bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Condensed phase corrosion of P91 and DSS 2205 steels at advanced oxygen‐fired pressurized fluidized bed combustion plants
Authors: Li Kaiyang , Zeng Yimin , Luo Jing‐Li
Published: October 2020

To achieve the targets of high energy efficiency and reduced CO2 emission, advanced oxygen‐fired pressurized fluidized bed combustion technology is being developed. The generated flue gas condensates are very corrosive, but very limited information is available to select appropriate alloys for the cost‐effective construction and long‐term safe operation of flue gas components. Thus, this study investigated the corrosion performance of P91 and DSS 2205 steels in the simulated condensates at 60°C–150°C. The dominant reactions on the two steels were considerable oxide formation and high chemical dissolution of the formed oxides instead of localized pitting. The increase in temperature leads to an exponential increase in the long‐term corrosion rates of the steels. Benefited from its high Cr and Mo contents, DSS 2205 steel exhibited much better corrosion resistance, and the formed surface scales consisted of inner Fe‐enriched and outer Cr‐enriched oxides in which Cr2O3 was transformed into Cr(OH)3 with the increase in temperature. The corrosion products on P91 steel consisted of inner Cr–Fr–Mo oxides and outer Fe‐enriched oxides, which were porous and unable to protect the steel.
Evolution of the adaptogenic concept from traditional use to medical systems: Pharmacology of stress‐ and aging‐related diseases
Authors: Panossian Alexander G. , Efferth Thomas , Shikov Alexander N. , Pozharitskaya Olga N. , Kuchta Kenny , Mukherjee Pulok K. , Banerjee Subhadip , Heinrich Michael , Wu Wanying , Guo De‐an , Wagner Hildebert
Published: October 2020

Adaptogens comprise a category of herbal medicinal and nutritional products promoting adaptability, resilience, and survival of living organisms in stress. The aim of this review was to summarize the growing knowledge about common adaptogenic plants used in various traditional medical systems (TMS) and conventional medicine and to provide a modern rationale for their use in the treatment of stress‐induced and aging‐related disorders. Adaptogens have pharmacologically pleiotropic effects on the neuroendocrine‐immune system, which explain their traditional use for the treatment of a wide range of conditions. They exhibit a biphasic dose‐effect response: at low doses they function as mild stress‐mimetics, which activate the adaptive stress‐response signaling pathways to cope with severe stress. That is in line with their traditional use for preventing premature aging and to maintain good health and vitality. However, the potential of adaptogens remains poorly explored. Treatment of stress and aging‐related diseases require novel approaches. Some combinations of adaptogenic plants provide unique effects due to their synergistic interactions in organisms not obtainable by any ingredient independently. Further progress in this field needs to focus on discovering new combinations of adaptogens based on traditional medical concepts. Robust and rigorous approaches including network pharmacology and systems pharmacology could help in analyzing potential synergistic effects and, more broadly, future uses of adaptogens. In conclusion, the evolution of the adaptogenic concept has led back to basics of TMS and a new level of understanding of holistic approach. It provides a rationale for their use in stress‐induced and aging‐related diseases.
Recent advances in the design of choline kinase α inhibitors and the molecular basis of their inhibition
Authors: Rubio‐Ruiz Belén , Serrán‐Aguilera Lucía , Hurtado‐Guerrero Ramón , Conejo‐García Ana
Published: October 2020

Upregulated choline metabolism, characterized by an increase in phosphocholine (PCho), is a hallmark of oncogenesis and tumor progression. Choline kinase (ChoK), the enzyme responsible for PCho synthesis, has consequently become a promising drug target for cancer therapy and as such a significant number of ChoK inhibitors have been developed over the last few decades. More recently, due to the role of this enzyme in other pathologies, ChoK inhibitors have also been used in new therapeutic approaches against malaria and rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we review research results in the field of ChoKα inhibitors from their synthesis to the molecular basis of their binding mode. Strategies for the development of inhibitors and their selectivity on ChoKα over ChoKβ, the plasticity of the choline‐binding site, the discovery of new exploitable binding sites, and the allosteric properties of this enzyme are highlighted. The outcomes summarized in this review will be a useful guide to develop new multifunctional potent drugs for the treatment of various human diseases.
Phase unwrapping with a rapid opensource minimum spanning tree algorithm (ROMEO)
Authors: Dymerska Barbara , Eckstein Korbinian , Bachrata Beata , Siow Bernard , Trattnig Siegfried , Shmueli Karin , Robinson Simon Daniel
Published: October 2020

Purpose

To develop a rapid and accurate MRI phase‐unwrapping technique for challenging phase topographies encountered at high magnetic fields, around metal implants, or postoperative cavities, which is sufficiently fast to be applied to large‐group studies including Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and functional MRI (with phase‐based distortion correction).

