bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Canonical Wnt signaling promotes pacemaker cell specification of cardiac mesodermal cells derived from mouse and human embryonic stem cells
Authors: Liang Wenbin , Han Pengcheng , Kim Elizabeth H. , Mak Jordan , Zhang Rui , Torrente Angelo G. , Goldhaber Joshua I. , Marbán Eduardo , Cho Hee Cheol
Published: October 2019

Cardiac differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can give rise to de novo chamber cardiomyocytes and nodal pacemaker cells. Compared with our understanding of direct differentiation toward atrial and ventricular myocytes, the mechanisms for nodal pacemaker cell commitment are not well understood. Taking a cue from the prominence of canonical Wnt signaling during cardiac pacemaker tissue development in chick embryos, we asked if modulations of Wnt signaling influence cardiac progenitors to bifurcate to either chamber cardiomyocytes or pacemaker cells. Omitting an exogenous Wnt inhibitor, which is routinely added to maximize cardiac myocyte yield during differentiation of mouse and human ESCs, led to increased yield of spontaneously beating cardiomyocytes with action potential properties similar to those of native sinoatrial node pacemaker cells. The pacemaker phenotype was accompanied by enhanced expression of genes and gene products that mark nodal pacemaker cells such as Hcn4, Tbx18, Tbx3, and Shox2. Addition of exogenous Wnt3a ligand, which activates canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling, increased the yield of pacemaker-like myocytes while reducing cTNT-positive pan-cardiac differentiation. Conversely, addition of inhibitors of Wnt/β-catenin signaling led to increased chamber myocyte lineage development at the expense of pacemaker cell specification. The positive impact of canonical Wnt signaling on nodal pacemaker cell differentiation was evidenced in direct differentiation of two human ESC lines and human induced pluripotent stem cells. Our data identify the Wnt/β-catenin pathway as a critical determinant of cardiac myocyte subtype commitment during ESC differentiation: endogenous Wnt signaling favors the pacemaker lineage, whereas its suppression promotes the chamber cardiomyocyte lineage.
Unlocking the paradoxical endogenous stem cell response after spinal cord injury
Authors: Hachem Laureen D. , Mothe Andrea J. , Tator Charles H.
Published: October 2019

Nearly a century ago, the concept of the secondary injury in spinal cord trauma was first proposed to explain the complex cascade of molecular and cellular events leading to widespread neuronal and glial cell death after trauma. In recent years, it has been established that the ependymal region of the adult mammalian spinal cord contains a population of multipotent neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) that are activated after spinal cord injury (SCI) and likely play a key role in endogenous repair and regeneration. How these cells respond to the various components of the secondary injury remains poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that many of the biochemical components of the secondary injury cascade which have classically been viewed as deleterious to host neuronal and glial cells may paradoxically trigger NSPC activation, proliferation, and differentiation thus challenging our current understanding of secondary injury mechanisms in SCI. Herein, we highlight new findings describing the response of endogenous NSPCs to spinal cord trauma, redefining the secondary mechanisms of SCI through the lens of the endogenous population of stem/progenitor cells. Moreover, we outline how these insights can fuel novel stem cell-based therapeutic strategies to repair the injured spinal cord.
An improved deep network for intelligent diagnosis of machinery faults with similar features
Authors: Yang Jing , Xie Guo , Yang Yanxi , Li Xin , Mu Lingxia , Takahashi Sei , Mochizuki Hiroshi
Published: October 2019

Currently, fault diagnosis, especially single fault diagnosis, has yielded fruitful research results. However, for concurrent faults, which exist more widely in real industrial systems. Due to the challenges of complex model mechanism, single and coupled monitoring data, as well as difficulty distinguished similar features, causing the existing research findings on concurrent faults have not yet achieved satisfactory effects. Considering the problem and in order to extract features automatically while enhancing the diagnostic accuracy, an improved sparse autoencoder (SAE) network for intelligent diagnosis is proposed. Specifically, the main contents are as follows: firstly, the original time‐domain signals are preprocessed to eliminate the noise disturbance. The processed signals are then adopted as the input of diagnostic network. Secondly, an initial weight constraint and an adaptive loss function are constructed to improve the diversity of SAE feature learning. Thirdly, limited‐memory quasi‐newton algorithm (L‐BFGS) algorithm is used to solve the optimal solution and the machinery health condition identification is achieved by softmax classifier. Finally, the verification experiments based on the monitoring data obtained from different machinery are conducted. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
It's not “too late”: Learning from Pacific Small Island Developing States in a warming world
Authors: Hayward Bronwyn , Salili Diana H. , Tupuana'i Luisa Leo , Tualamali'i' Josiah
Published: October 2019

The scale and speed of action required to limit global warming is unprecedented. However, claims that it is “too late” to act or that societal collapse is “inevitable,” must be challenged, particularly in the context of Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). Here, the serious impacts of sea‐level rise may already be unavoidable, but ongoing global mitigation efforts are essential to avoid further catastrophic impacts. First, narratives of despair reinforce social distancing in ways that make it harder to assert claims of shared responsibility for past climate injustices and mutual obligations in the future. Second, claims that it too late to avoid societal collapse overlook significant adaptation efforts already initiated by PSIDS, particularly those led by women and youth, which are informed by distinctive community values of Vai Nui or Fonofale (interconnected well‐living). These values have sustained PSIDS societies through traumatic histories of colonization, racism, and violence, and are still positioned to support communities suffering now, and when facing future risks.

