bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experience of Autistic Children and Their Families During the Pandemic: From Distress to Coping Strategies
Authors: Jacques Claudine , Saulnier Geneviève , Éthier Agnès , Soulières Isabelle
Published: August 2021

To understand the perspectives and needs of autistic children and their families in the context of an emergency, 109 parents and 56 autistic children (5.75–18 years) from Canada completed an online survey about needs, barriers and facilitators to coping with the pandemic. Parents’ concerns about their child’s development and difficulties managing their child’s behaviors before and during pandemic were significantly associated. Parents identified maintaining social relationships and implementing appropriate interventions to their child’s characteristics as facilitators during the pandemic. Both children and parents identified lack of socialization as a main difficulty. Among children, 92.9% associated electronic devices with their well-being. This study highlighted the need to consider the child’s autistic characteristics and interests to implement emergency accommodations and services.
A feasibility trial of a digital mindfulness-based intervention to improve asthma-related quality of life for primary care patients with asthma
Authors: Ainsworth Ben , Stanescu Sabina , Stuart Beth , Russell Daniel , Liddiard Megan , Djukanovic Ratko , Thomas Mike
Published: August 2021

Asthma outcomes remain suboptimal, despite effective pharmacotherapy. Psychological dysfunction (such as anxiety) is common, and associated with poorer outcomes. We evaluated a digital mindfulness programme as an intervention to improve asthma-related quality of life for primary care patients, in a prospectively registered randomized-controlled feasibility study. We offered ‘Headspace’, a widely-used digital mindfulness intervention, to adults with asthma through 16 UK GP practices. Participants were randomized on a 2:1 basis to the mindfulness intervention, or waitlist control. Participants completed questionnaires (including asthma symptom control, asthma-related quality of life, anxiety, depression) at baseline, 6-week and 3-month follow-up. 116 participants completed primary outcomes at 3-month follow-up: intervention 73 (79%), control 43 (84%). Compared to baseline, the intervention group but not the control group reported significantly improved asthma-related quality of life, with a between-group difference favoring the intervention group that was not significant (Mean difference = 0.15, 95%CI − 0.13 to 0.42). Intervention use varied (ranging from 0 to 192 times) but was generally high. Digital mindfulness interventions are feasible and acceptable adjunct treatments for mild and moderate asthma to target quality of life. Further research should adapt ‘generic’ mindfulness-based stress-reduction to maximize effectiveness for asthma, and validate our findings in a fully-powered randomized controlled trial.

Trial registration Prospectively registered: ISRCTN52212323.
Strengthening the satisfaction loyalty link: the role of relational switching costs
Authors: Evanschitzky Heiner , Stan Valentina , Nagengast Liane
Published: August 2021

The extant retail research has placed much emphasis on understanding customer switching and the concept of switching costs (SCs). However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive with respect to the moderating role of SCs in general and relational switching costs (RSCs) in particular. Therefore, this research focuses on the moderating role played by SCs on the satisfaction-loyalty link. Specifically, our study attempts to clarify the nonlinear moderating effect of RSCs. Furthermore, we investigate RSCs in greater depth, considering their two dimensions, brand relationship loss costs (BRLCs), and personal relationship loss costs (PRLCs). We find that there is an optimal level of BRLC whereas increasing PRLCs decreases the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in a linear manner, calling for a more nuanced assessment of this type of SC in future studies. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of SCs as a retention strategy.
The Subversion of Francoist Rhetoric in Blas de Otero’s Pido la paz y la palabra
Authors: O’Donoghue Samuel
Published: August 2021

This article explores the ways in which socially and politically engaged poetry challenged the Franco regime in mid-twentieth-century Spain. A close reading of the work of Blas de Otero reveals how this poet crafts a discordant voice by alluding to, mimicking, and subverting the very myths and rhetoric of Franco’s regime. Working against the strictures of state censorship, Blas de Otero usurps the linguistic idiosyncrasies and thematic tropes characteristic of Francoist discourse and redeploys them in a distorted form in his poetry of protest. This article shows ultimately how poets such as Otero were able to engage with the social realities the regime was anxious to conceal by contesting one of the most conspicuous manifestations of the regime’s power—its monopoly of public discourse—and how such writers were able thereby to contribute to the erosion of the regime’s authority and to its discredit among cultivated readers in 1950s Spain.
Multi-scale approach for different type of drought in temperate climatic conditions
Authors: Minea Ionuţ , Iosub Marina , Boicu Daniel
Published: August 2021

