bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Palliative care medical student education: a cross-sectional medical school survey in mainland China
Authors: Ye Guanchen , Mao Jiahui , Hu Jingjing , Chen Jie , Hesketh Therese
Published: November 2019

Objective

According to the 2015 Quality of Death Index, China ranks 71st in terms of quality of palliative care out of 80 countries. Lack of palliative care education for health professionals is regarded as largely responsible. The study aims to evaluate the status of palliative care education for medical students in mainland China.

Methods

A list of all medical schools was obtained from the Ministry of Education. A telephone survey of associate deans responsible for medical education at all 282 medical schools in mainland China was conducted in May 2019, following a standardised protocol. Telephone interviews focused on attitudes to palliative care teaching and the extent and manner in which palliative care is incorporated into the curriculum.

Results

Associate deans from 173 (61.2%) of the 282 medical schools responded. A total of 120 schools (42.5%) completed the interview, while 53 (18.7%) evaded direct questions related to palliative care. Of the responding deans, 92 (76.7%) regarded palliative care education as very important. However, only 11 (9.2%) provided specific teaching on palliative care. A few schools (n=18) integrated palliative care education within required curricula, such as medical ethics and nursing science. The main reason reported for not providing palliative care education was that the medical curriculum dictated by the Ministry of Education does not require it.

Conclusion

A very small minority of medical schools in mainland China have any formal teaching about palliative care. Clearly, national standards for didactic and clinical teaching in palliative care for medical students and other health professionals are needed.
Low-energy dipole response of exotic nuclei
Authors: Aumann Thomas
Published: November 2019

The electric dipole response of neutron-rich nuclei is discussed from an experimental perspective using selected examples. After introducing the main experimental method, which is relativistic Coulomb excitation in conjunction with invariant-mass spectroscopy, the response of neutron-rich nuclei is discussed separately for light halo nuclei and heavier neutron-rich nuclei. Finally, the perspective for constraining the equation of state of neutron-rich matter close to saturation density from measurements of the dipole response of neutron-rich nuclei is discussed.
Synthesis and characterization of the leaf-like Cu2O/CuO mixed phase nanosheets array
Authors: Qi Yan , Bi Bingqian , Yan Yilin , Tian Lecheng
Published: November 2019

In this study, a leaf-like [Formula: see text] mixed phase nanosheets array was successfully prepared by anodization. XRD, EDS, and XPS analysis confirmed the formation of [Formula: see text] mixed phase nanostructures. SEM images indicate that the fabricated [Formula: see text] mixed phase nanosheets almost grow vertically on the substrate. The average height of nanosheets is approximately 500 nm. The optical absorption of the mixed phase covers the entire wavelength region of visible light and a little part of the near-infrared region of short wavelength.
Emotional Speech Recognition Based on Weighted Distance Optimization System
Authors: ElBedwehy Mona Nagy , Behery G. M. , Elbarougy Reda
Published: November 2019

Human emotion plays a major role in expressing their feelings through speech. Emotional speech recognition is an important research field in the human–computer interaction. Ultimately, the endowing machines that perceive the users’ emotions will enable a more intuitive and reliable interaction.The researchers presented many models to recognize the human emotion from the speech. One of the famous models is the Gaussian mixture model (GMM). Nevertheless, GMM may sometimes have one or more of its components as ill-conditioned or singular covariance matrices when the number of features is high and some features are correlated. In this research, a new system based on a weighted distance optimization (WDO) has been developed for recognizing the emotional speech. The main purpose of the WDO system (WDOS) is to address the GMM shortcomings and increase the recognition accuracy. We found that WDOS has achieved considerable success through a comparative study of all emotional states and the individual emotional state characteristics. WDOS has a superior performance accuracy of 86.03% for the Japanese language. It improves the Japanese emotion recognition accuracy by 18.43% compared with GMM and [Formula: see text]-mean.
Immersive Interactive Virtual Fish Swarm Simulation Based on Infrared Sensors
Authors: Cai Xingquan , Ge Yakun , Sun Chen , Chen Chao , Buni Honghao
Published: November 2019

Virtual simulation and 3D interaction have shown great potentials in a variety of domains for our future life. For a virtual fish swarm simulation system, the simulation of cohesion behaviors of fish swarm and the interaction between human and fish swarm are two key components to create immersive interactive experiences. However, it is a huge challenge to create a realistic fish swarm simulation system while providing a natural and comfortable interaction. In this paper, we propose a method for immersive virtual fish swarm simulation based on infrared sensors. Based on dynamic weight constraints, we propose a particle swarm optimization method for fish swarm cohesion simulation, which separates a particle swarm by the state of each particle and dynamically controls the particle swarm, making the movement behavior of virtual fish more realistic. In addition, an interactive fast skinning method is proposed for cartoon fishes, which leverages image segmentation, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and bone skinning are used to generate cartoon fishes based on user-created colors. With infrared sensors, we propose a method for virtual fish swarm interaction, where the positions of human skeleton are processed by an action analyzer, achieving real-time user interactions with fish swarms. With all the proposed techniques integrated in a system, the experimental results show that our method is feasible and effective.
Scene Matching for Infrared and Visible Images with Compressive Sensing SIFT Feature Representation in Bandelet Domain
Authors: Liu Gang , Liu Sen , Liang Liuke , Liu Zhonghua , Ma Jianwei
Published: November 2019

