bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Islamic Law and Paradox of Domination and Resistance
Authors: Nasir Mohamad Abdun
Published: February 2016

Judicial divorce symbolises women’s resistance to the domination of local interpretations and practices of Muslim family law in Lombok, such as male arbitrary repudiation and polygamy. In this pattern, husbands hold the privilege to terminate marital unions unilaterally and remarry without their wives’ consent. These practices find their grounds in classical-medieval Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), which is endorsed by the custom of patriarchal society. It is by turning to the court that women attempt to subvert such hegemonic discourses. By examining divorce cases from the religious courts, and looking at their broader socio-religious and cultural contexts, this study attempts to propose an analysis of judicial divorce as a locus of women’s resistance against male domination endorsed by local practices of Islamic law, customary law and state law, and examines an important dimension of contemporary practice of Islamic family law, which reveals patterns of domination and resistance.
Population structure and life history of Neomysis nigra Nakazawa, 1910 (Mysida) on Jeju Island, South Korea
Authors: Bae Jae-Yong , Noh Gyeong Eon , Park Won-Gyu
Published: February 2016

Population structure and life history of the mysidNeomysis nigraNakazawa, 1910 were studied on Jeju Island, South Korea.N. nigrawas collected monthly from a shallow embayment of Jeju Island from May 2013 to May 2014. Temperature and salinity were measured during the sampling. The carapace length (CL) ofN. nigrawas measured. Life stages were divided into six categories and embryos in the marsupium were classified by developmental stages. During the study period, water temperatures ranged from −0.3 to 35.7°C. The CL of females was larger than that of males. The mean CL of adults was negatively correlated with water temperature. CL values in winter and spring were higher than those in summer and autumn. Brooding females and juveniles were found all year round. The abundance of juveniles was relatively higher in May, July, December, and February than in other months. The number of embryos in the marsupium increased with increasing female size. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the populations ofN. nigrahave four major spawning groups in a year and reproduce all year round.
Morphological descriptions of laboratory reared larvae and post-larvae of the Australian shovel-nosed lobster Thenus australiensis Burton & Davie, 2007 (Decapoda, Scyllaridae)
Authors: Wakabayashi Kaori , Phillips Bruce F.
Published: February 2016

Complete larval development from newly hatched larvae up to the juvenile stage was successfully achieved in the Australian shovel-nosed lobsterThenus australiensisunder laboratory conditions. The larvae of this species passed through four phyllosoma stages (each stage has a single instar), and developed into the first juvenile stage via a post-larval, nisto stage. The shortest and mean durations from hatching to metamorphosis at a water temperature of 25°C were 32 and 38 days, respectively. Morphologies of body and appendages for all four phyllosoma stages and the nisto stage were described. The phyllosomas were fed exclusively on the jellyfishAurelia auritathroughout their culture. Our results indicate that jellyfish may be a viable diet forT. australiensisphyllosoma’s in culture and may therefore be useful for commercial-scale lobster production.
Simplification of preparation techniques for scanning electron microscopy of Cladocera: preparing filtering limbs and ephippia for efficient studies of ultrastructure
Authors: Juračka P. J. , Sacherová V. , Dobiášovská I. , Bovšková D. , Novosadová Z. , Kořínek V. , Petrusek A.
Published: February 2016

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is widely used in studies on crustacean systematics and functional morphology. The surface ultrastructure of cladoceran ephippia may carry valuable information for taxonomy, and its analysis may be also helpful in palaeoecological studies focusing on ephippia preserved in old sediments. SEM is also commonly used in analyses of cladoceran filtering limbs, which not only serve for filtering of food particles, but are also taxonomically important structures. In this study, we describe an efficient method for preparing both ephippia and limbs for SEM analyses. The workflow minimizes physical manipulation, which may reduce the risk of damage or loss of material, and allows a relatively large amount of material to be studied. We also evaluated the effects of two strong chemical agents used to remove unwanted biofilm from both ephippia and limb surfaces. This approach may further facilitate SEM analyses in systematic, ecological and palaeoecological surveys of Cladocera.
Fanniidae (Insecta, Diptera) from Beijing, China, with key and description of one new species
Authors: ZHANG DONG , LI WEI , ZHANG MING , WANG MING-FU , WANG RONG-RONG
Published: February 2016

The Family Fanniidae in Beijing, China, consisting of seventeen species, is reviewed. Seven species represent new records from this region, including two species that are newly recorded from mainland China. One new species (Fannia papei sp. nov.) collected from the mountainous regions of Beijing is described. Three species (F. carbonaria, F. dupla and F. hirticeps) are re-described to provide updated characters and extensive variation information, and a key to identify the known males from Beijing is also given.
The Cretaceous Fossil Burmaculex antiquus Confirmed as the Earliest Known Lineage of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: BORKENT ART , GRIMALDI DAVID A.
Published: February 2016

