bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Revisiting the 1992 severe drought episode in South Africa: the role of El Niño in the anomalies of atmospheric circulation types in Africa south of the equator
Authors: Ibebuchi Chibuike Chiedozie
Published: August 2021

During strong El Niño events, below-average rainfall is expected in large parts of southern Africa. The 1992 El Niño season was associated with one of the worst drought episodes in large parts of South Africa. Using reanalysis data set from NCEP-NCAR, this study examined circulation types (CTs) in Africa south of the equator that are statistically related to the El Niño signal in the southwest Indian Ocean and the implication of this relationship during the 1992 drought episode in South Africa. A statistically significant correlation was found between the above-average Nino 3.4 index and a CT that features widespread cyclonic activity in the tropical southwest Indian Ocean, coupled with a weaker state of the south Indian Ocean high-pressure. During the analysis period, it was found that the El Niño signal enhanced the amplitude of the aforementioned CT. The impacts of the El Niño signal on CTs in southern Africa, which could have contributed to the 1992 severe drought episode in South Africa, were reflected in (i) robust decrease in the frequency of occurrence of the austral summer climatology pattern of atmospheric circulation that favors southeasterly moisture fluxes, advected by the South Indian Ocean high-pressure; (ii) modulation of easterly moisture fluxes, advected by the South Atlantic Ocean high-pressure, ridging south of South Africa; (iii) and enhancement of the amplitude of CTs that both enhances subsidence over South Africa, and associated with the dominance of westerlies across the Agulhas current. Under the ssp585 scenario, the analyzed climate models suggested that the impact of radiative heating on the CT significantly related to El Niño might result in an anomalous increase in surface pressure at the eastern parts of South Africa.
Anthropogenic climate change: the impact of the global carbon budget
Authors: Redlin Margarete , Gries Thomas
Published: August 2021

Using time series data for the period 1959–2015, our empirical analysis examines the simultaneous effects of the individual components of the global carbon budget on temperature. Specifically, we explore the possible effects of carbon emissions caused by fossil fuel combustion, cement production, land-use change emissions, and carbon sinks (here in terms of land sink and ocean sink) on climate change. The simultaneous inclusion of carbon emissions and carbon sinks allows us to look at the coexistent and opposing effects of the individual components of the carbon budget and thus provides a holistic perspective from which to explore the relationship between the global carbon budget and global warming. The results reveal a significant positive effect of carbon emissions on temperature for both fossil fuels emissions and emissions from land-use change, confirming previous results concerning carbon dioxide and temperature. Further, while ocean sink does not seem to have a significant effect, we identify a temperature-decreasing effect for land sink.
Klinische Erfahrung und deren Auswirkungen auf Interventionstechnik und Working Alliance
Authors: Steinmair Dagmar , Datz Felicitas , Löffler-Stastka Henriette
Published: August 2021

Die Wichtigkeit einer tragenden Arzt/Therapeut-Patient-Beziehung konnte als der wesentliche Faktor für den Therapieerfolg herausgearbeitet werden. Mit zunehmender klinischer Erfahrung verbessert sich die Fähigkeit von Behandlern, auch in komplexeren klinischen Situationen akkurate diagnostische und therapeutische Entscheidungen zu treffen. Bisher konnte zwar kein direkter Einfluss der klinischen Erfahrung auf die therapeutische Allianz nachgewiesen werden, allerdings wird deutlich, dass sich Interventionstechnik und damit Interaktionen bei erfahrenen Ärzten/Therapeuten basierend auf intuitiven Prozessen verändern. Konstruktive Interaktionsprozesse bilden das Fundament einer stabilen Arzt/Therapeut-Patient-Beziehung. Analysen nonverbaler Interaktionsaspekte zeigten, dass sich die Bearbeitung sogenannter negativer Spitzenaffekte in der Therapie günstig auf die therapeutische Beziehung und auf den Therapieerfolg auswirken.
Sub-grid Scale Modelling and a-Posteriori Tests with a Morphology Adaptive Multifield Two-Fluid Model Considering Rising Gas Bubbles
Authors: Meller R. , Schlegel F. , Klein M.
Published: August 2021

The predictive simulation of gas–liquid multiphase flows at industrial scales reveals the challenging task to consider turbulence and interfacial structures, which span a large range of length scales. For simulation of relevant applications, a hybrid model can be utilised, which combines the Euler–Euler model for the description of small interfacial structures with a volume-of-fluid model as a scale-resolving multiphase approach. Such a hybrid model needs to be able to simulate interfaces, which are hardly resolved on a coarse numerical grid. The goal of this work is to improve the prediction of interfacial gas–liquid flows on a numerical grid with comparably large grid spacing. From the low-pass filtering of the two-fluid model five unclosed sub-grid scale terms arise. The convective and the surface tension part of the aforementioned contributions are individually modelled with multiple closure formulations. Those models are a-posteriori assessed in cases of two- and three-dimensional gas bubbles rising in stagnant liquid. It is shown, that the chosen closure modelling approach is suitable to improve the predictive power of the numerical model utilised in this work. Hence, simulation results on comparably coarse grids are changed towards results obtained with higher spatial resolution.
Optimizing the location of watercraft inspection stations to slow the spread of aquatic invasive species
Authors: Haight Robert G. , Kinsley Amy C. , Kao Szu-Yu , Yemshanov Denys , Phelps Nicholas B. D.
Published: August 2021

