bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What protects older Romanians in Switzerland from loneliness? A life-course perspective
Authors: Ciobanu Ruxandra Oana , Fokkema Tineke
Published: September 2020

The topic of loneliness among older migrants has recently gained scholarly interest. There is a particular focus on why older migrants are generally lonelier than their non-migrant peers from the destination. These studies neglect variations both within and between older migrant groups. Our qualitative study is innovative for three reasons. First, it focuses on Romanian migrants aged 65+ who fled communism and aged in place in Switzerland—an understudied population of former political refugees that experiences little or no loneliness in later years. Second, it takes a life-course approach to explore experiences of loneliness during communist Romania, in the context of migration and later in life. Third, it focuses on protective and coping factors rather than risk factors. Having been through hard times in communist Romania—marked by fear and distrust among people and estrangement from society—older Romanian migrants built strength to withstand difficult times, learned to embrace solitude, and/or to relativise current hardships, if any. Upon arrival many founded or joined an association or church, which offers the opportunity to establish a sustainable social network consisting of a large pool of Romanian non-kin with a shared past and experience of migration and integration, to counteract social losses in later life. When moments of loneliness cannot be prevented (e.g. due to death of a spouse), they try to be active to distract from loneliness or ‘simply’ accept the situation. These aspects need to be taken into account in future research and when developing loneliness interventions.
Seismic collapse assessment of new European single-story RC precast buildings with weak connections
Authors: Cimmino Maddalena , Magliulo Gennaro , Manfredi Gaetano
Published: September 2020

Capacity design, according to the modern seismic building codes, requires the application of specific rules and construction details in order to prevent brittle failure modes at material, element and structural level. In particular, with reference to single-story precast reinforced concrete structures with columns joined by pinned beams, the Italian seismic building code, following the Eurocode 8 general principles, requires that beam-to-column connection should be designed in order to avoid the connection failure before the formation of the plastic hinge at the column base. However, no specific details are provided in order to reach such a performance. Recent European earthquakes showed that seismic performance of beam-to-column dowel connections can be very poor. Hence, for European typical dowel beam-to-column connections, this study aims to investigate: (a) possible connection configurations obtained according to seismic design; (b) possible failure modes involving connection elements (steel dowel, transversal steel reinforcement, dowel concrete cover); (c) how available formulations are able to describe such failure modes and the related shear strength; (d) influence of connection failure on the global seismic safety at collapse of new designed single-story RC precast buildings. The reference buildings and beam-to-column connections are designed considering different geometrical layouts of the primary structure and different seismic hazard levels, i.e. four sites and two soil types. Structural capacity is estimated considering global, i.e. related to column plastic hinge degradation measured in terms of top lateral displacements, and local, i.e. related to connection shear strength, failure modes. Nonlinear multi-stripe analyses are performed for the seismic assessment.
Community completeness as a measure of restoration success: multiple-study comparisons across ecosystems and ecological groups
Authors: Noreika Norbertas , Pärtel Meelis , Öckinger Erik
Published: September 2020

When restoring habitat for biodiversity, the most effective outcome will be achieved by restoration projects which target several organism groups or ecosystem types. Such integrated approaches require direct comparisons among different ecological communities while evaluating success of restoration. The Community Completeness Index (CCI) is a recently developed metric that allows such comparisons by accounting for both present and absent but otherwise suitable taxa. We empirically evaluated the applicability of CCI for assessing the outcome of ecological restoration. We analyzed how species richness and the completeness of ecological communities recover after restoration, for different ecological groups and ecosystem types, and how it develops over time after restoration. Analyses were performed on 18 datasets with per site presence-absence data from Northern Europe. Each dataset represented one of the three habitat types (mire, forest, grassland) and different ecological groups (plants, flying insects, epigeic invertebrates). Datasets contained pristine, degraded and restored sites. We calculated the dark diversity and subsequently CCI based on species co-occurrences. Our multiple-study analyses revealed that CCI of grassland plant communities increased faster after restoration than invertebrate communities or plant communities in forests and mires. In addition, flying insect communities demonstrated significantly highest CCI in pristine mires. Some results were significant only for richness but not for CCI indicating species pool effect. Finally, completeness and species richness of restored communities increased with time since restoration. As such, our study demonstrated that CCI is a useful tool in evaluating restoration success across different organism groups and ecosystem types.
Prospects and limitations of expansion microscopy in chromatin ultrastructure determination
Authors: Kubalová Ivona , Schmidt Černohorská Markéta , Huranová Martina , Weisshart Klaus , Houben Andreas , Schubert Veit
Published: September 2020

Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a method to magnify physically a specimen with preserved ultrastructure. It has the potential to explore structural features beyond the diffraction limit of light. The procedure has been successfully used for different animal species, from isolated macromolecular complexes through cells to tissue slices. Expansion of plant-derived samples is still at the beginning, and little is known, whether the chromatin ultrastructure becomes altered by physical expansion. In this study, we expanded isolated barley nuclei and compared whether ExM can provide a structural view of chromatin comparable with super-resolution microscopy. Different fixation and denaturation/digestion conditions were tested to maintain the chromatin ultrastructure. We achieved up to ~4.2-times physically expanded nuclei corresponding to a maximal resolution of ~50–60 nm when imaged by wild-field (WF) microscopy. By applying structured illumination microscopy (SIM, super-resolution) doubling the WF resolution, the chromatin structures were observed at a resolution of ~25–35 nm. WF microscopy showed a preserved nucleus shape and nucleoli. Moreover, we were able to detect chromatin domains, invisible in unexpanded nuclei. However, by applying SIM, we observed that the preservation of the chromatin ultrastructure after the expansion was not complete and that the majority of the tested conditions failed to keep the ultrastructure. Nevertheless, using expanded nuclei, we localized successfully centromere repeats by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENH3 by indirect immunolabelling. However, although these repeats and proteins were localized at the correct position within the nuclei (indicating a Rabl orientation), their ultrastructural arrangement was impaired.
A phase 1 study of crenigacestat (LY3039478), the Notch inhibitor, in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors
Authors: Doi Toshihiko , Tajimi Masaomi , Mori Joji , Asou Hiroya , Inoue Koichi , Benhadji Karim A. , Naito Yoichi
Published: September 2020

Background This phase 1, single-center, nonrandomized, single-arm, open-label, dose-escalation study, evaluated the tolerability of crenigacestat, a γ-secretase inhibitor as an oral Notch inhibitor in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. Methods The study consisted of 2 dose levels of crenigacestat (25 mg and 50 mg), administered orally 3 times per week (TIW) over a 28-day cycle until disease progression, development of unacceptable toxicity, or any other discontinuation criteria were met. The primary objective was to evaluate the tolerability and determine the recommended dose of crenigacestat for Japanese patients. Secondary objectives were to characterize the safety and toxicity, the pharmacokinetic parameters, and to document any antitumor activity of crenigacestat. Results Eleven Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors were enrolled; 4 patients (median age of 64 years) received 25 mg of crenigacestat, and 7 patients (median age of 72 years) received 50 mg of crenigacestat. Median treatment duration was 8 weeks in the 25-mg treatment arm and 4 weeks in the 50-mg treatment arm. There were no dose-limiting toxicities or dose-limiting equivalent toxicities observed. None of the patients had a complete or partial response to the treatment. One patient (14.3%) with a desmoid tumor in the 50-mg treatment arm showed tumor size shrinkage of 22.4% and had stable disease for 22.5 months. Frequent (>14%) treatment-related-adverse events in both treatment arms included diarrhea, malaise, and vomiting. Conclusions Crenigacestat was tolerated in Japanese patients but with limited clinical activity. The recommended crenigacestat dose in Japanese patients is 50 mg TIW.

Trial registration: NCT02836600 (ClinicalTrials.gov) registered on July 19, 2016.
Effect of age on the mercury sensitivity of zebrafish (Danio rerio) sperm
Authors: Pataki Bernadett , Roberta Berta Izabella , Gazsi Gyöngyi , Urbányi Béla , Kollár Tímea , Horváth Ákos
Published: September 2020

The effect of age on the sensitivity of zebrafish sperm against mercury exposure was investigated in the present study. Although results of the use of sperm from mature individuals for toxicity tests have been published, there is no information about the exact age of the fish in some cases, which can affect the results. During the experiments, pooled sperm was stripped from males of 7, 12, or 18 months of age, divided into 5 sub-groups, diluted with different concentrations of Hg (0, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 mg/L Hg), and incubated for 240 min. The motility parameters of sperm (progressive motility (%), curvilinear velocity (VCL)) were measured by a computer-assisted sperm analysis system, at 30, 120, and 240 min of exposure. Regarding the age, significant differences were found in PMOT (p = 0.0267) as well as in VCL (p = 0.0004) among the three different age groups. The different concentrations of Hg also caused significant differences. The most significant differences in PMOT were between the 7- and 18-month-old groups; these differences were observed at 0.5, 1 and 2.5 mg/L Hg at 30 min, at 0.5 and 1 mg/L at 120 min, as well as at 0.5 mg/L at 240 min. In VCL the most significant differences were found between the 7- and 12-month-old groups; significant differences were found at each tested concentration at 30 min as well as at 0.5 and 2.5 mg/L at 240 min. According to the results, the age of zebrafish negatively influences the sensitivity of its sperm. This may concern not only toxicology tests but many techniques in fish breeding where the sperm is treated before use (cryopreservation, pressure shock, etc.).
Phosphorus implantation of Mg-doped (Al)GaN heterostructures: structural examination and depth profiling
Authors: Piętak Karolina , Złotnik Sebastian , Rozbiegała Ewelina , Michałowski Paweł P. , Wójcik Marek , Gaca Jarosław , Rudziński Mariusz
Published: September 2020