A second female of mid-Cretaceous Burmaculex antiquus Borkent & Grimaldi, preserved in 99 myo Burmese amber, and the oldest known member of the Culicidae, is described in detail. Although generally opaque and distorted, some character states are added or refined. The discovery of well-developed scales on the legs shows that this feature must now be considered a synapomorphy of both the fossil and all extant members of the family. Previously described synapomorphies and further interpretation here confirm the phylogenetic position of this fossil as the sister group to extant and all known fossil Culicidae. It is placed in the new subfamily Burmaculicinae.
Using Synthetic Tropical Cyclones to Characterize Extreme Hurricanes Affecting Charleston, South Carolina
Authors: Ellis Kelsey N. , Trepanier Jill C. , Hodges Robert E.
Published: February 2016

The characteristics and conditions favoring extreme hurricanes remain largely unknown because of their small number in the observational record. Synthetic tracks are capable of providing a large, representative sample of these events, which provides an opportunity to further understanding of extreme characteristics as compared with those of more common tropical cyclones. The authors compare 300 synthetic extreme (100-yr event, ≥48.9 m s−1) and 300 common (5-yr event, ≤33.6 m s−1) tropical cyclones for Charleston, South Carolina, for differences in spatial, temporal, and other characteristics. Results suggest that extreme hurricanes have a more-defined spatial and temporal behavior, generally forming off the coast of Africa and making a direct landfall at Charleston. Common tropical cyclones sometimes make prior landfalls, may approach from either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, and often decay well before reaching Charleston. They are likely to occur through much of the hurricane season, whereas extreme events are most common during a short period toward the end of August. There is no significant difference between common and extreme translational velocity at landfall. This study demonstrates the opportunity that synthetic tracks provide for understanding the rarest hurricanes and provides initial insight into those affecting Charleston.
The Relationship between Elevation Roughness and Tornado Activity: A Spatial Statistical Model Fit to Data from the Central Great Plains
Authors: Elsner James B. , Fricker Tyler , Widen Holly M. , Castillo Carla M. , Humphreys John , Jung Jihoon , Rahman Shoumik , Richard Amanda , Jagger Thomas H. , Bhatrasataponkul Tachanat , Gredzens Christian , Dixon P. Grady
Published: February 2016

The statistical relationship between elevation roughness and tornado activity is quantified using a spatial model that controls for the effect of population on the availability of reports. Across a large portion of the central Great Plains the model shows that areas with uniform elevation tend to have more tornadoes on average than areas with variable elevation. The effect amounts to a 2.3% [(1.6%, 3.0%) = 95% credible interval] increase in the rate of a tornado occurrence per meter of decrease in elevation roughness, defined as the highest minus the lowest elevation locally. The effect remains unchanged if the model is fit to the data starting with the year 1995. The effect strengthens for the set of intense tornadoes and is stronger using an alternative definition of roughness. The elevation-roughness effect appears to be strongest over Kansas, but it is statistically significant over a broad domain that extends from Texas to South Dakota. The research is important for developing a local climatological description of tornado occurrence rates across the tornado-prone region of the Great Plains.
Mixed-Mode Oscillations of El Niño–Southern Oscillation
Authors: Roberts Andrew , Guckenheimer John , Widiasih Esther , Timmermann Axel , Jones Christopher K. R. T.
Published: February 2016

Very strong El Niño events occur sporadically every 10–20 yr. The origin of this bursting behavior still remains elusive. Using a simplified three-dimensional dynamical model of the tropical Pacific climate system, which captures El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) combined with recently developed mathematical tools for fast–slow systems, the authors show that decadal ENSO bursting behavior can be explained as a mixed-mode oscillation (MMO), which also predicts a critical threshold for rapid amplitude growth. It is hypothesized that the MMO dynamics of the low-dimensional climate model can be linked to a saddle-focus equilibrium point, which mimics a tropical Pacific Ocean state without ocean circulation.
Impact of Parameterized Internal Wave Drag on the Semidiurnal Energy Balance in a Global Ocean Circulation Model
Authors: Buijsman Maarten C. , Ansong Joseph K. , Arbic Brian K. , Richman James G. , Shriver Jay F. , Timko Patrick G. , Wallcraft Alan J. , Whalen Caitlin B. , Zhao ZhongXiang
Published: February 2016

