities within a tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes mindanaoensis) along a gradient from 400 to 1200 m a.s.l. We use a combination of metabarcoding and physical counts to assess diversity and richness of bacteria, micro-eukaryotes, and arthropods, and compare the effect of elevation on community structure to that of regulation by a number of plant factors. Patterns of community structure differed between bacteria and eukaryotes, despite their living together in the same aquatic microhabitats. Elevation influences community composition of eukaryotes to a significantly greater degree than it does bacteria. When examining pitcher characteristics, pitcher dimorphism has an effect on eukaryotes but not bacteria, while variation in pH levels strongly influences both taxa. Consistent with previous ecological studies, arthropod abundance in phytotelmata decreases with elevation, but some patterns of abundance differ between living inquilines and prey.
Regional [18F]flortaucipir PET is more closely associated with disease severity than CSF p-tau in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Wolters Emma E. , Ossenkoppele Rik , Verfaillie Sander C. J. , Coomans Emma M. , Timmers Tessa , Visser Denise , Tuncel Hayel , Golla Sandeep S. V. , Windhorst Albert D. , Boellaard Ronald , van der Flier Wiesje M. , Teunissen Charlotte E. , Scheltens Philip , van Berckel Bart N. M.
Published: April 2020

Purpose

In vivo Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers for tau pathology are cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and [18F]flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET). Our aim was to assess associations between CSF p-tau with [18F]flortaucipir PET and the associations of both tau biomarkers with cognition and atrophy.

Methods

We included 78 amyloid positive cognitively impaired patients (clinical diagnoses mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 8) and AD dementia (n = 45) and 25 cognitively normal subjects with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) (40% amyloid-positive)). Dynamic 130 min [18F]flortaucipir PET scans were acquired to generate binding potential (BPND) images using receptor parametric mapping and standardized uptake values ratios of 80–100 min (SUVr80-100min) post injection. We obtained regional BPND and SUVr from entorhinal, limbic, and neocortical regions-of-interest (ROIs), closely aligning to the neuropathological tau staging schemes. Cognition was assessed using MMSE and composite scores of four cognitive domains, and atrophy was measured using gray matter volume covering the major brain lobes. First, we used linear regressions to investigate associations between CSF p-tau (independent variable) and tau PET (dependent variable). Second, we used linear regressions to investigate associations between CSF p-tau, tau PET (separate independent variables, model 1), and cognition (dependent variable). We then assessed the independent effects of CSF p-tau and tau PET on cognition by simultaneously adding the other tau biomarker as a predictor (model 2). Finally, we performed the same procedure for model 1 and 2, but replaced cognition with atrophy. Models were adjusted for age, sex, time lag between assessments, education (cognition only), and total intracranial volume (atrophy only).

Results

Higher [18F]flortaucipir BPND was associated with higher CSF p-tau (range of standardized betas (sβ) across ROIs, 0.43–0.46; all p < 0.01). [18F]flortaucipir BPND was more strongly associated with cognition and atrophy than CSF p-tau. When [18F]flortaucipir BPND and CSF p-tau were entered simultaneously, [18F]flortaucipir BPND (range sβ = − 0.20 to – 0.57, all p < 0.05) was strongly associated with multiple cognitive domains and atrophy regions. SUVr showed comparable results to BPND.

Conclusion

Regional [18F]flortaucipir BPND correlated stronger with cognition and neurodegeneration than CSF p-tau, suggesting that tau PET more accurately reflects disease severity in AD.
A team of pursuit learning automata for solving deterministic optimization problems
Authors: Yazidi Anis , Bouhmala Nourredine , Goodwin Morten
Published: April 2020