Aimed at scene matching problem for taking infrared image as the actual data and the visible image as the referenced data, a multi-resolution matching algorithm which fuses compressive sensing Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) feature is presented based on Bandelet transform. Two kinds of images are separately transformed into Bandelet domain to compress the feature search space of scene matching based on the best sparse representation of natural images by Bandelet transform. On the basis of adaptive Bayes threshold denoising for infrared image, the concept of sparse feature representation of compressive sensing theory is introduced into SIFT algorithm. For low-frequency image in Bandelet domain, high-dimensional SIFT key point feature description vector is projected on compressive sensing random measurement matrix to achieve dimensionality reduction. Then, the improved Genetic Algorithm (GA) to overcome premature phenomena is used as the search strategy, and the L1 distance measure of SIFT feature vectors of compressive sensing for two kinds of images is applied to the search similarity criterion to match low-frequency image of high scale in Bandelet domain. The matching result is used as the guidance of the matching process for low-frequency image of low scale, and the matching result of full-resolution image is obtained iteratively. Experimental results show that the proposed method has not only high matching accuracy and fast matching speed, but also better robustness in comparison with some classic matching algorithms, which can resist the geometric distortion of rotation for actual image.
Research and Application of Key Technologies for Medical Image Intelligence Knowledge Discovery and Data Processing
Authors: Hu Ruo , Li Ming , Xu Hong , Zhao Hui Min
Published: November 2019

Hospitals have accumulated a large amount of medical image data which need to be analyzed and integrated so as to be able to find the needed medical image in time, which is the basis of key technologies such as intelligent diagnosis of diseases. Meanwhile, through the analysis and integrated processing of medical images, the potential value of existing medical image data can be fully explored. In this paper, the key technologies in the intelligent image knowledge discovery system and the characteristics of medical image data are studied and improved.

In this paper, the characteristics of knowledge discovery and medical image data are comprehensively considered, and RDM texture features are selected as the feature representation of medical images. An improved RDM operator is proposed and proved by experimental results. Experimental results show that the improved RDM coding method can improve the stability of medical image data expression.
A Knowledge-Based System for Disaster Emergency Relief
Authors: Li Bo , Li Tingting , Jiang Qing , Huang He , Wang Rujing , Zhang Zhengyong , Wang Liusan , Wei Yuanyuan , Xiao Zhengxing
Published: November 2019

Natural disasters have had great impact on human beings. Emergency relief is becoming more important with the increase of the frequency and scale of humanitarian emergencies resulting from more natural disasters because of climate change. In this paper, an interesting hybrid knowledge representation method during the development of a KBS for design of emergency relief structures is presented. It encapsulates ill-structured, semi-structured and structured knowledge that is gathered from literature, human expert and even knowledge gleaned during the system development. All routine as well as cumbrous activities in the emergency relief cycle are covered. The system can provide the user with advice on preliminary plan evaluation, plan optimization, plan evaluation, plan summary and miscellaneous. It would be beneficial to the field of disaster emergency relief decision by focusing on the acquisition and organization of expert knowledge through the development of knowledge-based system.
STRICT LOCAL MARTINGALES VIA FILTRATION ENLARGEMENT
Authors: DANDAPANI ADITI , PROTTER PHILIP
Published: November 2019

A strict local martingale is a local martingale that is not a martingale. We investigate how such a process might arise from a true martingale as a result of an enlargement of the filtration and a change of measure. We study and implement a particular type of enlargement, initial expansion of filtration, for stochastic volatility models with and without jumps and provide sufficient conditions in each of these cases such that initial expansion can create a strict local martingale. We provide examples of initial enlargement that effect this change.
Reactive and Semi-Reactive Bargaining Sets for Games with Restricted Cooperation
Authors: Naumova Natalia
Published: November 2019

Generalizations of reactive and semi-reactive bargaining sets of TU games are defined for the case when objections and counter-objections are permitted not between singletons but between elements of a family of coalitions [Formula: see text] and can use coalitions from [Formula: see text]. Necessary and sufficient conditions on [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] that ensure existence results for generalizations of the reactive bargaining set and of the semi-reactive barganing set at each TU game [Formula: see text] with nonnegative values are obtained. The existence conditions for the generalized reactive bargaining set do not coincide with existence conditions for the generalized kernel and coincide with conditions for the generalized semi-reactive bargaining set only if [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The conditions for the generalized semi-reactive bargaining set coincide with conditions for the generalized classical bargaining set that were described in the previous papers of the author.

