bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Constructive Game Logic
Authors: Bohrer Rose , Platzer André
Published: April 2020

Game Logic is an excellent setting to study proofs-about-programs via the interpretation of those proofs as programs, because constructive proofs for games correspond to effective winning strategies to follow in response to the opponent’s actions. We thus develop Constructive Game Logic, which extends Parikh’s Game Logic (GL) with constructivity and with first-order programs à la Pratt’s first-order dynamic logic (DL). Our major contributions include: 1. a novel realizability semantics capturing the adversarial dynamics of games, 2. a natural deduction calculus and operational semantics describing the computational meaning of strategies via proof-terms, and 3. theoretical results including soundness of the proof calculus w.r.t. realizability semantics, progress and preservation of the operational semantics of proofs, and Existential Properties on support of the extraction of computational artifacts from game proofs. Together, these results provide the most general account of a Curry-Howard interpretation for any program logic to date, and the first at all for Game Logic.
Soundness Conditions for Big-Step Semantics
Authors: Dagnino Francesco , Bono Viviana , Zucca Elena , Dezani-Ciancaglini Mariangiola
Published: April 2020

We propose a general proof technique to show that a predicate is sound, that is, prevents stuck computation, with respect to a big-step semantics. This result may look surprising, since in big-step semantics there is no difference between non-terminating and stuck computations, hence soundness cannot even be expressed. The key idea is to define constructions yielding an extended version of a given arbitrary big-step semantics, where the difference is made explicit. The extended semantics are exploited in the meta-theory, notably they are necessary to show that the proof technique works. However, they remain transparent when using the proof technique, since it consists in checking three conditions on the original rules only, as we illustrate by several examples.
On Computability of Data Word Functions Defined by Transducers
Authors: Exibard Léo , Filiot Emmanuel , Reynier Pierre-Alain
Published: April 2020

In this paper, we investigate the problem of synthesizing computable functions of infinite words over an infinite alphabet (data $$\omega $$
ω
-words). The notion of computability is defined through Turing machines with infinite inputs which can produce the corresponding infinite outputs in the limit. We use non-deterministic transducers equipped with registers, an extension of register automata with outputs, to specify functions. Such transducers may not define functions but more generally relations of data $$\omega $$
ω
-words, and we show that it is PSpace-complete to test whether a given transducer defines a function. Then, given a function defined by some register transducer, we show that it is decidable (and again, PSpace-c) whether such function is computable. As for the known finite alphabet case, we show that computability and continuity coincide for functions defined by register transducers, and show how to decide continuity. We also define a subclass for which those problems are PTime.
On Well-Founded and Recursive Coalgebras
Authors: Adámek Jiří , Milius Stefan , Moss Lawrence S.
Published: April 2020

This paper studies fundamental questions concerning category-theoretic models of induction and recursion. We are concerned with the relationship between well-founded and recursive coalgebras for an endofunctor. For monomorphism preserving endofunctors on complete and well-powered categories every coalgebra has a well-founded part, and we provide a new, shorter proof that this is the coreflection in the category of all well-founded coalgebras. We present a new more general proof of Taylor’s General Recursion Theorem that every well-founded coalgebra is recursive, and we study conditions which imply the converse. In addition, we present a new equivalent characterization of well-foundedness: a coalgebra is well-founded iff it admits a coalgebra-to-algebra morphism to the initial algebra.
Formalized Proofs of the Infinity and Normal Form Predicates in the First-Order Theory of Rewriting
Authors: Lochmann Alexander , Middeldorp Aart
Published: April 2020

We present a formalized proof of the regularity of the infinity predicate on ground terms. This predicate plays an important role in the first-order theory of rewriting because it allows to express the termination property. The paper also contains a formalized proof of a direct tree automaton construction of the normal form predicate, due to Comon.
Analysing installation scenarios of Debian packages
Authors: Becker Benedikt , Jeannerod Nicolas , Marché Claude , Régis-Gianas Yann , Sighireanu Mihaela , Treinen Ralf
Published: April 2020

The Debian distribution includes more than 28 thousand maintainer scripts, almost all of them are written in Posix shell. These scripts are executed with root privileges at installation, update, and removal of a package, which make them critical for system maintenance. While Debian policy provides guidance for package maintainers producing the scripts, few tools exist to check the compliance of a script to it. We report on the application of a formal verification approach based on symbolic execution to find violations of some non-trivial properties required by Debian policy in maintainer scripts. We present our methodology and give an overview of our toolchain. We obtained promising results: our toolchain is effective in analysing a large set of Debian maintainer scripts and it pointed out over 150 policy violations that lead to reports (more than half already fixed) on the Debian Bug Tracking system.
EMTST: Engineering the Meta-theory of Session Types
Authors: Castro David , Ferreira Francisco , Yoshida Nobuko
Published: April 2020

