bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Electronic intravenous N‐acetyl cysteine ordering tool: A retrospective review
Authors: Jackson Angela , Little Mark
Published: October 2019

Objectives

To examine if the electronic N‐acetyl cysteine (NAC) order reduced prescribing errors.

Methods

This was a retrospective chart review of all patients presenting over 2 years to Cairns Hospital ED with a discharge diagnosis of ‘paracetamol overdose’. Data were collected for any patient who received i.v. NAC. Any error, and a description of the error such as dose, volume of fluid, time of infusion and incorrect patient weight was recorded.

Results

There were 172 presentations with paracetamol poisoning with 86 receiving i.v. NAC. In the 75 (87%) where the electronic NAC order was used, there were no errors in dose of NAC, volume of i.v. fluid and length of time of infusion. In the 11 presentations where the manual NAC order was used, there were multiple errors identified.

Conclusion

The use of this electronic NAC order removed errors in NAC prescription and should be considered for prescribing and administering i.v. NAC.
Glucose and glutamine metabolism in relation to mutational status in NSCLC histological subtypes
Authors: Meijer Tineke W.H. , Looijen‐Salamon Monika G. , Lok Jasper , van den Heuvel Michel , Tops Bastiaan , Kaanders Johannes H.A.M. , Span Paul N. , Bussink Johan
Published: October 2019

Background

Both hypoxia and oncogenic mutations rewire tumor metabolism. In this study, glucose and glutamine metabolism‐related markers were examined in stage I ‐ resectable stage IIIA non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Furthermore, expression of metabolism‐related markers was correlated with mutational status to examine mutations associated with rewired tumor metabolism.

Methods

Mutation analysis was performed for 97 tumors. Glucose and glutamine metabolism‐related marker expression was measured by immunofluorescent staining (protein) and qPCR (mRNA) (n = 81).

Results

Glutamine metabolism‐related markers were significantly higher in adeno‐ than squamous cell NSCLCs. Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) protein expression was higher in solid compared to lepidic adenocarcinomas (P < 0.01). In adenocarcinomas, mRNA expression of glutamine transporter SLC1A5 correlated with tumor size (r(p) = 0.41, P = 0.005). Furthermore, SLC1A5 protein expression was significantly higher in adenocarcinomas with worse pTNM stage (r(s) = 0.39, P = 0.009). EGFR‐mutated tumors showed lower GLUT1 protein (P = 0.017), higher glutaminase 2 (GLS2) protein (P = 0.025) and higher GLS2 mRNA expression (P = 0.004), compared to EGFR wild‐type tumors. GLS mRNA expression was higher in KRAS‐mutated tumors (P = 0.019). TP53‐mutated tumors showed higher GLUT1 expression (P = 0.009).

Conclusions

NSCLC is a heterogeneous disease, with differences in mutational status and metabolism‐related marker expression between adeno‐ and squamous cell NSCLCs, and also within adenocarcinoma subtypes. GLUT1 and SLC1A5 expression correlate with aggressive tumor behavior in adenocarcinomas but not in squamous cell NSCLCs. Therefore, these markers could steer treatment modification for subgroups of adenocarcinoma patients. TP53, EGFR and KRAS mutations are associated with expression of glucose and glutamine metabolism‐related markers in NSCLC.
Accounting Discoveries from Archival Research: The Mobile and Ohio, an Antebellum Southern Railroad
Authors: Flesher Dale L. , Previts Gary John , Sharp Andrew D.
Published: October 2019

This paper details discoveries relating to the accounting transactions that chronicle the circumstances of the Mobile and Ohio (M&O) Railroad's 1850s and 1860s asset ledgers. There were accounting differences between railroads overall because the northern lines used foreign construction workers, while the southern lines used slaves. ‘Personal Property’ was the title given to the account used by the M&O to record the acquisition of slaves—with the accountant using the term ‘slaves’ in a journal entry description. Moreover, this research provides information regarding the construction labour for the M&O that was supplied by planters from plantation labour pools composed of the slave population. Because of the availability of this plantation labour pool, the M&O did not have to rely on immigrant labour and accept the risk of controlling their behaviour. The coming of the American Civil War changed labour market conditions, and the M&O became a slave‐holding organization to maintain itself during the War. At the War's end the accounting records detail the M&O's disposition of the wartime slave acquisitions with the comment ‘… emancipated by force of circumstances’. This paper contributes to the literature by providing discoveries from original archival records documenting how a large major American corporation accounted for labour costs, initial construction, and beginning operations.
Novel systemic inflammation response index to predict prognosis after thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery: a propensity score‐matching study
Authors: Li Shuangjiang , Yang Zhang , Du Heng , Zhang Wenbiao , Che Guowei , Liu Lunxu
Published: October 2019

Background

Our propensity score‐matching (PSM) study evaluated the prognostic significance of systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) for patients undergoing video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy for non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

This study was conducted on prospectively maintained database in our institution between December 2013 and March 2015. Pre‐operative SIRI was calculated by peripheral monocyte × neutrophil/lymphocyte counts. Survival analysis was performed to distinguish differences in post‐operative survival between patients stratified by an optimum cut‐off of SIRI. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were established to determine independent prognostic factors.

