bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dispatching the problems in implementing mobile payment services from consumer attitude perspective
Authors: Thien Van Hoang , Tien Vo Anh , Cong Danh Huynh , Nguyen Hoang-Sy
Published: April 2021

Due to the abundance of internet and e-commerce (electronic commerce), an excessive amount of data has been generated causing an overload of information to the current network infrastructure. As an attempt to solve this problem, there is a shift to mobile payment in the field of E-commerce. Thus, it is essential to study the adoption level of such service for global markets in general and the Vietnamese market in specific. In this paper, we study the consumers' attitude toward mobile payment, investigated with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) from three perspectives, namely the consumer innovativeness, perceived benefit, and perceived risk. Accordingly, there are six hypotheses proposed to study the consumers' attitude toward the service. Thanks to the structural equation modeling (SEM) method, a population of 250 Vietnamese mobile payment users was analyzed to confirm five out of the six hypotheses. It is drawn that the attitude toward the service is correlated positively with the innovativeness and the perceived benefit, while being correlated negatively with the perceived risk. Besides, the resulted model can elucidate approximately 49% the consumers' intention to reuse the mobile payment service.
Denoising of EEG signal based on word imagination using ICA for artifact and noise removal on unspoken speech
Authors: Yosrita Efy , Nur Aziza Rosida , Farah Ningrum Rahma , Muhammad Givary
Published: April 2021

The purpose of this research is to observe the effectiveness of independent component analysis (ICA) method for denoising raw EEG signals based on word imagination, which will be used for word classification on unspoken speech. The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are signals that represent the electrical activities of the human brain when someone is doing activities, such as sleeping, thinking or other physical activities. EEG data based on the word imagination used for the research is accompanied by artifacts, that come from muscle movements, heartbeat, eye blink, voltage and so on. In previous studies, the ICA method has been widely used and effective for relieving physiological artifacts. Artifact to signal ratio (ASR) is used to measure the effectiveness of ICA in this study. If the ratio is getting larger, the ICA method is considered effective for clearing noise and artifacts from the EEG data. Based on the experiment, the obtained ASR values from 11 subjects on 14 electrodes amounted are within the range of 0,910 to 1,080. Thus, it can be concluded that ICA is effective for removing artifacts from EEG signals based on word imagination.
Heterogeneity of the Predictive Polygenic Risk Scores for Coronary Heart Disease Age-at-Onset in Three Different Coronary Heart Disease Family-Based Ascertainments
Authors: Feitosa Mary F. , Kuipers Allison L. , Wojczynski Mary K. , Wang Lihua , Barinas-Mitchell Emma , Kulminski Alexander M. , Thyagarajan Bharat , Lee Joseph H. , Perls Thomas , Christensen Kaare , Newman Anne B. , Zmuda Joseph M. , Province Michael A.
Published: April 2021

Background:

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for coronary heart disease (CHD) may contribute to assess the overall risk of CHD. We evaluated how PRS may influence CHD risk when the distribution of age-at-onset, sex, and family health history differ significantly.

Methods:

Our study included 3 family-based ascertainments: LLFS (Long Life Family Study, N
Individuals
=4572), which represents a low CHD risk, and Family Heart Study, which consists of randomly selected families (FamHS-random, N
Individuals
=1806), and high CHD risk families (FamHS-high risk, N
Individuals
=2301). We examined the effects of PRS, sex, family ascertainment, PRS interaction with sex (PRS*sex) and with family ascertainment (PRS*LLFS and PRS*FamHS-high risk) on CHD, corrected for traditional cardiovascular risk factors using Cox proportional hazard regression models.

Results:

Healthy-aging LLFS presented ≈17 years delayed for CHD age-at-onset compared with FamHS-high risk (
P<
1.0×10
−4
). Sex-specific association (
P
<1.0×10
−17
) and PRS*sex (
P
=2.7×10
−3
) predicted prevalent CHD. CHD age-at-onset was associated with PRS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.57;
P
=1.3×10
−5
), LLFS (HR, 0.54;
P
=2.6×10
−5
), and FamHS-high risk (HR, 2.86;
P
=6.70x10
−15
) in men, and with PRS (HR, 1.76;
P
=7.70×10
−3
), FamHS-high risk (HR, 4.88;
P
=8.70×10
−10
), and PRS×FamHS-high risk (HR, 0.61;
P
=3.60×10
−2
) in women. In the PRS extreme quartile distributions, CHD age-at-onset was associated (
P
<0.05) with PRS, FamHS-high risk, and PRS interactions with both low and high CHD risk families for women. For men, the PRS quartile results remained similar to the whole distribution.

Conclusions:

Differences in CHD family-based ascertainments show evidence of PRS interacting with sex to predict CHD risk. In women, CHD age-at-onset was associated with PRS, CHD family history, and interactions of PRS with family history. In men, PRS and CHD family history were the major effects on the CHD age-at-onset. Understanding the heterogeneity of risks associated with CHD end points at both the personal and familial levels may shed light on the underlying genetic effects influencing CHD and lead to more personalized risk prediction.
Plasma Omega‐3 Fatty Acids and the Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients After an Acute Coronary Syndrome in MERLIN‐TIMI 36
Authors: Zelniker Thomas A. , Morrow David A. , Scirica Benjamin M. , Furtado Jeremy D. , Guo Jianping , Mozaffarian Dariush , Sabatine Marc S. , O’Donoghue Michelle L.
Published: April 2021

Background

Plasma omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3‐PUFAs) have been shown to be inversely correlated with the risk of cardiovascular death in primary prevention. The risk relationship in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome is less well established.

