bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urban Applications
Authors: Colin-Koeniguer E. , Trouve N. , Yamaguchi Y. , Huang Y. , Ferro-Famil L. , Sanchez V. D. Navarro , Sanchez J. M. Lopez , Monells D. , Iglesias R. , Fabregas X. , Mallorqui J. , Aguasca A. , Martinez C. Lopez
Published: April 2021

The experimental result reported in this chapter review the application of (high resolution) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to extract valuable information for monitoring urban environments in space and time. Full polarimetry is particularly useful for classification, as it allows the detection of built-up areas and to discriminate among their different types exploiting the variation of the polarimetric backscatter with the orientation, shape, and distribution of buildings and houses, and street patterns. On the other hand, polarimetric SAR data acquired in interferometric configuration can be combined for 3-D rendering through coherence optimization techniques. If multiple baselines are available, direct tomographic imaging can be employed, and polarimetry both increases separation performance and characterizes the response of each scatterer. Finally, polarimetry finds also application in differential interferometry for subsidence monitoring, for instance, by improving both the number of resolution cells in which the estimate is reliable, and the quality of these estimates.
Twin modular S4 with SU(5) GUT
Authors: King Stephen F. , Zhou Ye-Ling
Published: April 2021

Abstract

We discuss the SU(5) grand unified extension of flavour models with multiple modular symmetries. The proposed model involves two modular S4 groups, one acting in the charged fermion sector, associated with a modulus field value τT with residual $$ {Z}_3^T $$

Z
3
T

symmetry, and one acting in the right-handed neutrino sector, associated with another modulus field value τSU with residual $$ {Z}_2^{SU} $$

Z
2
SU

symmetry. Quark and lepton mass hierarchies are naturally generated with the help of weightons, which are SM singlet fields, where their non-zero modular weights play the role of Froggatt-Nielsen charges. The model predicts TM1 lepton mixing, and neutrinoless double beta decay at rates close to the sensitivity of current and future experiments, for both normal and inverted orderings, with suppressed corrections from charged lepton mixing due to the triangular form of its Yukawa matrix.
Early in-hospital course of critically ill nontrauma patients in a resuscitation room of a German emergency department (OBSERvE2 study)
Authors: Grahl C. , Hartwig T. , Weidhase L. , Laudi S. , Petros S. , Gries A. , Bernhard M.
Published: April 2021

Background

Management of critically ill nontrauma (CINT) patients in the resuscitation room of the emergency department (ED) is very challenging. Detailed data describing the patient characteristics and management of this population are lacking. This observational study describes the epidemiology, management and outcome in CINT ED patients in the resuscitation room.

Methods

This prospective, single center observational study included all adult patients who were consecutively admitted to the ED resuscitation room during 2 periods of 1 year (September 2014–August 2015 vs. September 2017– August 2018). Patient characteristics, out-of-hospital/in-hospital treatment, admission-related conditions, time intervals for diagnostics and interventions and outcome were recorded using a self-developed questionnaire.

Results

A total of 34,303 patients in the first and 35,039 patients in the second study period were admitted to the ED, of whom 532 and 457 patients, respectively, were admitted to the nontrauma resuscitation room due to acute life-threatening conditions. The patient characteristics did not differ significantly between the study periods (male: 58% vs. 59%, age: 68 ± 17 years vs. 65 ± 17 years). Time intervals for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions were similar. The CINT patients during the second study period were treated faster compared to the first study period (end of ED management: 53 ± 33 min vs. 41 ± 24 min, p < 0.0001). The 30-day all-cause mortality was comparable (34.0% vs. 36.3%).

Conclusion

Observation of critically ill patient management in the ED resuscitation room showed reliable results between both study periods. Structured ED management guidelines for CINT patients may provide comparable results at one institution.
Continuous solutions to Monge–Ampère equations on Hermitian manifolds for measures dominated by capacity
Authors: Kołodziej Sławomir , Nguyen Ngoc Cuong
Published: April 2021

We prove the existence of a continuous quasi-plurisubharmonic solution to the Monge–Ampère equation on a compact Hermitian manifold for a very general measure on the right hand side. We admit measures dominated by capacity in a certain manner, in particular, moderate measures studied by Dinh–Nguyen–Sibony. As a consequence, we give a characterization of measures admitting Hölder continuous quasi-plurisubharmonic potential, inspired by the work of Dinh–Nguyen.
Ageism and older people’s health and well-being during the Covid-19-pandemic: the moderating role of subjective aging
Authors: Kornadt Anna E. , Albert Isabelle , Hoffmann Martine , Murdock Elke , Nell Josepha
Published: April 2021