Methods

The proposed path‐following phase‐unwrapping algorithm, ROMEO, estimates the coherence of the signal both in space—using MRI magnitude and phase information—and over time, assuming approximately linear temporal phase evolution. This information is combined to form a quality map that guides the unwrapping along a 3D path through the object using a computationally efficient minimum spanning tree algorithm. ROMEO was tested against the two most commonly used exact phase‐unwrapping methods, PRELUDE and BEST PATH, in simulated topographies and at several field strengths: in 3T and 7T in vivo human head images and 9.4T ex vivo rat head images.

Results

ROMEO was more reliable than PRELUDE and BEST PATH, yielding unwrapping results with excellent temporal stability for multi‐echo or multi‐time‐point data. It does not require image masking and delivers results within seconds, even in large, highly wrapped multi‐echo data sets (eg, 9 seconds for a 7T head data set with 31 echoes and a 208 × 208 × 96 matrix size).

Conclusion

Overall, ROMEO was both faster and more accurate than PRELUDE and BEST PATH, delivering exact results within seconds, which is well below typical image acquisition times, enabling potential on‐console application.
Numerical solutions for solving model time‐fractionalFokker–Planckequation
Authors: Mahdy Amr M. S.
Published: October 2020

In this work, we use two different techniques to discuss approximate analytical solutions for the time‐fractional Fokker–Planck equation (TFFPE), namely the new iterative method (NIM) and the fractional power series method (FPSM). Stability analyses and truncation errors are studied using a procedure like the fundamental von Neumann stability analysis. Discretization is carried out numerically for TFFPE by the implicit finite difference and the Crank–Nicolson method. The techniques used in solving the TFFPE are simple and powerful enough to understand the numerical solutions of linear and nonlinear fractional differential equations. We discuss the approximate solutions obtained using the NIM and FPSM. This is explained by employing tables and shapes. The approximate solutions strongly converge to an accurate solution. All computations in this work were carried out using Maple 16.
R‐weak commutativity, examples, and applications
Authors: Kutukcu Servet
Published: October 2020

The aim of this article is to define a new contraction and its variants in non‐Archimedean Menger probabilistic metric‐spaces, and utilize them to establish the existence of a combined common fixed point illustrating with examples. We also apply our result to integral type equations, Volterra type integral equations, damped harmonic oscillators, and nonlinear matrix equations.
Soret–Dufour mechanism on an electrically conducting nanofluid flow past a semi‐infinite porous plate with buoyancy force and chemical reaction influence
Authors: Falodun Bidemi O. , Ayegbusi Florence D.
Published: October 2020

This study explored the flow of an electrically conducting and chemically reacting nanofluid over a semi‐infinite porous vertical plate under the influence of Soret–Dufour and nonlinear buoyancy force. The flow analysis consists of partial differential equations (PDEs). These equations were nondimensionalized via nondimensional quantities into coupled nonlinear PDE and solved numerically using spectral relaxation method. Numerical computations of all flow parameters for velocity, temperature along with concentration are presented in diagrams. The result shows that an upsurge in the value of the radiation parameter enhances both velocities along with temperature profiles, respectively. This is true because the temperature at the plate is much when there is an increase in the radiation parameter. The present results were compared with the previously published result and were found to be in excellent agreement.
Emerging Immunotherapies in the Treatment of Brain Metastases
Authors: Nieblas-Bedolla Edwin , Nayyar Naema , Singh Mohini , Sullivan Ryan J. , Brastianos Priscilla K.
Published: October 2020

Brain metastases account for considerable morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. Despite increasing prevalence, limited therapeutic options exist. Recent advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular underpinnings of the tumor immune microenvironment and the immune evasive mechanisms employed by tumor cells have shed light on how immunotherapies may provide therapeutic benefit to patients. The development and evolution of immunotherapy continue to show promise for the treatment of brain metastases. Positive outcomes have been observed in several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of these treatments. However, many challenges persist in the application of immunotherapies to brain metastases. This review discusses the potential benefits and challenges in the development and use of checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and oncolytic viruses for the treatment of brain metastases. Future studies are necessary to further evaluate and assess the potential use of each of these therapies in this setting. As we gain more knowledge regarding the role immunotherapies may play in the treatment of brain metastases, it is important to consider how these treatments may guide clinical decision making for clinicians and the impact they may have on patients.

Implications for Practice

Immunotherapies have produced clinically significant outcomes in early clinical trials evaluating patients with brain metastases or demonstrated promising results in preclinical models. Checkpoint inhibitors have been the most common immunotherapy studied to date in the setting of brain metastases, but novel approaches that can harness the immune system to contain and eliminate cancer cells are currently under investigation and may soon become more common in the clinical setting. An understanding of these evolving therapies may be useful in determining how the future management and treatment of brain metastases among patients with cancer will continue to advance.
Functionalized peptide hydrogels as tunable extracellular matrix mimics for biological applications
Authors: Hellmund Katharina S. , von Lospichl Benjamin , Böttcher Christoph , Ludwig Kai , Keiderling Uwe , Noirez Laurence , Weiß Annika , Mikolajczak Dorian J. , Gradzielski Michael , Koksch Beate
Published: October 2020