Drought with its occurrence and manifestations at all levels of the natural components, yields both direct and indirect negative effects, on the ecological systems, water resources, social, as well as economic aspects of life. Therefore, any analysis that concerns this phenomenon, must be carried out at a multi-scalar level, addressing all manifestation levels (meteorological, hydrological, and hydrogeological drought). Standardized evaluation indices (for precipitation-SPI, evaporation-, -SPEI, streamflow-SDI and groundwater-SGI) have been used to analyze the evolution of the drought phenomena in Eastern Romania, for 1, 3, 6 and 12 months’ time-scales, applied to seven groundwater bodies. The results of the analysis complement the observations concerning the evolution of meteorological drought (using SPI and SPEI) in the East European region, by highlighting the drought sequences of the last two decades of the last century. Those are accompanied by the meteorological drought sequences which occurred on extensive areas, starting from 2007, until present, with direct effects in river discharge and increases in groundwater level depths. The Bravais–Pearson correlation coefficient shows a close connection between meteorological and hydrological drought (r ~ 0.45 to 0.68) and between hydrological and groundwater drought (r ~ 0.42 to 0.74) for wells with piezometric level under 5 m depth. In the larger context of climate scenarios which envision an increase in air temperature, and a decrease in the atmospheric hydrological input, the increase in the drought frequency is obvious, with direct effects on all-natural components that are dependent on the hydrological resources.
Slurs under quotation
Authors: Rinner Stefan , Hieke Alexander
Published: August 2021

Against content theories of slurs, according to which slurs have some kind of derogatory content, Anderson and Lepore have objected that they cannot explain that even slurs under quotation can cause offense. If slurs had some kind of derogatory content, the argument goes, quotation would render this content inert and, thus, quoted slurs should not be offensive. Following this, Anderson and Lepore propose that slurs are offensive because they are prohibited words. In this paper, we will show that, pace Anderson and Lepore, content theories of slurs do provide an explanation of the fact that quoted slurs can cause offense: even under quotation, the explanation goes, the derogatory content of a slur can still be psychologically efficacious. We will go one step further by pointing out that offensiveness is not the only function of slurs, but that slurs can also be used to create and reinforce negative attitudes towards the target group. While content theories can easily explain this by referring to some kind of derogatory content, Anderson and Lepore’s prohibitionism will lack a satisfactory explanation of this second function of slurs. Concluding, we will argue that, unlike uses of slurs, uses of quoted slurs normally do not derogate the target group. This will again speak in favor of content theories. Accordingly, uses of quoted slurs are not derogatory because quotation renders the derogatory content inert. Hence, rather than speaking against content theories, quoted slurs speak in their favor.
The influence of panel effects and inertia on travel cost elasticities for car use and public transport
Authors: La Paix Lissy , Oakil Abu Toasin , Hofman Frank , Geurs Karst
Published: August 2021

Studies on the impact of changes in travel costs on car and public transport use are typically based on cross-sectional travel survey data or time series analysis and do not capture intrapersonal variation in travel patterns, which can result in biased cost elasticities. This paper examines the influence of panel effects and inertia in travel behaviour on travel cost sensitiveness, based on four waves of the Mobility Panel for the Netherlands (comprising around 90,000 trips). This paper analyses the monetary costs of travel. Panel effects reflect (within wave) intrapersonal variations in mode choice, based on three-day trip diary data available for each wave. The impact of intrapersonal variation on cost sensitiveness is shown by comparing mode choice models with panel effects (mixed logit mode choice models with error components) and without panel effects (multinomial logit models). Inertia represents variability in mode choice between waves, measured as the effect of mode choice decisions made in a previous wave on the decisions made in the current wave. Additionally, all mode choice models include socio-economic and spatial variables but also mode preferences and life events. The effect of inertia on travel cost elasticities is measured by estimating mixed logit mode choice models with and without inertia effects. The main conclusion is that the inclusion of intrapersonal effects tends to increase cost sensitiveness whereas the inclusion of inertia effects decreases travel cost sensitiveness for car and public transport modes. Car users are identified as inert travellers, whereas public transport users show a lower tendency to maintain their usual mode choice. This paper reveals the inertia effects over four waves of repeated respondent’s data repeated yearly.
Capital requirements, risk-taking and welfare in a growing economy
Authors: Agénor Pierre-Richard , Silva Luiz A. Pereira da
Published: August 2021

The effects of capital requirements on risk-taking and welfare are studied in an overlapping generations model of endogenous growth with banking, limited liability, and government guarantees. Capital producers face a choice between a safe technology and a risky, more productive but socially inefficient, technology. Bank risk-taking is endogenous. As a result of a skin in the game effect—motivated either as an aggregate externality, or as the outcome of the optimal choice of monitoring effort by individual banks—default risk is inversely related to the capital adequacy ratio. Numerical simulations show that in an equilibrium where banks extend both safe and risky loans, the skin in the game effect must be sufficiently strong for a welfare-maximizing regulatory policy to exist. These results remain qualitatively similar with endogenous monitoring costs and a strong effect of monitoring on entrepreneurial moral hazard. However, numerical experiments also suggest that the optimal capital adequacy ratio may be too high in practice and may require concomitantly a broadening of the perimeter of regulation and a strengthening of financial supervision to prevent disintermediation and distortions in financial markets.
The influence of different wavelengths of LED light on the production of glucosinolates and phenolic compounds and the antioxidant potential in in vitro cultures of Nasturtium officinale (watercress)
Authors: Klimek-Szczykutowicz Marta , Prokopiuk Barbara , Dziurka Kinga , Pawłowska Bożena , Ekiert Halina , Szopa Agnieszka
Published: August 2021