In the Covid-19 pandemic, being older means being in a special focus: Probabilities for severe infections and mortality rise with increasing age and protective measures for this population group have been increased. This was accompanied by public discourse that portrayed older adults stereotypically as vulnerable and frail but also highlighted the hardships younger people have to endure to protect them. Given the possibly detrimental effects of ageism on individuals and societies, we were interested in older adults’ perception of ageism in the Corona-crisis and its relation to their health and well-being. Furthermore, we were interested in subjective aging variables as moderators in the ageism–health relationship. In June 2020, N = 611 independently living people aged 60 + from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg were recruited via a survey research institute and interviewed online or by phone. They reported on perceived ageism in different contexts, their life satisfaction, subjective health, subjective age and self-perceptions of aging. Depending on context, ageism was perceived by around 20% of participants, and overall negatively related to subjective health and life satisfaction after the onset of the pandemic. Moderated hierarchical regressions showed that a younger subjective age buffered the negative effect of ageism on subjective health, while perceiving aging as social loss increased its effect on life satisfaction. We discuss the importance of addressing and reducing ageism (not only) in times of crisis and the consequences for individuals and societies.
Substance use, Unlike Dolutegravir, is Associated with Mood Symptoms in People Living with HIV
Authors: Van de Wijer Lisa , van der Heijden Wouter , van Verseveld Mike , Netea Mihai , de Mast Quirijn , Schellekens Arnt , van der Ven André
Published: April 2021

Contradictory data have been reported concerning neuropsychiatric side effects of the first-line antiretroviral drug dolutegravir, which may be partly due to lack of control groups or psychiatric assessment tools. Using validated self-report questionnaires, we compared mood and anxiety (DASS-42), impulsivity (BIS-11), and substance use (MATE-Q) between dolutegravir-treated and dolutegravir-naive people living with HIV (PLHIV). We analyzed 194, mostly male, PLHIV on long-term treatment of whom 82/194 (42.3%) used dolutegravir for a median (IQR) of 280 (258) days. Overall, 51/194 (26.3%) participants reported DASS-42 scores above the normal cut-off, 27/194 (13.5%) were classified as highly impulsive, and 58/194 (29.9%) regularly used recreational drugs. Regular substance use was positively associated with depression (p = 0.012) and stress scores (p = 0.045). We observed no differences between dolutegravir-treated and dolutegravir-naive PLHIV. Our data show that depressed and anxious moods and impulsivity are common in PLHIV and associate with substance use and not with dolutegravir use.
Immunoceptive inference: why are psychiatric disorders and immune responses intertwined?
Authors: Bhat Anjali , Parr Thomas , Ramstead Maxwell , Friston Karl
Published: April 2021

There is a steadily growing literature on the role of the immune system in psychiatric disorders. So far, these advances have largely taken the form of correlations between specific aspects of inflammation (e.g. blood plasma levels of inflammatory markers, genetic mutations in immune pathways, viral or bacterial infection) with the development of neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. A fundamental question remains open: why are psychiatric disorders and immune responses intertwined? To address this would require a step back from a historical mind–body dualism that has created such a dichotomy. We propose three contributions of active inference when addressing this question: translation, unification, and simulation. To illustrate these contributions, we consider the following questions. Is there an immunological analogue of sensory attenuation? Is there a common generative model that the brain and immune system jointly optimise? Can the immune response and psychiatric illness both be explained in terms of self-organising systems responding to threatening stimuli in their external environment, whether those stimuli happen to be pathogens, predators, or people? Does false inference at an immunological level alter the message passing at a psychological level (or vice versa) through a principled exchange between the two systems?
Correction to: Overall survival analysis in patients with metastatic breast cancer and liver or lung metastases treated with eribulin, gemcitabine, or capecitabine
Authors: Kazmi Shayma , Chatterjee Debanjana , Raju Dheeraj , Hauser Rob , Kaufman Peter A.
Published: April 2021

In the original publication, two values provided for landmark survival for patients treated with gemcitabine were incorrectly listed in the text. On page 562, paragraph 3, the text listed that: “for TNBC: 50%, 31%, 20%, and 3%, respectively, for HR+/HER2−: 51%, 27%, 10%, and 3%, respectively”. The correct values should be “for TNBC: 50%, 31%, 11%, and 3%, respectively, for HR+/HER2−: 51%, 27%, 10%, and 7%, respectively”. The correct values are consistent with those listed in Table 2.
Is Applied Ethics Morally Problematic?
Authors: Franz David J.
Published: April 2021

This paper argues that applied ethics can itself be morally problematic. As illustrated by the case of Peter Singer’s criticism of social practice, morally loaded communication by applied ethicists can lead to protests, backlashes, and aggression. By reviewing the psychological literature on self-image, collective identity, and motivated reasoning three categories of morally problematic consequences of ethical criticism by applied ethicists are identified: serious psychological discomfort, moral backfiring, and hostile conflict. The most worrisome is moral backfiring: psychological research suggests that ethical criticism of people’s central moral convictions can reinforce exactly those attitudes. Therefore, applied ethicists unintentionally can contribute to a consolidation of precisely those social circumstances that they condemn to be unethical. Furthermore, I argue that the normative concerns raised in this paper are not dependent on the commitment to one specific paradigm in moral philosophy. Utilitarianism, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and Rawlsian contractarianism all provide sound reasons to take morally problematic consequences of ethical criticism seriously. Only the case of deontological ethics is less clear-cut. Finally, I point out that the issues raised in this paper provide an excellent opportunity for further interdisciplinary collaboration between applied ethics and social sciences. I also propose strategies for communicating ethics effectively.
High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP): the Charité experience with a new central nervous system tumor entity
Authors: Bender Katja , Perez Eilís , Chirica Mihaela , Onken Julia , Kahn Johannes , Brenner Winfried , Ehret Felix , Euskirchen Philipp , Koch Arend , Capper David , Kaul David
Published: April 2021

Purpose

High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP) is a recently described brain tumor entity defined by a specific DNA methylation profile. HGAP has been proposed to be integrated in the upcoming World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors expected in 2021. In this series, we present the first single-center experience with this new entity.

