bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Poly(A) RNA sequencing reveals age-related differences in the prefrontal cortex of dogs
Authors: Sándor Sára , Jónás Dávid , Tátrai Kitti , Czeibert Kálmán , Kubinyi Eniko
Published: March 2022

Dogs may possess a unique translational potential to investigate neural aging and dementia because they are prone to age-related cognitive decline, including an Alzheimer’s disease–like pathological condition. Yet very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying canine cognitive decline. The goal of the current study was to explore the transcriptomic differences between young and old dogs’ frontal cortex, which is a brain region often affected by various forms of age-related dementia in humans. RNA isolates from the frontal cortical brain area of 13 pet dogs, which represented 7 different breeds and crossbreds, were analyzed. The dogs were euthanized for medical reasons, and their bodies had been donated by their owners for scientific purposes. The poly(A) tail RNA subfraction of the total transcriptome was targeted in the sequencing analysis. Cluster analyses, differential gene expression analyses, and gene ontology analyses were carried out to assess which genes and genetic regulatory mechanisms were mostly affected by aging. Age was the most prominent factor in the clustering of the animals, indicating the presence of distinct gene expression patterns related to aging in a genetically variable population. A total of 3436 genes were found to be differentially expressed between the age groups, many of which were linked to neural function, immune system, and protein synthesis. These findings are in accordance with previous human brain aging RNA sequencing studies. Some genes were found to behave more similarly to humans than to rodents, further supporting the applicability of dogs in translational aging research.
The Allure of Big Data to Improve Stroke Outcomes: Review of Current Literature
Authors: Olaiya Muideen T. , Sodhi-Berry Nita , Dalli Lachlan L. , Bam Kiran , Thrift Amanda G. , Katzenellenbogen Judith M. , Nedkoff Lee , Kim Joosup , Kilkenny Monique F.
Published: March 2022

Purpose of Review

To critically appraise literature on recent advances and methods using “big data” to evaluate stroke outcomes and associated factors.

Recent Findings

Recent big data studies provided new evidence on the incidence of stroke outcomes, and important emerging predictors of these outcomes. Main highlights included the identification of COVID-19 infection and exposure to a low-dose particulate matter as emerging predictors of mortality post-stroke. Demographic (age, sex) and geographical (rural vs. urban) disparities in outcomes were also identified. There was a surge in methodological (e.g., machine learning and validation) studies aimed at maximizing the efficiency of big data for improving the prediction of stroke outcomes. However, considerable delays remain between data generation and publication.

Big data are driving rapid innovations in research of stroke outcomes, generating novel evidence for bridging practice gaps. Opportunity exists to harness big data to drive real-time improvements in stroke outcomes.
Optimism, pessimism and life satisfaction: an empirical investigation
Authors: Piper Alan
Published: March 2022

This is an empirical investigation into life satisfaction, using nationally representative German panel data. The study confirms with modern econometric techniques the previously found substantial association with an individual’s thoughts about the future, whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about it, with life satisfaction. In addition, the investigation demonstrates that the association holds when some possibly anticipated events (like, for example, divorce and unemployment) are controlled for. Furthermore, including individuals’ optimism and pessimism about the future substantially increases the explanatory power of standard life satisfaction models. The effect size is greater for individuals who report being pessimistic than that for well-understood negative events like unemployment. These effects are attenuated though do remain substantial after controlling for the following: individual fixed effects; statistically matching on observable variables between optimistic and pessimistic individuals; and addressing the potential endogeneity of optimism and pessimism to life satisfaction.
The Association of Contemporary Screen Behaviours with Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep in Adolescents: a Cross-sectional Analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study
Authors: Kontostoli Elli , Jones Andy P. , Pearson Natalie , Foley Louise , Biddle Stuart J. H. , Atkin Andrew J.
Published: March 2022

Background

Screen behaviours are highly prevalent in adolescents and may be adversely associated with physical and mental health. Understanding how screen behaviours inter-relate with physical activity and sleep may help to clarify pathways through which they impact health and potential routes to behaviour change. This cross-sectional study examines the association of contemporary screen behaviours with physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in adolescents.

Method

Data are from sweep 6 (2015/2016) of the Millennium Cohort Study, conducted when participants were aged 14 years. Outcome variables were accelerometer-assessed overall physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), self-reported sedentary behaviour and sleep duration. Screen behaviours were assessed using a 24-h time-use diary. Multivariable regression was used to examine the association between screen behaviours and each outcome variable separately for weekdays and weekend days.

Results

The use of social network sites was associated with (beta coefficient, 95% confidence interval (CI); minutes/day) less time in MVPA (weekdays: − 5.2 (− 10.3, − 0.04); weekend: − 10.0 (− 15.5, − 4.5)), and sedentary behaviours (weekdays: − 19.8 (− 31.0, − 8.6); weekend: − 17.5 (− 30.9, − 4.1)). All screen behaviours were associated with shorter sleep duration on weekdays, whereas only the use of email/texts and social network sites was associated with shorter sleep duration on weekend days. The association of using social network sites with overall physical activity was stronger in girls than in boys; the association of internet browsing with sedentary behaviour was stronger in boys than in girls.

