bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relationship between information technology auditors and auditees and their impacts on auditors
Authors: Lapalme James , Kabiwa Victorien , Tardif Pierre-Martin
Published: September 2019

The audit is fundamental to the reputation of the organization and to maintain its investors’ confidence, because it asserts the conformity of financial statements with good accounting practices. Therefore, information technology (IT) auditors are indispensable, since IT is pervasive. IT auditing training focuses on technical skills. However, it appears that good relationships between IT auditors and auditees are crucial to carrying out an IT audit engagement. This phenomenological study is based on interpretative phenomenological analysis. It explores what IT auditors experience, feel, and live in the context of difficult relationships and disagreements with auditees, and how this difficulty impacts these auditors, their audit engagements, and their career. The results highlight five categories of pressures on IT auditors within the scope of audit engagement. Moreover, the results indicate that the experience of the IT auditor and the support from his or her superiors are two factors which have significant influence on how the pressures are experienced. The results also suggest that the pressures experienced affect the IT auditors morally and physically and can impact the auditor’s career ambitions.
Fluorine-Containing Chrysin Derivatives
Authors: Zhu Yue , Yao Xu , Long Jin , Li Rong , Liu Yi , Yang ZeHua , Zheng Xing
Published: September 2019

Chrysin, a flavonoid, has played a great role in the fields of anticancer, antibacterial, and antiviral drug discovery. A large number of chrysin derivatives have been synthesized recently. The fluorine atom represents an important substituent group for a great number of natural products and pharmaceuticals. Taking into account the importance of both chrysin and the fluorine atom in medicinal chemistry, the synthesis of fluorine-containing chrysin derivatives has gained great interest. Chemically, the synthetic methods for these new chrysin derivatives have also been developed rapidly. In recent years, research on their synthesis has been focused on speeding up the reaction process by changing the catalyst. Biologically, the purpose of introducing fluorine into chrysin was to improve its lipophilicity, but today it is mainly focused on the enhancement and improvement of either its anticancer or antimicrobial activities by incorporating the special properties of fluorine atoms. In this review, synthetic methods for the introduction of fluorine atoms into chrysin are summarized, and their anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral, and hypoglycemic effects are discussed.
Differential Use of Nectar Feeders Among Migrant and Resident Hummingbirds
Authors: Nuñez-Rosas Laura E. , Arizmendi María Del Coro
Published: September 2019

The use of artificial nectar feeders has increased in the past decades. Feeders represent extra food resource at a low cost that can cause an increment of hummingbird populations in urban and rural areas. Assuming that migrant hummingbirds have had contact with feeders in breeding areas, we propose that when feeders are held for the first time in an area, migrant hummingbirds will be visiting the novel resource faster than the resident species. Second, assuming that the finding of new resources is correlated with habitat structure, hummingbirds will visit earlier the feeders in places with less environmental complexity as a rural area. This study was done at the southern coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco in a rural area and in a protected natural area. Three twin feeders were placed in each area and visitation was recorded in periods of 50 minutes during morning and afternoon. We found that (a) migrant hummingbird began visiting the feeders in less time than residents at all the feeders, (b) once migrants used the feeder’s residents began visiting, and (c) in the rural site visitation occurred earlier than in the natural forest. These findings support that hummingbirds learn to use novel food sources and remember used resources recognizing them at the landscape level, and that residents never exposed to an artificial food source learn to use them faster in more open areas and after migrants used them.
p21−/− Mice Exhibit Spontaneous Articular Cartilage Regeneration Post-Injury
Authors: Jablonski Christina L. , Besler Bryce A. , Ali Jahaan , Krawetz Roman J.
Published: September 2019

Objective

Recent studies have implicated the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor, p21, in enhanced tissue regeneration observed in MRL/MpJ “super-healer” mice. Specifically, p21 is downregulated in MRL cells and similar ear hole closure to MRL mice has been observed in p21−/− mice. However, the direct implications of p21 deletion in endogenous articular cartilage regeneration remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of p21 deletion in the ability of mice to heal full-thickness cartilage defects (FTCDs).

Design

C57BL/6 and p21−/− ( Cdkn1atm1Tyj) mice were subjected to FTCD and assessment of cartilage healing was performed at 1 hour, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks post-FTCD using a 14-point histological scoring system. X-ray microscopy was used to quantify cartilage healing parameters (e.g., cartilage thickness, surface area/volume) between C57BL/6 and p21−/− mice.

Results

Absence of p21 resulted in increased spontaneous articular cartilage regeneration by 3 days post-FTCD. Furthermore, p21−/− mice presented with increased cartilage thickness at 1 and 2 weeks post-FTCD compared with uninjured controls, returning to baseline by 4 weeks post-FTCD.

