bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Melanoma in the shopping mall: A utilitarian argument for offering unsolicited medical opinions in informal settings
Authors: Preller Gustav , Salloch Sabine
Published: January 2018

Doctors occasionally make diagnoses in strangers outside of formal medical settings by using the medical skill of visual inspection, such as noticing signs of melanoma or the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. This may cause considerable moral unease and doubts on the side of the diagnosing physician. Such encounters force physicians to consider whether or not to intervene by introducing themselves to the stranger and offering an unsolicited medical opinion despite the absence of a formal doctor‐patient relationship. A small body of literature has addressed the topic of the unsolicited medical opinion, often with a primary focus on practical advice. This article seeks to establish an ethical‐theoretical basis for physicians' ethical obligation to offer an unsolicited medical opinion when they make a diagnosis by visual inspection in a stranger outside of the formal medical context. Using a utilitarian approach, it is argued that, if it is in the physicians' power to prevent a possible loss of well‐being, without thereby sacrificing anything of equal value, physicians have an ethical obligation to intervene.
“Keeping it Fresh”: How Young Black Women Negotiate Self–Representation and Controlling Images in Urban Space
Authors: McCurn Alexis S.
Published: January 2018

Few scholars have explored the collective experiences of young African American women and their creative strategies for negotiating daily life in distressed neighborhoods. This study draws on nearly two years of field research in East Oakland, California, to provide an ethnographic account of how young Black women negotiate daily life amid poverty and social isolation while managing the emotional impact of stigma associated with poverty. The accounts from young women in this study reveal the situated strategy of “keeping it fresh,” a form of impression management that contradicts prevailing notions of what poor Black women and girls ought to look like and, in turn, how they should be treated in public space. Women and girls who keep it fresh invest in constructing and maintaining a neat and stylish appearance enhanced by expensive clothes, shoes, and accessories acquired through informal networks. This form of self–presentation aims to discredit the evaluation of those who keep it fresh as poor and unworthy of respect, if only for a moment.
Lipoedema in patients after bariatric surgery: report of two cases and review of literature
Authors: Pouwels S. , Huisman S. , Smelt H. J. M. , Said M. , Smulders J. F.
Published: January 2018

Lipoedema is a disorder of adipose tissue that is characterized by abnormal subcutaneous fat deposition, leading to swelling and enlargement of the lower limbs as well as the trunk. This entity is often misdiagnosed as lymphoedema or obesity and, therefore, may be overlooked and missed in patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. Patients with lipoedema who undergo bariatric surgery may have to continue to have extensive lower extremity and trunk adiposity despite adequate weight loss. In this report, we present two patients who had extensive trunk and lower extremity adiposity, one of them before and the other after the bariatric surgery.
Nietzsche, intention, action
Authors: Nehamas Alexander
Published: January 2018

Nietzsche sometimes writes as if we are not in control—at least not in conscious control—of our actions. He seems to suggest that what we actually do is independent of our intentions. It turns out, though, that his understanding of both intention and action differs radically from most contemporary treatments of the issue. In particular, he denies that our actions are caused by their intentions, whose role is hermeneutical in a sense that this essay develops. How then is responsibility to be assigned, since its moral variety, at least, depends, on several views, on the intention with which an action is performed? Nietzsche, of course, is not interested in making attributions of moral responsibility. Still, his views on the relationship between an individual action, its intention, other actions by its agent, and the agent's character, as this essay presents them, provide a reasonable account of action generally and a different, broader account of responsibility for oneself.
A Technical Note on IRT Simulation Studies: Dealing With Truth, Estimates, Observed Data, and Residuals
Authors: Luecht Richard , Ackerman Terry A.
Published: January 2018

Simulation studies are extremely common in the item response theory (IRT) research literature. This article presents a didactic discussion of “truth” and “error” in IRT‐based simulation studies. We ultimately recommend that future research focus less on the simple recovery of parameters from a convenient generating IRT model, and more on practical comparative estimation studies when the data are intentionally generated to incorporate nuisance dimensionality and other sources of nuanced contamination encountered with real data. A new framework is also presented for conceptualizing and comparing various residuals in IRT studies. The new framework allows even very different calibration and scoring IRT models to be compared on a common, convenient, and highly interpretable number‐correct metric. Some illustrative examples are included.
Psychosocial impact of Parkinson's disease‐associated dysarthria: Cross‐cultural adaptation and validation of the Dysarthria Impact Profile into European Portuguese
Authors: Cardoso Rita , Guimarães Isabel , Santos Helena , Loureiro Rita , Domingos Josefa , Abreu Daisy , Gonçalves Nilza , Pinto Serge , Ferreira Joaquim J
Published: January 2018

Aim

The present study sought to make a cross‐cultural adaptation of the Dysarthria Impact Profile (DIP) for European Portuguese (EP) and validate it for use in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

Methods

The cross‐cultural adaptation was carried out in accordance with the guidelines. The EP version of the DIP was administered to 80 people with PD, and 30 sex‐ and age‐matched control participants. Psychometric properties, acceptability, feasibility reliability (internal consistency and intrarater agreement) and validity (construct, convergent and known‐groups validity) were assessed using other assessment tools (motor disability and impairment, and voice impact).

