bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of di‐docosahexaenoyl (C22:6)‐bis(monoacylglycerol) phosphate in unlabelled and C‐13 labelled forms for use as a biomarker of drug induced phospholipidosis
Authors: Hickey Michael J. , Lindqvist Johnny , Ha Young‐ Hwan , Andersson Håkan , Elmore Charles S.
Published: February 2019

Di‐docosahexaenoyl (C22:6)‐bis(monoacylglycerol) phosphate (BMP) has been identified as a promising biomarker for drug‐induced phospholipidosis (DIPL). Both unlabelled and stable isotope labelled versions of BMP were desired for use as internal standards. Isopropylideneglycerol was converted to 4‐methoxyphenyldiphenylmethyl‐3‐PMB‐glycerol in three steps. Initially, the 2‐postion of the glycerol was protected as a t‐butyldiphenylsilyl ether, which proved to be a mistake; deprotection of the ether resulted in the decomposition of the compound. A switch to a t‐butyldimethylsilyl ether protecting group resulted in an intermediate that could be deprotected to the alcohol to give the target compound after salt exchange. The same procedure was used to prepare [13C6]BMP from [13C3]glycerol.
Magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers in musculoskeletal soft tissue tumors: Review of conventional features and focus on nonmorphologic imaging
Authors: Ahlawat Shivani , Fritz Jan , Morris Carol D. , Fayad Laura M.
Published: February 2019

The majority of peripheral musculoskeletal soft tissue masses encountered in routine clinical practice are benign and associated with an excellent prognosis, whereas a small proportion of soft tissue masses are malignant and are associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Owing to the excellent tissue contrast resolution provided, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a primary modality for the diagnostic evaluation of soft tissue masses, particularly for defining the anatomic extent. MRI is also useful for the characterization of soft tissue masses; however, after the exclusion of cysts and lipomas, it is challenging to accurately categorize neoplastic lesions as benign or malignant with conventional anatomic MRI. Quantitative MRI biomarkers obtained with nonconventional pulse sequences are becoming increasingly available, and can improve the accuracy of determining the character of soft tissue masses. In this article we discuss established qualitative and emerging quantitative MRI‐based biomarkers available with dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI, diffusion‐weighted imaging, and MR spectroscopy and their utility for the characterization of untreated soft tissue masses.

Level of Evidence: 5

Technical Efficacy Stage: 5

J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:11–27.
Antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon and clinical outcomes in a cohort of immigrants patients affected by hepatitis delta: A retrospective analysis
Authors: Boglione Lucio , Lupia Tommaso , Cariti Giuseppe , Ghisetti Valeria , Milia Maria Grazia , Burdino Elisa , Di Perri Giovanni
Published: February 2019

Chronic hepatitis delta (CHD) is the most severe chronic hepatitis, with no satisfactory treatment options and severe clinical outcomes. This infection is frequent in the migrant subjects from endemic areas, especially from Africa and East‐Europe. The pegylated (PEG)‐interferon α (IFN) is limited by side effects and poor response. In this retrospective analysis, we reported our experience of treatment with PEG‐IFN in a cohort of immigrant patients affected by CHD. We evaluated the virological responses are as follows: complete response (CR; clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and hepatitis D virus [HDV]‐RNA), partial response (PR; HBsAg clearance with HDV‐RNA+), and null response (NR; HBsAg and HDV‐RNA+). Clinical outcomes were clinical stabilization, disease progression, hepatic decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), death, and liver transplantation. Forty‐six patients were included. At the end of treatment (ET), 11 patients gained a CR (23.9%), 10 were PR (21.7%), and 16 were NR (34.8%). After 1 year, 10 remained with CR (21.7%), after 2 years, 9 (19.5%), and at 3 years, 8 (17.4%). Relapse rate was 2.2%, 4.4%, and 6.5% at year 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Favorable factors were CR at the ET (odds ratio [OR] = 4.559, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.219‐7.116; P = 0.003), PEG‐IFN course greater than 1 (OR = 1.240, 95% CI: 0.998‐4.839; P = 0.012), prolonged treatment (OR = 1.276, 95% CI: 0.816‐3.108; P = 0.018), quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) decline at 12 weeks greater than 0.5 log IU/mL (OR = 4.816, 95% CI: 2.190‐8.194; P < 0.001). The unfavorable factors were cirrhosis (OR = 3.122, 95% CI: 1.466‐4.190; P = 0.012), active hepatitis B virus (OR = 2.334, 95% CI: 1.788‐3.992; P = 0.018), NR at ET (OR = 6.998, 95% CI: 5.987‐11.404; P < 0001). Treatment of CHD is limited by poor virological response; is NR unfavorable outcomes were unavoidable. No other treatment options were available.
Posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus development after germinal matrix hemorrhage: Established mechanisms and proposed pathways
Authors: Klebe Damon , MBride Devin , Krafft Paul R. , Flores Jerry J. , Tang Jiping , Zhang John H.
Published: February 2019