Phosphorus introduction into Mg-doped aluminium gallium nitride ((Al)GaN) epilayers to enhance the acceptor activation is a possible strategy for a p-type conductivity improvement in III-nitride wide-bandgap semiconductors. To date, P-implanted Mg-doped (Al)GaN structures have not been systematically evaluated, regarding structural verification and elemental distribution. Here, comprehensive studies of P ions impact on structural degradation are presented. Furthermore, a post-implantation annealing conducted at different temperatures is examined as well. The results demonstrated that the structural changes in the examined compounds, namely GaN and Al0.1Ga0.9N, due to P implantation and a subsequent recovery by thermal annealing follow similar trends. Interestingly, it was revealed that P diffusion length is higher in AlGaN than in GaN, possibly due to higher oxygen content in Al-containing compounds, analogous to Mg dopant. Additionally, the initial Mg concentration in (Al)GaN is crucial because too high Mg doping could be the main cause of electrical properties degradation of (Al)GaN heterostructures after P ion implantation.
Awful noises: evaluativism and the affective phenomenology of unpleasant auditory experience
Authors: Roberts Tom
Published: September 2020

According to the evaluativist theory of bodily pain, the overall phenomenology of a painful experience is explained by attributing to it two types of representational content—an indicative content that represents bodily damage or disturbance, and an evaluative content that represents that condition as bad for the subject. This paper considers whether evaluativism can offer a suitable explanation of aversive auditory phenomenology—the experience ofawful noises—and argues that it can only do so by conceding that auditory evaluative content would be guilty of widespread error. Defending such an error-theory, moreover, comes with several explanatory costs.
The Big-M method with the numerical infinite M
Authors: Cococcioni Marco , Fiaschi Lorenzo
Published: September 2020

Linear programming is a very well known and deeply applied field of optimization theory. One of its most famous and used algorithms is the so called Simplex algorithm, independently proposed by Kantorovič and Dantzig, between the end of the 30s and the end of the 40s. Even if extremely powerful, the Simplex algorithm suffers of one initialization issue: its starting point must be a feasible basic solution of the problem to solve. To overcome it, two approaches may be used: the two-phases method and the Big-M method, both presenting positive and negative aspects. In this work we aim to propose a non-Archimedean and non-parametric variant of the Big-M method, able to overcome the drawbacks of its classical counterpart (mainly, the difficulty in setting the right value for the constant M). We realized such extension by means of the novel computational methodology proposed by Sergeyev, known as Grossone Methodology. We have validated the new algorithm by testing it on three linear programming problems.
Two-machine flow shop with dynamic storage space
Authors: Berlińska Joanna , Kononov Alexander , Zinder Yakov
Published: September 2020

The publications on two-machine flow shop scheduling problems with job dependent storage requirements, where a job seizes a portion of the storage space for the entire duration of its processing, were motivated by various applications ranging from supply chains of mineral resources to multimedia systems. In contrast to the previous publications that assumed that the availability of the storage space remains unchanged, this paper is concerned with a more general case when the availability is a function of time. It strengthens the previously published result concerning the existence of an optimal permutation schedule, shows that the variable storage space availability leads to the NP-hardness in the strong sense even for unit processing times, and presents a polynomial-time approximation scheme together with several heuristic algorithms. The heuristics are evaluated by means of computational experiments.
ABVD and BEACOPP regimens’ effects on fertility in young males with Hodgkin lymphoma
Authors: Amin M. S. A. , Brunckhorst O. , Scott C. , Wrench D. , Gleeson M. , Kazmi M. , Ahmed K.
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Considering the increased cancer patient survivorship, the focus is now on addressing the impacts of treatment on quality of life. In young people, altered reproductive function is a major issue and its effects in young males are largely neglected by novel research. To improve clinician awareness, we systematically reviewed side effects of chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in young males.

Methods

The review was prospectively registered (PROSPERO N. CRD42019122868). Three databases (Medline via PUBMED, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Library) were searched for studies featuring males aged 13-51-years who underwent chemotherapy for HL using ABVD (Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) or BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisolone) regimens. These chemotherapy regimens were compared against each other using sperm characteristics, FSH, and inhibin B levels to measure fertility levels.

Results

Data were extracted from five studies featuring 1344 patients. 6 months post-ABVD saw marked deterioration in sperm count, further reduced by more cycles (P = 0.05). Patients treated with BEACOPP rather than ABVD were more prone to oligospermia. Receiving fewer cycles of both regimens increased the likelihood of sperm production recovering. Patients treated with 6-8 cycles of BEACOPP did not recover spermiogenesis.