Results

Overall, the EP‐DIP final version has the same conceptual meaning, semantics, idiomatic and score equivalences as the original version. Statistical analyses showed adequate feasibility (missing data <5%), good acceptability (ceiling or floor effects <15%; high requests of assistance to complete the questionnaire), satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.9), weak‐to‐moderate intrarater reliability, good construct validity, strong convergent validity (with the Voice Handicap Index; Spearman's P = −0.8) and good known‐groups validity (between those with PD and control participants).

Conclusions

The EP‐DIP version displays the salient features of a valid patient‐based assessment tool used to measure the psychosocial impact of slight‐to‐mild dysarthria in people with PD. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 767–774.
Impressions of action and critical action learning: exploring the leadership development of senior doctors in an English healthcare organization
Authors: McCray Janet , Warwick Rob , Palmer Adam
Published: January 2018

This paper aims to explore the influence of one cycle of a learning set experience in a postgraduate medical leadership development programme. It does so from two perspectives: first, from the self‐reports of nine senior doctors working in leadership roles in England in the National Health Service; and second from a researcher perspective as we present our research process, findings and perceptions on the use of action learning (AL) and critical action learning (CAL) for leadership development in the complex and unpredictable context of that service. The paper affirms other study findings that CAL in the development of participants’ collective reflexivity has the potential to deal with emotions and power relations in organizational life. An original contribution lies in advancing the idea that CAL can help build resilience in doctor leaders and groups in uncertain conditions such that they are able to challenge current care delivery and effect change in organizational performance.
Identification of an ice recrystallisation inhibition gene family in winter‐hardy wheat and its evolutionary relationship to other members of the Triticeae
Authors: Jin Y. N. , Bai L. P. , Guan S. X. , Zhong M. , Ma H. , Wang S. , Guo Z. F.
Published: January 2018

Ice recrystallisation inhibition (IRI) proteins are important for plants that exist in cold environments. Six novel genes encoding IRI proteins were isolated from winter‐hardy wheat (Tricticum aestivum) cultivar (Mironovskaya808). Conserved domain analysis confirmed that all the predicted proteins contained the basic characteristics of IRI proteins, including leucine‐rich repeats (LRR) and IRI‐domains (NxVx1‐2G). In addition, these proteins possessed an N‐terminal signal peptide and some conserved cysteines. Despite the high conservation of the amino acid sequences, the characteristic regions still exist among these IRI‐domains of IRI sequences. All IRI sequences in this study are highly homologous with phytosulfokine receptors (PSR). Quantitative real‐time PCR (qPCR) analysis indicated that each member of the IRI gene family was induced after exposure to low temperature. Heterologous expression of IRI proteins enhanced freezing tolerance in host cells. A total of 28 IRI genes were isolated from Triticeae, and the evolutionary relationship of the IRI gene family in Triticeae and related species showed high interspecific specificity. The IRI genes from Aegilops, which is one of the progenitors of allohexaploid wheat, shared the closest relationship with those from Triticum. With high interspecific specificity in Triticeae, however, there was no specificity among different species of Triticum. Our results suggest that IRI genes have potential value to improve cold resistance of crops.
Endoscopic ultrasound for rectal cancer staging: A population‐based study of utilization, impact on treatment patterns, and survival
Authors: Okafor Philip N , Swanson Kristi , Shah Nilay , Talwalkar Jayant A
Published: January 2018

Background and Aim

Optimal rectal cancer (RC) outcomes depend on accurate locoregional staging. The study sought to describe the impact of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) on RC treatment patterns and survival.

Methods

Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results‐Medicare database, the study identified patients with RC between 2005 and 2007. The study excluded patients with stage IV disease, those not enrolled in Medicare parts A and B, those enrolled in managed care, and those staged with pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (because of low numbers). The study then compared outcomes between patients who received EUS and computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis (CTAP) to those staged with CTAP alone after propensity score matching.

Results

Between 2005 and 2007, we identified 3,408 nonmetastatic RC patients. Compared with patients staged with CTAP alone, those who received EUS and CTAP were younger (median age: 75 vs 76 years, P < 0.0001), more likely men (57.6% vs 48.7%, P < 0.0001), with a lower Charlson comorbidity index (P < 0.0001). Predictors of EUS included socioeconomic status (highest vs lowest) (odds ratio [OR] 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4–2.5), care by a gastroenterologist (OR 1.713, 95% CI 1.38–2.13), and care in a teaching hospital (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.35–2.08). Receipt of neoadjuvant chemoradiation was higher in EUS‐staged patients (50.3% vs 16.0%, P < 0.0001). EUS‐staged patients had longer overall survival compared with those staged with CTAP alone (60 vs 57 months), but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.24).