Conclusions

We report that p21−/− mice display enhanced articular cartilage regeneration post-FTCD compared with C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, cartilage thickness was increased in p21−/− mice at 1 week post-FTCD compared with uninjured p21−/− mice and C57BL/6 mice.
Building relationships through accountability: An expanded idea of accountability
Authors: Wang Danni , Waldman David A. , Ashforth Blake E.
Published: September 2019

Previous literature has focused on how external forces impose accountability on individuals (i.e., holding individuals to account), but has not considered the possibility of internal, personal accountability. We explain how an internalized sense of accountability, which we term internally assumed accountability, can enrich our understanding of why some organizational members might assume ownership for organizational problems, even ones that they did not actually cause. We offer a typology of accountability in organizations based on contrasting relationship norms and personal orientations. Our article concludes with a discussion on connections between different kinds of accountability and stakeholder relationships, suggesting a number of avenues for further investigation and practice.
The ocean exceeded: Fish, flows and forces
Authors: Bear Christopher
Published: September 2019

The ongoing conceptualisation of oceans and the hydrosphere by Peters and Steinberg is to be welcomed. They continue to challenge geography’s historical tendency to focus on and from terrestrial spaces, exploring how oceans exceed their material, discursive and imagined boundaries along with their liquid form. This short commentary responds specifically to their assertion that ‘The ocean is fish’. Using the example of Atlantic salmon, it questions the directionality at the heart of Peters and Steinberg’s paper. It focuses particularly on the complex spatialities of salmonid life, and the ability of salmon to blur aquatic boundaries. The commentary argues that if oceans exceed, they are also exceeded, whether through the extra-planetary forces that guide salmonid migration and affect tides, or the inward flows of water from rivers. It ends by questioning the space given to non-human life in the more-than-wet ontology, asking how such actants might be implicated in oceanic excess, particularly when the ocean’s intrinsic voluminous excess renders them beyond human awareness or understanding.
Endometriosis and the risk of ectopic pregnancy: 10-year retrospective cohort study
Authors: Saetta Ally , Magro Michael , Oliver Reeba , Odejinmi Funlayo
Published: September 2019

Objective:

Our primary objective is to give weight to the unanswered and recently heavily debated question, as to whether endometriosis is a statistically significant risk factor for ectopic pregnancy. Our study also provides information on the ethnicity, age and parity of each woman. We report the clinical presentation, the presence of other risk factors as well as intraoperative findings.

Design:

A retrospective cohort study.

Settings:

Whipps Cross University Hospital, Bart’s Health NHS Trust which is a district general University hospital in East London.

Population:

All women, over 10-year period (2005–2014), who were surgically treated for an ectopic pregnancy.

Methods:

In total, 800 patients were surgically managed. A total of 100 had incomplete data and were, therefore, excluded from analysis. The clinical details, demographics and operation notes were retrospectively analysed for 700 patients. Data were analysed using the student’s t test or chi-square analysis as appropriate.

Results:

In total, 37 women (5.3%) had endometriosis and 663 women (94.7%) had no evidence of endometriosis. Of the 37 patients, 24 had stage 1, 11 had stage 2 and 2 patients had stage 3 endometriosis.

Conclusion:

Our data support the theory that endometriosis is not a statistically significant occurrence in women with surgically managed ectopic pregnancy and is not risk factor for ectopic pregnancy.
A Single Liver Metastasis From Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Parotid Gland: Case Report
Authors: Zemni Ines , Tounsi Nesrine , Bouraoui Imene , Slimene Maher , Sahraoui Ghada , Ayadi Mohamed Ali , Chargui Riadh , Rahal Khaled
Published: September 2019

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm of the salivary gland. Liver metastasis from salivary gland cancer is a rare situation. In this article, we report the case of a 29-year-old woman treated 5 years previously for adenoid cystic carcinoma of the parotid gland by surgery and radiotherapy, who presented for a large hypervascularized hepatic metastasis of 20 cm. After 3-cycle chemotherapy stability, hepatic surgery was successfully performed. The patient maintained disease-free period of 12 months after the surgical treatment. This rare case represents a therapeutic challenge for oncologists and surgeons. Through this case and a review of the literature, we try to better detail the management of this uncommon entity.
Impact of a Standardized Multimodal Analgesia Protocol on Opioid Prescriptions After Common Arthroscopic Procedures
Authors: Hajewski Christina J. , Westermann Robert W. , Holte Andrew , Shamrock Alan , Bollier Matthew , Wolf Brian R.
Published: September 2019

Background:

Excessive prescription of opioids has become a national problem. Providers must attempt to decrease the amount of opioids prescribed while still providing patients with adequate pain relief after surgery.

Hypothesis:

Implementing a standardized multimodal analgesic protocol will decrease the amount of opioids prescribed at the time of surgery as well as the total amount of opioids dispensed postoperatively.