The accidental spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) by recreational boaters is a major concern of state and county environmental planners in the USA. While programs for watercraft inspection to educate boaters and slow AIS spread are common practice, large numbers of boats and waterbodies, together with limited budgets, make program design difficult. To facilitate program design, we developed an integer programming model for allocation of scarce inspection resources among lakes. Our model uses species-specific infestation status of lakes and estimates of boat movement between lakes. The objective is to select lakes for inspection stations to maximize the number of risky boats inspected, where risky boats are ones that move from infested to uninfested lakes. We apply our model in Stearns County in central Minnesota, USA, to prioritize lakes for inspection stations and evaluate alternative management objectives. With an objective of protecting uninfested lakes within and outside Stearns County, the optimal policy is to locate stations at infested lakes having the most boats departing for uninfested lakes inside and outside the county. With an objective of protecting only Stearns County lakes, the optimal policy is to locate stations at both infested and uninfested lakes having the riskiest boats arriving from within and outside the county and departing to in-county lakes. The tradeoff between these objectives is significant.
Practice Tools for Screening and Monitoring Insomnia in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Banaschewski Tobias , Bruni Oliviero , Fuentes Joaquin , Hill Catherine Mary , Hvolby Allan , Posserud Maj-Britt , Schroder Carmen
Published: August 2021

Between 50–80% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have insomnia, which adversely affects their mental and physical health. However, there is no consensus to-date on suitable tools for insomnia screening and monitoring in daily clinical practice. An expert panel of child neuropsychiatry and sleep specialists, with expertise in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, recommends: (1) performing insomnia screening of all children with ASD; (2) considering discussion or referral to a sleep specialist when comorbid sleep disorders are suspected. The panel further developed structured, brief screening and monitoring tools to facilitate insomnia screening and management in daily practice, monitor treatment effectiveness and standardize and compare outcomes across clinical settings to improve care and well-being of children with ASD and their families.
Estetrol and Mammary Gland: Friends or Foes?
Authors: Gallez Anne , Dias Da Silva Isabelle , Wuidar Vincent , Foidart Jean-Michel , Péqueux Christel
Published: August 2021

Estrogens have pleiotropic effects on many reproductive and non-reproductive tissues and organs including the mammary gland, uterus, ovaries, vagina, and endothelium. Estrogen receptor α functions as the principal mediator of estrogenic action in most of these tissues. Estetrol (E4) is a native fetal estrogen with selective tissue actions that is currently approved for use as the estrogen component in a combined oral contraceptive and is being developed as a menopause hormone therapy (MHT, also known as hormone replacement therapy). However, exogenous hormonal treatments, in particular MHTs, have been shown to promote the growth of preexisting breast cancers and are associated with a variable risk of breast cancer depending on the treatment modality. Therefore, evaluating the safety of E4-based formulations on the breast forms a crucial part of the clinical development process. This review highlights preclinical and clinical studies that have assessed the effects of E4 and E4-progestogen combinations on the mammary gland and breast cancer, focusing in particular on the estrogenic and anti-estrogenic properties of E4. We discuss the potential advantages of E4 over current available estrogen-formulations as a contraceptive and for the treatment of symptoms due to menopause. We also consider the potential of E4 for the treatment of endocrine-resistant breast cancer.
SymptomSpeak: Women’s Struggle for History and Health in Kosovo
Authors: Kienzler Hanna
Published: August 2021

What are the linguistic dimensions of pain, and what kind of articulations arise from these painful experiences? How does the language of pain circulate, connect, and reach across histories, gendered realities, and social politics? In what ways might the language of pain act on and transform the world by shaping and changing socio-political agendas? I explored these questions among women in Kosovo and discovered a unique symptomatic language which I call SymptomSpeak. SymptomSpeak is a powerful language evoked, shared, and exchanged by women to articulate political, social, and economic grievances, to challenge societal norms, and to demand justice. The language itself consists of a detailed symptom vocabulary which is variously assembled into meaning complexes. Such assemblages shift depending on the social context in which they are conveyed and are referred to asnervoz(nervousness),mërzitna(worried, sad),mzysh(evil eye), andt’bone(spell). I describe in detail how women variously combine and exchange components of SymptomSpeak and, thereby, question dominant framings of reality. Thereby, my intention is to contribute to a new understanding of pain as language which straddles the fine line between socio-political commentary and illness; produces gendered political realities; and challenges the status quo through its communicative power.
Quantification of dwarfing effect of different rootstocks in ‘Picual’ olive cultivar using UAV-photogrammetry
Authors: Torres-Sánchez Jorge , de la Rosa Raúl , León Lorenzo , Jiménez-Brenes Francisco M. , Kharrat Amal , López-Granados Francisca
Published: August 2021

