bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Population pharmacokinetic and exposure‐response analysis of eptinezumab in the treatment of episodic and chronic migraine
Authors: Baker Brian , Schaeffler Barbara , Beliveau Martin , Rubets Igor , Pederson Susan , Trinh MyMy , Smith Jeff , Latham John
Published: March 2020

Eptinezumab is a humanized mAb that targets calcitonin gene‐related peptide and is under regulatory review for the prevention of episodic and chronic migraine (EM, CM). It is important to determine whether exposures achieved with intravenous (IV) administration of eptinezumab achieve desired pharmacologic effects. Population pharmacokinetics, including dose‐ and exposure‐response analyses, were performed using patient‐level data from the eptinezumab clinical trial program with IV doses ranging from 10 to 1000 mg in pharmacokinetic analyses or 10 to 300 mg in phase 2/3 clinical studies in patients with EM or CM. Exposure‐response analysis explored the relationship between eptinezumab exposure metrics and efficacy parameters including monthly migraine days. The pharmacokinetic profile of eptinezumab was characterized by rapid attainment of maximum plasma concentration (ie, end of IV administration) and a terminal half‐life of 27 days. Covariate analysis found that patient characteristics had no clinically significant effects on pharmacokinetic parameters and were insufficient to influence dosing. Dose‐ and exposure‐response analyses found exposure with single doses ≥100 mg was associated with greater efficacy compared with doses ≤30 mg and a plateau of effect between 100 and 300 mg. A saturable inhibitoryEmaxmodel found the exposure over 12 weeks produced by single‐dose eptinezumab 100 and 300 mg exceeded the exposure estimates required to achieve 90% of the maximal efficacy (EC90). This pharmacokinetic analysis of eptinezumab supports dosing every 12 weeks with no adjustment for patient characteristics, including exposures associated with 100‐ or 300‐mg doses producing optimal efficacy effects. The similar efficacy profiles support 100 mg as the lowest effective dose of eptinezumab.
Impact of Granularity on the Oxidation Kinetics of Copper
Authors: Maack Björn , Nilius Niklas
Published: March 2020

Polycrystalline copper films with mean grain sizes varying by three orders of magnitude are prepared to correlate morphology and oxidation kinetics of metals. The films are oxidized to cuprous oxide at well‐defined pressure and temperature conditions, monitoring the progress of the reaction by in situ optical transmission spectroscopy. The oxidation kinetics is retrieved by fitting the optical data to a three‐layer Cu2O/Cu2O–Cu/Cu model with the central layer accounting for the inhomogeneity of the oxidation front due to grain boundaries. The analysis reveals the highest oxidation rates for Cu films with finest granularity, demonstrating the decisive role of grain boundaries for Cu mass transport during oxidation. Moreover, reaction rates are found to differ by one order of magnitude for oxidation along the grain boundaries and into the crystalline Cu grains. In fact, slow oxidation into the Cu crystallites is responsible for an incomplete metal‐oxide conversion in the case of coarse‐granular films. The experiments demonstrate the direct interplay between morphology and oxidation kinetics for metals.
The approach of Indian corporates towards sustainable development: An exploration using sustainable development goals based model
Authors: Jha Milind Kumar , Rangarajan K.
Published: March 2020

This study aims to evaluate the contribution of the Indian corporate world towards sustainable development. We propose a framework of Corporate Sustainability Performance derived from factors suggested by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a component of a global agenda for sustainability. This framework is further applied to evaluate the sustainability performance of Indian firms to identify potential gaps in their sustainability efforts. The impact of factors like firm‐size, ownership structure, and environmental sensitivity of firms has been statistically tested for these firms. The paper uses a mixed‐method where content analysis has been applied to generate the data by analyzing disclosure reports of the top 100 Indian firms for the year 2016–2017, and a mathematical model is used to arrive at sustainability performance factors at various levels. Statistical tools like descriptive analytics, t test, and analysis of variance are used to test various hypotheses. The findings suggest a significant gap in the full potential and current status of sustainability investments by Indian corporates and hence confirm a huge improvement potential. “Cement” is the best performing sector, whereas “Media” is at the bottom of the performance stack. The Indian corporate world aligns its maximum effort along the “Education and Learning” dimension, whereas minimum effort is made for “Oceans, Sea, and Marine.” A significant difference was found for the performance based on environment sensitivity and firm‐size. Differences across firms based on ownership identity and concentration could not be established. The study highlights the implications for the regulatory mechanism that needs to change if the contribution from the private sector is required for SDGs.
X‐ray scattering and polarization in wavelength‐dispersive spectrometers
Authors: Zhalsaraev Batobolot Zhalsaraevich
Published: March 2020