Session types provide a principled programming discipline for structured interactions. They represent a wide spectrum of type-systems for concurrency. Their type safety is thus extremely important. EMTST is a tool to aid in representing and validating theorems about session types in the Coq proof assistant. On paper, these proofs are often tricky, and error prone. In proof assistants, they are typically long and difficult to prove. In this work, we propose a library that helps validate the theory of session types calculi in proof assistants. As a case study, we study two of the most used binary session types systems: we show the impossibility of representing the first system in $$\alpha $$-equivalent representations, and we prove type preservation for the revisited system. We develop our tool in the Coq proof assistant, using locally nameless for binders and small scale reflection to simplify the handling of linear typing environments.
Solving Mean-Payoff Games via Quasi Dominions
Authors: Benerecetti Massimo , Dell’Erba Daniele , Mogavero Fabio
Published: April 2020

We propose a novel algorithm for the solution of mean-payoff games that merges together two seemingly unrelated concepts introduced in the context of parity games, small progress measures and quasi dominions. We show that the integration of the two notions can be highly beneficial and significantly speeds up convergence to the problem solution. Experiments show that the resulting algorithm performs orders of magnitude better than the asymptotically-best solution algorithm currently known, without sacrificing on the worst-case complexity.
COASTAL: Combining Concolic and Fuzzing for Java (Competition Contribution)
Authors: Visser Willem , Geldenhuys Jaco
Published: April 2020

COASTAL is a program analysis tool for Java programs. It combines concolic execution and fuzz testing in a framework with built-in concurrency, allowing the two approaches to cooperate naturally.
Structural and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging of congenital lung malformations
Authors: Kellenberger Christian J. , Amaxopoulou Christina , Moehrlen Ueli , Bode Peter K. , Jung Andreas , Geiger Julia
Published: April 2020

Background

A radiation-free advanced imaging modality is desirable for investigating congenital thoracic malformations in young children.

Objective

To describe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of congenital bronchopulmonary foregut malformations and investigate the ability of lung MRI for their classification.

Materials and methods

This is a retrospective analysis of consecutive MRI examinations performed for suspected congenital lung anomalies in 39 children (median age: 3.8 months, range: 2 days–15 years). Morphological and perfusion findings were characterised on respiratory-gated fast spin echo and dynamic contrast-enhanced sequences obtained at 1.5 tesla. Abnormalities were classified independently by two readers and compared to an expert diagnosis based on pathology, surgery and/or other imaging.

Results

Main diagnoses included bronchopulmonary lesions in 33 patients, scimitar syndrome in 4 patients, pulmonary arteriovenous malformation and oesophageal duplication cyst in one patient each. Of 46 observed abnormalities, 44 (96%) were classified correctly with very good interobserver agreement (96% concordance rate). The 39 detected lung lesions included isolated overinflation (17/39, 44%), cystic pulmonary airway malformation (8/39, 21%), bronchopulmonary sequestration (7/39, 18%), bronchogenic cyst (4/39, 10%) and hybrid lesion (3/39, 8%). All lung lesions presented as perfusion defect at peak pulmonary enhancement. Non-cystic lesions showed a delayed peak (median delay: 2.8 s, interquartile range: 0.5 to 4.0 s) in relation to normal lung parenchyma.

Conclusion

A dedicated lung MRI protocol including respiratory compensated sequences, dynamic angiography and perfusion is able to reliably delineate parenchymal and vascular components of congenital bronchopulmonary foregut malformations. Therefore, MRI may be considered for comprehensive postnatal evaluation of congenital thoracic malformations.
Endogenous queue number determination in G/M/s systems
Authors: Alves Vasco F.
Published: April 2020

This paper presents a model for the endogenous determination of the number of queues in a G/M/s system. Customers arriving at a system where s customers are being served play a game, choosing between s parallel queues or one single queue. Equilibria are obtained for risk-neutral and risk-averse customers. With risk-neutral customers, both a single queue and multiple queues are equilibrium states. When risk-averse customers are considered, there is a unique single queue equilibrium. These results are discussed and suggestions for further research put forth.
Total cross sections in five methods for two-electron capture by alpha particles from helium: CDW-4B, BDW-4B, BCIS-4B, CDW-EIS-4B and CB1-4B
Authors: Belkić Dževad
Published: April 2020

This work is on quantum-mechanical four-body distorted wave theories for double electron capture in collisions between fast heavy multiply charged ions and heliumlike atomic systems. The five widely used distorted wave methods of the first- and second-order in the perturbation series expansions are compared with the available experimental data on $$\alpha $$α–He collisions. These are the four-body boundary-corrected first Born (CB1-4B), the boundary-corrected continuum intermediate state (BCIS-4B), the Born distorted wave (BDW-4B), the continuum distorted wave (CDW-4B) and the continuum distorted wave-eikonal initial state (CDW-EIS-4B) methods.
We address the complete breakdown of the CDW-EIS-4B method at all impact energies within its expected validity domain (100–10000 keV). Further, the relative performance is evaluated of the second-order theories with and without the eikonalization of the two-electron Coulomb wavefunctions for double continuum intermediate states. Finally, at all the considered intermediate and high energies, the practical aspects of the studied five methods are investigated by protracted evaluations of the convergence rates of total cross sections as a function of the number of quadrature points per axis in numerical computations of multi-dimensional (3D-5D) integrals.
Challenges and lessons learned from using anchoring vignettes to explore quality of life response behavior
Authors: Topp Janine , Heesen Christoph , Augustin Matthias , Andrees Valerie , Blome Christine
Published: April 2020