Learning Automata (LA) is a popular decision-making mechanism to “determine the optimal action out of a set of allowable actions” [1]. The distinguishing characteristic of automata-based learning is that the search for an optimal parameter (or decision) is conducted in the space of probability distributions defined over the parameter space, rather than in the parameter space itself [2]. In this paper, we propose a novel LA paradigm that can solve a large class of deterministic optimization problems. Although many LA algorithms have been devised in the literature, those LA schemes are not able to solve deterministic optimization problems as they suppose that the environment is stochastic. In this paper, our proposed scheme can be seen as the counterpart of the family of pursuit LA developed for stochastic environments [3]. While classical pursuit LAs can pursue the action with the highest reward estimate, our pursuit LA rather pursues the collection of actions that yield the highest performance by invoking a team of LA. The theoretical analysis of the pursuit scheme does not follow classical LA proofs, and can pave the way towards more schemes where LA can be applied to solve deterministic optimization problems. Furthermore, we analyze the scheme under both a constant learning parameter and a time-decaying learning parameter. We provide some experimental results that show how our Pursuit-LA scheme can be used to solve the Maximum Satisfiability (Max-SAT) problem. To avoid premature convergence and better explore the search space, we enhance our scheme with the concept of artificial barriers recently introduced in [4]. Interestingly, although our scheme is simple by design, we observe that it performs well compared to sophisticated state-of-the-art approaches.
Optimal professional development ICT training initiatives at flagship universities
Authors: Wang Xi , Jacob W. James , Blakesley Christopher C. , Xiong Weiyan , Ye Huiyuan , Xu Shangmou , Lu Fang
Published: April 2020

This study explores best practices and roles of information and communication technology (ICT) in select professional development centers at 16 flagship universities. Through adopting a qualitative case study design, this study explores the strengths and weaknesses of current technology training initiatives in the selected professional development centers. As part of the research and teaching programs at flagship universities, professional development center leaders shared about the current ICT practices as well as the strengths and limitations of their own centers. The analysis section includes a critical look at ICT practices among flagship universities from a human resource theory lens. Findings indicate common successes that facilitate the ICT practices of these centers including delivery mediums, services, ideas, and goals, as well as various barriers of implementing ICT training initiatives. The paper concludes with suggestions on how professional development center leaders, senior administrators, and educational policy makers can help improve professional development processes with the assistance of optimal ICT initiatives.
Mere presence of informal guardians deters burglars: a virtual reality study
Authors: van Sintemaartensdijk Iris , van Gelder Jean-Louis , van Prooijen Jan-Willem , Nee Claire , Otte Marco , van Lange Paul
Published: April 2020

Objectives

This study investigates the deterrent effects of incremental levels of guardianship on residential burglary and assesses how burglars differ from non-burglars in terms of their perceptions of opportunities for burglary.

Methods

In a virtual reality experiment, 181 incarcerated burglars and 172 non-burglars (university students) were tasked to appraise a virtual neighbourhood in search of a burglary target. During the appraisal process, participants were exposed to different levels of guardianship, ranging from the mere presence of a guardian to an intervening guardian.

Results

The presence of a guardian deterred both burglars and non-burglars alike, with only negligible incremental effects for levels of guardianship. For burglars, guardianship increased the perceived likelihood of being caught and the perceived level of social cohesion, whereas it decreased neighbourhood attractiveness. The burglars differed from the non-burglars in terms of how they appraised the virtual neighbourhood, clearly reflecting differences in expertise between both groups.

Conclusions

With respect to residential burglary, the results suggest that guardians—in line with the original notion of guardianship developed by Cohen and Felson (American Sociological Review, 44(4), 588–608, 1979)—serve as a deterrent simply by being present.
Bubble Evolution on Different Carbon Anode Designs in Cryolite Melt
Authors: Stanic Nikolina , Jevremovic Ivana , Martinez Ana Maria , Sandnes Espen
Published: April 2020

The anode potential has been shown to be highly dependent on anode geometry and orientation in the Hall–Héroult process. This work is an experimental laboratory scale study of the effect of anode geometry and orientation on bubble formation and detachment for four different anode designs: horizontal (surface facing downwards), inverted horizontal (surface facing upwards), vertical, rod (with both vertical and horizontal surface). From polarization curves, it was found that the vertical anode and the inverted horizontal anode operated at lowest potentials. Above 1 A cm−2, the vertical anode showed the lowest potential. As the current increases, the transition towards smaller noise is pronounced for the horizontal anode and to some degree for the vertical anode and inverted horizontal anode. Fast Fourier Transform analysis of chronoamperometric data gave a dominant frequency only for the horizontal anode and the rod anode. The bubble release time corresponded well with the dominant frequency for the rod anode for all current densities and for the horizontal anode at lower current densities. Only random bubble noise was found for the vertical and the inverted horizontal anode and is probably due to a bubble-induced convection effectively removing the bubbles.
Latent profile analysis of students’ reading development and the relation of cognitive variables to reading profiles
Authors: Holopainen Leena , Hoang Nhi , Koch Arno , Kofler Doris
Published: April 2020