Methods

During 2017 and 2020, six HGAP were identified. Clinical course, surgical procedure, histopathology, genome-wide DNA methylation analysis, imaging, and adjuvant therapy were collected.

Results

Tumors were localized in the brain stem (n = 1), cerebellar peduncle (n = 1), diencephalon (n = 1), mesencephalon (n = 1), cerebrum (n = 1) and the thoracic spinal cord (n = 2). The lesions typically presented as T1w hypo- to isointense and T2w hyperintense with inhomogeneous contrast enhancement on MRI. All patients underwent initial surgical intervention. Three patients received adjuvant radiochemotherapy, and one patient adjuvant radiotherapy alone. Four patients died of disease, with an overall survival of 1.8, 9.1, 14.8 and 18.1 months. One patient was alive at the time of last follow-up, 14.6 months after surgery, and one patient was lost to follow-up. Apart from one tumor, the lesions did not present with high grade histology, however patients showed poor clinical outcomes.

Conclusions

Here, we provide detailed clinical, neuroradiological, histological, and molecular pathological information which might aid in clinical decision making until larger case series are published. With the exception of one case, the tumors did not present with high-grade histology but patients still showed short intervals between diagnosis and tumor progression or death even after extensive multimodal therapy.
The value of in-person banking: evidence from U.S. small businesses
Authors: Zhang Song , Han Liang , Kallias Konstantinos , Kallias Antonios
Published: April 2021

We produce the first systematic study of the determinants and implications of in-person banking. Using survey data from the U.S., we show that firms which are informationally opaque or operate in rural areas are liable to contact their primary bank in-person. This tendency extends to older, less educated, and female business owners. We find that a relationship based on face-to-face communication, on average, lasts 17.88 months longer, spans a wider range of financial services, and is more likely to be exclusive. The associated loans mature 3.37 months later and bear interest rates which are 11 basis points lower. For good quality firms, in-person communication also relates to less discouraged borrowing. These results are robust to multiple approaches for endogeneity, including recursive bivariate probits, treatment effect models, and instrumental variables regressions. Overall, our findings offer empirical grounding to soft information theory and a note of caution to banks against suppressing channels of interpersonal communication.
Who shuns entrepreneurship journals? Why? And what should we do about it?
Authors: Stewart Alex
Published: April 2021

Some scholars assert that entrepreneurship has attained “considerable” legitimacy. Others assert that it “is still fighting” for complete acceptance. This study explores the question, extrapolating from studies of an “elite effect” in which the publications of the highest ranked schools differ from other research-intensive schools. The most elite business schools in the USA, but not the UK, are found to allocate significantly more publications to mathematically sophisticated “analytical” fields such as economics and finance, rather than entrepreneurship and other “managerial” fields. The US elites do not look down upon entrepreneurship as such. They look down upon journals that lack high mathematics content. Leading entrepreneurship journals, except Small Business Economics Journal (SBEJ), are particularly lacking. The conclusion argues that SBEJ can help the field’s legitimacy, but that other journals should not imitate analytical paradigms.

Plain English Summary Academic snobs shun entrepreneurship journals. A goal for snobs is to exhibit superiority over others. For business professors, one way to do this is with mathematically sophisticated, analytical publications. Entrepreneurship journals, Small Business Economics excepted, do this relatively infrequently. These journals focus on the lives, activities, and challenges of diverse entrepreneurs. In the USA, the most elite business schools, compared with not-quite elite business schools, allocate significantly more of their articles to the journals of analytical fields such as economics, and fewer to entrepreneurship journals. This pattern is not found in the UK, where elites may have other ways to signal superiority. These elites, who accommodate entrepreneurship researchers, could pioneer with outputs of both relevance and scholarly quality, through collaboration between their practice-based and research-based professors.
Digitalisierte intime Bewertung
Authors: Peetz Thorsten
Published: April 2021

Intime Bewertung ist ein zentrales Moment der Paarbildung. Da immer mehr Menschen sich online kennenlernen, stellt sich die Frage, welche Konsequenzen Digitalisierung, verstanden als eine spezifische Form infrastrukturellen Wandels, in intimen Bewertungskonstellationen zeitigt. Am Beispiel vonTinder, einer weit verbreiteten Dating-App, zeigt der Artikel, dass digital vermittelte Paarbildung spezifische Formen der Beobachtung von potenziellen Intimpartnerinnen ermöglicht. Algorithmen beobachten die Datenden, vergleichen und kategorisieren sie als „ähnlich“ und kalkulieren Begehrenswürdigkeit auf der Grundlage der Beobachtung ihres Bewertungsverhaltens. Die Nutzerinnen selbst haben aber nur eingeschränkte Möglichkeiten, Bewertungsobjekte zu vergleichen und selbst auch keinen Zugang zu den Resultaten der algorithmischen Zahlenproduktion. Man kann deshalb nicht vorbehaltlos davon sprechen, dass über Onlinedating Kommensurierung, Quantifizierung und datenbasierte Selbstoptimierung Einzug in Paarbildungspraktiken halten.
Material exploration via designing spatial arrangement of octahedral units: a case study of lead halide perovskites
Authors: Fu Pengfei , Hu Sanlue , Tang Jiang , Xiao Zewen
Published: April 2021

