bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TRADISI INTELEKTUAL ULAMA MANDAILING ABAD KE-20: Dedikasi dan Karya-karya Yusuf Ahmad Lubis (1912-1980)
Authors: Ja'far Ja'far
Published: August 2020

Abstrak: Artikel ini mengkaji dedikasi dan karya-karya Yusuf Ahmad Lubis. Tokoh ini layak diungkap mengingat kiprah dan posisinya dalam organisasi Al Washliyah yang kemudian menjadi Ketua Majelis Ulama Sumatera Utara, tetapi masih terabaikan secara akademis. Artikel ini merupakan hasil studi kepustakaan dengan pendekatan historis. Temuan yang diusung artikel ini adalah bahwa Yusuf Ahmad Lubis, meskipun tidak pernah belajar agama di Haramain, tetapi memiliki jaringan intelektual dengan ulama-ulama Makkah melalui dua gurunya yang paling masyhur: Syekh Hasan Maksum dan Syekh Muhammad Yunus. Kompetensinya dalam bidang ilmu-ilmu keislaman didedikasikannya bagi umat dan bangsa melalui Al Jam’iyatul Washliyah. Ia juga mewariskan puluhan karya dalam ragam bidang keislaman. Menarik bahwa ia memiliki kemampuan dalam bidang perbandingan agama, dan kemampuan inilah yang membuatnya sukses dalam melaksanakan misi islamisasi pada basis-basis Kristen di Sumatera Utara. Sikap penentangannya terhadap tarekat Jalaluddin dan aliran Ahmadiyah menunjukkan bahwa ia ingin melindungi akidah umat Islam. Studi ini berhasil mengungkapkan profil seorang ulama universalis dan kritis terhadap perbedaan ideologi.
 
Kata Kunci: Mandailing, Al Washliyah, Yusuf Ahmad Lubis
 
Abstract: The 20th Century Mandailing Ulama Tradition: Dedication and Works of Yusuf Ahmad Lubis (1912-1980). This article examines the dedication and works of Yusuf Ahmad Lubis. This figure is worth studying given his significant contribution and position in the Al Washliyah organization and who later become the Acting Chair of the North Sumatra Ulema Council, but it is still academically neglected. This article is the result of a literature study with a historical approach. The findings of this article are that Yusuf Ahmad Lubis, although he had never studied religion in Haramain, but had an intellectual network with Makkah scholars through his two most famous teachers: Sheikh Hasan Maksum and Sheikh Muhammad Yunus. His mastery in the Islamic religious sciences is dedicated to the people and nation through Al Jam’iyatulWashliyah. He also left dozens of works behind him in various fields of Islam. It is interesting that he has the ability in the field of comparative religion, and this ability has made him successful in carrying out the mission of Islamization on Christian bases in North Sumatra. His opposition to the Jalaluddin order and the Ahmadiyya sect increasingly shows that he wants to protect the faith of Muslims. This study successfully revealed the profile of a universalist ulama in terms of science and also still critical of ideological differences.
 
Keywords: Mandailing, Al Washliyah, Yusuf Ahmad Lubis
The Effect of Staggered porous fins on the performance of Photovoltaic panel in Baghdad
Authors: Hasan Duaa Jassim , Farhan Ammar A.
Published: August 2020

The performance of photovoltaic (PV) panel having staggered metal foam fins was examined experimentally in Baghdad, Iraq. Three staggered metal foam fin configurations attached to the backside of the PV panel were studied. The measured parameters were front and back surfaces temperature, open voltage and current circuits, maximum power, and PV efficiency. It was noted that the maximum electrical efficiency enhancement was 4.7% for staggered metal foam fins (case III) than the reference PV panel. The operating temperature of the cell was increased when the value of solar intensity was high. Thereby, the electrical efficiency was decreased. It was found that the metal foam fins decreased the PV temperature by 2-3 oC.
Experimental Evaluation of Evaporative Cooling for Enhancing Photovoltaic Panels Efficiency Using Underground Water
Authors: Kadhim Arwa M. , Aljubury Issam Mohamed Ali
Published: August 2020

This paper presents an experimental study of cooling photovoltaic (PV) panels using evaporative cooling. Underground (geothermal energy) water used to extract heat from it during cooling and cleaning of PV panels. An experimental test rig was constructed and tested under hot and dusty climate conditions in Baghdad. An active cooling system was used with auxiliary an underground water tank to provide cold water as a coolant over both PV surfaces to reduce its temperature. The cellulose pad has been arranged on the back surface and sprays cooling on the front side. Two identical PV panels modules used: without cooling and evaporative water cooling. The experiments are comprised of four cases: Case (I): backside cooling, Case (II): front and back cooling (pump supply water every 35 minutes), Case (III): cooling both sides using Arduino controller. Water cooling pump operation depending on the panel temperatures (temperature sensors were installed on the front of the panel), Case (IV): Repeating case III with different water flow rates. Experimental results showed that the average reduction in module temperatures was 4, 8,12.2 and 12.6 ⁰C respectively by Case (I), (II), (III) and (IV) with respect to a non-cooling module. Using evaporative water cooling achieved a total improvement of 1.74%, 2.8%, 15.8%, and 16% in the conversion efficiency of the panel by the Case (I), (II), (III) and (IV) respectively when compared to a non-cooling module.
New Approaches of Cloud Services Access using Tonido Cloud Server for Real-Time Applications
Authors: Abdulredah Sarah Haider , Kadhim Dheyaa Jasim
Published: August 2020