Conclusion

Endoscopic ultrasound in RC staging is associated with higher utilization of neoadjuvant chemoradiation without a significant difference in overall survival.
Long‐term outcomes of rotational atherectomy of underexpanded stents. A single center experience
Authors: Hernández‐Enríquez Marco , Campelo‐Parada Francisco , Lhermusier Thibault , Bouisset Frédéric , Roncalli Jérôme , Elbaz Meyer , Carrié Didier , Boudou Nicolas
Published: January 2018

Objectives

To analyze the procedural and long‐term outcomes of the use of rotational atherectomy (RA) in underexpanded stents in our cohort and to provide an overview of currently available data on this technique.

Background

Stent underexpansion (SU) has been related to stent thrombosis and restenosis. RA has been used to treat undilatable SU as a bail‐out strategy with encouraging results.

Methods

This is an observational, single‐center study. We included patients who underwent stentablation between 2013 and 2017. Baseline demographics, procedural results, in‐hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE), and long‐term follow‐up MACE were retrospectively collected.

Results

A total of 11 patients (90.9% males, mean age 65.4 ± 18.6) were included in this study. Median left ventricle ejection fraction was 53.5% [46.2‐55]. Median calculated Syntax score was 16 [9‐31] and 45.5% of patients were admitted for acute coronary syndrome. Radial approach was used in 63.6% of cases. Most patients only required one burr (45% used a 1.5 mm diameter burr) during the intervention. Procedural success was achieved in 90.9% of the cases. Acute lumen gain was 42.7% [30.7‐61.49]. There were no in‐hospital deaths or MACE. At a median follow‐up of 26 months, only one patient (9.1%) suffered MACE in the context of acute coronary syndrome, and two patients (18.2%) required non‐target lesion revascularization. No deaths were reported.

Conclusions

RA of under expanded stents is a feasible option with a high rate of procedural success. At long‐term follow‐up, all of them were alive and 90.9% of patients remained free from MACE.
Reproductive health policy‐makers: Comparing the influences of international and domestic institutions on abortion policy
Authors: Forman‐Rabinovici Aliza , Sommer Udi
Published: January 2018

Do policies protecting women's rights correspond with norm change at the state level or the level of international institutions? We examine this question, comparing domestic and international institutional activity in correlation with reproductive health policy change, specifically, abortion access policy. At the domestic level, we examine female legislators and policies set to encourage gender equality, namely, electoral gender quotas. In the international arena, our theory distinguishes regional from international inter‐governmental bodies. Original data with measurement innovations introduced here—including the Comparative Abortion Policy Index (CAPI1 and CAPI2)—are analysed for over 150 countries for close to two decades. We find a heretofore‐overlooked relationship between international entities and reproductive health. Gender quotas, however, do not correspond with the general association between female representation and pro‐women policy. When researchers and policy‐makers consider gender quotas to promote women's rights, they may be advised to encourage female political participation through more organic means.
Effects of vegetative mulches on growth of indigenous crops in the Kingdom of Tonga
Authors: Manu V. , Whitbread A. , Blair G.
Published: January 2018

As in many areas of the developing world, intensification of agriculture in Tonga, and other Pacific Islands, has put increased pressure on the soil resource. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of mulch on the growth and yield of two important food and fibre crops. The first was conducted on sloping land to evaluate the effect of guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) mulch and hedgerows on taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] yield, and in controlling soil erosion. The second compared the response of paper mulberry [Broussonetia papyrifera (L) Ventenot] to different management regimes of a grass fallow. Thick vegetative mulch increased taro corm yield by 81% and reduced soil loss by 50% compared to local farmer practice, and the soil loss from taro with mulch was comparable to the perennial cash hedgerow treatment. Mulch increased paper mulberry bark yield by 30% compared to the non‐mulch control. Comparative economic analysis showed that increased net profit in the mulched treatments compared to the non‐mulched control was T$2660/ha for taro and T$12 108/ha for paper mulberry. Considering that mulch is readily available to many farmers throughout the Pacific Islands and elsewhere in the tropics, it is recommended as a sustainable practice for crop production.
Basic aspects, application and platforms currently available for molecular blood grouping of donor and patient population
Authors: Nadarajan V.
Published: January 2018

The majority of allelic variants conferring red cell blood group antigens are attributable to single nucleotide polymorphisms, which are immensely amenable to routine genotyping methods such as PCR‐RFLP, SSP, SSO and fluorescent‐based real‐time PCR assays. These techniques are feasible in a low‐ to medium‐throughput setting. Multiplexing and use of solid surfaces or beads for probe capture have further improved the throughput and turnaround time allowing multiple alleles to be interrogated simultaneously. Novel approaches, as in the use of MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry, appear as an attractive option for accurate, cost‐effective, high‐throughput SNP genotyping within major blood centres. Massively parallel targeted sequencing is likely the next step in the evolution of RBC genotyping. In the hospital setting, genotyping is unlikely to supplant serological typing but would rather be complementary to it. Scenarios where it would play an important role would be in the transfusion management of transfusion dependant patients such as in sickle cell anaemia or in situations where RBC phenotyping cannot be reliably undertaken as in auto‐immune haemolytic anaemia and haemolytic disease of foetus and newborn. Genotyping would also be useful where anti‐sera are not readily available or are of weak potency. Molecular typing is likely to, however, show its greatest potential in donor genotyping to establish pools of fully typed donors as well as identify donors with rare blood groups. Such an exercise will facilitate prompt and efficient delivery of best‐matched blood for patients.
Progress on Mechanically Grading Citrus Fruit in Processing Plants
Authors: Bryan William L.
Published: January 2018