Results

There were 390 patients with resected NSCLC included. A SIRI of 0.99 was identified as the optimum cut‐off regarding to post‐operative survival. Both overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) in patients with SIRI >0.99 were significantly shortened than those in patient with SIRI ≤0.99. Patients with SIRI >0.99 had significantly lower rates of OS and DFS compared to those patients with SIRI ≤0.99. These differences still remained significant after subgroup analyses and PSM analyses. Multivariable analyses on the entire cohort and the PSM cohort commonly demonstrated that high pre‐operative SIRI could be an independent prognostic factor for unfavourable OS and DFS of NSCLC.

Conclusions

SIRI serves as a novel risk stratification tool to refine prognostic prediction for surgically resected NSCLC. SIRI may help surgeons to screen high‐surgical‐risk patients and formulate individualized treatment schemes.
An Investigation of the Three‐Way Joint Coaching Alliance: A Social Identity Theory Perspective
Authors: Lai Yi‐Ling , Smith Helen
Published: October 2019

This study builds upon the previous research that recognised coaching as a triangular political space generating power relationships. We integrate social identity theory into this power negotiation process and consider that the ultimate purpose of coaching is to facilitate a shared coaching identity among all related collaborators. To gain in‐depth understanding of factors that promote a three‐way joint coaching identity, we conducted 25 critical incident interviews and two levels of Q‐sorting (n = 10) with coaches, coachees, and organisational stakeholders. The research results indicated that a workplace coaching identity is a flexible space underpinned by coaches’ attitude, all collaborators’ positions, and the contracting process. Coaches’ accommodated communication techniques determine the relationship climate (instrumental or influential). Coaches’ position in the coaching space regulates their self‐interests and motivation to change. Moreover, a transparent contracting process encourages communication flows and psychological exchanges among all collaborators that may gain more support from stakeholders.
Public Space, Common Space, and the Spaces In–Between: A Case Study of Philadelphia's LOVE Park
Authors: Cianciotto Luke M.
Published: October 2019

This study concerns the struggle for Philadelphia's LOVE Park, which involved the general public and its functionaries on one side and skateboarders on the other. This paper argues LOVE Park was one place composed of two distinct spaces: the public space the public engendered and the common space the skateboarders produced. This case demonstrates that public and common space must be understood as distinct, for they entail different understandings of publicly accessible space. Additionally, public and common spaces often exist simultaneously as “public–common spaces,” which emphasizes how they reciprocally shape one another. This sheds light on the emergence of “anti–common public space,” which is evident in LOVE Park's 2016 redesign. This concept considers how common spaces are increasingly negated in public spaces. The introduction of common space to the study of public spaces is significant as it allows for more nuanced understandings of transformations in the urban landscape.
Identification of cancerous gene groups from microarray data by employing adaptive genetic and support vector machine technique
Authors: Shukla Alok Kumar
Published: October 2019

Nowadays, microarray gene expression data plays a vital role in tumor classification. However, due to the accessibility of a limited number of tissues compared to large number of genes in genomic data, various existing methods have failed to identify a small subset of discriminative genes. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, we developed a new hybrid technique for gene selection, called ensemble multipopulation adaptive genetic algorithm (EMPAGA) that can overlook the irrelevant genes and classify cancer accurately. The proposed hybrid gene selection algorithm comprises of two phase. In the first phase, an ensemble gene selection (EGS) method used to filter the noisy and redundant genes in high‐dimensional datasets by combining multilayer and F‐score approaches. Then, an adaptive genetic algorithm based on multipopulation strategy with support vector machine and naïve Bayes (NB) classifiers as a fitness function is applied for gene selection to select the extremely sensible genes from the reduced datasets. The performance of the proposed method is estimated on 10 microarray datasets of numerous tumor. The comprehensive results and various comparisons disclose that EGS has a remarkable impact on the efficacy of the adaptive genetic algorithm with multipopulation strategy and enhance the capability of the proposed approach in terms of convergence rate and solution quality. The experiments results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method when compared to other standard wrappers regarding classification accuracy and optimal number of genes.
INVESTMENT SHOCKS, CONSUMPTION PUZZLE, AND BUSINESS CYCLES
Authors: Choi Yoonseok
Published: October 2019

A mass of recent research shows that investment shocks are primary driving forces of business cycles. A thorny issue, however, arises due to countercyclical consumption behavior following the investment shocks. This article contributes to the literature by resolving this anomalous issue in a model that features time inconsistency, modeled as naïve hyperbolic discounting. The proposed model delivers positive responses of consumption to an investment shock and thus produces comovement of key macroaggregates, which is in line with the observed U.S. business cycles. Furthermore, this article also substantiates the validity of the proposed model by producing comovement following an investment news (or anticipated investment) shock. Additional analyses on changes in model structure and parameter value do not reverse the main finding. (JEL E3, E7)
Afforestation driving long‐term surface water browning
Authors: Škerlep Martin , Steiner Eva , Axelsson Anna‐Lena , Kritzberg Emma S.
Published: October 2019