Hedgerow orchard is an olive growing system where trees are planted at a super high-density higher than 20-fold (i.e., 1200–2500 trees ha−1) compared to the traditional density of olive orchards (usually 50 to 160 trees ha−1). It is dominating a great proportion of new plantations because harvesting can be fully mechanized, it is early bearing and has a relatively constant high productivity. However, there are a limited number of cultivars with sufficiently low vigour to be suitable for such plantation densities. For that reason, a set of low vigour cultivars and breeding selections has been used in a field experiment as rootstocks for reducing the vigour of “Picual”, the most frequent cultivar planted in Spain. Tree vigour was characterized by measuring crown height, projected and side areas, and volume through the analysis of photogrammetric point clouds created from images acquired with an unmanned aerial vehicle. A significant reduction of the ‘Picual’ vigour was observed in most of the rootstocks tested, with canopy volume reduced up to one half. High variability on vigour, first harvesting and their relative relationship was observed between the different rootstocks used. This indicates there might be enough genetic variability to perform breeding selection for dwarfing rootstocks on ‘Picual’ olive cultivar.
Long-Term Nitrogen and Phosphorus Dynamics in Waters Discharging from Forestry-Drained and Undrained Boreal Peatlands
Authors: Nieminen Mika , Sarkkola Sakari , Hasselquist Eliza Maher , Sallantaus Tapani
Published: August 2021

Contradictory results for the long-term evolution of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in waters discharging from drained peatland forests need reconciliation. We gathered long-term (10–29 years) water quality data from 29 forested catchments, 18 forestry-drained and 11 undrained peatlands. Trend analysis of the nitrogen and phosphorus concentration data indicated variable trends from clearly decreasing to considerably increasing temporal trends. While the variations in phosphorus concentration trends over time did not correlate with any of our explanatory factors, trends in nitrogen concentrations correlated positively with tree stand volume in the catchments and temperature sum. A positive correlation of increasing nitrogen concentrations with temperature sum raises concerns of the future evolution of nitrogen dynamics under a warming climate. Furthermore, the correlation with tree stand volume is troublesome due to the generally accepted policy to tackle the climate crisis by enhancing tree growth. However, future research is still needed to assess which are the actual processes related to stand volume and temperature sum that contribute to increasing TN concentrations.
Matching IRT Models to Patient-Reported Outcomes Constructs: The Graded Response and Log-Logistic Models for Scaling Depression
Authors: Reise Steven P. , Du Han , Wong Emily F. , Hubbard Anne S. , Haviland Mark G.
Published: August 2021

Item response theory (IRT) model applications extend well beyond cognitive ability testing, and various patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measures are among the more prominent examples. PRO (and like) constructs differ from cognitive ability constructs in many ways, and these differences have model fitting implications. With a few notable exceptions, however, most IRT applications to PRO constructs rely on traditional IRT models, such as the graded response model. We review some notable differences between cognitive and PRO constructs and how these differences can present challenges for traditional IRT model applications. We then apply two models (the traditional graded response model and an alternative log-logistic model) to depression measure data drawn from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System project. We do not claim that one model is “a better fit” or more “valid” than the other; rather, we show that the log-logistic model may be more consistent with the construct of depression as a unipolar phenomenon. Clearly, the graded response and log-logistic models can lead to different conclusions about the psychometrics of an instrument and the scaling of individual differences. We underscore, too, that, in general, explorations of which model may be more appropriate cannot be decided only by fit index comparisons; these decisions may require the integration of psychometrics with theory and research findings on the construct of interest.
Temporal metabolic response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations in oncology patients
Authors: Advani Pooja , Chumsri Saranya , Pai Tanmayi , Li Zhuo , Sharma Akash , Parent Ephraim
Published: August 2021

Background

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are known to provide an immune response seen on FDG PET studies. However, the time course of this metabolic response is unknown. We here present a temporal metabolic response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in oncology patients undergoing standard of care FDG PET.

Methods

262 oncology patients undergoing standard of care FDG PET were included in the analysis. 231 patients had at least one dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine while 31 patients had not been vaccinated. The SUVmax of the lymph nodes ipsilateral to the vaccination was compared to the contralateral to obtain an absolute change in SUVmax (ΔSUVmax).

Results

ΔSUVmax was more significant at shorter times between FDG PET imaging and COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, with a median ΔSUVmax of 2.6 (0–7 days), 0.8 (8–14 days), and 0.3 (> 14 days), respectively.