Methods and Results

Baseline plasma ω3‐PUFA composition (α‐linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) was assessed through gas chromatography with flame ionization detection in a case‐cohort study involving 203 patients with cardiovascular death, 325 with myocardial infarction, 271 with ventricular tachycardia, and 161 with atrial fibrillation, and a random sample of 1612 event‐free subjects as controls from MERLIN‐TIMI 36 (Metabolic Efficiency With Ranolazine for Less Ischemia in Non–ST‐Elevation‐Acute Coronary Syndrome–Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 36), a trial of patients hospitalized with non–ST‐segment–elevation ‐acute coronary syndrome. After inverse‐probability‐weighted multivariable adjustment including all traditional risk factors, a higher relative proportion of long‐chain ω3‐PUFAs (eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid) were associated with 18% lower odds of cardiovascular death (adjusted [adj] odds ratio [OR] per 1 SD, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68–0.98) that was primarily driven by 27% lower odds of sudden cardiac death (adj OR per 1 SD, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.55–0.97). Long‐chain ω3‐PUFA levels in the top quartile were associated with 51% lower odds of cardiovascular death (adj OR 0.49; 95% CI, 0.27–0.86) and 63% lower odds of sudden cardiac death (adj OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16–0.56). An attenuated relationship was seen for α‐linolenic acid and subsequent odds of cardiovascular (adj OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74–1.14) and sudden cardiac death (adj OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.67–1.25). No significant relationship was observed between any ω3‐PUFAs and the odds of cardiovascular death unrelated to sudden cardiac death, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, or early post‐acute coronary syndrome ventricular tachycardia.

Conclusions

In patients after non–ST‐segment–elevation‐acute coronary syndrome, plasma long‐chain ω3‐PUFAs are inversely associated with lower odds of sudden cardiac death, independent of traditional risk factors and lipids.

Registration

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT00099788.
Nomenclatural novelties published in Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooidee) by Boiteau and Allorge-Boiteau in 1995
Authors: SMITH GIDEON F.
Published: April 2021

In a taxonomic treatment of Kalanchoe Adanson (1763: 248) (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae) in Madagascar, 13 nomenclatural novelties at the ranks of species, variety, and forma were validly published by Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995). In three cases that have gone unrecorded this was done inadvertently, but nonetheless validly. In the other 10 cases, Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995) variously and explicitly ascribed the new names and new combinations published in that work to either: (1) P. Boiteau, or to (2) L. Allorge-Boiteau. Only in three cases, that of the inadvertently validly published replacement name K. marnieriana H.Jacobsen ex Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 102) and the inadvertently validly published new combinations K. synsepala Baker (1882: 110) var. trichantha (Baker 1883: 140) Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 179) and K. integrifolia Baker (1887: 471) var. bitteri (Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie 1914: 120) Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 183), were Boiteau and Allorge-Boiteau co-authors of the names.
Validation of the combination Tectaria pentagonalis (Tectariaceae)
Authors: DONG SHI-YONG
Published: April 2021

During the course of sorting out the species of Tectaria Cavanilles (1799: 115, Tectariaceae) in Indochina, I noticed that Tectaria pentagonalis (Phan 2001: 1024) has not validly published. Tectaria pentagonalis seems to be an inadvertent combination, because Phan (2001) did not provide authorship of T. pentagonalis when he made such a combination. The basionym of T. pentagonalis was cited by Phan (2001) in the form “Leptochilus pentagonalis Bonap., 1918”. This citation, according to Art. 41.5 of the International Code of Nomenclature (Turland et al. 2017), does not constitute a full and direct reference to the basionym, because the information of the basionym’s place of valid publication is missing. Thus, T. pentagonalis is justified as invalidly published. So far as I know, the invalidly published Tectaria pentagonalis was also used by Phan (2010) in his another publication and now is adopted in several online resources, such as GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/), Wikipedia (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectaria), and “Taxonomic Revision of Fern Genus Tectaria Cav. (Tectariaceae) in Thailand” (http://tectaria.myspecies.info/tectaria/tectaria-pentagonalis). For the purpose of legitimately applying T. pentagonalis in nomenclature, here I validly publish this combination and conveniently designate a lectotype for this species.
Graptopetalum rosanevadoensis (Crassulaceae): A new haplostemonous species from the Nevado de Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
Authors: VÁZQUEZ-GARCÍA J. ANTONIO , ACEVEDO-ROSAS RAÚL , CHÁZARO-BASÁÑEZ MIGUEL , NIEVES-HERNÁNDEZ GREGORIO , SAHAGÚN-GODÍNEZ EDUARDO
Published: April 2021