Cultures of Nasturtium officinale were cultivated in vitro under illumination with different wavelengths of light-emitting diode (LED) light (white LED light—WLED, blue light—B, red light—R, 70% red and 30% blue light—RB, 50% green, 35% red and 15% blue light—RBG, 50% yellow, 35% red and 15% blue light—RBY, 50% far red, 35% red and 15% blue light—RBfR, 50% UV, 35% red and 15% blue light—RBUV, darkness—D), and under white fluorescent light (WF)—control conditions. The study investigated the influence of the applied lighting conditions on biomass growth and the production of glucosinolates, phenolic compounds, as well as photosynthetic pigments, and soluble sugars. The study showed a significant beneficial effect of the RBG light on biomass growth (Gi = 11.81 after 20 days) and the production of glucosinolates. The total glucosinolate content under these conditions increased 5.8 and 1.4 times in comparison with the WF light and D condition, respectively, reaching 237.92 mg 100 g−1 DW. The production of phenolic compounds, sugars, and photosynthetic pigments was comparable to the production under the control conditions. The antioxidant potential of extracts from the cultivated biomass was assessed by the CUPRAC, DPPH, and FRAP assays. Extracts obtained from the biomass of cultures grown under the RBG light had an antioxidant potential similar to that of the control cultures. This is the first report providing evidence of the stimulating effect of light quality on the biomass yield and production of glucosinolates by N. officinale microshoot cultures in vitro.
Tribofilm Formation of Simulated Gear Contact Along the Line of Action
Authors: Bayat Reza , Lehtovaara Arto
Published: August 2021

In this paper, an experimental simulation method was used for evaluating the tribofilm formation in rolling/sliding contact at different points in the line of action. A ball-on-disc test method was employed by which the pressure and slide to roll ratio of gear contact could be simulated. In order to reach a general conclusion, four different oils and two surface roughness were involved in the experiments. The tribofilm evolution was captured using spacer layer interferometry method, and the correlation of tribofilm with the location at the line of action was studied. Results showed that there is a threshold pressure for the tribofilm formation around which the tribofilm growth rate is maximum. Above this threshold pressure, the tribofilm formation is not stable, and the wear is dominant. Below this threshold pressure, the tribofilm growth rate rises by increasing the pressure and the gear contact is safely protected by a stable tribofilm.

Graphic Abstract
A Constructive Approach About the Existence of Positive Solutions for Minkowski Curvature Problems
Authors: Yang Rui , Lee Jong Kyu , Lee Yong-Hoon
Published: August 2021

In this paper, we give an existence theorem about positive solutions for the Dirichlet boundary value problem of one dimensional Minkowski curvature equations. We apply the theorem to one parameter family of problems to investigate a constructive method for numerical range of parameters where positive solutions exist. Moreover, we establish a nonexistence theorem of positive solutions for the corresponding one parameter family of problems. The coefficient function may be singular at the boundary and nonlinear term satisfies a sublinear growth condition. Main argument for the proof of existence theorem is employed by Krasnoselskii’s theorem of cone expansion and compression. We give a numerical algorithm and various examples to illustrate numerical information about ranges of the existence and nonexistence parameters which have been given only in a theoretical manner so far.
Photocatalytic activity of silica and silica-silver nanocolloids based on photo-induced formation of reactive oxygen species
Authors: Romolini G. , Gambucci M. , Ricciarelli D. , Tarpani L. , Zampini G. , Latterini L.
Published: August 2021

Semiconductor nanomaterials are often proposed as photocatalysts for wastewater treatment; silica nanomaterials are still largely unexploited because their photocatalytic performances need improvements, especially under visible light. The present study is a proof-of-concept that amorphous silica colloids once submitted to the proper surface modifications change into an efficient photocatalyst even under low-energy illumination source. For this reason, silica-based colloidal nanomaterials, such as bare (SiO2 NPs), aminated (NH2-SiO2 NPs), and Ag NPs-decorated (Ag-SiO2 NPs) silica, are tested as photocatalysts for the degradation of 9-anthracenecarboxylic acid (9ACA), taken as a model aromatic compound. Interestingly, upon irradiation at 313 nm, NH2-SiO2 NPs induce 9ACA degradation, and the effect is even improved when Ag-SiO2 NPs are used. On the other hand, irradiation at 405 nm activates the plasmon of Ag-SiO2 NPs photocatalyst, providing a faster and more efficient photodegradation. The photodegradation experiments are also performed under white light illumination, employing a low-intensity fluorescent lamp, confirming satisfying efficiencies. The catalytic effect of SiO2-based nanoparticles is thought to originate from photo-excitable surface defects and Ag NP plasmons since the catalytic degradation takes place only when the 9ACA is adsorbed on the surface. In addition, the involvement of reactive oxygen species was demonstrated through a scavenger use, obtaining a yield of 17%. In conclusion, this work shows the applicability of silica-based nanoparticles as photocatalysts through the involvement of silica surface defects, confirming that the silica colloids can act as photocatalysts under irradiation with monochromatic and white light.