This article is categorized under:

Policy and Governance > Governing Climate Change in Communities, Cities, and Regions
Revisiting climate ambition: The case for prioritizing current action over future intent
Authors: Dubash Navroz K.
Published: October 2019

Growing concerns that it may indeed be too late to address climate change have led to calls for urgent action from scientists, governments and citizens. To understand how these calls may be useful requires exploring how they are mediated by both global and national climate governance architectures. Globally, the Paris Agreement architecture is premised on a learning by doing logic that prioritizes experimentation. National governance mechanisms have emerged in reaction to such international processes, but are deeply shaped by local contexts. National systems differ in the narratives on which they are based, their institutional forms, and the resultant interests mobilized. Specifically, they differ in the centrality of climate change itself to national narratives of action and, instead, often embed climate motivations within other national objectives. As a result, calls for enhanced ambition can have different effects depending on how they are framed, and therefore how amenable they are to being internalized nationally. In particular, ambition understood predominantly as enhanced quantitative pledges could yield perverse outcomes truncating the learning by doing dynamic of the Paris Agreement; returning the focus of global political attention disproportionately to a burden‐sharing discussion; creating incentives for gaming pledges; and stretching scarce implementation capacity in the developing world. More flexible framings that can harness ambition to accelerated experimentation, broader coalitions, and synergies with other objectives can be fruitful. Questions such as “is it too late?” are useful if they encourage action and learning by doing; less so if they shift attention to future intent over current action.

This article is categorized under:

Climate and Development > Social Justice and the Politics of Development
Catch-up growth in children with chronic kidney disease started on enteral feeding after 2 years of age
Authors: Marlais Matko , Stojanovic Jelena , Jones Helen , Cleghorn Shelley , Rees Lesley
Published: October 2019

Background

Enteral feeding by tube in chronic kidney disease (CKD) before 2 years of age improves growth. Whether it is effective after this age is unknown. We assessed whether height and weight SDS changed after tube feeding was started in children with CKD above 2 years of age.

Methods

Retrospective study of pre-transplant, pre-pubertal children (< 11 years) with CKD stages 2–5 started on nasogastric tube or gastrostomy feeds for the first time after age 2 years. Children were identified by searching dietetic records and the renal database. Children on growth hormone were excluded. Height, weight, and BMI were documented 1 year prior to and at the start of tube feeds, and after 1 and 2 years. Data collection ceased at transplantation.

Results

Fifty children (25 male) were included. The median (range) age at start of tube feeds was 5.6 (2.1–10.9) years. Sixteen children were dialysed (1 haemodialysis, 15 peritoneal dialysis); 34 predialysis patients had a median (range) eGFR of 22 (6–88) ml/min/1.73 m2. Overall height SDS (Ht SDS) improved from − 2.39 to − 2.27 at 1 year and − 2.18 after 2 years (p= 0.02). BMI SDS improved from − 0.72 to 0.23 after 1 year and was 0.09 after 2 years of enteral feeding (p< 0.0001). Height SDS improved more in children aged 2–6 years (− 2.13 to − 1.68,p= 0.03) and in children not on dialysis (− 2.33 to − 1.99,p= 0.002).

Conclusions

Enteral tube feeding commenced after 2 years of age in prepubertal children with CKD improves height and weight SDS, with stability of BMI during the second year. Younger children and those not on dialysis had the greatest benefit.
Validation of the Vietnamese Translation Version of the Female Sexual Function Index in Infertile Patients
Authors: Ho Thanh Tam Thi , Le Minh Tam , Truong Quang Vinh , Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy , Cao Ngoc Thanh
Published: October 2019

Introduction

The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) is regarded as a self-administered screening questionnaire for assessing the presence of any type of sexual dysfunction.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Vietnamese translation version of the Female Sexual Function Index (VN-FSFI) in a sample of infertile Vietnamese women.

Methods

An existing Vietnamese translated-FSFI version was used as a first-step approach to back-translate into English. Based on the comparison of the original English version and the back-translation script, a modified version of the FSFI was revised. This version was evaluated for “content validity” by a panel of 3 experts and for “face validity” by a pilot study that was based on its results to refine to reach the last Vietnamese FSFI version (VN-FSFI version). A cross-sectional survey to investigate psychometric reliability and validity of the last VN-FSFI version was conducted with 271 infertile Vietnamese women from January 2017 through February 2018, at a hospital located in a central region of Vietnam. Construct validity was evaluated by principal component analysis using varimax rotation and factor analysis. Reliability studies on internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, domain inter-correlations, and domain-total correlations) and on test-retest (Intraclass correlation coefficient).