The effects of a parameterized linear internal wave drag on the semidiurnal barotropic and baroclinic energetics of a realistically forced, three-dimensional global ocean model are analyzed. Although the main purpose of the parameterization is to improve the surface tides, it also influences the internal tides. The relatively coarse resolution of the model of ~8 km only permits the generation and propagation of the first three vertical modes. Hence, this wave drag parameterization represents the energy conversion to and the subsequent breaking of the unresolved high modes. The total tidal energy input and the spatial distribution of the barotropic energy loss agree with the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Poseidon (TPXO) tidal inversion model. The wave drag overestimates the high-mode conversion at ocean ridges as measured against regional high-resolution models. The wave drag also damps the low-mode internal tides as they propagate away from their generation sites. Hence, it can be considered a scattering parameterization, causing more than 50% of the deep-water dissipation of the internal tides. In the near field, most of the baroclinic dissipation is attributed to viscous and numerical dissipation. The far-field decay of the simulated internal tides is in agreement with satellite altimetry and falls within the broad range of Argo-inferred dissipation rates. In the simulation, about 12% of the semidiurnal internal tide energy generated in deep water reaches the continental margins.
Independent Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells Powering Sensors and Acoustic Communications with the MARS Underwater Observatory
Authors: Schrader Paul S. , Reimers Clare E. , Girguis Peter , Delaney Jennifer , Doolan Cody , Wolf Michael , Green Dale
Published: February 2016

Most oceanographic instruments on the seafloor have no connections with the surface and therefore have to run on batteries and store data until recovery. To demonstrate a developing technology, sensors and acoustic modems were powered with energy harvested from the seafloor, and data were relayed acoustically in near–real time to the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) observatory in Monterey Bay, California, and to surface research vessels. MARS is a cabled observatory in deep water (~890 m) at the edge of Monterey Canyon. An acoustic modem was attached to the MARS node and configured to send out commands to, and relay data received from, remote modems. Two benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) positioned approximately 0.5 km away from MARS supplied power to the remote modems and sensors. At their peak performance, these BMFCs produced continuous power densities of ~35 mW m−2 (footprint area). The modems utilized in this study contained an integrated power management platform (PMP) designed to manage and store the electrical energy generated by each BMFC and to record BMFC performance parameters and sensor data on an hourly basis. Temperature and either oxygen or conductivity sensors were chosen because of their common use and environmental relevance. Acoustically transmitted data records show that the BMFCs renewed energy stores and that the oceanographic sensors measured dissolved oxygen, temperature, and conductivity reliably throughout the operational life of each BMFC system (~6 months). These systems remained in place for more than 12 months.
Capitalism, mutual aid, and material life: Understanding exilic spaces
Authors: O’Hearn Denis , Grubačić Andrej
Published: February 2016

Anarchist and Marxist scholarship differ mainly in emphasis: anarchists tend to emphasise cooperation, while Marxists have traditionally focused on exploitation and domination. The most recent wave of anarchist scholarship analyses non-state spaces and practices that stand outside the logic of state and market, while Marxist analyses are still dominated by processes of accumulation and the capital relation. The aim of this brief intervention is to suggest that both approaches are needed, and that understanding life at the edges of capitalism, including possible emphases on relations of mutual aid instead of market competition, is necessary for a complete understanding of capitalism as a system.
Major Depression in Canada: What Has Changed over the Past 10 Years?
Authors: Patten Scott B. , Williams Jeanne V. A. , Lavorato Dina H. , Wang Jian Li , McDonald Keltie , Bulloch Andrew G. M.
Published: February 2016

Objective:

Major depressive episodes (MDE) make an important contribution to disease burden in Canada. The epidemiology of MDE in the national population has been examined in 2 mental health surveys, one conducted in 2002 and the other in 2012. Our objective was to compare selected variables from the 2 surveys to determine whether changes have occurred in the prevalence, treatment, and impact of MDE.

Method:

The World Health Organization World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used in both surveys and the MDE module (which was not modified) was scored using the same algorithm. Some variables assessing impact and management of MDE were also identical in the 2 surveys. The analysis was based on frequency estimates and associated 95% confidence intervals.

Results:

The annual prevalence of MDE was 4.7% (95% CI 4.3% to 5.1%) in 2012, nearly identical to 4.8% (95% CI 4.5% to 5.1%) in 2002. Receipt of potentially adequate treatment (defined as taking an antidepressant or 6 or more visits to a health professional for mental health reasons) increased from 41.3% in 2002 to 52.2% in 2012, mostly due to an increase in respondents reporting 6 or more visits. Use of second generation antipsychotics also increased. There was no evidence of diminishing prevalence or impact (as assessed by symptoms of distress).