Purpose

Asking patients to rate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of hypothetical individuals described in anchoring vignettes has been proposed to enhance knowledge on how patients understand and respond to HRQoL questionnaires. In this article, we describe the development of anchoring vignettes and explore their utility for measuring response shift in patients’ self-reports of HRQoL.

Methods

We conducted an explorative mixed-methods study. One hundred patients with multiple sclerosis or psoriasis participated in two interviews at intervals of 3–6 months. During both interviews, patients assessed HRQoL of 16 hypothetical individuals on the SF-12 questionnaire (two vignettes for each of the eight domains of the SF-12). In addition to these quantitative ratings, we used the think-aloud method to explore changes in patients’ verbalization of their decision processes during vignette ratings.

Results

Agreement of vignette ratings at baseline and follow-up was low (ICCs < 0.55). In addition, paired sample t-tests revealed no significant directional mean changes in vignette ratings. Thus, ratings changed non-directionally, neither confirming retest reliability nor a systematic change of assessment. Furthermore, patients’ verbalization of their decision processes did not indicate whether or not the assessment strategy of individual patients had changed.

Conclusions

Patients’ ratings of anchoring vignettes fluctuate non-directionally over time. The think-aloud method appears not to be informative in exploring whether these fluctuations are due to changes in the individual decision process. Overall, vignettes might not be an appropriate approach to explore response shift, at least with regard to the specific target population and the use of the SF-12.
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Multilevel Structural Equation Models with Random Slopes for Latent Covariates
Authors: Rockwood Nicholas J.
Published: April 2020

A maximum likelihood estimation routine for two-level structural equation models with random slopes for latent covariates is presented. Because the likelihood function does not typically have a closed-form solution, numerical integration over the random effects is required. The routine relies upon a method proposed by du Toit and Cudeck (Psychometrika 74(1):65–82, 2009) for reformulating the likelihood function so that an often large subset of the random effects can be integrated analytically, reducing the computational burden of high-dimensional numerical integration. The method is demonstrated and assessed using a small-scale simulation study and an empirical example.
Berufliche Zugänge zum Homeoffice
Authors: Mergener Alexandra
Published: April 2020

Die Möglichkeiten der digitalen Vernetzung und standortunabhängigen Kommunikation in der Arbeitswelt lassen eine zunehmende Bedeutung von Homeoffice erwarten. Dabei sind die Chancen auf einen Homeofficezugang unter Beschäftigten ungleich verteilt. Bei der Erklärung dieser Chancenungleichheit kommt der Ebene des ausgeübten Berufs eine eigenständige Bedeutung zu. Die Analysen auf Basis der repräsentativen Erwerbstätigenbefragung des Bundesinstituts für Berufsbildung (BIBB) und der Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA) aus dem Jahr 2018 zeigen, dass es innerhalb der Berufe überwiegend Tätigkeiten sind, die den Zugang zum Homeoffice prägen. Die Chance auf einen Homeofficezugang steigt mit dem Ausmaß an kognitiven Tätigkeiten bei der Arbeit, während manuelle Tätigkeiten zu einer Verringerung dieser Chance führen. Die Ergebnisse verweisen darüber hinaus auf die Bedeutsamkeit spezifischer Einzeltätigkeiten, die einen Zugang zum Homeoffice ermöglichen (z. B. E‑Mails bearbeiten, Forschen oder auch Beraten, Recherchieren) oder eher verhindern (z. B. Bewirten, Reinigen oder Pflegen). Dabei hängt der Einfluss beruflicher Tätigkeiten auf den Homeofficezugang von der Betriebsgröße ab. Mit diesen Erkenntnissen schließt der explorativ ausgerichtete Beitrag eine Forschungslücke und ergänzt das Wissen über Berufseffekte im Kontext ungleicher Chancenverhältnisse auf dem Arbeitsmarkt.
Adherence to and persistence with zoledronic acid treatment for osteoporosis—reasons for early discontinuation
Authors: Spångeus Anna , Johansson Simon , Woisetschläger Mischa
Published: April 2020

Summary

This retrospective study reports 81% long-term (> 3 years) adherence to and 77% persistence with zoledronic acid (ZA) treatment in osteoporosis patients, with ZA being costfree for patients. Eight percent of patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events (AEs), with a tendency of higher discontinuation rate in older patients.