Conclusion

Consideration should be given to performing FDG PET at least 2 weeks after the COVID-19 vaccine.
Prevalence of mutations in BRCA and homologous recombination repair genes and real-world standard of care of Asian patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer starting first-line systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy: subgroup analysis of the global BREAKOUT study
Authors: Koh Su-Jin , Ohsumi Shozo , Takahashi Masato , Fukuma Eisuke , Jung Kyung Hae , Ishida Takanori , Dai Ming-Shen , Chang Chuan-Hsun , Dalvi Tapashi , Walker Graham , Bennett James , O’Shaughnessy Joyce , Balmaña Judith
Published: August 2021

Background

The multinational BREAKOUT study (NCT03078036) sought to determine the prevalence of germline BRCA1/2 (gBRCA1/2) and somatic BRCA1/2 (sBRCA1/2) mutations and mutations in other homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) starting first-line chemotherapy.

Methods

Genetic testing for gBRCA, sBRCA, and HRR gene mutations was performed in patients who started first-line chemotherapy for MBC in the last 90 days (341 patients across 14 countries) who were not selected based on risk factors for gBRCA mutations. We report data from the Asian cohort, which included patients in Japan (7 sites), South Korea (10 sites), and Taiwan (8 sites).

Results

Of 116 patients screened, 104 patients were enrolled in the Asian cohort. The median age was 53.0 (range 25–87) years. gBRCA1/2, gBRCA1, and gBRCA2 mutations were detected in 10.6% (11/104), 5.8% (6/104), and 4.8% (5/104) of patients, respectively; none had mutations in both gBRCA1 and gBRCA2. gBRCA1/2 mutations were detected in 10.0% (6/60) and 11.6% (5/43) of patients with hormone receptor-positive and triple-negative MBC, respectively. HRR gene mutations were tested in 48 patients without gBRCA mutations, and 5 (10.4%) had at least one HRR mutation in sBRCA, ATM, PALB2, and CHEK2.

Conclusion

We report for the first time the prevalence of gBRCA and HRR mutations in an Asian cohort of patients with HER2-negative MBC. Our results suggest that BRCA mutation testing is valuable to determine appropriate treatment options for patients with hormone receptor-positive or triple-negative MBC.

Study registration

NCT03078036.
Advances in nonlinear optical microscopy techniques for in vivo and in vitro neuroimaging
Authors: Pallen Sparsha , Shetty Yuthika , Das Subir , Vaz Joel Markus , Mazumder Nirmal
Published: August 2021

Understanding the mechanism of the brain via optical microscopy is one of the challenges in neuroimaging, considering the complex structures. Advanced neuroimaging techniques provide a more comprehensive insight into patho-mechanisms of brain disorders, which is useful in the early diagnosis of the pathological and physiological changes associated with various neurodegenerative diseases. Recent advances in optical microscopy techniques have evolved powerful tools to overcome scattering of light and provide improved in vivo neuroimaging with sub-cellular resolution, endogenous contrast specificity, pinhole less optical sectioning capability, high penetration depth, and so on. The following article reviews the developments in various optical imaging techniques including two-photon and three-photon fluorescence, second-harmonic generation, third-harmonic generation, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, and stimulated Raman scattering in neuroimaging. We have outlined the potentials and drawbacks of these techniques and their possible applications in the investigation of neurodegenerative diseases.
Temporal trends in the incidence rates of keratinocyte carcinomas from 1978 to 2018 in Tasmania, Australia: a population-based study
Authors: Ragaini Bruna S. , Blizzard Leigh , Newman Leah , Stokes Brian , Albion Tim , Venn Alison
Published: August 2021

Objectives

We described incidence trends of keratinocyte carcinomas (KCs)—namely basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)—in the Australian state of Tasmania.

Methods

We identified histologically confirmed KCs within the Tasmanian Cancer Registry (TCR) and conducted assessments to ensure data quality. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated for first (1985–2018) and annual KCs (1978–2018). Average annual percentage changes were computed using Joinpoint regression models.

Results

The TCR is a reliable source of KC data. A total of 83,536 people were registered with a KC between 1978 and 2018. Age-standardised incidence rates of first KCs increased on average by 3% per annum for BCCs and 4% per annum for SCCs, reaching 363/100,000 and 249/100,000 in 2018, respectively. Age-standardised incidence rates of annual KCs increased on average by 5% per annum for BCCs and 6% per annum for SCCs, up to 891/100,000 and 514/100,000 in 2018, respectively. This increase was steeper for females than males and highest during the late 1980s and early 1990s. A change in trend around 2014 suggested that incidence rates have started to decline.