Background suppression is discussed in wavelength‐dispersive polarization X‐ray spectrometer (WDPXRS), in which the goniometer scans in plane perpendicular to primary and secondary beams. Background suppression coefficients in WDPXRS and energy‐dispersive polarization X‐ray spectrometer are determined by different expressions (in “The scattering suppression of X‐rays with energy of 20–200 keV in spectrometers with Barkla polarizers,” doi: 10.1002/xrs.3046). It is proposed to install silicon drift detectors in WDPXRS and implement energy‐dispersive and wavelength‐dispersive modes in one channel.
What Does Your Gaze Reveal About You? On the Privacy Implications of Eye Tracking
Authors: Kröger Jacob Leon , Lutz Otto Hans-Martin , Müller Florian
Published: March 2020

Technologies to measure gaze direction and pupil reactivity have become efficient, cheap, and compact and are finding increasing use in many fields, including gaming, marketing, driver safety, military, and healthcare. Besides offering numerous useful applications, the rapidly expanding technology raises serious privacy concerns. Through the lens of advanced data analytics, gaze patterns can reveal much more information than a user wishes and expects to give away. Drawing from a broad range of scientific disciplines, this paper provides a structured overview of personal data that can be inferred from recorded eye activities. Our analysis of the literature shows that eye tracking data may implicitly contain information about a user’s biometric identity, gender, age, ethnicity, body weight, personality traits, drug consumption habits, emotional state, skills and abilities, fears, interests, and sexual preferences. Certain eye tracking measures may even reveal specific cognitive processes and can be used to diagnose various physical and mental health conditions. By portraying the richness and sensitivity of gaze data, this paper provides an important basis for consumer education, privacy impact assessments, and further research into the societal implications of eye tracking.
Di-Higgs production in the 4b channel and gravitational wave complementarity
Authors: Alves Alexandre , Gonçalves Dorival , Ghosh Tathagata , Guo Huai-Ke , Sinha Kuver
Published: March 2020

Abstract

We present a complementarity study of gravitational waves and double Higgs production in the 4b channel, exploring the gauge singlet scalar extension of the SM. This new physics extension serves as a simplified benchmark model that realizes a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition necessary to generate the observed baryon asymmetry in the universe. In calculating the signal-to-noise ratio of the gravitational waves, we incorporate the effect of the recently discovered significant suppression of the gravitational wave signals from sound waves for strong phase transitions, make sure that supercooled phase transitions do complete and adopt a bubble wall velocity that is consistent with a successful electroweak baryogenesis by solving the velocity profiles of the plasma. The high-luminosity LHC sensitivity to the singlet scalar extension of the SM is estimated using a shape-based analysis of the invariant 4b mass distribution. We find that while the region of parameter space giving detectable gravitational waves is shrunk due to the new gravitational wave simulations, the qualitative complementary role of gravitational waves and collider searches remain unchanged.
Surgical Training Throughout Africa: A Review of Operative Case Volumes at Multiple Training Centers
Authors: Parker Robert K. , Topazian Hillary M. , Ndegwa Wairimu , Chesang Patricia , Strain Shinji , Thelander Keir , Parker Andrea S. , Riviello Robert
Published: March 2020

Background

Adequate surgical training is paramount to produce competent surgeons to address the global burden of surgical disease. The Pan‐African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) has general surgery training programs in eight countries. Operative case volumes have been positively associated with improved trainee performance and patient outcomes. For certification in the USA, 850 total operations are required from defined case categories. Yet, little is known about the operative experience of surgical trainees throughout Africa.

Methods

Operative procedures were reviewed, categorized, and validated from a cohort of PAACS graduates and compared to graduates from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) programs. The primary and secondary outcomes were total case volumes and cases within ACGME‐defined categories. Regional variations were explored.

Results

Twenty PAACS trainees, from five programs in four countries, performed 38,267 unique procedures. ACGME reports on 1211 residents from 251 programs. PAACS graduates logged more major cases (median 1448) than ACGME graduates (median 993) (p value = 0·0001). PAACS graduates performed more gynecology and obstetrics, orthopedics, head and neck, urology, endocrine, operative trauma, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, and skin and soft tissue cases. US graduates performed more cases in abdomen, alimentary tract, breast, thoracic, and vascular categories. Comparison between regions demonstrated volume and category variations between Kenya and Gabon, Ethiopia, and Cameroon.

Conclusion

PAACS trainees perform more operations than ACGME trainees with differences in distribution. This experience can serve as a model for regional educational programs seeking to address the broad and largely unmet burden of surgical disease.
Clinical, procedural and long-term outcome of ischemic VT ablation in patients with previous anterior versus inferior myocardial infarction
Authors: Wasmer Kristina , Reinecke Holger , Heitmann Marius , Dechering Dirk G. , Reinke Florian , Lange Philipp S. , Frommeyer Gerrit , Kochhäuser Simon , Leitz Patrick , Eckardt Lars , Köbe Julia
Published: March 2020

Background

Outcome of ischemic VT ablation may differ between patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI) in relation to infarct localization.