For monotonic [Formula: see text], the condition on [Formula: see text] for existence of the generalized semi-reactive bargaining sets on the class of games with nonnegative values is also necessary and sufficient on the class of simple games, but similar result for the generalized classical bargaining sets is proved only for [Formula: see text].
License Fees in Oligopoly When Outside Innovator can Enter the Market: Two-Step Auction
Authors: Hattori Masahiko , Tanaka Yasuhito
Published: November 2019

When an outside innovating firm has a cost-reducing technology, it can sell licenses of its technology to incumbent firms, or enter the market and at the same time sell licenses, or enter the market without license. We examine the definitions of license fees in such situations under oligopoly, one outside innovating firm and several incumbent firms, considering threat by entry by the innovating firm using a two-step auction.
Simulation and computational heat transfer in the human eye with Dirichlet–Neumann domain decomposition approximation
Authors: Ahmedou Bamba Salem , Ellabib Abdellatif
Published: November 2019

In this paper, a bioheat model of temperature distribution in the human eye is studied, the mathematical formulation of this model is described using adequate mathematical tools. The existence and the uniqueness of the solution of this problem is proven and four algorithms based on finite element method approximation and domain decomposition methods are presented in details. The validation of all algorithm is done using a numerical application for an example where the analytical solution is known. The properties and parameters reported in the open literature for the human eye are used to approximate numerically the temperature for bioheat model by finite element approximation and nonoverlapping domain decomposition method. The obtained results that are verified using the experimental results recorded in the literature revealed a better accuracy by the use of algorithm proposed.
The nature and age of basement host rocks and fissure fills in the Lancaster field fractured reservoir, West of Shetland
Authors: Holdsworth R. E. , Trice R. , Hardman K. , McCaffrey K. J. W. , Morton A. , Frei D. , Dempsey E. , Bird A. , Rogers S.
Published: November 2019

Hosting up to 3.3 billion barrels of oil in place, the upfaulted Precambrian crystalline rocks of the Lancaster field, offshore west of Shetland, give key insights into how fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs can form in such old rocks. The Neoarchean (
c.
2700–2740 Ma) charnockitic basement is cut by deeply penetrating oil-, mineral- and sediment-filled fissure systems seen in geophysical and production logs and thin sections of core. Mineral textures and fluid inclusion geothermometry suggest that a low-temperature (<200°C) near-surface hydrothermal system is associated with these fissures. The fills help to permanently prop open fissures in the basement, permitting the ingress of hydrocarbons into extensive well-connected oil-saturated fracture networks. U–Pb dating of calcite mineral fills constrains the onset of mineralization and contemporaneous oil charge to the mid-Cretaceous and later from Jurassic source rocks flanking the upfaulted ridge. Late Cretaceous subsidence and deposition of mudstones sealed the ridge, and was followed by buoyancy-driven migration of oil into the pre-existing propped fracture systems. These new observations provide an explanation for the preservation of intra-reservoir fractures (‘joints’) with effective apertures of 2 m or more, thereby highlighting a new mechanism for generating and preserving fracture permeability in sub-unconformity fractured basement reservoirs worldwide.

Supplementary material:
Analytical methods and isotopic compositions and ages are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4763237

Thematic Collection:
This article is part of the Geology of Fractured Reservoirs collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/the-geology-of-fractured-reservoirs
Intelligent Behavior Data Analysis for Internet Addiction
Authors: Peng Wei , Zhang Xinlei , Li Xin
Published: November 2019

Internet addiction refers to excessive internet use that interferes with daily life. Due to its negative impact on college students’ study and life, discovering students’ internet addiction tendencies and making correct guidance for them timely is necessary. However, at present, the research methods used in analyzing students’ internet addiction are mainly questionnaires and statistical analysis, which relies on the domain experts heavily. Fortunately, with the development of the smart campus, students’ behavior data such as consumption and trajectory information in the campus are stored. With this information, we can analyze students’ internet addiction levels quantitatively. In this paper, we provide an approach to estimate college students’ internet addiction levels using their behavior data in the campus. In detail, we consider students’ addiction towards the internet is a hidden variable which affects students’ daily time online together with other behavior. By predicting students’ daily time online, we will find students’ internet addiction levels. Along this line, we develop a linear internet addiction (LIA) model, a neural network internet addiction (NIA) model, and a clustering-based internet addiction (CIA) model to calculate students’ internet addiction levels, respectively. These three models take the regularity of students’ behavior and the similarity among students’ behavior into consideration. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on a real-world dataset. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our method, and it is also consistent with some psychological findings.
Dopamine in the Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia and Gestational Hypertension: Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) and Catechol-O-methyl Transferase (COMT) as Possible Mechanisms
Authors: Phoswa Wendy N.
Published: November 2019