Conclusion

Intervention strategies to enhance MVPA and sleep duration by limiting screen-based activities may be warranted.
Investigation of the enhanced oil recovery potential of sodium cocoyl alaninate: an eco-friendly surfactant
Authors: Tackie-Otoo Bennet Nii , Ayoub Mohammed Mohammed Abdalla , Owusu Esther Boateng
Published: March 2022

Amino acid-based surfactants (AASs) and other novel surfactants have recently gained attention to provide a favorable environmental image (“green”) in surfactant application. Yet their potential in enhancing oil recovery is not well investigated. Only a few works have been reported on their potential enhanced oil recovery (EOR) application with less satisfactory results. Here in, sodium cocoyl alaninate (SCA), an acylated amino acid with excellent properties that facilitate its application in other fields, is investigated for its EOR potential. Its effectiveness in lowering the interfacial tension and the emulsifying crude oil–brine mixture were studied. The ability to alter rock surface wettability and its adsorption behavior on the sand surface were studied as well. Then, its oil recovery potential was confirmed through a core displacement experiment. All studies were performed in comparison with conventionally deployed sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The critical micelle concentrations for SCA (CMC = 0.23 wt%) and SDS (CMC = 0.21 wt%) were close, which serves as a good basis for comparing their EOR potential. SCA proved to be more effective in IFT reduction attaining a minimum IFT of 0.069 mN/m (i.e., ~ 98.8% IFT reduction) compared to 0.222 mN/m of SDS (i.e., ~ 96.2% IFT reduction) at the same concentration. Salinity showed a synergistic effect on the interfacial properties of both SCA and SDS but had a more significant impact on SDS interfacial properties than SCA due to low salt tolerance of SDS. The low IFT attained by SCA yielded enhanced emulsion formation and stable emulsion both at 25 °C and 80 °C for a period of one week. SCA also altered quartz surface wettability better via reduction of contact angle by 94.55% compared to SDS with contact angle reduction of 87.51%. The adsorption data were analyzed with the aid of various adsorption isotherm models. The adsorption behavior of SCA and SDS could be best described by the Langmuir model. This means a monomolecular surfactant layer exists at the aqueous–rock interface. SDS also exhibited more severe adsorption on the sand surface with the maximum adsorption density of 15.94 mg/g compared to SCA with the maximum adsorption density of 13.64 mg/g. The core flood data also confirmed that SCA has a better oil recovery potential than SDS with an additional oil recovery of 29.53% compared to 23.83% of SDS. This additional oil recovery was very satisfactory compared to the performance of other AAS that have been studied. This study therefore proves that SCA and other AAS could be outstanding alternatives to conventional EOR surfactants owing to their excellent EOR potential in addition to their environmental benign nature.
Adaptive sampling strategies for reduced-order modeling
Authors: Karcher Niklas , Franz Thomas
Published: March 2022

Reduced-order models (ROMs) become increasingly popular in industrial design and optimization processes, since they allow to approximate expensive high fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in near real-time. The quality of ROM predictions highly depends on the placement samples in the spanned parameter space. Adaptive sampling strategies allow to identify regions of interest, which feature e.g. nonlinear responses with respect to the parameters, and therefore enable the sensible placement of new samples. By introducing more samples in these regions, the ROM prediction accuracy should increase. In this contribution we investigate different adaptive sampling strategies based on cross-validation, Gaussian mean-squared error, two methods exploiting the CFD residual and a two manifold embedding methods. The performance of those strategies is evaluated and measured by their ability to successfully identify the regions of interest and the resulting sample placement in terms of different quantitative statistical values. We further discuss the reduction of the ROM prediction error over the adaptive sampling iterations and show that depending on the adaptive sampling strategy, the number of required samples can be reduced by 35–44% without deteriorating model quality compared to a Halton sequence sampling plan.
Catalytic pyrolysis of date palm seeds on HZSM-5 and dolomite in a pyroprobe reactor in line with GC/MS
Authors: Arabiourrutia Miriam , Bensidhom Gmar , Bolaños Maider , Trabelsi Aïda Ben Hassen , Olazar Martin
Published: March 2022

Catalytic pyrolysis of date palm seeds (DPS) has been carried out in a pyroprobe connected online with a GC/MS. The effect of a HZSM-5 zeolite on the product distribution has been studied at 450 and 500 °C by using different catalyst/biomass mass ratios (1, 2, 5) and that of a dolomite catalyst at 450 °C using a catalyst/biomass mass ratio of one. Product distributions have been monitored and their trends explained based on the properties of the catalysts used. The HZSM-5 promotes the formation of incondensable gases and aromatic hydrocarbons due to its high acidity and shape selectivity. The concentrations of incondensable gases and hydrocarbons increase markedly with the catalyst/biomass mass ratio, with their peak area percentages ranging from 23.6 to 54.1% and from 7.1 to 24.5%, respectively. At the same time, a significative reduction in the amount of acids, ketones, phenols, furans, and anhydrosugars has been determined. The dolomite catalyst enhances ketonization reactions, which leads to a significant increase in the content of ketones, accounting for a value of around 27%.
Assessing the impact of sulfur cap on bunkering spot selection in the ARA region
Authors: Schinas Orestis , Ourolidis Georgios
Published: March 2022