Graptopetalum rosanevadoensis (subgenus Glassia, Crassulaceae), a new haplostemonous species from Jalisco, Mexico, is described and illustrated. Its closest morphological species are G. superbum and G. pentandrum. It differs from both in having a much larger rosette with more numerous leaves and in terms of its number of branches per panicle and its stem diameter, which is intermediate between the two species. Now, subgenus Glassia includes four allopatric haplostemonous species, all confined to western-central México: G. glassii, G. pentandrum, G. rosanevadoensis and G. superbum. A key to species of Graptopetalum, subgenus Glassia is provided. According to IUCN criteria, the species was assessed as critically endangered (CR).
Zehneria palmatiloba, a new species of Cucurbitaceae from Atlantic Central Africa
Authors: LACHENAUD OLIVIER , SCHAEFER HANNO
Published: April 2021

A new species from Central Africa, Zehneria palmatiloba, is described and illustrated. It is very unusual in the genus by its deeply 5- to 7-palmatilobate leaves, a character otherwise only occasionally found in Z. racemosa from Angola. It differs from the latter by its non-scabrid and almost glabrous leaves, laxly racemose female inflorescences, and smaller male flowers with a receptacle that is glabrous inside. It is restricted to the continental part of Equatorial Guinea and adjacent northwest Gabon, and is assessed as Endangered according to IUCN Categories and Criteria. Phylogenetic analyses based on five plastid DNA regions and nuclear ribosomal DNA identify the West African Z. keayana as its closest relative.
Nomenclatural notes on species of Cleistes (Orchidaceae: Vanilloideae) described by João Barbosa Rodrigues

Authors: PANSARIN EMERSON RICARDO , BARROS FÁBIO DE , KOCH ANA KELLY
Published: April 2021

During our taxonomic study of Cleistes, we noticed that some species names published (under the genus name Pogonia) by the Brazilian botanist João Barbosa Rodrigues needed revision. In our search for type specimens, we found the holotypes of Pogonia aphylla and P. paranaensis in the herbarium of the Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro (R), and the holotype of P. monantha at the herbarium of the Swedish Museum of Natural History (S). The remaining type specimens housed at RB herbarium have been lost. Consequently, the designation of lectotypes for those species names is needed. Therefore, the original illustrations are here designated as lectotypes of eleven species names. Furthermore, we also propose 14 synonyms for South American Cleistes.
Epic Fail: About Two Photographic Projects
Authors: Lipszyc Weronika
Published: April 2021

The paper discusses images of failure in Polish photography created in 1970–2000, drawing on three particular projects: Archeology of Photography by Jerzy Lewczyński and the exhibitions The New Documentalists (2006) and Postdocument: Missing Documents: Documents of the Polish Transformation After 1989 (2012). As such, it concentrates on documentary, or post-documentary, photography which suffers no illusions as to the mimetic power of the medium, but persists in hoping that photos can have social impact.
As the analyzed projects aim to create a critical picture of reality, they focus on spaces and people subject to exclusion and on the experience of failure (e.g., Unfinished Houses by Konrad Pustoła and Wojciech Wilczyk’s There’s No Such Thing as an Innocent Eye), as well as on the erosion of interpersonal relations (e.g., Aneta Grzeszykowska’s Album). Disappointments stemming from both the socialist reality and Polish capitalism mix with the desire to find and preserve what is intimate and authentic. 
The discussed artists devote the majority of their attention to the problem of photography as a medium and its ability to generate social change. However, they remain fully aware of the fact that the very nature of the photographic image, with its media entanglements, makes it difficult to create an unadulterated reflection of reality; it also makes it difficult to accept anything that does not fit the visual poetics of success, anything old, damaged, démodé, or kitschy. Accordingly, the artists raise important questions about the rules for creating images in the photographic universe and about the possibility of transcending them to create a new type of document, one that would elude the rules of “dominant images” (a term first coined by Rafał Drozdowski), and to enable such a use of photography as was postulated by John Berger: rooted in personal experience and memory.
Die Geschichte in der Gegenwart sehen. Überlegungen zum Begriff der „kontaminierten Landschaften“ [Seeing History in the Present: Reflections on the Concept of “Contaminated Landscapes”]
Authors: Klei Alexandra
Published: April 2021

Seeing History in the Present: Reflections on the Concept of “Contaminated Landscapes”The essay takes the 2014 book Kontaminierte Landschaften [Contaminated Landscapes] by the Austrian journalist and writer Martin Pollack as an opportunity to explore relationships between landscapes, (marked) places, and memory. In considering the relationship between the metaphorical (literary) image of contaminated landscapes and the actual crime scenes, I focus on the mass shootings of Jews by the German Nazis and their local supporters in the former Soviet Union. These specific crime scenes are used to explore the limits of Pollack’s metaphor and the problems it causes. The central arguments are presented using concrete examples provided by seven photographs.Widzieć historię w teraźniejszości. Refleksje nad pojęciem „skażonych krajobrazów”W artykule książka Skażone krajobrazy (2014) austriackiego dziennikarza i pisarza Martina Pollacka staje się punktem wyjścia do badania związków między krajobrazami, (naznaczonymi) miejscami i pamięcią. Relacje między metaforycznym (literackim) obrazem skażonych krajobrazów a realnymi miejscami zbrodni rozważam na przykładzie masowych rozstrzelań Żydów dokonanych w byłym Związku Radzieckim przez niemieckich nazistów i ich miejscowych stronników. Te konkretne miejsca zbrodni pomagają zbadać granice zastosowania metafory Pollacka i powodowane przez nią problemy. Najważniejsze wnioski zaprezentowałam na konkretnych przykładach siedmiu fotografii.
“Herbarium Polonorum” (“Heimatphotographie”)
Authors: Janicka Elżbieta
Published: April 2021