An inexpensive method to mechanically pregrade citrus fruit in processing plants is needed to improve effectiveness of manual grading and reduce handling costs. The need for mechanical pregrading will increase with mechanically harvested fruit which will contain more damaged and unwholesome fruit than manually harvested fruit. Chemical abscission to loosen the fruit prior to harvest causes considerable pre-drop, and rake-pick-up procedures will be necessary to recover fruit from the ground. Fruit harvested from the ground may contain “old drops” in varying stages of decay. Normal grading procedures are sometimes inadequate to remove the larger amounts of unwholesome fruit present after a freeze or late in the processing season. Such periods require either additional temporary graders or reduced processing rates and occasionally, regrading.

Paper published with permission.
Economics of Citrus Speciality Products
Authors: Gerow Gordon P. , Gray L. E.
Published: January 2018

The citrus industry is not different from any competitive industry in that the by-products, or specialty products as we prefer to call them, can play in important role in the overall economic structure. For example, it has been estimated that the Sunkist organization in California produces and markets over 160 different products from citrus, BUT Florida processors have not developed their specialty products to the extent done in California. Probably the primary reason for this has been a continually increasing size of crop that demanded the capital for plant expansion and perhaps rightly so, as this is the tried and known source of profit. We are now reaching a declining rate of increase in the crop, and should seriously consider investment of money and even more importantly the investment of skilled talent in Development, Manufacturing and Sales to promote specialty products as California citrus processors and other industries do.

Paper published with permission.
Technological Change in the Food Industry
Authors: Bloom Gordon F. , Curhan Ronald C. , Hollis Mark C.
Published: January 2018

The year 1973 has been chronicled by the news media as the “year of Watergate,” but historians could record that an event of greater long-term significance occurred in that year. The year 1973 may well mark the disappearance of cheap food from American consumers’ tables. Prices for food purchased for home consumption increased during the calendar year 1973 by 16. 3 per cent, the largest increase in one year since the hectic catch-up purchasing spree of 1947. It is possible, as some Administration officials have forecast, that the current alarming rate of inflation in food prices may slacken somewhat in the future. Nevertheless, it seems almost certain that for the foreseeable future the United States will be faced with a strong continuing upward trend in food prices. The increase is expected to approximate 15 per cent for 1974, and the 1975 increase is likely to be of the same magnitude.

Paper published with permission.
Spray Irrigation of Waste Water on Citrus Groves
Authors: Koo R. C. J.
Published: January 2018

Spray irrigation is widely used to dispose of the waste water from citrus processing plants. The citrus processing season in Florida may range from 6 to 10 months a year depending on the size and the type of the fruit crop. Much of this season occurs in that part of the year when rainfall is deficient. It would be advantageous if this waste water could be utilized in the production of citrus crops. A study was conducted between 1971 and 1974 to investigate the feasibility of growing-citrus with citrus processing waste water (6).

Paper published with permission.
Condensate Reuse in Citrus Plants
Authors: Hamrich David O.
Published: January 2018

In discussion of the general topic of condensate reuse in citrus processing plants, I think it desirable to expand the scope of this topic to include water conservation as a concept and the specific reuse of all water.

Paper published with permission.
Comparison and Application of Refrigeration Compressors
Authors: Terrett Hunter L. , Kelly Larry M.
Published: January 2018

A refrigeration system has one basic requirement irrespective of the application. This requirement is to remove heat from the product and/or storage room where it is not wanted, and to reject this unwanted heat to a medium where it is wanted or at least can be tolerated. Figure 1. below, shows a simple representation of a refrigeration system.

Paper published with permission.
The Recovery of Sugar From Citrus Press Liquor by Ultrafiltration
Authors: Breslau B. R. , Pensenstadler D. F. , Mitchell W. G.
Published: January 2018

Citrus press liquor is the liquor expelled from the peel and rag residue of citrus fruit by pressing. It is a non-homogeneous straw-colored liquor and contains 9 to 15% dissolved solids, of which 50 to 70% are sugars (References 1, 2). In addition to sugar, however, citrus press liquor also contains a significant amount of other constituents, some of which are listed in Table 1, which impart a bitter taste and unpleasant character; its principal use therefore has been limited to that of a feedstock for the production of citrus molasses which is marketed primarily as an animal feed (Reference 3).

Paper published with permission.
Trash and Stem Removal From Incoming Fruit
Authors: Synder R. Paul
Published: January 2018

This paper discusses methods to remove trash and attached stems during receiving citrus fruit at processing plants and reports progress on work now underway with a pilot unloading line. The current project was initiated by a Florida processing plant, then combined with a project to develop methods for mechanical grading of fruit harvested by mechanical means, funded by the Florida Department of Citrus through the Florida Citrus Research Foundation, For the joint project, an 8-box/min. pilot unloading line was constructed and operated in June and July, 1975. The line has been modified and expanded to about 20-box/min. capacity for evaluation this season.