Graphic abstract

Silica and Ag-decorated silica colloids photosensitize the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species with 17% efficiencies. ROS are able to oxidase aromatic pollutants chemi-adsorbed on the surface of the colloids. Silica-silver nanocomposites present a photocatalytic activity useful to degrade aromatic compounds.
The Power of Delay: Banking System Structure and Implementation of the Basel Accords
Authors: Mitchell Christopher
Published: August 2021

Recent developments in the international banking system, especially the 2007–9 crisis and subsequent wave of postcrisis regulation, have drawn increasing attention to the structural power of banks and banking systems. States need a functioning financial system to ensure the overall health of their economies, so states must shape policy to protect their financial firms. National financial systems may be dominated either by banks or by capital markets. In states where banks dominate provision of capital, states must shape policy to protect their banks because of their structural importance, independent of any lobbying or other direct action on the part of banks to exercise instrumental power. The entangling of structural and instrumental power means studying differences in structural power requires either careful case-study work or cross-national comparison of responses to a common shock. The implementation of the 2011 Basel III Accords provides just such an opportunity. This article offers a quantitative analysis of a new dataset of implementation of Basel III components in the Basel Committee on Banking Stability member states from 2011 to 2019 and demonstrates the structural power of banks in bank-based systems to accelerate implementation of favorable policies and slow implementation of unfavorable ones.
202 W dual-end-pumped Tm:YLF laser with a VBG as an output coupler
Authors: Wei Disheng , Mi Shuyi , Yang Ke , Li Junhui , Tang Jinwen , Yao Baoquan , Dai Tongyu , Duan Xiaoming
Published: August 2021

We demonstrated a 202 W Tm:YLF slab laser using a reflecting volume Bragg grating (VBG) as an output coupler at room temperature. Two kinds of active heat dissipation methods were used for the VBG to suppress the shift of wavelength caused by its increasing temperature. The maximum continuous wave (CW) output power of 202 W using the microchannel cooling was obtained under the total incident pump power of 553 W, the corresponding slope efficiency and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency were 39.7% and 36.5%, respectively. The central wavelength was 1908.5 nm with the linewidth (full width at half maximum) of 0.57 nm. Meanwhile, with the laser output increasing from 30 to 202 W, the total shift was about 1.0 nm, and the wavelength was limited to two water absorption lines near 1908 nm. The beam quality factors M2 were measured to be 2.3 and 4.0 in x and y directions at 202 W.
Understanding short-term transmission dynamics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the patient room
Authors: Wolfensberger Aline , Mang Nora , Gibson Kristen E. , Gontjes Kyle , Cassone Marco , Brugger Silvio D. , Mody Lona , Sax Hugo
Published: August 2021

Objective:

Little is known about the short-term dynamics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission between patients and their immediate environment. We conducted a real-life microbiological evaluation of environmental MRSA contamination in hospital rooms in relation to recent patient activity.

Design:

Observational pilot study.

Setting:

Two hospitals, hospital 1 in Zurich, Switzerland, and hospital 2 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.

Patients:

Inpatients with MRSA colonization or infection.

Methods:

At baseline, the groin, axilla, nares, dominant hands of 10 patients and 6 environmental high-touch surfaces in their rooms were sampled. Cultures were then taken of the patient hand and high-touch surfaces 3 more times at 90-minute intervals. After each swabbing, patients’ hands and surfaces were disinfected. Patient activity was assessed by interviews at hospital 1 and analysis of video footage at hospital 2. A contamination pressure score was created by multiplying the number of colonized body sites with the activity level of the patient.

Results:

In total, 10 patients colonized and/or infected with MRSA were enrolled; 40 hand samples and 240 environmental samples were collected. At baseline, 30% of hands and 20% of high-touch surfaces yielded MRSA. At follow-up intervals, 8 (27%) of 30 patient hands, and 10 (6%) of 180 of environmental sites were positive. Activity of the patient explained 7 of 10 environmental contaminations. Patients with higher contamination pressure score showed a trend toward higher environmental contamination.

Conclusion:

Environmental MRSA contamination in patient rooms was highly dynamic and was likely driven by the patient’s MRSA body colonization pattern and the patient activity.
Variable duration of viral shedding in cancer patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Authors: Babady N. Esther , Cohen Bevin , McClure Tara , Chow Karin , Caldararo Mario , Jani Krupa , McMillen Tracy , Taur Ying , Shah Monika , Robilotti Elizabeth , Aslam Anoshe , Kamboj Mini
Published: August 2021

In this retrospective study of 105 severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–infected cancer patients with longitudinal nasopharyngeal sampling, the duration of viral shedding and time to attain cycle threshold >30 was longer in patients with hematologic malignancy than in those with solid tumors. These findings have important public health implications.
On the dynamics of stratified particle-laden plumes
Authors: Barnard Jonathan M.
Published: August 2021

An experimental study on stratified particle-laden plumes is presented and five steady-state flow regimes have been identified. The steady-state behaviour of the plume is directly related to the magnitude of the convective velocity associated with particle-induced instabilities,