The introduction of IMO2020, the outbreak of COVID-19, and the oil price drop in 2020 had a significant impact on operators’ operating profits. Therefore, a competitive analysis of bunkering spots that suggests the optimal location for bunkering is of interest. This paper uses a combination of primary and secondary research, both from operators’ and suppliers’ side, to identify the key performance factors (KPFs) affecting the decision-making process of a bunkering port selection process. Answers were then combined by using a fuzzy TOPSIS analytical approach to quantify the competitive position of each port in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region. Results suggest that availability of low sulfur bunkers, bunker quality, bunker price, reliability, punctuality, and safety of bunkering services, as well as usage and availability of barges are the key KPFs in order of importance. Sulfur cap has not changed the competitive environment in the region as the geographic advantage of the port of Rotterdam plays a crucial role in the comparison with the other ports, in contrast to expressed concerns in the industry.
The stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini): a review of the current threats to their survival
Authors: TOLEDO-HERNÁNDEZ Erubiel , PEÑA-CHORA Guadalupe , HERNÁNDEZ-VELÁZQUEZ Víctor Manuel , LORMENDEZ Caleb C. , TORIBIO-JIMÉNEZ Jeiry , ROMERO-RAMÍREZ Yanet , LEÓN-RODRÍGUEZ Renato
Published: March 2022

Pollination by insects is an essential service for the conservation of plant biodiversity, since it increases the rate of fertilization of flowers and therefore increases the quality and quantity of seeds and fruits. In tropical regions, native plants depend heavily on stingless bees as pollinators since before the introduction of the European honey bee Apis mellifera. However, like for many other insect species worldwide, anthropogenic actions represent a true threat to stingless bee populations. In this article, we review the works that evaluated the potential negative impacts of human activities on populations of stingless bees. The studies constitute a strong body of evidence that stingless bee populations are at risk of decline around the world due to threats including habitat loss, agrochemicals, competition for resources, climate change, and the introduction of exotic species, including pathogens.
Towards Trustworthy AutoGrading of Short, Multi-lingual, Multi-type Answers
Authors: Schneider Johannes , Richner Robin , Riser Micha
Published: March 2022

Autograding short textual answers has become much more feasible due to the rise of NLP and the increased availability of question-answer pairs brought about by a shift to online education. Autograding performance is still inferior to human grading. The statistical and black-box nature of state-of-the-art machine learning models makes them untrustworthy, raising ethical concerns and limiting their practical utility. Furthermore, the evaluation of autograding is typically confined to small, monolingual datasets for a specific question type. This study uses a large dataset consisting of about 10 million question-answer pairs from multiple languages covering diverse fields such as math and language, and strong variation in question and answer syntax. We demonstrate the effectiveness of fine-tuning transformer models for autograding for such complex datasets. Our best hyperparameter-tuned model yields an accuracy of about 86.5%, comparable to the state-of-the-art models that are less general and more tuned to a specific type of question, subject, and language. More importantly, we address trust and ethical concerns. By involving humans in the autograding process, we show how to improve the accuracy of automatically graded answers, achieving accuracy equivalent to that of teaching assistants. We also show how teachers can effectively control the type of errors made by the system and how they can validate efficiently that the autograder’s performance on individual exams is close to the expected performance.
Analytical Study for Different Extremal State Solutions of an Irrigation Optimal Control Problem with Field Capacity Modes
Authors: Lemos-Paião Ana P. , Lopes Sofia O. , de Pinho M. d. R.
Published: March 2022

In this paper we study the problem of daily irrigation of an agricultural crop using optimal control. The dynamics is a model based on field capacity modes, where the state, x, represents the water in the soil and the control variable, u, is the flow rate of water from irrigation. The variation of water in the soil depends on the field capacity of the soil, $$x_{FC}$$

x

FC

, weather conditions, losses due to deep percolation and irrigation. Our goal is to minimize the amount of water used for irrigation while keeping the crop in a good state of preservation. To enforce such requirement, the state constraint $$x(t) \ge x_{\min }$$

x

(
t
)