Purpose of the Review. Hypertension in pregnancy is the global health burden. Amongst the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preeclampsia and gestational hypertension are the world’s leading disorders that lead to both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Recent Findings. Dopamine inactive metabolites, namely, monoamine oxidase (MAO) and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), have been reported to be associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy such preeclampsia and gestational hypertension. Summary. This review discusses the involvement of MAO and COMT in the pathophysiology of both conditions in order to have a better understanding on the pathogenesis of both conditions, suggesting promising therapeutic interventions and subsequently reducing maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.
Reduction of Groundwater Buoyancy on the Basement in Weak‐Permeable/Impervious Foundations
Authors: Zhou Jikai , Lin Chenghuan , Chen Chen , Zhao Xiyao
Published: November 2019

At present, groundwater buoyancy is directly calculated by Archimedes’ principle for the antifloating design of underground structures. However, this method may not be applicable to weak‐permeable/impervious soils, e.g., clayey foundations, because there is a significant difference between the groundwater buoyancy obtained from field measurements and that calculated by Archimedes’ principle. In order to determine whether the method of calculating groundwater buoyancy in weak‐permeable/impervious soil layers by Archimedes’ principle is reasonable, this paper investigated the groundwater buoyancy on the basement in such foundations through laboratory model tests. The following factors that may influence the magnitude of groundwater buoyancy were investigated: change of groundwater level, duration of pore water pressure, and buried depth of the basement. In this study, model test results show that the groundwater buoyancy obtained from measurements is evidently lower than that calculated by Archimedes’ principle. Reduction extent can be expressed by a “reduction coefficient,” which can be calculated by a fitting formula. Moreover, experimental groundwater buoyancy increases with the increase in the groundwater level, and it almost does not change with the growth of duration of pore water pressure. Reduction coefficient ranges between 0.25 and 0.52 depending on different buried depths of the basement. In general, experimental groundwater buoyancy decreases with the increase in the buried depth of the basement.
Experimental and Numerical Modelling of Nonlinear Flow Behavior in Single Fractured Granite
Authors: Su Xiaopeng , Zhou Lei , Li Honglian , Xia Binwei , Shen Zhonghui , Lu Yiyu
Published: November 2019

In this study, the hydromechanical behavior was experimentally investigated by conducting fracture geometry evolution-based gas flow tests on single fractured granite. The traditional fracture roughness value (Rp) of a single surface cannot adequately explain the intrinsic permeability in multiple samples. Instead, the permeability is better explained by aperture distribution, and it is positively correlated with the mean aperture size. The permeability is also affected by a combination of contact area and void space under changing confining stress. The average embedded depth increases rapidly under low-loading stress (less than 8 MPa) and slowly under high-loading stress (higher than 8 MPa). A simplified Hertz contact model was used to fit the experimental data. The model uses the reciprocal of the standard deviation of the aperture as the average curvature radius of the fracture. Good agreement was found between the experimental and theoretical results. A modified smooth parallel-plate model to describe flow friction in fractures was developed, which takes fracture contact and void space into account. A new friction model was also developed that takes both the nonlinear effect and the influence of fracture relative roughness into account by multiplying the ideal model by two power-law functions. This new model is effective in predicting the friction factor. Finally, taking into consideration the built permeability, mechanical, and friction models, a nonlinear flow model was proposed. The flow rate can be estimated based on the 3D fracture topography data, the applied loading stress, and the pressure gradient. The influence of four types of aperture distribution on the friction factor was investigated. The results showed that a high mean aperture size would result in a low friction factor. In addition, the influence of the mean aperture size on the friction factor is obvious, even under a very high-loading stress while the effect of the standard deviation is negligible when the loading stress is very high.
The Role of Antioxidant Activity of Chitosan-Pinus merkusii Extract Nanoparticle in against Lead Acetate-Induced Toxicity in Rat Pancreas
Authors: Wardani G. , Ernawati  , Eraiko K. , Sudjarwo S. A.
Published: November 2019

Lead is one of the heavy metals with oxidative stress that causes toxicity in human and animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Chitosan-Pinus merkusii extract nanoparticle on lead acetate-induced toxicity in rat pancreas. Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticles were identified by Particle Size Analysis (PSA) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The male rats used were divided into a control group (treated with distilled water), lead acetate group (injected with lead acetate at 20 mg/kg BW i.p), and the treatment group (treated orally with Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticle at 150 mg; 300 mg; 600 mg/kg BW and injected with lead acetate at 20 mg/kg BW i.p). Blood samples were taken to measure glucose and insulin level. The pancreas tissues were also collected to evaluate the malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and histological evaluations of cell damage. The PSA showed that the size of Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticle was 530.2 ± 38.27 nm. The SEM images revealed an irregular shape, and the morphology showed a rough surface. Administration of lead acetate resulted in a significant increase in glucose and MDA levels as well as a decrease in the level of insulin, SOD and GPx when compared with the control group, while that of 600 mg/kg BW of Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticle gave a polar result. The lead acetate induced loss of pancreatic cells normal structure and necrosis, while Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticle inhibited it. It could be concluded that Chitosan-Pinus merkusii nanoparticle has a potential to be a powerful agent and may be useful as an antioxidant against free radical-induced oxidative stress and pancreatic cell damage mediated by lead acetate intoxication.
The Cellular Functions of Eosinophils: Collegium Internationale Allergologicum (CIA) Update 2020
Authors: Simon Hans-Uwe , Yousefi Shida , Germic Nina , Arnold Isabelle C. , Haczku Angela , Karaulov Alexander V. , Simon Dagmar , Rosenberg Helene F.
Published: November 2019