$U_c$

, in relation to the terminal settling velocity of each individual particle,

$u_{st}$

. When

$u_{st}>U_c$

, the ratio of particle to fluid buoyancy flux at the source,

$P$

, becomes important. For

$P<0.2$

, the plume dynamics appears very similar to a single-phase plume as particle recycling has minimal impact on the steady-state plume height. When

$P>0.2$

, the plume height decreases significantly, creating an anvil-shaped intrusion similar to those associated with explosive volcanic eruptions. Importantly, the measured steady-state heights of plumes within this settling regime validate the collapse model of Apsley & Lane-Serff (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 865, 2019, pp. 904–927). When

$u_{st}\leqslant U_c$

, particle re-entrainment behaviour changes significantly and the plume dynamics becomes independent of

$P$

. When

$u_{st}\approx U_c$

, a trough of fluid becomes present in the sedimenting veil due to a significant flux of descending particles at the edge of the plume. Once

$u_{st}< U_c$

, the particles spreading in the intrusion become confined to a defined radius around the plume due to the significant ambient convection occurring beneath the current. For

$u_{st}\ll U_c$

, or in the case of these experiments, when

$U_c\geqslant 1\ \text{cm s}^{-1}$

, ambient convection becomes so strong that intrusion fluid is pulled down to the plume source, creating a flow reminiscent of a stratified fountain with secondary intrusions developing between the original current and the tank floor. Through an extension of the work of Cardoso & Zarrebini (Chem. Engng Sci., vol. 56, issue 11, 2001a, pp. 3365–3375), an analytical expression is developed to determine the onset of convection in the environment beyond the edge of the plume, which for a known particle settling velocity, can be used to characterise a plume's expected settling regime. In all plume regimes, the intrusion fluid is observed to rise in the environment following the sedimentation of particles and a simple model for the change in intrusion fluid height has been developed using the steady-state particle concentration at the spreading level.
Claiming Religious Freedom at the European Court of Human Rights: Socio-Legal Field Effects on Legal Mobilization
Authors: Harms Lisa
Published: August 2021

How do legal strategies at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) vary among activists in highly asymmetrical social positions? Social scientists have demonstrated that legal mobilization raises the pressure on states to provide broader minority accommodation. While this may be true, such outcome-oriented studies overlook the fact that judicial mobilization is itself deeply imbued with inequalities and divergent interests among diverse activists. We lack comparative studies to examine how such differences play out in litigation. Drawing on a qualitative in-depth study among Sikh, Muslim, Catholic, Evangelical, and secular advocacy groups involved in religious freedom disputes at the ECtHR, this article argues that claims making often is a balancing act between legal power relations and extra-legal commitments, which leads to variation in activists’ leverage to challenge legal marginalization. First, hostile legal environments discourage more easily activists with weaker transnational connections who are in vulnerable domestic positions. Second, while the most marginalized readily seek to fit identity narratives into dominant legal frames of religion, more powerful actors can target the core of legal principles and power distribution within the legal field as such. Even when unsuccessful in judicial outcomes, they might affect broader political and legal debates.
WHY CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE CANNOT BE INDIRECT
Authors: Greenberg Alexander
Published: August 2021

A popular way to try to justify holding defendants criminally responsible for inadvertent negligence is via an indirect or “tracing” approach, namely an approach which traces the inadvertence back to prior culpable action. I argue that this indirect approach to criminal negligence fails because it cannot account for a key feature of how criminal negligence should be (and sometimes is) assessed. Specifically, it cannot account for why, when considering whether a defendant is negligent, what counts as a risk should be assessed relative to the defendant's evidence.
Political Theology in Nineteenth-Century West Africa: Al-Ḥājj ʿUmar, theBayān mā waqaʿa, and the Conquest of the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi
Authors: Syed Amir
Published: August 2021

In 1862, al-Ḥājj ʿUmar Fūtī Tall (d. 1864) conquered a prominent Muslim polity of the Middle Niger valley, the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi. Several months earlier, he had penned a long polemical work,Bayān mā waqaʿa, where he outlined his conflict with Ḥamdallāhi's ruler, Aḥmad III (d. 1862), and presented a legal justification for his eventual conquest. Al-Ḥājj ʿUmar was one of several West African Muslim intellectuals who articulated a new vision of power in the region. These intellectuals linked legitimate political rule with mastery over Islamic knowledge that they claimed only they had. Yet these linkages between religious authority and political power remain understudied. Al-Ḥājj ʿUmar'sBayānoffers one example of political theology in nineteenth-century West Africa. In this article, I trace his arguments and explain how he constructs his authority and claims to sovereignty in this work. In the process, I conceptualize two theoretical frameworks — the ‘political geography of belief’ and the ‘political theology of knowledge’ — to demonstrate how a careful engagement with Arabic sources can help develop new approaches to the study of Muslim communities in African history and beyond.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty for nasal blockage 21 years after total rhinectomy
Authors: Verdonck J , Van de Perck E , Claes J , Vanderveken O M
Published: August 2021

Background

Total rhinectomy is an invasive procedure that significantly impairs the intranasal turbulence, humidification and heating of inspired air. The use of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing disorders such as primary snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea has diminished over the past years because of the emergence of less invasive procedures and alternative therapeutic options. This clinical record presents the treatment of a long-term side effect of total rhinectomy using uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.