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

Patients who had undergone meniscectomy, rotator cuff repair (RCR), or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction at our institution were identified by Current Procedural Terminology code 12 months prior to and 6 months after the initiation of a standardized multimodal postoperative pain protocol. Records were reviewed to extract demographic data, amount of opioids prescribed at the time of surgery, amount and frequency of opioid refills, and call-ins regarding pain medication or its side effects. A Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to evaluate differences in opioid prescriptions between pre- and postprotocol, and significance was set to P < .05.

Results:

The mean amount of opioids prescribed at the time of surgery decreased from 63.5 to 22.3 pills ( P < .0001) for meniscectomy, from 73.3 to 39.7 ( P < .0001) for ACL reconstruction, and from 75.6 to 39.8 ( P < .0001) for RCR. The percentage of patients receiving a refill of opioids during the postoperative period also decreased for all groups: from 13% to 4% ( P = .0051) for meniscectomy, 29.2% to 11.4% ( P = .0005) for ACL reconstruction, and 47.3% to 24.4% ( P < .0001) for RCR. There was no significant difference in patient calls regarding pain medication or its side effects.

Conclusion:

Institution of a standardized multimodal analgesia protocol significantly decreased the amount of opioids dispensed after common arthroscopic procedures. This reduction in the amount of opioids given on the day of surgery did not result in an increased demand for refills. Our study also demonstrated that 20 opioid pills were adequate for patients undergoing meniscectomy and 40 pills were adequate for ACL reconstruction and RCR in the majority of cases. This protocol serves as a way for providers to decrease the amount of opioids dispensed after surgery while providing patients with alternatives for pain relief.
Eversion and First Ray Plantarflexion Muscle Strength in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using a Peroneus Longus Tendon Graft
Authors: Rhatomy Sholahuddin , Wicaksono Fidelis H. , Soekarno Noha Roshadiansyah , Setyawan Riky , Primasara Shinta , Budhiparama Nicolaas C.
Published: September 2019

Background:

The peroneus longus tendon has been used as a graft in orthopaedic reconstruction surgery because of its comparable biomechanical strength with the native anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and hamstring tendon. However, one of the considerations in choosing an autograft is donor site morbidity.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

This study aimed to compare ankle eversion and first ray plantarflexion strength between the donor site and its contralateral site after ACL reconstruction. The study hypothesis was that strength measurements will be different between the harvest site and contralateral healthy site.

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

Patients who underwent ACL reconstruction using a peroneus longus tendon autograft between March 2017 and December 2018 were included in this study. Patients followed a rehabilitation protocol from the first day after surgery. Ankle eversion and first ray plantarflexion strength were measured using a modified dynamometer 6 months after surgery. Donor site morbidity was assessed 6 months after surgery using the Foot & Ankle Disability Index (FADI) and American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) scoring system for the ankle and hindfoot.

Results:

A total of 31 patients (22 male, 9 female; mean age, 27.58 ± 8.69 years [range, 18.00-45.00 years]) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There was no significant difference in ankle eversion strength at the donor site compared with the contralateral site ( P = .55), with means of 65.87 ± 7.63 N and 66.96 ± 8.38 N, respectively. Also, there was no significant difference in ankle first ray plantarflexion strength at the donor site compared with the contralateral site ( P = .68), with means of 150.64 ± 11.67 N and 152.10 ± 12.16 N, respectively. The mean FADI score of 99.71 ± 0.57 and mean AOFAS score of 98.71 ± 3.03 at the donor site were considered excellent results.

Conclusion:

Ankle eversion and first ray plantarflexion strength at the donor site were similar to those at the contralateral healthy site, with no donor site morbidity. This suggests that the peroneus longus tendon is a promising graft in ACL reconstruction.
The Challenges of Organizational Classification: A Research Note
Authors: Plummer Samantha , Hughes Melanie M. , Smith Jackie
Published: September 2019

Social movement, civil society, and world polity scholars use counts of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to evaluate important theoretical and empirical claims. To construct these measures, researchers often classify NGOs by their goals and/or domains. However, over time, the ways organizations describe and orient themselves change, blurring boundaries between organizations and complicating measurement. In this research note, we identify methodological challenges of organizational classification in the context of our work constructing a longitudinal dataset of transnational social movement organizations. We draw attention to an understudied cause of measurement error: overcounting of organizations. We suggest that as automated methods for classifying data become widespread, devising strategies for dealing with these challenges becomes even more pressing.
State-Level Immigrant Prenatal Health Care Policy and Inequities in Health Insurance Among Children in Mixed-Status Families
Authors: Kemmick Pintor Jessie , Call Kathleen Thiede
Published: September 2019