Methods

We analyzed procedural data, acute and long-term outcomes of 152 consecutive patients (139 men, mean age 67 ± 9 years) with previous anterior or inferior MI who underwent ischemic VT ablation at our institution between January 2010 and October 2015.

Results

More patients had a history of inferior MI (58%). Mean ejection fraction was significantly lower in anterior MI patients (28 ± 10% vs. 34 ± 10%, p < 0.001). NYHA class and presence of comorbidities were not different between the groups. Indication for the procedure was electrical storm in 43% of patients, and frequent implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapies in 57%, and did not differ significantly between anterior and inferior MI patients. A mean of 3 ± 2 VT morphologies were inducible, with a trend towards more VT in the anterior MI group (3.1 ± 2.2 vs. 2.6 ± 1.9, p = 0.18). Procedural parameters and acute success did not differ between the groups. During a mean follow-up of 3 ± 2 years, more anterior MI patients had undergone a re-ablation (49% vs. 33%, p = 0.09, Chi-square test). There was a trend towards more ICD shocks in patients with previous anterior MI (46% vs. 34%). After adjusting for risk factors and ejection fraction, multivariable Cox regression analyses showed no significant difference in mortality (p = 0.78) and cardiovascular mortality between infarct localizations (p = 0.6).

Conclusion

Clinical characteristics of patients with anterior and inferior MI are similar except for ejection fraction. Patients with inferior MI appear to have better outcome regarding survival, ICD shocks and re-ablation, but this appears to be related to better ejection fraction when compared with anterior MI.
Principles of temporal association cortex organisation as revealed by connectivity gradients
Authors: Blazquez Freches Guilherme , Haak Koen V. , Bryant Katherine L. , Schurz Matthias , Beckmann Christian F. , Mars Rogier B.
Published: March 2020

To establish the link between structure and function of any large area of the neocortex, it is helpful to identify its principles of organisation. One way to establish such principles is to investigate how differences in whole-brain connectivity are structured across the area. Here, we use Laplacian eigenmaps on diffusion MRI tractography data to investigate the organisational principles of the human temporal association cortex. We identify three overlapping gradients of connectivity that are, for the most part, consistent across hemispheres. The first gradient reveals an inferior–superior organisation of predominantly longitudinal tracts and separates visual and auditory unimodal and multimodal cortices. The second gradient radiates outward from the posterior middle temporal cortex with the arcuate fascicle as a distinguishing feature; the third gradient is concentrated in the anterior temporal lobe and emanates towards its posterior end. We describe the functional relevance of each of these gradients through the meta-analysis of data from the neuroimaging literature. Together, these results unravel the overlapping dimensions of structural organization of the human temporal cortex and provide a framework underlying its functional multiplicity.
Occurrence and prognostic effect of cervical spine injuries and cervical artery injuries with concomitant severe head injury
Authors: Vehviläinen Juho , Brinck Tuomas , Lindfors Matias , Numminen Jussi , Siironen Jari , Raj Rahul
Published: March 2020

Background

Blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVIs) and cervical spinal injuries (CSIs) are not uncommon injuries in patients with severe head injury and may affect patient recovery. We aimed to assess the independent relationship between BCVI, CSI, and outcome in patients with severe head injury.

Methods

We identified patients with severe head injury from the Helsinki Trauma Registry treated during 2015–2017 in a large level 1 trauma hospital. We assessed the association between BCVI and SCI using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for injury severity. Our primary outcome was functional outcome at 6 months, and our secondary outcome was 6-month mortality.

Results

Of 255 patients with a cervical spine CT, 26 patients (10%) had a CSI, and of 194 patients with cervical CT angiography, 16 patients (8%) had a BCVI. Four of the 16 BCVI patients had a BCVI-related brain infarction, and four of the CSI patients had some form of spinal cord injury. After adjusting for injury severity in multivariable logistic regression analysis, BCVI associated with poor functional outcome (odds ratio [OR] = 6.0, 95% CI [confidence intervals] = 1.4–26.5) and mortality (OR = 7.9, 95% CI 2.0–31.4). We did not find any association between CSI and outcome.