The development of tailorable and biocompatible three‐dimensional (3D) substrates or molecular networks that reliably mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and influence cell behavior and growth in vitro is of increasing interest for cell‐based applications in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this context, we present a novel coiled coil‐based peptide that self‐assembles into a 3D‐α‐helical fibril network and functions as a self‐supporting hydrogel. By functionalizing distinct coiled‐coil peptides with cellular binding motifs or carbohydrate ligands (mannose), and by utilizing the multivalency and modularity of coiled‐coil assemblies, tailored artificial ECMs are obtained. Fibrillar network and ligand density, as well as ligand composition can readily be adjusted by changes in water content or peptide concentrations, respectively. Mesoscopic structure of these networks was assessed by rheology and small‐angle neutron scattering experiments. Initial cell viability studies using NIH/3T3 cells showed comparable or even superior cell viability using the presented artificial ECMs, compared to commercially available 3D‐cell culture scaffold Matrigel. The herein reported approach presents a reliable (low batch‐to‐batch variation) and modular pathway toward biocompatible and tailored artificial ECMs.
Threshold score for the self‐report Pediatric Distress Thermometer Rating Scale in childhood cancer patients
Authors: Patel Sunita K. , Kim Seong‐Hyeon , Johansen Christopher , Mullins Wendy , Nolty Anne , Fernandez Nathaniel , Delgado Nicole , Folbrecht Jeanelle , Dekel Noya , Meier Adrienne
Published: October 2020

Objective

Although there is enthusiasm for identifying and treating psychosocial problems in childhood cancer patients, there are few validated instruments to help providers identify at‐risk children for further assessment. The study objective was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the self‐report pediatric Distress Thermometer Rating Scale (Peds DTRS) in childhood cancer survivors and identify a threshold score to help providers classify pediatric patients.

Methods

We evaluated 54 children 7–17 years old using 178 Peds DTRS longitudinal data points from the cohort that was used for the original pediatric adaptation of the DTRS. We compared Peds DTRS scores against two established standardized measures using a generalized linear mixed model to deal with the dependency in the longitudinal data to estimate ROC curves and related statistics.

Results

Results indicate that a score of 3 is a reasonable cutoff to identify distress with children 7–17 years old. This cutoff yielded high sensitivity (87.0%) and specificity (79.7%) using the PedsQL Emotional Domain score as the standard. Similar results were obtained using the CDI as the standard, but we are cautious as very few CDI scores reached the cutoff criterion. Exploratory analysis highlighted clinical factors that correlate with increased distress measured using the Peds DTRS.

Conclusions

The Peds DTRS is a very brief, convenient, and rapid screening tool for global distress in children. Further investigation of the Peds DTRS and other tools can improve the ability of providers to prevent and treat the negative emotional consequences of cancer and improve the quality of survivorship.
Cold atmospheric pressure plasma‐assisted removal of aflatoxin B1 from contaminated corn kernels
Authors: Hojnik Nataša , Modic Martina , Žigon Dušan , Kovač Janez , Jurov Andrea , Dickenson Aaron , Walsh James L. , Cvelbar Uroš
Published: October 2020

Mycotoxins, the toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi, are found in up to 80% of global food and feed crops. Here, we report on the complete removal of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) from the artificially contaminated corn kernels with an indirect cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) treatment generated with a surface barrier discharge system working in ambient air. Surface analysis of the corn kernels revealed the presence of minor changes in the treated samples, indicating that indirect CAP treatments induced slight oxidation of the corn kernel surface. This study not only proposes CAP as an effective food processing method for the decontamination of mycotoxins but also presents the first step towards acceptance of CAP technology as a safe food processing method.
Protective effects of Antrodia camphorata extract against hypoxic cell injury and ischemic stroke brain damage
Authors: Kong Zwe‐Ling , Hsu Ya‐Ting , Johnson Athira , Tsai Tung‐Han , Miao Song , He Jia‐Ling , Tsou David
Published: October 2020

Ischemic stroke is the most prevalent stroke condition in the world resulted in either a transient ischemic attack or long‐lasting neurological problems due to the interrupted or reduced blood flow to the brain. Antrodia camphorata is a well‐known medicinal mushroom native to Taiwan and is familiar due to its medicinal effects. The current study investigated the protective effect of A. camphorata‐alcohol extracts (AC‐AE) against cobalt (II) chloride (CoCl2)‐induced oxidative stress in vitro and ischemia/reperfusion‐induced brain injury in vivo. The rats were pre‐treated with AC‐AE for 4 weeks. Our results showed that AC‐AE reduced cell damage and decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in C6 and PC12 cells under CoCl2‐induced hypoxic condition. AC‐AE doses (385, 770, 1,540 mg/kg/day, 4 weeks) increased nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) mRNA expressions and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) mRNA expressions in Sprague Dawley rat. Besides, it decreased stroke infarct size and increased the level of antioxidants in both brain and serum. Furthermore, it reduced the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Our results suggested that AC‐AE exerted an effective reduction of ischemia stroke by regulating ROS production.
Morphological Intervention for Students With Limited Vocabulary Knowledge: Short‐ and Long‐Term Transfer Effects
Authors: Gellert Anna S. , Arnbak Elisabeth , Wischmann Signe , Elbro Carsten
Published: October 2020