Conclusion

While the incidence of KCs in Tasmania increased substantially over 41 years, rates have recently plateaued and started to decline. The findings may reflect changes in sun exposure behaviours due to awareness campaigns, but high incidence rates in 2018 indicate that KCs still pose a substantial burden to this population.
The SQALE of CSIDH: sublinear Vélu quantum-resistant isogeny action with low exponents
Authors: Chávez-Saab Jorge , Chi-Domínguez Jesús-Javier , Jaques Samuel , Rodríguez-Henríquez Francisco
Published: August 2021

Recent independent analyses by Bonnetain–Schrottenloher and Peikert in Eurocrypt 2020 significantly reduced the estimated quantum security of the isogeny-based commutative group action key-exchange protocol CSIDH. This paper refines the estimates of a resource-constrained quantum collimation sieve attack to give a precise quantum security to CSIDH. Furthermore, we optimize large CSIDH parameters for performance while still achieving the NIST security levels 1, 2, and 3. Finally, we provide a C-code constant-time implementation of those CSIDH large instantiations using the square-root-complexity Vélu’s formulas recently proposed by Bernstein, De Feo, Leroux and Smith.
Transformation of coffee-growing landscapes across Latin America. A review
Authors: Harvey Celia A. , Pritts Alyssa A. , Zwetsloot Marie J. , Jansen Kees , Pulleman Mirjam M. , Armbrecht Inge , Avelino Jacques , Barrera Juan F. , Bunn Christian , García Javier Hoyos , Isaza Carlos , Munoz-Ucros Juana , Pérez-Alemán Carlos J. , Rahn Eric , Robiglio Valentina , Somarriba Eduardo , Valencia Vivian
Published: August 2021

In Latin America, the cultivation of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) plays a critical role in rural livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. Over the last 20 years, coffee farms and landscapes across the region have undergone rapid and profound biophysical changes in response to low coffee prices, changing climatic conditions, severe plant pathogen outbreaks, and other drivers. Although these biophysical transformations are pervasive and affect millions of rural livelihoods, there is limited information on the types, location, and extent of landscape changes and their socioeconomic and ecological consequences. Here we review the state of knowledge on the ongoing biophysical changes in coffee-growing regions, explore the potential socioeconomic and ecological impacts of these changes, and highlight key research gaps. We identify seven major land-use trends which are affecting the sustainability of coffee-growing regions across Latin America in different ways. These trends include (1) the widespread shift to disease-resistant cultivars, (2) the conventional intensification of coffee management with greater planting densities, greater use of agrochemicals and less shade, (3) the conversion of coffee to other agricultural land uses, (4) the introduction of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) into areas not previously cultivated with coffee, (5) the expansion of coffee into forested areas, (6) the urbanization of coffee landscapes, and (7) the increase in the area of coffee produced under voluntary sustainability standards. Our review highlights the incomplete and scattered information on the drivers, patterns, and outcomes of biophysical changes in coffee landscapes, and lays out a detailed research agenda to address these research gaps and elucidate the effects of different landscape trajectories on rural livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and other aspects of sustainable development. A better understanding of the drivers, patterns, and consequences of changes in coffee landscapes is vital for informing the design of policies, programs, and incentives for sustainable coffee production.
Tourism Developments Increase Tsunami Disaster Risk in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia
Authors: Nijman Vincent
Published: August 2021

On 17 July 2006, the tourist resort of Pangandaran on Java’s south coast was hit by a tsunami, resulting in 413 fatalities and severe damage to buildings. The tsunami resulted in major rebuilds with a focus on mass tourism. Assessments of the impact of a future tsunami focussed on building development and suggest limited change since 2006. This article presents a case study on the development of (largely domestic) tourism in Pangandaran and how this has increased the tsunami disaster risk. Tourist numbers were stable at about 900,000 visitors a year prior to the tsunami, down to slightly over 250,000 visitors a year in its aftermath, and from 2007 onwards numbers are doubling every three years to about 4 million visitors in 2019. The increase has been most pronounced during weekends. Prior to 2006, Pangandaran was characterized by wooden structures and one- and two-story buildings of clay-brick masonry; by 2019, 14 three to six-story hotels have been erected along the waterfront. With many more visitors, most of whom are unfamiliar with tsunami risks, and shelter facilities for less than a quarter of visitors during peak times, future impacts and the potential cost to life are considerably higher now than in 2006, especially if a tsunami were to hit over a weekend. All tourists upon arrival and throughout their stay should be better informed about the risks of tsunamis, and of the location of tsunami shelters and evacuation routes.
Prediction calculations for the first criticality of the HTR-PM using the PANGU code
Authors: She Ding , Xia Bing , Guo Jiong , Wei Chun-Lin , Zhang Jian , Li Fu , Shi Lei , Zhang Zuo-Yi
Published: August 2021

The high-temperature reactor pebble-bed module (HTR-PM) is a modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor demonstration power plant. Its first criticality experiment is scheduled for the latter half of 2021. Before performing the first criticality experiment, a prediction calculation was performed using PANGU code. This paper presents the calculation details for predicting the HTR-PM first criticality using PANGU, including the input model and parameters, numerical results, and uncertainty analysis. The accuracy of the PANGU code was demonstrated by comparing it with the high-fidelity Monte Carlo solution, using the same input configurations. It should be noted that keff can be significantly affected by uncertainties in nuclear data and certain input parameters, making the criticality calculation challenge. Finally, the PANGU is used to predict the critical loading height of the HTR-PM first criticality under design conditions, which will be evaluated in the upcoming experiment later this year.
Mono- and Multi-Representational Learning of the Covariational Aspect of Functional Thinking
Authors: Rolfes Tobias , Roth Jürgen , Schnotz Wolfgang
Published: August 2021

