bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emergence of Thailand‐like strains of porcine deltacoronavirus in Guangxi Province, China
Authors: Huang Haixin , Yin Yanwen , Wang Wei , Cao Liang , Sun Wenchao , Shi Kaichuang , Lu Huijun , Jin Ningyi
Published: May 2020

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) has been detected sporadically in China since its first description in 2012. In our study, 62 faecal and intestinal samples from pigs with diarrhoea were collected in Guangxi Province, China, during 2017 and 2018. Twelve samples (19.4%, 12/62) were positive for PDCoV. Five complete genomes of PDCoV were then determined, and sequence alignment revealed that the five strains had discontinuous deletions at 400–401 aa in non‐structural protein 2 (NSP2) and 758–760 aa in non‐structural protein 3 (NSP3) compared with the respective proteins in the HKU15‐44 strain. Notably, the CHN‐GX81‐2018 strain contained two insertions in the S gene and 3′‐UTR. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that four strains shared 98.2%–98.4% nucleotide identity with CHN‐AH‐2004 and were classified into a new cluster of China lineage strains, whereas the CHN‐GX81‐2018 strain shared 98.7% nucleotide identity with Vietnam/Binh21/2015 and belonged to the Vietnam/Laos/Thailand lineage. Recombination analyses revealed that four strains were the result of recombination between CHN‐HB‐2014 and Vietnam/Binh21/2015 strains. This study demonstrated the co‐existence of multiple lineages of PDCoV in China, and our findings will aid the reorganization and evolution of the virus.
Steady natural convection Couette flow with wall conduction and thermal boundary condition of third kind
Authors: Ajibade Abiodun O. , Umar Ayuba M.
Published: May 2020

This study theoretically investigates the effects of viscous dissipation and boundary plate thickness on an incompressible heat generating/absorbing fluid with non‐uniform internal temperature unlike lumped heat capacitance assumption. The flow, which is laminar is induced by free convection caused by asymmetric heating of the channel boundaries and internally generated energy caused by viscous dissipation. In addition, convection through the boundary plates is also considered in the flow formation. One of the plates channel moves along the flow direction while the other is stationary. Due to the non‐linear and coupling nature of the governing flow equations, homotopy perturbation method (HPM) has been adopted to analytically find the approximate solution to the problem. The effects of thermodynamic and hydrodynamic parameters are depicted in graphs and tables. It is discovered from the investigation that, both the velocity and temperature profiles increase with increase in viscous dissipation. Velocity distribution decreases with increase in Biot number while the temperature distribution near the heated plate increases with increase in Biot number. The increase in boundary plate thickness d causes a boost in the fluid flow across the medium and reduces the temperature of the fluid near the heated plate. It is further discovered that the rate of heat transfer on both plates increase with increase in Biot number while they drastically dropped when the boundary plate thickness d is increased. The shear stresses on the surface of both plates increase with increase in heat generation while reverse cases were observed with increase in heat absorption . It is further observed that the volume flow rate within the channel increases with increase in viscous dissipation .
Hg isotopic composition and total Hg mass fraction in NIES Certified Reference Material No. 28 Urban Aerosols
Authors: Yamakawa Akane , Bérail Sylvain , Amouroux David , Tessier Emmanuel , Barre Julien , Sano Tomoharu , Nagano Kimiyo , Kanwal Sadia , Yoshinaga Jun , Donard Olivier F. X.
Published: May 2020

An interlaboratory study on the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) certified reference material (CRM) No. 28 Urban Aerosols, collected on the filters of a central ventilating system in a building in Beijing city center, was performed to obtain informative values of Hg isotopic composition and total Hg (THg) mass fraction. The THg mass fraction was determined by four organizations using atomic absorption spectrometry; it resulted in the mean value of 1.19 ± 0.12 mg/kg (2SD, n = 24). The Hg isotopic composition of the CRM was measured and intercompared at two different institutions by cold vapor generation system coupled to multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Subsequently, a conventional dissolution method that uses a mixture of HNO3/HCl/H2O2 in Hotblock® and two different dissolution methods that use a mixture of HNO3/HCl with a microwave and a digestion bomb were applied. The Hg isotopic compositions were δ202Hg = − 1.26 ± 0.17‰, Δ199Hg = − 0.23 ± 0.06‰, Δ200Hg = 0.01 ± 0.07‰, and Δ201Hg = − 0.22 ± 0.09‰ (2SD, n = 18) for the conventional method, which agree well with those obtained using microwave and bomb digestion. Our results indicate that, for the quality control of particulate matter analyses, this CRM is appropriate for use in environmental and geochemical studies.
Indicators of active disease and steroid dependency in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases not treated with biologics in a German real-world-setting
Authors: Bokemeyer B. , Ghiani M. , Fuchs A. , Deiters B. , Hardtstock F. , Brandes A. , Knop J. , Orzechowski H. D. , Wilke T.
Published: May 2020

Background and aims

While a minority of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients receives biologics in Germany, little is known about therapeutic needs of patients receiving non-biologic therapies. This study aimed to identify indicators of active disease/steroid dependency in patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) treated with conventional therapies and to describe health care resource use (HCRU)/cost.