The main theme of the text is the wartime and postwar history of the area of the German Nazi extermination camp Treblinka II, seen from the perspective of the production of landscape – with a special focus on the identity aspect, i.e. the nationalization of nature and the naturalization of the nation. The argument refers to imaging conventions of nature and ethnographic photography, like the German Heimatphotographie and the Polish Fatherland Photography, that go along with landscape production. This paper also touches upon the issue of classification as the principle organizing the workings of the human mind as well as the uses made of classification in terms of cognition and identity – up to and including the deadly consequences thereof. Another crucial point of reference is the history of the herbarium as a form of organizing knowledge (Maria Sibylla Merian, Rosa Luxemburg, Szymon Syreński) and its connections with the visual arts (Krzysztof Jung, Alina Szapocznikow). The rich iconography illustrates the analyzed representation patterns, with particular focus on the axiosemiotics of Polish antisemitism, going back to its elitist forms in Jagiellonian Poland. The text summarizes fifteen years of the author’s work on Herbarium, a photographic project carried out on the site of the former German Nazi extermination camp Treblinka II.
Things Turned Out the Way They Did: Failure and Weakness in the Culture of Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Stańczyk Xawery
Published: April 2021

The text is the introduction to the new issue of Studia Litteraria et Historica. As such, it presents and conceptualises the category of failure in reference to Central and Eastern Europe in the last few decades of the twentieth century. It outlines the subject matter of respective texts and convergences of the points of view of their authors.
Development Processes of the Explosive Cyclones over the Northwest Pacific: Potential Vorticity Tendency Inversion
Authors: Kang Joonsuk M. , Son Seok-Woo
Published: April 2021

A novel method that quantitatively evaluates the development processes of extratropical cyclones is devised and applied to the explosive cyclones over the northwest Pacific in the cold season (October–April). By inverting the potential vorticity (PV) tendency equation, the contribution of dynamic and thermodynamic processes at different levels to explosive cyclone development is quantified. In terms of geostrophic vorticity tendency at 850 hPa, which is utilized to quantify cyclone development, the leading factors for the explosive cyclone intensification are upper-level PV advection by the mean zonal flow and the PV production from latent heating. However, explosive cyclones are also subject to hindrances from vertical and meridional PV advections. Quantitatively, the sum of thermodynamic contributions by the latent heating, vertical PV advection, and surface temperature tendency is about 1.6 times more important than the dynamical PV redistribution by horizontal advections on the explosive cyclone intensification. This result confirms the dominant role of thermodynamic processes in explosive cyclone development over the northwest Pacific. It turns out from further analysis that the interactions of lower-level anomalous flows are important for thermodynamic processes, whereas the advections by the upper-level mean flow are primary for dynamic processes.
The use of serially complete station data to improve the temporal continuity of gridded precipitation and temperature estimates
Authors: Tang Guoqiang , Clark Martyn P. , Papalexiou Simon Michael
Published: April 2021

Stations are an important source of meteorological data, but often suffer from missing values and short observation periods. Gap filling is widely used to generate serially complete datasets (SCDs), which are subsequently used to produce gridded meteorological estimates. However, the value of SCDs in spatial interpolation is scarcely studied. Based on our recent efforts to develop a SCD over North America (SCDNA), we explore the extent to which gap filling improves gridded precipitation and temperature estimates. We address two specific questions: (1) Can SCDNA improve the statistical accuracy of gridded estimates in North America? (2) Can SCDNA improve estimates of trends on gridded data? In addressing these questions, we also evaluate the extent to which results depend on the spatial density of the station network and the spatial interpolation methods used. Results show that the improvement in statistical interpolation due to gap filling is more obvious for precipitation, followed by minimum temperature and maximum temperature. The improvement is larger when the station network is sparse and when simpler interpolation methods are used. SCDs can also notably reduce the uncertainties in spatial interpolation. Our evaluation across North America from 1979 to 2018 demonstrates that SCDs improve the accuracy of interpolated estimates for most stations and days. SCDNA-based interpolation also obtains better trend estimation than observation-based interpolation. This occurs because stations used for interpolation could change during a specific period, causing changepoints in interpolated temperature estimates and affect the long-term trends of observation-based interpolation, which can be avoided using SCDNA. Overall, SCDs improve the performance of gridded precipitation and temperature estimates.
Capabilities of Bottom of the Pyramid Organizations
Authors: Nobre Farley Simon , Morais-da-Silva Rodrigo L.
Published: April 2021

Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) organizations are the ones that develop a set of capabilities that contribute to create short- and long-term sustainability values inside and outside the boundaries of BoP ecosystems. Capabilities have an important role in BoP organizations’ strategies that aim to solve BoP issues. Notwithstanding its developments, BoP research still lacks theoretical contributions for the analysis of organizations. We suggest special attention to the need of advancing knowledge on capabilities of BoP organizations because this field is scattered and fragmented, misinterpreted, and still underdeveloped in the literature. We oriented our research formulating and seeking answers to our main question on what are the capabilities needed to enable organizations to create sustainability values in BoP ecosystems? We conducted an integrative review of BoP research for the period from 1998 to 2019, and we found 22 key capabilities of BoP organizations. We organized the capabilities into four major categories including BoP Responsible Consumption, BoP Responsible Business Model, BoP Responsible Management, and BoP Responsible Innovation. We advanced propositions and discussions regarding the capabilities and major categories’ popularity, interdependence and combination, short- and long-term temporal functions, sustainability roles, and effectiveness to address BoP issues. Our article organizes the field of capabilities of BoP organizations; advances contributions and implications for management, organizations, and policymaking; and opens fruitful avenues for future research.
Who to Test? A Retrospective Study of Lead Testing in High-Risk Children
Authors: Hillyer Margot , Matiz Luz Adriana , Robbins-Milne Laura , Friedman Suzanne
Published: April 2021

Background

Nearly all pediatric patients in our setting meet high-risk criteria for lead exposure based on screening recommendations and guidelines. Implementation of screening and testing has been inconsistent.

Objective

To assess the utility and efficacy of performing universal lead testing between ages 1 and 5 at an urban academic pediatric practice.

Methods

Retrospective review of patients with routine lead testing between 2010 and 2015. Key variables included demographics, serum lead level, and behavioral diagnoses.

Results

A total of 6597 serum lead levels from 3274 patients were reviewed. Forty-seven samples (0.7%) from 24 patients (0.7%) were elevated. Of the 24 patients with elevated lead, 75% were identified at age 1 or 2. Sixty-seven percent of patients with first elevated lead level at age 3 or older had a diagnosis of developmental delay.

Conclusion

Routine testing of high-risk patients yielded minimal specificity in identifying elevated lead levels, especially in patients older than 3 years and without developmental delay.
Gabriele d’Annunzio’s Notturno, the book of the Italian war: Political commitment, national regeneration and its ideological roots
Authors: Nemegeer Guylian , Santi Mara
Published: April 2021

This article argues that Gabriele d’Annunzio’s Notturno conveys a conscious political and cultural message which is consequent of his long-lasting political commitment to the nation. This political value of the book has been mainly overlooked. Therefore, the first part of the article shows the locations of the political and war-related content, and how the book can be considered as a war diary. Moreover, the first part of the article relates the Notturno to d’Annunzio’s political project for the nation at the time when the book was composed (1915–1921). The aim of this part is to dispel the enduring critical misinterpretation of the Notturno as an intimate collection of memories and visions and to foreground its national value. The second part of the article addresses the roots of the Notturno’s political message from a literary point of view by relating it to the national commitment underlying d’Annunzio’s works since the 1880s. This commitment is based on the revalorization in the author’s literary works of the Italian national past, in particular of the 16th century, where d’Annunzio continues and renews the national storytelling of the Risorgimento.
How Do I Compare? The Effect of Work-Unit Demographics on Reactions to Pay Inequality
Authors: Adam Cobb J. , Keller JR , Nurmohamed Samir
Published: April 2021

Prior research suggests that individuals react negatively when they perceive they are underpaid. Moreover, individuals frequently select pay referents who share their race and gender, suggesting that demographic similarity affects one’s knowledge of pay differences. Leveraging these insights, the authors examine whether the gender and racial composition of a work unit shapes individuals’ reactions to pay deprivation. Using field data from a large health care organization, they find that pay deprivation resulting from workers receiving less pay than their same-sex and same-race coworkers prompts a significantly stronger response than does pay deprivation arising from workers receiving less pay than their demographically dissimilar colleagues. A supplemental experiment reveals that this relationship likely results from individuals’ propensity to select same-category others as pay referents, shaping workers’ information about their colleagues’ pay. The study’s findings underscore the need to theoretically and empirically account for how demographically driven social comparison processes affect reactions to pay inequality.
Parental Engagement in Grief Programming Is Related to Children’s Outcomes
Authors: Cipriano David J. , Barry Courtney , Cipriano Sophia
Published: April 2021

A multivariate model was used to study outcomes of childhood bereavement. The model included exogenous factors such as engagement and within-person resilience factors. Sixty-two parent-child dyads were recruited from a local children’s grief center and completed measures of engagement in the programming, resilience and grief. A complex model was revealed in which parental engagement in the grief program was related to child engagement and the child’s control beliefs which in turn were significantly related to the child’s grief symptoms. These variables existed within a system, rather than within an individual.
The co-occurrence of leukemoid reaction and hypercalcemia in a patient with endometrial cancer: A case report and literature review
Authors: Tao Weimin , Yan Qin , Zhou Yao , Wang Yanli , Liu Zhiqiang , Xu Zhendong
Published: April 2021