Using multiple external representations is advocated for learning in STEM education. This learning approach assumes that multiple external representations promote richer mental representations and a deeper understanding of the concept. In mathematics, the concept of function is a prototypical content area in which multiple representations are used. However, there are hardly any experimental studies investigating the effect of learning functional thinking with multiple representations compared to learning with only one form of representation. Therefore, this article reports on a quasi-experimental intervention study with students from Grade 7, using three measurement time points. The study compared the multi-representational learning of functional thinking with both tables and graphs with mono-representational learning with either tables or graphs. The results show that multi-representational learning led to advantages in learning qualitative functional thinking. However, in quantitative functional thinking, learning with both graphs and tables did not result in higher learning gains than learning exclusively with graphs. Furthermore, students were better able to transfer their knowledge from graphs to tables than vice versa. The results also indicate that multi-representational learning requires more time than mono-representational learning but can lead to higher learning gains. In sum, the results show that the effect of learning with representations is a complex interaction process between learning content and the forms of representation.
Structure of epidemic models: toward further applications in economics
Authors: Kuniya Toshikazu
Published: August 2021

In this paper, we review the structure of various epidemic models in mathematical epidemiology for the future applications in economics. The heterogeneity of population and the generalization of nonlinear terms play important roles in making more elaborate and realistic models. The basic, effective, control and type reproduction numbers have been used to estimate the intensity of epidemic, to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and to design appropriate interventions. The advanced epidemic models includes the age structure, seasonality, spatial diffusion, mutation and reinfection, and the theory of reproduction numbers has been generalized to them. In particular, the existence of sustained periodic solutions has attracted much interest because they can explain the recurrent waves of epidemic. Although the theory of epidemic models has been developed in decades and the development has been accelerated through COVID-19, it is still difficult to completely answer the uncertainty problem of epidemic models. We would have to mind that there is no single model that can solve all questions and build a scientific attitude to comprehensively understand the results obtained by various researchers from different backgrounds.
Shaping the Selves of “At Risk” Youth in Debt and Poverty in the Context of Economic Vulnerability
Authors: Mäkelä Kalle , Ikävalko Elina , Brunila Kristiina
Published: August 2021

Drawing on two interrelated areas of youth work, outreach youth work as a place of coordination of work, social benefits and social services, and youth workshops as a place for work training for young people “at risk”, our aim in this article is to analyse how young people in poor financial circumstances are governed through policies and practices in these institutions in Finland. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with young people and professionals working with young people, we ask how the subjectivities of young people “at risk” (and particularly those in debt and poverty) are shaped in the context of economic vulnerability. This shaping is not only from top-down dimensional formation of a subject, but also from the multidimensional flow of power/knowledge via subjects that sometimes possess opportunities of acting otherwise, as delineated in the end of our analysis. In the context of ubiquitous neoliberal governmentality, we delineated a landscape of survival strategies for economically vulnerable young people in these power/knowledge relations.
Precisely controlling the density of water filtration membranes increases their efficiency, shows research
Authors: Atkinson Simon
Published: August 2021

Over the past 18 months we have reported on a number of significant projects, and partnerships and collaborations, in which DuPont Water Solutions has been involved. These seek to develop products and technology that help to purify, conserve and reuse water. Following this trend, the company has recently initiated, and is funding, research which, it says, has the potential to uncover the key to maximising the production of clean water, as this brief article reveals.
The Intellectual Education of the Italian Renaissance Artist
Authors: Dressen Angela
Published: August 2021

Scholars have traditionally viewed the Italian Renaissance artist as a gifted, but poorly educated craftsman whose complex and demanding works were created with the assistance of a more educated advisor. These assumptions are, in part, based on research that has focused primarily on the artist's social rank and workshop training. In this volume, Angela Dressen explores the range of educational opportunities that were available to the Italian Renaissance artist. Considering artistic formation within the history of education, Dressen focuses on the training of highly skilled, average artists, revealing a general level of learning that was much more substantial than has been assumed. She emphasizes the role of mediators who had a particular interest in augmenting artists' knowledge, and highlights how artists used Latin and vernacular texts to gain additional knowledge that they avidly sought. Dressen's volume brings new insights into a topic at the intersection of early modern intellectual, educational, and art history.
Re-appraising Success and Failure in the Life of the European Court of Justice
Authors: DE WAELE Henri
Published: August 2021