Methods

CD/UC patients treated with immunosuppressants (IS) and/or systemic or locally acting oral corticosteroids (CS) were identified in German claims data (2013–2017) and followed for 12 months post-therapy start. Indicators of active disease/steroid dependency during follow-up period were (i) ≥ 2 prescriptions of CS (sensitivity ≥ 4) or (ii) ≥ 1 IBD-related surgery or (iii) > 7 days IBD-related hospitalization(s).

Results

Of 9871 included IBD patients (5170 CD, 4701 UC), 25.7%/19.9% (CD/UC) received ≥ 2 prescriptions of CS (sensitivity, 17.4%/15.7%) (i), 3.2% experienced IBD-related surgeries (ii), and 2.5% > 7 days of hospitalizations (iii). Altogether, 44.4% had indicators of active disease/steroid dependency (sensitivity, 23.9%). Among patients with active disease/steroid dependency, 78.0% received CS monotherapy at baseline. Of these, 89.6% received a CS monotherapy in the follow-up period, too. Proportionally, fewer patients with CS monotherapy (57.4%) than IS therapy (91.0%) visited a specialist. HCRU/cost per patient year was significantly higher in patients with than without active disease/steroid dependency.

Conclusions

A substantial percentage of biologic-naïve IBD patients suffers from active disease/steroid dependency. The majority receives a monotherapy with systemic CS. Referral to gastroenterologists for treatment optimization is recommended, also because active disease/steroid dependency is associated with increased HCRU/cost.
RHEEMix in the data jungle: a cost-based optimizer for cross-platform systems
Authors: Kruse Sebastian , Kaoudi Zoi , Contreras-Rojas Bertty , Chawla Sanjay , Naumann Felix , Quiané-Ruiz Jorge-Arnulfo
Published: May 2020

Data analytics are moving beyond the limits of a single platform. In this paper, we present the cost-based optimizer of Rheem, an open-source cross-platform system that copes with these new requirements. The optimizer allocates the subtasks of data analytic tasks to the most suitable platforms. Our main contributions are: (i) a mechanism based on graph transformations to explore alternative execution strategies; (ii) a novel graph-based approach to determine efficient data movement plans among subtasks and platforms; and (iii) an efficient plan enumeration algorithm, based on a novel enumeration algebra. We extensively evaluate our optimizer under diverse real tasks. We show that our optimizer can perform tasks more than one order of magnitude faster when using multiple platforms than when using a single platform.
Correction to: Using Positive Spanning Sets to Achieve d-Stationarity with the Boosted DC Algorithm
Authors: Aragón Artacho F. J. , Campoy R. , Vuong P. T.
Published: May 2020

Section 2.2 contained a typesetting error in the initial online publication. The original article has been corrected.
Multiple Ecosystem Effects of Extreme Weather Events in the Arctic
Authors: Christensen T. R. , Lund M. , Skov K. , Abermann J. , López-Blanco E. , Scheller J. , Scheel M. , Jackowicz-Korczynski M. , Langley K. , Murphy M. J. , Mastepanov M.
Published: May 2020

The Arctic is getting warmer and wetter. Here, we document two independent examples of how associated extreme precipitation patterns have severe implications for high Arctic ecosystems. The events stand out in a 23-year record of continuous observations of a wide range of ecosystem parameters and act as an early indication of conditions projected to increase in the future. In NE Greenland, August 2015, one-quarter of the average annual precipitation fell during a 9-day intensive rain event. This ranked number one for daily sums during the 1996–2018 period and caused a strong and prolonged reduction in solar radiation decreasing CO2uptake in the order of 18–23 g C m−2, a reduction comparable to typical annual C budgets in Arctic tundra. In a different type of event, but also due to changed weather patterns, an extreme snow melt season in 2018 triggered a dramatic gully thermokarst causing rapid transformation in ecosystem functioning from consistent annual ecosystem CO2uptake and low methane exchange to highly elevated methane release, net source of CO2, and substantial export of organic carbon downstream as riverine and coastal input. In addition to climate warming alone, more frequent occurrence of extreme weather patterns will have large implications for otherwise undisturbed tundra ecosystems including their element transport and carbon interactions with the atmosphere and ocean.
Moral Identity and the Quaker tradition: Moral Dissonance Negotiation in the WorkPlace
Authors: Burton Nicholas , Vu Mai Chi
Published: May 2020