Conclusions

ABVD and BEACOPP regimens significantly reduce fertility function to varying effects depending on treatment duration. ABVD temporarily causes significant reductions in male fertility, whereas BEACOPP’s effects are more permanent. Therefore, clinicians should discuss fertility preservation with male patients receiving infertility-inducing gonadotoxic therapy. Further high-quality studies are required to more adequality describe the risk to fertility by chemotherapy.
Social health insurance in the Philippines: do the poor really benefit?
Authors: El Omari Salaheddine , Karasneh Mahmoud
Published: September 2020

Developing countries have spent a tremendous amount of time and money on social health insurance programs to give the low-income population free access to health care services. Standard economic theory predicts that people use care services more frequently and regularly when they are free. In this paper, we show that providing free access to health services might not be enough to enhance the utilization of health care by indigents.
Novel & worthy: creativity as a thick epistemic concept
Authors: Sánchez-Dorado Julia
Published: September 2020

Thestandard viewin current philosophy of creativity says that being creative has two requirements: being novel and being valuable (to which a third intentionality requirement is often added; Sternberg and Lubart 1999; Boden 2004; Gaut 2010). Thestandard viewon creativity has recently become an object of critical scrutiny. Hills and Bird (2018) have specifically proposed to remove the value requirement from the definition, as it is not clear that creative objects are necessarily valuable or creative people necessarily praiseworthy. In this paper, I argue against Hills and Bird (2018), since eliminating the element of value from the explanation of creativity hinders the understanding of the role that creative products play in actual epistemic practices, which are fundamentally normative. More specifically, I argue that the terms ‘creativity’ and ‘creative’ function asthick epistemic conceptswhen employed by competent epistemic agents in practice, that is, these concepts have both a descriptive and an evaluative content that cannot be disentangled from one another. Accordingly, I suggest that philosophers should preferthick accountsoverthin accountsof creativity. A thick account of creativity is one that endorses thestandard viewat its basis, but further develops it in two ways: by stressing the entanglement of the value and novelty requirements; by permitting to encompass a range of domain-specific characterizations of such entanglement for different epistemic situations. In order to take the first steps in the development of such a thick account of creativity, I look at the domain of scientific practices as a case in point, and try to spell out what the thickness (or entanglement of novelty and worth) of creative instances typically entails here. Namely, I identify the worthy novelty of creative models and methods with their potential to clarify a tradition, with fruitfulness, and with the fulfilment of exploratory aims.
Evaluation of groundwater potential of bedrock aquifers in Geological Sheet 223 Ilorin, Nigeria, using geo-electric sounding
Authors: Raji W. O. , Abdulkadir K. A.
Published: September 2020

Electrical resistivity data acquired in one hundred and ten (110) locations using vertical electrical sounding method of Schlumberger array have been used to study the hydrogeological properties and groundwater storage potential of bedrock aquifers in an area covered by Geological Sheet 223 Ilorin, Nigeria. The aim of the study was to identify productive aquifer zones for citing boreholes for community water supply. The data acquired were processed and interpreted using auxiliary curve matching and computer automation method to delineate the different geo-electric layers, their resistivities, thicknesses, and depths. Geo-electrical layers were interpreted to their equivalent geological layers using borehole lithological logs from the study area. Then, the hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, fracture contrast, reflection coefficient were estimated and plotted in the form of 2D maps to describe the spatial variations of these parameters in the area. The results of the study revealed the presence of three to five geo-electric layers. The geo-electric layers, from top to the bottom, corresponds to the topsoil layer, lateritic layer, weathered rock layer, fractured rock layer, and the fresh basement rock. Lateritic and/or fractured rock layers were not delineated in some places. The weathered and fractured rock layers, where present, correspond to the aquifer units. The thickness of the fracture aquifer ranges from 0.6 to 33.6 m while the thickness of the weathered aquifer ranges from 1.4 to 49.3 m. The transmissivity, $$ T $$
T
, and hydraulic conductivity, $$ K $$
K
, range from 3 to 1200 m2/day and 1 to 48 m/day, respectively. The reflection coefficient and fracture contrast map showed the presence of water-bearing fractures and shared some similarities with T and K maps. A mathematical model for predicting groundwater potential, $$ {\text{GW}}_{\text{P}} $$

GW
P

, of weathered aquifer in the basement complex terrain was proposed in this study. The consistencies between the overall groundwater potential map and aquifers parameters distributions maps suggest the appropriateness of the proposed mathematical model for predicting groundwater potential of weathered rock in the basement complex area of Nigeria. The western, northwestern, and central parts of the study area, having $$ {\text{GW}}_{\text{P}} $$

GW
P

greater than 0.6 (60%), were recommended for groundwater development through boreholes drilled to a depth ranging between 75 and 100 m.
Stability of network centrality measures: a numerical study
Authors: Kardos Orsolya , London András , Vinkó Tamás
Published: September 2020