Halide perovskites have attracted tremendous attention as semiconducting materials for various optoelectronic applications. The functional metal-halide octahedral units and their spatial arrangements play a key role in the optoelectronic properties of these materials. At present, most of the efforts for material exploration focus on substituting the constituent elements of functional octahedral units, whereas designing the spatial arrangement of the functional units has received relatively little consideration. In this work, via a global structure search based on density functional theory (DFT), we discovered a metastable three-dimensional honeycomb-like perovskite structure with the functional octahedral units arranged through mixed edge- and corner-sharing. We experimentally confirmed that the honeycomb-like perovskite structure can be stabilized by divalent molecular cations with suitable size and shape, such as 2,2′-bisimidazole (BIM). DFT calculations and experimental characterizations revealed that the honeycomb-like perovskite with the formula of BIMPb2I6, synthesized through a solution process, exhibits high electronic dimensionality, a direct allowed bandgap of 2.1 eV, small effective masses for both electrons and holes, and high optical absorption coefficients, which indicates a significant potential for optoelectronic applications. The employed combination of DFT and experimental study provides an exemplary approach to explore prospective optoelectronic semiconductors via spatially arranging functional units.
The past and present of pandemic management: health diplomacy, international epidemiological surveillance, and COVID-19
Authors: D’Abramo Flavio
Published: April 2021

The establishment of international sanitary institutions, which took place in the context of rivalry among the great European powers and their colonial expansion in Asia, allowed for the development of administrative systems of international epidemiological surveillance as a response to the cholera epidemics at the end of the nineteenth century. In this note, I reflect on how a historical analysis of the inception of international epidemiological surveillance and pandemic management helps us to understand what is happening in the COVID-19 pandemic today.
Tetracycline antibiotics
Authors: Ramachanderan Raghavendra , Schaefer Bernd
Published: April 2021

Tetracyclines belong to the first broad-spectrum, well-tolerated, and easy-to-administer antibiotics, which are effective against plague, cholera, typhoid, syphilis, Legionnaire’s disease, and anthrax. Some can also be used to treat malaria, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and leprosy. Humans first encountered these chemical species involuntarily in ancient times, as evidenced from the analysis of bone samples dating back more than 1500 years. Shortly after World War II, they were “rediscovered” at Lederle Laboratories and Pfizer as a result of an intense search for new antibiotics. Their bacteriostatic action is based on the inhibition of protein biosynthesis. Since the structure elucidation by Robert Woodward, Lloyd Hillyard Conover, and others in the 1950s, tetracyclines have become preferred targets for natural product synthesis. However, on industrial scale, they became readily available by fermentation and partial synthesis. Their casual and thoughtless use in the initial decades after launch not only in humans but for veterinary purposes and as growth-enhancement agents in meat production rapidly led to the emergence of resistance. In an arms race for new antibiotics, more and more new drugs have been developed to deal with the threat. In this ongoing endeavor, a remarkable milestone was set by Andrew Myers in 2005 with the convergent total synthesis of (−)-doxycycline, as well as numerous azatetracyclines and pentacyclines, which has inspired chemists in the pharmaceutical industry to discover novel and highly active tetracyclines in recent years.

Graphic abstract
Functional and Patient Reported Outcomes Following Total Glans Resurfacing
Authors: Preto Mirko , Falcone Marco , Blecher Gideon , Capece Marco , Cocci Andrea , Timpano Massimiliano , Gontero Paolo
Published: April 2021

Background

Whilst there is a trend away from aggressive nonorgan sparing surgical treatments for malignant penile disease, a variety of penile preservation options exist but functional outcomes and patient reported outcomes (PROs) in this area are poorly reported to date.

Aim

The aim of this study is to report functional outcomes and PROs of total glans resurfacing (TGR) in a consecutive series of patients with lichen sclerosis (LS) or localized penile cancer (PC).

Methods

From 2004 to 2018 a consecutive series of patients underwent TGR for the management of LS or localized PC in a tertiary referral network. Patient clinical records and operative notes were retrospectively reviewed. Statistical analysis was conducted with Stata 12.

Outcomes

Urinary and sexual outcomes were recorded utilizing both the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) validated questionnaires while PROs were extrapolated from a 5-item “ad hoc” telephone questionnaire administered at 1 year post procedure.

RESULTS

37 consecutive patients were enrolled. Histology results demonstrated LS in 16 patients, with the remaining 21 having a diagnosis of PC. The most common reasons for patient presentation were local pain (32.4%), pruritus (37.8%) and bleeding (29.7%). Median follow-up was 22 (IQR 13–77) months. Median age was 62 (IQR 55–68).