Moral identity and moral dissonance in business ethics have explored tensions relating to moral self-identity and the pressures for identity compartmentalization in the workplace. Yet, the connection between these streams of scholarship, spirituality at work, and business ethics is under-theorized. In this paper, we examine the Quaker tradition to explore how Quakers’ interpret moral identity and negotiate the moral dissonance associated with a divided self in work organizations. Specifically, our study illuminates that while Quakers’ share a tradition-specific conception of “Quaker morality” grounded in Quaker theology and the Quaker testimonies to truth, integrity, peace, equality, and simplicity, they often foreground the pursuit of an undivided self through seeking work that enables an expression of Quaker moral identity, or by resigning from work organizations that do not. In most cases, however, Quakers’ face moral dissonance at work and engage in either identity compartmentalization and draw upon the metaphor of a ‘spiritual journey’ as a form of self-justification, or reframe, compartmentalize and engage in work tasks that are both subjectively moral and meaningful. We present a model that elaborates these negotiation processes and invite further research that examines how the spiritual traditions influence moral identity construction at work.
Seasonal patterns in the developmental rate of glochidia in the endangered thick-shelled river mussel, Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788
Authors: Zając Katarzyna , Zając Tadeusz A.
Published: May 2020

Females of freshwater mussels spawn eggs which, after fertilization, are brooded until the developing larvae reach a stadium ready to infest a fish host in order to complete the obligate parasitic phase of their life. We investigated the duration of the brooding period in the endangered thick-shelled river mussel Unio crassus in two rivers in southern Poland and identified the stadia of glochidia development which could be used to assess current larval developmental stages. The eggs were fertilized in marsupia. The duration of the brooding period shortened significantly during the season, from 35 days in early spring to 9 days in summer. The break between consecutive broods was usually short but very variable: from almost no break to 17 days. 20% of brooding events inspected every other day were miscarried at different stadia of larval development. The recorded differences in brooding time may significantly influence the reproductive output of individuals and populations, depending on the thermal conditions, which may be affected by both anthropogenic impact and global climate change. The study offers a practical scheme for assessing female gravidity advancement in Unio crassus, which may be very informative for the future application of conservation measures in this endangered European species.
Data-driven child behavior prediction system based on posture database for fall accident prevention in a daily living space
Authors: Nose Tsubasa , Kitamura Koji , Oono Mikiko , Nishida Yoshifumi , Ohkura Michiko
Published: May 2020

Ten thousand children are admitted to emergency rooms due to accidents every year in Tokyo. The most frequent accident is a fall accident. Fall accidents may occur when climbing to a high place in a daily living space. Since injury prevention by human supervision does not work well, the World Health Organization recommends an environmental modification approach as an effective preventive countermeasure to this problem. Predicting children’s behavior is necessary in order to improve the environment. However, even for advanced human modeling technology, predicting where children can climb in everyday life situations remains difficult. In the present study, the authors developed a new method for predicting places that children can climb in a data-driven manner by integrating cameras, a behavior recognition system (OpenPose), and a climbing motion planning algorithm based on a rapidly exploring random tree. Thirty five children participated in an experiment to collect climbing posture data. A simulation is performed based on the posture database and allows us to visually understand how children climb up in daily living space. This makes it possible to improve to achieve a safe environment for children without the need for specialized knowledge, which is useful for parents, nursery teachers, nurses, etc. The present paper describes fundamental functions of the developed system and presents an evaluation of the feasibility of the prediction function.
Sparse Principal Component Analysis for Natural Language Processing
Authors: Drikvandi Reza , Lawal Olamide
Published: May 2020

High dimensional data are rapidly growing in many different disciplines, particularly in natural language processing. The analysis of natural language processing requires working with high dimensional matrices of word embeddings obtained from text data. Those matrices are often sparse in the sense that they contain many zero elements. Sparse principal component analysis is an advanced mathematical tool for the analysis of high dimensional data. In this paper, we study and apply the sparse principal component analysis for natural language processing, which can effectively handle large sparse matrices. We study several formulations for sparse principal component analysis, together with algorithms for implementing those formulations. Our work is motivated and illustrated by a real text dataset. We find that the sparse principal component analysis performs as good as the ordinary principal component analysis in terms of accuracy and precision, while it shows two major advantages: faster calculations and easier interpretation of the principal components. These advantages are very helpful especially in big data situations.
An effective co-evolutionary algorithm based on artificial bee colony and differential evolution for time series predicting optimization
Authors: Yang Yun , Duan Zongtao
Published: May 2020

Non-linear model optimization for predicting time series is a challenge problem. In Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) application, the indispensable short-term traffic flow prediction with big data makes the problem worst. To improve the prediction accuracy and ensure real-time performance in the big data environment, we propose a novel co-evolutionary artificial bee colony (ABC) improved by differential evolution (DE) optimization algorithm combined with a traffic flow predicting model trained by extreme learning machine (ELM) neural network. The proposed model can inherit the better generalization performance and the less training time consumption of the standard ELM, and can achieve a more balanced search strategy with the optimized weights and biases to overcome the random initialization deficiency of the typical ELM, and successfully obtain higher prediction accuracy compared with state-of-the-art methods. To verify the efficiency of the proposed model, we apply it to Lozi and Tent chaotic time series simulations and measured traffic flow time series experiments. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model has superior performance and competitive computational efficiency.
Evidence-based thoracic epidural nerve block: A systematic review
Authors: Chekol Wubie Birlie , Melesse Debas Yaregal , Denu Zewuditu Abdissa , Tawuye Hailu Yimer
Published: May 2020

ABSTRACT

Background:

Thoracic epidural nerve block (TENB) is a technique in which analgesia is produced by injecting local anesthetic agent by itself or combined with additives or alone into the epidural space. This systematic review was designed to improve the quality of pain management and to form a common consensus for TENB based on the current evidences.