A Tonido cloud server provides a private cloud storage solution and synchronizes customers and employees with the required cloud services over the enterprise. Generally, access to any cloud services by users is via the Internet connection, which can face some problems, and then users may encounter in accessing these services due to a weak Internet connection or heavy load sometimes especially with live video streaming applications overcloud. In this work, flexible and inexpensive proposed accessing methods are submitted and implemented concerning real-time applications that enable users to access cloud services locally and regionally. Practically, to simulate our network connection, we proposed to use the Raspberry-pi3 model B+ as a router wireless LAN (WLAN) that enables users to have the cloud services using different access approaches such as wireless and wireline connections. As a case study for a real-time application over the cloud server, it is suggested to do a live video streaming using an IP webcam and IVIDEON cloud where the streaming video can be accessed via the cloud server at any time with different users taking into account the proposed practical connections. Practical experiments showed and proved that accessing real-time applications of cloud services via wireline and wireless connections is improved by using Tonido cloud server's facilities.
Insights into an H1N1 Outbreak, Kumasi Ghana.
Authors: Nyarko Obed Ofori , Ansong Daniel , Konadu Saabea Owusu , Opoku Gilda
Published: August 2020

In the history of mankind, the black death, small pox and influenza pandemics have threatened our existence. The Spanish flu has been described as the greatest medical holocaust as it infected an estimated one third of the world’s population and caused approximately 50 million deaths globally.
On the 30th November, 2017, an outbreak of an undiagnosed illness in a Senior High school in Asokore Mampong Municipality was reported. This was confirmed to be an influenza outbreak on the 7th of December when 12 out of 19 initial throat swabs tested positive for Influenza A H1N1 2009 strain. We need to address the possibility of epidemic outbreaks as a nation and put measures in place to prevent such occurrences or prepare adequately to control it as outlined.
Solid Waste Management Practices in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects
Authors: Nartey Aaron Kwasi , Nyarko Patrick
Published: August 2020

World Bank report revealed that waste generation has been on the ascendancy, the worlds’ cities generated 2.01 billion tons of solid waste in the year 2016. This figure is expected to reach 3.40 billion tons per year by 2050 due to increasing urbanization – a growth of 70%. Proper management of these has become a challenge for most developing countries in recent years. The path of urbanization, population growth and affluence is associated with the challenge of proper waste management in urban areas of developing countries since the higher the income level and rate of urbanization, the greater the solid waste generated.

Unfortunately, sub-Saharan African countries like Ghana only focuses on waste collection instead of waste management. Waste management comprises all activities and actions needed to manage waste from inception to the final disposal. These activities and actions include collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste as well as monitoring and regulation. Also, Sanitary landfilling is among the best methods of decreasing the volume of waste products; however, the lack of suitable land for landfill sites is a key issue. Therefore, the lifespan of a landfill site can be prolonged when waste reduction at the source is well considered as an aspect of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management.

Solid waste management in Ghana has been faced with several challenges which includes; poor attitude of the general populace towards waste disposal sanitation, unplanned human settlement especially in the urban centers, poor planning of waste management programmes, low or no public education on the good sanitation, inadequate waste infrastructure, lack of political will in enforcing sanitation bye laws, inadequate operational funds and equipment to support waste management activities among others. Also, there is lack of reliable national data on waste generation and composition to inform effective planning on waste management in Ghana

Developing countries such as Ghana has to adopt measures that will be sustainable, efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly to help in proper waste management and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 3, 6, and 11 by 2030.
Preparedness of Africa for the Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19)
Authors: Nyarko Obed Ofori , Hardy Yasmine , Opoku Gilda , Owusu Konadu Saabea
Published: August 2020

In the latter months of 2019, there were several reported cases of severe lower respiratory tract disease of unknown aetiology in the Wuhan, Hubei province of China. In the first week of 2020, a previously unknown betacoronavirus was isolated by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC). It is the seventh member of the coronavirus family that can infect human beings. This short review presents the categorization of the virus, the geographic distribution, populations at risk, presentation, transmission, prevention and the readiness of health systems in Africa for this outbreak.
Building FAIR functionality: Annotating events in time series data using Hierarchical Event Descriptors (HED)
Authors: Robbins Kay , Truong Dung , Jones Alexander , Callanan Ian , Makeig Scott
Published: August 2020

Human electrophysiological and related time series data are often acquired in complex, event-rich environments. However, the resulting recorded brain or other dynamics are often interpreted in relation to more sparsely recorded or subsequently-noted events. Currently a substantial gap exists between the level of event description required by current digital data archiving standards and the level of annotation required for successful analysis of event-related data across studies, environments, and laboratories. Manifold challenges must be addressed, most prominently ontological clarity, vocabulary extensibility, annotation tool availability, and overall usability, to allow and promote sharing of data with an effective level of descriptive detail for labeled events. Motivating data authors to perform the work needed to adequately annotate their data is a key challenge. This paper describes new developments in the Hierarchical Event Descriptor (HED) system for addressing these issues. We recap the decade-long evolution of HED and its acceptance by the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) movement, describe our forthcoming release of the HED (3G, third generation) tools and design framework, and discuss directions for future development. Given consistent, sufficiently detailed, tool-enabled, field-relevant annotation of the nature of recorded events, prospects are bright for large-scale analysis and modeling of aggregated time series data, both in behavioral and brain imaging sciences and beyond.
Vision, Knowledge, and Assertion
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