Identifying key actors or nodes in a network is a relevant task regarding many applications. In general, the real-valued function that evaluates the nodes is called node centrality measure. Performing a relevance-based ranking on the list of nodes is also of high practical importance, since the most central nodes by a measure usually provide the highest contribution in explaining the behavior of the whole network. Stability of centrality measures against graph perturbation is an important concept, especially in the analysis of real world—often noise contaminated—datasets from different domains. In this paper, with the utilization of the formal definition of stability introduced by Segarra and Ribeiro (IEEE Trans Signal Process 64(3):543–555, 2015), we discuss three main perturbation categories and experimentally analyze the stability of several node centrality measures.
Raloxifene inhibits pancreatic adenocarcinoma growth by interfering with ERβ and IL-6/gp130/STAT3 signaling
Authors: Pozios Ioannis , Seel Nina N. , Hering Nina A. , Hartmann Lisa , Liu Verena , Camaj Peter , Müller Mario H. , Lee Lucas D. , Bruns Christiane J. , Kreis Martin E. , Seeliger Hendrik
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Currently, the exact role of estrogen receptor (ER) signaling in pancreatic cancer is unknown. Recently, we showed that expression of phosphorylated ERβ correlates with a poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here, we hypothesized that raloxifene, a FDA-approved selective ER modulator (SERM), may suppress PDAC tumor growth by interfering with ERβ signaling. To test this hypothesis, we studied the impact of raloxifene on interleukin-6/glycoprotein-130/signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (IL-6/gp130/STAT3) signaling.

Methods

Human PDAC cell lines were exposed to raloxifene after which growth inhibition was assessed using a BrdU assay. ER knockdown was performed using siRNAs specific for ERα and ERβ. The effects of raloxifene on IL-6 expression and STAT3 phosphorylation in PDAC cells were assessed by ELISA and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, raloxifene was administered to an orthotopic PDAC tumor xenograft mouse model, after which tumor growth was monitored and immunohistochemistry was performed.

Results

Raloxifene inhibited the in vitro growth of PDAC cells, and this effect was reversed by siRNA-mediated knockdown of ERβ, but not of ERα, indicating ER isotype-specific signaling. We also found that treatment with raloxifene inhibited the release of IL-6 and suppressed the phosphorylation of STAT3Y705 in PDAC cells. In vivo, we found that orthotopic PDAC tumor growth, lymph node and liver metastases as well as Ki-67 expression were reduced in mice treated with raloxifene.

Conclusions

Inhibition of ERβ and the IL-6/gp130/STAT3 signaling pathway by raloxifene leads to potent reduction of PDAC growth in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that ERβ signaling and IL-6/gp130 interaction may serve as promising drug targets for pancreatic cancer and that raloxifene may serve as an attractive therapeutic option for PDAC patients expressing the ERβ isotype.
Impact of aeration and deaeration of switchable vacuum insulations on the overall heat conductivity using different core materials and filling gases
Authors: Erlbeck Lars , Sonnick S. , Wössner D. , Nirschl H. , Rädle M.
Published: September 2020

Investigating switchable vacuum insulation panels might lead to a new type of insulation, which can be switched on to enable a low heat flow when a good insulation effect is desired and switched off when exchange with the environment is requested, during a cold summer night, for example. For this reason, different core materials for vacuum insulations as typical silica powder were investigated as well as silica agglomerates and silica gel. These materials were checked for the necessary time of aeration and evacuation and the corresponding change of heat conductivity along with the change of gas-pressure. Silica gel in combination with helium as filling gas showed best results corresponding to a high difference of the heat conductivities evacuated and aerated. Beside the solid backbone structure of the silica gel, this is caused by the high heat conductivity and small kinetic atomic diameter of the helium gas. Silica agglomerates decreased the aeration time as well as the deaeration time, but the improvement was neglected because of a lower change of heat conductivity during pressure drop or rise. Nevertheless, a good switchable vacuum insulation can be produced using silica gel and helium, for example.
Technological characteristics of reject waters from aerobic sludge stabilization in small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants with biological nutrient removal
Authors: Mucha Zbigniew , Mikosz Jerzy
Published: September 2020

Most studies on the impact of reject waters recycled from sludge processing in the multi-phase activated sludge process focus on anaerobic sludge treatment in large wastewater treatment plants, leaving apart the processes of aerobic sludge stabilization often used in smaller facilities in rural and suburban areas. The article presents the results of tests carried out in three small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants with biological removal of biogenic compounds that use aerobic stabilization to process sludge. The research concerned the quantity and quality of reject waters generated in the process of aerobic stabilization and dewatering of sewage sludge and their impact on the multi-phase activated sludge process. The results showed that the average volume of generated reject waters ranged from 3.2 to 5% of the incoming wastewater volume. The average share of organic compounds and total nitrogen loads contained in reject waters did not usually exceed 5–10% of the loads in raw wastewater but reached almost 50% in the case of total phosphorus. Studies indicated that the composition of the supernatant from aerobic stabilization is strongly dependent on the course of the process. The best quality was obtained for cyclic operation of the aerobic stabilization tank with 16 h of aeration and 8 h of settling. The results also showed the negative impact of sudden discharges of reject waters from sludge processing to a multi-phase biological reactor, which can be reduced by using an appropriate equalization tank and pretreatment of the side stream to reduce the recirculation of phosphorus.
Two-Stage Collaborative Exams have Little Impact on Subsequent Exam Performance in Undergraduate Mathematics
Authors: Kinnear George
Published: September 2020