Conclusions:

There appears to have been an increase in receipt of treatment for people with MDE and a changing pattern of management. However, it was not possible to confirm that the impact of MDE is diminishing as a result.
Forty-Five Years of Civil Litigation Against Canadian Psychiatrists: An Empirical Pilot Study
Authors: Mela Mansfield , Luther Glen , Gutheil Thomas G.
Published: February 2016

Objectives:

To extract the themes pertaining to prudent psychiatric practice from written court judgments in Canada.

Methods:

We searched the medical and legal literature for cases involving civil litigation against Canadian psychiatrist and reviewed all available written judgments. We completed a thematic analysis of the civil actions against psychiatrists as conveyed by those written court judgments. We classified the cases according to the disposal status and the essential lessons from the decisions on standard of care and practice by Canadian psychiatrists.

Results:

Forty such cases were identified as involving psychiatrists over a 45-year period. A subgroup included those dealing with limitation periods and disclosure applications. Thirty of the 40 cases (75%) were decided in favour of the defendant psychiatrists, including 2 dismissed for running over the limitation period. The cases that actually went to trial suggest that documentation and obtaining second opinions are protective against claims of negligence. Inpatient cases resulting in successful litigation against psychiatrists involved fatal outcomes, but not all fatal outcomes led to successful litigation.

Conclusions:

The key lessons from these cases are the importance and relevance of regular best clinical practices, such as documentation, obtaining second opinions, following guidelines, and balancing competencies in the expert and manager or advocate roles. Incorporating these practices should allay concerns about litigation against psychiatrists.
Career Interests of Canadian Psychiatry Residents: What Makes Residents Choose a Research Career?
Authors: Laliberté Vincent , Rapoport Mark J. , Andrew Melissa , Davidson Marla , Rej Soham
Published: February 2016

Objectives:

Training future clinician-researchers remains a challenge faced by Canadian psychiatry departments. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of residents interested in pursuing research and other career options as part of their practice, and to identify the factors associated with interest in research.

Method:

Data from a national online survey of 207 Canadian psychiatry residents from a total of 853 (24.3% response rate) were examined. The main outcome was interest in research as part of residents’ future psychiatrist practice. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify demographic and vocational variables associated with research interest.

Results:

Interest in research decreases by 76% between the first and fifth year of psychiatry residency (OR 0.76 per year, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97). Training in a department with a residency research track did not correlate with increased research interest (χ2 = 0.007, df = 1, P = 0.93).

Conclusions:

Exposing and engaging psychiatry residents in research as early as possible in residency training appears key to promoting future research interest. Psychiatry residency programs and research tracks could consider emphasizing research training initiatives and protected research time early in residency.
Epidemiology of Injection Drug Use
Authors: Roy Élise , Arruda Nelson , Bruneau Julie , Jutras-Aswad Didier
Published: February 2016

After more than 30 years of research, numerous studies have shown that injection drug use is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes such as drug overdoses, drug-related suicidal behaviours, comorbid psychiatric disorders, bloodborne pathogens and other infectious diseases, and traumas. This review explores new trends and prominent issues associated with injection drug use. The dynamic nature of injection drug use is underlined by examining its recent trends and changing patterns in Canada and other “high-income countries.” Three research topics that could further contribute to the development of comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies aimed at people who inject drugs are also discussed: risk behaviours associated with the injection of prescription opioids, binge injection drug use, and mental health problems as determinants of injection risk behaviours.
‘The sickness stands at your shoulder …’: Embodiment and cognitive metaphor in Hornbacher’s Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
Authors: Senkbeil Karsten , Hoppe Nicola
Published: February 2016

This paper applies cognitive linguistic approaches, particularly conceptual metaphor theory, to the study of literature, and analyses how Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (1998) by Marya Hornbacher communicates embodied experiences such as sickness, hunger, and (self-)loathing with the help of conceptual metaphors. It explores how the author renegotiates and partly recontextualizes highly conventionalized metaphors around eating disorders, mental illness, and identity to create new meaning, and how this strategy helped explain the mindset of a person with anorexia and bulimia to a broad critical readership in the late 1990s. This paper hence hypothesizes that the book’s emphasis on metaphors as a means to articulate bodily experiences surrounding a mental disorder may hint towards larger trends concerning the representation of the body–mind relationship in literature and culture in the last two decades.
Revisiting Text World Theory and extended metaphor: Embedding and foregrounding extended metaphors in the text-worlds of the 2008 financial crash
Authors: Browse Sam
Published: February 2016