Main Outcome Measure

Construct validity and the reliability of the VN-FSFI version.

Results

Based on principal component analysis, a 5-factor model was established, consisting of arousal/orgasm, satisfaction, pain, lubrication, and desire that explained 72.32% of the total variance. The factorial structure supported to 6 retrieved domains that corresponded to the original version. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.92 for the total scale and 0.72−0.89 for the domains. Domain inter-correlations ranged from 0.36−0.73 and domain-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.67−0.84. Test-retest correlation coefficients over 2−4 weeks were 0.97 (P < .001) for the total scale and 0.84−0.96 for the domains.

Conclusion

With good psychometric properties, which are almost similar to the original English version, this Vietnamese translation version of the Female Sexual Function Index (VN-FSFI version) was proved to be a valid and reliable instrument to measure multidimensional aspects of sexual function in infertile Vietnamese women.
Complications and Management of Penile Girth Enhancement with Acellular Dermal Matrix
Authors: Xu Tingmin , Zhang Guoxi , Bai Wenjun , Li Qing , Yang Anpu , Lin Qiushi , Xu Tao , Zhang Xiaowei
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Acellular dermal matrix (ADM) is a common filler used widely in clinical practice to increase penile girth for cosmetic reasons, but there are few studies on its complications.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate and analyze the complications of penile girth enhancement (PGE) with ADM.

Methods

The medical records of 78 patients who underwent PGE with ADM between June 2016 and January 2019 were retrospectively reviewed.

Main Outcome Measure

Related complications and their subsequent management were summarized and analyzed.

Results

78 patients (mean age 31.14 years [21−66 years]) received PGE with ADM. At the 3-month follow-up, the penile circumference was increased by 1.1 (0.5−2.1) cm on average. There were 47 patients with erectile discomfort, 12 with delayed healing, 10 with unobvious augmentation effect, 8 with wound hematoma, 7 with prepuce edema, 4 with wound infection, and 3 patients with skin necrosis of the dorsal side. 7 patients eventually underwent ADM removal.

Clinical Implications

These adverse complications indicate that ADM should be used with caution for PGE.

Strength & Limitations

This study adds important data, as there are few published reports on the complications of PGE with ADM. However, this study did not compare postoperative complications with ADM to those seen with other filler material.

Conclusion

Even with standardized surgical methods and rigorous postoperative care, complications of PGE using ADM are severe, which indicates that it is not an ideal or safe method for PGE.
Clinical and Genetic Predictors of Priapism in Sickle Cell Disease: Results from the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study III Brazil Cohort Study
Authors: Cintho Ozahata Mina , Page Grier P. , Guo Yuelong , Ferreira João Eduardo , Dinardo Carla Luana , Carneiro-Proietti Anna Bárbara F. , Loureiro Paula , Mota Rosimere Afonso , Rodrigues Daniela O.W. , Belisario André Rolim , Maximo Claudia , Flor-Park Miriam V. , Custer Brian , Kelly Shannon , Sabino Ester Cerdeira
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Priapism is the persistent and painful erection of the penis and is a common sickle cell disease (SCD) complication.

Aim

The goal of this study was to characterize clinical and genetic factors associated with priapism within a large multi-center SCD cohort in Brazil.

Methods

Cases with priapism were compared to SCD type-matched controls within defined age strata to identify clinical outcomes associated with priapism. Whole blood single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping was performed using a customized array, and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with priapism.

Main Outcome Measure

Of the 1,314 male patients in the cohort, 188 experienced priapism (14.3%).

Results

Priapism was more common among older patients (P = .006) and more severe SCD genotypes such as homozygous SS (P < .0001). In the genotype- and age-matched analyses, associations with priapism were found for pulmonary hypertension (P = .05) and avascular necrosis (P = .01). The GWAS suggested replication of a previously reported candidate gene association of priapism for the gene transforming growth factor beta receptor 3 (TGFBR3) (P = 2 × 10−4).

Clinical Implications

Older patients with more severe genotypes are at higher risk of priapism, and there is a lack of consensus on standard treatment strategies for priapism in SCD.

Strengths & Limitations

This study characterizes SCD patients with any history of priapism from a large multi-center cohort. Replication of the GWAS in an independent cohort is required to validate the results.

Conclusion

These findings extend the understanding of risk factors associated with priapism in SCD and identify genetic markers to be investigated in future studies to further elucidate priapism pathophysiology.
From Marxism to nationalism: The Chinese Communist Party's discursive shift in the post-Mao era
Authors: Guo Yingjie
Published: October 2019