Previous studies have showed that early problems with word decoding can lead to poor performance in text reading and comprehension and suggest that poor readers often struggle with reading deficits throughout their school years. Therefore, early detection of those children who are at risk for slow reading development and/or who belong to the lowest reading profiles is essential in order to organize proper support. The present study explores the heterogeneity and prevalence of latent reading profiles among 769 Finnish- and German-reading students during their first and second school years in three countries (Finland, Germany, and Italy) using latent profile analysis. The results identified three latent profiles among Finnish readers, one of which (sentence-level reading) was identified as developing slowly. Among German-reading students, four latent profiles were discovered, two of which were identified as developing slowly. The results of ordinal logistic regression modeling show that rapid automatic naming (RAN) was significantly related to poorer reading profiles among Finnish- and German-reading students, and that the poorer results in letter-sound connection testing among the German-reading group was also significantly related to poorer reading profiles. Although the educational systems have some differences between Germany and German-speaking areas of Italy, no significant country effect was detected. In addition, a child’s age and spoken language did not significantly affect the student’s reading profile.
Changes in food access by mestizo communities associated with deforestation and agrobiodiversity loss in Ucayali, Peruvian Amazon
Authors: Blundo-Canto Genowefa , Cruz-Garcia Gisella S. , Talsma Elise F. , Francesconi Wendy , Labarta Ricardo , Sanchez-Choy Jose , Perez-Marulanda Lisset , Paz-Garcia Paula , Quintero Marcela
Published: April 2020

Few longitudinal studies link agricultural biodiversity, land use and food access in rural landscapes. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that, in a context of economic change, cash crop expansion is associated with deforestation, reduced agrobiodiversity and changes in food access. For this purpose, we analysed data collected from the same 53 upland and floodplainmestizohouseholds in Ucayali, Peru, in 2000 and 2015. We found an emerging transition towards less diversified food access coupled with loss of forest cover and reduced agricultural biodiversity. In 2015, diets appeared to rely on fewer food groups, fewer food items, and on products increasingly purchased in the market compared to 2000. Wild fruits and plants were mentioned, but rarely consumed. Agricultural production systems became more specialised with a shift towards commercial crops. Peak deforestation years in the 15-year period appeared linked with incentives for agricultural expansion. Our results suggest an overall trend from diversified productive and “extractive” systems and more diverse food access, towards specialized productive systems, with less diverse food access and stronger market orientation (both in production and consumption). The assumption in the food and agricultural sciences that increased income and market-orientation is linked to improved food security, is challenged by our integrated analyses of food access, agrobiodiversity, land use and forest cover. Our results highlight the importance of longitudinal, multidimensional, systemic analyses, with major implications for land use, food and health policies. The potential risks of parallel homogenisation of diets and agricultural production systems require interdisciplinary research and policies that promote integrated landscape approaches for sustainable and inclusive food systems.
Characteristics of Precipitation Particles Measured by PARSIVEL Disdrometer at a Mountain and a Coastal Site in Korea
Authors: Cha Joo Wan , Yum Seong Soo
Published: April 2020