It has long been recognised that metaphor is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also has important cognitive dimensions. To find evidence that metaphor is an important feature of the human conceptual system, cognitive linguists have often searched for clusters of metaphor in discourse that manifest a single conceptual metaphor. As Werth points out, however, in addition to clustering, metaphors can be sustained throughout a discourse. The subtle conceptual effects of these extended metaphors are of particular interest to researchers working in the field of stylistics. In this article, I build on Werth’s account of extended metaphor to explore in more detail these sustained conceptual effects. Like Werth, I draw on Text World Theory to outline a text-world approach to extended metaphor, proposing the idea of a ‘source-world’ to account for how individual, clause-level metaphors combine across a discourse to create a discourse-level conceptual structure. I argue that the source-worlds of extended metaphor are anchored in the text-world structures discourse participants create as they engage with a text and that this embedding of extended metaphor in the discourse gives rise to some of the subtle conceptual effects to which Werth alludes. Building on work by Gavins, Steen, Stockwell and Sullivan, I also argue that source-worlds can be more or less foregrounded or pushed into the background of discourse participants’ mental representations of the text and I propose a linguistic framework to account for the phenomenon of extended metaphor foregrounding. I illustrate extended metaphor embedding and foregrounding by analysing a newspaper opinion piece by Matthew D’Ancona entitled ‘Gordon Brown with siren suit and cigar’.
Materialism, Impulse Buying and Conspicuous Consumption: A Qualitative Research
Authors: Vohra Aastha Verma
Published: February 2016

Consumer behavioural traits or characteristics are the most imperative part in the study of consumer behaviour. Researchers and marketers have always been interested in understanding consumer behaviour so that apt marketing strategies can be formulated. This article deals with three important traits, namely, materialism, impulse buying and conspicuous consumption. All the three traits relate to the imaginative, emotional and evaluative components of consumption behaviour. This article is the author’s attempt to generate new knowledge and insight about the topic by integrating significant research work conducted by authors world over using qualitative research techniques. It is the form of research that reviews, critiques and synthesizes the literature of the topic, such that a new framework and perspective on the topic is generated. Synthesizing knowledge from the existing literature on all the three above-mentioned traits is a significant value-added contribution to the body of literature, and thereafter, the use of the structured in-depth interviews further help in developing a comprehensive framework. The study has also opened up many provocative questions for future research, and is useful as a foundation to practitioners and scholars who are interested in the same field. The article provides a broad overview of the factors that motivate a consumer to exhibit a particular consumption trait through a comprehensive framework, and for this purpose, first, the extant academic literature is studied extensively, and then the study undertakes structured in-depth interviews with 20 individuals in the hypermarket. The article concludes with the generation of the framework and a series of recommendations for international/domestic marketing managers.
Development of Predictive Maintenance Model for N-Component Repairable System Using NHPP Models and System Availability Concept
Authors: Srivastava Nishit Kumar , Mondal Sandeep
Published: February 2016

The technologically intensive nature of the predictive maintenance (PdM) method restricts its use to companies with higher turnover. This research is aimed to propose a PdM model for an N-component repairable system by integrating non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models and a system availability concept such that the use of technology is minimized, thereby extending its applicability to companies with lower turnover. It is known that manufacturing systems show reliability degradation with repeated overhauls and component replacements. This has the effect that the mean time between failures (MTBF) is non-identically distributed. Hence, the failure pattern of each component is analyzed using NHPP models and the mean system availability is calculated, which is now compared with the threshold system availability deciding the overall maintenance of the system. Further, the developed model is validated on a wheat flour mill.
Assessment of Barriers in Green Supply Chain Management Using ISM: A Case Study of the Automobile Industry in India
Authors: Balon Virendra , Sharma Anil K. , Barua Mukesh K.
Published: February 2016

Production organizations often upgrade their supply chain processes to green supply chain system for various operational synergies, but they certainly fail to implement such advanced systems because of barriers that are accountable for internal and external environments. Considering this, the study analyzes the automobile industry in India, both to explore the barriers of green supply chain and to classify them. To do so, a legitimate method of mathematical modelling—interpretive structural modelling— is used. The study has identified thirteen barriers based on the extensive literature, and has added one, with reference to expert opinion. It has been found that six attributes are dependent barriers, five are driver barriers and three are linkage barriers. The study holds significant implications at the firm level, for production processes and the green supply chain system, especially in automobile manufacturing firms. The identified relationship between these barriers may help organizations overcome them in order to implement an effective and efficient green supply chain management (GSCM) system.
Service Quality Parameters for Mobile Government Services in India
Authors: Chanana Lovneesh , Agrawal Rajat , Punia Devendra Kumar
Published: February 2016

Information and communications technology (ICT)-based government service delivery in India is rapidly achieving a stage of maturity. With the increasing teledensity and the penetration of mobile devices, the Indian central and state governments have started to offer government services over mobile devices. As more and more government services are offered over mobile phones, it is important to gain an understanding of parameters determining the quality of mobile government services. The identification of service quality parameters will help stakeholders appropriately prioritize and position mobile-based government service delivery. This article presents the findings of an exploratory study using an online survey of Indian e-government experts on the service quality parameters for m-government in India. The study aims to identify and prioritize the service quality parameters based on similar parameters identified by researchers for e-government and mobile service quality.
Infrastructure for Water Resource Management in Southern Africa
Authors: Tumbare Michael James
Published: February 2016

Water resources infrastructure ranges from educational and research infrastructure, storage works (surface and underground), hydrological and meteorological stations, irrigation systems, to water infrastructure for eco-tourism. This water resources infrastructure serves the mining, agricultural, urban and rural water needs, the environment, amongst a host of other needs and demands.