Students with limited vocabulary knowledge are at high risk for reading comprehension difficulties. Previous studies have found that teaching morphology may support vocabulary growth. In the present study, the authors aimed to replicate and extend these findings by investigating both immediate and long‐term transfer effects to untaught words and untaught pseudowords with well‐known root morphemes. Fifth‐grade students (N = 332) were randomly assigned to a morphological intervention, an alternative vocabulary intervention, or a control condition. The morphological intervention was found to produce large short‐term effects with respect to the students’ abilities to segment and explain both taught and untaught words containing taught morphemes, and medium effects on explanations of likely meanings of pseudowords with well‐known root morphemes. Medium to large effects were still present 10 months later with taught words and transfer words. Training had a small effect on reading comprehension with trained words but no effect on standard measures of reading comprehension or vocabulary.
The government whispering to entrepreneurs: Public venture capital, policy shifts, and firm productivity
Authors: Murtinu Samuele
Published: October 2020

Research Summary

Grounding on the literature on resource dependence, board political capital, and principal–principal conflicts, I conceptualize governmental minority shareholding as a governance strategy through which ventures access information about future policy shifts and better calibrate their decisions before policy implementation. I test these arguments on multicountry firm‐level longitudinal data about European venture capital (VC)‐backed and comparable non‐VC‐backed companies. By means of a difference‐in‐differences methodology and exploiting the staggered announcement of tax reforms across countries, I show that public VC‐backed companies after a tax reform announcement show higher productivity than non‐VC‐backed ventures, and this effect lasts 4 years. After decomposing productivity, the post‐announcement effect of public VC backing is mainly due to both an output effect (sales value increase) and an enhanced efficiency in the labor factor.

Managerial Summary

Ventures facing market uncertainty may benefit from having a governmental minority shareholder on board. Governmental minority shareholders bring political capital in the form of information about future business‐related policy changes, as well as connections to debt capital providers. Plus, their minority status makes conflicts with the entrepreneur (and other shareholders) less likely. In this way, after a policy reform announcement, entrepreneurs backed by governmental minority shareholders (such as public venture capitalists) can better predict market changes and react more quickly than comparable non‐backed firms to those changes. In sum, governmental minority shareholding represents an effective governance strategy for ventures to reduce their uncertainty and access information and resources that would be out of reach for both the ventures and all other types of shareholders.
Clustered spatio‐temporal varying coefficient regression model
Authors: Lee Junho , Kamenetsky Maria E. , Gangnon Ronald E. , Zhu Jun
Published: October 2020

In regression analysis for spatio‐temporal data, identifying clusters of spatial units over time in a regression coefficient could provide insight into the unique relationship between a response and covariates in certain subdomains of space and time windows relative to the background in other parts of the spatial domain and the time period of interest. In this article, we propose a varying coefficient regression method for spatial data repeatedly sampled over time, with heterogeneity in regression coefficients across both space and over time. In particular, we extend a varying coefficient regression model for spatial‐only data to spatio‐temporal data with flexible temporal patterns. We consider the detection of a potential cylindrical cluster of regression coefficients based on testing whether the regression coefficient is the same or not over the entire spatial domain for each time point. For multiple clusters, we develop a sequential identification approach. We assess the power and identification of known clusters via a simulation study. Our proposed methodology is illustrated by the analysis of a cancer mortality dataset in the Southeast of the U.S.
Lokale Spannungen in Kranbahnträgern mit Längssteifen
Authors: Kettler Markus , Unterweger Harald , Ebner Dieter
Published: October 2020

Die Anordnung von zusätzlichen Längssteifen in hohen Kranbahnträgern zur Erhöhung der Beultragfähigkeit des Stegs führt zu einer nach aktuellem Stand der Technik unbekannten Erhöhung der lokalen vertikalen Biegespannungen σT aus exzentrischer Radlast. Das hat wesentliche Auswirkungen auf den Ermüdungsnachweis der Flansch‐Steg‐Verbindung und in weiterer Folge auf die erforderlichen Trägerabmessungen. Um diesen Sachverhalt näher zu untersuchen, wurden im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts experimentelle und numerische Untersuchungen zum Einfluss von Längssteifen in unterschiedlichen Höhenlagen auf die lokalen Biegespannungen in Kranbahnträgern durchgeführt. Darauf aufbauend wurde das Berechnungsmodell der EN 1993‐6, das derzeit nur unversteifte Stegbleche beinhaltet, basierend auf einem Vorschlag aus der Literatur, für mögliche zusätzliche Längssteifen erweitert. Der Vergleich mit den Laborversuchen und den durchgeführten numerischen Berechnungen zeigt, dass das erweiterte Modell in der Lage ist, die Zunahme der Biegespannungen durch zusätzliche Längssteifen zutreffend wiederzugeben.
Inductor‐Less Voltage Equalizer with Cross‐Coupled Structure
Authors: Eguchi Kei , Do Wanglok , Shibata Akira
Published: October 2020