Increase in surface water color (browning), caused by rising dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and iron concentrations, has been widely reported and studied in the last couple of decades. This phenomenon has implications to aquatic ecosystem function and biogeochemical carbon cycling. While recovery from acidification and changes in climate‐related variables, such as precipitation and length of growing season, are recognized as drivers behind browning, land‐use change has received less attention. In this study, we include all of the above factors and aim to discern their individual and combined contribution to water color variation in an unprecedentedly long (1940–2016) and highly resolved dataset (~20 times per month), from a river in southern Sweden. Water color showed high seasonal variability and a marked long‐term increase, particularly in the latter half of the dataset (~1980). Short‐term and seasonal variations were best explained by precipitation, with temperature playing a secondary role. All explanatory variables (precipitation, temperature, S deposition, and land‐use change) contributed significantly and together predicted 75% of the long‐term variation in water color. Long‐term change was best explained by a pronounced increase in Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) volume—a measure of land‐use change and a proxy for buildup of organic soil layers—and by change in atmospheric S deposition. When modeling water color with a combination of explanatory variables, Norway spruce showed the highest contribution to explaining long‐term variability. This study highlights the importance of considering land‐use change as a factor behind browning and combining multiple factors when making predictions in water color and DOC.
Cities of care: A platform for urban geographical care research
Authors: Power Emma R. , Williams Miriam J.
Published: October 2019

This paper develops an agenda for a broadened conceptualisation of urban caring within geographical research. We open by identifying three existing domains of urban care research: examining spaces of care, materialities of care, and asking who are the subjects of care? We then synthesise three platforms that can be the foundation of a geographical theory and approach to urban care. Drawing from feminist care research and recent keystone pieces on urban caring, we argue, first, that there is a need for a broadened conceptualisation of urban care that emphasises the universal need for care and care that supports human and non‐human flourishing. Second, we propose an expanded scale of urban care analysis that attends to the ways that lives are lived within and through the city. Third, we open up an analysis of where care is located in cities, arguing for the value of locating urban care beyond interpersonal care and care through welfare, to urban governance and planning, markets, and more‐than‐human materialities. We conclude by conceptualising how care might inform utopian dreamings for the just and caring city. We challenge urban geographers to think through the possibilities of care to transform cities.
Incorporation of yellow onion peel extract into the funoran‐based biodegradable films as an antioxidant packaging material
Authors: Ju Ahreum , Song Kyung Bin
Published: October 2019

This study was conducted to develop a biodegradable antioxidant film using yellow onion peel extract (YOPE) and funoran extracted from Gloiopeltis furcata. The mechanical, optical and antioxidant properties of the funoran films containing various amounts of YOPE (0.3%, 0.5% and 1.0%) were examined. YOPE dose‐dependently increased the flexibility as well as the DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activities of the funoran films. Additionally, the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of the funoran films increased from 31.92 to 61.31 mg gallic acid equivalent g−1 film and from 21.80 to 79.22 mg quercetin equivalent g−1 film after the incorporation of YOPE, respectively. These results suggest that the funoran‐based film incorporated with YOPE, which was prepared from underutilised red alga and discarded onion peel, can be used as an antioxidant biodegradable packaging material.
Aging effect in Er3+‐doped 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 ceramics
Authors: Luo Laihui , Li Kaixuan , Du Peng , Wang Yaojin
Published: October 2019

Usually, aging in poled ferroelectrics leads to degradation of certain physical properties. In this study, we found a remarkable aging effect in tetragonal Er3+‐doped 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BZT‐BCT) ceramics after poling. It is observed that the domains can spontaneously rotate to keep their spontaneous polarization direction similar to that of the poling electric field during aging for the poled ceramics. Furthermore, compared with freshly poled ceramics, the thermally stimulated current (TSC) peak of the aged ones shifts toward a higher temperature (10°C). And the temperature of the TSC peak in the aged ceramics is exactly equal to their Curie temperature. Such features indicate that aging for the poled ceramics could stabilize the alignment of ordered ferroelectric domains. Additionally, a downward TSC peak above Curie temperature is obtained in both poled and aged ceramics, demonstrating that poling and aging can lead to ordered alignment of defect dipoles. The aging mechanism of poled Er3+‐doped BZT‐BCT ceramics has proposed and discussed in this article.
Through a Glass Darkly: The Teaching and Assessment of Drawing Skills in the UK Post‐16 Art & Design Curriculum
Authors: Owen Chris
Published: October 2019