In addition to being the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in premature infants, germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH) is also the leading cause of acquired infantile hydrocephalus. The pathophysiology of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) development after GMH is complex and vaguely understood, although evidence suggests fibrosis and gliosis in the periventricular and subarachnoid spaces disrupts normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics. Theories explaining general hydrocephalus etiology have substantially evolved from the original bulk flow theory developed by Dr. Dandy over a century ago. Current clinical and experimental evidence supports a new hydrodynamic theory for hydrocephalus development involving redistribution of vascular pulsations and disruption of Starling forces in the brain microcirculation. In this review, we discuss CSF flow dynamics, history and development of theoretical hydrocephalus pathophysiology, and GMH epidemiology and etiology as it relates to PHH development. We highlight known mechanisms and propose new avenues that will further elucidate GMH pathophysiology, specifically related to hydrocephalus.
Effect of chemical surface modification on dendritic gold in surface‐enhanced Raman scattering‐active substrates
Authors: Chang Chia‐Yu , Hsieh Yun‐Ching , Huang Yung‐Yi , Wang Yun‐Jie , Chen Yu‐Mei , Huang Yu‐Bin , Hung Wei‐Hsiu , Lai Ying‐Huang
Published: February 2019

We fabricate crystalline dendritic gold (Au‐D) via a simple electrochemical method and characterize it using several techniques. Chemical modification by self‐assembled thiol molecules on the Au‐D is used to adjust the chemical environment of the substrate surface and to improve surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance. First, the Au‐D modified with different length chains of n‐alkyl thiols cause an enhancement of SERS, which follows a relationship of normalized intensity,
, versus (1 +
) with a slope of −10 according to the electromagnetic mechanism. Subsequently, phenyl thiols with various end‐functional groups are attached to study the effect of chemical modification on SERS enhancement. The results indicate that the 4‐methylthiophenol‐ and thiophenol‐modified substrates do not exhibit significant SERS enhancement, resulting in intensity being dependent on distance. It is worth noting that the 4‐mercaptophenol‐ and 4‐aminothiophenol‐modified surfaces have an effective electric field effect and strong interaction with polarity probe molecules, and they produce a more intense signal than do bare Au‐D particles.
Tourist season and residents' life satisfaction: Empirical evidence from a longitudinal design in a Mediterranean destination
Authors: Bimonte Salvatore , D'Agostino Antonella , Grilli Gaetano , Pagliuca Margherita
Published: February 2019

The aim of this paper is to confirm or confute the hypothesis that residents' attitudes to tourism and individuals' overall satisfaction vary with tourist development and to determine whether changes are long lasting or vanish with the tourist season. A longitudinal design based on a three‐step survey (before, peak, and after tourist seasons) was conducted for a destination where tourism is a major economic activity. The results demonstrate that residents' attitudes to tourism change over time and residents' happiness and satisfaction with life domains are endangered by tourism. They also show a certain recovery capacity after the “perturbation.”
Add‐on probiotics in patients with persistent allergic rhinitis: A randomized crossover clinical trial
Authors: Jalali Mir Mohammad , Soleimani Robabeh , Alavi Foumani Ali , Ganjeh Khosravi Hooman
Published: February 2019

Objectives

Current medications for allergic rhinitis (AR) may have undesirable side effects that could affect quality of life (QoL). Probiotics could be an alternative in these patients. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of add‐on probiotics on symptoms and QoL of patients.

Methods

In this randomized crossover clinical trial, patients with persistent AR were included. Each subject received budesonide with probiotic supplements (BP) or budesonide with placebo for 8 weeks (B), then vice versa for a further 8 weeks. There was an 8‐week washout. The primary outcome was the change of the Short Form 36‐Item Health Survey (SF‐36) score. The secondary outcomes were assessed by the Sinonasal Outcome Test‐22 (SNOT‐22) and the Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) questionnaires.

Results

A total of 152 subjects (30.1 ± 7.6 years) completed the study. The SF‐36 score in both groups showed improvement compared with baseline values. Treatment BP was more effective than that of B. The Cohen's d and the number needed to treat for Physical Component Scales of SF‐36 were 0.40 and 10.77, respectively. These values for Mental Component Scales were 0.33 and 12.61, respectively. Also, treatment BP showed more reduction in the score of SNOT‐22 and CARAT.

Conclusion

This study showed that the addition of probiotics to budesonide significantly improved QoL in persistent AR patients. However, the clinical situation of these patients may be not very representative of AR patients in general population. Further studies are recommended.

Level of Evidence

1b

Laryngoscope, 129:1744–1750, 2019
An analysis of environmental corporate social responsibility
Authors: Nie Pu‐yan , Wang Chan , Meng Yan
Published: February 2019

This article investigates corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices while taking into account their product substitutability and environmental responsibility. CSR firms, integrating environmental and social concerns into its business operations, are introduced. The effects of the firms' social concerns, environmental responsibility, and product substitutability are all captured. First, firms' social concerns improve both outputs and CSR firms' objective function value, while reducing the profit maximization firm's profits. Second, environmental responsibility has the contrary effects. Both the outputs and the objective function values of both firms decrease with their product substitutability. Finally, social concern effects on CSR firms' performance are uncertain.
Fractional differential and integral operations via cumulative approach
Authors: Büyükkılıç Fevzi , Ok Bayrakdar Zahide , Demirhan Doğan
Published: February 2019