Purpose

This study investigated (1) long-term adherence to and persistence with ZA treatment in a real-world setting, (2) extent to which an adverse reaction to ZA impacted on adherence and persistence, and (3) whether there were sex or age differences in patients that had early treatment termination (ETT) due to AEs and those who adhered to the regimen.

Methods

All patients treated with ZA at the Endocrinology Department at Linköping University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden between 2012 and 2017 were included. ETT was defined as < 3 ZA infusions, which was confirmed from patients’ medical records.

Results

A total of 414 patients were treated with ZA, with 81% receiving > 3 ZA infusions. Three-year persistence was 77% for a treatment window of 365 days ± 90 days (75% with 365 days ± 60 days window). The most common reason for ETT was AEs (8%), followed by medical conditions (5%), biological aging (3%), and other (e.g., lost to follow-up [3%]). Most patients who discontinued treatment because of AEs reported symptoms of acute-phase reaction, and tended to be older than those who adhered to treatment (74 ± 9 vs 70 ± 13 years, p = 0.064). There was no difference in sex ratio between the 2 groups (85% vs 90% females, p = 0.367).

Conclusion

Rates of long-term adherence to and persistence with ZA treatment were high with a pre-scheduled 3-year treatment regimen in the tax-financed Swedish healthcare system. AEs—mainly acute-phase reaction—were the most common reason for ETT, occurring in nearly 1 out of 10 patients.
The spatial ecology of invasive feral cats Felis catus on San Cristóbal, Galápagos: first insights from GPS collars
Authors: MacLeod A. , Cooke S. C. , Trillmich F.
Published: April 2020

The dangers posed by invasive species for endemic island wildlife are well recognised. Introduced domestic cats (Felis catus) represent a significant threat to several endemic species of the Galápagos archipelago—including hatchling marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) and potentially green turtles (Chelonia mydas)—yet little is known about their spatial ecology and habitat use on these islands. Here, we describe a pilot study using GPS collars to track the movements of three feral cats at a site of conservation interest on San Cristóbal Island. Based on 175 days of GPS data, we undertook spatial analyses to ascertain home ranges, and to investigate the overlap of ranges between the cats and potential prey species. Average home range was 1.27 km2 (1.12–1.46 km2), which—though small for feral cats—is in keeping with previous findings in Galápagos. We found the cats did use the habitat of a small marine iguana population but did not change their spatial habits before and after iguana hatchlings appeared. Changes over time in the daily movements of one cat indicated a possible response of the individual to the presence of hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas); though the data here are insufficient to show whether the cat was hunting these hatchlings. We recommend similar work be undertaken in areas with larger marine iguana populations, where hatchlings could represent a potentially important food source for invasive feral cats, as well as further work to determine the threat posed by cats to turtle hatchlings in Galápagos.
Can ‘Civil Enterprises’ survive in the market? Some game theoretical considerations on the one-shot game
Authors: Müller Christian , Martino María Guadalupe
Published: April 2020

Civil enterprises (CEs) are firms whose main goal is to produce benefits for the community, working according to a logic of reciprocity. In this paper we discuss, from a game theoretical perspective, as to what extent it is possible for such enterprises to survive in competition with profit-maximizing firms in the marketplace, since market competition might take the form of a prisoner’s dilemma game, where the public good at stake is the commitment to moral rules. In those games cooperative strategies are strictly dominated by the defective behavior of the players, i.e. CEs would not survive while retaining their values. We argue that market competition is more appropriately modelled as an n-firm model and show that, given a sufficient number of CEs in the market, they can survive despite having to interact with for-profit firms, even when the game is played only once.
Die Themen der »Populisten«
Authors: Poier Klaus , Saywald-Wedl Sandra , Unger Hedwig
Published: April 2020

Der Beitrag widmet sich den bislang in der Forschung wenig beachteten Themen populistischer Parteien. Auf der Grundlage eines theoretischen Beitrags zur Definition von Populismus präsentiert der Artikel die Ergebnisse einer Medienanalyse nationaler Wahlkämpfe (2011 bis 2013) in fünf ausgewählten Ländern hinsichtlich der Themen, mit denen die acht untersuchten populistischen Parteien jeweils in Zusammenhang gebracht werden. Diese stützen insbesondere die These einer »dünnen Ideologie« populistischer Parteien.
The carbon dioxide removal potential of Liquid Air Energy Storage: A high-level technical and economic appraisal
Authors: Lockley Andrew , von Hippel Ted
Published: April 2020

Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) is at pilot scale. Air cooling and liquefaction stores energy; reheating revaporises the air at pressure, powering a turbine or engine (Ameel et al., 2013). Liquefaction requires water & CO2 removal, preventing ice fouling. This paper proposes subsequent geological storage of this CO2 - offering a novel Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) by-product, for the energy storage industry. It additionally assesses the scale constraint and economic opportunity offered by implementing this CDR approach. Similarly, established Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) uses air compression and subsequent expansion. CAES could also add CO2scrubbing and subsequent storage, at extra cost. CAES stores fewer joules per kilogram of air than LAES - potentially scrubbing more CO2 per joule stored. Operational LAES/CAES technologies cannot offer full-scale CDR this century (Stocker et al., 2014), yet they could offer around 4% of projected CO2 disposals for LAES and < 25% for current-technology CAES. LAES CDR could reach trillion-dollar scale this century (20 billion USD/year, to first order). A larger, less certain commercial CDR opportunity exists for modified conventional CAES, due to additional equipment requirements. CDR may be commercially critical for LAES/CAES usage growth, and the necessary infrastructure may influence plant scaling and placement. A suggested design for low-pressure CAES theoretically offers global-scale CDR potential within a century (ignoring siting constraints) - but this must be costed against competing CDR and energy storage technologies.
Aquinas's Ethics
Authors: Osborne Jr Thomas M.
Published: April 2020

This Element provides an account of Thomas Aquinas's moral philosophy that emphasizes the intrinsic connection between happiness and the human good, human virtue, and the precepts of practical reason. Human beings by nature have an end to which they are directed and concerning which they do not deliberate, namely happiness. Humans achieve this end by performing good human acts, which are produced by the intellect and the will, and perfected by the relevant virtues. These virtuous acts require that the agent grasps the relevant moral principles and uses them in particular cases.
Analysis of forward approach for upper bounding end-to-end transmission delays over distributed real-time avionics networks
Authors: Xu Q. , Yang X.
Published: April 2020

Distributed real-time avionics networks have been subjected to a great evolution in terms of functionality and complexity. A direct consequence of this evolution is a continual growth of data exchange. AFDX standardised as ARINC 664 is chosen as the backbone network for those distributed real-time avionics networks as it offers high throughput and does not require global clock synchronisation. For certification reasons and engineering research, a deterministic upper bound of the end-to-end transmission delay for packets of each flow should be guaranteed. The Forward Approach (FA) is proposed for the computation of the worst-case end-to-end transmission delay. This approach iteratively estimates the maximum backlog (amount of the pending packets) in each visited switch along the transmission path, and the worst-case end-to-end transmission delay can be computed. Although it is pessimistic (overestimated), the Forward Approach can provide a tighter upper bound of the end-to-end transmission delay while considering the serialisation effect. Recently, our research finds the computation of the serialisation effect might induce an optimistic (underestimated) upper bound. In this paper, we analyse the pessimism in the Forward Approach and the optimism induced by the computation of the serialisation effect, and then we provide a new computation of the serialisation effect. We compare this new computation with the original one, the experiments show that the new computation reduces the optimism and the upper bound of the end-to-end transmission delay can be computed more accurately.
Genetic diversity and differentiation in populations of invasive Eurasian (Myriophyllum spicatum) and hybrid (Myriophyllum spicatum×Myriophyllum sibiricum) watermilfoil
Authors: Thum Ryan A. , Chorak Gregory M. , Newman Raymond M. , Eltawely Jasmine A. , Latimore Jo , Elgin Erick , Parks Syndell
Published: April 2020

Population genetic studies of within- and among-population genetic variability are still lacking for managed submerged aquatic plant species, and such studies could provide important information for managers. For example, the extent of within-population genetic variation may influence the potential for managed populations to locally adapt to environmental conditions and control tactics. Similarly, among-population variation may influence whether specific control tactics work equally effectively in different locations. In the case of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatumL.), including interspecific hybrids with native northern watermilfoil (Myriophyllum sibiricumKom.), managers recognize that there is genetic variation for growth and herbicide response. However, it is unclear how much overall genetic variation there is, and how it is structured within and among populations. Here, we studied patterns of within- and among-lake genetic variation in 41 lakes in Michigan and 62 lakes in Minnesota using microsatellite markers. We found that within-lake genetic diversity was generally low, and among-lake genetic diversity was relatively high. However, some lakes were genetically diverse, and some genotypes were shared across multiple lakes. For genetically diverse lakes, managers should explicitly recognize the potential for genotypes to differ in control response and should account for this in monitoring and efficacy evaluation and using pretreatment herbicide screens to predict efficacy. Similarly, managers should consider differences in genetic composition among lakes as a source of variation in the growth and herbicide response of lakes with similar control tactics. Finally, laboratory or field information on control efficacy from one lake may be applied to other lakes where genotypes are shared among lakes.
STEADY-STATE OPTIMIZATION OF AN EXHAUSTIVE LÉVY STORAGE PROCESS WITH INTERMITTENT OUTPUT AND RANDOM OUTPUT RATE
Authors: Jacobovic Royi , Kella Offer
Published: April 2020