This article investigates the ways in which drawing is taught and assessed in post‐16 UK schools and colleges, with a particular focus on A Level art and design courses. Through an historical survey of the development of syllabi and assessment methods, it traces how the role of drawing in the curriculum has changed over the past sixty years. From a series of prescribed observational drawing exercises, the A level exam has evolved into a holistic exploration of each student’s creative process, and drawing is now seen mainly as an integral part of that process. The article demonstrates how the art history element of the syllabus has also been gradually integrated into practice, and thus into the drawing process itself. Questions are raised about how these changes have influenced the nature of the portfolios which students entering higher education bring to interview. In short, this article seeks to answer the question: do we now teach and assess observational drawing skills ‘through a glass darkly’, obscured by other considerations within the art educational curriculum?
A systematic review and meta‐analysis: Vinegar consumption on glycaemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Cheng Ling Jie , Jiang Ying , Wu Vivien Xi , Wang Wenru
Published: October 2019

Aim

To systematically review the effectiveness of vinegar consumption in improving glycaemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Design

A systematic review and meta‐analysis.

Review sources

The CINAHL, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Medline, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases were searched in April 2019. Interventional studies published in the English language, from inception to 15 April 2019, were included.

Review methods

Two investigators independently assessed the quality of the studies, discussed their findings to reach consensus and complied with the standards of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Random‐effects meta‐analysis was conducted in Review Manager 5.3.5 to assess the effect size. A series of subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the causes of heterogeneity. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Results

A total of six relevant studies, including 317 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, were selected from 356 studies identified through electronic searches and reference lists. The meta‐analysis showed significantly better fasting blood glucose and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level. In secondary analyses, there was a remarkable reduction in total cholesterol and low‐density lipoprotein postintervention.

Conclusion

Vinegar content varied across the studies, and the sample sizes in the included studies were relatively small. Therefore, caution should be exercised when trying to extrapolate the results to a larger population.

Impact

Existing reviews are limited to narrative synthesis, lacking critical appraisal, heterogenous outcomes, nor any report of fasting blood glucose and HbA1c. This meta‐analysis review extends the evidence on the beneficial effects of vinegar on glycaemic control as measured by HbA1c and fasting blood glucose. Clinicians could incorporate vinegar consumption as part of their dietary advice for patients with diabetes.
Heart rate increase after pulmonary vein isolation predicts freedom from atrial fibrillation at 1 year
Authors: Goff Zackary D. , Laczay Balint , Yenokyan Gayane , Sivasambu Bhradeev , Sinha Sunil K. , Marine Joseph E. , Ashikaga Hiroshi , Berger Ron D. , Akhtar Tauseef , Spragg David D. , Calkins Hugh
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Ablation of atrial vagal ganglia has been associated with improved pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) outcomes. Disruption of vagal reflexes results in heart rate (HR) increase. We investigated the association between HR change after PVI and freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF) at 1 year.

Methods and Results

Patients who underwent PVI for paroxysmal AF were identified from the Johns Hopkins Hospital AF registry. Electrocardiograms taken pre‐PVI and post‐PVI were used to determine the change in HR. Patients followed‐up at 3, 6, and 12 months. Of 257 patients (66% male, age 59+/‐11 years), 134 (52%) remained free from AF at 1 year. The average HR increased from 60.6 ± 11.3 beats per minute (bpm) pre‐PVI to 70.7 ± 12.0 bpm post‐PVI. Patients with recurrence of AF had lower post‐PVI HR than those who remained free from AF (67.8 ± 0.2 vs 73.3 ± 13.0 bpm; P <.001). The probability of AF recurrence at 1‐year decreased as the change in HR increased (estimated odds ratio [OR], 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI, 0.74‐0.93]; P = .002). HR increase more than 15 bpm was associated with the lowest odds of AF recurrence (estimated OR, 0.39; 95% [0.17‐0.85]; P = .018) compared to HR decrease.

Conclusions

Resting HR was found to increase after PVI. Increase in HR more than 15 bpm has a positive association with remaining free from atrial fibrillation at 1 year.
Extensive chondroid bone in juvenile duck limbs hints at accelerated growth mechanism in avian skeletogenesis
Authors: Prondvai Edina , Witten P. Eckhard , Abourachid Anick , Huysseune Ann , Adriaens Dominique
Published: October 2019