Neither of the questionnaires assessing urinary and sexual function showed any significant deterioration after surgery. Glans sensitivity was fully maintained in 89.2% of cases. 94.5% of patients reported to be fully satisfied with the aesthetic appearance of the penis and would consider undergoing the same procedure again if necessary. 91.9% of patients would recommend the same procedure to someone else. An overall improvement of the quality of life was reported by 86.4% of patients.

Clinical Implications

TGR should be considered a treatment of choice for selected cases of benign or malignant penile lesions

Strengths and Limitations

Our study has some limitations, the first being its retrospective nature. Furthermore, despite being one of the largest series to date, follow-up duration is somewhat limited and a control group is lacking.

CONCLUSION

TGR represents an excellent surgical option ensuring satisfactory voiding and sexual function, as well as cosmesis for selected cases of penile lesions.
Cross-Sectional Survey to Assess Health-Care Workers’ Grief Counseling for Bereaved Families of COVID-19 Victims in Wuhan, China
Authors: Gao Xudong , Wang Zhimin , Kong Chan , Fan Hongru , Zhang Juan , Wang Jing , Tan Lingling , Wang Jinyao
Published: April 2021

Objective:

This research aimed to examine health-care workers’ grief counseling for bereaved families of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) victims in China. Our research may provide a new opportunity to stimulate development of grief counseling in China.

Methods:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 724 health-care workers selected by convenience sampling from 7 hospitals in Wuhan. Data collection tools included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the skills of grief counseling scale (SGCS), and the attitudes of grief counseling scale (AGCS).

Results:

The average SGCS score was 18.96 ± 4.66, whose influencing factors consisted of sense of responsibility, frequency of contact with bereaved families, and relevant training (P < 0.05). The average AGCS score was 33.36 ± 8.70, whose influencing factors consisted of other grief counseling skills, communication skills, education background, and relevant training (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The skills and attitudes toward grief counseling among health-care workers combating COVID-19 were at a lower level in Wuhan, China, indicating the need to build a comprehensive grief counseling system, establish a standardized training course, and strengthen the popularization of grief counseling services to the public.
National Indifference in Post-Ottoman Spaces: A Case from Northwest Bulgaria
Authors: Jakoubek Marek
Published: April 2021

This study represents an application of the concept of national indifference in the Post-Ottoman Balkans. It addresses the question of why two minority communities in Northwest Bulgaria in the first half of 20th century – the Protestant Voyvodovo community and the Catholic community of Bărdarski Geran, both marked by a strong principle of religious endogamy, intermarried. The author maintains that the main reason why these two communities intermarried was – despite all the differences between them – their national indifference, a parameter that both communities shared. These marriages did not cross the ethno-national boundary (the communities were nationally indifferent and thus ethno-national borders did not divide them). Contrary to standard understandings of the concept of national indifference, the author emphasizes that national indifference can be said to have two sides. On the one hand, nationally indifferent groups represent those in which the “we-they” opposition does not follow national lines, while on the other hand these groups identify and organize themselves on the basis of principles other than national ones. In the example of the inhabitants of Voyvodovo and Bărdarski Geran, this principle was religion. The appreciation of the “positive” side of national indifference enables us to grasp “the native’s point of view,” how people themselves perceived and understood their reality, their identities, and loyalties.
PLINY, TACITUS AND THE MONUMENTS OF PALLAS
Authors: McNamara James
Published: April 2021

This article is a discussion of Plin.Ep. 7.29 andEp. 8.6, in which he presents his reaction to seeing the grave monument of Marcus Antonius Pallas, the freedman and minister of the Emperor Claudius, beside the Via Tiburtina. The monument records a senatorial vote of thanks to Pallas, and Pliny expresses intense indignation at the Senate's subservience and at the power and influence wielded by a freedman. This article compares Pliny's letters with Tacitus’ account of the senatorial vote of thanks to Pallas atAnn. 12.52–3 and explores the differences between the ways in which the two authors encourage readers to relate to past events. It is noted that the Pallas letters are unusual amongst Pliny's letters for their treatment of material unconnected with the life and career of Pliny and his friends, and argued that inEp. 7.29 Pliny uses language and attitudes drawn from satire to evoke the past.Ep. 8.6 is read as an idiosyncratic piece of historical enquiry, considering Pliny's use of citation and his anonymization of historical individuals. Both letters are considered in the context of the surrounding letters, and a hypothesis is offered regarding the identity of their addressee Montanus, considering evidence from Tacitus’HistoriesandAnnals. Discussion of Tac.Ann.12.52–3 focusses on the use of irony. Pliny's evocation ofenargeia(‘vividness’) is compared with that of Tacitus. The article concludes with comparison of the historical accounts offered by Pliny and Tacitus through reflection on Juvenal,Satire1.
A note on extensions of multilinear maps defined on multilinear varieties
Authors: Gowers W. T. , Milićević L.
Published: April 2021