Consider a regenerative storage process with a nondecreasing Lévy input (subordinator) such that every cycle may be split into two periods. In the first (off), the output is shut off and the workload accumulates. This continues until some stopping time. In the second (on), the process evolves like a subordinator minus a positive drift (output rate) until it hits the origin. In addition, we assume that the output rate of every on period is a random variable, which is determined at the beginning of this period. For example, at each period, the output rate may depend on the workload level at the beginning of the corresponding busy period. We derive the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the steady-state distribution of the workload process and then apply this result to solve a steady-state cost minimization problem with holding, setup and output capacity costs. It is shown that the optimal output rate is a nondecreasing deterministic function of the workload level at the beginning of the corresponding on period.
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a moderator of early maltreatment effects on later externalizing problems
Authors: Tabachnick Alexandra R. , Moore Christina , Raby K. Lee , Goldstein Alison , Zajac Lindsay , Dozier Mary
Published: April 2020

Physiological regulation may interact with early experiences such as maltreatment to increase risk for behavior problems. In the current study, we investigate the role of parasympathetic nervous system regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] at rest and in response to a frustration task) as a moderator of the association between early risk for maltreatment (i.e., involvement with Child Protective Services; CPS) and externalizing behavior problems in middle childhood. CPS involvement was associated with elevated externalizing problems, but only among children with average to high RSA at rest and average to high RSA withdrawal in response to frustration. Effects appeared to be specific to CPS involvement as the association between cumulative risk (i.e., nonmaltreatment experiences of early adversity) and externalizing problems was not significantly moderated by RSA activity. These findings are consistent with the theoretical idea that the consequences of early maltreatment for later externalizing behavior problems depend on children's biological regulation abilities.
On small-time similarity-solution behaviour in the solidification shrinkage of binary alloys
Authors: ASSUNÇÃO M. , VYNNYCKY M. , MITCHELL S.L.
Published: April 2020

In the one-dimensional solidification of a binary alloy undergoing shrinkage, there is a relative motion between solid and liquid phases in the mushy zone, leading to the possibility of macrosegregation; thus, the problem constitutes an invaluable benchmark for the testing of numerical codes that model these phenomena. Here, we revisit an earlier obtained solution for this problem, that was posed on a semi-infinite spatial domain and valid for the case of low superheat, with a view to extending it to the more general situation of a finite spatial domain, arbitrarily large superheat and both eutectic and non-eutectic solidification. We find that a similarity solution is available for short times which contains a boundary layer on the liquid side of the mush–liquid interface; this solution is believed to constitute the correct initial condition for the subsequent numerical solution of the full non-similar problem, which is deferred to future work.
Thinking spatially: new horizons for urban history
Authors: Rodger Richard , Rau Susanne
Published: April 2020

A new opportunity, and a new challenge, presents itself to urban historians. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of historical urban space and spatial relationships, the contributors to this Special Issue deploy new techniques of spatial analysis using mapping tools to explore the density, frequency and proximity of various features of towns and cities. The contributors focus on case-studies at various urban scales – from major commercial centres (New York, Rome, Paris and London) – to smaller towns in the urban hierarchy. They also range across the tenth to the twentieth centuries and so challenge a common assumption that mapping the town is essentially an approach best suited to the modern period. Individually and collectively, the authors demonstrate how the urban morphology of the city developed and how durable that spatial patterning can be.
Sentiment analysis in Turkish: Supervised, semi-supervised, and unsupervised techniques
Authors: Aydın Cem Rıfkı , Güngör Tunga
Published: April 2020

Although many studies on sentiment analysis have been carried out for widely spoken languages, this topic is still immature for Turkish. Most of the works in this language focus on supervised models, which necessitate comprehensive annotated corpora. There are a few unsupervised methods, and they utilize sentiment lexicons either built by translating from English lexicons or created based on corpora. This results in improper word polarities as the language and domain characteristics are ignored. In this paper, we develop unsupervised (domain-independent) and semi-supervised (domain-specific) methods for Turkish, which are based on a set of antonym word pairs as seeds. We make a comprehensive analysis of supervised methods under several feature weighting schemes. We then form ensemble of supervised classifiers and also combine the unsupervised and supervised methods. Since Turkish is an agglutinative language, we perform morphological analysis and use different word forms. The methods developed were tested on two datasets having different styles in Turkish and also on datasets in English to show the portability of the approaches across languages. We observed that the combination of the unsupervised and supervised approaches outperforms the other methods, and we obtained a significant improvement over the state-of-the-art results for both Turkish and English.
Impact of changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on children’s dietary intake in family child care homes
Authors: Kenney Erica L , Poole Mary Kathryn , Cory Hannah , Cradock Angie L
Published: April 2020

Objective:

To estimate the impact of recent changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) meal pattern on young children’s diets in family child care homes (FCCHs) serving racially/ethnically diverse children.

Design:

In a natural experimental study of thirteen CACFP-participating FCCHs, we used digital photographs taken of children’s plates before and after meals matched with menus to measure children’s dietary intake both prior to implementation of the new meal patterns (summer/fall of 2017) and again 1 year later (summer/fall of 2018). Generalised estimating equations tested for change in intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, 100 % juice, grain-based desserts, meat/meat alternates and milk, adjusting for clustering of observations within providers.

