bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Observed Linkage between Tibetan Plateau Soil Moisture and South Asian Summer Precipitation and the Possible Mechanism
Authors: Ullah Waheed , Guojie Wang , Gao Zhiqiu , Tawia Hagan Daniel Fiifi , Bhatti Asher Samuel , Zhua Chenxia
Published: October 2020

Understanding the Tibetan Plateau (TP) thermal processes is of utmost significance in changing climate. This study investigates the effect of soil moisture in changing the TP thermal profile and consequently summer precipitation in South Asia (SA). Soil moisture from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) developed from the F-08, F-11, and F-13 fundamental climate data record and atmospheric reanalysis from ERA-Interim, MERRA-2, and NCEP/CFSR during 1988–2008 are used. A generalized linear method that assesses the reciprocal forcing between two connected fields, named the coupled manifold technique (CMT), is applied to TP soil moisture and SA summer precipitation. It is revealed that interannual variations of SA precipitation are significantly (confidence level = 99%) impacted by TP soil moisture and the explained ratio of variance in SA is 0.3–0.4. Composite analysis indicates that SA summer precipitation has positive anomalies in response to dry TP soil moisture in the previous spring and vice versa. For understanding the possible mechanism, thermal processes, relative humidity, wind components, and moisture flux anomalies were calculated for dry and wet TP soil moisture and summer precipitation. The results suggested that TP soil moisture is likely to regulate near-surface energy balance and diabatic heating profile over TP. As a result, the surrounding lower-level westerlies (easterlies) (at 850 hPa) converge (diverge), associated with divergence (convergence) at the upper troposphere (200 hPa). The westerlies (easterlies) are usually moisture-rich (moisture-deficient) and thus cause more (less) precipitation in western (eastern) SA. It is thus suggested that the spring soil moisture may affect the thermal profile of TP, affecting the summer precipitation in SA as a consequence.
Improved Prediction of Landfalling Tropical Cyclone in China Based on Assimilation of Radar Radial Winds with New Super-Observation Processing
Authors: Feng Jianing , Duan Yihong , Wan Qilin , Hu Hao , Pu Zhaoxia
Published: October 2020

This work explores the impact of assimilating radial winds from the Chinese coastal Doppler radar on track, intensity, and quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF) of landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) in a numerical weather prediction model, focusing mainly on two aspects: 1) developing a new coastal radar super-observation (SO) processing method, namely, an evenly spaced thinning method (ESTM) that is fit for landfalling TCs, and 2) evaluating the performance of the radar radial wind data assimilation in QPFs of landfalling TCs with multiple TC cases. Compared to a previous method of generating SOs (i.e., the radially spaced thinning method), in which the density of SOs is equal within the radial space of a radar scanning volume, the SOs created by ESTM are almost evenly distributed in the horizontal grids of the model background, resulting in more observations located in the TC inner-core region being involved in SOs. The use of SOs from ESTM leads to more cyclonic wind innovation, and larger analysis increments of height and horizontal wind in the lower level in an ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation experiment with TC Mujigae (2015). Overall, forecasts of a TC’s landfalling position, intensity, and QPF are improved by radar data assimilation for all cases, including Mujigae and the other eight TCs that made landfall on the Chinese mainland in 2017. Specifically, through assimilation, TC landing position error and intensity error are reduced by 33% and 25%, respectively. The mean equitable threat score of extreme rainfall [>80 mm (3 h)−1] forecasts is doubled on average over all cases.
Substance use disorders and violent behaviour in patients with severe mental disorders: A prospective, multicentre study
Authors: Cavalera Cesare , Ferrari Clarissa , Bianconi Giorgio , Bulgari Viola , Candini Valentina , Carrà Giuseppe , Clerici Massimo , Conte Giovanni , Cricelli Marta , Ferla Maria Teresa , Iozzino Laura , Macis Ambra , Stefana Alberto , Ornaghi Alessandra , de Girolamo Giovanni ,   for the VIORMED-2 Group
Published: October 2020

Objective:

The relationship between alcohol and substance use and the risk of violence exhibited by patients with mental disorders is under-researched. This prospective cohort study aims to compare patients with severe mental disorders and with different substance use behaviors in terms of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, hostility, impulsivity and aggressive behaviors. Furthermore, this study aims to assess differences in violent behaviors during a 1-year monitoring follow-up.

Methods:

A total of 378 participants with severe mental disorders from Italian residential facilities and from four Departments of Mental Health (244 outpatients and 134 residential patients) were enrolled. Participants were categorized as Persons with Current Substance Use, Persons with Former Substance Use and Persons with Non-Substance Use. All these patients underwent a complex multidimensional assessment, including the lifetime and current substance use; a subsample of outpatients was also assessed with a laboratory substance assay including the testing for specific substances. We assessed the differences among these three groups in hostility, impulsivity and aggressive behaviors.