I report two experiments studying the relationship among explicit judgments about what people see, know, and should assert. When an object of interest was surrounded by visibly similar items, it diminished people’s willingness to judge that an agent sees, knows, and should tell others that it is present. This supports the claim, made by many philosophers, that inhabiting a misleading environment intuitively decreases our willingness to attribute perception and knowledge. However, contrary to stronger claims made by some philosophers, inhabiting a misleading environment does not lead to the opposite pattern whereby people deny perception and knowledge. Causal modeling suggests a specific psychological model of how explicit judgments about perception, knowledge, and assertability are made: knowledge attributions cause perception attributions, which in turn cause assertability attributions. These findings advance understanding of how these three important judgments are made, provide new evidence that knowledge is the norm of assertion, and highlight some important subtleties in folk epistemology.
Compatibilism and Incompatibilism in Social Cogntiion
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

Compatibilism is the view that determinism is compatible with acting freely and being morally responsible. Incompatibilism is the opposite view. It is often claimed that compatibilism or incompatibilism is a natural part of ordinary social cognition. That is, it is often claimed that patterns in our everyday social judgments reveal an implicit commitment to either compatibilism or incompatibilism. This paper reports five experiments designed to identify such patterns. The results support a nuanced hybrid account: The central tendencies in ordinary social cognition are compatibilism about moral responsibility, compatibilism about positive moral accountability, neither compatibilism nor incompatibilism about negative moral accountability, compatibilism about choice for actions with positive outcomes, and incompatibilism about choice for actions with negative or neutral outcomes.
Knowledge Attributions and Behavioral Predictions
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

Recent work has shown that knowledge attributions affect how people think others should behave, more so than belief attributions do. This paper reports two experiments providing evidence that knowledge attributions also affect behavioral predictions more strongly than belief attributions do, and knowledge attributions facilitate faster behavioral predictions than belief attributions do. Thus, knowledge attributions play multiple critical roles in social cognition, guiding judgments about how people should and will behave.
Epistemic Contextualism: An Idle Hypothesis
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

Epistemic contextualism is one of the most hotly debated topics in contemporary epistemology. Contextualists claim that ‘know’ is a context-sensitive verb associated with different evidential standards in different contexts. Contextualists motivate their view based on a set of behavioural claims. In this paper, I show that several of these behavioural claims are false. I also show that contextualist test cases suffer from a critical confound, which derives from people's tendency to defer to speakers’ statements about their own mental states. My evidence consists in results from several behavioural experiments. I conclude that contextualism is an idle hypothesis and I propose some general methodological lessons.
CLEO Pacific Rim 2020 Enhanced FWM in SiN nanowires integrated with 2D GO films
Authors: Moss David
Published: August 2020

Enhanced four-wave mixing in silicon nitride waveguides integrated with 2D graphene oxide (GO) films is experimentally demonstrated. We achieve a high conversion efficiency improvement of ~7.3 dB for a 2-cm-long waveguide with monolayer GO film.
CLEO Pacific Rim 2020 conference Microwave RF microcombs
Authors: Moss David
Published: August 2020

We demonstrate broadband RF channelizers based on microcombs with 49 GHz and 200 GHz FSRs. Up to 92 parallel channels and an instantaneous bandwidth of up to 8.08 GHz are achieved, together with high-resolution RF spectral channelization and shaping. This approach is promising for high-performance integrated photonic RF receivers and processors.
Western ideological homogeneity in entrepreneurial finance research: Evidence from highly cited publications
Authors: Nguyen Minh-Hoang , Pham Thanh-Hang , Huyen Nguyen Thanh Thanh , Ho Manh-Toan , Vuong Quan-Hoang
Published: August 2020

Entrepreneurs play crucial roles in global sustainable development, but limited financial resources constrain their performance and survival rate. Entrepreneurial finance discipline is, therefore, born to explore the connection between finance and entrepreneurship. Despite the global presence of entrepreneurship, the literature of entrepreneurial finance is suspected to be Western ideologically homogenous. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the existence of Western ideological homogeneity in entrepreneurial finance literature. Employing the mindsponge mechanism and bibliometric analyses (Y-index and social structure), we analyze 412 highly cited publications extracted from Web of Science database and find Western ideological dominance as well as weak tolerance towards heterogeneity in the set of core ideologies of entrepreneurial finance. These results are consistent across author-, institution-, and country-levels, which reveals strong evidence for the existence of Western ideological homogeneity in the field. We recommend editors, reviewers, and authors to have proactive actions to diversify research topics and enhancing knowledge exchange to avoid the shortfalls of ideological homogeneity. Moreover, the synthesis of mindsponge mechanism and bibliometric analyses are suggested as a possible way to evaluate the state of ideological diversity in other scientific disciplines.
Penerapan Media Pembelajaran (E-Learning) Sebagai Penunjang Proses Belajar yang Efektif
Authors: Harefa Desy
Published: August 2020