The Chinese Communist Party's dramatic shift from Mao Zedong's Chinese Revolution to Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream remains under-examined and even misunderstood or mispresented despite its enormous impact on every aspect of national life in the People's Republic of China. There is a clear need for in-depth analysis of the extent to which the CCP has departed from the philosophical foundation of Marxism and Maoism, abandoned socialism and communism, inverted its long tradition of iconoclasm, transformed its own identity and altered its subject position. Part of the CCP's philosophical departure from Marxism and Maoism is its increasing conversion to nationalism. The new nationalism underpinning the Chinese Dream, in particular, operates against the grain of Marxism and Maoism, and vice versa, and is logically irreconcilable with the latter — so much so that the CCP cannot be nationalists and Marxists, Maoists or communists at the same time. The contradictory logics between nationalism and Marxism can be best seen from their respective conceptions of permanence and change, the unity and conflict of opposites, and conceptions of, and approaches to, tradition and the past, which have had major ramifications in political-cultural change in post-Mao China, especially in Xi's New Era.
Smooth sailing with recycled fibers
Authors: Nickels Liz
Published: October 2019

Marine applications offer special challenges to composite manufacturers, and the ante is only upped when recycled fibers are used. A UK company and boat team are working together to develop a more suitable future for composite boatbuilding.
Metaphysical Constraints, Primitivism, and Reduction
Authors: BERTRAND MICHAEL
Published: October 2019

The argument from absence of analysis (AAA) infers primitivism about some x from the absence of a reductive analysis ofx. But philosophers use the word ‘primitive’ to mean many distinct things. I argue that there is a robust sense of ‘primitive’ present in the metaphysics literature that cannot be inferred via the AAA. Successfully demonstrating robust primitivism about somexrequires showing two things at once: that a reduction ofxis not possible and that an explanatorily deep characterization ofxis not available. In order to secure this second explanatory claim, the AAA must wrongly assume that reductive analysis is our only source of explanatory characterization. I argue that this is false by offering a distinct way of providing explanatory characterizations backed by suitably understood metaphysical constraints. While there remains a minimal sense of ‘primitive’ inferable via the AAA, this sense is exhausted by the denial of reduction. With minimal primitivism as its target, the AAA is uninteresting.
Impact of an electronic hard-stop clinical decision support tool to limit repeat Clostridioides difficile toxin enzyme immunoassay testing on test utilization
Authors: Kwon Jennie H. , Reske Kimberly A. , Hink Tiffany , Jackups Ronald , Burnham Carey-Ann D. , Dubberke Erik R.
Published: October 2019

We performed an intervention evaluating the impact of an electronic hard-stop clinical decision support tool on repeat Clostridioides difficile (CD) toxin enzyme immunoassay (T-EIA) testing. The CD testing rate and number of admissions with repeat tests decreased significantly postintervention (P < .01 for both); the percentage of positive tests was unchanged (P = .27).
Women, Legal Records, and the Problem of the Lawyer's Hand
Authors: Stretton Tim
Published: October 2019

Court records provide invaluable evidence of the existence of laws and notional rights affecting women and how these were (or were not) enforced and exercised. Many documents provide tantalizing glimpses of female thinking and echoes of female voices, but these remain elusive because of the influence of the lawyers, scribes, and officials who helped shape and record them. This article examines the multiple difficulties that researchers face in distinguishing women's contributions from those of lawyers in legal records, and argues that the artificial nature of legal processes complicates conceptions of “authentic” female voices. It suggests ways to address methodological problems and concludes that focusing on multiple voices and processes of collaboration may bear more fruit than seeking to extract individual women's private thoughts and words.
Coverture and the Marital Partnership in Late Medieval Nottingham: Women's Litigation at the Borough Court, ca. 1300–ca.1500
Authors: Phipps Teresa
Published: October 2019

Women engaged in litigation in Nottingham's borough court as both plaintiffs and defendants for a variety of reasons relating to trade, household provisioning, misbehavior and interpersonal disputes. This article examines how women's litigation was determined by the doctrine of coverture and the way that women's marital status shaped and defined their experience of the law. In doing so, it explores how these pleas reveal the workings of the marital partnership within a late medieval English town. In order to contextualize the experiences of women “under coverture,” the article first traces the ways in which all manner of female marital and household identities were documented in the court records, analyzing the descriptors that court scribes attached to individual women's names. The article highlights inconsistency in the way that women's identities were recorded and in the way that the marital partnership was represented through the litigation of spouses in the borough court. The dual focus of this article not only adds new evidence to ongoing discussions of the nature of medieval coverture but also interrogates how we identify coverture and women's marital statuses based on the evidence of court records.
Grid criteria for numerical simulation of hypersonic aerothermodynamics in transition regime
Authors: Ren Xiang , Yuan Junya , He Bijiao , Zhang Mingxing , Cai Guobiao
Published: October 2019

Grid is an important factor in numerical simulation of hypersonic aerothermodynamics. This paper introduces three criteria for determining grid size in the transition flow regime when using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method or the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The numerical relationship between these three criteria sizes is deduced according to the one-dimensional fluid theory. Then, the relationship is verified using the CFD method to simulate the flow around a two-dimensional cylinder. At the same time, the dependence of simulation accuracy on grid size in the CFD and DSMC methods is studied and the mechanism is given. The result shows that the simulation accuracy of heat flux especially depends on the normal grid size next to surfaces, where the$Re_{\mathit{cell},w}$criterion and the$\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}_{w}$criterion based on local parameters are applicable and equivalent, while the$Re_{\mathit{cell},\infty }$criterion based on the free-stream parameter is only applicable under the assumption of constant viscosity coefficient and constant temperature wall conditions. On the other hand, the trend of the heat flux changing with grid size obtained by CFD and DSMC is exactly the opposite. Therefore, the grid size must be strictly satisfied with the grid criteria when comparing CFD with DSMC and even the hybrid DSMC with Navier–Stokes method.
Breakage, coalescence and size distribution of surfactant-laden droplets in turbulent flow
Authors: Soligo Giovanni , Roccon Alessio , Soldati Alfredo
Published: October 2019