Modern altricial birds are the fastest growing vertebrates, whereas various degrees of precocity (functional maturity) result in slower growth. Diaphyseal osteohistology, the best proxy for inferring relative growth rates in fossils, suggests that in the earliest birds, posthatching growth rates were more variable than in modern representatives, with some showing considerably slow growth that was attributed to their assumed precocial flight abilities. For finding clues how precocial or altricial skeletogenesis and related growth acceleration could be traced in avian evolution, as a case study we investigated the growing limb diaphyseal histology in an ontogenetic series of ducks which, among several other avian taxa, show a combination of altricial wing and precocial leg development. Here we report the unexpected discovery that chondroid bone, a skeletal tissue family intermediate between cartilage and bone, extensively contributes to the development of limb bone shaft in ducks up to at least 30 days posthatching age. To our knowledge, chondroid bone has never been reported in such quantities and with an ontogenetically extended deposition period in post‐embryonic, non‐pathological periosteal bone formation of any tetrapod limb. It shows transitional cellular/lacunar morphologies and matrix staining properties between cartilage and woven bone and takes a significant part in the diametric growth of the limb bone shaft. Its amount and distribution through duckling ontogeny seems to be associated with the disparate functional and growth trajectories of the altricial wings vs. precocial legs characteristic of duck limb development. The presence of isogenous cell groups in the periosteal chondroid bone implies that cartilage‐like interstitial growth took place before matrix mineralization complementing appositional bone growth. Based on these characteristics and on its fast formation rate in all previously reported normal as well as pathological cases, we suggest that chondroid bone in ducks significantly accelerates diametric limb bone growth. Related to this growth acceleration, we hypothesize that chondroid bone may be generally present in the growing limb bones of modern birds and hence may have key skeletogenic importance in achieving extreme avian growth rates and placing birds among the fastest growing vertebrates. Thus, we encourage future studies to test this hypothesis by investigating the occurrence of chondroid bone in a variety of precocial and altricial bird species, and to explore the presence of similar tissues in the growing limbs of other extant and extinct tetrapods in order to understand the evolutionary significance of chondroid bone in accelerated appendicular skeletogenesis.
Causes of distraction leading to supervision lapses in cases of fatal drowning of children 0–4 years in Australia: A 15‐year review
Authors: Peden Amy E , Franklin Richard C
Published: October 2019

Aim

Supervision is a strategy for preventing drowning among children. However, supervision lapses continue to be a contributory factor in child drowning. This study aims to identify, describe and analyse the causes of distraction leading to lapses in supervision in child drowning.

Methods

A total population survey of all fatal unintentional drownings among children aged 0–4 years between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2017 was undertaken using data from the Australian National Coronial Information System. Among closed coronial cases, causes of distraction leading to lapses in supervision were collected as free text from closed case documentation and subsequently thematically grouped into categories. Univariate and χ2 analysis was undertaken (P < 0.01).

Results

A total of 447 children drowned during the study period (62.0% male; 66.9% aged 1–2 years; 53.3% swimming pools; 79.4% falls into water). Of the 426 (95.3%) closed cases, common supervision lapses were due to indoor household duties (27.6%), outdoor household duties (12.6%) and talking/socialising (11.9%).

Conclusions

This study has identified common scenarios for distractions leading to supervision lapses including the link between indoor household duties and bathtub drowning deaths and talking/socialising for deaths in swimming pools and at rivers. Challenges include medical issues impacting sole carers. The 7% of cases where a supervision lapse occurred due to miscommunication are opportunities to further reinforce the need for a designated supervisor, particularly with two or more adults present. Study findings on distraction causes, and strategies to minimise them, should be incorporated into national public awareness campaigns aimed at parents and care givers of this at‐risk group.
Disentangling the lifespans of hepatitis C virus‐infected cells and intracellular vRNA replication‐complexes during direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy
Authors: Cardozo Erwing Fabian , Ji Dong , Lau George , Schinazi Raymond F. , Chen Guo‐feng , Ribeiro Ruy M. , Perelson Alan S.
Published: October 2019

The decay rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected cells during therapy has been used to determine the duration of treatment needed to attain a sustained virologic response, but with direct‐acting anti‐virals (DAA), this rate has been difficult to estimate. Here, we show that it is possible to estimate it, by simultaneously analysing the viral load and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) kinetics during combination DAA therapy. We modelled the HCV RNA and ALT serum kinetics in 26 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection, under four different sofosbuvir‐based combination treatments. In all patients, ALT decayed exponentially to a set point in the normal range by 1‐3 weeks after initiation of therapy. The model indicates that the ALT decay rate during the first few weeks after initiation of therapy reflects the death rate of infected cells, with an estimated median half‐life of 2.5 days in this patient population. This information allows independent estimation of the rate of loss of intracellular replication complexes during therapy. Our model also predicts that the final ALT set point is not related to the release of ALT by dying HCV‐infected cells. Using ALT data, one can separately obtain information about the rate of ‘cure’ of HCV‐infected cells versus their rate of death, something not possible when analysing only HCV RNA data. This information can be used to compare the effects of different DAA combinations and to rationally evaluate their anti‐viral effects.
Employment Adjustments Following Rises and Reductions in Minimum Wages: New Insights From a Survey Experiment
Authors: Bossler Mario , Oberfichtner Michael , Schnabel Claus
Published: October 2019