Methods:

PubMed through HINARI was used to get access for current and updated evidences on TENB for cardio-thoracic and major abdominal surgeries. The flow diagram was used to show the filtration methods of suitable literature.

Discussion:

TENB should be started after checking baseline vital signs and after preparation of emergent phenomenon. The prominent part of C7, T3 scapular spine and the inferior border of T7 are used to localize the intended segment during performing the procedures. Skin infiltration with aseptic technique of 2–3 ml of 2% lidocaine, test dose of 3 ml of lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine, and loading dose of 3–5 ml of 0.25–0.5% bupivacaine are recommended for TENB. The maintenance dose is 3–5 ml of 0.1–0.25% of bupivacaine. The thoracic epidural catheter will not stay for more than 4 days. Post-procedural care and monitoring should be performed for patients on thoracic epidural catheter.

Conclusion:

Generally, appropriate preoperative patient evaluation, pre-procedural preparation of the necessary materials, and consideration of the possible options should be mandatory. Anesthetists should be familiar with the landmark techniques, troubleshooting, administration of safe doses of the drug, and post-epidural catheter insertion care.

Highlights:
A GENERALISED PROPERTY EXPOSURE RATING FRAMEWORK THAT INCORPORATES SCALE-INDEPENDENT LOSSES AND MAXIMUM POSSIBLE LOSS UNCERTAINTY
Authors: Parodi Pietro
Published: May 2020

A generalised property exposure rating framework is presented here to address two issues arising in the standard approach to exposure rating, especially in the context of direct insurance and facultative reinsurance (D&F) property pricing:

(a)

What to do when the main assumption of exposure rating, scalability – that is, that the probability of a given damage ratio does not depend on the maximum possible loss (MPL) but only on the type of property – breaks down.

(b)

How to take account of the uncertainty around the MPL, that is, the fact that the MPL (unlike the insured value, IV) is an informed estimate rather than a contractual feature.

The first difficulty is addressed by making the exposure rating framework more flexible by introducing exposure curves that are a mixture of scale-dependent and scale-independent losses, and where the weight given to the two components is a function of the MPL. This allows to model the impact on the expected losses of changes in the underlying deductibles, a classic problem in D&F pricing normally solved with the help of deductible impact tables. The second difficulty is addressed by working out the mathematical implications of having a finite probability of exceeding the MPL and extending the exposure curve up to the maximum of MPL and IV. A practical application of this framework – in which the scale-independent and scale-dependent losses are identified with attritional and large losses respectively – is described. A discussion of how this generalised framework can be calibrated based on actual data is included, and implementation code for the framework is made available.
Developing a Business and Human Rights Treaty: Lessons from the Deep Seabed Mining Regime Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Authors: BERNAZ Nadia , PIETROPAOLI Irene
Published: May 2020

This article delves into the deep seabed mining regime under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with a view to inform the negotiating process of the proposed business and human rights (BHR) treaty. It highlights points of convergence and divergence between the two regulatory regimes and explores how the BHR treaty negotiations could draw from the deep seabed mining regime with regard to the responsibility and liability of states and corporations. In particular, it suggests that a BHR treaty could incorporate some of the arrangements of UNCLOS to address state obligations and direct corporate human rights obligations, both of a general and specific nature, including the obligation to carry out human rights due diligence. The article also proposes a mechanism of responsibility and liability of states and corporations under the future BHR treaty going beyond UNCLOS and embracing residual liability for home and/or host states.
Business and Armed Non-State Groups: Challenging the Landscape of Corporate (Un)accountability in Armed Conflicts
Authors: APARAC Jelena
Published: May 2020

Economic and armed non-state actors increasingly operate through their transnational activities. International public law excludes them from any international regulation or accountability process. International humanitarian law (IHL, the law of war) as a branch of international public law is an exception to this because it also regulates the behavior of non-state actors. Recent developments pertaining to the potential liability of business entities for involvement in international crimes, particularly when related to the activities of ANSGs challenge the traditional doctrine of international law and demonstrate the need for its norms to adapt to an evolving reality.
Responding to the accumulation of adverse childhood experiences in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for practice
Authors: Bryce India
Published: May 2020