This study analyzed HC (Hydrometeor Classification), rain rate, and DSD (Drop Size Distribution) observed using an optical disdrometer, parsivel, at a mountain (Daegwallyeong, DG) and a coastal site (Mokpo, MP) over 2 years (2010–2011). The HC accuracies of the drizzle, rain, and snow were about 95%, 87%, and 80% respectively. The R2 (coefficient of determination) of the parsivel with TB (Tipping Bucket) rain gauge was 0.91 at MP and 0.96 at DG. The shapes of drizzle and rain DSD observed at DG and MP were similar while the variation in snow DSD was easily influenced by weather condition such as temperature and wind speed. The relatively warm temperature (–5 °C ∼ -0 °C) increased the snow particle number concentration at around 0.6~1 mm diameter and the relatively cold temperature (–15 °C ∼ -10 °C) decreased it above 2 mm diameter. Although wind speed was not a strong factor in snow DSD, larger particles were apt to form in relatively strong wind conditions. Due to different wind directions for the maritime and continental regions, snow particle number density (N(D)) at MP and DG exhibited large differences in terms of snow DSD shape and the number concentration. For instance, in the maritime precipitation, snow DSD shape at MP was broader than that at DG and small-size snow particles were observed at DG more frequently than at MP. In addition, camera-observed snow particle type measurement was carried out at DG in January to March 2010. During the measurement at DG, a mixed type of plate and column was the most frequent and an aggregation of plate type frequently occurred at lower temperatures.
Minority Stress, Campaign Messages and Political Participation during the Australian Marriage Plebiscite
Authors: Bartos Sebastian E. , Noon Daniel W. , Frost David M.
Published: April 2020

Background

The health and wellbeing of sexual minorities is adversely impacted by a set of factors collectively known as minority stress. Recently, negative campaigns preceding gay-rights referenda have put further pressure on sexual minorities. However, active participation in political campaigns is expected to foster wellbeing. This study explores the mechanisms through which political campaigns affect psychological distress in sexual minorities.

Method

We conducted a survey with 318 Australian sexual minority individuals during the campaign for the same-sex marriage postal vote in 2017.

Results

As expected, exposure to negative campaign messages was associated with psychological distress. This association persisted controlling for the effects of everyday stress. The effect of exposure to negative campaign messages was no longer significant when controlling for minority stressors like internalized homophobia, expectations of rejection, and everyday discrimination. Political participation was also associated with psychological distress. Post hoc analyses supported a model whereby minority stressors mediated the associations of campaign messages and political participation with distress.

Conclusion

Minority stress provides a flexible theoretical framework that can incorporate novel challenges to the wellbeing of sexual minorities.

Policy Implication

As public votes on the rights of sexual minorities become more common, it is important to develop models that can inform policy in protecting such minorities.
Chrysanthemum-like high-entropy diboride nanoflowers: A new class of high-entropy nanomaterials
Authors: Liu Da , Liu Honghua , Ning Shanshan , Chu Yanhui
Published: April 2020

High-entropy nanomaterials have been arousing considerable interest in recent years due to their huge composition space, unique microstructure, and adjustable properties. Previous studies focused mainly on high-entropy nanoparticles, while other high-entropy nanomaterials were rarely reported. Herein, we reported a new class of high-entropy nanomaterials, namely (Ta0.2Nb0.2Ti0.2W0.2Mo0.2)B2high-entropy diboride (HEB-1) nanoflowers, for the first time. Formation possibility of HEB-1 was first theoretically analyzed from two aspects of lattice size difference and chemical reaction thermodynamics. We then successfully synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers by a facile molten salt synthesis method at 1423 K. The as-synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers showed an interesting chrysanthemum-like morphology assembled from numerous well-aligned nanorods with diameters of 20–30 nm and lengths of 100–200 nm. Meanwhile, these nanorods possessed a single-crystalline hexagonal structure of metal diborides and highly compositional uniformity from nanoscale to microscale. In addition, the formation of the as-synthesized HEB-1 nanoflowers could be well interpreted by a classical surface-controlled crystal growth theory. This work not only enriches the categories of high-entropy nanomaterials but also opens up a new research field on high-entropy diboride nanomaterials.
Is There an Association Between Schizophrenia and Sexual Dysfunction in Both Sexes? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zhao Shankun , Wang Xiaolan , Qiang Xie , Wang Hui , He Jian , Shen Maolei , Zheng Changjun , Kang Ran
Published: April 2020

Background

Mounting clinical studies have reported patients with schizophrenia are at high risk of developing sexual dysfunction (SD), but a directly calculated prevalence of SD is currently lacking.

Aim

To further quantify the association between schizophrenia and SD.

Methods

MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (OVID), the Cochrane Library databases, and the PsycINFO were systematically searched for eligible studies reporting the sexual functioning in patients with schizophrenia. This meta-analysis has been registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42019121720, http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO).