In this paper, I investigate whether two-stage exams aid learning in undergraduate mathematics, as measured by students’ performance on subsequent exams. In a two-stage exam, students complete the exam individually then form into groups to solve it again, with grades based on a combination of the two stages. Previous research in other disciplines has found mixed results about their effect on subsequent performance, and little is known about their use in undergraduate mathematics. Here, I report on three studies which investigate the use of two-stage exams in different undergraduate mathematics contexts. The first two studies replicate observational methods from previous research, and find indications of a positive impact from group collaboration. The third study is experimental and finds that, in a delayed post-test, there is no difference in performance between students who answered related questions in a two-stage exam format and a control group which had no collaborative second stage. The findings suggest that two-stage exams may have little impact on longer-term learning of mathematics, but instructors may still wish to use them to emphasise a collaborative classroom pedagogy.
Performing Power in a Mystical Context: Implications for Theorizing Women's Agency
Authors: Akurugu Constance Awinpoka
Published: September 2020

This article builds on recent accounts of diffuse and complex agentic practices in the global South by drawing on ethnographic data gathered in northwestern Ghana among the Dagaaba. Contemporary feminist discourses and theories, particularly in contexts in the global South, have sought to draw attention to the multifaceted ways in which women exercise agency in these contexts. Practices that in the past were perceived as instruments of women's subordination or as re-inscribing their oppression have been re/interpreted as agentic. Agentic practices are theorized in more fluid terms than the binary pairing of agent/victim debates permit. Dagaaba contexts are deeply pervaded by beliefs in supernatural power forms, and these forces dis/empower certain forms of agentic acts. This article demonstrates that key factors combining with male power to regulate women's exercise of agency are perceived mystical forces. I argue that, in order not to risk missing agency—or rather “misdescribing” it—in the context of Dagaaba and most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where the belief in mystical forces is profoundly pervasive, the role of these power forms as important determinants of the form that agentic practices assume—and more broadly, the way power works—needs critical attention in feminist theorizing.
Distorting Concepts, Obscured Experiences: Hermeneutical Injustice in Religious Trauma and Spiritual Violence
Authors: Panchuk Michelle
Published: September 2020

This article explores the relationship between hermeneutical injustice in religious settings and religious trauma (RT) and spiritual violence (SV). In it I characterize a form of hermeneutical injustice (HI) that arises when experiences are obscured from collective understanding by normatively laden concepts, and I argue that this form of HI often plays a central role in cases of religious trauma and spiritual violence, even those involving children. In section I, I introduce the reader to the phenomena of religious trauma and spiritual violence. In section II, I describe the role normatively laden concepts play in shaping our social experience. I then elucidate how they can contribute to HI. In section III, I provide a brief overview of the history of some significant identity prejudices in the history of Christianity and argue that children can properly be understood as victims of HI within some religious communities. I then return in section IV to the examples of religious trauma and spiritual violence offered throughout the article and demonstrate that HI plays an important causal role in each of them. HIs sometimes constitute spiritual and religious harms; at other times they create an epistemic environment conducive to spiritual abuse.
THE INTERNATIONAL ENDORSEMENT OF CORPORATE SETTLEMENTS IN FOREIGN BRIBERY CASES
Authors: Ivory Radha , Søreide Tina
Published: September 2020

International anticorruption treaties create an almost universal requirement that States sanction legal persons for the crime of foreign bribery. However, the vast majority of corporate foreign bribery cases are ‘settled’ between governments and firms. Analysing key anticorruption instruments and treaty body reports, it appears there is a dearth of express rules on settlements in international law but a qualified implicit endorsement of domestic settlement laws and practices. The international regime is investigated in terms of its move towards common standards for the use of settlements, and whether recommendations are consistent with stated objectives. The analysis discloses an irony: States and international organisations fail to clearly articulate their expectations on settlements, while calling for transparent, effective and predictable domestic settlement rules.
The response of flue-cured tobacco cultivar K326 to nitrogen fertilizer rate in China
Authors: Chen Yanjie , Ren Ke , He Xian , Chen Yi , Hu Binbin , Hu Xiaodong , Li Junying , Jin Yan , Zhao Zhengxiong , Zou Congming
Published: September 2020