≥

x
min

is coupled with the dynamics, where $$x_{\min }$$

x
min

is the hydrological need of the crop. Consequently, the problem under study is a state constrained optimal control problem. Under some mild assumptions, we consider several basic profiles for the optimal trajectories. Appealing to the Maximum Principle (MP), we characterize analytically the solution and its multipliers for each case. We then illustrate the analytical results running some computational simulations, where the analytical information is used to partially validate the computed solutions. The need to study irrigation strategies is of foremost importance nowadays since 80% of the fresh water used on our planet is used in agriculture.
The influence of fracture pattern on the residual resistance of laminated glass at high strain-rates: an experimental investigation of the post-fracture bending moment capacity based on time-temperature mapping of interlayer yield stress
Authors: Angelides S. C. , Talbot J. P. , Overend M.
Published: March 2022

Laminated glass panels are increasingly installed in glazed façades to enhance the blast protection of buildings. These ductile panels offer residual bending resistance following the fracture of the glass layers, due to the composite action of the attached glass fragments in compression and the interlayer in tension. Three-point bending tests performed previously on laminated glass specimens at low temperature, which aimed to simulate the effects of high strain-rate due to the time-temperature dependency of the interlayer, demonstrated an enhancement of the ultimate load capacity by two orders of magnitude compared to that at room temperature. These tests were performed on specimens with an idealised fracture pattern, by pre-fracturing cracks at a uniform spacing of 20 mm, aligned in both glass layers. Under blast loads, however, a random pattern of irregular fragment sizes occurs, with the cracks not always aligned in the two glass layers. Additionally, the plastic hinge location within each specimen coincided with the point of application of the load, which may have influenced the results. This paper addresses these concerns by reporting on further low-temperature tests that have considered four additional pre-fractured patterns in both three- and four-point bending. The results demonstrate that the bending moment capacity of the specimens is unaffected by the number and size of the glass fragments, and by the choice of the loading rig. An enhancement of the bending capacity is consistently observed for specimens with misaligned cracks that is almost twice that of specimens with aligned cracks. This suggests that the idealised pattern with aligned cracks, considered in previous work, results in a lower-bound estimate of the bending capacity for panels with random fracture patterns formed under blast loading.
Prämenstruelles Syndrom (PMS) und prämenstruelle dysphorische Störung (PMDS)
Authors: Nuriyeva Rahila , Bachmann Annette
Published: March 2022

Das prämenstruelle Syndrom (PMS) ist ein häufiges Krankheitsbild, das bei 20–30 % der gebärfähigen Frauen auftritt. Es wird durch zyklusabhängige psychische und somatische Symptome definiert.

Die prämenstruelle dysphorische Störung (PMDS) ist eine schwere Form des PMS mit vor allem psychischen Auffälligkeiten, die bei 2–8 % der gebärfähigen Frauen vorkommt. Die Ätiologie von PMS und PMDS bleibt unklar. Eine PMDS geht oft mit anderen psychischen Erkrankungen einher.

Die Symptome treten in der zweiten Zyklushälfte auf und lassen mit Beginn der Periode nach. Zur Diagnosestellung hilft die Führung eines Zykluskalenders.

Ein gesunder Lebensstil (Sport, ausgeglichene Ernährung etc.) stellt die Basis für alle Therapieoptionen dar. Zahlreiche Studien konnten die Effektivität der Behandlung mit Antidepressiva (aus der SSRI- oder SNRI-Gruppe) sowie Ovulationshemmern darlegen.

Beide Medikamentengruppen werden in Deutschland im „off label use“ zur Behandlung von PMS/PMDS-Beschwerden angewendet. Für die Therapieempfehlung sind die Grunderkrankungen der Patientin zu berücksichtigen.
Social identities in climate action
Authors: Hornung Johanna
Published: March 2022

With the increasingly hazardous effects of climate change on nature and humanity, a key question in social science research is how to foster climate action, i.e., individual and collective behavior towards containment of negative consequences of climate change. Even political measures adopted by associations, political parties, governments, and governing coalitions, as well as by private stakeholders and companies, are decided upon by individual actors. Therefore, to understand and promote climate action, it is indispensable to shed light on the driving forces of individual behavior with a specific focus on what leads them to align their actions with the expected (positive) consequences on the environment. A key challenge is that individual behavior only limitedly follows a rational weighing of costs and benefits. Instead, deeply anchored beliefs, situational constellations, emotions, and the identification with social groups have been found to be significantly influential on individual action. This contribution presents a short review of the psychological roots of climate action and emphasizes the relevance of social identities. It thereby sets out a theoretical framework to explain climate action at the individual yet political level and provides empirical evidence for the role that social groups play in explaining and guiding climate action. The focus on social groups holds important implications for practitioners.
Floral Diagrams
Authors: Ronse De Craene Louis P.
Published: March 2022

Floral morphology is key for understanding floral evolution and plant identification. Floral diagrams are two-dimensional representations of flowers that replace extensive descriptions or elaborate drawings to convey information in a clear and unbiased way. Following the same outline as the first edition, this comprehensive guide includes updated and relevant literature, represents the latest phylogeny, and features 28 new diagrams. Diagrams are presented in the context of the most recent classifications, covering a variety of families and illustrating the floral diversity of major groups of plants. A strong didactic tool for observing and understanding floral structures, these diagrams are the obvious counterpart to any genetic study in flowering plants and to the discussion of major adaptations and evolutionary trends of flowers. This book is invaluable for researchers and students working on plant structure, development and systematics, as well as being an important resource for plant ecologists, evolutionary botanists and horticulturists.
Potential Benefits and Limitations of the New Human Rights Indicators for the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
Authors: Kanter Arlene S.
Published: March 2022