AbstrakBelajar adalah suatu proses perubahan dalam kepribadian manusia, dan perubahan tersebutditampakkan dalam bentuk peningkatan kualitas dan kuantitas tingkah laku seperti peningkatankecakapan, pengetahuan, sikap, kebiasaan, pemahaman, keterampilan, daya pikir dan lain-lainkemampuan. Belajar juga memerlukan seseorang yang dapat mengajar dan mengarahkan untukmeningkatkan kemampuan berpikir dan keterampilan dalam belajar.Proses belajar di pengaruhi oleh dua faktor yaitu: pendidik dan peserta didik. Dalam belajarpendidik di harapkan dapat mampu mendesign pembelajaran agar dapat berjalan sesuaiperencanaan dan membutuhkan media elektronik sebagai penunjang dalam proses belajar karenadi yakini dapat meningkatkan keterampilan serta dapat menunjang proses belajar untuk mencapaipembelajaran yang efektif.
KMT5B is differentially expressed in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
Authors: Mamoor Shahan
Published: August 2020

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3, 4) to identify genes whose expression was most different in the brains of patients with PD as compared to that of non-affected patients. We identified significant changes in expression of the gene encoding the histone lysine N-methyltransferase KMT5B in the substantia nigra of patients with PD.
Exceptionalist Naturalism: Human Agency and the Causal Order
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

This paper addresses a fundamental question in folk metaphysics: how do we ordinarily view human agency? According to the transcendence account, we view human agency as standing outside of the causal order and imbued with exceptional powers. According to a naturalistic account, we view human agency as subject to the same physical laws as other objects and completely open to scientific investigation. According to exceptionalist naturalism, the truth lies somewhere in between: we view human agency as fitting broadly within the causal order while still being exceptional in important respects. In this paper, I report seven experiments designed to decide between these three competing theories. Across a variety of contexts and types of action, participants agreed that human agents can resist outcomes described as inevitable, guaranteed, and causally determined. Participants viewed non-human animal agents similarly, whereas they viewed computers, robots, and simple inanimate objects differently. At the same time, participants judged that human actions are caused by many things, including psychological, neurological, and social events. Overall, in folk metaphysics, human and non-human animals are viewed as exceptional parts of the natural world.
Understanding and the Norm of Explanation
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

I propose and defend the hypothesis that understanding is the norm of explanation. On this proposal, an explanation should express understanding. I call this the understanding account of explanation. The understanding account is supported by social and introspective observations. It is also supported by the relationship between knowledge and understanding, on the one hand, and assertion and explanation, on the other.
Knowledge and Assertion in "Gettier" Cases
Authors: Turri John
Published: August 2020

Assertion is fundamental to our lives as social and cognitive beings. By asserting we share knowledge, coordinate behavior, and advance collective inquiry. Accordingly, assertion is of considerable interest to cognitive scientists, social scientists, and philosophers. This paper advances our understanding of the norm of assertion. Prior evidence suggests that knowledge is the norm of assertion, a view known as “the knowledge account.” In its strongest form, the knowledge account says that knowledge is both necessary and sufficient for assertability: you should make an assertion if and only if you know that it is true. The knowledge account has been rejected on the grounds that it conflicts with our ordinary practice of evaluating assertions. This paper reports four experiments that address an important objection of this sort, which focuses on a class of examples known as “Gettier cases.” The results undermine the objection and, in the process, provide further evidence for the knowledge account. The findings also teach some important general lessons about intuitional methodology and the curation of genres of thought experiment.
The Market as a Learning Algorithm: Consequences for Regulation and Antitrust
Authors: Woodcock Ramsi
Published: August 2020

------>The heart of the Chicago School’s attack on the antitrust laws was a skepticism about the ability of government to improve upon unregulated market outcomes. Although the attack failed to eliminate regulation or antitrust entirely, it has proven so enduringly devastating as an intellectual matter that virtually no proposal for government regulation or increased antitrust enforcement is put forward today without an attempt either to justify the proposed departure from an assumed-legitimate free market baseline or to dismiss Chicago School skepticism as an intellectual plot bankrolled by business elites. Chicago School skepticism has been so devastating because it draws sustenance from an inapt metaphor for the economy: that of evolution through natural selection. The free market is, for the Chicago School, nature itself, and all the glories of life suggest that evolution does just fine when left to its own devices, creating a powerful basis for skepticism regarding the need for government intervention in the economy. Except that evolution never did do anything to promote economic growth, so much as theft, a fact that human beings know well given their status as predators of unparalleled success. Humanity did not escape from the subsistence economics that characterizes all of evolved life until humanity started to exert control over the forces of evolution, which is to say: to regulate.------>A better metaphor for the economy than natural selection is that of a computer running a machine learning algorithm engineered to channel evolutionary forces away from theft and toward growth. The first such algorithm embraced by humanity set evolution aside almost entirely, in favor of identifying optimal productive behaviors directly. That was central planning, which flourished throughout the ancient world and was practiced globally right up to the 19th century. The second such algorithm embraced evolution, but sought to improve upon it by imposing a rule against theft. That was the economic liberalism practiced in the West in the late 19th century. It is also the regime favored by the Chicago School. Approached from the metaphor of the algorithm, the Chicago School’s program appears retrograde, rather than foundational, because it amounts to the position that there should be no version 2.0, no further tweaks to the algorithm. But the antitrust laws, in prohibiting behavior that degrades competitors’ products, even when the behavior does not amount to theft, improves upon the algorithm that is economic liberalism, better channeling life’s evolutionary forces toward productivity and growth, rather than destructive forms of competition.
Miten saada ihmiset noudattamaan epidemian leviämisen estämiseen liittyviä suosituksia? Käyttäytymistieteiden anti
Authors: Hankonen Nelli , Absetz Pilvikki , Martela Frank
Published: August 2020