Setting:

FCCHs in Boston, MA, USA.

Participants:

Three- to 5-year-old children attending FCCHs.

Results:

We observed 107 meals consumed by twenty-eight children at the thirteen FCCHs across an average of 2·5 (sd 1·3) d before the CACFP policy change, and 239 meals consumed by thirty-nine children across 3·8 d (sd 1·4) 1 year later. During lunch, fruit intake increased by about a third of a serving (+0·38 serving, 95 % CI 0·04, 0·73, P = 0·03), and whole grain intake increased by a half serving (+0·50 serving, 95 % CI 0·19, 0·82, P = 0·002). No changes were seen in other meal components.

Conclusion:

Young children’s dietary intake in CACFP-participating FCCHs improved following the CACFP meal pattern change, particularly for fruits and whole grains, which were targets of the new policy. Additional research should examine impacts of the changes in other child care settings, age groups and locales.
Prevalence of malnutrition among children and women of reproductive age in Uruguay by socio-economic status and educational level
Authors: Medina Mercedes , Barreto Patricia , Natero Virginia , Moratorio Ximena , Severi Cecilia
Published: April 2020

Objective:

To describe the magnitude and distribution of malnutrition in all forms (stunting, wasting, overweight and obesity) by level of education and socio-economic status (SES).

Design:

Representative data from three national surveys were used: the socio-economic characteristics of Uruguayan households the 2012–2013; the Survey of Child Health, Nutrition and Development and the Survey of Chronic Disease Risks. We defined overweight, obesity, wasting/underweight and stunting/short stature according to WHO criteria. We conducted a comparison between malnutrition prevalence values per SES and education level.

Setting:

In total, 1 183 177 households were surveyed, including 2265 children’s and 752 women’s households, forming a nationally representative sample in urban areas with more than 5000 habitants.

Participants:

A total of 3079 children aged <4 years from the National Survey of Child Health, Nutrition and Development 2013 and 752 women aged 20–49 years from the National Survey of Chronic Disease Risks 2013 were included.

Results:

Among children aged <4 years, stunting and overweight disproportionately affected low-wealth groups, with 5·45 % of children in the lower income tertile and 3·44 % in the upper tertile presenting stunting (P < 0·05). Overweight and obesity were higher in the third tertile of income. Among the women, 54·8 % (95 % CI 48·0, 61·6) had excess weight (overweight and obesity) and significant differences were found between those with the lowest and highest levels of SES. Regarding excess weight with respect to educational level, significant differences were also found between the low and high levels and between the medium and high levels.

Conclusions:

In Uruguay, there are slight differences in the prevalence of all forms of malnutrition according to SES and education levels in the populations considered. Excess weight in children and women poses the greatest public health nutritional challenge at all levels of SES and education. The fact that more educated mothers are more overweight differs from the findings in other countries and should be studied in more detail. Stunting in children is also important, requiring more focused interventions. Notably, excess weight is higher in more educated mothers, a fact that differs from other countries. Further analysis is important to understand this discrepancy.
Universal Credit and Third Party Deductions: The Rules and Their Impact on Claimants
Authors: Graven Arianne
Published: April 2020

This article seeks to analyse Universal Credit (UC) and its impact on claimants by focusing on one specific aspect of UC in detail. Allowable third party deductions will be considered and compared to the position under the legacy benefit rules. Using this comparative approach, data from a case study of real UC claimants from a local Citizens Advice office, information from wider research and incorporating scenarios to highlight what this could mean for claimants in practice, this article concludes that many claimants are worse off on UC than they would have been under the legacy benefits it replaces due to the third party deductions regime. This, in many cases, places claimants in hardship and makes it impossible for them to meet their priority payments.
Stress Sensitivity of Instantaneous Dynamic Triggering of Shallow Slow Slip Events
Authors: Katakami Satoshi , Kaneko Yoshihiro , Ito Yoshihiro , Araki Eiichiro
Published: April 2020

Dynamic triggering of large, detectable slow slip events (SSEs) is rarely observed, even though regional earthquakes often trigger tectonic tremors and very low frequency earthquakes. In this study, we investigate stress sensitivity of dynamic triggering of shallow SSEs in the Nankai Trough offshore of Kii Peninsula, Japan. We first identify additional shallow SSEs that have not been reported in previous studies and obtain a 15‐year‐long catalog of SSEs, some of which are triggered by passing seismic waves originating from large regional earthquakes. We then quantify dynamic and static stress perturbations on the plate interface induced by 19 candidate regional earthquakes using numerical simulations of seismic wave propagation. We find that SSE propensity to dynamic triggering depends mainly on the maximum Coulomb stress change and that relatively large dynamic stresses (>10–20 kPa) are needed to trigger a shallow SSE in the Nankai Trough. Regional earthquakes that can induce such large amplitude of dynamic stresses on the plate interface are relatively rare, which might explain the scarcity of dynamic triggering of large, detectable SSEs along the Nankai as well as other subduction zones. In addition, our analysis suggests that intraslab earthquakes can efficiently trigger SSEs in subduction zones via less‐attenuated, slab‐guided waves. Moreover, our results support the idea that an accretionary wedge in subduction zones promotes the dynamic triggering of shallow SSEs.
On the Predictability and Dynamics of Tropical Cyclone: Nargis (2008)
Authors: K U Jayakrishnan , Kutty Govindan , George Babitha
Published: April 2020