Water resources infrastructure is a critical component in the provision of sustainable water resource management and services, for example, for mitigating impacts of climate change and variability, mitigating the variability of the water resource distribution in space and time, climate proofing, energy and food security and for data collection for information and improving the knowledge base.

The purpose of this article is to document the status of water infrastructure development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and showcase the efforts and strides that the SADC region has made and taken in achieving a conducive enabling environment for water infrastructure development to facilitate better water resource management.

The article also highlights the challenges faced and the lessons learnt to date pursuant to the provision of water resource infrastructure in the SADC Region. The opinions and conclusions drawn in the article are those of the author.
The Way Forward for Simulation & Gaming (S&G)
Authors: Clapper Timothy C.
Published: February 2016

The fields of simulation and gaming are expanding into innovative and increasingly popular areas, including simulation in healthcare, recreational games for educational purposes, urban planning, military simulation and modeling, and more. This editorial serves as a farewell to a distinguished editor of Simulation & Gaming (S&G) and an introduction of the new editors who will maintain the highest standards for the journal and guide it to newer domains, while unveiling best-practices in underreported areas of the world.
Religious discrimination and the ‘hierarchy of rights’
Authors: Pearson Megan
Published: February 2016

In theory, there is no hierarchy of rights in the Equality Act 2010: equal weight is given to each protected characteristic. At least two, very different, critiques though have been made of this argument as it relates to religion or belief. One argument is that religious discrimination has unfairly been given a lower priority than other characteristics, particularly sexual orientation. The second is that religion is inherently different, partly because religions tend to set extensive, and possibly discriminatory, rules for behaviour. In order to keep religion or belief claims within a reasonable limit, religious discrimination claims must therefore be confined. The perceived danger of confining these claims though is that, because of the insistence that there is no hierarchy of rights, this will lead to reduced protection across all the protected characteristics since concepts which apply across the Equality Act will be reinterpreted in order to avoid unwanted results. As will be demonstrated though, both of these arguments are misconceived.
Ventilation of general hospital wards for mitigating infection risks of three kinds of viruses including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
Authors: Yu H.C. , Mui K.W. , Wong L.T. , Chu H.S.
Published: February 2016

This study investigates the effectiveness of ventilation design strategies for general hospital wards in terms of virus removal capacity. A typical semi-enclosed six-bed general ward of Hong Kong hospitals and three respiratory viruses, namely Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS- CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS- CoV) and H1N1 influenza virus, were chosen for the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of airflow field and virus dispersion inside the ward. The results demonstrated that the location of an infected patient would affect the infection risks to other occupants and healthcare workers inside the same hospital ward, and an increased air change rate in the ward could reduce the risk of infection from direct contact and inhalation. It was found that an air change rate of 9 h−1 could effectively minimize the deposition and floating time of respiratory virus particles while maximizing energy efficiency. This study should provide a useful source of reference for the hospital management to mitigate the risk of infection with MERS or other airborne transmitted viruses through better ventilation design strategies.
Assaults from corrosive substances and medico legal considerations in a large regional burn centre in the United Kingdom: calls for increased vigilance and enforced legislation
Authors: Tan Alethea , Bharj Amrit Kaur , Nizamoglu Metin , Barnes David , Dziewulski Peter
Published: February 2016

[Formula: see text]

Burn injuries from corrosive substances have been recognised as a common method of assault in low and middle income countries (LMICs) motivated by various factors. Such injuries often leave survivors with severely debilitating physical and psychological injuries and scars. The number of reported cases of acid assaults within the United Kingdom (UK) appears to be on the rise. As one of the largest regional burn centres in the UK, we have reviewed our experience of chemical burns from assault. This study aims to: (1) review the demographics, incidence and patient outcomes; (2) evaluate the long-term psychosocial support provided; and (3) review current criminal litigation proceedings and preventative legislations in the UK specific to assault by corrosive substances. A 15-year retrospective review of 21 burn injuries from assault with corrosive substances presenting to a regional burn unit was conducted. Victims were mostly young men; male perpetrators were more common. The most common motive cited was assault. The most common anatomical region affected was the face and neck. The number of victims who pursue litigation is disproportionately lower than the number of total cases at presentation. In an effort to better understand the legal considerations surrounding such assaults, we also collaborated with lawyers experienced in this particular field. We hope that our work will help educate healthcare professionals regarding the legal assistance and existing laws available to protect these patients.
Ulinastatin administration is associated with a lower incidence of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery: a propensity score matched study
Authors: Wan Xin , Xie Xiangcheng , Gendoo Yasser , Chen Xin , Ji Xiaobing , Cao Changchun
Published: February 2016