Case report

In 1997, a 62-year-old male underwent total rhinectomy for a nasal schwannoma, followed by rehabilitation with a nasal prosthesis. Twenty-one years later, he presented with severe complaints of nasal blockage and breathing difficulties during both daytime and night-time. Clinical examination revealed no major anomalies besides significant velopharyngeal narrowing. Thus, in 2019, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty was performed to re-establish velopharyngeal patency. Hereafter, the symptoms of nasal blockage disappeared, resulting in an improved quality of life.

Conclusion

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty may prove useful to treat selected patients with daytime breathing difficulties due to velopharyngeal narrowing.
Coping strategies as a causal mediator of the effect of loss-related memory characteristics and negative loss-related appraisals on symptoms of PGD, PTSD and depression
Authors: Smith Kirsten V. , Ehlers Anke
Published: August 2021

Background

Psychological models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and prolonged grief disorder (PGD) make predictions about the role of unhelpful coping strategies in maintaining difficulties by blocking self-correction of negative appraisals and memory integration following stressful life events like bereavement. However, few studies have tested these predictions directly.

Method

We used counterfactually based causal mediation to assess whether unhelpful coping strategies mediated the relationship between (1) loss-related memory characteristics and/or (2) negative grief-related appraisals and symptoms of PGD, PTSD and depression using a three-wave longitudinal sample (N = 275). Appraisals and memory characteristics were measured at time point 1, unhelpful coping strategies at T2, and symptom variables at T3. Additionally, multiple mediation analyses within a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework assessed which types of coping strategies differentially mediated symptoms of PGD, PTSD and depression.

Results

Coping strategies mediated the relationship between negative appraisals and memory characteristics and symptoms of PGD, PTSD and depression after adjusting for demographics and loss characteristics. Sensitivity analyses suggested that these results were most robust for PGD, followed by PTSD and then depression. Multiple mediation analyses suggested that all four subscales (avoidance, proximity seeking, loss rumination and injustice rumination) individually mediated the effect of memory characteristics and appraisals on PGD.

Conclusions

These results suggest that core predictions of the cognitive model for PTSD and the cognitive behavioural model of PGD are useful in predicting symptoms of post-loss mental health problems in the first 12–18 months after loss. Targeting unhelpful coping strategies is likely to reduce symptoms of PGD, PTSD and depression.
(Un)Seeing Augustus:Libertas, Divinisation, and theIuvenisof Virgil's FirstEclogue
Authors: Xinyue Bobby
Published: August 2021

This article argues that Virgil's FirstEcloguenaturalises the power discourse of the future Augustan Principate. Throughout the poem, Virgil not only presents theiuvenisas alibertas-restoring benefactor who is treated as a god by his beneficiaries, but even imagines his elevated status as crucial to maintaining social cohesion and civic stability, and idealises the beneficiaries’ dependence on his efficacious authority. The poem thus produces the grammar of the discourse of authoritarianism, subtly articulating what will eventually become the central tenets of Augustan ideology. I suggest that it is precisely this process of naturalisation which has led readers since antiquity to identify theiuvenisof Virgil's FirstEclogueas the future Augustus. However, in this paper I am interested in transcending this question of individual identification to focus instead on how Virgil's poetic anonymisation is no simple pastoral obfuscation, but rather does the hard graft of ‘soft launching’ a new political system.
A review of clinical trials of advance care planning interventions adapted for limited health literacy
Authors: Houlihan Mary Clare K. , Mayahara Masako , Swanson Barbara , Fogg Louis
Published: August 2021

Objectives

Advance care planning is vital for ensuring individuals receive end-of-life care that is consistent with their care preferences and improves patient quality of life and satisfaction with care; however, only 11% of Americans have discussed advance care planning with a healthcare provider. Individuals with limited health literacy are even less likely to participate in advance care planning due to difficulty comprehending complex health information. The purpose of this review was to identify randomized controlled trials designed to address the effects of limited health literacy on advance care planning, evaluate the quality of these studies, and summarize evaluation data to inform future studies.

Methods

This systematic review examined randomized controlled trials published from January 1997 to July 2020 using the PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases. Data were extracted and two reviewers independently evaluated the quality of studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool.

Results

The database search yielded 253 studies and five studies were included in the final review. Studies were conducted in mostly White patients in outpatient clinics in the United States. Researchers wrote text at lower reading levels, added images to materials, and created videos to enhance communication. Health literacy interventions increased participant knowledge, preference for comfort care, engagement, and care documentation; however, several methodological issues were identified, including baseline differences in treatment and control groups, issues with blinding, lack of valid and reliable outcome measures, and inappropriate statistical analyses.