In this study, a fractal operator model of cumulative processes is described. Accordingly, differential and integral operators of the fractional calculus are derived by the fractal operator model of a cumulative process. In order to exhibit the relation between our cumulative approach and fractional calculus, vertical motion of a body is handled within these frameworks. Thereby, regard to our assessments, the underlying physical mechanism of the success of the fractional differintegral operators in describing stochastic complex systems is uncovered to some extent.
Wide gain enhanced band high gain Fabry–Perot cavity antenna using ultrathin reflecting metasurface
Authors: Singh Amit Kumar , Abegaonkar Mahesh P. , Koul Shiban K.
Published: February 2019

In this article, a narrow and a wide band high gain antenna with improved front to back ratio using highly reflecting surface are proposed. A highly reflecting compact ultrathin metasurface (MS) of thickness 0.0134 λ with >90% reflection band of 1.42 GHz from 4.55 to 5.97 GHz is designed. The open air field Fabry–Perot cavity resonator antenna is designed by placing this MS over a microstrip patch antenna radiator first and next on standard wide band C‐band wave guide port radiator at an optimum height to get narrow and wide enhanced gain band width, respectively. The proposed antennas are fabricated and measured experimentally. A low profile narrow band FPC antenna with measured broad side gain enhancement of 8.54 dB having maximum measured gain of 16.5 dBi at 5.3 GHz is designed first. Next, a wide band FPC antenna having broad side measured enhanced gain band width of >1 GHz from 4.75 GHz to about 6.00 GHz with maximum gain enhancement of 8.32 dB with maximum measured gain of 17.85 dBi at 5.30 GHz is observed. A wide improved front to back ratio (FBR) band of 1 GHz with maximum FBR of 39.5 dB at 5.30 GHz is presented. This antenna can be used for 5G long range services.
Wideband microstrip quasi‐elliptic function bandpass filter with high out‐of‐band rejection
Authors: Virdee Bal S. , Riaz Muhammad , Shukla Panchamkumar , Onadim Muhittin , Ouazzane Karim
Published: February 2019

Presented in this article is a novel and compact quasi‐elliptic function bandpass filter based on microstrip technology that exhibits a high out‐of‐band rejection over a very wide frequency range. The design comprises stub‐loaded half‐wavelength resonators that are electromagnetically coupled to resonant structures that are interdigitally coupled to the input and output feed‐lines. Perturbation introduced by the presence of the stub causes the resonators to act as a multimode device. In addition, the stub introduces two transmission zeros to significantly improve the filter's passband selectivity and suppress harmonic and spurious modes. This configuration yields a wideband response with low insertion loss of 0.73 dB, high return‐loss <20 dB, and out‐of‐band rejection level >40 dB across 2‐4.5 GHz and 5.74‐16 GHz. The planar filter structure can be easily manufactured using standard PCB technology.
Robust cerebrovascular blood velocity and flow rate estimation from 4D‐CTA
Authors: Bouillot Pierre , Brina Olivier , Chnafa Christophe , Cancelliere Nicole M. , Vargas Maria I. , Radovanovic Ivan , Krings Timo , Steinman David A. , Pereira Vitor M.
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Blood velocity and flow rate information may be helpful for a wide variety of applications, but it often requires separate acquisitions. The dynamic information combined with the high spatial resolution of four‐dimensional computed tomography angiography (4D‐CTA) offers the possibility to quantify blood flow simultaneous to vascular anatomy.

Methods

A 4D‐CTA clinical protocol with a novel dedicated postprocessing were validated in vitro in a patient‐specific model, and tested in a pilot study of six patients. Blood flow was assessed in both internal carotid (ICAs) and vertebral (VAs) arteries by analyzing spatial displacement of contrast agent in the form of time‐intensity curves (TICs). Unlike previous approaches, it does not require any a priori assumptions about TIC shape, but rather computes mean velocity and flow rates from the spatial displacement of the TICs along the automatically segmented vessels.

Results

In vitro experiments showed good agreement between 4D‐CTA and flowmeter measurements under steady and pulsatile flow conditions. In vivo measurements exhibited large interpatient variability of the TIC shapes, from which blood flow rates could nevertheless be successfully measured in all patients and investigated vessels. On average, measured flow rates were 3.2 ± 0.7 ml/s (in ICAs) and 1.3 ± 0.8 ml/s (in VAs) consistent with previous reference standards. Contrary to our novel approach, which considered the full TIC shape, application of previous time‐to‐peak analyses based on idealized TIC shapes showed limited reliability.

Conclusions

We demonstrate the high potential of 4D‐CTA for assessing blood velocity and flow rate in addition to anatomical evaluation. The wide variety of TIC shapes encountered in vivo highlights the importance of an adaptive TIC analysis as proposed in the present work.
Tight upper bounds for the convergence of the randomized extended Kaczmarz and Gauss–Seidel algorithms
Authors: Du Kui
Published: February 2019

The randomized extended Kaczmarz and Gauss–Seidel algorithms have attracted much attention because of their ability to treat all types of linear systems (consistent or inconsistent, full rank or rank deficient). In this paper, we present tight upper bounds for the convergence of the randomized extended Kaczmarz and Gauss–Seidel algorithms. Numerical experiments are given to illustrate the theoretical results.
Materialism, consumerism, and religion: A Buddhist vision for nonprofit marketing
Authors: Choudhury Koushiki
Published: February 2019