In early 2020, the world as we knew it began to change dramatically and rapidly with the COVID-19 outbreak. Social distancing restrictions and lockdown measures have been the most effective course of action and an inarguably imperative approach at this time. However, in trying to keep the global population safe, social distancing measures unwittingly placed children already experiencing maltreatment and disadvantage in harm’s way. This paper will consider the evidence base which attests to the importance of considering theaccumulationof adversity when seeking to understand risk and impact of child maltreatment and disadvantage. Given the unique and unprecedented circumstances which have accompanied the COVID-19 outbreak, and the dearth of research pertaining to the impact of pandemics on child welfare, the paper draws on an emerging body of literature about the effect of natural disasters, conflict and significant global events on child maltreatment. The paper synthesises the research to date in order to call attention to the cumulative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children already experiencing abuse and neglect. The paper concludes with an outline of the implications for practice in the helping professions.
Play-by-Play Justice: Tweeting Criminal Trials in the Digital Age
Authors: Small Tamara A. , Puddister Kate
Published: May 2020

Journalists routinely live-tweet high-profile criminal trials, a practice that raises questions about access to justice and the principle of open court. Does social media open up the justice system? There is a normative debate in the literature about the use of Twitter and social media in the courtroom. This paper takes on this debate by exploring the relationship between digital technologies and criminal justice. Through a systematic examination of journalists’ tweets during two key trials (Ghomeshi and Saretzky), we ask to what extent can the live-tweeting of court proceedings achieve greater access to justice in Canada? We argue that while the live-tweeting does provide more access to court, potentially furthering the principle of open court, the nature of this access provides little in the way of increased engagement with the public and its understanding of the legal system. This paper makes contributions to both the legal studies and digital politics literatures.
Development and implementation of a community-based research network
Authors: Minor Brittany C. , Dashner Jessica , Espín Tello Sandra M. , Bollinger Rebecca , Keglovits Marian , Stowe James , Campbell Margaret , Stark Susan L.
Published: May 2020

Introduction:

People aging with long-term physical disabilities (PAwLTPD), meaning individuals with onset of disability from birth through midlife, often require long-term support services (LTSS) to remain independence. The LTSS system is fragmented into aging and disability organizations with little communication between them. In addition, there are currently no evidence-based LTSS-type programs listed on the Administration for Community Living website that have been demonstrated to be effective for PAwLTPD. Because of these gaps, we have developed a community-based research network (CBRN), drawing on the practice-based research network model (PBRN), to bring together aging and disability organizations to address the lack of evidence-based programs for PAwLTPD.

Materials and Methods:

Community-based organizations serving PAwLTPD across the state of Missouri were recruited to join the CBRN. A formative process evaluation of the network was conducted after a year to evaluate the effectiveness of the network.

Results:

Nine community-based organizations across the state of Missouri joined the CBRN. CBRN members include three centers for independent living (CILs), three area agencies on aging (AAAs), one CIL/AAA hybrid, one non-CIL disability organization, and one non-AAA aging organization. To date, we have held seven meetings, provided educational opportunities for CBRN members, and launched an inaugural research study within the CBRN. Formative evaluation data indicate that CBRN members feel that participation in the CBRN is beneficial.

Conclusion:

The PBRN model appears to be a feasible framework for use with community-based organizations to facilitate communication between agencies and to support research aimed at addressing the needs of PAwLTPD.
Maximally highly proximal flows
Authors: ZUCKER ANDY
Published: May 2020

For $G$ a Polish group, we consider $G$-flows which either contain a comeager orbit or have all orbits meager. We single out a class of flows, the maximally highly proximal (MHP) flows, for which this analysis is particularly nice. In the former case, we provide a complete structure theorem for flows containing comeager orbits, generalizing theorems of Melleray, Nguyen Van Thé, and Tsankov and of Ben Yaacov, Melleray, and Tsankov. In the latter, we show that any minimal MHP flow with all orbits meager has a metrizable factor with all orbits meager, thus ‘reflecting’ complicated dynamical behavior to metrizable flows. We then apply this to obtain a structure theorem for Polish groups whose universal minimal flow is distal.
Oxidized silver cups can skew oxygen isotope results of small samples
Authors: Tsang Man-Yin , Yao Weiqi , Tse Kevin
Published: May 2020

One of the commonly used analytical approaches for measuring oxygen isotope ratios δ18O of solids (organic and inorganic) is to pyrolyze the samples to gaseous phases and then send the gas into an isotope ratio mass spectrometer system. Solid samples for δ18O measurements are usually stored in silver cups because of its low reactivity towards oxygen and other oxidants. Samples in silver cups can be dropped directly into the carbon column of the pyrolysis furnace. However, the silver cups can tarnish and then be oxidized over a prolonged storage period. We find that while a small amount of silver oxides does not affect measurements with appreciable sample sizes, it can skew isotope results of small samples. We thus recommend careful storage of samples in silver cups to minimize oxidation, such as under an air-isolated condition, and avoiding prolonged storage for accurate δ18O measurements.
Contextualizing and pilot testing the Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) to primary healthcare workers in Kilifi, Kenya
Authors: Bitta Mary A. , Kariuki Symon M. , Omar Anisa , Nasoro Leonard , Njeri Monica , Kiambu Cyprian , Ongeri Linnet , Newton Charles R. J. C.
Published: May 2020

Background

Little data exists about the methodology of contextualizing version two of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) in resource-poor settings. This paper describes the contextualisation and pilot testing of the guide in Kilifi, Kenya.