Significance of results

More high-quality intervention studies that address the effects of limited health literacy on advance care planning in diverse populations and settings are needed. Future intervention studies should use reliable and valid instruments to measure advance care planning outcomes. Clinicians should use materials appropriate for their patients’ health literacy levels to address their advance care planning needs.
Aware of the Future?
Authors: Lalot Fanny , Ahvenharju Sanna , Minkkinen Matti
Published: August 2021

Abstract. Introduction: Futures consciousness (FC) refers to the capacity that a person has for understanding, anticipating, and preparing for the future. A psychometric instrument, the FC scale, was recently developed to measure FC as an interindividual difference. However, this initial scale suffered from some shortcomings due to a few underperforming items. Objectives: In this paper, we present and validate the revised FC scale, which aims to address these shortcomings. Methods and Results: Data from a representative sample of N = 1,684 British participants demonstrated good psychometric properties of the revised scale (and better than the original) as well as good predictive validity. Specifically, individuals' scores were positively related to self-reported future-oriented behavior, such as engagement in civic collective action and general engagement in politics. The five-dimensional structure of the scale was also replicated. Conclusion: The revised FC scale proves a reliable tool that can be used by both researchers and practitioners.
A Study of Magnetic Conjugate Property in a Large Density Irregularity Structure Using Hilbert‐Huang Transform
Authors: Su S.‐Y. , Chao C.‐K. , Sun Y.‐Y. , Tsai L.‐C. , Liu C. H.
Published: August 2021

A large density irregularity structure in latitudinal extent was observed by the sun‐synchronous orbiting FORMOSAT‐5 satellite at 720 km topside ionosphere in the South American sector on November 24, 2018 during a magnetically quiet time. The observed density irregularity structure has a latitudinal extent of ∼30° across the dip equator, and a longitudinal width of ∼6°. Unlike previously studied equatorial plasma bubble structures with the airglow images that indicate hemispheric magnetic conjugate similarity, the gross feature of this large density irregularity structure indicates a north‐south hemispheric asymmetry in density variation. We use the Hilbert‐Huang Transform analysis to study the irregularity structure in different scales of density variations. It is found that the amplitude of density variations in the scale sizes from 22.5 to 450 km all indicate the hemispheric asymmetry. However, the spectral property of density variations in the two hemispheres is almost identical to each other. This implies that the density irregularity structure which originates from the same Rayleigh‐Taylor (RT) instability process has preserved the spectral characteristics inside the magnetic flux tube. Therefore, the cause that fails to preserve the magnetic conjugate property in the density irregularity structure comes from the fact that the background ionospheric density distribution has a north‐south hemispherical asymmetry in the beginning of the RT instability process. This hemispheric asymmetrical density distribution is caused by the seasonal variation of density distributions in the two hemispheres and the prevailing inter‐hemispheric neutral wind during solstices in the South American sector.
Relationship Between Atmospheric Teleconnections and the Northern Hemisphere's Circumpolar Vortex
Authors: Bushra Nazla , Rohli Robert V.
Published: August 2021

The Northern Hemispheric circumpolar vortex (NHCPV) is the hemispheric‐scale, middle‐ and upper‐tropospheric wind belt circumnavigating the North Pole. It is delineated by the well‐known polar front jet stream, and it bends poleward at ridges and equatorward at troughs at various amplitudes and positions over time. Previous work assessed the accuracy of representing the NHCPV using a new technique through correlations to air‐sea teleconnections known to be related to broad‐scale, extratropical steering circulation at the monthly scale. Results of that work suggested that the method allows for notable improvements in the calculation of area and circularity of the 500‐hPa manifestation of the NHCPV. Because using monthly averaged data to represent the NHCPV may oversimplify analyses, especially for identifying meteorological impacts, this research employs the same technique for identifying the daily NHCPV. Results suggest that CPV area and circularity are even more closely related to variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific/North American pattern, and (especially) Arctic Oscillation (AO) teleconnections, and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon at the daily scale than at the monthly scale. A principal components analysis reveals the extent of the interrelationships between the teleconnections and NHCPV area and circularity. Results generally affirm that both the individual teleconnections, especially the NAO and AO, and interdependencies among these teleconnections and others, are strongly related to the NHCPV area and circularity. These findings are important because low‐ and high‐frequency variability in the amplitudes and positions of the undulations in the broad‐scale flow influence weather systems that exert important impacts on society.
Joint Dependence of Longwave Feedback on Surface Temperature and Relative Humidity
Authors: McKim Brett A. , Jeevanjee Nadir , Vallis Geoffrey K.
Published: August 2021

Various studies have suggested that Earth's clear‐sky outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) varies linearly with surface temperature, with a longwave clear‐sky feedback that is, independent of surface temperature and relative humidity. However, this uniformity conflicts with the notion that humidity controls tropical stability (e.g., the “furnace” and “radiator fins” of Pierrehumbert (1995, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052%3C1784:TRFATL%3E2.0.CO;2)). Here, we use a column model to explore the dependence of longwave clear‐sky feedback on both surface temperature and relative humidity. We find that a strong humidity dependence in the feedback emerges above 275 K, which stems from the closing of the O window, and that the furnace and radiator fins are consequences of this dependence. We then clarify that radiator fins are better characterized by tropical variations in clear‐sky feedback than OLR. Finally, we construct a simple model for estimating the all‐sky feedback and find that although clouds lower the magnitude of longwave feedback, the humidity‐dependence persists.
Three‐Dimensional Closure of Field‐Aligned Currents in the Polar Ionosphere
Authors: Yano Yuto , Ebihara Yusuke
Published: August 2021