Koronaviruksen leviämisen ehkäiseminen vaatii ihmisiä omaksumaan monia totutusta poikkeavia tapoja, kuten fyysisen etäisyyden pitämistä ja tiheää käsienpesua. Viranomaisten antamien suositusten ja ohjeiden noudattamista on mahdotonta kaikilta osin valvoa ja osa varotoimenpiteistä saattaa jatkua hyvinkin pitkään, joten ohjeiden toimivuus on huomattavassa määrin kiinni ihmisten vapaaehtoisesta pyrkimyksestä noudattaa niitä. Psykologiassa ja sosiaalipsykologiassa on pitkä tutkimustraditio asenteisiin, motivaatioon ja käyttäytymiseen vaikuttamisen mekanismeista ja menetelmistä. Tämän artikkelin tavoitteena on 1) esitellä epidemian leviämistä ehkäisevien käyttäytymismuutosten analyysin sekä systemaattisen interventiosuunnittelun malli , sekä 2) linjata käyttäytymistieteellisiin teorioihin ja tutkimusnäyttöön perustuvia konkreettisia toimintaohjeita politiikkatoimenpiteitä suunnitteleville viranomaisille. Artikkeli perustuu keskeisiä sosiaalipsykologisia teorioita kuten itsemääräämisteoriaa, sosiaaliseen identiteetin teoriaa sekä tottumusteoriaa hyödyntäneisiin tutkimuksiin sekä tuoreisiin tieteellisiin artikkeleihin käyttäytymistiedon hyödyntämisestä nimenomaan sars-cov2-viruksen leviämisen ehkäisyssä. Käyttäytymistiedettä voidaan hyödyntää esimerkiksi suunniteltaessa havainnollistavaa ja motivoitumista tukevaa kansalaisviestintää tai uusien tottumusten luomista tukevia interventioita sekä räätälöitäessä sopivia toimenpiteitä eri väestöryhmille. Parhaimmillaan toimenpiteet aktivoivat ihmisten sosiaalista identiteettiä ja tukevat heidän omaehtoista motivaatiotaan synnyttäen vahvan omakohtaisen sitoutumisen vaadittuun käyttäytymiseen.
Reorientation of Activities and Self-environment Integration (ROASEI): Further development and comparison with trait personality theories
Authors: Agarwal Atul
Published: August 2020

Reorientation of activities and self-environment integration (ROASEI) is a novel theory of activities. This theory has been developed further, mainly by comparing it with the theories of personality. The ROASEI has parallels with Big-Two and Biggest-One of Five-Factor framework. ROASEI has also been compared with reversal theory. Finally, personality “enhancement” with prescription drugs has been analyzed in the perspective of ROASEI.
Health factors as potential mediators of the longitudinal effect of loneliness on general cognitive ability
Authors: Beam Christopher , Kim Alice J. , Greenberg Nicole E. , Burke Shanna
Published: August 2020

OBJECTIVE: Higher levels of loneliness in older adulthood predict cognitive decline, but research on mediating mechanisms is sparse. We examine multisystemic physiological risk, functional ability, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and social participation as mediating processes for the association between loneliness and general cognitive ability over a 10-year follow-up in an older adult sample. METHODS: Three waves of data from 3,005 individuals (mean intake age: 69.30 (SD: 7.85) years; female = 51.61%) recruited during Wave 1 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project were used to test whether hypothesized mediators collected at the 5-year follow-up explained effects of baseline loneliness on 10-year general cognitive ability. RESULTS: The relationship between baseline loneliness and 10-year general cognitive ability was not mediated by multisystemic physiological risk. Functional ability ( = -0.24, SE = 0.05, p < .001), self-rated health (= -0.08, SE = 0.02, p < .001), depressive symptoms (= -0.20, SE = 0.05, p < .001), and social participation ( = -0.03, SE = 0.01, p = .016) significantly mediated effects. Indirect effects remained significant after adjusting for demographic covariates and 5-year general cognitive ability, except social participation. DISCUSSION: Loneliness may influence cognitive ability indirectly, signaling waning physical and psychiatric health more proximally correlated with cognitive ability. These mechanisms may serve as targets of intervention for cognitive maintenance in lonely older adults.
Measuring reading ability in the web-browser with a lexical decision task
Authors: Yeatman Jason D , Tang Kenny An , Donnelly Patrick M. , Yablonski Maya
Published: August 2020