Paraneoplastic syndromes are rarely seen in gynecological tumors especially in endometrial cancer. Early identification of paraneoplastic syndromes plays a significant role in the treatment and prognosis of cancer. Here, we reported a rare case with endometrial cancer with a 2.7 cm × 2.2 cm × 3.4 cm lesion in the posterior cervix presenting leukemoid reaction and hypercalcemia as paraneoplastic syndromes simultaneously. During the progress of the endometrial cancer, her leukocyte level rose up to 60.7 × 109/L after anti-infection treatment. Meanwhile, the patient represented a series of severe clinical situation including hypercalcemia, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis. and respiratory failure. Finally, the patient died of respiratory circulatory failure 2 weeks later. In addition to symptomatic treatment, possible treatment targeted on the primary tumor as early as possible might help to improve the clinical prognosis.
The effect of backside elements on the light emission of a plastic optical fiber assembly
Authors: Cho Hakyung , Song Hayoung
Published: April 2021

With the recent increase in leisure time and wellbeing trends, the number of individuals who enjoy nighttime leisure activities has rapidly increased. Thus, the demand for luminous night safety clothing ensuring safety and that is also fashionable is increasing. Although higher visibility is important, studies on the influence of the backside elements of optical fiber materials on light emission are limited. The main components of the plastic optical fiber assembly in this study are the plastic optical fiber and backside elements, consisting of retroreflective material, and the backside sheet. The effects of the four types of retroreflective material, which are low, medium, high, and ultra-high luminance types, and the color of the backside sheet, white or black, on the luminance of the plastic optical fiber assembly are evaluated in bright, dusky, and dark environments. The results are analyzed using the statistical analysis software, SPSS 20.0.

In the dusky environment, the plastic optical fiber assembly with prism material (80.78 ± 2.17) exhibits the highest luminance. However, there was no difference between the plastic optical fiber assembly with high- (38.52 ± 1.27) and medium-retroreflective material (36.76 ± 0.68). In the dark environment, the plastic optical fiber assembly with the prism material shows the highest luminance (66.83 ± 0.24), and there is no difference between the plastic optical fiber assembly with the low- (24.43 ± 0.42), medium- (24.63 ± 0.36), and high-retroreflective material (25.12 ± 0.42). Also, the luminance of the plastic optical fiber assembly with the white backside sheet is higher than that with the black backside sheet for all retroreflective material in dusky and dark environments. In summary, the optimal constitution of a plastic optical fiber assembly’s backside element is the retroreflective material of a prism type with the white backside color.
Buen vivir and the Making of Indigenous Territories in the Peruvian Amazon
Authors: Merino Roger
Published: April 2021

Awajun, Wampis, and other Amazonian indigenous peoples in Peru have acquired title to the collective property of their native communities as a legal strategy for the defense of their ancestral territory. This strategy, however, has failed to stop the expansion of extractive industries and the degradation of their livelihoods. In response, indigenous peoples in the northern Amazon are proposing the legal recognition of their “integral territory” under a politics of buen vivir. This new model for territorial governance is aimed at transforming indigenous peoples from ethnic communities with property entitlements to nations with territorial rights.

Los awajun, wampis y otros pueblos indígenas amazónicos en Perú han adquirido el título de propiedad colectiva de sus comunidades nativas como estrategia legal para la defensa de su territorio ancestral. Esta estrategia, sin embargo, no ha logrado detener la expansión de las industrias extractivas y la degradación de sus medios de vida. En respuesta, los pueblos indígenas del norte de la Amazonía proponen el reconocimiento legal de su “territorio integral” bajo una política de buen vivir. Este nuevo modelo de gobierno territorial tiene por objeto transformar a los pueblos indígenas de comunidades étnicas con derechos de propiedad a naciones con derechos territoriales.
Living Well and Health Practices among Aymara People in Northern Chile
Authors: Carreño-Calderón Alejandra
Published: April 2021

The current Chilean health model seeks to promote health equity among indigenous peoples by means of state intercultural health programs. As implemented regionally, these have been widely criticized as depoliticizing mechanisms meant to dominate the indigenous population. Study of the experiences of several indigenous health agents and associations fostered by these programs reveals that the strategic use of the concept of living well by indigenous peoples raises questions about the issues that are to be included in or excluded from the intercultural medical field.

El actual modelo de salud chileno busca promover el acceso equitativo a la salud entre los pueblos indígenas a través de programas estatales de salud intercultural. Tal y como se aplican a nivel regional, estos han sido ampliamente criticados como mecanismos de despolitización diseñados para dominar a la población indígena. El estudio de las experiencias de varios agentes y asociaciones de salud indígenas impulsados por estos programas revela que el uso estratégico del concepto del buen vivir por parte de los pueblos indígenas plantea interrogantes sobre qué asuntos deben o no incluirse en el campo médico intercultural.
Event-triggered adaptive control of a class of nonlinear systems with non-parametric uncertainty in the presence of actuator failures
Authors: Ghazisaeedi H.R. , Tavazoei M.S.
Published: April 2021