This study delves into the interaction between materialism and religion and explores how consumers reconcile their religious precepts with materialism in today's consumerist society, with an ethnographic study of one of the world's largest Nichiren Buddhist organizations. The study reveals that instead of ideological ways of thinking that often resorts to rigid categorization, such as spiritualism at conflicts with materialism and liberalism opposing socialism, religion can transcend the spirit of materialism and the duality that characterizes most thinking. It can harmonize even the apparently contradictory entities of consumerism, materialism, and spiritualism and root itself in the reality of life, leading to an individual inner revolution and consequent social transformation.
Toward economic NMPC for multistage AC optimal power flow
Authors: Faulwasser Timm , Engelmann Alexander
Published: February 2019

Recently, there has been a considerable progress on the analysis of stability and performance properties of so‐called economic nonlinear model predictive control (nmpc) schemes, ie, schemes employing stage costs that are not directly related to distance measures of precomputed setpoints. At the same time, with respect to the energy transition, the use of nmpc schemes is proposed and investigated in a plethora of papers in different contexts. For example, receding‐horizon approaches to generator dispatch problems, which is also known as multistage optimal power flow (opf) in power systems, naturally lead to economic nmpc schemes based on nonconvex discrete‐time optimal control problems (ocp). This paper investigates the transfer of analysis results available for general economic nmpc schemes to receding‐horizon multistage opf. We propose a blueprint formulation of multistage opf including ac power flow equations. Based on this formulation, we present results on the dissipativity and recursive feasibility properties of the underlying ocp. Finally, we draw upon simulations using a 5‐bus system and a 118‐bus system to illustrate our findings.
Lobbying in developing countries: The Peruvian case
Authors: Carbone Carolina A.
Published: February 2019

In the transparent exercise of democracy, there is a technique of persuasion called lobbying. The technique involves applying persuasion by representing one's own interests or the interests of third parties. In literature, lobbying is therefore related to interest groups and pressure groups. It is considered a key tool to guarantee equal conditions in the decision‐making process that promotes democracy and citizen control is transparency.

Lobbying, also called interest management, is a legitimate activity that in Latin America has a bad press and consequently a bad reputation. However, it is a very important input into the democratic process. According to the NGO Legislative Directory: “It allows the general public to engage in the public decision‐making process, and it has the potential to improve the quality of public decisions by opening channels for diverse opinions and thematic experts.” It is an activity that is put into practice in all countries of the world and that has a regulatory background in most countries of the northern hemisphere and in some South American countries such as Peru and Chile. The general spirit of these norms is to “transform a suspected irregular activity into a deliberation and democratic game,” justify the Legislative Directory.
An ecological theory of changing human population dynamics
Authors: Henderson Kirsten , Loreau Michel
Published: February 2019

The dependence of humans on nature has come into focus as the human population continues to grow, resources diminish and production technology stagnates – threatening human well‐being on a global scale. Numerous previous models describe human population dynamics, in relation to a multitude of different factors. However, there are no consistent driving factors of human demography through history, which makes predicting future changes more challenging.

Here, we review the literature on human population growth from empirical data and previous models, which allows us to highlight key trends in demography and land cover changes.

We then establish an ecologically driven theory of demographic change that uses resource accessibility as a proxy for socio‐economic factors. The theory combines multiple concepts to represent 12 millennia of past population dynamics through simple human–nature relationships.

Furthermore, the model allows us to compare different scenarios related to technological progress and land cover change, for which we find that the peak human population is highly dependent on whether technological developments continue at an exponential growth rate, or if and when there is a saturation point. Likewise, agriculture is shown to be helpful for growing the population, but nature is ultimately needed to maintain the human population.

Aplain language summaryis available for this article.
Investigation of electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes‐reduced graphene Oxide/PMMA hybrid nanocomposites
Authors: Sa Kadambinee , Mahakul Prakash Chandra , Saha Sunirmal , Vishwakarma Prakash Nath , Nanda Karuna Kar , Mahanandia Pitamber
Published: February 2019

Electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composites containing functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f‐MWCNTs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid nanofillers have been investigated. The observed electrical percolation threshold of FHC is 0.8 wt% with maximum conductivity of 1.21 × 10−3S/cm at 4 wt% of f‐MWCNTs. The electrical transport mechanism and magneto resistance studied of hybrid composites have also been investigated. Progressive addition of f‐MWCNTs in rGO/PMMA composite results increase in mechanical (tensile strength and Young's modulus) and thermal (thermal stability) properties of f‐MWCNTs‐rGO/PMMA hybrid nanocomposites (FHC). The increased mechanical properties are due to the efficient load transfer from PMMA matrix to f‐MWCNTs and rGO through better chemical interaction. The strong interaction between PMMA and f‐MWCNTs‐rGO in FHC is the main cause for improved thermal stability. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:1075–1083, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers
Management of Self‐injurious Behaviors in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Pharmacotherapy Overview
Authors: Sabus Ashley , Feinstein James , Romani Patrick , Goldson Edward , Blackmer Allison
Published: February 2019