An accurate model of the factors that contribute to individual differences in reading ability depends on data collection in large, diverse and representative samples of research participants. However, that is rarely feasible due to the constraints imposed by standardized measures of reading ability which require test administration by trained clinicians or researchers. Here we explore whether a simple, two-alternative forced choice, time limited lexical decision task (LDT), self-delivered through the web-browser, can serve as an accurate and reliable measure of reading ability. We found that performance on the LDT is highly correlated with scores on standardized measures of reading ability such as the Woodcock-Johnson Letter Word Identification test administered in the lab (r = 0.91, disattenuated r = 0.94) . Importantly, the LDT reading ability measure is highly reliable (r = 0.97). After optimizing the list of words and pseudowords based on item response theory, we found that a short experiment with 80 words (2-3 minutes) provides a reliable (r = 0.95) measure of reading ability. Thus, the self-administered, rapid online assessment of reading ability (ROAR) developed here overcomes the constraints of resource-intensive, in-person reading assessment, and provides an efficient and automated tool for effective online research into the mechanisms of reading (dis)ability.
Resilience contributes to low emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak among the general population in Italy
Authors: Lenzo Vittorio , Quattropani Maria Catena , Musetti Alessandro , Zenesini Corrado , Freda Maria Francesca , Lemmo Daniela , Vegni Elena , Borghi Lidia , Plazzi Giuseppe , Castelnuovo Gianluca , Cattivelli Roberto , Saita Emanuela , Franceschini Christian
Published: August 2020

BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak is severely affecting overall mental health with unknown psychological consequences. The Italian Government has implemented a massive lockdown to decrease the spread of the virus. Although a strong psychological impact is possible, few evidences are still available. Past studies have shown that resilience decreases the negative effects of stress promoting mental health. For these reasons, this study aimed to examine depression, anxiety, and stress among the Italian general population during the phase characterizing by lockdown, and to investigate the role of resilience as a potential predictor. MethodsA total sample of 6314 Italian people participated in this study. Participants were recruited between March 10 and May 4 2020 through an online survey, the majority of whom from Northern Italy. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) (a measure of mental health status) and the Resilience Scale (RS) (a measure of resilience) were administered. Also, demographic data and lockdown related information were collected. DASS-21 cut-off scores were used to verify the mental status among the participants. Subsequently, a correlational analysis was carried out to examine relationships between DASS-21 and RS. Lastly, three hierarchical regression analyses were conducted using the three DASS-21 scales as dependent variables and the RS scales as independent variables controlling for age, gender, and education. ResultsThe prevalence of moderate to extremely severe symptoms among participants was 36.1% for depression, 28.7% for anxiety, and 35.6% for stress. Results of correlational analysis showed that resilience factors, such as meaningfulness, self-reliance, existential aloneness, and equanimity, are inversely associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Results of regression analyses indicated that all the resilience factors were statistically significant in predicting anxiety, while meaningfulness, perseverance, existential aloneness, and equanimity predicted depression and stress. ConclusionsDuring the lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak, about a third of respondents reported moderate to extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress. The present study suggests that psychological resilience may independently contribute to low emotional distress and psychological ill-being. These findings can help explain the variability of individual responses during the COVID-19 outbreak. Psychological interventions to enhance resilience might provide useful approaches to overcome COVID-related emotional impact.
Distrust in scientists and trust in populist governments supports COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and misguided/self-serving behaviours
Authors: van Mulukom Valerie
Published: August 2020

Understanding how health communication influences engagement in protective health behaviors is crucial in the handling of pandemics, and especially the COVID-19 pandemic which has been branded an ‘infodemic’ due to the presence of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Here we investigate this through a large-scale survey in twelve countries (N = 7,755). We found, in line with our hypotheses, that trust in non-populist governments and scientists and their media predicted scientific knowledge, whereas distrust predicted conspiracy belief, together with trust in populist governments and social media. Scientific knowledge but not conspiracy belief in turn predicted safety guideline behaviors, whereas conspiracy belief but not scientific knowledge predicted misguided, self-centered behaviors like hoarding. However, conspiracy belief also predicted safety guideline behaviors, possibly due to the threat a presumed artificially created virus presents. We conclude that the communication of scientific knowledge through trusted sources is pivotal to adherence to safety guidelines during this and future health threats.
Culture, COVID-19, and Collectivism: A Paradox of American Exceptionalism?
Authors: Webster Gregory D. , Howell Jennifer Lee , Losee Joy Ellen , Mahar Elizabeth , Wongsomboon Val
Published: August 2020

Do geographic differences in collectivism relate to COVID-19 case and death rates? And if so, would they also replicate across states within arguably the most individualistic country in the world—the United States? Further still, what role might the U.S.’s history of ethnic strife and race-based health disparities play in either reinforcing or undermining state-level relations between collectivism and COVID-19 rates? To answer these questions, we examined archival data from 98 countries (Study 1) and the 48 contiguous United States (Study 2) on country/state-level collectivism, COVID-19 case/death rates, relevant covariates (per-capita GDP, population density, spatial dependence), and in the U.S., percent of non-Whites. In Study 1, country-level collectivism negatively related to both cases (r = -.28) and deaths (r = -.40) in simple regressions; however, after controlling for covariates, the former became non-significant (rp = -.07), but the latter remained significant (rp = -.20). In Study 2, state-level collectivism positively related to both cases (r = .56) and deaths (r = .41) in simple regressions, and these relationships persisted after controlling for all covariates except race, where a state’s non-White population dominated all other predictors of COVID-19 cases (rp = .35) and deaths (rp = .31). We discuss the strong link between race and collectivism in U.S. culture, and its implications for understanding COVID-19 responses.
When and how does volunteering influence wages? Evidence from Panel Data
Authors: Eberl Andreas , Krug Gerhard
Published: August 2020