Let $G_1, \ldots , G_k$ be finite-dimensional vector spaces over a prime field $\mathbb {F}_p$. A multilinear variety of codimension at most $d$ is a subset of $G_1 \times \cdots \times G_k$ defined as the zero set of $d$ forms, each of which is multilinear on some subset of the coordinates. A map $\phi$ defined on a multilinear variety $B$ is multilinear if for each coordinate $c$ and all choices of $x_i \in G_i$, $i\not =c$, the restriction map $y \mapsto \phi (x_1, \ldots , x_{c-1}, y, x_{c+1}, \ldots , x_k)$ is linear where defined. In this note, we show that a multilinear map defined on a multilinear variety of codimension at most $d$ coincides on a multilinear variety of codimension $O_{k}(d^{O_{k}(1)})$ with a multilinear map defined on the whole of $G_1\times \cdots \times G_k$. Additionally, in the case of general finite fields, we deduce similar (but slightly weaker) results.
On non-separated zero sequences of solutions of a linear differential equation
Authors: Chyzhykov Igor , Long Jianren
Published: April 2021

Let $(z_k)$ be a sequence of distinct points in the unit disc $\mathbb {D}$ without limit points there. We are looking for a function $a(z)$ analytic in $\mathbb {D}$ and such that possesses a solution having zeros precisely at the points $z_k$, and the resulting function $a(z)$ has ‘minimal’ growth. We focus on the case of non-separated sequences $(z_k)$ in terms of the pseudohyperbolic distance when the coefficient $a(z)$ is of zero order, but $\sup _{z\in {\mathbb D}}(1-|z|)^p|a(z)| = + \infty$ for any $p > 0$. We established a new estimate for the maximum modulus of $a(z)$ in terms of the functions $n_z(t)=\sum \nolimits _{|z_k-z|\le t} 1$ and $N_z(r) = \int_0^r {{(n_z(t)-1)}^ + } /t{\rm d}t.$ The estimate is sharp in some sense. The main result relies on a new interpolation theorem.
France's Informal Empire in the Mediterranean, 1815–1830
Authors: Dzanic Dzavid
Published: April 2021

Recent works on France's informal projection of power have begun remapping French imperialism during the nineteenth century. More studies in this vein could broaden our understanding of informal empire as an analytical category by decentring it from its roots in British imperial studies. This article argues that between 1815 and 1830, French diplomats remoulded the Regency of Tunisia into an informal imperial periphery. Although they lacked the military and economic leverage of their British counterparts, French consuls coerced the Tunisian rulers into submission by wielding threats and treaties. This strategy unfolded in three stages. First, the consuls used rumours of a possible invasion in order to impose a new vision of international law and dismantle the corsair system in the Regency. Second, they claimed French territorial sovereignty over a part of the Tunisian coast by appealing to the international legal norms enshrined in the existing treaties. And, third, the Tunisian ruler accepted most consular demands following the French invasion of Algeria in 1830. Tunisia's entrance into the French imperial orbit in turn led French diplomats to seek the establishment of French economic ascendency in Tunisia during the early 1830s.
‘A PATH LESS TRAVELLED’? A CASE STUDY OF CROSS-REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC FROM THE MADRA RIVER DELTA ON THE COASTLINE OF NORTH-WEST ANATOLIA
Authors: Röcklinger Maria , Horejs Barbara , Lambrianides Kyriacos , Spencer Nigel
Published: April 2021

Assumptions are always made about the levels and directions of cultural connections across regions in western Anatolia and the eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age (EBA). However, a lack of primary fieldwork data still inhibits clear conclusions and an understanding of the subtleties and variations in such patterns. In particular, primary data is still lacking from the critical coastal ‘touch-point’ of these two regions where material evidence is usually obscured by significant geomorphological change. This article looks at this complex issue of variations in regional connectivity in the EBA through a case study of unpublished primary fieldwork material from the Madra River Delta, a coastal region of north-west Anatolia. Material from the excavation and surface survey of two EBA mound sites in the delta, carried out as part of the interdisciplinary research project, gives a rare opportunity to explore ‘connectivity’ on this coastal area through elements of its EBA material culture, ranging from ceramic and textile production to figurines. The article highlights not only the complex, and unexpected, nature of the inter-regional cultural ‘pathways’ visible in the delta itself, but also the implications – and further questions – which this raises for the cultural connections with the neighbouring region of the north-east Aegean.
Inadvertent reproduction of Eurocentrism in IR: The politics of critiquing Eurocentrism
Authors: Tolay Juliette
Published: April 2021

The study of Eurocentrism has become a hallmark of postcolonial International Relations theories. Of particular concern in this literature has been the resilience of Eurocentrism despite conscious efforts to move towards a post-Eurocentric understanding of world politics. This study argues that while existing works have highlighted many of the reasons why Eurocentrism persists today, it has not been sufficiently identified and conceptualised. In particular, why some policy actors, who have a vested interest in moving beyond Eurocentrism, inadvertently reproduce Eurocentrism? This article proposes to distinguish between different types of inadvertent reproductions. In particular it highlights rhetorical critique, deconstruction, decentring and dehierarchising, as different ways to critique, inadvertently reproduce and partially modify Eurocentrism. To illustrate this situation, this article looks at Turkey's migration policies and documents how Turkish governing elites have openly claimed the need to upend the Eurocentric order, yet have reproduced it in practice.
‘Dirt’ in dialect
Authors: Markus Manfred
Published: April 2021