Eosinophils and their secretory mediators play an important role in the pathogenesis of infectious and inflammatory disorders. Although eosinophils are largely evolutionally conserved, their physiologic functions are not well understood. Given the availability of new eosinophil-targeted depletion therapies, there has been a renewed interest in understanding eosinophil biology as these strategies may result in secondary disorders when applied over long periods of time. Recent data suggest that eosinophils are not only involved in immunological effector functions but also carry out tissue protective and immunoregulatory functions that actively contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis. Prolonged eosinophil depletion may therefore result in the development of secondary disorders. Here, we review recent literature pointing to important roles for eosinophils in promoting immune defense, antibody production, activation of adipose tissue, and tissue remodeling and fibrosis. We also reflect on patient data from clinical trials that feature anti-eosinophil therapeutics.
Ortega’s Pragmatist Perspectivism: On the Problem of Relativism
Authors: Binder Marnie
Published: November 2019

Spanish Philosopher José Ortega y Gasset advanced a number of strong criticisms of American pragmatism, yet some pragmatist notions can also be detected in his own philosophy. Within Ortega’s pragmatist perspectivism one can locate the possibility of overcoming one of the principal perceived problems of pragmatism: namely, its tendency toward relativism. This paper focuses on the ways in which Ortega’s discussion of pragmatism pertains to history and historiography. Ortega’s position that history is written from a select number of perspectives is congenial to pragmatist pluralism. What is recorded and continues to thrive in the annals of history is, within a pragmatist framework, whatever continues to be interesting, relevant, useful, and meaningful because it makes a difference – from and for these perspectives. The more of these perspectives we study, the closer we approach what, on Ortega’s view, constitutes the “eternal truth which every period has lived,” because materials initially gathered and framed for pragmatic reasons can later on provide important opportunities for the reflexive analysis of historical knowledge.
Differential Impact of Cigarette Smoking on Prognosis in Women and Men Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Authors: Yang Li Xia , Wang Zhi Jian , Shi Dong Mei , Chai Meng , Zhang Lin , Cheng Wan Jun , Zhou Yu Jie
Published: November 2019

We sought to compare the effects of smoking on clinical outcomes in women and men with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We prospectively followed up 10 369 patients undergoing elective PCI. All patients were stratified according to smoking status and sex. The impacts of smoking on long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs, the composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization) were assessed. Among 7773 men and 2596 women undergoing PCI, the prevalence of cigarette smoking was 66.7% (n = 5185) and 11.0% (n = 286; P < .001). During the 3 years of follow-up (median: 20.6 months), smoking increased MACE in both men and women (men 10.8% vs 8.1%, P < .001; women 23.2% vs 6.4%; P < .001). After adjusting for baseline characteristics, smoking had a greater effect on MACE in women (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.86-7.28; P < .001) compared with men (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.03-1.77; P = .005, interaction P = .026). There was a lower prevalence of smoking in women compared to men among patients undergoing PCI. However, smoking confers a higher excess risk for MACE among women compared with men.
The Usefulness of Respiratory Mechanic Instability in Evaluating the Effect of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Authors: Choi Ji Ho , Jung Jae Yeup , Moon Ji Eun , Hwang Se-Hwan
Published: November 2019

Objectives:

Respiratory mechanics instability (RMI) based on paradoxical movement is correlated with respiratory disturbance such as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and reflects the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The purpose of this study was to identify RMI as a method for assessing the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in the management for OSA.

Methods:

A total of 71 consecutive OSA patients with CPAP titration were included in this study. We compared sleep (sleep efficiency, arousal index, and sleep stages), respiratory (AHI, oxygen desaturation index ≥3% [ODI3], and lowest oxygen saturation), and RMI parameters (events, index, duration, and % of stage duration) between diagnostic polysomnography and CPAP titration data.

Results:

All RMI parameters (events [157.5 ± 80.9 vs 80.0 ± 47.1; P < .001], index [25.3 ± 12.4 vs 12.7 ± 7.0; P < .001], duration [182.6 ± 96.2 vs 79.8 ± 88.9; P < .001], and % of stage duration [49.0 ± 24.4 vs 20.5 ± 21.3; P < .001]) were significantly improved by the alleviation of obstructive respiratory disturbance parameters (AHI [45.1 ± 23.0 vs 4.2 ± 4.3; P < .001], ODI3 [44.9 ± 22.6 vs 4.8 ± 4.6; P < .001], and lowest oxygen saturation [77.7 ± 7.3 vs 89.3 ± 3.8; P < .001]) compared to diagnostic polysomnography and CPAP titration data.