This paper deals with event-triggered adaptive tracking control of a class of nonlinear systems with non-parametric uncertainty and unknown control input direction, in the presence of actuator faults. The proposed event-triggered control method takes advantage of the radial basis function neural networks to approximate the non-parametric uncertainties. Moreover, this control method benefits from the Nussbaum-type function-based adaptation laws for simultaneously dealing with unknown input direction and actuator faults. Numerical simulation results confirm the efficiency of the proposed control method to confront the above mentioned limitations.
Disclosure and nondisclosure of suicidality to romantic partners: Understanding the decision-making process
Authors: Love Heather A. , LeFebvre Leah E. , Pederson Joshua R.
Published: April 2021

The stigmatization of suicidal thoughts and behaviors often prevents disclosure to others, including romantic partners. Minimal research has examined the disclosure or withholding of this stigmatized identity, resulting in a lack of knowledge about the benefits or consequences of informing others. Participants ( n = 61) were recruited from Reddit and completed open-ended questions about their prior suicidal ideation and behaviors while in a romantic relationship. Responses were separated by disclosers ( n = 31) and non-disclosers ( n = 30) to romantic partners. After utilizing a thematic analysis, the Disclosure Decision-Making Model (DD-MM) was applied to the results to make sense of decision-making processes. The three primary themes (assessing information, assessing emotional capacity, and assessing the receiver) provide insight into the psychological and communicative progression as well as the differences that arise for each individual. Findings discuss theoretical adaptations, implications, and future directions.
Physical activity on prescription in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Bendrik Regina , Kallings Lena V , Bröms Kristina , Kunanusornchai Wanlop , Emtner Margareta
Published: April 2021

Objective:

To evaluate whether physical activity on prescription, comprising five sessions, was more effective in increasing physical activity than a one-hour advice session after six months.

Design:

Randomized, assessor-blinded, controlled trial.

Setting:

Primary care.

Subjects:

Patients with clinically verified osteoarthritis of the hip or knee who undertook less than 150 minute/week of moderate physical activity, and were aged 40–74 years.

Interventions:

The advice group ( n = 69) received a one-hour session with individually tailored advice about physical activity. The physical activity on prescription group ( n = 72) received individually tailored physical activity recommendations with written prescription, and four follow-ups during six months.

Main measures:

Patients were assessed at baseline and six months: physical activity (accelerometer, questionnaires); fitness (six-minute walk test, 30-second chair-stand test, maximal step-up test, one-leg rise test); pain after walking (VAS); symptoms (HOOS/KOOS); and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D).

Results:

One hundred four patients had knee osteoarthritis, 102 were women, and mean age was 60.3 ± 8.3 years. Pain after walking decreased significantly more in the prescription group, from VAS 31 ± 22 to 18 ± 23. There was no other between groups difference. Both groups increased self-reported activity minutes significantly, from 105 (95% CI 75–120) to 165 (95% CI 135–218) minute/week in the prescription group versus 75 (95% CI 75–105) to 150 (95% CI 120–225) in the advice group. Also symptoms and quality of life improved significantly in both groups.

Conclusion:

Individually tailored physical activity with written prescription and four follow-ups does not materially improve physical activity level more than advice about osteoarthritis and physical activity.

Trial registration:

ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02387034).
The prevalence of sacroiliitis on abdominal MRI examinations of patients with Takayasu arteritis
Authors: Eshed Iris , Druyan Amit , Stern Myriam , Bordavka Michal , Lidar Merav
Published: April 2021

Background

Takayasu arteritis (TA), a systemic large-vessel vasculitis, was reported to have high incidence of spondyloarthropathy.

Purpose

To evaluate the prevalence of inflammatory sacroiliitis in patients with TA that underwent abdominal/pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations as part of their vasculitis work-up.

Material and Methods

Consecutive abdominal/pelvic MRI examinations of 34 patients with TA fulfilling the 1990 ACR criteria and 34 age- and gender-matched controls performed between 2008 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed for the presence sacroiliitis. The presence of active and structural lesions was scored twice (with a one-month interval between reads) by one reader. Structural lesions were also evaluated on computed tomography, when available, and correlated to MRI findings. Clinical data were extracted from the patients’ clinical files. MRI scores were compared between the study and control groups and correlated with the clinical data.

Results

Sacroiliitis was evident in 11.7% of the TA group examinations compared to 0.3% in the control group ( P = 0.6). Participants with TA had significantly more erosions and fat deposition compared to the control group (Study: 0.01/0.03, Control: 0/0, P = 0.03/0.003, respectively). However, mean sacroiliitis score was not significantly different (Study: 1.06, Control: 0.78, P = 0.015). Of the four patients with TA and sacroiliitis, 3 (75%) had a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Conclusion

Sacroiliitis was detected in 11.7% of abdominal MRI examinations of patients with TA, 75% of which had associated IBD, suggesting that both IBD and sacroiliitis should be routinely screened in the TA population as their presence may influence treatment decisions.
Gastric metastasis from pancreatic cancer characterized by mucosal erosion: a case report and literature review
Authors: Yang Jie , Yuan Yue , Zhang Shu , Lv Ying
Published: April 2021