Paper published with permission.
The Metric System as It Applies to the Citrus Industry
Authors: Rapson Richard C.
Published: January 2018

WOW! 914, 610, 914 mm. Does a sequence of numbers that size get your attention? Some young lady 36, 24, 36 inches would. These two sequences have only a basic difference: the first is metric and the second is the British system of measurements.

Paper published with permission.
Solid State A-C Variable Speed Drives
Authors: Zak John D.
Published: January 2018

Solid state adjustable-speed a-c drives offer a new era in high performance, maintenance-free, industrial drive systems. Whether applying a solid state adjustable-speed a-c drive to a new application or a retrofit to a fixed frequency drive there will be recognized unique advantages, both economically and from this standpoint of performance.

Since its’ introduction in the mid 1960’s the pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter has offered a number of significant advantages over hydraulic systems and other inverter types for low and medium frequency applications. With the advent of the fast turn-off thyristors and advances in PWM modulator techniques, the PWM now offers distinct application advantages to 200 Hz. PWM design concepts are analyzed, with a comparison of different types of inverters are discussed.

Paper published with permission.
Cogeneration: An Example Within the Citrus Industry
Authors: Weimer Dennis D.
Published: January 2018

Since the word “cogeneration” was coined in President Carter’s energy message to Congress in April 1977, most articles covering the topic have dealt with defining its meaning, estimating the quantity of recoverable waste heat energy in various industrial segments, and describing the many drawbacks, i. e., federal energy policy, electric utility rate structures, tax credits, etc. associated with major industrial-utility co-operative power generation concepts. So much emphasis has been placed on the problems of large scale cogeneration projects that many operating industrial plants either lose sight of the potential benefits obtained by generating their own electrical power or shy away from the subject altogether.

Paper published with permission.
Underwater noise from pile driving of conductor casing at a deep-water oil platform
Authors: MacGillivray Alexander
Published: January 2018

Underwater noise from impact pile driving of 512 -m-long conductor casings was measured at a deep-water offshore oil platform in the Santa Barbara Channel. Beamforming measurements, obtained with a vertical array, confirmed that the primary wave front generated by hammering the conductor casing was a Mach cone propagating at an angle of 17.6° below the horizontal. Analysis of the processed array data also revealed the presence of high-frequency secondary waves at angles steeper than 45° below the horizontal. These secondary waves, which appeared to be generated near the sea-surface, dominated the acoustic spectrum of the pulses at frequencies above 1 kHz. Shallow hydrophone measurements outside the Mach cone showed clear evidence of a surface shadow zone, which was caused by the strong downward directivity of the source. Although reflected waves, diffraction, and secondary waves still produced sound inside the surface shadow zone, sound levels were 10–15 dB lower in this region. Long-term hydrophone measurements showed that there was little difference (±1 dB) in mean sound levels from impact hammering of different conductors installed at the same platform over three months.
Semi-analytical discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for the calculation of dispersion properties of guided waves in plates
Authors: Hebaz Salah-Eddine , Benmeddour Farouk , Moulin Emmanuel , Assaad Jamal
Published: January 2018

The development of reliable guided waves inspection systems is conditioned by an accurate knowledge of their dispersive properties. The semi-analytical finite element method has been proven to be very practical for modeling wave propagation in arbitrary cross-section waveguides. However, when it comes to computations on complex geometries to a given accuracy, it still has a major drawback: the high consumption of resources. Recently, discontinuous Galerkin finite element method (DG-FEM) has been found advantageous over the standard finite element method when applied as well in the frequency domain. In this work, a high-order method for the computation of Lamb mode characteristics in plates is proposed. The problem is discretised using a class of DG-FEM, namely, the interior penalty methods family. The analytical validation is performed through the homogeneous isotropic case with traction-free boundary conditions. Afterwards, functionally graded material plates are analysed and a numerical example is presented. It was found that the obtained results are in good agreement with those found in the literature.
Effect of chronic alcohol and tobacco use on retinal nerve fibre layer thickness: a case–control study
Authors: Ahuja Shashi , Kumar Praveen S , Kumar Vivek Praveen , Kattimani Shivanand , Akkilagunta Sujiv
Published: January 2018

Objective

To identify the effects of chronic alcohol and/or tobacco use on retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness and to find the association between severity of addiction with RNFL thinning.

Methodology

A case–control study was performed in 200 eyes of cases and 200 healthy control eyes. Cases were recruited from deaddiction clinic having history of alcohol and/or tobacco use for at least 5 years. Severity of alcohol and tobacco was graded by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Fagerstorm Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scale, respectively. Age-matched and gender-matched individuals attending ophthalmology outpatient department without addiction were recruited as controls. RNFL thickness was measured using Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Results

Statistically significant RNFL thinning was noted in all quadrants except nasal quadrant in the cases. Statistically significant thinning was seen in all quadrants except nasal with increased FTND scale. Thinning was noted in all quadrants with higher AUDIT scale, but this was statistically not significant.