Nitrogen is an important element for the growth of flue-cured tobacco and is closely related to its yield and quality. In order to pursue higher economic benefits, excessive fertilizer is generally applied in flue-cured tobacco production, which is unfavourable for the sustainable development of flue-cured tobacco production and for the environment. In 2016 and 2017, experiments using different nitrogen fertilizer application rates in flue-cure tobacco were conducted in Yunnan province, and the changes in agronomic, economic and chemical indices as well as in residual soil nitrogen were compared. Linear and quadratic models were used to compare the response of tobacco to nitrogen fertilizer. With increasing nitrogen fertilizer rate, the proportions of superior to medium tobacco and the average price of flue-cured tobacco leaves initially increased and then decreased, while fresh weight, dry weight and the proportion of inferior tobacco showed the opposite trend. Total sugar and reducing sugar contents decreased with increasing nitrogen fertilizer rates, while total nitrogen and nicotine contents increased. Sensory evaluation scores had the highest value when 90 kg N/ha and 120 kg N/ha were applied. Soil nitrate contents increased as nitrogen fertilizer rate increased. The quadratic model was suitable for the response of cultivar K326 to nitrogen and 90 kg N/ha could meet the needs of cultivar K326.
The global status and genetic characterization of hydatidosis in camels (Camelus dromedarius): a systematic literature review with meta-analysis based on published papers
Authors: Anvari Davood , Pourmalek Nima , Rezaei Saeed , Fotovati Amir , Hosseini Seyed Abdollah , Daryani Ahmad , Spotin Adel , Sarvi Shahabeddin , Hosseini Mona , Narouei Mohammad Reza , Kalkali Mohammad , Pendar Faezeh , Gholami Shirzad
Published: September 2020

Hydatidosis is a potential zoonotic helminthic disease affecting a broad spectrum of mammals, including humans, worldwide. The current review was conducted to investigate the genotypic status and prevalence of hydatid disease in camels across the world. For the purpose of the study, the articles addressing the worldwide prevalence of hydatidosis in camels were searched in several English language databases. The search process resulted in the inclusion of 122 papers. Based on the data presented in the reviewed articles, the pooled prevalence of hydatid disease in camels across the world was measured at 23.75% (95% CI 20.15–27.55). Moreover, the subgroup analysis demonstrated significant differences in the overall prevalence of hydatidosis among camels based on year, geographic area, climate parameters, camel population, gender, infected organ, fertility rate of the cyst and laboratory diagnostic technique. Furthermore, theEchinococcus granulosusgenotypes identified in camels with hydatidosis included G1, G2, G3, G1–G3, G5, G6, G7, G6–G7 and G6–G10, with G6 being the most common genotype throughout the world. The data obtained from the current study are central to the better conceptualization of the biological and epidemiological characteristics ofE. granulosus s.l.genotypes around the world, which can be helpful in the planning and adoption of more comprehensive control strategies.
Manipulating post-Soviet nostalgia: contrasting political narratives and public recollections in Central Asia
Authors: Dadabaev Timur
Published: September 2020

The vision of the Soviet years in post-Soviet republics varies depending on the government's official master narrative, foreign policy priorities, and general public perceptions of the past. By contrasting the published interviews of presidents Putin, Nazarbayev, and Karimov and the outcomes of in-depth interviews with the elderly public in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan), this paper reveals the differences between the official master narratives of political leadership (positive or negative) with respect to the Soviet past and public attitudes. This paper aims to demonstrate that the narratives of political leaders/governments and public recollections coexist in the same social space in parallel to each other. While governments attempt to use their narratives to promote certain policy goals, people use their nostalgic recollections to make sense of the social changes in their respective countries and use such recollections to interpret their lives.
Can Research Contribute to Improve Educational Practice?
Authors: Ferrero Marta
Published: September 2020

Teaching a diverse classroom is a challenging task. Educators are faced daily with the difficult task of making many decisions about how to educate each of their students. To do this, they mainly rely on their experience and that of their colleagues, their values, and thoughts. Although they are inherent and important in the profession of teaching, sometimes these resources may not suffice to make the best decisions, particularly when teachers are continuously bombarded with numerous fads and poorly grounded ideas about education. In this context, research-informed practice emerges as a promising approach. It involves integrating the professional expertise of teachers with the best evidence of researchers to make better decisions and improve education. However, for this approach to be successfully implemented, the gap between researchers and practitioners must first be bridged. The possible solutions to this challenge involve acting in three contexts: research production, research communication and research use. Specific measures in each of these contexts are described.
PRE herbicides influence critical time of weed removal in glyphosate-resistant corn
Authors: Ulusoy Ayse Nur , Osipitan O. Adewale , Scott Jon , Jhala Amit J. , Lawrence Nevin C. , Knezevic Stevan Z.
Published: September 2020

Residual herbicides applied PRE provide early season weed control, potentially avoid the need for multiple POST herbicides, and can provide additional control of herbicide-resistant weeds. Thus, field studies were conducted in 2017 and 2018 at Concord, NE, to evaluate the influence of PRE herbicides on critical time for postemergence weed removal (CTWR) in corn. The studies were arranged in a split-plot design that consisted of three herbicide regimes as main plot treatments and seven weed removal timings as subplot treatments in four replications. The herbicide regimes included no PRE herbicide, atrazine, and a premix of saflufenacil/dimethenamid-P mixed with pyroxasulfone. The weed removal timings were at V3, V6, V9, V12, and V15 corn growth stages and then plots were kept weed-free until harvest. A weed-free and nontreated control were included for comparison. The relationship between corn growth or yield, and weed removal timings in growing degree days (GDD) was described by a four-parameter log-logistic model. This model was used to estimate the critical time for weed removal based on 5% crop yield loss threshold. A delay in weed removal until the V2 to V3 corn growth stage (91 to 126 GDD) reduced corn biomass by 5% without PRE herbicide application. The CTWR started at V3 without PRE herbicide in both years. Atrazine delayed the CTWR up to V5 in both years, whereas saflufenacil/dimethenamid-P plus pyroxasulfone further delayed the CTWR up to the V10 and V8 corn growth stages in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Herbicide applied PRE particularly with multiple sites of action can delay the CTWR in corn up to a maximum growth stage of V10, and delay or reduce the need for POST weed management.
Reexamining the Association of Parental Implicit Theories of Intelligence With Children’s Mastery Orientation and Actual Aptitude
Authors: Đurović Aleksandra , Protić Sonja , Dimitrijević Ana Altaras
Published: September 2020