Volunteering is an activity in which individuals work for free to benefit others; however, research has also focused on the benefits volunteers themselves might experience. We add to the literature by focusing on how not only volunteering itself has an impact on wages but how the intensity, duration and timing of volunteering also have an effect on these. In addition, we distinguish between the effects on volunteers in the same job and when changing a job, and test the role of social capital. Using German data from the Socio-Economic Panel, we find that current volunteering has positive effects on wages in a fixed effects wage regression, especially if individuals volunteer with low to medium intensity. The duration of volunteering does not increase wages. However, based on the dummy impact function, we find that volunteering increases wages almost immediately and that this effect remains fairly constant over time. We find no indication that reverse causality drives this effect. Furthermore, we show that the wage benefits of volunteering are realized only through job changes, not on-the-job wage progression. With regard to job changers, we show that social capital accumulation through volunteering is one reason explaining the observed wage effects.
CARACTERIZAÇÃO FLORÍSTICO-ESTRUTURAL E SÍNDROMES DE DISPERSÃO DE ESPÉCIES LENHOSAS DE REMANESCENTE DE CERRADÃO
Authors: Vasconcelos Weuler Alves , Miranda Sabrina do Couto de , Silva-Neto Carlos de Melo , Souza Priscila Bezerra de
Published: August 2020

Entender a composição florístico-estrutural e as síndromes de dispersão de um remanescente fornecem subsídios para futuros planos de recuperação e conservação. Desta forma, objetivou-se analisar a composição florística, a estrutura da vegetação lenhosa e as síndromes de dispersão de um remanescente de cerradão localizado em Palmeiras de Goiás, GO. Para tal, foram alocadas 10 parcelas de 20 x 50 m onde todos indivíduos com diâmetro da base (Db) ≥ 5 cm ingressaram na amostragem, sendo medido ainda seu diâmetro à altura do peito (DAP) e altura. Foram amostrados 2.070 indivíduos distribuídos em 109 espécies, 86 gêneros e 49 famílias, sendo Fabaceae a família mais abundante. As espécies Tapirira guianensis e Xylopia aromatica se destacaram em Valor de Importância na área. A distribuição diamétrica apresentou-se no formato de “J”-invertido e a distribuição de altura com tendência normal, mostrando uma comunidade auto regenerativa. A síndrome de dispersão predominante foi a zoocoria, com 55,5% das espécies. Os resultados encontrados corroboram a importância das áreas de reserva legal e a necessidade de sua manutenção como estratégia de conservação/preservação ambiental.Palavras-chave: fitofisionomia florestal; zoocoria; anemocoria; comunidade. FLORISTIC-STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND DISPERSION SYNDROMES OF WOODY SPECIES OF CERRADÃO REMANESCENT ABSTRACT:Understanding the floristic-structural composition and the dispersion syndromes of a remnant provides subsidies for future recovery and conservation plans. Thus, the aim was to analyze the floristic composition, woody vegetation structure and dispersion syndromes of a cerradão remnant located in Palmeiras de Goiás, GO. For this, 10 plots of 20 x 50 m were allocated where all individuals with base diameter (Db) ≥ 5 cm entered the sampling, and their diameter at breast height (DAP) and height were also measured. We sampled 2,070 individuals distributed in 109 species, 86 genera and 49 families, Fabaceae being the most abundant family. The species Tapirira guianensis and Xylopia aromatica stood out in Valor de Importância in the area. The diametric distribution was presented as “J”-inverted and the height distribution with normal tendency, showing a self-regenerative community. The predominant dispersion syndrome was zoocoria, with 55.5% of the species. The results found corroborate the importance of the legal reserve areas and the need for their maintenance as a conservation/environmental preservation strategy.Keywords: forest phytophysiognomy; zoochory; anemocory; assembly.
INFLUÊNCIA DA DENSIDADE DE PLANTAS, CORTES E DOSES DE NITROGÊNIO NA PRODUÇÃO DE CAPIM-PIATÃ
Authors: Tinos Adriano Catossi , Prado Giuliani do , Fonseca Beatriz Furlan , Bueno Jhésmila Ingridy , Bruscagin Rafael Rech
Published: August 2020