Due to the threshold voltage of diode switches, existing symmetrical voltage equalizers suffer from voltage drops across battery cells. To overcome this problem, this letter presents a novel voltage equalizer for series‐connected batteries. The proposed inductor‐less cross‐coupled topology allows the voltage of each battery cell to be balanced evenly without a threshold voltage drop, because no diode switch is required to design the proposed voltage equalizer. The effectiveness of the proposed voltage equalizer is confirmed through experiments. © 2020 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
An Inductor‐less Step‐Up Multi‐Input Single‐Output AC/DC Converter for Vibration Energy Harvesting
Authors: Eguchi Kei , Shibata Akira
Published: October 2020

This letter introduces a step‐up multiple‐input single‐output (MISO) ac/dc converter for vibration energy harvesting. Unlike existing ac/dc converters for vibration energy harvesting, the proposed converter generates a stepped‐up output by utilizing some vibration inputs. Furthermore, the proposed converter offers an inductor‐less design without full‐bridge circuits. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by theoretical analysis, computer simulations, and experiments. © 2020 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Using metalinguistic explanations to help advanced ESL/EFL learners overcome their problems with the use of English articles and reference representation
Authors: Yin Wa Chan Alice
Published: October 2020

This study reviews the difficulties that learners of English as a second or foreign language encounter in the use of English articles and puts forward some suggestions that can help advanced learners overcome their problems. It has been observed that learner performance may be deceptive and accurate article selections may be led by inappropriate assumptions, so explicit instruction is needed to enhance learners’ explicit knowledge. In the teaching of English articles, explicit analyses using metalinguistic explanations should be used to eradicate learners’ misconceptions. Their understanding of the use of different structures for showing genericity, of the distinction between definiteness and specificity, and of the differences between English articles and similar but distinct language items in their mother tongues should be strengthened. Self‐learning resources such as learners’ dictionaries can also be used to supplement teaching and learning, especially when the judgments of noun countability are at issue. It is with heightened explicit knowledge of the English article system and enhanced awareness of the use of different articles for representing different references that advanced learners will be able to master English article use competently.
Access to Effective Diagnosis and Treatment for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Deepening the Human Rights-Based Approach
Authors: Shawa Remmy , Coomans Fons , Cox Helen , London Leslie
Published: October 2020

The lack of access to effective diagnosis and treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains a persistent ethical, human rights and public health challenge globally. In addressing this challenge, arguments based on a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to health have most often been focused on the Right to Health. However, a key challenge in multidrug-resistant (MDR-) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-) TB is the glaring absence of scientific research; ranging from basic science and drug discovery through to implementation science once new tools have been developed. Although the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Applications (REBSP) is a little theorised human right, it has the potential to enrich our understanding and use of the Rights-Based Approach to health. In this chapter, we argue that States’ duties to respect, protect and fulfil the REBSP within and outside their borders is an important vehicle that can be drawn on to redress the lack of research into new drug development and appropriate use of existing drugs for DR-TB in high burden settings. We call for urgent attention to minimum core obligations for the REBSP and the need for a General Comment by a UN human rights monitoring body to provide for its interpretation. We also note that conceptualization of the REBSP has the potential to complement Right to Health claims intended to enhance access to treatment for DR-TB on a global scale.
The Right to Refuse Treatment for Infectious Disease
Authors: Coleman Carl H.
Published: October 2020

One of the central tenets of contemporary bioethics is that mentally competent persons have a right to refuse medical treatment, even if the refusal might lead to the individual’s death. Despite this principle, laws in some jurisdictions authorize the nonconsensual treatment of persons with tuberculosis (TB) or other serious infectious diseases, on the grounds that doing so is necessary to protect the safety of others. This chapter argues that, in the vast majority of situations, overriding a refusal of treatment for infectious disease is not justifiable, as the risk to third parties can be avoided by the less restrictive alternative of isolating the patient. At the same time, it rejects the extreme position that the nonconsensual treatment of infectious disease is never appropriate. Instead, it concludes that compelling an individual to undergo treatment for infectious diseases may be ethically justifiable in exceptional situations if a refusal of treatment poses a grave risk to third parties, the treatment is not overly burdensome and has been established to be safe and effective, and less restrictive alternatives, including humanely isolating the patient, are not feasible under the circumstances. The burden should be on those seeking to compel unwanted treatment to demonstrate that these requirements have been met.
A Capability Perspective on Antibiotic Resistance, Inequality, and Child Development
Authors: Millar Michael
Published: October 2020