In this work, we compute numerically breakage/coalescence rates and size distribution of surfactant-laden droplets in turbulent flow. We use direct numerical simulation of turbulence coupled with a two-order-parameter phase-field method to describe droplets and surfactant dynamics. We consider two different values of the surface tension (i.e. two values for the Weber number, $We$, the ratio between inertial and surface tension forces) and four types of surfactant (i.e. four values of the elasticity number, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{s}$, which defines the strength of the surfactant). Stretching, breakage and merging of droplet interfaces are controlled by the complex interplay among shear stresses, surface tension and surfactant distribution, which are deeply intertwined. Shear stresses deform the interface, changing the local curvature and thus surface tension forces, but also advect surfactant over the interface. In turn, local increases of surfactant concentration reduce surface tension, changing the interface deformability and producing tangential (Marangoni) stresses. Finally, the interface feeds back to the local shear stresses via the capillary stresses, and changes the local surfactant distribution as it deforms, breaks and merges. We find that Marangoni stresses have a major role in restoring a uniform surfactant distribution over the interface, contrasting, in particular, the action of shear stresses: this restoring effect is proportional to the elasticity number and is stronger for smaller droplets. We also find that lower surface tension (higher $We$ or higher $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{s}$) increases the number of breakage events, as expected, but also the number of coalescence events, more unexpected. The increase of the number of coalescence events can be traced back to two main factors: the higher probability of inter-droplet collisions, favoured by the larger number of available droplets, and the decreased deformability of smaller droplets. Finally, we show that, for all investigated cases, the steady-state droplet size distribution is in good agreement with the $-10/3$ power-law scaling (Garrett et al., J. Phys. Oceanogr., vol. 30 (9), 2000, pp. 2163–2171), conforming to previous experimental observations (Deane & Stokes, Nature, vol. 418 (6900), 2002, p. 839) and numerical simulations (Skartlien et al., J. Chem. Phys., vol. 139 (17), 2013).
Nurse managers: being deviant to make a difference
Authors: Crewe Sandra , Girardi Antonia
Published: October 2019

Within healthcare, studies support that nurse manager leadership behaviours positively influence nursing outcomes. However, how this behaviour promotes positive outcomes is less well understood. Integrating a ‘positive deviance framework’ and a ‘model for reflection’, this paper uniquely uncovers positive nurse manager behaviours that deviate from ‘business as usual’ in managing and leading healthcare staff. Applying an interpretivist lens to qualitative data collected from 24 nurse managers from Australia and Seychelles, the outcomes illustrate examples of positive leadership, exemplary performance, and uncommon behaviours and actions amongst nurse managers resulting in positive nursing experiences and positive organisational outcomes. Nurse managers practising positive leadership and taking on an employee champion role, underscore these behaviours. This study contributes to the research of positive outcomes, processes, and attributes of healthcare organisations and their members.
Combining and competing effects between precipitation and temperature on Holocene fire regime evolution inferred from a sedimentary black carbon record in southwestern China
Authors: Ning Dongliang , Zhang Enlou , Shulmeister James , Chang Jie , Sun Weiwei , Ni Zhenyu
Published: October 2019

Wildfires are sensitive to climate change, but their response to changes in temperature and precipitation on long timescales is still disputed. In this study, we present a ~9.4 ka black carbon mass sedimentation rate (BCMSR) record from Lake Ximenglongtan (XMLT), southwestern China, to elucidate the Holocene fire regime and its linkages to climatic conditions. The results indicate that the regional fire activity was low during the early Holocene (before 7.6 cal ka BP), increased notably at 7.6 cal ka BP, and continued to increase gradually during the mid- to late Holocene until 2.2 ka. The episodes of higher fire occurrence reflected by higher BCMSR over the last 2.2 ka might be more likely related to the intensified human activities. The cool and humid climate during the early Holocene limited the spread of fire, while warming and drying at ~7.6 cal ka BP triggered higher fire occurrence. Instead of temperature, changes in precipitation dominated fire regime variation during the mid- to late Holocene. On millennial timescales, we suggest that Holocene fire variability has been predominantly controlled by the combined effects of Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer and winter insolation that influenced monsoonal precipitation and fire season temperature, respectively. Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events may also have affected fire incidence through influencing monsoon intensity.
New Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Gravettian in Eastern Central Europe
Authors: Wilczyński Jarosław , Goslar Tomasz , Wojtal Piotr , Oliva Martin , Göhlich Ursula B , Antl-Weiser Walpurga , Šída Petr , Verpoorte Alexander , Lengyel György
Published: October 2019