Children in immigrant families are twice as likely to be uninsured as their counterparts, and states may influence these inequities by facilitating or restricting immigrant families’ access to coverage. Our objective was to measure differences in insurance by mother’s documentation status among a nationally representative sample of US-born children in immigrant families and to examine the role of state-level immigrant health care policy—namely, state-level immigrant access to prenatal coverage. Compared with US-born children in immigrant families with citizen mothers, children with undocumented immigrant mothers had a 17.0 percentage point ( P < .001) higher uninsurance rate (8.8 percentage points higher in adjusted models, P < .05). However, in states with nonrestrictive prenatal coverage for immigrants, there were no differences in children’s insurance by mother’s documentation status, while large inequities were observed within states with restrictive policies. Our findings demonstrate the potential for state-level immigrant health care policy to mitigate or exacerbate inequities in children’s insurance.
A Nomadic State of Mind: Mental Maps of Bedouins in the Negev and Sinai During the Time of the Ottomans, the British Mandate, and the State of Israel
Authors: Galilee Emir
Published: September 2019

This article is based on over a decade of field research among Bedouin tribes of the Negev as well as historical and geographical research. Its central argument is that the main social, cultural, and geographical processes within the Negev Bedouin groups are impacted by three major forces: nomadism and the social structure; formal Islam; and the rise of the modern state. This argument is illustrated by the geographical concept of “mental maps”, and its various manifestations in Bedouin society. The article focuses on the historical developments of the twentieth century, which took place alongside the rise of the Zionist movement and the establishment of the State of Israel.
Behavior Change for Caries Prevention: Understanding Inconsistent Results
Authors: Albino J. , Tiwari T.
Published: September 2019

Most applied work on caries prevention acknowledges the role of oral hygiene and dietary control strategies in reducing the prevalence and incidence of caries. What we seldom address, however, is the necessity of initiating and sustaining behaviors that will ensure these strategies are implemented. Virtually every approach to prevention of caries requires the individual to do something, that is, to engage in different behavior. We are continually confronted by the fact that to improve oral health, individuals must behave in new ways. Strategies for achieving better oral health most often have relied on providing information or telling people what they should or should not do. These approaches have not proven highly effective, yet they continue to be the mainstay of efforts to improve oral health. Acknowledging this failure, dental behavioral scientists have turned to the health beliefs model or to other cognitive-behavioral models, with their emphases on relative risks, barriers, and readiness to change. These models help us to conceptualize what people are doing to keep themselves, or their children, orally healthy, but the success of these models has been only marginal, especially among groups where disparities are extreme. In response, increasingly complex models that require attention to social and environmental variables, as well as individual behavior, have been proposed. Acknowledgment of “upstream variables” has become common—especially when working with populations experiencing health disparities, but overcoming upstream influences can appear to require sweeping changes that we often are not in a position to address. Consequently, research only picks away at individual elements of models, seeking the behavioral “magic bullet.” In an effort to elucidate the challenges, this article introduces the construct of overdetermination of behavior and encourages more rigorous documentation of potential determinants, as well as personalized development of behavioral approaches for implementing strategies to improve oral health.

Knowledge Transfer Statement:

This article reexamines our inconsistent results in effecting behavior change for better oral health using 2 important psychological constructs: “upstream variables” and the “overdetermination” of behavior.
Association Between Stress and Coping with DNA Methylation of Blood Pressure-Related Genes Among African American Women
Authors: Brown Kristen M. , Hui Qin , Huang Yunfeng , Taylor Jacquelyn Y. , Prescott Laura , Barcelona de Mendoza Veronica , Crusto Cindy , Sun Yan V.
Published: September 2019

Background

Exposure to psychosocial stress and employment of high effort coping strategies have been identified as risk factors that may partially explain the high prevalence of hypertension among African Americans. One biological mechanism through which stress and coping may affect risk of hypertension is via epigenetic modifications (e.g., DNA methylation) in blood pressure-related genes; however, this area remains understudied in African Americans.

Methods

We used data from the ongoing Intergenerational Blood Pressure Study, a longitudinal study designed to investigate factors that contribute to hypertension risk in African American women (n = 120) and their young children, to investigate the association between stress overload, problem-solving coping, avoidance coping, and social support coping with DNA methylation in 25 candidate genes related to blood pressure. Multivariable linear regression and multilevel modeling were used to conduct methylation site-level and gene-level analyses, respectively.

Results

In site-level analyses, stress overload, problem-solving coping, social support coping, and avoidance coping were associated with 47, 63, 66, and 61 sites, respectively, at p < 0.05. However, no associations were statistically significant after multiple testing correction. There were also no significant associations in gene-level analyses.