Abstract. This study looked into the associations between parents’ implicit theories of intelligence, children’s cognitive aptitude, and children’s tendency to opt for mastery-oriented responses to challenging achievement situations. All child participants ( N = 59, 31 girls; 6;3 – 7;2 years) were individually assessed for cognitive aptitude and mastery orientation, while one of their parents (46 mothers) completed a questionnaire on entity versus incremental beliefs about intelligence. Correlation analyses indicated a statistically significant negative association between parental endorsement of the incremental theory and children’s cognitive aptitude ( r = −.29), as well as between parental endorsement of the entity theory and children’s mastery orientation ( r = −.28). Moreover, two significant canonical functions emerged, one of which was defined by higher parental endorsement of the entity theory along with higher cognitive aptitude and lower mastery orientation of the child, while the second entailed higher parental endorsement of the incremental theory, lower cognitive aptitude of the child, and again, the child’s lower mastery orientation. While confirming the theoretically proposed negative association between parents’ entity beliefs and children’s mastery orientation, the present results challenge a unidimensional conception of implicit theories of intelligence and their assumed independence of cognitive aptitude; moreover, they stimulate several interpretations regarding the psychological mechanisms surrounding children’s lower mastery orientation.
Evaluation des Rechtschreibtrainings mit Dino
Authors: Bruch Samira , Lemmer Gunnar , Schwinger Malte
Published: September 2020

Zusammenfassung. In der vorliegenden Studie wird das neu entwickelte Rechtschreibtraining mit Dino hinsichtlich seiner Auswirkungen auf die Lese-Rechtschreibkompetenz sowie motivationale Variablen evaluiert. 111 Kinder der dritten und vierten Jahrgangsstufe wurden randomisiert einer Interventions- ( n = 60) bzw. Kontrollgruppe ( n = 51 ) zugeteilt. Mitglieder der Interventionsgruppe wurden in Kleingruppen über einen etwa dreimonatigen Zeitraum von Studierenden gefördert. Varianzanalysen mit Messwiederholung zeigten, dass die Interventionsgruppe sich im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe signifikant stärker in ihrer Rechtschreibleistung und den Fähigkeitsselbstkonzepten Schreiben und Lesen verbesserte. Auch die Leseleistung nahm signifikant zu, wurde in der Kontrollgruppe jedoch nicht erfasst. Modelle latenter Veränderungsmessung zeigten positive Effekte der Intervention auf die latente Differenz im Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept Schreiben und die Differenz in der Rechtschreibekompetenz. Zudem lag ein positiver Zusammenhang der beiden Veränderungsvariablen vor. Neben dem Nachweis der Effektivität des Rechtschreibtrainings mit Dino leistet die Studie durch die Fokussierung motivationaler Variablen einen innovativen Beitrag in der Evaluationsforschung von Lese-Rechtschreibtrainings.
Drought Characteristics Derived Based on the Standardized Streamflow Index: A Large Sample Comparison for Parametric and Nonparametric Methods
Authors: Tijdeman E. , Stahl K. , Tallaksen L. M.
Published: September 2020

The streamflow drought hazard can be characterized in a variety of ways, including using different indices. Traditionally, percentile‐based indices, such as Q95 (the flow exceeded 95% of time), have been used by the hydrological community. Recently, the use of anomaly indices such as the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), a probability index‐based approach adopted from the climatological community, has increased in popularity. The SSI can be calculated based on various (non)parametric methods. Up to now, there is no consensus which method to use. This study aims to raise awareness how the inherent sensitivity of the SSI to the used method influences derived drought characteristics. We compared SSI time series computed with seven different probability distributions and two fitting methods as well as with different nonparametric methods for 369 rivers across Europe. Results showed that SSI time series and associated drought characteristics are indeed sensitive to the method of choice. A resampling experiment demonstrated the sensitivity of the parametric SSI to properties of both the low and high end of the sample. Such sensitivities might hinder a fair comparison of drought in space and time and highlight the need for a clear recommendation which method to use. We could recommend overall suitable methods, for example, from the parametric approaches, the Tweedie distribution has several advantageous properties such as a low rejection rate (2%) and a lower bound at zero. However, the most suitable method depends on the used evaluation criteria. Rather, we stress that shown approach‐specific sensitivities and uncertainties should be carefully considered.