Conclusion:

RMI may be a useful method for evaluating the effect of CPAP in OSA patients.
Americans’ Opinions on Juvenile Justice: Preferred Aims, Beliefs About Juveniles, and Blended Sentencing
Authors: Bolin Riane M. , Applegate Brandon K. , Ouellette Heather M.
Published: November 2019

Feld asserts that juvenile justice is entering a new era, one that is based on the idea that kids are different from adults in a number of important ways. It is against this backdrop that we conducted a contemporary, national assessment of the public’s views of youth today and juvenile justice policy priorities, focusing specifically on an understudied policy, juvenile-blended sentencing. We find the public holds pessimistic views of youth today, which influences their support for blended sentencing. Support for blended sentencing is also found to be related to belief in the potential consequences of such a sentence as well as belief in the importance of the goals of juvenile justice.
Identifying discursive resources for pluralising leadership: Looping chief executive officers and the frontline across hierarchy
Authors: Lloyd Rhiannon , Carroll Brigid
Published: November 2019

The promise of leadership being spread across levels and parts of an organisation beckons scholars and practitioners alike, yet the theory and practice of it remains partial and elusive. We show how cross-hierarchical leadership understanding and practice might be better embedded in organisations through discursive resources with the potential to connect groups, even temporarily, across asymmetrical power relations. Our study empirically draws on a rare leadership development workshop bringing together chief executives and frontline leadership to explore the complexities of leadership in a health and safety context. This inquiry draws iteratively between workshop interactions and subsequent interviewing of those present to identify discursive resources firstly hindering and secondly contributing to moments of pluralising and spreading leadership. Whereas frontline leadership drew on discourses of embedding, collaborative and grounding leadership, and chief executives alternatively on analytic, overseeing and cascading discourses, our interest was provoked by the shared discursive resources of reframing identities, constructing intermediaries, overcoming distance, sparking engagement and inviting translation with the potential to loop hierarchy and bring power relations across hierarchical differences into (re)negotiation.
Belief System: A Barrier to the Use of Modern Contraceptives among the Idoma of Benue State, North Central Nigeria
Authors: Atama Chiemezie Scholastica , Okoye Uzoma Odera , Odo Amelia Ngozi , Odii Aloysius , Okonkwo Uche Teresa
Published: November 2019

Despite the benefit of modern contraception, its use remains low in Nigeria. This study examined belief system as a barrier to the use of modern contraceptives among the Idoma of Benue State, North Central Nigeria. Questionnaire ( n = 1107), in-depth interview ( n = 6) and focus group discussion ( n = 52) were used to collect data from three local government areas (LGAs). The results showed high levels of knowledge (88.0%), however, only 37.8% used modern contraceptives. The male condom had the highest percentage use (56.7%). Chi-square results showed that LGA, education and occupation were significantly related to the use of modern contraceptives. Being of greater age increased the likelihood of use, whereas higher levels of education and income decreased the likelihood of modern contraceptive use ( p < 0.05). Qualitative data indicated that married women were expected to eschew modern contraceptives due to their belief in Alekwu, the community deity. Designing interventions that are culturally specific could promote use of modern contraceptives among the group.
Effect of silanized sisal fiber on thermo-mechanical properties of reinforced epoxy composites
Authors: Mughal M Moeez , Akhtar M Wasim , Baloch M Moazam , Memon Muddassir Ali , Syed Junaid Ali , Kim Jong Seok
Published: November 2019

An effective method was adopted to improve the thermo-mechanical properties of the epoxy composite by functionalization of the sisal fiber. Initially, a neat sisal fiber was acetylated with molar solution of acidic mixture (0.5:1 of HNO3:H2SO4) that removed the content of lignin and hemicellulose and increased the crystallinity of the sisal fiber. The acetylated sisal ( a-sisal) fiber was further treated with 3-aminpropyltriethoxy silane to graft the silanol moieties on sisal fiber. The functionalization of the sisal fiber with 3-aminpropyltriethoxy silane exhibits the strong interaction with epoxy, resulting in homogenous dispersion of the sisal fiber in epoxy. The composite possesses great enhancement in thermal and mechanical properties. The tensile strength in functionalized sisal epoxy composite ( CP-f-Sisal) was significantly enhanced up to 23% in comparison to non-functionalized sisal epoxy composite ( CP-n-Sisal) by adding 15 wt.% of the sisal fiber. In addition, the functionalized sisal epoxy composite ( CP-f-sisal) shows better thermal stability as compared to non-functionalized sisal epoxy composite ( CP-n-sisal). Similar results are attributed by investigating the kinetics of thermal stability parameters that include activation energy and integral procedure decomposition temperature.
Assessing the Similarity of Injunctive Norm Profiles Across Different Social Roles: The Effect of Closeness and Status in the United States and China
Authors: Buchtel Emma E. , Ma Paolo P. L. , Guan Yanjun
Published: November 2019