The effects of large minimum wage increases are still unknown. Our survey experiment randomly assigns increases or decreases in minimum wages to German establishments and asks about employers’ expectations concerning employment adjustments. The larger the increase in the minimum wage is, the larger the expected reduction in employment. The reduction is stronger in plants that are more strongly affected by the current national minimum wage and in plants that have neither collective agreements nor a works council. In contrast, employment expectations do not increase if the minimum wage is reduced. This mainly reflects that few plants would cut wages.
When i say … gender
Authors: Cavanagh Alice
Published: October 2019

Disentangling the ideas of gender and sex, though often challenging and sometimes impossible, is a critical competency. In this ‘When I say…’ piece Cavanaugh offers definitional guidance.
The neonatal period: A missed opportunity for the prevention of iron deficiency and its associated neurological consequences?
Authors: McCarthy E. K. , Kiely M. E.
Published: October 2019

Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide. Iron is essential for the development of multiple organ systems, most especially the developing brain. Iron deficiency, particularly during sensitive periods of brain development, such as in early childhood, is associated with long‐lasting adverse consequences for cognition, motor function and behaviour. Little consideration has been given to iron deficiency in newborn infants and its potential health consequences. Fetal iron accretion is compromised by pregnancy complications such as pre‐term birth and gestational diabetes mellitus, and our work has identified an increased risk of low iron stores at birth from maternal lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity. Early‐life events, including Caesarean section delivery, further add to the cumulative risk of neonatal iron deficiency, which can persist throughout infancy into early childhood. While investigations into the long‐term neurological consequences of neonatal iron deficiency are limited, there is evidence of poorer memory, motor function and language ability in children born iron deficient. Recently, we also identified significant behavioural consequences of neonatal deficiency persisting from 2 to 5 years of age, with effects particularly apparent in ‘high‐risk’ children born to obese or smoking mothers or delivered by Caesarean section. Interventions targeting the fetal/neonatal period could therefore represent a key opportunity for the prevention of iron deficiency and its associated long‐term health consequences. A dual approach is required, comprising public health strategies targeting prevention, to improve health in women of reproductive age, and the development of screening strategies for the early detection of iron deficiency in newborn infants.
Factors influencing nurses' intention to care for patients with emerging infectious diseases: Application of the theory of planned behavior
Authors: Lee Jiyeon , Kang Sook Jung
Published: October 2019

Emerging infectious diseases have caused many health problems and have been identified as a major health issue worldwide. The aim of this descriptive, cross‐sectional survey study was to investigate nursing intention among nurses caring for emerging infectious disease patients in Korea and to describe factors influencing nurses' intention to care by applying the theory of planned behavior. A total of 147 Korean nurses were included and data accrued using an online questionnaire. Among the independent variables, perceived behavioral control, attitudes toward the behavior, and sex significantly influenced nursing intention. These variables explained 55.1% of nursing intention to care for patients with emerging infectious diseases, and perceived behavioral control (confidence or self‐efficacy in caring for patients) was the strongest predictor. These findings showed the usefulness of the theory of planned behavior in predicting nurses' intention to care for patients with emerging infectious diseases. Providing an educational program on caring for patients with pandemic diseases would also increase self‐confidence and reduce concerns. In addition, institutional support, such as compensation payments and recognition from administrators, would also strengthen positive attitudes among nurses.
Grief reactions and coping strategies of Muslim nurses dealing with death
Authors: Betriana Feni , Kongsuwan Waraporn
Published: October 2019

Background

An intensive care unit (ICU) features high mortality rates. Witnessing subsequent deaths may affect nurses psychologically and spiritually. Islam has an influence on Muslims' life and death. Nevertheless, little is known about Muslim intensive care nurses' experiences of grief in dealing with the deaths of patients.

Aim and objectives

This study aimed to describe the grief reactions and coping strategies of Muslim nurses in dealing with the death of patients.

Design

This is a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach.

Methods

Semi‐structured individual interviews were conducted. Fourteen participants from an ICU in an Indonesian tertiary public hospital participated in this study. Data were analysed by thematic analysis. Trustworthiness was established by Lincoln and Guba's criteria.

Results

The findings identified four reactions of grief, four factors influencing reactions of grief, and three coping strategies used in dealing with death in an ICU. The reactions of nurse's grief were crying, being sad, feeling disappointed, and feeling guilty. These reactions were related to several factors including the circumstances of the patient's death, nurse's expectation of patient's recovery, relationships with the patient, and the reactions of family. Coping management strategies used by nurses in dealing with their grief comprised: sharing with colleagues, avoiding dying and death situations, and engaging in spirituality.