Conclusions

We found that BCVI with concomitant head injury was an independent predictor of poor outcome in patients with severe head injury, but we found no association between CSI and outcome after severe head injury. Whether the association between BCVI and poor outcome is an indirect marker of a more severe injury or a result of treatment needs further investigations.
Identification of crucial stepping stone habitats for biodiversity conservation in northeastern Madagascar using remote sensing and comparative predictive modeling
Authors: Schüßler Dominik , Mantilla-Contreras Jasmin , Stadtmann Robin , Ratsimbazafy Jonah H. , Radespiel Ute
Published: March 2020

Madagascar is a global biodiversity hotspot of conservation concern. The decline of natural forest habitats due to shifting cultivation has been one of the major land use changes during the last decades. We analyzed satellite images between 1990 and 2018 from northeastern Madagascar to evaluate the contribution of nine variables (e.g., topographic, demographic, forest protection) to explain past forest loss, predict future deforestation probabilities to define important areas that require further conservation attention. Forest cover declined by 21% since 1990 and the once continuous rain forest belt of the region is disrupted twice, in the center and at the southern limit of the study region. Status of forest protection and proximity to the forest edge were identified as most important predictors, but all variables contributed to explaining the observed pattern of deforestation. At least 20% of the 3136 villages in the area were established since 1990 at the expense of previously forested areas. This housing sprawl was mainly driven by accessibility, decreasing landscape connectivity. To conserve the unique biodiversity of the region, the expansion of protected forests and active reforestation measures are urgently needed. Sustainable land use planning and forest management integrating the needs of local land users and conservation priorities should be promoted. We see the highest potential for external stakeholders (e.g., national NGOs) to implement targeted interventions embedded in community-based approaches. Our land cover maps and predictive modeling highlight crucial areas that could act as stepping stone habitats for dispersing or retreating species and therefore important locations to intensify conservation measures.
A gray-box modeling methodology for runtime prediction of Apache Spark jobs
Authors: Al-Sayeh Hani , Hagedorn Stefan , Sattler Kai-Uwe
Published: March 2020

Apache Spark jobs are often characterized by processing huge data sets and, therefore, require runtimes in the range of minutes to hours. Thus, being able to predict the runtime of such jobs would be useful not only to know when the job will finish, but also for scheduling purposes, to estimate monetary costs for cloud deployment, or to determine an appropriate cluster configuration, such as the number of nodes. However, predicting Spark job runtimes is much more challenging than for standard database queries: cluster configuration and parameters have a significant performance impact and jobs usually contain a lot of user-defined code making it difficult to estimate cardinalities and execution costs. In this paper, we present a gray-box modeling methodology for runtime prediction of Apache Spark jobs. Our approach comprises two steps: first, a white-box model for predicting the cardinalities of the input RDDs of each operator is built based on prior knowledge about the behavior and application parameters such as applied filters data, number of iterations, etc. In the second step, a black-box model for each task constructed by monitoring runtime metrics while varying allocated resources and input RDD cardinalities is used. We further show how to use this gray-box approach not only for predicting the runtime of a given job, but also as part of a decision model for reusing intermediate cached results of Spark jobs. Our methodology is validated with experimental evaluation showing a highly accurate prediction of the actual job runtime and a performance improvement if intermediate results can be reused.
Relative generalized Hamming weights of affine Cartesian codes
Authors: Datta Mrinmoy
Published: March 2020

We explicitly determine all the relative generalized Hamming weights of affine Cartesian codes using the notion of footprints and results from extremal combinatorics. This generalizes the previous works on the determination of relative generalized Hamming weights of Reed–Muller codes by Geil and Martin, as well as the determination of all the generalized Hamming weights of the affine Cartesian codes by Beelen and Datta.
Urban growth sustainability of Islamabad, Pakistan, over the last 3 decades: a perspective based on object-based backdating change detection
Authors: Liu Yong , Shaker ul din  , Jiang Yue
Published: March 2020

Urban growth copes with problems in sustainable development. In developing countries, particularly, sustainable development of urban growth copes with severe challenges with respect to sluggish economic and social growth, population boom, environmental deterioration, unemployment, slums and so on. Time series of remote sensing data provide critical support on sustainability assessment. However, the urban spatial extend cannot be accurately extracted from land cover data. Targeting the urban growth and its sustainability in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, this study extracts urban area from four periods of Landsat images between 1990 and 2018 using an innovative object-based backdating change detection method and two criteria for extracting urban land from impervious surface. We prove that impervious surface cover and urban area increased 273.10% and 426.21%, respectively, over the last 3 decades. We identify five factors playing important role in urban growth: population, transportation systems, master planning, industrial and real estate development, and neighbor urban effect. In this study, we assess the socio-economic sustainability associated with slum growth and census data, and the environmental sustainability in relation to the variations of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in forest areas. We found that slums increased with the corresponding growth of urban area and population, reflecting sluggish economic increase in Islamabad. We found that the area of woodland increased 9.29%, but its NDVI decreased from 0.668 to 0.551, implying a deteriorative trend of environmental condition.
Collinear laser spectroscopy of stable palladium isotopes at the IGISOL facility
Authors: Geldhof Sarina , Campbell Paul , Cheal Bradley , de Groote Ruben , Gins Wouter , Moore Iain
Published: March 2020