Conclusions

As human social epigenomics is an emerging, evolving area of research, there is much to be learned from studies with statistically significant findings as well as studies with null findings. Factors such as characteristics of the social stressor, source of DNA, and synchronization of exposure and outcome are likely important considerations as we move the field forward.
Low factor V level ameliorates bleeding diathesis in patients with combined deficiency of factor V and factor VIII
Authors: Shao Yanyan , Wu Wenman , Xu Guanqun , Wang Xuefeng , Ding Qiulan
Published: September 2019

Combined factor V and factor VIII deficiency is a rare disorder associated with relatively mild bleeding diathesis. Shao and colleagues elucidate the double role of factor V as both a pro- and anticoagulant protein, demonstrating that decreased factor V may ameliorate factor VIII deficiency through decreasing the level of tissue factor pathway inhibitor.
The miR-141/neuropilin-1 axis is associated with the clinicopathology and contributes to the growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer
Authors: Ma Lixin , Zhai Bo , Zhu Huaqiang , Li Weidong , Jiang Wenjing , Lei Liwang , Zhang Shujun , Qiao Haiquan , Jiang Xian , Sun Xueying
Published: September 2019

Background

Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) is a non-tyrosine kinase receptor interacting with multiple signaling pathways that underpin the biological behavior and fate of cancer cells. However, in pancreatic cancer, the mechanisms underlying the function of NRP-1 in cell proliferation and metastasis and the involvement of regulatory upstream miRNAs remain unclear.

Methods

Potential miRNAs were mined by using multiple bioinformatics prediction tools and validated by luciferase assays. The expression of NRP-1 and miRNA-141 (miR-141) in pancreatic tissues and cells was examined by immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and/or real-time RT-PCR. Stable transfected cells depleted of NRP-1 were generated, and regulatory effects of miR-141 were investigated by transfecting cells with miR-141 mimics and anti-miR-141. Assays of cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle distribution, transwell migration and cell scratch were employed. Xenograft tumor models were established to assess the effects of NRP-1 depletion on tumorigenesis and liver metastasis, and therapeutic effects of miR-141 on tumor growth. The role of miR-141/NRP-1 axis in regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) by co-interacting the TGF-β pathway was examined.

Results

In this study, of 12 candidate miRNAs identified, miR-141 showed the strongest ability to regulate NRP-1. In pancreatic cancer tissues and cells, the expression level of NRP-1 was negatively correlated with that of miR-141. NRP-1 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues compared with normal pancreatic tissues, and its expression levels were positively correlated with tumor grade, lymph metastasis and AJCC staging. NRP-1 depletion inhibited cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase through upregulating p27 and downregulating cyclin E and cyclin-dependent kinase 2, and reduced cell migration by inhibiting EMT through upregulating E-cadherin and downregulating Snail and N-cadherin. Through downregulating NRP-1, miR-141 mimics showed a similar effect as NRP-1 depletion on cell proliferation and migration. NRP-1 depletion suppressed tumor growth and liver metastasis and miR-141 mimics inhibited the growth of established tumors in mice. NRP-1 depletion and/or miR-141 mimics inhibited the activation of the TGF-β pathway stimulated by TGF-β ligand.

Conclusions

The present results indicate that NRP-1 is negatively regulated by miR-141 and the miR-141/NRP-1 axis may serve as potentially valuable biomarkers and therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer.
Structural heterogeneity in and around the fold-and-thrust belt of the Hidaka Collision zone, Hokkaido, Japan and its relationship to the aftershock activity of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake
Authors: Iwasaki Takaya , Tsumura Noriko , Ito Tanio , Arita Kazunori , Makoto Matsubara , Sato Hiroshi , Kurashimo Eiji , Hirata Naoshi , Abe Susumu , Noda Katsuya , Fujiwara Akira , Kikuchi Shinsuke , Suzuki Kazuko
Published: September 2019

The Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake (M = 6.7) occurred on Sep. 6, 2018 in the southern part of Central Hokkaido, Japan. Since Paleogene, this region has experienced the dextral oblique transpression between the Eurasia and North American (Okhotsk) Plates and the subsequent collision between the Northeast Japan Arc and the Kuril Arc due to the oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate. This earthquake occurred beneath the foreland fold-and-thrust belt of the Hidaka Collision zone developed by the collision process, and is characterized by its deep focal depth (~ 37 km) and complicated rupture process. The reanalyses of controlled source seismic data collected in the 1998–2000 Hokkaido Transect Project revealed the detailed structure beneath the fold-and-thrust belt, and its relationship with the aftershock activity of this earthquake. Our reflection processing using the CRS/MDRS stacking method imaged for the first time the lower crust and uppermost mantle structures of the Northeast Japan Arc underthrust beneath a thick (~ 5–10 km) sedimentary package of the fold-and-thrust belt. Based on the analysis of the refraction/wide-angle reflection data, the total thickness of this Northeast Japan Arc crust is only 16–22 km. The Moho is at depths of 26–28 km in the source region of the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake. Our hypocenter determination using a 3D structure model shows that most of the aftershocks are distributed in a depth range of 7–45 km with steep geometry facing to the east. The seismic activity is quite low within the thick sediments of the fold–thrust belt, from which we find no indication on the relationship of this event with the shallow (< 10–15 km) and rather flat active faults developed in the fold-and-thrust belt. On the other hand, a number of aftershocks are distributed below the Moho. This high activity may be caused by the cold crust delaminated from the Kuril Arc side by the arc–arc collision, which prevents the thermal circulation and cools the forearc uppermost mantle to generate an environment more favorable for brittle fracture.
Deriving policies from connection codes to ensure ongoing voltage stability
Authors: Ryan David , Ponce De Leon Miguel , Grant Niall , Butler Bernard , Vogel Steffen , Mirz Markus , Lyons Pádraig
Published: September 2019

The management and transmission networks is becoming increasingly complex due to the proliferation of renewables-based distributed energy resources (DER). Existing control systems for DER are based on static specifications from interdependent network connection documents. Such systems are inflexible and their maintenance requires concerted effort between grid stakeholders.