The Middle Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) in eastern Central Europe (ECE) comprises three variants of Gravettian culture: Early Gravettian, Pavlovian, and Late Gravettian. While Early Gravettian and Pavlovian are merely located in Lower Austria and Moravia, the Late Gravettian occupations occurred over the entire territory of ECE. Compared to the number of sites the radiocarbon dating and the absolute chronology of the Late Gravettian is rather poor. The results presented here bring a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates for the Late Gravettian period in ECE and propose that this period began and ended earlier than previously suggested.
Women in the Silver Mines of Potosí: Rethinking the History of “Informality” and “Precarity” (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)
Authors: Romano Rossana Barragán
Published: October 2019

Underground mining in Potosí was a male sphere. Nevertheless, women were actively involved in the early stages of silver mining in Potosí, when traditional technologies were still in use. They also played an important role in the local ore market. After the introduction of new technology and the reorganization of the labour force, the process of refining ore was much more complicated. Women then participated in some stages of the process: in selecting the ores and sieving. This implies that mining is a complex process with a labour and gender division that has been underrated and underestimated. More importantly, women became owners of rudimentary mills (trapiches) where the ore was processed, selling different amounts of silver to the Spanish authorities, making their living in this way.
Scandal in Mesopotamia: Press, empire, and India during the First World War
Authors: SEHGAL MANU , SEHRAWAT SAMIKSHA
Published: October 2019

By providing the first comprehensive account of the role of the British and Indian press in war propaganda, this article makes an intervention in the global history of the First World War. The positive propaganda early in the war, intertwined with a rhetoric of loyalism, contrasted with how the conservative British press affixed blame for military defeats in Mesopotamia upon the colonial regime's failure to effectively mobilize India's resources. Using a highly emotive and enduring trope of the ‘Mesopotamia muddle’, the Northcliffe press was successful in channelling a high degree of public scrutiny onto the campaign. The effectiveness of this criticism ensured that debates about the Mesopotamian debacle became a vehicle for registering criticism of structures of colonial rule and control in India. On the one hand, this critique hastened constitutional reforms and devolution in colonial India and, on the other, it led to demands that the inadequacy of India's contribution to the war be remedied by raising war loans. Both the colonial government and its nationalist critics were briefly and paradoxically united in opposing these demands. The coercive extraction of funds for the imperial war effort as well as the British press's vituperative criticism contributed to a post-war, anti-colonial political upsurge. The procedure of creating a colonial ‘scandal’ out of a military disaster required a specific politics for assessing the regulated flows of information, which proved to be highly effective in shaping both the enquiry that followed and the politics of interwar colonial South Asia.
What role should randomized control trials play in providing the evidence base for conservation?
Authors: Pynegar Edwin L. , Gibbons James M. , Asquith Nigel M. , Jones Julia P. G.
Published: October 2019

The effectiveness of many widely used conservation interventions is poorly understood because of a lack of high-quality impact evaluations. Randomized control trials (RCTs), in which experimental units are randomly allocated to treatment or control groups, offer an intuitive way to calculate the impact of an intervention by establishing a reliable counterfactual scenario. As many conservation interventions depend on changing people's behaviour, conservation impact evaluation can learn a great deal from RCTs in fields such as development economics, where RCTs have become widely used but are controversial. We build on relevant literature from other fields to discuss how RCTs, despite their potential, are just one of a number of ways to evaluate impact, are not feasible in all circumstances, and how factors such as spillover between units and behavioural effects must be considered in their design. We offer guidance and a set of criteria for deciding when RCTs may be an appropriate approach for evaluating conservation interventions, and factors to consider to ensure an RCT is of high quality. We illustrate this with examples from one of the few concluded RCTs of a large-scale conservation intervention: an incentive-based conservation programme in the Bolivian Andes. We argue that conservation should aim to avoid a rerun of the polarized debate surrounding the use of RCTs in other fields. Randomized control trials will not be feasible or appropriate in many circumstances, but if used carefully they can be useful and could become a more widely used tool for the evaluation of conservation impact.
When the workplace is the home: labour inspectors’ discretionary power in the field of domestic work – an institutional analysis
Authors: Paraciani Rebecca , Rizza Roberto
Published: October 2019

This article builds on previous studies concerning the question of street-level bureaucracy, an expression coined by Lipsky (1980) – Street-Level Bureaucracy. Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services (New York: Russel Sage Foundation) – to highlight the importance of the discretionary power that professionals in public agencies exercise during the implementation of laws, standards and guidelines. Discretion may depend on the need to compromise between the limited resources available and the claims of citizens, or between administrative policy directives and assessments, on the one hand, and their interpretation by “street-level” bureaucrats, on the other. This article focuses on the dilemmas that labour inspectors face when dealing with employment irregularities involving domestic workers. Based on nine months of observations in a local office of the Italian Labour Inspectorate, it aims to understand how labour inspectors make use of their discretionary power when the workplace is the home. This article connects studies of street-level bureaucracy with the new institutional organisational analysis, focusing on the isomorphic pressures from the institutional field in which the labour inspectors operate, together with the manner in which such pressures shape labour inspectors’ discretion. Through this connection, the article aims to extend the scope of both theories.
Google Books Ngrams and Political Science: Two Validity Tests for a Novel Data Source
Authors: Richey Sean , Taylor J. Benjamin
Published: October 2019