Collinear laser spectroscopy on stable palladium isotopes was performed at the IGISOL facility in Jyväskylä in preparation for an experiment on its neutron-rich isotopes. Five transitions from different initial atomic states were tested, with the goal of finding the most spectroscopically efficient. The observed intensities afforded a comparison with atomic-level population predictions based on charge-exchange calculations. For some transitions hyperfine parameters of 105Pd were measured, which were found to be in good agreement with literature values. A King plot analysis was performed using the measured isotope shifts and known charge radii from literature to determine the atomic field and mass shift factors.
Kinetic modelling of coking coal fluidity development
Authors: Sciazko M. , Mertas B. , Stepien L.
Published: March 2020

Coal plasticity is a phenomenon directly affecting the creation of coke structure. It is very much a time- and temperature-dependent transformation of the coal matrix, which allows changing the physical phase from solid to liquid-like and again into solid of different properties. The coking process, particularly in a plasticization temperature range, can be considered as a non-isothermal reaction at a constant heating rate. In this work, a macro-kinetics approach is applied that results in effective kinetic parameters, i.e. pre-exponential factor and activation energy. It is postulated in this work that the original content of metaplast (M0) is a part of volatile matter that melts under the effect of temperature. The coal sample can melt steadily with the temperature increase, achieving the maximum fluidity (Fmax) when the total amount of metaplast available turns into the plastic state. Coal behaviour while it is being heated can be described by two mechanisms. Under first one, the coal turns into plastic phase starting at t1 and ending at tmax, where solidification starts. This can be considered as independent reactions model. In the second model, both plasticization and solidification reactions compete over entire range of phenomena. This can be considered as reactions in the series model. The developed models were validated against experimental data of coal fluidity delivering kinetic parameters.
Hörmander’s method for the characteristic Cauchy problem and conformal scattering for a nonlinear wave equation
Authors: Joudioux Jérémie
Published: March 2020

The purpose of this note is to prove the existence of a conformal scattering operator for the cubic defocusing wave equation on a non-stationary background. The proof essentially relies on solving the characteristic initial value problem by the method developed by Hörmander. This method consists in slowing down the propagation speed of the waves to transform a characteristic initial value problem into a standard Cauchy problem.
Spectroscopic and biochemical characteristics of flax transgenic callus cultures producing PHB
Authors: Wróbel-Kwiatkowska Magdalena , Kostyn Kamil , Dymińska Lucyna , Hanuza Jerzy , Kurzawa Adam , Żuk Magdalena , Rymowicz Waldemar
Published: March 2020

Linum usitatissimum L. is a plant used by human since ancient times. Presently flax has both industrial and nutritional significance. The programmes of restoration of flax cultivation and processing are implemented to renew the importance of this plant for agriculture and economy. Genetic engineering methods and techniques of plant tissue cultures can answer this requirement, because they give the opportunity for obtaining of new plants and novel application of them. In the present study the impact of genetic modification of flax plants on the ability of morphogenesis was investigated. The subject of this research remain genetically modified flax plants enriched in poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), interesting biodegradable compound showing bioactive properties and acting as anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial factor. Another aim of this study was to characterize chemical and structural properties of callus derived from the engineered plants in comparison to the data obtained for non-transgenic, control callus cultures. The presence of PHB was confirmed by FTIR technique and it was suggested that this polymer may have impact on about 20% higher biomass growth observed for transgenic callus cultures in comparison to control cultures. The level of phenolic compounds was not significantly changed in the transgenic calluses when compared to wild-type cultures. The extracellular matrix (EMC) was noticed for the surface of genetically modified calluses, such structure was not visible for calluses derived from the control cultures. The cellulose in plant cell walls of transgenic calluses was structurally changed, it was not as organized as in control callus, resulting in lower crystallinity index values.
Three categories of urban green areas and the effect of their different management on the communities of ants, spiders and harvestmen
Authors: Trigos-Peral Gema , Rutkowski Tomasz , Witek Magdalena , Ślipiński Piotr , Babik Hanna , Czechowski Wojciech
Published: March 2020

Urban green areas have become an important tool for biodiversity conservation in cities. However, land use and the different management practices applied to these areas determine their effectiveness as biodiversity refuges within cities. In our study, we compare the biodiversity of three bioindicator groups of arthropods (ants, spiders and harvestmen) found in eleven urban green sites in Warsaw (Poland). The studied sites represent three categories of management: botanical gardens, public parks and urban woodlands. Our aim was to determine the effect of the type of management (as urban green categories) on arthropod communities in urban areas.
Human Imprints of Real Time: from Semantics to Metaphysics
Authors: Jaszczolt K. M.
Published: March 2020