Outcomes

The relationship between schizophrenia and SD was detected by calculating the relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The GRADE-profiler was employed to rank the quality of the evidence.

Results

10 observational studies (3 case-control studies and 7 cross-sectional studies) were finally included, enrolling a total of 3,570 participants (mean age 28.6–46.2 years), of whom 1,161 had schizophrenia and the remainders were the healthy control subjects. Synthetic results indicated that schizophrenia was significantly associated with an increased risk of SD regardless of gender (3 studies reporting both sexes: RR = 2.24, 95%CI: 1.66–3.03, P < .001, heterogeneity: I2 = 0.0%, P = .431; 7 studies reporting men: RR = 2.63, 95%CI: 1.68–4.13, P < .001, heterogeneity: I2 = 82.7%, P < .001; 5 studies reporting women: RR = 2.07, 95%CI: 1.46–2.94, P < .001; heterogeneity: I2 = 79.7%, P = .001). In accordance with the GRADE-profiler, the quality of the evidence of primary outcomes was LOW, MODERATE, and LOW in studies including both sexes, men, and women, respectively.

Clinical Implications

Our findings confirmed the potential link between schizophrenia and SD. Clinicians should routinely assess the sexual functioning for those patients with schizophrenia and further recommend the preferred antipsychotics for them.

Strengths & Limitations

This is the first meta-analysis investigating the association between schizophrenia and the risks of SD in both sexes. Nonetheless, substantial heterogeneities were identified across the selected studies.

Conclusion

Robust data from this meta-analysis showed increased rates of SD in patients with schizophrenia compared with the general populations. Therefore, more specific psychological and pharmaceutical interventions are needed to help patients with schizophrenia gain a better sexual life.
The Digital Cicognara Library: transforming a 19th century resource for the digital age
Authors: Hatheway Holly , Lawson Roger , Oertel Charlotte
Published: April 2020

The Digital Cicognara Library is an international initiative to recreate in digital form the private book collection of Count Leopoldo Cicognara (1767–1834). His collection of five thousand early imprints comprises foundational literature of art and archaeology, and includes a diverse range of publications in all areas of the visual arts. Our partnership's 21st- century effort advances Cicognara's Enlightenment-era ideals by making digital copies of his library available through an open access web application, where they will be fully searchable from a centralized database as well as relevant subject research interfaces. The aggregated images and text offer a potentially transformative opportunity for the discipline of art history and allied disciplines. By offering a new interface for Cicognara's collection, the endeavour allows open access availability to nearly all of the key historical volumes, the illustrations within, and the searchable metadata. The Digital Cicognara Library offers a corpus that will allow scholars to ask and answer new questions in disciplines beyond art history and archaeology, and will offer scholars of early printed books a new access point to study both the individual volumes and their relationship to each other in an accessible digital collection.
Advocating for digital projects in the arts: UC San Diego Visual Arts and Architecture Digital Collections
Authors: Schwartz Laura
Published: April 2020

Through a close examination of the UC San Diego Visual Arts and Architecture Digital Collections, this article reviews the context of the UC San Diego Library's Digital Collection including the tools leveraged to create a successful digital library environment and the importance of cultivating relationships with content donors, including challenges and opportunities. Marketing and publicity of digital collections as part of the project lifecycle will also be discussed, as well as the importance of advocating for arts content within the library's digital collection.
La relation entre le judiciaire et les victimes dans le contexte de la détermination de la peine au Canada : un enjeu pour l’évolution du droit criminel
Authors: Labonté Sébastien
Published: April 2020

L’objectif de cet article est de divulguer des résultats de recherches exploratoires sur le rapport entre le système judiciaire canadien et les victimes d’actes criminels dans le contexte de la détermination de la peine. De manière plus précise, l’auteur s’intéresse au processus de mise en forme des attentes des victimes qui opère à ce stade des procédures judiciaires. Pour observer ces mises en forme, l’auteur s’appuie sur des décisions judiciaires qui ont été rendues par les tribunaux canadiens. À partir de son corpus empirique, l’auteur décrit comment certaines attentes victimaires sont plus audibles que d’autres et comment leur intégration dans le processus de détermination de la peine varie en fonction du type d’attente et des circonstances à l’intérieur desquelles elles émergent.
Challenges and Responses: A Tertiary Hospital in 2019-nCoV Epidemic
Authors: Li Hong , Zhang Zhuo , Li Ping , Nie Hu
Published: April 2020