Conclusion

Chronic alcohol and tobacco use are likely to cause RNFL thinning. OCT can be used as a screening tool to suspect visual morbidities in chronic tobacco and alcohol users.
Michael Pittaway
Authors: Noakes David , Pittaway David , Nicholson Graham(‘Nick’) , Cook Jerry
Published: January 2018

A widely respected veterinary surgeon and an innovator within the profession, Michael Pittaway was also a man of great charm and huge energy, who applied his skills across a wide range of interests.
A landscape genetic analysis of swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) suggests forest canopy cover enhances gene flow in an agricultural matrix
Authors: Berkman Leah K. , Nielsen Clayton K. , Roy Charlotte L. , Heist Edward J.
Published: January 2018

Habitat loss and fragmentation pose a continued and immediate threat to wildlife and create a persistent need for ecological information at the landscape scale to guide conservation efforts. Landscape features influence population connectivity for many species and genetic analyses can be employed to determine which of these features are most important. Because population connectivity through dispersal is important to the persistence of swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus (Bachman, 1837)) at the northern edge of their range, we used a landscape genetic approach to relate gene flow to landscape features that may impact dispersal success. We tested resistance values for attributes of land cover, watercourse corridors, canopy cover, and roads and used causal modeling and redundancy analysis to relate these representations of landscapes to genetic distance for swamp rabbits in southern Illinois, USA. Models that included canopy cover had the strongest correlations with genetic distance and were supported by our methods whereas other models were not. We concluded that high tree canopy cover enhances gene flow and landscape connectivity for swamp rabbits in southern Illinois. Our study provides important empirical evidence that landscape variables may impact the habitat connectivity of swamp rabbits. Preserving dispersal routes for swamp rabbits should focus on improving canopy cover, in both bottomland and upland, to connect suitable habitat.
Quantitative trait loci analysis of root traits under phosphorus deficiency at the seedling stage in wheat
Authors: Yang Xilan , Liu Yaxi , Wu Fangkun , Jiang Xiaojun , Lin Yu , Wang Zhiqiang , Zhang Zhengli , Ma Jian , Chen Guangdeng , Wei Yuming , Zheng Youliang
Published: January 2018

Deficiency of available phosphorus (P) in soil limits wheat production and creates a need to develop P-deficiency-tolerant cultivars. Plant roots, important organs for absorbing nutrients and synthesizing growth regulators, are good candidates for P-efficiency screening. In this study, we evaluated five root traits under hydroponic culture conditions either with (AP) or without (NP) applied P in a recombinant inbred line population (H461/CM107) of Triticum aestivum L. at the seedling stage. Four significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected, on chromosomes 1D, 2D, 3D, and 7D in NP-treated plants, explaining up to 13.0%, 11.0%, 14.4%, and 12.8% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. Among these QTL, Qrt.sicau-3D and Qrt.sicau-7D showed pleiotropic and additive effects. All QTL were found to be novel. The diversity array technology markers flanking the QTL were converted to simple sequence repeat markers that can be deployed in future genetic studies of P deficiency. These QTL lead to an increase in root biomass and respond to P-deficiency stress; these characteristics are crucial to improve root traits for breeding or further investigation of the gene(s) involved in P-deficiency tolerance.
Highly selective enzymatic-free electrochemical sensor for dopamine detection based on the self-assemblied film of a sandwich mixed (phthalocyaninato) (porphyrinato) europium derivative
Authors: Cheng Qianqian , Wang Haoyuan , Wu Yanling , Zhao Shuai , Kong Xia , Chen Yanli , Jiang Jianzhuang
Published: January 2018

An efficient enzymatic-free electrochemical sensor is firstly developed based on the self-assemblied film of a sandwich mixed (phthalocyaninato) (porphyrinato) europium(III) double-decker complex, Eu(Pc)[T(OH)PP], [Pc = phthalocyaninate, T(OH)PP = 5,10,15,tris (4-tert-butylphenyl)-20-(4-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrinate] prepared by using a solution-processing QLS method. The Eu(Pc)[T(OH)PP]semiconducting active layer on an ITO working electrode leads to a good sensing property for the detection of dopamine with an excellent selectivity, due to the high Eu(Pc)[T(OH)PP] molecular ordering/packing in the QLS film and more favorable interaction between the Eu(Pc)[T(OH)PP] and DA molecules. The amperometric responses are linearly proportional to the concentration of dopamine in the range of 8–100 [Formula: see text]M, with a low detection limit of 4.8 [Formula: see text]M and good sensitivity, indicating the great potential of electroactive tetrapyrrole rare earth sandwich type complexes in the field of nonenzymatic electrochemical sensors.
Metallo-organic ensembles of tritopic subphthalocyanine ligands
Authors: Revuelta-Maza M. Ángel , Fazio Ettore , de la Torre Gema , Torres Tomás
Published: January 2018