The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006 to encourage the development of international and domestic legal protections for people with disabilities. Over the past sixteen years, 184 countries have ratified the CRPD, and more than one hundred countries have submitted their country reports to the CRPD Committee for review. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recently released a set of human rights indicators to measure states parties’ progress toward compliance with the CRPD. This essay discusses the potential benefits and limitations of the new CRPD Indicators. Despite their limitations, the CRPD Indicators may become an important catalyst for states parties’ compliance with the CRPD as well as a way to substantiate claims of violations of international, regional, and domestic law and crimes against humanity, such as those discussed in the lead article, Disability, Human Rights Violations, and Crimes Against Humanity.
Can International Criminal Law Help Express the Unrealized Value of Disabled Lives?
Authors: True-Frost C. Cora
Published: March 2022

As international criminal lawyers and diplomats discuss the Draft Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity on the one hand, and the potential of adding a fifth crime, ecocide, to the Rome Statute on the other, Janet Lord, William Pons, and Michael Stein issue a well-timed and compelling call to demonstrate our understanding that people with disabilities (PWD) are a part of humanity. The authors map the many crimes and various situations in which PWD have been and continue to be specifically targeted, and persuasively argue that it is past time for the system of international criminal law to embrace prosecutions of crimes against PWD. In so doing, the authors make a series of important recommendations for international criminal law: for example, that international criminal processes must be made fully accessible to PWD. This essay offers three reflections on the authors’ call to use international criminal prosecutions, specifically at the International Criminal Court (ICC), to elevate the rights of PWD, centering around the following questions: (1) do the people of the world believe that disabled lives matter; (2) if they do not, might international criminal law help shape domestic laws and overcome ableism; and, relatedly, (3) can the ICC create the necessary change? Or put another way, how capacious can and should the category of “crimes against humanity” be since institutional credibility and longevity are concerns?
Categorizing and Ranking Graphs in Economics Research: The American Economic Review over the Last Century
Authors: Schwabish Jonathan
Published: March 2022

How do economists use graphs, and do they use them well? Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, I provide evidence to these questions by exploring more than 2600 graphs published in the first issue of the American Economic Review from 1911 to 2017. I find that economists use a lot of line charts – more than 80% of the total sample are line charts. I also find that the share of graphs that use data (as opposed to diagrams) fell over the first half of the century and then increased from about the early 1980s to today, correlated with perceived graph quality.
Healthcare-associated multispecies outbreaks of OXA-48–positive carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in a Singapore tertiary-care hospital
Authors: Venkatachalam Indumathi , How Molly Kue Bien , Ko Karrie Kwan Ki , Abdul Rahman Nurdyana Binte , Conceicao Edwin Philip , Aung May Kyawt , Aung Myat Oo , Yang Yong , Tan Kwee Yuen , Sim Jean Xiang Ying , Lee Lai Chee , Ling Moi Lin
Published: March 2022

Objective:

To describe OXA-48–like carbapenem-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) outbreaks at Singapore General Hospital between 2018 and 2020 and to determine the risk associated with OXA-48 carriage in the 2020 outbreak.

Design:

Outbreak report and case–control study.

Setting:

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is a tertiary-care academic medical center in Singapore with 1,750 beds.

Methods:

Active surveillance for CPE is conducted for selected high-risk patient cohorts through molecular testing on rectal swabs or stool samples. Patients with CPE are isolated or placed in cohorts under contact precautions. During outbreak investigations, rectal swabs are repeated for culture. For the 2020 outbreak, a retrospective case–control study was conducted in which controls were inpatients who tested negative for OXA-48 and were selected at a 1:3 case-to-control ratio.

Results:

Hospital wide, the median number of patients with healthcare-associated OXA-48 was 2 per month. In the 3-year period between 2018 and 2020, 3 OXA-48 outbreaks were investigated and managed, involving 4 patients with Klebsiella pneumoniae in 2018, 55 patients with K. pneumoniae or Escherichia coli in 2019, and 49 patients with multispecies Enterobacterales in 2020. During the 2020 outbreak, independent risk factors for OXA-48 carriage on multivariate analysis (49 patients and 147 controls) were diarrhea within the preceding 2 weeks (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.1–10.7; P = .039), contact with an OXA-48–carrying patient (OR, 8.7; 95% CI, 1.9–39.3; P = .005), and exposure to carbapenems (OR, 17.2; 95% CI, 2.2–136; P = .007) or penicillin (OR, 16.6; 95% CI, 3.8–71.0; P < .001).