Nussbaum’s capability theory by drawing attention to multiple determinants of wellbeing provides a rich and relevant evaluative space for framing antibiotic resistance. I consider the implications of antibiotic resistance for child development and adult capabilities. There are common risk factors for childhood growth stunting and the spread of infectious diseases in both antibiotic sensitive and resistant forms. The interaction between infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance and growth stunting illustrates a clustering of disadvantage. The control of antibiotic resistance requires wide-ranging cooperative action. Cooperation is predicated on an expectation of equitable access to effective antibiotics. This expectation is confounded by inequality both in access to antibiotics, and in the risk that available antibiotics will be ineffective. Securing child development (and adult capabilities) requires that inequalities both in access to antibiotics and in risk factors for the dissemination and transmission of antibiotic resistance are addressed. Inequality undermines the cooperative activity that is control of infectious diseases and compounds the threat to the securing of capabilities that arises from antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics and Animal Agriculture: The Need for Global Collective Action
Authors: Anomaly Jonathan
Published: October 2020

The use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is steadily increasing, especially in developing countries. The European Union and a handful of developed countries have implemented policies to scale back the use of antibiotics, recognizing its role in the global rise of antibiotic resistance. But many farmers who raise animals live in poor countries without public health regulations, or work for large corporate entities that can move their operations to places with weak regulations. To minimize the careless use of antibiotics around the world, we need multi-lateral coordination between states on some common standards for the use of antibiotics in animals.
Tackling Anti-microbial Resistance: An Ethical Framework for Rational Antibiotic Use
Authors: Littmann Jasper , Rid Annette , Buyx Alena
Published: October 2020

To reduce the effect of antimicrobial resistance and preserve antibiotic effectiveness, clinical practice guidelines and health policy documents call for the “rational use” of antibiotics that aims to avoid unnecessary or minimally effective antibiotic prescriptions. In this paper, we show that rational use programmes can lead to ethical conflicts because they place some patients at risk of harm – for example, a delayed switch to second-line antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia is associated with increased fatality rates. Implementing the rational use of antibiotics can therefore lead to conflicts between promoting patients’ clinical interests and preserving antibiotic effectiveness for future use. The resulting ethical dilemma for clinicians, patients and policy makers has so far not been adequately addressed. We argue that existing guidance for acceptable risks in clinical research can help to define risk thresholds for the rational use of antibiotics. We develop an ethical framework that allows clinicians and policy-makers to evaluate policies for rational antibiotic use in six practical steps.
Justifying Antibiotic Resistance Interventions: Uncertainty, Precaution and Ethics
Authors: Nijsingh Niels , Larsson D. G. Joakim , de Fine Licht Karl , Munthe Christian
Published: October 2020

This chapter charts and critically analyses the ethical challenge of assessing how much (and what kind of) evidence is required for the justification of interventions in response antibiotic resistance (ABR), as well as other major public health threats. Our ambition here is to identify and briefly discuss main issues, and point to ways in which these need to be further advanced in future research. This will result in a tentative map of complications, underlying problems and possible challenges. This map illustrates that the ethical challenges in this area are much more complex and profound than is usually acknowledged, leaving no tentatively plausible intervention package free of downsides. This creates potentially overwhelming theoretical conundrums when trying to justify what to do. We therefore end by pointing out two general features of the complexity we find to be of particular importance, and a tentative suggestion for how to create a theoretical basis for further analysis.
The Super-Wicked Problem of Antimicrobial Resistance
Authors: Littmann Jasper , Viens A. M. , Silva Diego S.
Published: October 2020

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the progressive process by which microbes, such as bacteria, through evolutionary, environmental and social factors develop the ability to become resistant to drugs that were once effective at treating them – is a threat from which no one can escape. It is one of the largest threats to clinical and global health in the twenty-first century – inflicting monumental health, economic and social consequences. All persons locally and globally, and even all future persons yet to come into existence, all suffer the shared, interdependent vulnerability to this threat that will have a substantial impact on all aspects of our lives. For example, while reliable data are hard to find, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has conservatively estimated that, in Europe alone, AMR causes additional annual cost to health care systems of at least €1.5 billion, and is responsible for around 25,000 deaths per year. Furthermore, AMR significantly increases the cost of treating bacterial infections with an increase in length of hospital stays and average number of re-consultations, as well as the resultant lost productivity from increased morbidity. With a combined cost of up to $100 trillion to the global economy – pushing a further 28 million people into extreme poverty – this is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world. Most troublingly, if we do not succeed in diminishing the progression of AMR, there is the very real potential for it to threaten common procedures and treatments of modern medicine, including the safety and efficacy of surgical procedures and immunosuppressing chemotherapy. Some experts are warning that we may soon be ushering in a post-antibiotic area.
Cars: A Micro-analysis of Space and Bodies in Vendredi soir
Authors: Ceuterick Maud
Published: October 2020