The recent outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, has imposed challenges on the Chinese medical system. Not only the dramatically increasing number of infected cases and insufficient medical resources, but also the peoples’ panic throughout the whole country have made medical services extremely difficult. To respond to these challenges effectively, our hospital implemented an urgent response strategy, including human resources and medical resources preparation and re-allocation, immediate fever screening, strict patient-visiting flow management, and reasonable information communication. Our experience and response measures could provide a reference for other hospitals in the current situation.
Salivary clusterin as a biomarker of tobacco consumption in nicotine addicts undergoing smoking cessation therapy
Authors: Pallardo-Fernández Iñigo , Iglesias Victoria , Rodríguez-Rivera Carmen , González-Martín Carmen , Alguacil Luis F.
Published: April 2020

Introduction

Recent studies have led to suggest that the multifunctional protein clusterin could be envisaged as a potential diagnostic biomarker of addictive behaviours. However, this hypothesis has not been yet tested in nicotine addicts.

Aims

We have studied possible associations between clusterin levels in saliva from smokers under cessation treatment and variables related to tobacco consumption, dependence and addiction.

Methods

Eighty-one patients were included in an ambulatory smoking cessation programme that involved the use of pharmacological and behavioural therapy. The participants underwent psychological assessment of addiction and dependence (DAST-20, ASSIST, Fagerström tests) and provided saliva samples at the onset of the intervention and 6 months after smoking discontinuation to study the evolution of clusterin levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Results

Clusterin concentration did not correlate with nicotine addiction/dependence scores but was significantly elevated in smokers with prolonged tobacco use and high intensity of tobacco consumption. Moreover, the levels of the protein significantly decreased 6 months after smoking cessation.

Conclusions

The results obtained provide strong evidence of a close association between tobacco use and salivary clusterin, a protein that emerges as a biomarker of tobacco toxicity with potential interest to monitor the beneficial effects of smoking cessation.
Simple modification to improve reliability of copro-DNA examinations for diagnosing Echinococcus multilocularis infections in red foxes
Authors: Irie T. , Ito T. , Kouguchi H. , Uraguchi K.
Published: April 2020

Epidemiological studies of Echinococcus multilocularis infections in definitive hosts require a reliable and economic diagnostic method. In this study, the current copro-DNA examination technique was modified by increasing the faecal amounts tested and adding a step to neutralize the faeces before DNA extraction. Reliability of the modified method was evaluated using rectal faecal samples from red foxes and comparing them with intestinal worms detected using the sedimentation and counting technique (SCT) following necropsy. The modified copro-DNA examination method demonstrated 93.9% sensitivity (138/147) on the SCT. Its detectability increased depending on the worm burden, and the sensitivity was 100% in cases harbouring over 1000 worms. From 111 SCT-negative cases, six (5.4%) were copro-DNA-positive, and all were confirmed as E. multilocularis via sequencing analysis. Five of the remaining 105 SCT-negative cases (4.8%) retained polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors in the extracted solution, suggesting that approximately 5% of the red fox faeces retained these inhibitors after treatment with the present copro-DNA extraction method. Although further evaluation is needed for faeces deposited in the wild, the present copro-DNA examination technique will help monitor the E. multilocularis prevalence in definitive hosts. When used for detailed evaluations of endemicity (e.g. changes in infection pressure or spread in non-endemic areas), the absence of PCR inhibitors should be confirmed, and multiple trials on faecal subsamples are recommended.
Upper airway morphological changes in obstructive sleep apnoea: effect of age on pharyngeal anatomy
Authors: Gao F , Li Y R , Xu W , An Y S , Wang H J , Xian J F , Han D M
Published: April 2020

Objective

To evaluate the upper airway morphology changes associated with ageing in adult Chinese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

Methods

A total of 124 male patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea by overnight polysomnography, who underwent upper airway computed tomography, were enrolled. The linear dimensions, cross-sectional area and volume of the upper airway region and the surrounding bony frame were measured. The association between ageing and upper airway morphology was analysed.