The predictability of tropical cyclone (TC) Nargis formed over the Bay of Bengal is explored using ensemble forecasts initialized from Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) DA system in Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The unusual eastward recurvature followed by the weakening and rapid intensification of Nargis is investigated in this study. The ensemble members display an early recurvature when compared to Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) best track estimate and indicate a large uncertainty in the prediction of landfall location, which is far north of the actual landfall location. Additionally, the ensemble forecasts depict a rapid movement of TC as compared to the best track estimate. Further investigation on the dynamics of faster movement of TC reveals that the ensemble members with faster (slower) moving TC is associated with stronger (weaker) steering wind. It appears that the early recurvature of Nargis is also associated with strong steering flow in the ensemble forecasts. A few ensemble members could capture the short period weakening of Nargis after initial intensification. The analysis of ensemble forecasts indicates that the weakening of Nargis is associated with the development of a weak vortex to the northeast of the storm center. While the coarser resolution ensemble forecast simulates the rapid intensification (RI) phase in 1 out of the 80 ensemble members, the ensemble simulations performed on convection‐permitting resolution have enhanced the probability of simulating RI phase of Nargis.
Drought Cycles Over the Last 8,200 Years Recorded in Maar Lake Twintaung, Myanmar
Authors: Chu Guoqiang , Zhu Qingzeng , Sun Qing , Su Youliang , Xie Manman , Zaw Than , Sein Kyaing
Published: April 2020

The tropical Asian regions are particularly prone to catastrophic droughts due to high temperature and evaporation and their sensitivity to variable oceanic‐atmospheric circulation. The extent to which future global warming may intensify droughts in this populous region is a matter of utmost concern. Palaeoclimatic data can help inform scientists learn more about the temporal patterns and drivers of monsoon change over geological timescales. In this paper, we present a new 8,200 year biomarker record preserved in the annually laminated sediments of Maar Lake Twintaung, Myanmar. The δ13C27‐35sedimentary record is mainly derived from leaf wax lipids in the lake catchment, which is presently dominated by C3vegetation in the modern lake catchment. The δ13C27‐35is mainly regulated by plant physiological and biochemical responses to drought stress and, as such, can be used as a proxy of past changes in moisture. The δ13C27–35record reveals distinct decadal‐to‐centennial‐scale droughts superimposed on a trend of gradually decreasing summer monsoon intensity from the mid‐Holocene to late Holocene. Within the limits of the dating uncertainties, these decadal‐to‐centennial‐scale droughts are found to be well correlated with the southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. It highlights the importance of the Intertropical Convergence Zone shift (tropical monsoon trough) in regulating monsoon rainfall in the region. In addition, most of the droughts are likely to be linked with active volcanism and solar minima and suggest a coupled process between external drivers and internal climate dynamics.
Cation Exchange in Groundwater‐Chemical Evolution and Prediction of Paleo‐Groundwater Flow: A Natural‐System Study
Authors: Capuano Regina M. , Jones Cole R.
Published: April 2020

The first aquifer‐wide calculations of the clay‐cation compositions in equilibrium with the present‐day groundwater in a clay‐rich coastal aquifer are provided, and downgradient changes in Ca on the clay‐exchange site identified three sequential‐downgradient zones, Updip (95–80% Ca), Transition (80–60% Ca), and Downdip (60–40% Ca). These zones form a cation‐exchange front which exteI nds from a meteoric‐water plume, with clays near equilibrium with the fresh‐recharge water (Updip Zone), to clays that are increasingly equilibrated with seawater downgradient (Transition and Downdip zones). The sediments progress from predominantly fluvial clays in the Updip Zone to shallow‐marine clays downdip. Updip‐Zone clays are Na poor, with cation exchange downdip progressively dominated by more Ca in the water exchanging for Mg on the clays. In the Transitional and Downdip zones which have Na on the clays from the original seawater equilibrium, Ca, and further downdip Mg, in the water exchange for Na on the clays. Perturbations in these trends were compared to elements in the groundwater not involved in ion exchange to identify areas of upwelling and halite dissolution. Mass‐balance calculations show that the effect of cation exchange on each pore volume of fluid that flows in the aquifer is large, whereas the effect on the clay composition is small, so the changes in the clay exchange composition can be used to identify the aquifer's past chemical evolution and historical‐flow paths. This understanding coupled with tracers of modern flow (such as Cl) can be used to recognize areas of modern perturbations, such as contamination or salt dissolution.