In this paper we present a new supplementary control approach to increase the agility of the electricity grid. The ICT system that underlies smart grids has the potential to offer, by analogy with ICT based network management, a control plane overlay for the modern smart grid. Policy-based Network Management (PBNM) is widely deployed in managed telecoms networks. We outline how PBNM can augment the management of power and energy networks and report on our initial work to validate the approach. To configure the PBNM system, we have used text mining to derive connection parameters at the LV level. In our simulations, PBNM was used in collaboration with a Volt-VAr optimisation (VVO) to tune the connection settings at each DER to manage the voltage across all the buses. We argue that the full benefits will be realised when stakeholders focus on agreeing relatively stable high-level connection policies, the policies being refined dynamically, and algorithms such as VVO that set connection parameters so they are consistent with those high-level policies. Thus faults, power quality issues and regulatory infringement can be identified sooner, and power flow can be optimised.
Towards domain-specific surrogate models for smart grid co-simulation
Authors: Balduin Stephan , Tröschel Martin , Lehnhoff Sebastian
Published: September 2019

Surrogate models are used to reduce the computational effort required to simulate complex systems. The power grid can be considered as such a complex system with a large number of interdependent inputs. With artificial neural networks and deep learning, it is possible to build high-dimensional approximation models. However, a large data set is also required for the training process. This paper presents an approach to sample input data and create a deep learning surrogate model for a low voltage grid. Challenges are discussed and the model is evaluated under different conditions. The results show that the model performs well from a machine learning point of view, but has domain-specific weaknesses.
Impact of advanced electricity tariff structures on the optimal design, operation and profitability of a grid-connected PV system with energy storage
Authors: Bloch Lionel , Holweger Jordan , Ballif Christophe , Wyrsch Nicolas
Published: September 2019

The increasing penetration of residential photovoltaics (PV) comes with numerous challenges for distribution system operators. Technical difficulties arise when an excess of PV energy is injected into the grid, causing voltage rise or overloading of the lines. Economic challenges appear because PV owners and consumers are not participating equally in the grid costs. Indeed, PV owners benefit by self-consuming their PV production and by gaining additional revenues when they sell their PV surplus to the grid. Hence, they lower their grid costs. In this paper, we propose a mixed-integer-linear programming approach to solve the design and operation of a PV and battery system efficiently. We use this tool to benchmark five different tariff scenarios, which include real-time pricing, a capacity-based tariff, and a block rate tariff, and evaluate their effect on the design and operation of the system. Carefully tailored metrics show the impact of these tariff structures on the trade-off between the economic viability of privately owned energy systems and their grid usage intensity. Considering both aspects, we show that a block rate tariff is the most promising approach and that capacity-based tariffs rely on PV curtailment alone to curtail the generation peaks.
Using Taxonomies of Metacognitive Behaviors to Analyze Student Reflection and Improve Teaching Practice
Authors: Trimble Thomas , Jankens Adrienne
Published: September 2019

Recent interest in reflective writing in the classroom is tied to the suggested links among reflection, metacognition, and learning transfer. There is still a limited understanding, however, about the distinguishing features of reflective writing and how teachers might identify and use these features to teach effective reflective practices and to interact with student reflective writing. This study uses Gorzelsky et al.’s (2016) taxonomy of metacognitive behaviors to examine the end-of-semester reflective essays of undergraduate students enrolled in a first-year writing course at a large midwestern university. The authors identify and describe a feature of student reflective writing involving the use of emotional language and, working from their findings, suggest a teaching strategy and set of classroom activities aimed at leveraging students’ emotive expressions in ways that foster metacognitive awareness.
In the Governess’s Room
Authors: Pouliot Amber
Published: September 2019

This article considers the all too common experience of precarious employment in higher education, but under a unique set of circumstances: a three-year postdoctoral fellowship and residency in a stately home in the English countryside. The author explains how she harnesses the pedagogical possibilities of her precarity by operating a policy of radical honesty with her students, both inside and outside of the classroom. As a Victorianist, she petitioned to teach texts, including Jane Eyre, that allowed her to explore contingent academic labor with her students and compare the plight of the nineteenth-century governess—poorly paid, forced to lead an itinerant existence, and subject to dismissal when she outlived her utility—to the conditions that many academics currently face. She invites her students to share their struggles, and for her part, she frankly shares the difficulties of being a precarious academic, in the hopes of creating a place of mutual understanding, support, and solidarity.
Lack of whey acidic protein four disulphide core (WFDC) 2 protease inhibitor causes neonatal death from respiratory failure in mice
Authors: Nakajima Kuniko , Ono Michio , Radović Uroš , Dizdarević Selma , Tomizawa Shin-ichi , Kuroha Kazushige , Naganatsu Go , Hoshi Ikue , Matsunaga Risa , Shirakawa Takayuki , Kurosawa Takeyuki , Miyazaki Yasunari , Seki Masahide , Suzuki Yutaka , Koseki Haruhiko , Nakamura Masataka , Suda Toshio , Ohbo Kazuyuki
Published: September 2019