Results

Soft palate length, minimum cross-sectional area of the retroglossal region, lateral dimensions at the minimum cross-sectional area of the retropalatal and retroglossal regions, nasopharyngeal volume, and average cross-sectional area of the nasopharyngeal region were found to significantly increase with ageing in all patients, while the upper airway shape flattened with ageing. The volume of the retropalatal region increased with ageing among the patients with a body mass index of less than 24 kg/m2. The volume of parapharyngeal fat pad increased with ageing among patients with a body mass index greater than 28 kg/m2.

Conclusion

A number of dimensional, cross-sectional and volumetric parameters of the pharynx increased with age, indicating that non-anatomical factors may play a more important role in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnoea in aged patients.
‘Our Archaic System’: Debating and Reforming Military Justice in Argentina, 1905–35
Authors: Ablard Jonathan D.
Published: April 2020

The treatment of draft dodgers and miscarriages of justice by Argentine military courts provoked mobilisations by families, communities and the major political parties. An examination of the debates and discussions around these issues reveals a widespread sentiment that rarely questioned neither the right of the armed forces to draft young men nor the legitimacy of the armed forces. By adopting the language of patriotism and civic obligation, individual and community petitioners and politicians who represented them challenged the state's broad claim of power over the bodies of young men from a reformist position. Military justice formed a critical platform through which citizens debated the meaning of citizenship and the place of the armed forces in society.
Effectiveness and Demandingness
Authors: Berkey Brian
Published: April 2020

It has been argued in some recent work that there are many cases in which individuals are subject toconditional obligationsto give to more effective rather than less effective charities, despite not being unconditionally obligated to give. These conditional obligations, it has been suggested, can allow effective altruists (EAs) to make the central claims about the ethics of charitable giving that characterize the movement without taking any particular position on morality's demandingness. I argue that the range of cases involving charitable giving in which individuals are subject to conditional effectiveness obligations is in fact quite narrow. Because of this, I claim, EAs must endorse the view that well off people have at least fairly demanding unconditional obligations.
Iron Age ‘Predatory Landscapes’: A Bioarchaeological and Funerary Exploration of Captivity and Enslavement in Britain
Authors: Redfern Rebecca
Published: April 2020

This paper proposes a multi-disciplinary approach which can be used to identify captives and the enslaved of Iron Age Britain (seventh centurybc–adfirst century). It uses a ‘poetics of violence’ perspective which recognizes that violence and warfare are created and enacted through social relations, and encompasses violence for which there is often no archaeological trace. Roman primary sources, bog-bodies and other archaeological evidence from Iron Age Britain and Europe suggest that people in these states of ‘social death’ were used to acquire material goods, employed in the agricultural economy, and their deaths played an important role in episodes of ritual violence. Drawing on research from North America, a series of funerary, isotope, archaeothantology and osteological variables have been identified for this period, and when integrated into an osteobiography, allows for the re-interpretation of many burials and structured deposits encountered in Iron Age settlements and hillforts.
An Economical, Portable Manual Cryogenic Plunge Freezer for the Preparation of Vitrified Biological Samples for Cryogenic Electron Microscopy
Authors: Depelteau Jamie S. , Koning Gert , Yang Wen , Briegel Ariane
Published: April 2020

Visualizing biological structures and cellular processes in their native state is a major goal of many scientific laboratories. In the past 20 years, the technique of preserving samples by vitrification has greatly expanded, specifically for use in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Here, we report on improvements in the design and use of a portable manual cryogenic plunge freezer that is intended for use in laboratories that are not equipped for the cryopreservation of samples. The construction of the instrument is economical, can be produced by a local machine shop without specialized equipment, and lowers the entry barriers for newcomers with a reliable alternative to costly commercial equipment. The improved design allows for successful freezing of isolated proteins for single particle analysis as well as bacterial cells for cryo-electron tomography. With this instrument, groups will be able to prepare vitreous samples whenever and wherever necessary, which can then be imaged at local or national cryo-EM facilities.
Lived Realities of Lonely Older People: Resisting Idealisations of ‘Home’
Authors: Jarvis Alison , Mountain Andrea
Published: April 2020