Do social roles affect injunctive norms for behavior and more so in Chinese than American cultural contexts? We use mixed methods to analyze open-ended data describing appropriate behavior within social roles that differ in interpersonal closeness and relative status. American ( N = 401) and Chinese ( N = 392) participants provided descriptions of ideal behavior of two actors in one of 16 role dyads. The 2,219 (American) and 1,466 (Chinese) behavior descriptions were coded into 71 content categories, forming profiles of appropriate behavior for six social roles (Close/Distant × Low/Equal/High status). First, we adapt a method for assessing profile similarity in personality psychology to quantitatively evaluate how closeness and status affect similarity between the six social roles. By separating profiles into normative (average behavior) and distinctive (behavior specific to a particular social role) components, we find that distinctive behavioral profiles for specific social roles vary systematically by closeness/status in both American and Chinese data; we also find a larger effect of closeness in Chinese data. Second, we qualitatively analyze the content of the distinctive behavioral profiles through the lens of the rapport management model, showing how rights and obligations associated with each role vary, and finding cultural differences in which behaviors appropriately manage these expectations. Quantitative findings emphasize the cross-cultural importance of interpersonal situations for determining appropriate behavior, with some evidence for a greater effect in Chinese culture; qualitative results reveal the culturally specific ways in which relational situations direct expectations for behavior.
Coming to Grips With Variation in Sociocultural Interpretations: Methodological Considerations
Authors: Terkourafi Marina
Published: November 2019

Empirically capturing sociocultural interpretations—situated interpretations of linguistic expressions shared among members of a group—can be difficult for two reasons: First, the interpretations themselves cannot be directly observed and, second, the contexts that enable these interpretations cannot be defined independently of them. Yet, the reality of such interpretations attested in piece after piece of empirical research calls for an explanation. This article outlines a bottom-up methodology that seeks to extract context-sensitive definitions of, on one hand, sociocultural interpretations and, on the other hand, the context variables that covary with them, from the data itself. Uptake-based definitions of sociocultural interpretations are empirically verifiable and include speaker, context, and addressee contributions to the bringing about of a certain sociocultural interpretation. Dynamic definitions of macro-social variables (gender, age, class, ethnicity, region, etc.) can emerge by gradually abstracting over the minimal contexts that are found to enable particular sociocultural interpretations. The article outlines with examples how this methodology can be applied to spoken conversational data, as well as some of its limitations.
Expression of Normal or Mutated X-Linked BCOR Transcripts in OFCD iPSCs
Authors: El Ayachi I. , Zou X.-Y. , Yan X. , Lou Y. , Huang G.T.-J.
Published: November 2019

Reprogramming diseased cells with mutated genes into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can allow studies of disease mechanism and correct the mutation. Oculofaciocardiodental (OFCD) syndrome is a developmental disorder caused by heterozygous mutations in the X-linked BCL-6 corepressor ( BCOR) gene. In this present study, we aimed to reprogram stem cells from a tooth apical papilla (SCAP) of a patient with OFCD, termed SCAP-O, into iPSCs. The SCAP-O carry a copy of the BCOR gene having 1 nucleotide deletion in 1 of the alleles, therefore harboring a mixture of cells expressing either normal (SCAP-O BCOR-WT) or mutated (SCAP-O BCOR-mut) BCOR transcripts. We subcloned SCAP-O and separated SCAP-O BCOR-WT and SCAP-O BCOR-mut as verified by sequencing. The selected subclone SCAP-O BCOR-mut expressed only the mutated BCOR transcripts and remained in such condition after multiple passages. We reprogrammed SCAP-O and subclone SCAP-O BCOR-mut into transgene-free iPSCs using an excisable lentiviral vector system (hSTEMCCA-loxP) carrying 4 reprogramming factors in a single cassette, followed by removal of transgenes via Cre-mediated excision. We found that after reprogramming SCAP-O or subclone SCAP-OBCOR-mut into iPSCs, some of the iPSC clones expressed either solely the normal BCOR-WT or BCOR-mut transcripts, while other clones expressed both BCOR-WT and BCOR-mut transcripts. This is our first step toward establishing OFCD study models by generating isogenic control BCOR-WT iPSCs versus BCOR-mut iPSCs.
Perception of Word-level Prominence in Free Word Order Language Discourse
Authors: Luchkina Tatiana , Cole Jennifer S.
Published: November 2019

This study examines the contribution of constituent order, prosody, and information structure to the perception of word-level prominence in Russian, a free word order language. Prominence perception is investigated through the analysis of prominence ratings of nominal words in two published narrative texts. Word-level perceived prominence ratings were obtained from linguistically naïve native speakers of Russian in two tasks: a silent prominence rating task of the read text passages, and an auditory prominence rating task of the same texts as read aloud by a native Russian speaker. Analyses of the prominence ratings reveal a greater likelihood of perceived prominence for words introducing discourse-new referents, as well as words occurring in a non-canonical sentence position, and featuring acoustic-prosodic enhancement. The results show that prosody and word order vary probabilistically in relation to information structure in read-aloud narrative, suggesting a complex interaction of prosody, word order, and information structure underlying the perception of prominence.
Are You Getting Enough to Eat? Addressing Food Insecurity in Rehabilitation Clients
Authors: Fleming Allison R. , Phillips Brian N. , Hanna Jennifer L.
Published: November 2019