Respiratory failure is a life-threatening problem for pre-term and term infants yet many causes remain unknown. Here, we present evidence that whey acidic protein (WAP) four-disulfide core domain protease inhibitor 2 (Wfdc2), a protease inhibitor previously unrecognized in respiratory disease, may be a causal factor in infant respiratory failure. Transcripts are detected in the embryonic lung and analysis of a Wfdc2-GFP knock-in mouse line shows that both basal and club cells, and type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECIIs), express Wfdc2 neonatally. Null mutant mice display progressive atelectasis after birth with a lethal phenotype. Mutant lungs have multiple defects including impaired cilia and absence of mature club cells from the tracheo-bronchial airways and malformed lamellar bodies in AECIIs. RNA sequencing shows significant activation of a pro-inflammatory pathway, but with low-quantity infiltration of mononuclear cells in the lung. These data demonstrate that Wfdc2 function is vitally important for lung aeration at birth and that gene deficiency likely causes failure of the lung mucosal barrier.
Model organisms at the heart of regeneration
Authors: Price Eleanor L. , Vieira Joaquim M. , Riley Paul R.
Published: September 2019

Heart failure is a major cause of death worldwide owing to the inability of the adult human heart to regenerate after a heart attack. However, many vertebrate species are capable of complete cardiac regeneration following injury. In this Review, we discuss the various model organisms of cardiac regeneration, and outline what they have taught us thus far about the cellular and molecular responses essential for optimal cardiac repair. We compare across different species, highlighting evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of regeneration and demonstrating the importance of developmental gene expression programmes, plasticity of the heart and the pathophysiological environment for the regenerative response. Additionally, we discuss how the findings from these studies have led to improvements in cardiac repair in preclinical models such as adult mice and pigs, and discuss the potential to translate these findings into therapeutic approaches for human patients following myocardial infarction.
Pass-Through as a Test for Market Power: An Application to Solar Subsidies
Authors: Pless Jacquelyn , van Benthem Arthur A.
Published: September 2019

We formalize pass-through over-shifting as a simple yet underutilized test for market power. We apply this test in the market for solar energy. Specifically, we estimate the pass-through of solar subsidies to solar system prices using rich micro-level transaction and subsidy data from California. Buyers of solar systems capture nearly the full subsidy, while there is more-than-complete pass-through to lessees. We conclude that solar markets are imperfectly competitive by ruling out alternative explanations for over-shifting and reinforce this conclusion with a test of solar demand curvature. This procedure can serve to detect market power beyond the solar market. (JEL H23, H76, L13, L63, Q42, Q48)
Leader Selection and Service Delivery in Community Groups: Experimental Evidence from Uganda
Authors: Deserranno Erika , Stryjan Miri , Sulaiman Munshi
Published: September 2019

In developing countries, NGOs and governments often rely on local groups for the delivery of financial and public services. This paper studies how the design of rules used for group leader selection affects leader identity and shapes service delivery. To do so, we randomly assign newly formed savings and loan groups to select their leaders using either a public discussion procedure or a private vote procedure. Leaders selected with a private vote are found to be less positively selected on socioeconomic characteristics. This results in groups that are more inclusive toward poor members, without being less economically efficient. (JEL D72, O16, O17, O22, Z13)
Pitfalls in diagnosis of infiltrative lung disease by CT
Authors: Du Pasquier Céline , Hajri Rami , Lazor Romain , Daccord Cécile , Gidoin Stacey , Brauner Michel , Beigelman-Aubry Catherine
Published: September 2019

The diagnosis of interstitial lung disease may be challenging, especially in atypical disease. Various factors must be considered when performing and reading a chest CT examination for interstitial lung disease, because each of them may represent a source of misinterpretation. Firstly, technical aspects must be mastered, including acquisition and reconstruction parameters as well as post-processing. Secondly, mistakes in interpretation related to the inaccurate description of predominant features, potentially leading to false-positive findings, as well as satisfaction of search must be avoided. In all cases, clinical context, coexisting chest abnormalities and previous examinations must be integrated into the analysis to suggest the most appropriate differential diagnosis.
Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype specific anti-microbial susceptibility profiles among PCV-10 vaccinated and unvaccinated children attending Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Walekhwa Michael , Muturi Margaret , Kenya Eucharia , Kabera Beatrice
Published: September 2019

Background: The spread of antimicrobial resistance threatens effective control and treatment of pneumococcal disease worldwide. In Kenya, an estimated one in every five children dies from pneumococcal disease every year. Of these, ≥50% are attributable to antibiotic resistance. Consequently, the WHO has recommended that continuous regional surveillance be done to detect early resistance to available antibiotics and make necessary changes. We therefore investigated antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Streptococcus pneumoniae among PCV-10 vaccinated and unvaccinated children ≤5 years old at Gertrude's Children’s Hospital.