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), a group of disorders affecting ~1–2% of the general population, are caused by changes in brain development that result in behavioral and cognitive alterations, sensory and motor changes, and speech and language deficits. Neurodevelopmental disorders encompass a heterogeneous group of disorders including, but not limited to, Smith‐Magenis syndrome, Lesch‐Nyhan disease, cri du chat syndrome, Prader‐Willi syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders, fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, Cornelia de Lange syndrome, and Down syndrome. Self‐injurious behaviors (SIBs) are common in children with NDDs; depending on the specific NDD, the incidence of SIBs is nearly 100%. The management of SIBs in this population is complex, and little high‐quality data exist to guide a consistent approach to therapy. However, managing SIBs is of the utmost importance for the child as well as the family and caregivers. Behavior therapies must be implemented as first‐line therapy. If behavioral interventions alone fail, pharmacotherapy becomes an essential part of management plans. The limited available evidence for the use of common pharmacologic agents, such as second‐generation antipsychotics, and less common agents, such as clonidine, n‐acetylcysteine, riluzole, naltrexone, and topical anesthetics, is reviewed. Additional data from well‐designed studies in children with NDDs are needed to gain a better understanding of this common and troublesome problem including efficacy and safety implications associated with pharmacotherapy. Until then, clinicians must rely on the limited available data, clinical expertise, and ongoing systematic monitoring when managing SIBs in children with NDDs.
Concomitant disorder and high‐affinity zinc binding in the human zinc‐ and iron‐regulated transport protein 4 intracellular loop
Authors: Bafaro Elizabeth M. , Maciejewski Mark W. , Hoch Jeffrey C. , Dempski Robert E.
Published: February 2019

The human zinc‐ and iron‐regulated transport protein 4 (hZIP4) protein is the major plasma membrane protein responsible for the uptake of zinc in the body, and as such it plays a key role in cellular zinc homeostasis. hZIP4 plasma membrane levels are regulated through post‐translational modification of its large, disordered, histidine‐rich cytosolic loop (ICL2) in response to intracellular zinc concentrations. Here, structural characteristics of the isolated disordered loop region, both in the absence and presence of zinc, were investigated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR chemical shifts, coupling constants and temperature coefficients of the apoprotein, are consistent with a random coil with minor propensities for transient polyproline Type II helices and β‐strand in regions implicated in post‐translational modifications. The ICL2 protein remains disordered upon zinc binding, which induces exchange broadening. Paramagnetic relaxation enhancement experiments reveal that the histidine‐rich region in the apoprotein makes transient tertiary contacts with predicted post‐translational modification sites. The residue‐specific data presented here strengthen the relationship between hZIP4 post‐translational modifications, which impact its role in cellular zinc homeostasis, and zinc sensing by the intracellular loop. Furthermore, the zinc sensing mechanism employed by the ICL2 protein demonstrates that high‐affinity interactions can occur in the presence of conformational disorder.
Band Gaps and Stability of CsSiX3 Halides
Authors: Radha Santosh K. , Lambrecht Walter R. L.
Published: February 2019

There is a great current interest in lead‐free halide perovskites. While Sn based and Ge based compounds of this type have already been demonstrated experimentally, Si based ones have not. In this paper, the authors consider the possibility of CsSiX3 halide perovskites. While previous work for cubic CsSiI3 found the band gap to close or in fact become inverted and to lead to a topological insulator, the authors show here that in the rhombohedrally distorted structure that occurs because of Si off‐centering, the band gap becomes larger than 1.5 eV and possibly of interest for photovoltaics. On the other hand, even in the cubic structure at high temperature, fluctuations of the Si position, will lead to a sizable gap. The total energy calculations, show that the materials are unstable toward 3CsSiI3 → Si2I6 + 3CsI + Si and 2CsSiI3 → SiI4 + 2CsI + Si and are thus above the convex hull. Similar results are presented for halogens: I, Br, Cl.
Determination of Polariton Condensates’ Critical Temperature
Authors: Rozas Elena , Martín María Dolores , Tejedor Carlos , Viña Luis , Deligeorgis George , Hatzopoulos Zaharias , Savvidis Pavlos G.
Published: February 2019

The thermal robustness of traveling polariton condensates is investigated. We create remote condensates that have never been in contact, and study their interference in momentum space, when they travel with the same velocity, by means of time‐resolved photoluminescence. We determine the condensed to thermal, uncondensed polariton fraction, which shows a gradual decay with increasing temperature, and obtain the critical temperature for the Bose‐Einstein‐like condensate (BEC) phase transition. We tentatively compare our experimental findings with theoretical models, developed for atomic condensates, to describe the condensates’ coherence fading with temperature.
Stoichiometry Determination of Chalcogenide Superlattices by Means of X‐Ray Diffraction and its Limits
Authors: Hollermann Henning , Lange Felix R. L. , Jakobs Stefan , Kerres Peter , Wuttig Matthias
Published: February 2019

In this paper, the potential of stoichiometry determination for chalcogenide superlattices, promising candidates for next‐generation phase‐change memory, via X‐ray diffraction is explored. To this end, a set of epitaxial GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice samples with varying layer thicknesses is sputter deposited. Kinematical scattering theory is employed to link the average composition with the diffraction features. The observed lattice constants of the superlattice reference unit cell follow Vegard's law, enabling a straight‐forward and non‐destructive stoichiometry determination.
Toward High Power‐High Energy Sodium Cathodes: A Case Study of Bicontinuous Ordered Network of 3D Porous Na3(VO)2(PO4)2F/rGO with Pseudocapacitance Effect
Authors: Zhang Zhibo , Chen Zhihao , Mai Zhaoxu , Peng Kunyao , Deng Qinglin , Bayaguud Aruuhan , Zhao Pengfei , Fu Yanpeng , Yu Yan , Zhu Changbao
Published: February 2019