Food insecurity is a well-known risk factor for poor health and quality-of-life outcomes. Recent explorations of census data have concluded that it is experienced disproportionately by individuals with disabilities, making it an important area of focus for rehabilitation counseling and research. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between food insecurity and work barriers and intrapersonal characteristics that are often the focus of rehabilitation counseling. Findings from a national sample of adults with disabilities ( N = 435) reveal that individuals with less than a bachelor’s degree or in a household earning less than $40,000 per year were more likely to report high food insecurity. In addition, food insecurity correlated with unfavorable outcomes in measures of self-reported health, depression, social support, acceptance of chronic illness and disability (CID), and vocational self-efficacy. Implications are presented for increasing attention to the issue of food insecurity within the context of rehabilitation counseling practice and research, including strategies for augmenting services to include food assistance in a way that is sensitive to the experience of individuals with significant resource gaps.
Shadow Economy, Corruption, and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Baklouti Nedra , Boujelbene Younes
Published: November 2019

There is considerable debate over the effects of both corruption and shadow economy on growth, but few studies have considered how the interaction between them might affect economic growth. We study how corruption levels in public administration affect economic growth and how this effect depends on the shadow economy. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed effects, and system generalized method of moments (GMM) on a dataset of 34 OECD countries over the period 1995-2014. The estimation results indicate that increased corruption and a larger shadow economy lead to decrease in economic growth. Results additionally indicate that the shadow economy magnifies the effect of corruption on economic growth. These results imply significant complementarities between corruption and the shadow economy, suggesting that the reduction of corruption will lead to a fall in the size of the shadow economy and will also reduce the negative effects of corruption on economic growth through the underground economy.
Scrub typhus and leptospirosis in rural and urban settings of central India: a preliminary evaluation
Authors: Vikram Kumar , Agarwala Pragya , Bhargava Anudita , Jain Yogesh , Jagzape Tushar , Wasnik Pritam
Published: November 2019

Scrub typhus and leptospirosis are bacterial zoonotic diseases reported from different parts of India, whose prevalence in Chhattisgarh is unknown. Our study was carried out to delineate the prevalence of these illnesses there and to assess the clinical profiles of rural and urban patients. A total of 169 patients with acute febrile illnesses (AFI) was enrolled in our study from May to December 2018, of whom 35 (20.7%) tested positive for scrub typhus and only one tested positive for leptospirosis by respective IgM ELISA. Scrub typhus seropositivity was higher in rural patients (25.0%) than in urban (18.1%). Patients in the age group 16–30 years were the most commonly affected. The commonest presenting symptoms were fever with headache (68.57%), extreme weakness (57.14%), myalgia/arthralgia (54.29%) and abdominal pain (51.43%). The preliminary evidence for the presence of scrub typhus in Chhattisgarh necessitates its inclusion in the panel of tests for AFI.
Complex syntax and working memory in children with specific learning difficulties
Authors: Stanford Emily , Delage Hélène
Published: November 2019

Working memory (WM) limitations are frequently reported for children with specific learning disorder (SLD). However, WM capacity influences more than literacy and numeracy, as research highlights the contribution of WM to language development, in particular syntax. In this article, the authors study the effect of syntactic intervention, i.e. syntactic elements intervening between filler and gap, on comprehension in children with SLD and evaluate the relationship of this effect to WM capacity. Specifically, they assess how these children comprehend wh-questions and relative clauses. Additionally, they examine how comprehension relates to WM, measured by backward digit recall. The authors report that a subgroup of children with SLD struggle to comprehend structures containing intervention, and that WM capacity influences performance in SLD. Their conclusion is that computing a syntactic relation in which a moved object and an intervening subject share a featural specification taxes the processing system of children with SLD who have WM limitations. Thus, syntactic difficulties, although not typically associated with SLD, may form part of the SLD profile, especially when WM capacity is reduced.
Energy-saving evaluation of a solar integrated vacuum freeze-dryer and building air conditioning system
Authors: Zhou Zhongwei , Guo Yun , Lin Yaolin
Published: November 2019

Vacuum freeze-dryer has been widely used in many fields such as food, medicine, and beverage. In the actual operation process, the freeze-dryer and factory buildings need to consume a lot of cold energy. In order to reduce energy consumption, this paper presents a freeze-dryer system using solar energy absorption refrigeration in conjunction with buildings. Through the solar absorption refrigeration system, the cooling capacity is supplied to the freeze-dryer and the building at the same time, so that the cold can be cascaded utilization. The simulation of the system by TRNSYS software shows that the system can greatly reduce the consumption of conventional energy, and it is a new energy-saving measure of vacuum freeze-dryer and building air conditioning.