Given today's general bias towards euphemisms (cf. Arif, 2015), the topic of this paper may seem embarrassing and ill-chosen. However, it makes sense to find out to what extent the spoken language of dialects in former centuries correlated with one of the dark sides of everyday reality. In Britain up to the second half of the 19thcentury, traditional dialect was the common linguistic medium of the large majority of people (the lower and middle classes), just before the norm of ‘King's English’ and, in linguistics, ofsystème, started playing a dominant role. We may assume that the English dialects of the Late Modern English (LModE) period (1700–1900) were a correlative of people's everyday life.
NEGATIVE POWERS OF INTEGRATED PROCESSES
Authors: Sakarya Neslihan , de Jong Robert M.
Published: April 2021

This paper derives the limit distribution of the rescaled sum of the absolute value of an integrated process with continuously distributed innovations raised to a negative power less than
$-$
1, and of the analogous statistic that is obtained using the same function of an integrated process but only considering positive values of the integrated process. We show that the limit behavior of this statistic is determined by the values of the integrated process that are closest to 0, and find the limit behavior of the values of the integrated process that are closest to 0.
Sarcopenia and homocysteine: is there a possible association in the elderly? A narrative review
Authors: De Giuseppe Rachele , Tomasinelli Chiara Elena , Vincenti Alessandra , Di Napoli Ilaria , Negro Massimo , Cena Hellas
Published: April 2021

Background:

Sarcopenia (SA) is a progressive skeletal muscle disorder, associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes, including falls, fractures, physical disability and mortality. Several risks factors may contribute to the development of SA in the elderly; among them, nutrition plays a key role in muscle health. The elderly are at risk of inadequate intake in terms of micronutrients affecting muscle homeostasis, such as B vitamins, related to homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism.

Objectives and methods:

This narrative review analysed the association between increased Hcy levels and SA, according to the criteria of the International Working Group on Sarcopenia, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. The authors focused not only on SA per se but also on exploring the association between increased Hcy levels and components of SA, including muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance.

Results:

Results are inconsistent, except for muscle mass, showing no significant associations with Hcy levels.

Conclusions:

Few and conflicting data emerged in this review on the association between SA and increased Hcy levels due to numerous differences between studies that change the significance of the association of Hcy and SA, as well as the muscle strength, muscle mass and physical performance. Furthermore, because the ageing process is not uniform in the population owing to differences in genetics, lifestyle and general health, chronological age fails to address the observed heterogeneity among the ‘elderly’ of the studies reported in this revision. Therefore, further studies are still needed.
What are language learners looking for in a collocation consultation system? Identifying collocation look-up patterns with user query data
Authors: Wu Shaoqun , Fitzgerald Alannah , Yu Alex , Chen Zexuan
Published: April 2021

Corpus consultation with concordancers has been recognized as a promising way for learners to study and explore language features such as collocations at their own pace and in their own time. This study examined 1.5 million search queries sent to a collocation consultation tool called FlaxCLS (Flexible Language Acquisition Collocation Learning System; http://flax.nzdl.org) over a period of two years to identify learners’ collocation look-up patterns. This paper examines and characterizes learners’ look-up patterns as they entered search queries, clicked on the query formation aids provided by the system, and navigated through the different levels of collocation information returned by the system to support collocation learning. We looked at how learners formulated query terms, and we analyzed the characteristics of query words learners entered, the characteristics of collocations they preferred, and the sample sentences they checked. Our collocation look-up pattern analyses, similar to traditional user query analyses of the web, provide interesting and revealing insights that are hard to obtain from small-scale user studies. The findings provide valuable information and pedagogical implications for data-driven learning (DDL) researchers and language teachers in designing tailored collocation consultation systems and activities. This paper also presents multidimensional analyses of learner query data, which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been explored in DDL research.
The Mechanism of the Human Voice
Authors: Behnke Emil
Published: April 2021

The subject with which I have to deal this evening is a very complicated one, and the time at my disposal is very short, so that I can, at the best, give you but a brief outline of it. I will, therefore, not lose a minute upon any preliminary remarks, but proceed at once with my paper.
EMA and FDA psychiatric drug trial guidelines: assessment of guideline development and trial design recommendations
Authors: Boesen Kim , Gøtzsche Peter C. , Ioannidis John P. A.
Published: April 2021

Aims

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) produce guidelines for the design of pivotal psychiatric drug trials used in new drug applications. It is unknown who are involved in the guideline development and what specific trial design recommendations they give.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of EMA Clinical Efficacy and Safety Guidelines and FDA Guidance Documents. Study outcomes: (1) guideline committee members and declared conflicts of interest; (2) guideline development and organisation of commenting phases; (3) categorisation of stakeholders who comment on draft and final guidelines according to conflicts of interest (‘industry’, ‘not-industry but with industry-related conflicts’, ‘independent’, ‘unclear’); and (4) trial design recommendations (trial duration, psychiatric comorbidity, ‘enriched design’, efficacy outcomes, comparator choice). Protocol registration https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.22.20018499 (27 January 2020).