The establishment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) is often still regarded today as an unequivocal success story, especially compared to the troubles experienced by kindred institutions elsewhere. For non-specialist audiences, it would even seem that its performance has only recently been cast in a more negative light, pursuant to the pushback of the German Federal Constitutional Court in theWeiss/PSPPsaga. The current article aims to unpack a collection of shortcomings that have accumulated gradually and persist right up to the present, which have however not been interrogated in sufficient depth so far. It starts off with a contextual depiction of the tug-of-war between the supranational and the national judiciaries, juxtaposing the earlier confrontations with contemporary debates and controversies. Subsequently, attention is drawn to the sustained imperfections of the judicial selection and appointment process, addressing a few pervasive questions of institutional propriety. Hereafter, the article engages in a meta-analysis of ongoing discussions on the quality of the case law, testing the veracity of popular contentions pertaining to its constant variability. Lastly, it canvasses the pressures and agitations internal to the CJEU that have become increasingly manifest since the creation of the Court of First Instance. Overall, this fourfold re-appraisal aims to put back on record some of the B-sides on the sountrack of the new legal order, so as to compensate for the lack of airplay they have received hitherto.
Simulating a Vertical Evacuation of a NICU and PICU to Examine the Relationship Between Training and Preparedness
Authors: Gist Ramon E. , Daniel Pia , Tejani Nizar , Grock Andrew , Aluisio Adam , Kohlhoff Stephan , Roblin Patricia , Arquilla Bonnie
Published: August 2021

Objective:

The aim of this study was to implement pediatric vertical evacuation disaster training and evaluate its effectiveness by using a full-scale exercise to compare outcomes in trained and untrained participants.

Methods:

Various clinical and nonclinical staff in a tertiary care university hospital received pediatric vertical evacuation training sessions over a 6-wk period. The training consisted of disaster and evacuation didactics, hands-on training in use of evacuation equipment, and implementation of an evacuation toolkit. An unannounced full-scale simulated vertical evacuation of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Drill participants completed a validated evaluation tool. Pearson chi-squared testing was used to analyze the data.

Results:

Eighty-four evaluations were received from drill participants. Forty-three (51%) of the drill participants received training and 41 (49%) did not. Staff who received pediatric evacuation training were more likely to feel prepared compared with staff who did not (odds ratio, 4.05; confidence interval: 1.05-15.62).

Conclusions:

There was a statistically significant increase in perceived preparedness among those who received training. Recently trained pediatric practitioners were able to achieve exercise objectives on par with the regularly trained emergency department staff. Pediatric disaster preparedness training may mitigate the risks associated with caring for children during disasters.
Effective Response to a Regional Outbreak of COVID-19: Experience of a Tertiary Emergency Center
Authors: Moon Sungbae , Ryoo Hyun Wook , Cho Jae Wan , Jung Haewon
Published: August 2021

Objective:

This study evaluates the usefulness, safety, and outcomes of operating a pretriage screening clinic and an expanded preemptive quarantine area in the emergency department (ED) during a regional coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional, retrospective study conducted in a single institution. General patient demographic data, initial vital sign, symptoms, and patient outcome was collected from January to March of 2020. Data were compared according to the implementation of a new protocol involving pretriage screening and risk stratification. Outcome was also analyzed according to quarantine areas, including conventional, negative pressured, cohort, or preemptive quarantine area.

Results:

The pretriage clinic lowered the volume of low severity patients entering emergency department. Preemptive and cohort quarantine area provided more care to febrile patients compared with conventional quarantine area with longer length of hospital stay and lower mortality. After implementing the new protocol, emergency department in the study hospital was not closed again.

Conclusions:

In a regional outbreak of an epidemic, pretriage clinic safely screened infectious patients from entering ED. Expanded preemptive quarantine area increased surge capacity on quarantine area. An infectious disease protocol implementing 2 treatment areas may contribute to preserve and maintain ED function.
Correlates of conflict resolution across cultures
Authors: Garfield Zachary H.
Published: August 2021

Conflicts are ubiquitous between individuals as well as between groups. Effective conflict resolution is essential for individual well-being and group functioning and often involves leadership dynamics. The evolutionary human sciences have suggested that conflict resolution is shaped by psychological heuristics, norms and ecology. There are limited empirical data, however, on conflict resolution across cultures. Using a cross-cultural database of 109 leadership dimensions coded from over 1200 text records from the eHRAF ethnographic database, exploratory analyses investigated correlates of conflict resolution. The results revealed greater evidence of conflict resolution among kin groups than political groups and greater evidence of within-group conflict resolution than between-group, which did not vary across subsistence strategies or group contexts, with two exceptions – military group conflicts were biased towards between-group contexts and religious groups biased towards within-group contexts. The strongest predictors of conflict-resolution services were other prosocial functions and included group representation and providing counsel, protection and punishment, as well as qualities of interpersonal skills and fairness. Followers received social service benefits and reduced risk of harm. For leaders who resolve conflicts, status and social benefits were potential negative predictors. These results provide a comparative view of the correlates of conflict resolution suggesting diversity across social contexts.
How the Workplace Affects Employee Political Contributions
Authors: STUCKATZ JAN
Published: August 2021