Investigation into the reality of time can be pursued within the ontological domain or it can also span human thought and natural language. I propose to approach time by correlating three domains of inquiry: metaphysical time (M), the human concept of time (E), and temporal reference in natural language (L), entertaining the possibility of what I call a ‘horizontal reduction’ (L > E > M) and ‘vertical reduction’. I present a view of temporalityL/Eas epistemic modality, drawing on evidence from the L domain and its correlates in the E and M domains. On this view, the human concept of time is a complex, ‘molecular’ concept and can be broken down into primitive concepts that are modal in nature, featuring as degrees of epistemic commitment to representations of states of affairs. I present evidence from tensed and tenseless languages (endorsing the L > E path) and point out its compatibility with the view of real time as metaphysical modality (endorsing the E > M path).
Transformation of the real estate and construction industry: empirical findings from Germany
Authors: Pfnür Andreas , Wagner Benjamin
Published: March 2020

The German real estate and construction industry is facing a transformation, triggered by fundamental changes in technology, the economy and society. The purpose of this paper is to explore how these changes exert pressure to adapt on existing business models, while also offering opportunities for their further development. A model that attributes the transformation of the real estate industry to megatrends, specific structural change drivers, business models and the interaction of the groups of players in the value creation system is developed. The model is tested empirically by a survey. Structural equation modelling is used to measure the impact of various determinants of transformation and the relevance of adaptation strategies to the different groups of players. As a result, the study explains three impact mechanisms of the transformation in the real estate industry. The transformation originates from the occupiers, who need more flexible space and are focusing on holistic solutions that are not provided by the real estate industry. Service providers are striving to increase the efficiency of their traditional processes, rather than evolving new business models or services. The investors recognise the increasing importance of the occupiers but they are rarely pursuing the resulting strategies. Property developers recognise these requirements: their adaptation strategies most strongly question their previous business. For practitioners, the results point out the opportunities and risks of transformation and help to illustrate the need for change. For academicians, the results indicate a way to explain and measure the transformation of a value creation system.
A review of causal inference in forensic medicine
Authors: Meilia Putri Dianita Ika , Freeman Michael D. , Herkutanto  , Zeegers Maurice P.
Published: March 2020

The primary aim of forensic medical analysis is to provide legal factfinders with evidence regarding the causal relationship between an alleged action and a harmful outcome. Despite existing guides and manuals, the approach to formulating opinions on medicolegal causal inference used by forensic medical practitioners, and how the strength of the opinion is quantified, is mostly lacking in an evidence-based or systematically reproducible framework. In the present review, we discuss the literature describing existing methods of causal inference in forensic medicine, especially in relation to the formulation of expert opinions in legal proceedings, and their strengths and limitations. Causal inference in forensic medicine is unique and different from the process of establishing a diagnosis in clinical medicine. Because of a lack of tangibility inherent in causal analysis, even the term “cause” can have inconsistent meaning when used by different practitioners examining the same evidence. Currently, there exists no universally applied systematic methodology for formulating and assessing causality in forensic medical expert opinions. Existing approaches to causation in forensic medicine generally fall into two categories: intuitive and probabilistic. The propriety of each approach depends on the individual facts of an investigated injury, disease, or death. We opine that in most forensic medical settings, probabilistic causation is the most suitable for use and readily applicable. Forensic medical practitioners need, however, be aware of the appropriate approach to causation for different types of cases with varying degrees of complexity.
pH-dependent secondary structure propensity of the influenza A virus M2 cytoplasmic tail
Authors: Claridge Jolyon K. , Mohd-Kipli Faiz , Florea Andrei , Gate Thomas , Schnell Jason R.
Published: March 2020

The cytoplasmic C-terminal tail of the matrix protein 2 (M2) from influenza A virus has a well conserved sequence and is involved in interactions with several host proteins as well as the influenza matrix protein 1 (M1). Whereas the transmembrane domain of M2 has been well characterised structurally and functionally, high resolution information about the distal cytoplasmic tail is lacking. Here we report the chemical shifts of the cytoplasmic tail of M2 and the chemical shift perturbations at low pH and in the presence of membrane mimetics. The cytoplasmic tail residues are mostly disordered but an extended backbone conformation is adopted by the LC3 binding motif and the putative M1 interaction site has partial helical content with a small pH-dependence. The chemical shift assignments provide a basis for further investigations into interactions of the M2 cytoplasmic tail with viral and host cell factors.
Designing Anthropomorphic Enterprise Conversational Agents
Authors: Diederich Stephan , Brendel Alfred Benedikt , Kolbe Lutz M.
Published: March 2020