Conclusions:

Multispecies OXA-48 outbreaks in our institution are likely related to a favorable ecological condition and selective pressure exerted by antimicrobial use. The integration of molecular surveillance epidemiology of the healthcare environment is important in understanding the risk of healthcare–associated infection to patients.
CEO labor market and R&D investment in high-technology firms: an empirical study on the disciplinary effect of CEO labor market
Authors: Seo Jeongil , Lee Gyeonghwan , Park Choelsoon
Published: March 2022

Previous corporate governance research has paid little attention to the role of chief executive officer (CEO) labor markets in controlling CEO behaviors because the CEO labor market has been considered inefficient. With the increasing mobility of top executives across firms, however, the potential of CEO labor markets to serve as an external disciplining force has been growing. In this study, we argue that CEOs will be more pressured to engage in desirable behaviors as the CEO labor market becomes more efficient. Using a longitudinal sample of S&P 1500 firms in high-technology industries in United States from 2011 to 2019, we found that CEOs tend to increase R&D investment as CEO labor market supply increases. We also found that the tendency is greater when external CEO succession is more frequent in the market. Our results demonstrate that CEO labor markets have the potential to function as an effective external governance mechanism.
Political Imagery and the Russia-Germany-America Triangle
Authors: Wood Steve
Published: March 2022

The material dimension of Russian foreign and domestic policy is accompanied by one of images and performativity. The Putin regime has affective-emotional and instrumental motives. Its main target audience is the Russian public. Its principal adversary is the United States. The decisive external audience is the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), a pluralist entity that is also concerned with past and present images of itself. Politics in this critical international triangle is infused with theatrical, mediatized, and psychological elements, and the (re)construction of national and individual personae.
Skipping breakfast regimen induces an increase in body weight and a decrease in muscle weight with a shifted circadian rhythm in peripheral tissues of mice
Authors: Kiriyama Kohei , Yamamoto Mizuki , Kim Daeun , Sun Shumin , Yamamoto Hirotaka , Oda Hiroaki
Published: March 2022

Meal timing is a key factor in synchronising the circadian clock in peripheral tissues. Circadian disorders are associated with the metabolic syndrome. Previously, we demonstrated that a skipping breakfast regimen (SBR) with a high-fat diet increased body weight gain in rats. In this study, we investigated whether SBR with a normal diet led to abnormal lipid metabolism and muscle metabolism in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed during zeitgeber time (ZT) 12–24 in the control group and ZT 16–24 in the SBR group for 2 weeks. SBR mice showed increased body weight gain and perirenal adipose tissue weight. The plantar muscle weight was decreased in the SBR group compared with that in the control group. Furthermore, SBR delayed the circadian oscillations in clock gene expression in peripheral tissues, such as the liver, adipose tissue and muscle, as well as the oscillations in the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in the liver and adipose tissue. These results suggest that skipping breakfast over a long period of time is associated with a risk of obesity, the metabolic syndrome and muscle loss, such as sarcopenia.
Evidence-Informed Update of Argentina’s Health Benefit Package: Application of a Rapid Review Methodology
Authors: Alcaraz Andrea , Alfie Verónica , Gonzalez Lucas , Virgilio Sacha , Garcia-Marti Sebastián , Augustovski Federico , Pichon-Riviere Andrés
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Argentina has a fragmented healthcare system with social security covering almost two thirds of the population. Its benefit package—called compulsory medical program (PMO; by its Spanish acronym Programa Médico Obligatorio)—has not been formally and widely updated since 2005. However, laws, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), and a high-cost technology reimbursement fund complement it. Our objective was to comprehensively review such a PMO and propose an update considering the corresponding complementary sources.

Methods

We followed four steps: (i) identification of health technologies from the current PMO and complementary sources, (ii) prioritization, (iii) assessment through rapid health technology assessment (HTA), and (iv) appraisal and recommendations. We evaluated three value domains: quality of evidence, net benefit, and economics, which were summarized in a five-category recommendation traffic-light scale ranging from a strong recommendation in favor of inclusion to a strong recommendation for exclusion.

Results

Eight hundred fifty technologies were identified; 164 of those, considered as high priority, were assessed through rapid HTAs. Those technologies mentioned in laws and CPGs were mostly outpatient essential medicines, whereas those from the reimbursement system were mostly high-cost drugs; of these 101 technologies, 50 percent were recommended to be kept in the PMO. The other 63 (identified by the Superintendence of Health Services, technology producers, and patients) were mostly medical procedures and high-cost drugs; only 25 percent of those resulted in a favorable recommendation.