Background

Systemic inflammation is involved in the development of acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Ulinastatin, a urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), possesses a variety of anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that the administration of ulinastatin would reduce the occurrence of AKI in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB.

Methods

A retrospective propensity score matched analysis was used to evaluate the effect of ulinastatin on the development of AKI in patients undergoing first documented cardiac surgery with CPB between January 2008 and December 2012 in our hospital. Multiple logistic regression models were also employed to identify the association between UTI administration and development of AKI.

Results

A total of 2072 patients who underwent cardiac surgery with CPB met the inclusion criteria. Before propensity score matching, variables such as age, baseline creatinine, CPB duration, red blood cells transfused, and hematocrit were statistically different between the ulinastatin (UTI) group and the control group. On the basis of propensity scores, 409 UTI patients were successfully matched to the 409 patients from among those 1663 patients without UTI administration. After propensity score matching, no statistically significant differences in the baseline characteristics were found between the UTI group and the control group. The propensity score matched cohort analysis revealed that AKI and the need for renal replacement therapy occurred more frequently in the control group than in the UTI group (40.83 % vs. 30.32 %, P = 0.002; 2.44 % vs. 0.49 %, P = 0.02, respectively). However, there were no significant differences in mortality, length of intensive care unit stay, and length of hospital stay between the UTI group and the control group. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found ulinastatin played a protective role in the development of AKI after cardiac surgery (odds ratio 0.71, 95 % confidence interval 0.56–0.90, P = 0.005).

Conclusions

This study shows that ulinastatin was associated with a lower incidence of AKI after cardiac surgery, suggesting that the administration of ulinastatin may be favorable for those patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB.
Diagnosis and prognosis of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin for acute kidney injury with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang An , Cai Ying , Wang Peng-Fei , Qu Jian-Ning , Luo Zhen-Chun , Chen Xiao-Dong , Huang Bin , Liu Yi , Huang Wen-Qi , Wu Jing , Yin Yue-Hui
Published: February 2016

Background

Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been identified as an early biomarker for prediction of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the utility of NGAL to predict the occurrence of AKI in septic patients remains controversial. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the evidence on diagnosis of sepsis AKI and the prediction of other clinical outcomes.

Method

The MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, and CNKI databases were systematically searched up to August 19, 2015. Quality assessment was applied by using the Quality Assessment for Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy (QUADAS-2) tool. The diagnostic performance of NGAL for the prediction of AKI in sepsis was evaluated using pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), as well as summary receiver operating characteristic curves (SROC).

Results

Fifteen studies with a total of 1,478 patients were included in the meta-analysis. For plasma NGAL, the pooled sensitivity and specificity with corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were 0.83 (95 % CI: 0.77 − 0.88) and 0.57 (95 % CI: 0.54 − 0.61), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio (PLR) was 3.10 (95 % CI: 1.57 − 6.11) and the pooled negative likelihood ratio (NLR) was 0.24 (95 % CI: 0.13 − 0.43). The pooled DOR was 14.72 (95 % CI: 6.55 − 33.10) using a random effects model. The area under the curve (AUC) for SROC to summarize diagnostic accuracy was 0.86. For urine NGAL, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and AUC values were 0.80 (95 % CI: 0.77 − 0.83), 0.80 (95 % CI: 0.77 − 0.83), 4.42 (95 % CI: 2.84 − 6.89), 0.21 (95 % CI: 0.13 − 0.35), 24.20 (95 % CI: 9.92 − 59.05) and 0.90, respectively. Significant heterogeneity was explored as a potential source. There was no notable publication bias observed across the eligible studies. NGAL for prediction of renal replacement therapy (RRT) and mortality associated with AKI in septic patients were also evaluated.

Conclusion

To a certain extent, NGAL is not only an effective predictive factor for AKI in the process of sepsis, but also shows potential predictive value for RRT and mortality. However, future trials are needed to clarify this controversial issue.
Region-specific role of growth differentiation factor-5 in the establishment of sympathetic innervation
Authors: O’Keeffe Gerard W. , Gutierrez Humberto , Howard Laura , Laurie Christopher W. , Osorio Catarina , Gavaldà Núria , Wyatt Sean L. , Davies Alun M.
Published: February 2016

Background

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the prototypical target-derived neurotrophic factor required for sympathetic neuron survival and for the growth and ramification of sympathetic axons within most but not all sympathetic targets. This implies the operation of additional target-derived factors for regulating terminal sympathetic axon growth and branching.