Organic building blocks containing amines and aldehydes can be used for the preparation of complex metallo-organic structures, such as M[Formula: see text]L[Formula: see text] triple helicates or face-capped M[Formula: see text]L[Formula: see text] tetrahedral cages, through the formation of both dynamic covalent and coordinative linkages during the self-assembly process. Herein we describe how the subcomponent self-assembly method can be succesfully applied over a triamine-functionalized subphthalocyanine (SubPc) ligand to build metallo-supramolecular helicates. Two isomeric SubPcs (C[Formula: see text]-SubPc1 and C[Formula: see text]-SubPc1) have been prepared from the corresponding C[Formula: see text]-SubPcI[Formula: see text] and C[Formula: see text]-SubPcI[Formula: see text] precursors under optimized Suzuki conditions. We selected the tritopic C[Formula: see text]-SubPc1 derivative as ligand for the subcomponent self-assembly experiments, which involved the reaction with 2-formylpyridine and different Fe(II) salts. The self-assembly process was mainly studied by mass spectrometry (ESI direct injection techniques), and in all the conditions applied, we could observe the formation of helicate-type Fe[Formula: see text]SubPc[Formula: see text] structures and/or Fe[Formula: see text]SubPc[Formula: see text] species, which can be considered as open precursors of Fe[Formula: see text]SubPc[Formula: see text] tetrahedral cages.
Peripheral phenothiazine induced suppression of charge separation from the singlet excited zinc phthalocyanine to coordinated C60 in supramolecular donor–acceptor conjugates
Authors: Seetharaman Sairaman , Jang Youngwoo , KC Chandra B. , Karr Paul A. , D’Souza Francis
Published: January 2018

Self-assembled donor–acceptor conjugates featuring zinc phthalocyanine carrying four entities of peripheral phenothiazine entities, (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc, axially coordinated to either phenyl imidazole or pyridine functionalized fulleropyrrolidine (C[Formula: see text]Im or C[Formula: see text]Py) has been newly designed, synthesized and characterized. Due to the direct connectivity of the phenothiazine entities to the ZnPc [Formula: see text]-system, efficient charge transfer type interactions suppressing fluorescence of ZnPc in (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc was observed. Axial coordination of C[Formula: see text]Im or C[Formula: see text]Py to the metal center of (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc served as an electron acceptor in the conjugates. Optical absorption studies revealed stable complex formation wherein the evaluated binding constants [Formula: see text] were found to be 3.9 × 10[Formula: see text] M[Formula: see text] for (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:ImC[Formula: see text] and 3.3 × 10[Formula: see text] M[Formula: see text] for (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:PyC[Formula: see text] conjugates with 1:1 molecular stoichiometry. Computational studies performed at the HF/[6-311G(d,p) for H, C, and N, and 6-311G(2df) for S and Zn] level revealed stable structures of the conjugates. The evaluated center-to-center and edge-to-edge distances for the (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:ImC[Formula: see text] were 13.6 and 10.4 Å, while for the (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:PyC[Formula: see text] conjugate these distances were 10.2 and 7.3 Å. That is, the C[Formula: see text] was about 3̃ Å closer to ZnPc in the latter conjugate. From the free-energy calculations, photoinduced electron transfer from the [Formula: see text]ZnPc* to fullerene within the conjugates was established to be an exothermic process, however, a hole transfer from ZnPc[Formula: see text] to peripheral PTZ was found to be energetically an uphill process. From femtosecond transient absorbance studies, occurrence of photoinduced charge separation in (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:ImC[Formula: see text] was found to be weak due to the competing charge transfer interactions within the (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc and longer donor–acceptor distance while in the case of the (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc:PyC[Formula: see text] conjugate, electron transfer occurred competitively to yield radical ion-pairs. From nanosecond transient spectroscopy, lifetime of the (PTZ)[Formula: see text]ZnPc[Formula: see text]:PyC[Formula: see text] charge separated state was found to be in the 200 ns range, revealing charge stabilization to some extent.
Surface landforms and speleological investigation for a better understanding of karst hydrogeological processes: a history of research in southeastern Italy
Authors: Parise M. , Benedetto L.
Published: January 2018

Small-size karst landforms may potentially provide very useful information to fully understand the behaviour of karst systems and their dynamics. In this chapter we demonstrate the need to pay attention to such features. ‘Inghiottitoio della Masseria Rotolo’, located in a remarkable karst area of southern Italy, has in recent years become the most controversial and discussed speleological site in Apulia. Even though it has been known for several decades, recently excavation work has allowed cavers to enter a huge karst system, eventually reaching the water table. The total depth of the cave is now 324 m, making it the deepest in the region. This chapter summarizes the history of discoveries at the site, starting from the description of the polje, also including information about the link between toponymy and karst. The works carried out at the swallet site are then described to emphasize the importance of the often neglected small-size karst features. In fact, when carefully observed and studied, these might be able to shed new light and greatly increase our knowledge about karst. The final part of the chapter deals with the cave system and provides an outline of the ongoing research.
Embeddability in the 3-Sphere Is Decidable
Authors: Matoušek Jiří , Sedgwick Eric , Tancer Martin , Wagner Uli
Published: January 2018