While the car traditionally appears as male domain, the haptic aesthetic and poetic forms of Claire Denis’ filmVendredi soir(2002) disconnect cars from masculine power. Through a micro-analysis of the film’s forms, spaces, and bodies, the chapter shows how the film suspends the gendered relationships at play in public and private spaces. In this chapter, Ceuterick emphasises the affirmative aesthetic of the film, which transforms the car into a home, gendered bodies into lived bodies, and intimacy into a passage between real and imaginary.
Streets: Freedom, Diaspora, and the Erotic in Head-On
Authors: Ceuterick Maud
Published: October 2020

This chapter focuses on the street as a contested space, one that especially enforces gendered and racialised roles. In spite of the punishment reserved for those who refuse conventions, Head-On (Fatih Akin, Gegen Die Wand [Head-On]. DVD. Germany; Turkey: Strand Releasing, 2004) uses performance, eroticism, and abjection to disrupt the gendering and racialisation of space and the subject. Feminist affirmative forms appear when one looks beyond the negativity present in the diegesis.
Conclusion: Forms of Affirmative Aesthetics
Authors: Ceuterick Maud
Published: October 2020

An affirmative approach to film consists of making visible what the diegesis may conceal. As the chapter reflects on the political impact of art and the affect of films onto the bodies of the spectators, it concludes that looking for affirmative aesthetics is about mapping the feminist forms that will allow us to build a future beyond gendered and racialised power relations.
The Communist World of Public Debt (1917–1991): The Failure of a Countermodel?
Authors: Forestier-Peyrat Étienne , Ironside Kristy
Published: October 2020

This chapter looks at the construction of a communist community of public debt in the twentieth century. Despite emerging as some of public debt’s most vehement critics in the early years of that century, communist governments made relatively conventional use of public debt to fund economic initiatives, foster bonds within the socialist bloc, and gain political influence. As these regimes’ economies stagnated, they borrowed heavily from capitalist lenders and ran into economic troubles in the 1980s, but they did not repudiate their debt, as the Bolsheviks had in 1918. Instead, they accepted technical solutions to their economic woes, which, in turn, helped to erode their already tenuous popular legitimacy in Eastern Europe.
The History and Politics of Public Debt Accounting
Authors: Monnet Éric , Truong-Loï Blaise
Published: October 2020

A country’s public debt figures vary considerably in any given year, depending on the definitions used. It creates difficulties in constructing and interpreting long-term statistical series. This chapter examines the policy issues behind the definition and accounting of public debt through history. Based on a critical analysis of widely used historical sources, as well as case studies, it discusses how to interpret historical public debt statistics. Analyzing general trends in the historical development of comparability of public debt statistics since the nineteenth century, it identifies three perspectives on debt accounting that have framed the construction of statistics over time: “financial”, “circuitist” and “benchmarking”. Since public debt accounting and policy depend on the way in which public debt is issued and traded and on the identity of creditors, each of these ideal-types roughly corresponds to a debt regime, and more broadly to a historical period of capitalism.
Large-Eddy Simulations for the Wall Heat Flux Prediction of a Film-Cooled Single-Element Combustion Chamber
Authors: Olmeda R. , Breda P. , Stemmer C. , Pfitzner M.
Published: October 2020

In order for modern launcher engines to work at their optimum, film cooling can be used to preserve the structural integrity of the combustion chamber. The analysis of this cooling system by means of CFD is complex due to the extreme physical conditions and effects like turbulent fluctuations damping and recombination processes in the boundary layer which locally change the transport properties of the fluid. The combustion phenomena are modeled by means of Flamelet tables taking into account the enthalpy loss in the proximity of the chamber walls. In this work, Large-Eddy Simulations of a single-element combustion chamber experimentally investigated at the Technical University of Munich are carried out at cooled and non-cooled conditions. Compared with the experiment, the LES shows improved results with respect to RANS simulations published. The influence of wall roughness on the wall heat flux is also studied, as it plays an important role for the lifespan of a rocket engine combustors.
Numerical Modelling of Fluid-Structure Interaction for Thermal Buckling in Hypersonic Flow
Authors: Martin Katharina , Daub Dennis , Esser Burkard , Gülhan Ali , Reese Stefanie
Published: October 2020

Experiments have shown that a high-enthalpy flow field might lead under certain mechanical constraints to buckling effects and plastic deformation. The panel buckling into the flow changes the flow field causing locally increased heating which in turn affects the panel deformation. The temperature increase due to aerothermal heating in the hypersonic flow causes the metallic panel to buckle into the flow. To investigate these phenomena numerically, a thermomechanical simulation of a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model for thermal buckling is presented. The FSI simulation is set up in a staggered scheme and split into a thermal solid, a mechanical solid and a fluid computation. The structural solverAbaqusand the fluid solverTAUfrom the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are coupled within the FSI codeiflsdeveloped at the Institute of Aircraft Design and Lightweight Structures (IFL) at TU Braunschweig. The FSI setup focuses on the choice of an equilibrium iteration method, the time integration and the data transfer between grids. To model the complex material behaviour of the structure, a viscoplastic material model with linear isotropic hardening and thermal expansion including material parameters, which are nonlinearly dependent on temperature, is used.
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of CH$$_4$$/O$$_2$$ Rocket Combustors
Authors: Perakis Nikolaos , Haidn Oskar J.
Published: October 2020