Methods

Contextualisation was conducted as a collaboration between the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) and Kilifi County Government's Department of Health (KCGH) between 2016 and 2018. It adapted a mixed-method design and involved a situational analysis, stakeholder engagement, local adaptation and pilot testing of the adapted guide. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis to identify key facilitators and barriers to the implementation process. Pre- and post-training scores of the adapted guide were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results

Human resource for mental health in Kilifi is strained with limited infrastructure and outdated legislation. Barriers to implementation included few specialists for referral, unreliable drug supply, difficulty in translating the guide to Kiswahili language, lack of clarity of the roles of KWTRP and KCGH in the implementation process and the unwillingness of the biomedical practitioners to collaborate with traditional health practitioners to enhance referrals to hospital. In the adaptation process, stakeholders recommended the exclusion of child and adolescent mental and behavioural problems, as well as dementia modules from the final version of the guide. Pilot testing of the adapted guide showed a significant improvement in the post-training scores: 66.3% (95% CI 62.4–70.8) v. 76.6% (95% CI 71.6–79.2) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The adapted mhGAP-IG version two can be used across coastal Kenya to train primary healthcare providers. However, successful implementation in Kilifi will require a review of new evidence on the burden of disease, improvements in the mental health system and sustained dialogue among stakeholders.
Consuming decaffeinated coffee with milk and sugar added before a high-glycaemic index meal improves postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic responses in healthy adults
Authors: Wong Tommy H. T. , Wan Jennifer M. F. , Tse Iris M. Y. , Sit W. H. , Louie Jimmy C. Y.
Published: May 2020

The present study aimed to compare the effects of drinking different types of coffee before a high-glycaemic index (GI) meal on postprandial glucose metabolism and to assess the effects of adding milk and sugar into coffee. In this randomised, crossover, acute feeding study, apparently healthy adults (n21) consumed the test drink followed by a high-GI meal in each session. Different types of coffee (espresso, instant, boiled and decaffeinated, all with milk and sugar) and plain water were tested in separate sessions, while a subset of the participants (n10) completed extra sessions using black coffees. Postprandial levels of glucose, insulin, active glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and nitrotyrosine between different test drinks were compared using linear mixed models. Results showed that only preloading decaffeinated coffee with milk and sugar led to significantly lower glucose incremental AUC (iAUC; 14 % lower,P= 0·001) than water. Preloading black coffees led to greater postprandial glucose iAUC than preloading coffees with milk and sugar added (12–35 % smaller,P< 0·05 for all coffee types). Active GLP-1 and nitrotyrosine levels were not significantly different between test drinks. To conclude, preloading decaffeinated coffee with milk and sugar led to a blunted postprandial glycaemic response after a subsequent high-GI meal, while adding milk and sugar into coffee could mitigate the impairment effect of black coffee towards postprandial glucose responses. These findings may partly explain the positive effects of coffee consumption on glucose metabolism.
Explaining Variation in Oil Sands Pipeline Projects
Authors: Janzwood Amy
Published: May 2020

While the vast majority of oil pipeline projects in Canada have been successfully built, several mega oil sands projects within and passing through Canada have been cancelled or significantly delayed. This article explains why these delays and cancellations have occurred. A systematic cross-case analysis is used to provide insight into the changing politics of oil sands pipelines. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is used to identify combinations of causal conditions that co-occur across cases of proposed new oil pipelines and pipeline expansion projects. The pipeline projects were proposed to the federal regulator—the National Energy Board—between 2006 and 2014. The QCA reveals that social mobilization and major regulatory barrier(s) are necessary conditions in explaining variation in pipeline project outcomes. The analysis of sufficiency reveals more complex configurations of conditions. This article contributes to the literature on the politics of oil sands pipelines by using a comparative approach to identify the impacts of socio-political and legal dynamics that have emerged around pipelines in the last 15 years.
Large trilobites in a stress-free Early Ordovician environment
Authors: Saleh Farid , Vidal Muriel , Laibl Lukáš , Sansjofre Pierre , Gueriau Pierre , Pérez-Peris Francesc , Lustri Lorenzo , Lucas Victoire , Lefebvre Bertrand , Pittet Bernard , El Hariri Khadija , Daley Allison C.
Published: May 2020