Pancreatic cancer with gastrointestinal tract metastasis is a fairly rare occurrence, and gastric metastasis in such cases has been seldom reported. We herein present a case of gastric involvement secondary to pancreatic cancer in a 74-year-old woman in whom the metastatic lesion only presented as mucosal erosion in the stomach. The patient had a 1-month history of progressive right upper quadrant pain before admission. Computed tomography and endoscopic examinations revealed a solid and hypo-enhancing mass in the head of the pancreas. The patient underwent conventional upper endoscopy before pancreatic biopsy, and mucosal erosion was observed in the gastric pylorus. We obtained gastric and pancreatic biopsies by gastroscopy and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration, respectively. Pathologically, the biopsies taken from the area of gastric erosion showed poorly differentiated invasive adenocarcinoma that was morphologically consistent with the pancreatic specimens. Moreover, the gastric section showed tumor thrombi within the vessels. Hence, the suspected diagnosis was unresectable pancreatic cancer with gastric metastasis. The patient immediately underwent two courses of chemotherapy, but her condition rapidly deteriorated and she died 2 months later.
Clinical efficacy of high-dose dexamethasone with sequential prednisone maintenance therapy for newly diagnosed adult immune thrombocytopenia in a real-world setting
Authors: Xu Jin , Zhang Xinhui , Feng Shanglong , Zhao Na , Hu Xin , Cheng Yaxin , Wu Yue , Zhou Li , Tong Juan , Zheng Changcheng
Published: April 2021

Objective

As first-line treatments for newly diagnosed adult immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), high-dose dexamethasone (HD-DXM) and conventional-dose prednisone achieve good initial responses, but their long-term efficacy is poor. To improve the long-term outcome of newly diagnosed ITP, we explored the efficacy and safety of HD-DXM with sequential prednisone maintenance therapy.

Methods

This retrospective study in a real-world setting assessed 72 consecutive newly diagnosed ITP patients administered first-line HD-DXM with sequential prednisone maintenance therapy from 1 June 2016 to 31 December 2019.

Results

Seventy patients obtained response (97.2%), and 55 achieved sustained response (SR) (76.4%). Fifty-three obtained complete remission (CR) (73.6%), and 39 achieved continuous CR at 6 months (54.2%). Among 36 anti-nuclear antibody-positive patients, 100% achieved response, and 28 achieved CR (77.8%). Among 24 antithyroid antibody-positive patients, 23 (95.8%) achieved response, and 20 achieved CR (83.3%). For patients with initial response, the 12-month probability of SR was 78.6%. For patients with initial CR, the 12-month probability of continuous CR was 64.2%. At 12 months, 21.4% of patients with initial response and 11.3% of patients with initial CR showed loss of treatment response.

Conclusions

HD-DXM with sequential prednisone as the first-line treatment for newly diagnosed ITP patients may achieve good clinical efficacy.
Perceptual Difficulty Persistently Increases Dominance in Binocular Rivalry—Even Without a Task
Authors: Einhäuser Wolfgang , Sandrock Annalena , Schütz Alexander C.
Published: April 2021

A major objective of perception is the reduction of uncertainty about the outside world. Eye-movement research has demonstrated that attention and oculomotor control can subserve the function of decreasing uncertainty in vision. Here, we ask whether a similar effect exists for awareness in binocular rivalry, when two distinct stimuli presented to the two eyes compete for awareness. We tested whether this competition can be biased by uncertainty about the stimuli and their relevance for a perceptual task. Specifically, we have stimuli that are perceptually difficult (i.e., carry high perceptual uncertainty) compete with stimuli that are perceptually easy (low perceptual uncertainty). Using a no-report paradigm and reading the dominant stimulus continuously from the observers’ eye movements, we find that the perceptually difficult stimulus becomes more dominant than the easy stimulus. This difference is enhanced by the stimuli’s relevance for the task. In trials with task, the difference in dominance emerges quickly, peaks before the response, and then persists throughout the trial (further 10 s). However, the difference is already present in blocks before task instruction and still observable when the stimuli have ceased to be task relevant. This shows that perceptual uncertainty persistently increases perceptual dominance, and this is magnified by task relevance.
Efficient Road Crack Detection Based on an Adaptive Pixel-Level Segmentation Algorithm
Authors: Safaei Nima , Smadi Omar , Safaei Babak , Masoud Arezoo
Published: April 2021

Cracks considerably reduce the life span of pavement surfaces. Currently, there is a need for the development of robust automated distress evaluation systems that comprise a low-cost crack detection method for performing fast and cost-effective roadway health monitoring practices. Most of the current methods are costly and have labor-intensive learning processes, so they are not suitable for small local-level projects with limited resources or are only usable for specific pavement types.

This paper proposes a new method that uses an adapted version of the weighted neighborhood pixels segmentation algorithm to detect cracks in 2-D pavement images. The method uses the Gaussian cumulative density function (CDF) as the adaptive threshold to overcome the drawback of fixed thresholds in noisy environments. The proposed algorithm was tested on 300 images containing a wide range of noise representative of various pavement noise conditions. The method proved to be time and cost-efficient as it took less than 3.15 s per 320 × 480 pixels image for a Xeon (R) 3.70 GHz CPU processor to generate the detection results. This makes the proposed method a perfect choice for county-level pavement maintenance projects requiring cost-effective pavement crack detection systems. The validation results were promising for the detection of medium to severe-level cracks (precision = 79.21%, recall = 89.18%, and F1 score = 83.90%).