Conclusions

A methodology based on four clearly identified steps was used to carry out a comprehensive review of an outdated and fragmented benefit package. The use of rapid HTAs and a traffic-light recommendation framework facilitated the deliberative evidence-based update.
Exploring the meaning of unresolved loss and trauma in more than 1,000 Adult Attachment Interviews
Authors: Bakkum Lianne , Verhage Marije L. , Schuengel Carlo , Duschinsky Robbie , Cornelisz Ilja , van Klaveren Chris , van IJzendoorn Marinus H. , Raby K. Lee , Roisman Glenn I. , Bakermans-Kranenburg Marian J. , Oosterman Mirjam , Madigan Sheri , Fearon R. M. Pasco , Behrens Kazuko ,   The Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis
Published: March 2022

Unresolved states of mind regarding experiences of loss/abuse (U/d) are identified through lapses in the monitoring of reasoning, discourse, and behavior surrounding loss/abuse in response to the Adult Attachment Interview. Although the coding system for U/d has been widely used for decades, the individual indicators of unresolved loss/abuse have not been validated independently of the development sample. This study examined the psychometric validity of U/d, using individual participant data from 1,009 parent–child dyads across 13 studies. A latent class analysis showed that subsets of commonly occurring U/d indicators could differentiate interviewees with or without unresolved loss/abuse. Predictive models suggested a psychometric model of U/d consisting of a combination of these common indicators, with disbelief and psychologically confused statements regarding loss being especially important indicators of U/d. This model weakly predicted infant disorganized attachment. Multilevel regression analysis showed no significant association between ratings of unresolved other trauma and infant disorganized attachment, over and above ratings of unresolved loss/abuse. Altogether, these findings suggest that the coding system of U/d may have been overfitted to the initial development sample. Directions for further articulation and optimization of U/d are provided.
(Anti-)Colonialism, religion and science in Bengal from the perspective of global religious history
Authors: Strube Julian
Published: March 2022

This article focuses on debates about the relationship between religion, science and national identity that unfolded in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Bengal. Combining perspectives from religious studies and global history, it offers a specific approach to theoretical and methodological issues revolving around entanglement, agency and modernity. This will be operationalized, first, through an exploration of personal networks surrounding the Bengali Tantric pandit Shivachandra Bhattacharya Vidyarnava; his Bengali disciple, philosopher and nationalist educator, Pramathanath Mukhopadhyay and Shivachandra’s British disciple, the judge John Woodroffe. Second, an investigation of the connections between self-referentially ‘orthodox’ societies, so-called reformers, and the Theosophical Society will further illustrate the global exchanges that conditioned and shaped contemporary debates about religion, science and politics. This will complicate and shed new light on the contested relationship between modernity and tradition, or reformism and orthodoxy, opening new perspectives for further dialogue between religious studies and global history.
Martyrs, Fanatics, and Pious Militants: Religious Violence and the Secular State in 1930s Mexico
Authors: Kloppe-Santamaría Gema
Published: March 2022

This article examines the cultural and political repertoire that contributed to Catholics’ understanding of violence as a legitimate means to resist the secular state in 1930s Mexico. Following the end of the Cristero War (1926-29), the Church officially and overtly rejected the use of violence by Catholics as a means to defend religious freedom. However, many Catholic militants and organizations continued to support violence as a last but necessary recourse to resist the country's so-called tyrannical government and to build a Catholic nation that would recognize the kingship of Christ on earth. Informed by noncanonical understandings of martyrdom, sacrifice, and redemptive violence, as well as by an intransigent view of politics, these Catholics regarded violence as a moral response against the injustices and dangers posed by what they considered an oppressive and blasphemous state. The article is based on the examination of a series of violent events perpetrated by Catholic militants during the 1930s, as well as on the analysis of several newspapers, official documents, and Catholic publications. Contrary to government portrayals of Catholicism as a top-down, monolithic, and unchanging set of institutions and practices that promoted recalcitrant forms of religious militancy, Catholics were in fact deeply divided regarding the legitimacy of violence along theological, moral, and practical grounds.
Simulating Fully‐Integrated Hydrological Dynamics in Complex Alpine Headwaters: Potential and Challenges
Authors: Thornton J. M. , Therrien R. , Mariéthoz G. , Linde N. , Brunner P.
Published: March 2022

Highly simplified approaches continue to underpin hydrological climate change impact assessments across the Earth's mountainous regions. Fully‐integrated surface‐subsurface models may hold far greater potential to represent the distinctive regimes of steep, geologically‐complex headwater catchments. However, their utility has not yet been tested across a wide range of mountainous settings. Here, an integrated model of two adjacent calcareous Alpine headwaters that accounts for two‐dimensional surface flow, three‐dimensional (3D) variably‐saturated groundwater flow, and evapotranspiration is presented. An energy balance‐based representation of snow dynamics contributed to the model's high‐resolution forcing data, and a sophisticated 3D geological model helped to define and parameterize its subsurface structure. In the first known attempt to calibrate a catchment‐scale integrated model of a mountainous region automatically, numerous uncertain model parameters were estimated. The salient features of the hydrological regime could ultimately be satisfactorily reproduced – over an 11‐month evaluation period, the Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency of simulated streamflow at the main gauging station was 0.76. Spatio‐temporal visualization of the forcing data and simulated responses further confirmed the model's broad coherence. Presumably due to unresolved local subsurface heterogeneity, closely replicating the somewhat contrasting groundwater level signals observed near to one another proved more elusive. Finally, we assessed the impacts of various simplifications and assumptions that are commonly employed in physically‐based modeling – including the use of spatially uniform forcings, a vertically limited model domain, and global geological data products – on key simulated outputs, finding strongly affected model performance in many cases. Although certain outstanding challenges must be overcome if the uptake of integrated models in mountain regions around the world is to increase, our work demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of their application in such complex systems.
Modeling the Dynamics of Energetic Protons in Earth's Inner Magnetosphere
Authors: Lyu Xingzhi , Tu Weichao
Published: March 2022