We show that the following algorithmic problem is decidable: given a 2-dimensional simplicial complex, can it be embedded (topologically, or equivalently, piecewise linearly) in R
3
? By a known reduction, it suffices to decide the embeddability of a given triangulated 3-manifold
X
into the 3-sphere
S
3
. The main step, which allows us to simplify
X
and recurse, is in proving that if
X
can be embedded in
S
3
, then there is also an embedding in which
X
has a
short meridian
, that is, an essential curve in the boundary of
X
bounding a disk in
S
3
\
X
with length bounded by a computable function of the number of tetrahedra of
X
.
ProPPA
Authors: Georgoulas Anastasis , Hillston Jane , Sanguinetti Guid
Published: January 2018

Formal languages like process algebras have been shown to be effective tools in modelling a wide range of dynamic systems, providing a high-level description that is readily transformed into an executable model. However, their application is sometimes hampered because the quantitative details of many real-world systems of interest are not fully known. In contrast, in machine learning, there has been work to develop probabilistic programming languages, which provide system descriptions that incorporate uncertainty and leverage advanced statistical techniques to infer unknown parameters from observed data. Unfortunately, current probabilistic programming languages are typically too low-level to be suitable for complex modelling.

In this article, we present a Probabilistic Programming Process Algebra (ProPPA), the first instance of the probabilistic programming paradigm being applied to a high-level, formal language, and its supporting tool suite. We explain the semantics of the language in terms of a quantitative generalisation of Constraint Markov Chains and describe the implementation of the language, discussing in some detail the different inference algorithms available and their domain of applicability. We conclude by illustrating the use of the language on simple but non-trivial case studies: here, ProPPA is shown to combine the elegance and simplicity of high-level formal modelling languages with an effective way of incorporating data, making it a promising tool for modelling studies.
Enabling Contactless Detection of Moving Humans with Dynamic Speeds Using CSI
Authors: Qian Kun , Wu Chenshu , Yang Zheng , Liu Yunhao , He Fugui , Xing Tianzhang
Published: January 2018

Device-free passive detection is an emerging technology to detect whether there exist any moving entities in the areas of interest without attaching any device to them. It is an essential primitive for a broad range of applications including intrusion detection for safety precautions, patient monitoring in hospitals, child and elder care at home, and so forth. Despite the prevalent signal feature Received Signal Strength (RSS), most robust and reliable solutions resort to a finer-grained channel descriptor at the physical layer, e.g., the Channel State Information (CSI) in the 802.11n standard. Among a large body of emerging techniques, however, few of them have explored the full potential of CSI for human detection. Moreover, space diversity supported by nowadays popular multiantenna systems are not investigated to a comparable extent as frequency diversity. In this article, we propose a novel scheme for device-free PAssive Detection of moving humans with dynamic Speed (PADS). Both full information (amplitude and phase) of CSI and space diversity across multiantennas in MIMO systems are exploited to extract and shape sensitive metrics for accuracy and robust target detection. We prototype PADS on commercial WiFi devices, and experiment results in different scenarios demonstrate that PADS achieves great performance improvement in spite of dynamic human movements.
Affine Relativization
Authors: Aydinlioğlu Bariş , Bach Eric
Published: January 2018

We strengthen existing evidence for the so-called “algebrization barrier.” Algebrization—short for algebraic relativization—was introduced by Aaronson and Wigderson (AW) (STOC 2008) to characterize proofs involving arithmetization, simulation, and other “current techniques.” However, unlike relativization, eligible statements under this notion do not seem to have basic closure properties, making it conceivable to take two proofs, both with algebrizing conclusions, and combine them to get a proof without. Further, the notion is undefined for most types of statements and does not seem to yield a general criterion by which we can tell, given a proof, whether it algebrizes. In fact, the very notion of an algebrizing proof is never made explicit, and casual attempts to define it are problematic. All these issues raise the question of what evidence, if any, is obtained by knowing whether some statement does or does not algebrize.

We give a reformulation of algebrization without these shortcomings. First, we define what it means for any statement/proof to hold relative to any language, with no need to refer to devices like a Turing machine with an oracle tape. Our approach dispels the widespread misconception that the notion of oracle access is inherently tied to a computational model. We also connect relativizing statements to proofs, by showing that every proof that some statement relativizes is essentially a relativizing proof of that statement.

We then define a statement/proof as relativizing
affinely
if it holds relative to every
affine oracle
—here an affine oracle is the result of a particular error correcting code applied to the characteristic string of a language. We show that every statement that AW declare as algebrizing does relativize affinely, in fact, has a
proof
that relativizes affinely, and that no such proof exists for any of the statements shown not-algebrizing by AW in the classical computation model.

Our work complements, and goes beyond, the subsequent work by Impagliazzo, Kabanets, and Kolokolova (STOC 2009), which also proposes a reformulation of algebrization, but falls short of recovering some key results of AW, most notably regarding the NEXP versus P/poly question.

Using our definitions, we obtain new streamlined proofs of several classic results in complexity, including PSPACE ⊂ IP and NEXP ⊂ MIP. This may be of separate interest.