Google Books Ngrams data are freely available and contain billions of words used in tens of millions of digitized books, which begin in the 1500s for some languages. We explore the benefits and pitfalls of these data by showing examples from comparative and American politics. Specifically, we show how usage of the phrase “political corruption” in Italian, French, German, and Hebrew books strongly correlates with Transparency International’s well-cited Corruption Index for France, Italy, German, and Israel. We also use Ngrams to show that the explosive growth in usage of the phrases “Asian American,” “Latino,” and “Hispanic” correlates with real-world changes in these populations after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. These applications show that Ngram data correlate strongly with similar data from well-respected sources. This suggests that Ngrams has content validity and can be used as a proxy measure for previously difficult-to-research phenomena and questions.
Ist die psychologische Forschung durchlässig für aktuelle gesellschaftliche Themen?
Authors: Bittermann André , Klos Eva Maria
Published: October 2019

Zusammenfassung. Vor dem Hintergrund der Beziehung zwischen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen und entsprechenden Beiträgen der Wissenschaft wurde am Beispiel des Themenbereichs Flucht und Migration untersucht, inwiefern die psychologische Forschung jeweils aktuelle gesellschaftliche und politische Fragestellungen aufgreift, ob sie eine evidenzbasierte Grundlage für diese Fragestellungen schafft und welchen Teildisziplinen der Psychologie die Forschungsthemen zugeordnet werden können. Dazu wurden mit Structural Topic Modeling die Abstracts von 4.073 Publikationen aus den deutschsprachigen Ländern, dokumentiert in der psychologischen Referenzdatenbank PSYNDEX und veröffentlicht zwischen 1980 und 2017, analysiert. Es konnten 19 Themen identifiziert werden. Den stärksten zunehmenden Trend zeigten Traumatisierung von Flüchtlingen, transkulturelle Psychotherapie sowie die rehabilitative Behandlung von Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund. Im Bereich der Situation von Ausländern und Gastarbeitern, der Kriminalität von Jugendlichen sowie der sozialen Integration und Akkulturation mit Bezug zur ehemaligen DDR zeigte sich die deutlichste Abnahme der Wahrscheinlichkeit. Das Thema Sprachentwicklung von Migrantenkindern wies die höchste Wahrscheinlichkeit auf, von empirischen Studien behandelt zu werden, das Thema Identitätsentwicklung die höchste Wahrscheinlichkeit von nicht-empirischen Beiträgen. Zusammenfassend wird konstatiert, dass sich im Bereich von Flucht und Migration wesentliche gesellschaftliche und politische Entwicklungen in der psychologischen Fachliteratur widerspiegeln. Hinsichtlich empirischer Beiträge zu den Themen zeigt sich ein gemischtes Bild. Die meisten Themen haben einen klinisch-psychologischen Schwerpunkt, wobei jedoch auch andere Disziplinen vertreten sind. Methodisch kann festgehalten werden, dass der Topic-Model-Ansatz eine hilfreiche Methode für szientometrische Untersuchungen mit großen Textmengen darstellt.
An Improved Finite‐difference Time‐domain Solution for Three‐dimensional Transient Electromagnetic Modeling in Source‐free Media
Authors: Zhao Xuejiao , Yu Yibing , Ji Yanju , Luan Hui
Published: October 2019

An improved finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) solution is developed for three‐dimensional transient electromagnetic modeling in source‐free media. Based on Guptasarma's linear filtering method and the fast Hankel transform, the improved method selects the electric fields (E) at the first two time‐steps, and the time derivative of the magnetic induction (∂B/∂t) at the second time‐step as initial conditions. This selection can avoid approximating ∂E/∂t at initial times and improve initial accuracies. During the iterations, the electric fields and ∂B/∂t are both defined at the same integer time indices and the deriving equations are modified based on the FDTD method. Consequently, it can avoid the approximation of the electric fields at intermediate time indices and magnetic fields at integer time indices, and improve the iteration precisions. The convolutional perfectly matched layer (C‐PML) boundary condition is employed to reduce the reflection errors and the effects are verified. At last the proposed approach is checked via homogeneous half‐space models, layered models and 3D anomalous models with complex backgrounds. The results show that the improved method can reduce simulation errors twice or thrice and deepen effective exploration depth by 20%, which has verified the effectiveness of the improved method for three‐dimensional transient electromagnetic modeling, especially for long‐time and high‐resistance modeling.
Heat Flow in Southern Australia and Connections With East Antarctica
Authors: Pollett Alicia , Hasterok Derrick , Raimondo Tom , Halpin Jacqueline A. , Hand Martin , Bendall Betina , McLaren Sandra
Published: October 2019