Recently, Van Allen Probes data have revealed the interesting energy‐dependent dynamics of energetic protons in Earth's inner magnetosphere. To quantify the role of radial diffusion and charge exchange to the observed energy‐dependent dynamics of ring current protons, a 1D radial diffusion model with charge exchange loss is implemented. The observed proton flux over the long‐term period of November 2012 to September 2013 is first converted to phase space densities, which are then simulated by our model driven by an outer boundary condition at L* = 5.5 derived from the data. The simulation results show that our model generally captures the transport and acceleration of energetic protons at μ = 30, 50, and 80 MeV/G and K = 0.11 G1/2 RE, suggesting that radial diffusion is the dominant source mechanism for >75 keV protons at L* = 3.5–5.5. In addition, the observed fast decay of protons at lower μ and slow decay at higher μ are well captured by the model, demonstrating the dominant role of charge exchange in explaining the observed energy‐dependent proton decay. For higher μ protons, prompt losses of protons on the time scale of hours are observed over a wide range of L*, which is too fast to be explained by charge exchange. Some of the prompt losses at high L* regions are reproduced by the model with outward radial diffusion to the outer boundary. However, many prompt losses observed at lower L* regions are not captured by the model, which could be due to other loss mechanisms including electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave scattering and field line curvature scattering.
Statistical Analysis of Convective Updrafts in Tropical Cyclone Rainbands Observed by Airborne Doppler Radar
Authors: Barron Nicholas R. , Didlake Anthony C. , Reasor Paul D.
Published: March 2022

Ten years of airborne Doppler radar observations are used to study convective updrafts' kinematic and reflectivity structures in tropical cyclone (TC) rainbands. An automated algorithm is developed to identify the strongest rainband updrafts across 12 hurricane‐strength TCs. The selected updrafts are then collectively analyzed by their frequency, radius, azimuthal location (relative to the 200–850 hPa environmental wind shear), structural characteristics, and secondary circulation (radial/vertical) flow pattern. Rainband updrafts become deeper and stronger with increasing radius. A wavenumber‐1 asymmetry arises, showing that in the downshear (upshear) quadrants of the TC, updrafts are more (less) frequent and deeper (shallower). In the downshear quadrants, updrafts primarily have in‐up‐out or in‐up‐in secondary circulation patterns. The in‐up‐out circulation is the most frequent pattern and has the deepest updraft and reflectivity tower. Upshear, the updrafts generally have out‐up‐in or in‐up‐in patterns. The radial flow of the updraft circulations largely follows the vortex‐scale radial flow shear‐induced asymmetry, being increased low‐level inflow (outflow) and midlevel outflow (inflow) in the downshear (upshear) quadrants. It is hypothesized that the convective‐scale circulations are significantly influenced by the vortex‐scale radial flow at the updraft base and top altitudes. Other processes of the convective life cycle, such as bottom‐up decay of aging convective updrafts due to increased low‐level downdrafts, can influence the base altitude and, thus, the base radial flow of the updraft circulation. The findings presented in this study support previous literature regarding convective‐scale patterns of organized rainband convection in a mature, sheared TC.
Multiplicative Non‐Gaussian Model Error Estimation in Data Assimilation
Authors: Pathiraja S. , van Leeuwen P. J.
Published: March 2022

Model uncertainty quantification is an essential component of effective data assimilation. Model errors associated with sub‐grid scale processes are often represented through stochastic parameterizations of the unresolved process. Many existing Stochastic Parameterization schemes are only applicable when knowledge of the true sub‐grid scale process or full observations of the coarse scale process are available, which is typically not the case in real applications. We present a methodology for estimating the statistics of sub‐grid scale processes for the more realistic case that only partial observations of the coarse scale process are available. Model error realizations are estimated over a training period by minimizing their conditional sum of squared deviations given some informative covariates (e.g., state of the system), constrained by available observations and assuming that the observation errors are smaller than the model errors. From these realizations a conditional probability distribution of additive model errors given these covariates is obtained, allowing for complex non‐Gaussian error structures. Random draws from this density are then used in actual ensemble data assimilation experiments. We demonstrate the efficacy of the approach through numerical experiments with the multi‐scale Lorenz 96 system using both small and large time scale separations between slow (coarse scale) and fast (fine scale) variables. The resulting error estimates and forecasts obtained with this new method are superior to those from two existing methods.