Understanding variations in body size is essential for deciphering the response of an organism to its surrounding environmental conditions and its ecological adaptations. In modern environments, large marine animals are mostly found in cold waters. However, numerous parameters can influence body-size variations other than temperatures, such as oxygenation, nutrient availability, predation or physical disturbances by storms. Here, we investigate trilobite size variations in the Lower Ordovician Fezouata Shale deposited in a cold-water environment. Trilobite assemblages dominated by small- to normal-sized specimens that are a few centimetres in length are found in proximal and intermediate settings, while those comprising larger taxa more than 20 cm in length are found in the most distal environment of the Fezouata Shale. Drill core material from distal settings shows that sedimentary rocks hosting large trilobites preservedin situare extensively bioturbated with a high diversity of trace fossils, indicating that oxygen and nutrients were available in this environment. In intermediate and shallow settings, bioturbation is less extensive and shallower in depth. The rarity of storm events (minimal physical disturbance) and the lack of predators in deep environments in comparison to shallower settings would also have helped trilobites attain larger body sizes. This highly resolved spatial study investigating the effects of numerous biotic and abiotic parameters on body size has wider implications for the understanding of size fluctuations over geological time.
The impact of preschool attendance on children's bidialectism in The Netherlands: Why toddlers may stop speaking a regional language (Limburgish) at home
Authors: Cornips Leonie
Published: May 2020

This article addresses the question as to why toddlers in The Netherlands may stop speaking their regional language—Limburgish—as their home language after entering preschool, even when both parents speak Limburgish at home. The question is addressed through the concept of thetotal linguistic fact(Silverstein 1985): language ideology, language choice, and language practices mutually shape and inform each other. Language ideologies in wider society impact educational practices in preschool. Hierarchical teacher-child and influential peer interactions show the negative effects of speaking Limburgish. Preschool language socialization practices have a profound effect on language choice and shift by toddlers at home who are still in the midst of their linguistic, pragmatic, cognitive, and social development of both Limburgish and Dutch as first languages. (Regional language, language ideology, preschool)
Doing ‘being interrupted’ in political talk
Authors: Baffy Marta
Published: May 2020

This article examines the questioning of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions by Senators Angus King and Kamala Harris during a congressional hearing. Analyses of the two exchanges, grounded in conversation analytic (CA) methodology, reveal that simultaneous and near-simultaneous talk initiated by the senators is pervasive in both exchanges. However, Sessions does ‘being interrupted’ (Hutchby 1996; Bilmes 1997)—that is, displays an orientation toward his interlocutors’ turns as a violation of his speaking rights—three times more often when he is questioned by Harris rather than King. The discrepancy in Sessions’ handling of the senators’ turns may explain why Harris is sanctioned by two colleagues during her questioning and why commentators have characterized her as aggressive and interruptive, while at the same time lauding (or ignoring) King. These findings ultimately suggest that doing being interrupted may influence how others perceive an interaction and those participating in it.(Institutional discourse, interruption, latching, overlap, political discourse)
Back-projection of COVID-19 diagnosis counts to assess infection incidence and control measures: analysis of Australian data
Authors: Marschner I. C.
Published: May 2020

Back-projection is an epidemiological analysis method that was developed to estimate HIV incidence using surveillance data on AIDS diagnoses. It was used extensively during the 1990s for this purpose as well as in other epidemiological contexts. Surveillance data on COVID-19 diagnoses can be analysed by the method of back-projection using information about the probability distribution of the time between infection and diagnosis, which is primarily determined by the incubation period. This paper demonstrates the value of such analyses using daily diagnoses from Australia. It is shown how back-projection can be used to assess the pattern of COVID-19 infection incidence over time and to assess the impact of control measures by investigating their temporal association with changes in incidence patterns. For Australia, these analyses reveal that peak infection incidence coincided with the introduction of border closures and social distancing restrictions, while the introduction of subsequent social distancing measures coincided with a continuing decline in incidence to very low levels. These associations were not directly discernible from the daily diagnosis counts, which continued to increase after the first stage of control measures. It is estimated that a one week delay in peak incidence would have led to a fivefold increase in total infections. Furthermore, at the height of the outbreak, half to three-quarters of all infections remained undiagnosed. Automated data analytics of routinely collected surveillance data are a valuable monitoring tool for the COVID-19 pandemic and may be useful for calibrating transmission dynamics models.
Barriers Instead of Bridges: The Developed World and Intercontinental Migration
Authors: Emmer Pieter C.
Published: May 2020

In this article I discuss intercontinental migration during the early modern period. The discovery of the New World sparked a large-scale movement lasting more than four centuries. Before 1800, only 2 to 3 million Europeans availed themselves of the opportunity to move to the New World. Colonial powers, therefore, turned to Africa and transported about 11.5 million slaves to America. After 1850 and the gradual abolition of slavery, the migration of Europeans increased dramatically, but these migrants avoided the former slave regions. Some areas therefore resorted to the importation of Asian indentured labourers, mainly from British India.
Predictors and consequences of individual differences in cross-linguistic interactions: A model of second language reading skill
Authors: Yamasaki Brianna L. , Prat Chantel S.
Published: May 2020