O Brasil apresenta numeroso rebanho bovino e as pastagens proporcionam a maneira mais prática e econômica de fornecer forragem ao rebanho. O trabalho, conduzido na Universidade Estadual de Maringá, em Cidade Gaúcha, Paraná, objetivou avaliar o efeito da densidade de plantas e de doses de nitrogênio na produção de forragem de Brachiariabrizantha cv. Piatã. O experimento foi implantado em delineamento experimental em blocos ao acaso em esquema fatorial 4x4x10, com três repetições. Foram avaliados: i) doses de nitrogênio (0, 17, 33 e 50 kg ha-1 corte-1),aplicadas em cobertura após cada corte do pasto; ii) densidade de plantas (10, 20, 30 e 40 plantas m-2) e; iii) 10 ciclos de cortes das pastagens, realizados no decorrer do experimento. As produções de matéria fresca e seca da parte aérea da pastagem foram avaliadas. Os ciclos de corte e as doses de nitrogênio influenciaram na produção de massa fresca e seca. As maiores produções de massa fresca e seca foram obtidas na densidade de 10 plantas m-2 e, as menores, na densidade de 40 plantas m-2. O aumento da dose de nitrogênio até 50 kg N ha-1 corte-1 proporcionou incremento na produção de massa fresca e seca de pastagem de Piatã.Palavras chave: ciclo de corte; forragem; massa seca. INFLUENCE OF PLANT DENSITY AND NITROGEN DOSES ON CAPIM-PIATÃ PRODUCTION ABSTRACT: Brazil has a large cattle herd, and pastures have offered the most practical and economical way of providing them forage. This work was carried out at the UniversidadeEstadual de Maringá, in CidadeGaúcha city, Paraná state, and it aimed to evaluate the effect of plant density and nitrogen levels on forage production of Brachiariabrizantha cv. Piatã.The experiment was set out in a randomized complete block design in a 4x4x10 factorial scheme, with three replications. The evaluated factors were: i) nitrogen doses (0, 17, 33 e 50 kg ha-1 cut-1), applied on the soil surface after each cutting cycle; ii) plant density (10, 20, 30 e 40 plants m-2) and; iii) 10 pasture cutting cycles which were performed over the experiment. Fresh and dry matter productions of the pasture aerial part were evaluated. The factors cutting cycles and nitrogen levels had influenced on fresh and dry matter production of pasture. The highest yields of fresh and dry matter production were obtained at a plant density of 10 plants m-2 and the smallest yields for the plant density of 40 plants m-2. Increasing the nitrogen dose by 50 kg N ha-1 cut-1 provided an increase in the fresh and dry matter production of Brachiariabrizantha cv. Piatã.Key words: cuttingcycle; forage; dry matter.
Síndromes PTEN y su asociación con autismo
Authors: Cartín Ramírez Astrid Carolina , Brenes Meseguer Nicole , Maya Cancino Alejandra
Published: August 2020

El gen PTEN, mejor conocido como PTEN tirosina fosfatasa, es gen supresor de tumores en  el cromosoma 10q23, es el segundo gen más frecuentemente mutado / delecionado en cáncer. La alteración genética de este gen puede crear hamartomas, los cuales se observan en los síndromes tumorales hamartomatoso asociados al gen PTEN. Los síndromes asociados son un grupo heterogéneo de trastornos clínicos y que comparten una mutación germinal, caracterizado por múltiples hamartomas, sobrecrecimiento,  neoplasias que  pueden aparecer en cualquier lugar del cuerpo. Este puede sinergizar con mutaciones en otros genes contribuyendo  así en un pequeño subconjunto de niños(as) diagnosticados con trastorno del espectro trastorno  autista asociado a  macrocefalia, al igual que otros síndromes relacionados entre sí. Dentro de estos trastornos se  incluye el síndrome de Cowden, el síndrome de Bannayan Riley Ruvalcaba, la enfermedad de Lhermitte-Duclos en edad adulta y el trastorno del espectro autista asociado a macrocefalia. Se ha observado que aproximadamente una quinta parte de estos síndromes se asocian directamente con el trastorno del espectro autista el cual es un trastorno del neurodesarrollo, que tiene su inicio en la niñez temprana y se caracteriza por un deterioro en la interacción social y la comunicación, acompañado de comportamientos repetitivos y estereotipados.
Asociación entre variables ecocardiográficas y antropométricas de interés para el control biomédico en luchadores de primer nivel
Authors: Silva Fernández Josefa , Almenares Pujadas María Evelina , Pérez Castillo Raydel
Published: August 2020

Introducción: El proceso de control biomédico del entrenamiento deportivo, constituye una de las esferas de trabajo fundamentales al valorar la adaptación funcional del rendimiento físico. El estudio se propone evaluar la correlación variables ecocardiográficas y antropométricas en luchadores de primer nivel producto de las cargas de entrenamiento al final de la preparación especial. Métodos: La muestra estuvo constituida por 19 deportistas (14 competidores del estilo grecorromano y 5 del estilo libre). Se agruparon según sus pesos corporales en las categorías: ligeros, medianos, pesados y superpesados. Se efectúo ecocardiograma trans-torácico estándar bidimensional en reposo al final de la preparación especial. Se emplearon las variables: Edad, Edad deportiva, Estatura, Peso Corporal, Superficie Corporal, Septum Interventricular, Pared Posterior del VI, Diámetro diastólico del VI, Diámetro de la raíz de la Aorta, Diámetro de la Aurícula izquierda y Diámetro del Ventrículo derecho, Índice h/r, Índice de Hipertrofia Septal Asimétrica, Índice de Hipertrofia Concéntrica del VI, Frecuencia cardíaca, Volumen diastólico, Volumen de eyección ó Stroke Volumen, Índice del gasto cardiaco, Fracción de eyección y Fracción de acortamiento. Resultados: La edad media fue de 26,1 años y 21,6 respectivamente con una experiencia deportiva de 16,0 y 14,4 años Los indicadores promedio fueron: Septum Interventricular (12,32±1,26), Pared Posterior del VI (13,15±1,27), Diámetro diastólico del VI (21,13±3,21), Stroke Volumen (78,22±9,93mL), Índice del gasto cardiaco     (2,60±  0,15) e índice h/r (0,48±0,02). Los menores registros se encontraron en los luchadores de menor peso.  La valores mínimos y máximos de los se encontraron en los ligeros y superpesados respectivamente. Los valores absolutos de los indicadores funcionales se correspondieron con las características antropométricas. Conclusiones: Los luchadores tienen un corazón estructural y funcionalmente sano con un adecuado balance aeróbico-anaeróbico de su remodelación. La mayor correlación se establece entre el peso corporal y las variables ecográficas estructurales, funcionales y de remodelado.