Results

Here report that growth differentiation factor 5 (GDF5), a widely expressed member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) superfamily required for limb development, promoted axon growth from mouse superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons independently of NGF and enhanced axon growth in combination with NGF. GDF5 had no effect on neuronal survival and influenced axon growth during a narrow window of postnatal development when sympathetic axons are ramifying extensively in their targets in vivo. SCG neurons expressed all receptors capable of participating in GDF5 signaling at this stage of development. Using compartment cultures, we demonstrated that GDF5 exerted its growth promoting effect by acting directly on axons and by initiating retrograde canonical Smad signalling to the nucleus. GDF5 is synthesized in sympathetic targets, and examination of several anatomically circumscribed tissues in Gdf5 null mice revealed regional deficits in sympathetic innervation. There was a marked, highly significant reduction in the sympathetic innervation density of the iris, a smaller though significant reduction in the trachea, but no reduction in the submandibular salivary gland. There was no reduction in the number of neurons in the SCG.

Conclusions

These findings show that GDF5 is a novel target-derived factor that promotes sympathetic axon growth and branching and makes a distinctive regional contribution to the establishment of sympathetic innervation, but unlike NGF, plays no role in regulating sympathetic neuron survival.
Attenuation of teratoma formation by p27 overexpression in induced pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Matsu-ura Toru , Sasaki Hiroshi , Okada Motoi , Mikoshiba Katsuhiko , Ashraf Muhammad
Published: February 2016

Background

Pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, have a great potential for regenerative medicine. Induced pluripotent stem cells, in particular, are suitable for replacement of tissue by autologous transplantation. However, tumorigenicity is a major risk in clinical application of both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. This study explores the possibility of manipulating the cell cycle for inhibition of tumorigenicity.

Methods

We genetically modified mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) to overexpress p27 tumor suppressor and examined their proliferation rate, gene expression, cardiac differentiation, tumorigenicity, and therapeutic potential in a mouse model of coronary artery ligation.

Results

Overexpression of p27 inhibited cell division of miPSCs, and that inhibition was dependent on the expression level of p27. p27 overexpressing miPSCs had pluripotency characteristics but lost stemness earlier than normal miPSCs during embryoid body and teratoma formation. These cellular characteristics led to none or smaller teratoma when the cells were injected into nude mice. Transplantation of both miPSCs and p27 overexpressing miPSCs into the infarcted mouse heart reduced the infarction size and improved left ventricular function.

Conclusions

The overexpression of p27 attenuated tumorigenicity by reducing proliferation and earlier loss of stemness of miPSCs. The overexpression of p27 did not affect pluripotency and differentiation characteristics of miPSC. Therefore, regulation of the proliferation rate of miPSCs offers great therapeutic potential for repair of the injured myocardium.
Survey decomposition: A scalable framework for 3D controlled-source electromagnetic inversion
Authors: Yang Dikun , Oldenburg Douglas W.
Published: February 2016

Numerical modeling and inversion of electromagnetic (EM) data is a computationally intensive task. To achieve efficiency, we have developed algorithms that were constructed from a smallest practical computational unit. This “atomic” building block, which yields the solution of Maxwell’s equations for a single time or frequency datum due to an infinitesimal current or magnetic dipole, is a self-contained EM problem that can be solved independently and inexpensively on a single core of CPU. Any EM data set can be composed from these units through assembling or superposition. This approach takes advantage of the rapidly expanding capability of multiprocessor computation. Our decomposition has allowed us to handle the computational complexity that arises because of the physical size of the survey, the large number of transmitters, and the large range of time or frequency in a data set; we did this by modeling every datum separately on customized local meshes and local time-stepping schemes. The counterpart to efficiency with atomic decomposition was that the number of independent subproblems could become very large. We have realized that not all of the data need to be considered at all stages of the inversion. Rather, the data can be significantly downsampled at late times or low frequencies and at the early stages of inversion when only long-wavelength signals are sought. We have therefore developed a random data subsampling approach, in conjunction with cross-validation, that selects data in accordance to the spatial scales of the EM induction and the degree of regularization. Alternatively, for many EM surveys, the atomic units can be combined into larger subproblems, thus reducing the number of subproblems needed. These trade-offs were explored for airborne and ground large-loop systems with specific survey configurations being considered. Our synthetic and field examples showed that the proposed framework can produce 3D inversion results in uncompromised quality in a more scalable manner.