The increasing capabilities of conversational agents (CAs) offer manifold opportunities to assist users in a variety of tasks. In an organizational context, particularly their potential to simulate a human-like interaction via natural language currently attracts attention both at the customer interface as well as for internal purposes, often in the form of chatbots. Emerging experimental studies on CAs look into the impact of anthropomorphic design elements, so-called social cues, on user perception. However, while these studies provide valuable prescriptive knowledge of selected social cues, they neglect the potential detrimental influence of the limited responsiveness of present-day conversational agents. In practice, many CAs fail to continuously provide meaningful responses in a conversation due to the open nature of natural language interaction, which negatively influences user perception and often led to CAs being discontinued in the past. Thus, designing a CA that provides a human-like interaction experience while minimizing the risks associated with limited conversational capabilities represents a substantial design problem. This study addresses the aforementioned problem by proposing and evaluating a design for a CA that offers a human-like interaction experience while mitigating negative effects due to limited responsiveness. Through the presentation of the artifact and the synthesis of prescriptive knowledge in the form of a nascent design theory for anthropomorphic enterprise CAs, this research adds to the growing knowledge base for designing human-like assistants and supports practitioners seeking to introduce them into their organizations.
In Vivo Delivery of Nucleic Acid-Encoded Monoclonal Antibodies
Authors: Patel Ami , Bah Mamadou A. , Weiner David B.
Published: March 2020

Antibody immunotherapy is revolutionizing modern medicine. The field has advanced dramatically over the past 40 years, driven in part by major advances in isolation and manufacturing technologies that have brought these important biologics to the forefront of modern medicine. However, the global uptake of monoclonal antibody (mAb) biologics is impeded by biophysical and biochemical liabilities, production limitations, the need for cold-chain storage and transport, as well as high costs of manufacturing and distribution. Some of these hurdles may be overcome through transient in vivo gene delivery platforms, such as non-viral synthetic plasmid DNA and messenger RNA vectors that are engineered to encode optimized mAb genes. These approaches turn the body into a biological factory for antibody production, eliminating many of the steps involved in bioprocesses and providing several other significant advantages, and differ from traditional gene therapy (permanent delivery) approaches. In this review, we focus on nucleic acid delivery of antibody employing synthetic plasmid DNA vector platforms, and RNA delivery, these being important approaches that are advancing simple, rapid, in vivo expression and having an impact in animal models of infectious diseases and cancer, among others.
Living alone vs. living with someone as a predictor of mortality after a bone fracture in older age
Authors: Koivunen Kaisa , Sillanpää Elina , von Bonsdorff Mikaela , Sakari Ritva , Pynnönen Katja , Rantanen Taina
Published: March 2020

Background

Living alone is a risk factor for health decline in old age, especially when facing adverse events increasing vulnerability.

Aim

We examined whether living alone is associated with higher post-fracture mortality risk.

Methods

Participants were 190 men and 409 women aged 75 or 80 years at baseline. Subsequent fracture incidence and mortality were followed up for 15 years. Extended Cox regression analysis was used to compare the associations between living arrangements and mortality risk during the first post-fracture year and during the non-fracture time. All participants contributed to the non-fracture state until a fracture occurred or until death/end of follow-up if they did not sustain a fracture. Participants who sustained a fracture during the follow-up returned to the non-fracture state 1 year after the fracture unless they died or were censored due to end of follow-up.

Results

Altogether, 22% of men and 40% of women sustained a fracture. During the first post-fracture year, mortality risk was over threefold compared to non-fracture time but did not differ by living arrangement. In women, living alone was associated with lower mortality risk during non-fracture time, but the association attenuated after adjustment for self-rated health. In men, living alone was associated with increased mortality risk during non-fracture time, although not significantly.

Conclusion

The results suggest that living alone is not associated with pronounced mortality risk after a fracture compared to living with someone.
Teaching Youth to Resist Abuse: Evaluation of a Strengths-Based Child Maltreatment Curriculum for High School Students
Authors: Diaz Marisol J. , Wolfersteig Wendy , Moreland Diane , Yoder Grant , Dustman Patricia , Harthun Mary L.
Published: March 2020

Child maltreatment (CM) is a serious and prevalent public health problem in the United States (U.S.) yet programming to combat the issue often overlooks high school aged youth (those aged 14–17). In 2017, over 90,000 youth in the U.S. experienced CM during their high school years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2019). This manuscript will highlight the importance of prevention programs for youth affected by child maltreatment and report the findings of a pilot study that examined the effectiveness of the Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe Prevention Education Curriculum among high school students. The purpose of the pilot study was to determine if the revised and expanded curriculum for grades 9–12 was feasible and to examine the validity of the new survey items, including the RESIST strategy questions. The pilot study utilized a two-phase non-probability convenience sample to evaluate high school student gains in knowledge of safety related resistance strategies. High school students (N = 269) attending one urban charter public high school (grades 9–12) in the Southwest who completed pre- and post-survey RESIST strategy items participated in the pilot. The results indicated that students receiving the Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe Prevention Education Curriculum increased their identification and knowledge of safety related resistance strategies.
Investigation of the track width-dependent melt pool characteristics during laser-sintering of polyamide 12 in correlation to various focus diameters
Authors: Meyer Lars , Witt Gerd
Published: March 2020