Results

We included 13 EMA and five FDA guidelines covering 15 psychiatric indications. Eleven months after submission, the EMA had not processed our request regarding committee member disclosures. FDA offices draft the Guidance Documents, but the Agency is not in possession of employee conflicts of interest declarations because FDA employees generally may not hold financial interests (although some employees may hold interests up to $15,000). The EMA and FDA guideline development phases are similar; drafts and final versions are publicly announced and everybody can submit comments. Seventy stakeholders commented on ten guidelines: 38 (54%) ‘industry’, 18 (26%) ‘not-industry but with industry-related conflicts’, six (9%) ‘independent’ and eight (11%) ‘unclear’. They submitted 1014 comments: 640 (68%) ‘industry’, 243 (26%) ‘not-industry but with industry-related conflicts’, 44 (5%) ‘independent’ and 20 (2%) ‘unclear’ (67 could not be assigned to a specific stakeholder). The recommended designs were generally for trials of short duration; with restricted trial populations; allowing previous exposure to the drug; and often recommending rating scale efficacy outcomes. EMA mainly recommended three arm designs (both placebo and active comparators), whereas FDA mainly recommended placebo-controlled designs. There were also other important differences and FDA's recommendations regarding the exclusion of psychiatric comorbidity seemed less restrictive.

Conclusions

The EMA and FDA clinical research guidelines for psychiatric pivotal trials recommend designs that tend to have limited generalisability. Independent and non-conflicted stakeholders are underrepresented in the guideline development. It seems warranted with more active involvement of scientists and independent organisations without conflicts of interest in the guideline development process.
A transgenic reporter mouse model for in vivo assessment of retinoic acid receptor transcriptional activation
Authors: Carlsen Harald , Ebihara Kanae , Kuwata Nobuyo H. , Kuwata Kazuhisa , Aydemir Gamze , Rühl Ralph , Blomhoff Rune
Published: April 2021

Abstract. Background: Vitamin A is essential for a wide range of life processes throughout embryogenesis to adult life. With the aim of developing an in vivo model to monitor retinoic acid receptor (RAR) transactivation real-time in intact animals, we generated transgenic mice carrying a luciferase (luc) reporter gene under the control of retinoic acid response elements (RAREs) consisting of three copies of a direct repeat with five spacing nucleotides (DR5). Methods: Transgenic mice carrying a RARE dependent luciferase reporter flanked with insulator sequence were generated by pronuclear injection. RARE dependent luciferase activity was detected by in vivo imaging or in tissue extracts following manipulations with RAR/retinoid X receptor (RXR) agonists, RAR antagonists or in vitamin A deficient mice. Results: We found a strong induction of luciferase activity in a time and dose dependent manner by retinoic acid as well as RAR agonists, but not by the RXR agonist (using n=4–6 per group; 94 mice). In addition, luciferase activity was strongly reduced in vitamin A-deficient mice (n=6–9; 30 mice). These observations confirm that luciferase activity was controlled by RAR activation in the RARE-luc mouse. Luciferase activity was detectable in various organs, with high activity especially in brain and testis, indicating strong retinoid signalling in these tissues. Conclusion: The RARE-luc transgenic mice, which enabled real-time in vivo assessment of RAR activation, will be useful in understanding the normal physiology of vitamin A, the role of retinoid signalling in pathologies as well as to evaluate pharmacological ligands for RARs.
Time Evolution and Diurnal Variability of the Parametric Sensitivity of Turbine‐Height Winds in the MYNN‐EDMF Parameterization
Authors: Berg L. K. , Liu Y. , Yang Ben , Qian Y. , Krishnamurthy R. , Sheridan L. , Olson J.
Published: April 2021

The Mellor‐Yamada‐Nakanishi‐Niino (MYNN) parameterization applied in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model has been augmented to include the Eddy‐Diffusion Mass‐Flux (EDMF) approach to better represent transport by boundary‐layer eddies. This change includes the addition of new parameters associated with convective updrafts and boundary‐layer clouds that lead to new parametric sensitivities in the turbine‐height wind speed compared to simulations using the standard MYNN parameterization. This work builds on efforts focused on WRF's MYNN parameterization by examining the sensitivity of wind speed to parameters in the MYNN‐EDMF parameterization as a function of simulation duration. Summer and winter periods were selected from the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2). Five sets of simulations were completed for each season, with durations ranging from 2 to 6 days. The results show that the sensitivity to the new parameters associated with the EDMF scheme is generally small compared to other parameters in clear conditions, but the sensitivity to the entrainment becomes significant when the updraft fraction is large. The spread in the perturbed parameter ensembles was found to grow quickly over the first 8–19 h in the summer simulations and 17–24 h in the winter simulations with little change after that, regardless of the simulation length. A strong diurnal cycle in the parameter sensitivity was also found associated with the atmospheric stability, as well as an increase in the sensitivity to the entrainment parameter used in the EDMF parameterization that is associated with increasing fractional area covered by plumes.