Using a simplified three‐dimensional Hall‐magnetohydrodynamics simulation, we investigated the current closure of field‐aligned currents (FACs) in the polar ionosphere. Ion‐neutral collision was taken into consideration. To excite a pair of FACs, an electric field perturbation is applied to the upper boundary of the simulation box. The flow shear propagated downward accompanied with the FACs. When the electron density was initially uniform, most of the FACs are connected with the Pedersen current due to electrostatic processes. Some of them are connected with the Hall current due to inductive processes. When the density was initially enhanced in a longitudinally elongated region (high‐density band), overflow of the Hall current takes place near the edge of the high‐density band. Additionally, localized FACs appear to bridge between the Pedersen current layer (high altitude) and the Hall current layer (low altitude). The formation of the additional FACs is closely associated with the field‐aligned gradient of ∇∙E, where E is the electric field. We compared the current lines with those evaluated by the traditional thin‐layer assumption. The current closure obtained by the thin‐layer assumption is fully different from that obtained by the three‐dimensional model. In the full three‐dimensional simulation, a current line flowing in the Hall layer can pass underneath the current flowing in the Pedersen layer. Such “intersection” is not allowed in the thin‐layer assumption. We believe that the three‐dimensional model offers advantages for fully understanding the closure of the FACs together with the current closure on the magnetospheric side.
Deep Relative Geologic Time: A Deep Learning Method for Simultaneously Interpreting 3‐D Seismic Horizons and Faults
Authors: Bi Zhengfa , Wu Xinming , Geng Zhicheng , Li Haishan
Published: August 2021

Extracting horizons and detecting faults in a seismic image are basic steps for structural interpretation and important for many seismic processing schemes. A common ground of the two tasks is to analyze seismic structures and they are related to each other. However, previously proposed methods deal with the tasks independently, and challenge remains in each of them. We propose a volume‐to‐volume neural network to estimate a relative geologic time (RGT) volume from a seismic volume, and this RGT volume is further used to simultaneously interpret horizons and faults. The network uses U‐shaped framework with attention mechanism to systematically aggregate multi‐scale information and automatically highlight informative features, and achieves high prediction accuracy with affordable computational costs. To train the network, we build thousands of 3‐D noisy synthetic seismic volumes and corresponding RGT volumes with realistic and various structures. We introduce a loss function based on structure similarity to capture spatial dependencies among seismic samples for better optimizing the network, and use multiple reasonable assessments to evaluate the predicted results. Trained by using synthetic data, our network outperforms the conventional approaches in recognizing structural features in field data examples. Once obtaining an RGT volume, we can not only obtain seismic horizons by simply extracting RGT constant surfaces but also detect faults that are indicated by lateral RGT discontinuities. To be able to deal with large seismic volumes, we further propose a workflow to first estimate sub‐volumes of RGT and merge them to obtain a full RGT volume without boundary artifacts.
Dissolved Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn in the Arctic Ocean
Authors: Gerringa L. J. A. , Rijkenberg M. J. A. , Slagter H. A. , Laan P. , Paffrath R. , Bauch D. , Rutgers van der Loeff M. , Middag R.
Published: August 2021

During the Polarstern (PS94) expedition, summer 2015, part of the international GEOTRACES program, sources and sinks of dissolved (D) Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn were studied in the central Arctic Ocean. In the Polar Surface Water in which the TransPolar Drift (TPD) is situated, salinity and δ18O derived fractions indicated a distinct riverine source for silicate DCo, DCu, DFe, DMn, and DNi. Linear relationships between DMn and the meteoric fraction depended on source distance, likely due to Mn‐precipitation during transport. In the upper 50 m of the Makarov Basin, outside the TPD core, DCo, DMn, DNi, DCd, and DCu were enriched by Pacific waters, whereas DFe seemed diluted. DCo, DFe, DMn, and DZn were relatively high in the Barents Sea and led to enrichment of Atlantic water flowing into the Nansen Basin. Deep concentrations of all metals were significantly lower in the Makarov Basin compared to the Nansen and Amundsen, the Eurasian, Basins. The Gakkel ridge hydrothermal input and higher continental slope convection are explanations for higher metal concentrations in the Eurasian Basins. Although scavenging rates are lower in the Makarov Basin compared to the Eurasian Basins, the residence time is longer and therefore scavenging can decrease the dissolved concentrations with time. This study provides a baseline to assess future change, and additionally identifies processes driving trace metal distributions. Our results underline the importance of fluvial input as well as shelf sources and internal cycling, notably scavenging, for the distribution of bio‐active metals in the Arctic Ocean.