Conclusions

The Muslim ICU nurse participants experienced their grieving through a variety of psychological reactions influenced by several factors. Personal coping strategies were revealed in dealing with their grief. However, avoiding dying and death situations affected their duty.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

Attention to nurses' grief should be paid to maintain their psychological well‐being and quality of end‐of‐life care. Providing formal support to enhance grief management is recommended.
THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF IRON IN FIRST MILLENNIUM BC IRELAND
Authors: Garstki Kevin
Published: October 2019

Archaeological data available for reconstructing the Irish Iron Age have expanded rapidly due to the large number of excavations conducted in recent decades as part of large infrastructure projects. This article interprets iron‐production sites dating to the first millennium BC, many of which were discovered as part of those projects, as representing discrete but overlapping communities of ironworking practice. Through a synthesis of recent excavation data, I outline the evidence for different modes of iron production that range from very small scale to ironworking specialists attached to high‐status persons. Developing a socially‐driven reconstruction of this technology provides insight into various aspects of Iron Age society as embedded in local, regional, and pan‐regional communities.
The global value chain under imperfect capital markets
Authors: Choi Jaerim
Published: October 2019

This paper develops a model to study how suppliers' financial constraint interact with suppliers' position in a global value chain. I embed financial frictions into the property‐rights model of the global value chain, as in Antràs and Chor (Econometrica, 2013, 81, 2127), to derive the optimal allocation of ownership rights along the global value chain. The model predicts that multinational firms are more likely to integrate downstream intermediate input suppliers in countries with weak financial institutions when the production process is sequential complements. Using US intrafirm trade data for the years 2000–10, together with a triple‐interaction term between "downstreamness" of an industry, demand elasticity of an industry and financial development of a country, I provide empirical evidence that supports the key prediction of the model.
Antibacterial effect of N‐acetylcysteine in combination with antimicrobials on common canine otitis externa bacterial isolates
Authors: May Elizabeth R. , Ratliff Brette E. , Bemis David A.
Published: October 2019

Background

Approved treatments for canine otitis externa are limited in variety and may contain ototoxic ingredients. With bacterial resistance an ongoing concern, it would be ideal if non‐ototoxic agents combined with antibiotics resulted in a synergistic effect, requiring lower antibiotic concentrations to treat infections. Evidence of synergism and antagonism between N‐acetylcysteine (NAC) and various antibiotic classes has been reported; the present research group was interested in examining these interactions.

Hypothesis/Objectives

To determine if NAC, an otoprotective and antimicrobial compound, has synergistic activity when combined with enrofloxacin or gentamicin in vitro against bacterial isolates causing canine otitis externa.

Animals

Twenty‐two isolates from canine clinical cases of otitis externa were identified and tested, including seven Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, 12 Pseudomonas aeruginosa and three Corynebacterium spp. isolates.

Methods and materials

Each isolate was grown on blood agar for 24 h and transferred to Mueller–Hinton broth (MHB), with a final concentration of 5 × 105 cfu/mL. Each well was inoculated with 50 μL of bacterial suspension. N‐acetylcysteine was diluted in MHB to a starting concentration of 160 mg/mL. Enrofloxacin and gentamicin were diluted to 64 μg/mL. Individual and checkerboard serial microdilution assays were performed in triplicate with negative controls for all isolates tested.

Results

Interactions observed for NAC and enrofloxacin were synergistic (4.5%), indifferent (77.3%) or antagonistic (18.2%). Interactions observed for NAC and gentamicin were synergistic (4.5%), indifferent (45.5%) or antagonistic (50%).

Conclusions and Clinical relevance

Most interactions between NAC and enrofloxacin or gentamicin were indifferent or antagonistic at the concentrations tested in vitro.
An Analytical Framework for Resilience Exemplified With a Real-Time Operational Center
Authors: Ose Grethe O. , Steiro Trygve J.
Published: October 2019

Integrated operations (IO) is an ongoing change process in the oil and gas industry. New technological opportunities enable working in new ways that involve an integration of onshore and offshore personnel. This paper analyzes the results of two rounds of data gathering in an onshore drilling support center, in terms of the development of resilience. The first round took place in 2004/2005 and the second in 2012. This study presents a framework for the analysis of resilience and has used the case company as a mean of testing the framework. Our findings indicate that the support center has taken a huge step in the direction of becoming more resilient. The drilling company has tested a number of designs and sizes of support centers, each of which has different pros and cons. For the drilling discipline to develop resilience, it is essential that the number of rigs supported by a center is not too large, as they must not become involved in too many rigs and drilling operations. Our findings also indicate that the suggested framework provides a good overall picture of the development of resilience in the case company.
Impact of Turbine Center Frame Wakes on Downstream Rows in Heavy-Duty Low-Pressure Turbine
Authors: Biagiotti Sara , Bellucci Juri , Marconcini Michele , Arnone Andrea , Baldi Gino , Ignesti Mirko , Michelassi Vittorio , Tapinassi Libero
Published: October 2019