Developing high power‐high energy electrochemical energy storage systems is an ultimate goal in the energy storage field, which is even more difficult but significant for low‐cost sodium ion batteries. Here, fluoride is successfully prepared by the electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) technique, which greatly expands the application scope of ESD. A two‐step strategy (solvothermal plus ESD method) is proposed to construct a bicontinuous ordered network of 3D porous Na3(VO)2(PO4)2F/reduced graphene oxide (NVOPF/rGO). This two‐step strategy makes sure that NVOPF can be prepared by ESD, since it avoids the loss of F element during synthesis. The obtained NVOPF particles are as small as 15 nm, and the carbon content is only 3.5% in the final nanocomposite. Such a bicontinuous ordered network and small size of electroactive particles lead to the significant contribution of the pseudocapacitance effect to sodium storage, resulting in real high power‐high energy sodium cathodes. The cathode exhibits excellent rate capability and cycling stability, whose rate performance is one of the best ever reported in both half cells and full cells. Moreover, this work provides a general and promising strategy for developing high power‐high energy electrode materials for various electrochemical energy storage systems.
Applying Heteroatom Substitution in Organic Photovoltaics
Authors: Manion Joseph G. , Panchuk Jenny R. , Seferos Dwight S.
Published: February 2019

Poly(3‐alkylthiophene) (P3AT) has been a central focus of research on organic photovoltaics (OPVs) for well over a decade. Due to their controlled synthesis P3ATs have proven to be a vital model system for developing an understanding of the effects of polymer structure on optoelectronic properties and blend morphology in bulk heterojunction OPVs. Similar to their thiophene counterparts, selenophene and tellurophene can be polymerized in a controlled manner. As single atom substitution results in significant differences in absorption, charge transport and self‐assembly these model systems provide a unique opportunity to probe fundamental structure‐property relationships. In this account, we provide an overview of our work on copolymers of thiophene and selenophene and examine how the optoelectronic and morphological behavior of these materials can be strategically adjusted through polymer design. We also highlight recent developments on poly(3‐alkyltellurophene) and comment on its future in fundamental and applied studies.
Combined UMBAF‐MBAF process treating detergent wastewater
Authors: Ji Guixia , Zhou Yanhong , Zhou Buxuan , Yun Yunbo , Chen Zhongbing , Liu Hongbo
Published: February 2019

A combined process of the upflow multimedium biological aerated filter (UMBAF) and the multimedia biological aerated filter (MBAF) treating detergent wastewater was investigated in this study. Results showed that the optimal filtration rate of the combined system was 1.4 m/hr while the optimized performance was observed at air to water ratio of 2:1. The average removal rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD), linear alkyl benzene sulfonate sodium (LAS), and total phosphate (TP) was up to 91.4%, 88.5%, and 40%, respectively, while the average effluent concentrations of COD, LAS, and TP under stable operation states were 35.0 mg/L, 7.0 mg/L, and 4.4 mg/L, respectively. UMBAF played a major role in TP removal; the removal of COD in the combined UMBAF and MBAF process was consistent with the general formula C = C0e ‐(ah + b), while the kinetic model of LAS removal in the combined UMBAF and MBAF process could be expressed by L = L0e−(mh + n). The combined UMBAF‐MBAF process provides a promising technology for the treatment of detergent wastewater. The kinetic model of LAS removal in the UMBAF and MBAF units is helpful for the prediction of the treatment efficiency of organic pollutants.

Practitioner points

A novel UMBAF‐MBAF process was developed treating detergent wastewater.

The average removal rate of COD, LAS, and TP by the combined process was up to 91.4%, 88.5%, and 40%, respectively.

Kinetic models for the UMBAF‐MBAF process were investigated.
Patchwork Economies in Europe: Economic Strategies Among Homeless Romanian Roma in Copenhagen
Authors: Ravnbøl Camilla Ida
Published: February 2019

This chapter investigates the economic strategies of a group of Romanian Roma, who live in homelessness in Copenhagen. It draws on 13 months of anthropological fieldwork with Roma women and men who migrate continuously between Denmark and Romania and who mainly make a living by collecting refundable bottles and cans in Copenhagen. They refer to themselves asbadocari, which translates to “bottle people” in Romanian. The chapter proposes the concept of “patchwork economy” to frame the micro economic strategies that thebadocariengage in. The analogy of patchwork crafting serves to illustrate how the households’ economies rest upon a constant “stitching together” of various unreliable income sources that are scrap based and have no interconnection but due to their unreliability and minor revenue cannot stand alone to support the family. Furthermore, it illustrates how debt constitutes the background quilt against which the patchwork economy is continuously reconfigured. Finally, the chapter presents analytical insight into the interconnectedness between the micro economy of the Roma household and the broader social and political context of Romania and argues that the former should be regarded as a direct response to the latter.
Business Model Innovation for Sustainability Through Localism
Authors: Dybdahl Linn Meidell
Published: February 2019