The experimental investigation of sub-scale rocket engines gives significant information about the combustion dynamics and wall heat transfer phenomena occurring in full-scale hardware. At the same time, the performed experiments serve as validation test cases for numerical CFD models and for that reason it is vital to obtain accurate experimental data. In the present work, an inverse method is developed able to accurately predict the axial and circumferential heat flux distribution in CH$$_4$$/O$$_2$$rocket combustors. The obtained profiles are used to deduce information about the injector-injector and injector-flame interactions. Using a 3D CFD simulation of the combustion and heat transfer within a multi-element thrust chamber, the physical phenomena behind the measured heat flux profiles can be inferred. A very good qualitative and quantitative agreement between the experimental measurements and the numerical simulations is achieved.
A Knowledge Retrieval Framework for Household Objects and Actions with External Knowledge
Authors: Vassiliades Alexandros , Bassiliades Nick , Gouidis Filippos , Patkos Theodore
Published: October 2020

In the field of domestic cognitive robotics, it is important to have a rich representation of knowledge about how household objects are related to each other and with respect to human actions. In this paper, we present a domain dependent knowledge retrieval framework for household environments which was constructed by extracting knowledge from the VirtualHome dataset (http://virtual-home.org). The framework provides knowledge about sequences of actions on how to perform human scaled tasks in a household environment, answers queries about household objects, and performs semantic matching between entities from the web knowledge graphs DBpedia, ConceptNet, and WordNet, with the ones existing in our knowledge graph. We offer a set of predefined SPARQL templates that directly address the ontology on which our knowledge retrieval framework is built, and querying capabilities through SPARQL. We evaluated our framework via two different user evaluations.
Minimally invasive posterior locked compression plate osteosynthesis shows excellent results in elderly patients with fragility fractures of the pelvis
Authors: Schmerwitz Imke U. , Jungebluth Philipp , Lehmann Wolfgang , Hockertz Thomas J.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Fragility fractures of the pelvis (FFP) are common in older patients. We evaluated the clinical outcome of using a minimally invasive posterior locked compression plate (MIPLCP) as therapeutic alternative.

Methods

53 Patients with insufficiency fractures of the posterior pelvic ring were treated with MIPLCP when suffering from persistent pain and immobility under conservative treatment.

After initial X-ray, CT-scans of the pelvis were performed. In some cases an MRI was also performed to detect occult fractures. Postoperatively patients underwent conventional X-ray controls. Data were retrospectively analyzed for surgical and radiation time, complication rate, clinical outcome and compared to the literature.

Results

Patients (average age 79.1 years) underwent surgery with operation time of 52.3 min (SD 13.9), intra-operative X-ray time of 9.42 s (SD 9.6), mean dose length product of 70.1 mGycm (SD 57.9) and a mean hospital stay of 21.2 days (SD 7.7).

13% patients (n = 7) showed surgery-related complications, such as wound infection, prolonged wound secretion, irritation of the sacral root or clinically inapparent screw malpositioning. 17% (n = 9) showed postoperative complications (one patient died due to pneumonia 24 days after surgery, eight patients developed urinal tract infections).

42 patients managed to return to previous living situation. 34 were followed-up after a mean period of 31.5 (6–90) months and pain level at post-hospital examination of 2.4 (VAS) with an IOWA Pelvic Score of 85.6 (55–99).

Conclusion

We showed that MIPLCP osteosynthesis is a safe surgical alternative in patients with FFP 3 and FFP 4. This treatment is another way of maintaining a high level of stability in the osteoporotic pelvic ring with a relatively low complication rate, low radiation and moderate operation time and a good functional outcome.
Probiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria obtained from fermented curly kale juice
Authors: Szutowska Julia , Gwiazdowska Daniela
Published: October 2020

The aim of the paper was to analyse changes in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) populations during spontaneous fermentation of green curly kale juice (Brasicca oleracea L. var. acephala L.) and to determine the probiotic potential of LAB isolates. The analyses revealed that changes in LAB populations were specific for spontaneously fermented vegetable juices. The initial microbiota, composed mostly of Leuconostoc mesenteroides bacteria, was gradually replaced by Lactobacillus species, mainly Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus sakei, and Lactobacillus coryniformis. Screening tests for the antimicrobial properties and antibiotic susceptibility of isolates allowed for the selection of 12 strains with desirable characteristics. L. plantarum isolates were characterized by the widest spectrum of antimicrobial interactions, both towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Also, L. plantarum strains exhibited the best growth abilities under low pH conditions, and at different NaCl and bile salt concentrations. All strains showed different levels of antibiotic sensitivity, although they were resistant to vancomycin and kanamycin. The present study has shown that bacterial isolates obtained from spontaneously fermented kale juice could constitute valuable probiotic starter cultures, which may be used in fermentation industry.