Methods: A 0.5 McFarland standard of freshly subcultured organisms were inoculated on Mueller–Hinton plates with 5% sheep blood agar. A standard disk dispenser was used to dispense various antibiotic disks on the Mueller–Hinton agar plate. Incubation was done overnight (20-24 hours) at 37oC in 5% CO2 and clearance zones read using a Vanier caliber. Antimicrobials tested included vancomycin (30µg, ≥17mm); erythromycin (15µg, ≥21mm); clindamycin (2µg, ≥19mm); oxacillin (1µg, ≥19mm) and ceftriaxone (1µg, ≥30mm).

Results: Thirty nine (92.86%) Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were susceptible to erythromycin; 39 (92.86%) were susceptible to vancomycin; eight (19.86%) Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were susceptible to oxacillin, while 34 (80.95%) were non-susceptible; 40 (95.24%) isolates were susceptible to clindamycin; and 24 (57.86%) isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone, while 18 (42.86%) were non-susceptible. Children who attended daycare centers exhibited a four-fold significant risk of being resistant to ceftriaxone. All antibiotics studied were effective against Streptococcus pneumoniae except oxacillin and ceftriaxone, which exhibited high levels of non-susceptibility. Attendance of daycare centers, consumption of antibiotics two weeks prior to collection of sample and subject age were shown to be associated with an increased risk of Streptococcus pneumoniae being resistant to penicillins and ceftriaxone.

Conclusions: The law guiding use of antibiotics in Kenya should be meritoriously enforced to curb abuse of the available antibiotics.
Group antenatal care versus standard antenatal care and effect on mean gestational age at birth in Rwanda: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
Authors: Musange Sabine Furere , Butrick Elizabeth , Lundeen Tiffany , Santos Nicole , Azman Firdaus Hana , Benitez Alejandra , Nzeyimana David , Kayiramirwa Murindahabi Nathalie , Nyiraneza Lauriane , Sayinzoga Felix , Ndahindwa Vedaste , Ngabo Fidele , Condo Jeanine , Walker Dylis
Published: September 2019

Background: Group antenatal care has demonstrated promise as a service delivery model that may result in improved outcomes compared to standard antenatal care in socio-demographic populations at disparately high risk for poor perinatal outcomes. Intrigued by results from the United States showing lower preterm birth rates among high-risk women who participate in group antenatal care, partners working together as the Preterm Birth Initiative - Rwanda designed a trial to assess the impact of group antenatal care on gestational age at birth.

Methods: This study is a pair-matched cluster randomized controlled trial with four arms. Pairs randomized to group or standard care were further matched with other pairs into quadruples, within which one pair was assigned to implement basic obstetric ultrasound at the health center and early pregnancy testing at the community. At facilities randomized to group care, this will follow the opt-out model of service delivery and individual visits will always be available for those who need or prefer them. The primary outcome of interest is mean gestational age at birth among women who presented for antenatal care before 24 completed weeks of pregnancy and attended more than one antenatal care visit. Secondary outcomes of interest include attendance at antenatal and postnatal care, preterm birth rates, satisfaction of mothers and providers, and feasibility. A convenience sample of women will be recruited to participate in a longitudinal survey in which they will report such indicators as self-reported health-related behaviors and depressive symptoms. Providers will be surveyed about satisfaction and stress.

Discussion: This is the largest cluster randomized controlled trial of group antenatal and postnatal care ever conducted, and the first in a low- or middle-income country to examine the effect of this model on gestational age at birth.

Trial registration: This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03154177 May 16, 2017.
The politics of normalising gendered violence: feminised austerity and masculinised wealth creation
Authors: Savigny Heather , Scullion Richard
Published: September 2019

According to United Nations data, one in three women worldwide are subject to violence. Yet, the systemic embedding of male sexual violence often fails to be part of public discussion. To explore this relative silencing of mediated discussion is to consider how media normalise male violence towards women. This structural obfuscation serves to reinforce the gendered violence upon which these structures are located. This is the context in which hegemonic masculinity now takes a reified neoliberal form, which serves to normalise the violence of gendered power relations. Illustrating this, we explore the way in which austerity has been positioned as a policy of violence. We argue that by exposing how neoliberal hegemonic masculinity is central to the construction of gender, and exploring how this is disseminated, we are able to show how male violence towards women is legitimated in mediated political discourse.