This article is based on research set up to explore temporal dimensions of loneliness amongst older people in a northern town. As the study progressed, spatial considerations and confinements emerged as a related and equally important feature. The article suggests that the ‘social sphere’ of lived reality, especially reality lived out in one confined space, is a prime candidate for what has been termed ‘de-familiarisation’. Social policy discourses focussed on ‘ageing in place’ can sometimes neglect the realities of older people’s circumstances, daily life and social contact. Central arguments put forward in the article are: that loneliness increases as spatial prospects recede; that ‘home’ can become a source of frustration and negativity rather than a source of solace and comfort; and that expanding and facilitating the social horizons of older people currently ‘confined’ to home should be prioritised within a genuinely age-friendly approach to social policy.
The Role of Social Support Networks in Helping Low Income Families through Uncertain Times
Authors: Hill Katherine , Hirsch Donald , Davis Abigail
Published: April 2020

In times of labour market insecurity and retrenchment of state support, low income families rely on friends and relatives as a safety net. This article explores the enhanced role of this ‘third source of welfare’ in light of these developments. It draws on qualitative longitudinal research to demonstrate how families’ situations fluctuate over two years and the importance of social support networks in hard times and periods of crisis. The research illustrates how social support is not necessarily a stable structure that families facing insecurity can fall back on, but rather a variable resource, and fluid over time, as those who provide such support experience changing capabilities and needs. A policy challenge is to help reinforce and not undermine the conditions that enable valuable social support to be offered and sustained, while ensuring sufficient reliable state support to avoid families having no choice but to depend on this potentially fragile resource as a safety net.
Introduction Listeners in Music History: Studying the Evidence
Authors: Barlow Helen , Herbert Trevor
Published: April 2020

This themed issue focuses on the study of listeners in history. The articles address the personal responses to music of ‘ordinary listeners’ – that is, people whose experiences of music are recorded in personal documents and third-party descriptions (as opposed, say, to music critics who wrote about music in order to influence the ideas and tastes of a public readership). This overview essay proposes that the testimony of ordinary listeners can cast new light on musical practices, the way music has been heard and its role in past societies. It points to a perceived gap in historical musicology, whereby the evidence left by listeners in the past has been the subject of little targeted research and has generally been relegated to a supporting role. The themed issue emerges from work conducted as part of the Listening Experience Database project, a research project set up to address that gap, and focuses on empirical historical research.

This overview essay discusses the types of evidence on which the articles are based and some of the issues and cautions they raise, and sets out to demonstrate the unique quality and value of the evidence through the exploration of five topics in the history of British music in the long nineteenth century. The approach they exemplify has potential to shed light on music as part of the experience of ordinary people, often in contexts and places that have not featured prominently either in nineteenth-century music history or in musicological study generally.
Scientific Observations With the InSight Solar Arrays: Dust, Clouds, and Eclipses on Mars
Authors: Lorenz Ralph D. , Lemmon Mark T. , Maki Justin , Banfield Donald , Spiga Aymeric , Charalambous Constantinos , Barrett Elizabeth , Herman Jennifer A. , White Brett T. , Pasco Samuel , Banerdt W. Bruce
Published: April 2020

Records of solar array currents recorded by the InSight lander during its first 200 sols on Mars are presented. In addition to the geometric variation in illumination on seasonal and diurnal timescales, the data are influenced by dust suspended in the atmosphere and deposited on the solar panels. Although no dust devils have been detected by InSight's cameras, brief excursions in solar array currents suggest that at least some of the vortices detected by transient pressure drops are accompanied by dust. A step increase in array output (i.e., a “cleaning event”) was observed to be directly associated with the passage of a strong vortex. Some quasiperiodic variations in solar array current are suggestive of dust variations in the planetary boundary layer. Nonzero array outputs before sunrise and after sunset are indicative of scattering in the atmosphere: A notable increase in evening twilight currents is observed associated with noctilucent clouds, likely of water or carbon dioxide ice. Finally, although the observations are intermittent (typically a few hours per sol) and at a modest sample rate (one to two samples per minute), three single‐sample light dips are seen associated with Phobos eclipses. These results demonstrate that engineering data from solar arrays provide valuable scientific situational awareness of the Martian environment.