This chapter explores localism as a strategy for business model innovation for sustainability through a case study of four small Norwegian fashion companies that try to establish a local value chain in Norway. The study shows that their localism pursuit leads to step-by-step changes in how the companies create, deliver, and capture value which over time leads to considerable business model redesign. As a strategy, localism can generate shared value of various forms. The geographic proximity seems to enable reconnections between resources, people, place, community, and environment that correlate with sustainability. However, this entails that the company has a sensitivity to place and a broad range of stakeholders.
Improvements in Back and Leg Pain after Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression
Authors: Massel Dustin H. , Mayo Benjamin C. , Patel Dil V. , Bohl Daniel D. , Louie Philip K. , Lopez Gregory D. , Singh Kern
Published: February 2019

Background

Few studies have quantified clinical improvement following minimally invasive lumbar decompression based on predominant back pain or leg pain.

Purpose

To quantify improvement in patient-reported outcomes following minimally invasive lumbar decompression and determine the degree of improvement in back pain, leg pain, and disability in patients who present with predominant back pain or predominant leg pain.

Methods

Patients who underwent primary, one-level minimally invasive lumbar decompression for degenerative pathology were retrospectively reviewed. Comparisons of visual analog scale (VAS) back and leg pain scores, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, and Short Form-12 (SF-12) mental and physical component scores from pre-operative to 6-week, 12-week, 6-month, and 1-year follow-up. Subgroup analyses were performed for patients with predominant back pain or predominant leg pain.

Results

A total of 102 patients were identified. Scores on VAS back and leg pain, ODI, and SF-12 physical component improved from pre-operative to all post-operative time points. After 1 year, patients reported a 2.8-point (47%) reduction in back pain and a 4-point (61.1%) reduction in leg pain scores; 52 patients with predominant back pain and 50 patients with predominant leg pain reported reductions in pain throughout the year following surgery. In both the back and leg pain cohorts, patients experienced reductions in ODI during the first 6 months and throughout 1-year follow-up, respectively. The majority of patients achieved minimum clinically important difference, regardless of predominant symptom.

Conclusions

Patients reported improvements in back and leg pain following minimally invasive lumbar decompression regardless of predominant presenting symptom; however, patients with predominant leg pain may experience greater improvement than those with predominant back pain.
Using analytics-driven automation to target the biggest vulnerabilities
Authors: Keef Sean
Published: February 2019

In 2017, the National Vulnerability Database published 14,000 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) – more than double the amount published the previous year. 1 According to mid-year analysis, 2018 is on track to surpass even that record-shattering figure. 2 Organisations using traditional methods to deal with their own massive volumes of vulnerability occurrences will only see problems compound. To deal with vulnerabilities on a scale never seen before, organisations will have to shift to a better, threat-centric approach to vulnerability management.

To deal with vulnerabilities on a scale never seen before, organisations need to shift to a better, threat-centric approach to vulnerability management.

Threat-centric vulnerability management focuses heavily on intelligently prioritising vulnerabilities by risk rather than severity, analysing vulnerabilities in the context of exposure within the network, potential business impacts and the activity of exploits in the wild. And to do this effectively, especially with the current security skills gap, means automating, argues Sean Keef of Skybox Security.
How secure are bare metal servers?
Authors: Yeoman Simon
Published: February 2019

Bare metal servers have been around for a while now and are often seen as the perfect halfway house between a full-blown dedicated server and a shared server. They offer the same high-end performance and security you would get from a dedicated server, but with the same levels of flexibility as a shared solution.
Under the radar: the danger of stealthy DDoS attacks
Authors: Newman Sean
Published: February 2019

Despite several headline-dominating, high-volume distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks over recent years, the majority of attack attempts continue to be short in duration and low in volume. Such attacks have unnervingly high success rates due to their stealthy nature and their ability to slip in completely unnoticed, often masked by the organisation's regular traffic flow. These attacks are fast and brief, leaving security teams with little time to react – and that's assuming they're able to detect the attack at all.
The New Deal Was on the Ballot in 1932
Authors: Rauchway Eric
Published: February 2019

During the 1932 campaign, Franklin Roosevelt explicitly committed himself to nearly all of what would become the important programs of the New Deal. In the months before his March 4, 1933, inauguration, he made his proposed policies even clearer. Yet many Americans have forgotten this clarity of purpose, led in large measure by histories of the New Deal and biographies of Roosevelt that echo old misconceptions of this critical election. Such texts are far more likely to describe Roosevelt's campaign as so devoid of substance and full only of “sunny generalities” that at the time he took the oath of office his “plans remained largely unknown to the public.” He had “no larger philosophy or grand design.” He stood only for “action, any action, with little or no thought given to the long-term consequences.” One historian recently declared, “The notion that when Franklin Roosevelt became president he had a plan in his head called the New Deal is a myth that no serious scholar has ever believed.”
Legitimacy in Criminal Governance: Managing a Drug Empire from Behind Bars
Authors: LESSING BENJAMIN , WILLIS GRAHAM DENYER
Published: February 2019