Factors such as not only costs, production time, reproducibility, but also the quality of the components are decisive factors in assessing the economic efficiency of a manufacturing process. With additive manufacturing processes, component production is made possible directly from a 3D CAD model. This means that small series and prototypes can already be produced economically today. In this area, the laser-sintering process, in particular, offers great potential for series production due to its high strength values and ductility. With laser-sintering systems that allow an optical widening of the laser focus, a faster exposure of the component and thus a shortening of the building time is possible. We developed a laser-sintering system whose laser focus diameter is adjustable in its cross-sectional area from 0.47 to 2 mm. The goal for the future is to produce large-area components significantly faster by widening the focus diameter, thus making laser-sintering more productive. In this paper, the focus-dependent melt pool formation is examined in correlation to different hatch distances during the laser-sintering of polyamide 12. For this purpose, a test specimen was developed which can display single tracks as well as a multitude of different track widths for all feasible focus level variations. This knowledge is required to determine and investigate the track width-dependent melt pool formation as a function of the focal diameter of the component cross sections.
Digitization modeling of a CGEM detector based on Garfield++ simulation
Authors: Zhao Jing-Yi , Miao Nan-Nan , Wu Ling-Hui , Wang Liang-Liang , Sun Tong , Huang Zhen , Mitchell Ryan , Li Wei-Guo , Liu Huai-Min , Lou Xin-Chou , Sun Sheng-Sen , Yuan Ye , Zhang Yao
Published: March 2020

Background

The Cylindrical Gas Electron Multiplier Inner Tracker (CGEM-IT) is one of the candidates for the replacement of the current BESIII inner drift chamber, which has developed serious aging effects due to beam-related backgrounds.

Purpose

To build a full digitization model, it is necessary to understand the electron drift behavior and signal induction.

Methods

A simulation study based on Garfield++ and ANSYS software has been performed.

Results

Parameters describing the Lorentz angle, diffusion effect, drift time, multiplication, and induction are obtained from the Garfield++ simulation. Based on these results, a preliminary digitization model is implemented in the BESIII offline software system.
Improving community participation in clinical and translational research: CTSA Sentinel Network proof of concept study
Authors: Varma Deepthi S. , Strelnick Alvin H. , Bennett Nancy , Piechowski Patricia , Aguilar-Gaxiola Sergio , Cottler Linda B.
Published: March 2020

Background:

Research participation by members of racial or ethnic minority groups continues to be less than optimum resulting in difficulties to generalization of research findings. Community-engaged research that relies on a community health worker (CHW) model has been found effective in building trust in the community, thereby motivating people to participate in health research. The Sentinel Network study aimed at testing the feasibility of utilizing the CHW model to link community members to appropriate health research studies at each of the research sites.

Methods:

The study was conducted at six Clinical and Translational Science Award institutions (N= 2371) across the country; 733 (30.9%) of the participants were from the University of Florida, 525 (22.0%) were from Washington University in St. Louis, 421 (17.8%) were from the University of California, Davis, 288 (12.1%) were from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 250 (10.5%) were from Rochester, and 154 (6.5%) from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Trained CHWs from each of these sites conducted regular community outreach where they administered a Health Needs Assessment, provided medical and social referrals, and linked to eligible research studies at each of those sites. A 30-day follow-up assessment was developed to track utilization of services satisfaction with the services and research study participation.

Results:

A large majority of people, especially African Americans, expressed willingness to participate in research studies. The top two health concerns reported by participants were hypertension and diabetes.

Conclusion:

Findings on the rate of navigation and enrollment in research from this study indicate the effectiveness of a hybrid CHW service and research model of directly engaging community members to encourage people to participate in research.
Value Constraining or Value Enabling? The Impact of Business Group Affiliation on Post-Acquisition Performance by Emerging Market Firms
Authors: Popli Manish , Ladkani Radha Mukesh
Published: March 2020

Literature has advanced two contrasting theoretical perspectives related to the governance structure of business groups: the ‘value-constraining’ perspective, which focuses on principal–principal agency conflict and organizational inertia theory, and the ‘value-enabling’ perspective, which emphasizes the role of business groups in mitigation of institutional voids. Building on these two competing lenses, we develop hypotheses to examine post-acquisition performance of affiliate firms relative to stand-alone firms. As our empirical context, we study 440 majority-stake, domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition deals closed by Indian firms during the period 2002–2013. The results imply that in emerging markets, despite concerns of organizational inertia and principal–principal agency issues, the value-enabling impact of group affiliation persists. We also examine the contextual impact of intergroup heterogeneity owing to group diversification on post-acquisition performance and find that greater group diversification leads to better performance for affiliate acquirers.