Key Points

First heat flow measurements from the Coompana Province, southern Australia, indicate values of 40–70 mW/m2 (57 ± 3 mW/m2 average)

A tectonically reconstructed heat flow map constrains the thermal regime of geological provinces formerly contiguous with East Antarctica

Geophysical models of Antarctic heat flow are likely underestimating crustal sources of radiogenic heat that influence subglacial melting
The Effect of Earthquake Kinematics on Tsunami Propagation
Authors: Williamson A. , Melgar D. , Rim D.
Published: October 2019

Tsunamis are one of the most destructive effects of subduction zone earthquakes. Directly observing and understanding the generation and propagation of tsunamis remains challenging due to limited offshore instrumentation and a sparse catalog of large events. This makes linking characteristics of the earthquake rupture to their effect on tsunami generation difficult. While past studies explored how varying earthquake source geometries affect tsunami nucleation, little has been done to examine the role of the kinematic component of rupture on the tsunami; we explore these effects in this study. While past studies have examined the kinematic effect using coastal tide gauge data, we expand this examination to more recent pressure gauges. We identify a consistent rotation of the main beam of tsunami energy when using a kinematic model, affecting far‐field hazards. We also identify a delay in tsunami arrival times at both coastal and open‐ocean gauges that can be as long as the total source duration. For large earthquakes, this delay introduces nonnegligible mapping errors when employing open‐ocean tsunami data for source characterizations. As a result of our findings we recommend including a kinematic component to tsunami modeling when studying events with source durations over 120 s and using recordings from open‐ocean pressure gauges. We also find that when focusing purely on coastal gauge data and near‐source hazards, the kinematic component is a much smaller contribution to the source uncertainty and can be ignored.
A Thick Negative Polarity Anomaly in a Sediment Core From the Central Arctic Ocean: Geomagnetic Excursion Versus Reversal
Authors: Liu Jianxing , Shi Xuefa , Liu Yanguang , Liu Qingsong , Liu Yan , Zhang Qiang , Ge Shulan , Li Jinhua
Published: October 2019

There are two distinctly different views on Quaternary sedimentation rates in the central Arctic Ocean, namely, that they were on cm/kyr or on mm/kyr scales, largely as a result of divergent interpretations of magnetic reversal stratigraphy. This study provides new evidence to help resolve this controversy in the form of an almost 1‐m‐thick negative polarity interval located at ~1.15 m below the seafloor in a 4.15‐m‐long sediment core from the Lomonosov Ridge, central Arctic Ocean. This thick polarity anomaly was first revealed through alternating field demagnetization of natural remanent magnetization on u‐channel samples. It was subsequently confirmed to be an authentic signal of a syndepositional geomagnetic field by integrating detailed rock magnetic studies, transmission electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analyses of magnetic extracts, and both alternating field and thermal demagnetization of discrete paleomagnetic samples. Here we conclude that it is more reasonable to interpret the reversed interval as a record of the Matuyama Chron rather than a Brunhes‐aged excursion, which yields mean sedimentation rates of ~1.5 mm/kyr and ~0.5 mm/kyr in the Brunhes and Matuyama Chrons, respectively. These estimates are remarkably lower than assumed in most recent studies, but in good agreement with both previous magnetostratigraphic and recent geochemical studies relative to the decay of Be and U‐series isotopes, which might indicate “sediment‐starved” environments at least in some parts of this region. Overall, our results not only imply that chronostratigraphy in the central Arctic Ocean remains open to debate but also warrant further investigations in this microfossil‐barren region.
Meridional and Zonal Eddy‐Induced Heat and Salt Transport in the Bay of Bengal and Their Seasonal Modulation
Authors: Gonaduwage Lasitha Perera , Chen Gengxin , McPhaden Michael J. , Priyadarshana Tilak , Huang Ke , Wang Dongxiao
Published: October 2019

This study investigates basin and regional‐scale eddy (turbulent)‐induced heat and salt transport associated with mesoscale eddies of the Bay of Bengal (BOB). A high level of eddy‐induced transport is found in four subregions: the western boundary of the northern BOB (NB), the western BOB (WB), the southwestern BOB near Sri Lanka (SWB), and the southeastern BOB (SEB). The main seasons for eddy‐induced heat transport in the NB and SWB are identified as the presummer (March to April) and summer monsoon (May to September) seasons, whereas the postsummer monsoon season (October to November) is the main season for the WB and SEB. It is found that not only meridional but also zonal eddy‐induced transport is significant, due to the semienclosed nature of the BOB, which restricts poleward transport in the northern part of the bay. An analysis of upper‐layer eddy energetics reveals that the main contributor to the increased eddy kinetic energy and thus the transport is baroclinic instability in the NB, SWB, and WB, while both barotropic and baroclinic instability are important in the SEB. Using a 2.5‐layer reduced gravity model, baroclinic instability in the NB, SWB, and SEB is further investigated. The results reveal that strong vertical velocity shear and weak stratification are essential for generating baroclinic instability, which enhances the seasonal eddy‐induced transport in the respective subregions.