States, rebels, and mafias all provide governance beyond their core membership; increasingly, so do prison gangs. US gangs leverage control over prison life to govern street-level drug markets. Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) gang goes further, orchestrating paralyzing attacks on urban targets, while imposing a social order throughout slums that sharply reduces homicides. We analyze hundreds of seized PCC documents detailing its drug business and internal disciplinary system. Descriptively, we find vast, consignment-based trafficking operations whose profits fund collective benefits for members’ families; elaborate bureaucratic procedures and recordkeeping; and overwhelmingly nonviolent punishments for debt-nonpayment and misconduct. These features, we argue, reflect a deliberate strategy of creating rational-bureaucratic legitimacy in criminal governance. The PCC’s collectivist norms, fair procedures, and meticulous “criminal criminal records” facilitate community stigmatization of infractors, giving mild sanctions punitive heft and inducing widespread voluntary compliance without excessive coercion. This has aided the PCC’s rapid expansion across Brazil.
The Conjugacy Ratio of Groups
Authors: Ciobanu Laura , Cox Charles Garnet , Martino Armando
Published: February 2019

In this paper we introduce and study the conjugacy ratio of a finitely generated group, which is the limit at infinity of the quotient of the conjugacy and standard growth functions. We conjecture that the conjugacy ratio is 0 for all groups except the virtually abelian ones, and confirm this conjecture for certain residually finite groups of subexponential growth, hyperbolic groups, right-angled Artin groups and the lamplighter group.
First evidence of endemic Murinae (Rodentia, Mammalia) in the early Pliocene of the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean)
Authors: Torres-Roig Enric , Piñero Pedro , Agustí Jordi , Bover Pere , Alcover Josep Antoni
Published: February 2019

A new insular species of Paraethomys (Muridae, Rodentia) with medium-sized hypsodont teeth is described from the Zanclean of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean). The m1 displays the most distinctive traits: hypsodonty, a high occurrence of an unusual anterior cingulum, a well-developed labial cingulum, high accessory labial cuspids resembling the Apodemus pattern and a funnel between c1 and the hypoconid. Paraethomys balearicus sp. nov. preserves traits close to those present in the earliest populations of Paraethomys meini from the upper Turolian, such as a developed posterior spur on t3 in the M1, a connection between t4 and t8 in the M1, a narrow connection between t6 and t9 in the M1 and the occasional presence of an individualized t9 and a t12 in some M2s. The relationship between the new taxon and its direct mainland ancestor gives additional support to a Messinian origin for the so-called Myotragus fauna, which became isolated after the refilling of the Mediterranean Sea 5.33 Ma ago. The absence of Paraethomys in other known younger Mallorcan sites suggests that its extinction most probably occurred at an indeterminate time during the Pliocene Epoch.
Was die „arme Witwe“ lehrt: Sozial- und motivgeschichtliche Beobachtungen zu Mk 12,41–4par.
Authors: Becker Eve-Marie
Published: February 2019

By means of a contextual analysis of Mark 12.41–4, a narrative analysis of ‘women’ in Mark and a social–historical analysis of the motif of the ‘poor widow’, this article argues that Mark 12.41–4 paves the way for Jesus’ eschatological speech (Mark 13): while the precise purpose of the widow's deposit (ritual, donation or saving) remains an open question, Jesus strengthens her dignity. Mark thus alludes to the ancient motif of respectingpersonae miseraeand shows who Jesus is in light of God's pending judgement of Jerusalem. In its focus on the ‘widow’ motif, the analysis of Mark 12.41–4par. enriches previous studies on form- and redaction-criticism andRealgeschichteby revealing the Christological meaning of the Markan narrative.
Ethiopianising the Devil: ὁ μέλας in Barnabas 4
Authors: Rothschild Clare K.
Published: February 2019

Although interpreters refer to the association between blackness and evil in ancient texts as essentially universal, specific reference by Christians to the counter-divine with the colour epithet ὁ μέλας is new with the Epistle of Barnabas. Black is applied as an honorific to certain Egyptian deities, but it is never used in Egyptian religion with reference to the counter-divine. Furthermore, black demons proliferate in late third- and fourth-century Egyptian monastic texts, but these witnesses postdate Barnabas. The first explicit reference to the devil as black after Barnabas is in Didymus the Blind, who interprets the reference as ‘Ethiopian’. Exploring the origin and background of this nickname for the counter-divine, this essay argues that Didymus accurately apprehends Barnabas’ intention: namely, that ‘the Black One’ does not merely reflect the universal association of blackness and evil in Roman antiquity, but, rather it reflects the appropriation of an ethnic stereotype in an apocalyptic context with distinctly anti-imperial resonances.
Mémoire, histoire et fiction dans la littérature johannique
Authors: Zumstein Jean
Published: February 2019

This article explores the relationships between memory, history and fiction in the Fourth Gospel. The first section is dedicated to the Johannine conception of the memory, taking into consideration recent research in the theory of social memory. The epilogue of the Gospel (John 21) considered as a paratext and the function attributed to the beloved disciple make it possible to specify the characteristics of this memory. The second section deals with the problem of the relationship between history and fiction in the context of ancient historiography. This includes observing how Johannine historiography follows the rules of ancient historiography, how it goes beyond them in its conception of space, time and characters, and how it offers a complete recomposition of the life of Jesus.