How important is the workplace for employees’ political donations? Contrary to research on workplace political mobilization, existing work assumes that most individual donors contribute ideologically. I link donations of employees and Political Action Committees (PACs) from 12,737 U.S. public companies between 2003 and 2018 to show that 16.7% of employee donations go to employer-PAC-supported candidates. I investigate the dynamics between employee and PAC donations within firm–legislator pairs over time and find that both rank-and-file employees and executives contribute more dollars to company-supported politicians. Firm–employee donation alignment is stronger on powerful and ideologically moderate politicians with high value for the employer. Results from a difference-in-differences design further show modest changes in the partisan composition of employee donations after swift changes in the partisan donations of corporate PACs. The results suggest investment-related rather than ideological motives for alignment and highlight the importance of corporations for money in politics.
Battle for the Soul of a City: John Roach Straton, Harry Emerson Fosdick, and the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy in New York, 1922–1935
Authors: Best Wallace
Published: August 2021

The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy was a defining moment for New York in the 1920s and one of the most significant theological battles in the city's history, as key doctrines of the Christian tradition such as the Virgin Birth, the Atonement, and the bodily resurrection of Christ were debated in the mainstream as well as the religious press. The principal figures in the controversy were John Roach Straton and Harry Emerson Fosdick, two prominent clerics whose intellectual and oratorical confrontation showed just how deep this nationwide religious divide had become. Straton and Fosdick used their New York pulpits as public platforms to articulate their opposing theological visions and to justify them as the correct expression of historic Christianity in the present. In doing so, they made the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy very much a New York story, remapping the city's Protestant evangelical culture and reorienting one of the most important episodes in American religious history. The aftermath of the conflict, however, reveals that the lines between “fundamentalist” and “modernist” as distinct categories of religious experience became blurred as each embraced elements of the other. By 1935, both fundamentalists and modernists in New York City had been transformed, just as they had transformed the city.
Forced Displacement and Asylum Policy in the Developing World
Authors: Blair Christopher W. , Grossman Guy , Weinstein Jeremy M.
Published: August 2021

Little theoretical or empirical work examines migration policy in the developing world. We develop and test a theory that distinguishes the drivers of policy reform and factors influencing the direction of reform. We introduce an original data set of de jure asylum and refugee policies covering more than ninety developing countries that are presently excluded from existing indices of migration policy. Examining descriptive trends in the data, we find that unlike in the global North, forced displacement policies in the global South have become more liberal over time. Empirically, we test the determinants of asylum policymaking, bolstering our quantitative results with qualitative evidence from interviews in Uganda. A number of key findings emerge. Intense, proximate civil wars are the primary impetus for asylum policy change in the global South. Liberalizing changes are made by regimes led by political elites whose ethnic kin confront discrimination or violence in neighboring countries. There is no generalizable evidence that developing countries liberalize asylum policy in exchange for economic assistance from Western actors. Distinct frameworks are needed to understand migration policymaking in developing versus developed countries.
Maternal mental distress and cortisol levels in pregnancies with congenital heart disease
Authors: Wu Yao , Andescavage Nickie , Lopez Catherine , Quistorff Jessica Lynn , Donofrio Mary T. , du Plessis Adré J. , Limperopoulos Catherine
Published: August 2021

Objectives:

Prenatal maternal stress is associated with adverse offspring outcomes, which may be mediated by maternal stress hormones. However, evidence supporting the association between maternal stress and cortisol levels in high-risk pregnancies is limited. This study aims to determine the relationship between self-reported maternal mental distress and maternal salivary cortisol levels in pregnancies complicated by foetal CHD compared with healthy pregnancies.

Methods:

We recruited women with pregnancies complicated by foetal CHD and healthy pregnancies. Maternal saliva was collected between 22 and 40 gestational weeks. Standardized questionnaires measuring stress, depression, and anxiety were completed by patients. Generalized estimating equation was used to evaluate associations between maternal mental distress scales and cortisol levels.

Results:

We studied 165 women (55 CHD, 110 controls) and collected 504 cortisol samples (160 CHD, 344 controls). Women carrying CHD foetuses had higher stress, anxiety, and depression scores compared to women carrying healthy foetuses. However, maternal cortisol levels did not significantly differ in CHD and controls. Cortisol levels were higher in women carrying foetuses with functionally single-ventricle versus two-ventricle CHD. In both CHD and controls, there was no significant association between maternal stress, depression or anxiety scores and cortisol levels.

Conclusion:

Our data suggest that self-reported maternal stress, anxiety, and depression are not associated with maternal salivary cortisol levels in CHD and healthy pregnancies. The impact of maternal mental distress on foetal health may be through other mediating pathways other than maternal cortisol concentrations.