Previous research has demonstrated that individual differences in conflict management predict second-language (L2) reading skill. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that this relation reflects the need to manage conflict from cross-linguistic interactions (CLI). A novel model specifying the relation between L2 reading skill, CLI, and the predictors of such interactions was tested in 253 L2 English speaking adults, using structural equation modeling. In support of the hypothesis, the findings revealed that stronger CLI was related to poorer L2 reading skill. In addition, variability in non-linguistic conflict management, as measured by executive attention tasks, and relative language dominance reliably predicted CLI. Specifically, better conflict management and lower L1 dominance corresponded to fewer interactions. These results fill a crucial gap by demonstrating for the first time that the ability to manage CLI is critical to L2 reading, and that both cognitive skills and language experience contribute to variability in these interactions.
Influence of establishment timing on growth and fecundity of two itchgrass (Rottboellia cochinchinensis) biotypes grown in Louisiana
Authors: Spaunhorst Douglas J.
Published: May 2020

Itchgrass [Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) W.D. Clayton] is among the most troublesome weeds in subtropical climates where sugarcane (Saccharum spp. interspecific hybrids) is cultivated. Two R. cochinchinensis biotypes commonly infest sugarcane in Louisiana. The Louisiana-1 biotype is daylength neutral, but Louisiana-2 flowered when daylength decreased to 13 h. Coupled with biotype diversity, seedling emergence has been reported to occur earlier in the growing season, as sugarcane emerged from winter dormancy. Both R. cochinchinensis biotypes were established in a common garden experiment in Louisiana during periods of sugarcane development and field preparation to simulate discontinuous emergence. Plant height and raceme production were recorded weekly for each biotype and establishment timing; aboveground biomass was harvested in autumn. Louisiana’s subtropical humid climate stimulated rapid plant growth that typically began in May and persisted through September. Without sugarcane competition, maximum R. cochinchinensis heights for Louisiana-1 and Louisiana-2 were 206 and 179 cm and growing degree days to 20-cm height in 2017 ranged from 546 to 832 and 865 to 1,160, respectively. Slower initial growth reported with Louisiana-2 would allow more time for growers to treat escaped plants with POST herbicides. Total raceme production, by autumn, was zero for Louisiana-2 established in June or later, but Louisiana-1 established in June produced up to 202 racemes. The present study demonstrated the importance of managing the Louisiana-2 biotype in March and April to limit seed production, but fields infested with Louisiana-1 were at greater risk for potential crop yield loss, because plants produced high quantities of seed when established over a wide period of time.
A Short History of Managing Problematic Users of Alcohol in Western Australia by Mental Health Services
Authors: Swensen Greg
Published: May 2020

Abstract. Aims: This paper examines the role that mental health services (MHS) performed in the management and provision of medical care and treatment of problematic users of alcohol in Western Australia (WA) over the period since 1900. Methods: The research involved an examination of legislative enactments and regulations, records of parliamentary debates in Hansard, administrative records in the State Records Office, and other sources of public information, such as departmental annual reports, reviews of services, studies and newspapers. Results: This research identified three eras of policy involving problematic users. The first, from 1900 to the mid 1970s, focussed on controls in inebriates and lunacy legislation to create a regime of civil commitment, designed to confine and compel ‘inebriates’, as well as ‘convicted inebriates,’ to ‘dry out’ and rehabilitate. The second, between 1975 and the late 1990s, involved the creation of a state-wide system of specialist service providers to provide treatment and recovery for problematic users. The system involved a spectrum of services that included a detoxification hospital, outpatient clinics and community-based regional services established and operated by a statutory public health agency, the Alcohol and Drug Authority (ADA). The third era, which commenced in the late 1990s, involved the transfer of all community-based services from the ADA to ‘not-for-profit’ non-government organisations (NGOs). The end result of this devolution was the ADA retained only a limited treatment role, as the operator of the inpatient detoxification facility. The balance of its functions were redefined in relation to the prevention of the use of alcohol and other drugs, primarily through support of mass public education programs, as well as oversight of funded NGO programs. The paper concludes with a consideration of a recent major development which involved administrative and legislative actions in 2015 to abolish the statutory body which had operated since 1975 and transfer administrative responsibility for drug and alcohol services into the Mental Health Commission.
Stationsäquivalente Behandlung in der Praxis
Authors: Holzke Martin , Gottlob Melanie , Längle Gerhard
Published: May 2020

Zusammenfassung. Die Studienlange zur deutschen Variante der aufsuchenden Akutbehandlung ist bislang gering. So könnte es für ein allgemeines Verständnis beziehungsweise einer kritischen Diskussion über die Zielsetzungen, Inhalte und Erfolge sinnvoll sein, sich diesen über Fallbeispiele zu nähern.