In this work, the effects of turbine center frame (TCF) wakes on the aeromechanical behavior of the downstream low-pressure turbine (LPT) blades are numerically investigated and compared with the experimental data. A small industrial gas turbine has been selected as a test case, composed of a TCF followed by the two low-pressure stages and a turbine rear frame (TRF) before the exhaust plenum. Full annulus unsteady computations of the whole low-pressure module have been performed. Two operating conditions, full (100%) and partial (50%) load, have been investigated with the aim of highlighting the impact of TCF wakes convection and diffusion through the downstream rows. Attention was paid to the harmonic content of rotors’ blades. The results show a slower decay of the wakes through the downstream rows in off-design conditions compared with the design point. The analysis of the rotors’ frequency spectrum reveals that moving from design to off-design conditions, the effect of the TCF does not change significantly. The harmonic contribution of all turbine components has been extracted, highlighting the effect of statoric parts on the last LPT blade. The TCF harmonic content remains the most relevant from an aeromechanic point of view as per experimental evidence, and it is considered for an forced response analysis (FRA) on the last LPT blade itself. Finally, aerodynamic and aeromechanic predictions have been compared with the experimental data to validate the numerical approach. Some general design solutions aimed at mitigating the TCF wakes impact are discussed.
Investigation into a Combined Inverted Brayton and Rankine Cycle
Authors: Kennedy Ian , Duda Tomasz , Liu Zheng , Ceen Bob , Jones Andy , Copeland Colin D.
Published: October 2019

Waste heat recovery is a vitally important technology to address increasingly stringent emissions legislation and environmental concerns over CO2. One such means of recovering thermal energy is the inverted Brayton cycle (IBC). This paper presents an experimental study of a novel combination of the IBC with a Rankine cycle for the first time. The IBC requires cooling of the exhaust gases after expansion. If the gases contain water vapor, as is the case for hydrocarbon combustion, and cold enough coolant is available, the water can be condensed, pressurized, and reboiled for expansion in a Rankine cycle. The steam produced from the cycle can be utilized in a number of ways. In this study, steam is injected through a series of de Laval nozzles directed into the main turbine to produce additional shaft power in a compact arrangement. To minimize the size of the system, additive manufacturing was used for the heat exchangers, giving high performance per unit volume. The study demonstrates the feasibility of the cycle in producing power from waste heat using humid gas that already is present in most applications. The experimental results show that the system is able to generate power at very low exhaust temperatures where the standard IBC would cease to operate. With an IBC inlet temperature of 370 °C, approximately 5 kJ/kg of specific shaft work was produced with 5 g/s of steam flowrate. At higher exhaust temperatures, the IBC and the Rankine cycle started to work together to increase the shaft power resulting in much higher specific work. At 620 °C, a specific shaft work of 41 kJ/kg was generated at a steam flow of 9 g/s. For the present turbomachinery sizes, this corresponded to 1933 W of power at 47 g/s of main exhaust flow. A model of the thermodynamic system was created in order to study the sensitivity of the system to parameters such as the steam expander pressure ratio and efficiency. Higher steam pressure and higher steam expander efficiency both led to greater power generated for the same operating point, particularly at high IBC turbine inlet temperatures. The peak specific work for the range of parameters explored in the paper was 68 kJ/kg with a steam expander efficiency of 70% and exhaust conditions of 600 °C and 50 g/s. The plots produced in this study can be used as a guide for others considering this system to understand the expected power generated under a range of conditions.
Fixed-Time Fault-Tolerant Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft
Authors: Wang Zeng , Su Yuxin , Zhang Liyin
Published: October 2019

This paper addresses the fixed-time attitude tracking problem of rigid spacecraft with inertial uncertainties, external disturbances, and partial loss of actuator effectiveness faults. A new fixed-time terminal sliding surface is proposed and a singularity-free fixed-time fault-tolerant sliding mode control (FTSMC) is designed. It is proved that the proposed FTSMC can ensure that the attitude tracking errors converge to an arbitrary small bound centered on the equilibrium point within fixed time and then go to the equilibrium point asymptotically. The appealing features of the proposed control are fixed-time tracking stability featuring fast convergence, high precision, and strong robustness. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Investigation of Strip Warpage Behavior in Wire Bonding Process
Authors: Chuang Wan-Chun , Chen Wei-Long
Published: October 2019

This study successfully established a strip warpage simulation model that is applied to the wire bonding process, and explored the effects of structural designs, material types, and processes such as molding, post and mold cure (PMC), pretreatment, and ball mounts on the strip warpage. The error between the experimental values and the simulation values is less than 13.7%. In addition, the Taguchi method is used to determine that the key factors affecting the strip warpage are the die thickness and the mold compound thickness, and that the secondary key factor is the molding temperature. This study concluded that in order to reduce strip warpage, the die thickness must be increased, while the compound thickness and the molding temperature must be decreased. To solve this problem, the structural design criteria proposed in this study use a smaller distance ratio of the neutral axis of the strip (zn) to the dice centroid (zdie). With this modification, it can reduce warpage and overall thickness of the strip. These observations indicate that the proposed model can be used to understand the effects of structural design, material types, and process parameter changes on the strip warpage. Strip design criteria are also provided in order to reduce the strip warpage, and thus, meet the requirement of thin and compact production lines, accelerate product development cycles, improve product quality, and reduce development costs.