Results:

The results of the close 1-year monitoring show a significantly higher risk of violence for patients with severe mental disorders Persons with Current Substance Use compared to Persons with Former Substance Use and Persons with Non-Substance Use. Persons with Current Substance Use showed significantly higher scores for irritability, negativism and verbal assault compared to Persons with Non-Substance Use. Persons with Former Substance Use showed significantly higher scores for lifetime history of aggressive behaviors compared with patients with Persons with Non-Substance Use.

Conclusion:

These findings suggest that patients with comorbid mental illness and substance use disorders should be referred for specific interventions to reduce aggressive behavior and ensure patient well-being and community safety.
Logistics Performance Index: Methodological Issues
Authors: Chakrabartty Satyendra Nath
Published: October 2020

This article addresses limitations of Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and suggests remedies. Reliability of the instrument used in LPI may be better found by Angular Association method or Bhattacharyya’s measure, using only the frequencies or probabilities of item–response categories without involving assumptions of continuous nature or linearity or normality for the observed variables or the underlying variable being measured. The suggested methods also avoid test of uni-dimensionality, assumption of normality, bivariate normality. The problems of outlying observations and linear assumptions in principal component analysis for finding reliability theta are also avoided in each proposed method. Geometric mean approach provides a better alternative to compute LPI scores avoiding scaling and calculation of weights satisfies many desired properties and reduces level of substitutability between components, facilitates statistical test of equality of two geometric means and identifies critical areas for corrective measures. Such identifications are important from a policy point of view. The graph of LPI for a country over a long period of time reflects pattern of growth of LPI for the country. The method helps to rank and benchmark the countries, if the target vector is taken as LPI score of the best performing country.

JEL Codes: C43, C54
Research on path planning of robot based on adaptive ACS fused with SHAA neural network
Authors: Haiyang Chen , Longhui Niu , Yebiao Ji
Published: October 2020

In this paper, we proposed an adaptive ACS algorithm by introducing an adaptive pheromone volatility coefficient and the algorithm diversity dynamically varying in different iterations of the algorithm. It incorporates a shunting hierarchical hybrid neural network application algorithm (Shunting HHNN Application Algorithm, SHAA) to overcome the drawbacks of global optimization capabilities of ant colony system (ACS) in solving robot path and easily being trapped into the local optimal solution. Considering the influence of the activation value size on the selection of the grid in the SHAA neural network algorithm, the distance factor and the activation value are combined to improve the heuristic function. This will not only ensure the convergence speed, but also avoid the premature stagnation and being trapped into a local optimal path. Simulation results show that the algorithm discussed in this paper outperforms better in both the global optimization ability and the robustness.
Free space traveling–standing wave attenuation method for microwave sensing of grain moisture content
Authors: Li Chenxiao , Yu Xiaoting , Chen Zezhao , Song Qian , Xu Yanlei
Published: October 2020

Moisture content is an important index to assess the grain quality and food processing conditions. A measurement system based on the traveling–standing microwave attenuation method is designed for a fast and nondestructive grain moisture content determination. The proposed system consists of a microwave cavity oscillator, microwave transmitting and receiving horn antennas, microwave detector, slide rail, sample container, weight sensor, temperature sensor, and controller. The traveling–standing wave caused by free space microwave multiple reflection is discussed. The moisture content calibration functions eliminated the interference of bulk density and temperature are proposed based on the attenuation of the maximum field strength of the transmission traveling–standing wave. The moisture content of rice, which ranges from 10.75% to 27.62%, is obtained with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.586% and a coefficient of determination ( R2) of 0.988, whereas the moisture content of corn, which ranges from 7.72% to 24.46%, is obtained with a SEP of 0.340% and R2 of 0.991. The main results might provide technical support for the development of accurate and intelligent grain quality detection equipment.
The Storied World of James
Authors: Hearon Holly
Published: October 2020

This essay explores how third-person characters are employed in the letter of James to illustrate theological propositions. The words and actions of the characters are shown to shape social worlds in consequential ways and demonstrate the deeply relational nature of the letter’s theology. Using elements of narrative and socio-rhetorical criticisms, attention is given to setting, characterization, thematic development, and networks of signification. The essay demonstrates how storied episodes involving third-person characters contribute to the literary coherency of the letter and illustrate the inseparable relationship that binds humans and God with one another.
Determinants and Decomposition of Poverty of Rural India: Glimpses from the Purulia District of West Bengal
Authors: Guchhait Sanat Kumar , Sengupta Susmita
Published: October 2020

The paper aims to analyze poverty issues in rural households of India sampled purposively from the perspective of per capita Monthly Consumption Expenditure. In addition, the decomposition of poverty across social group affiliation and economic status adds another flavor to this study. The study concentrates on one of the backward areas of West Bengal, the district of Purulia, a resource-poor district with a distinct presence of scheduled social group population. The candidate villages were selected purposively keeping in mind the aspects of physical isolation and socio-economic stagnancy. Quantitative tools like Stepwise Multiple Regression and Decomposition analysis by FGT indices were instrumental in estimating the relative strengths of the factors affecting poverty. Besides, the study has simultaneously added the life history approach to integrate the QUAN-QUAL methods with an aim to produce a more complete picture. The critical findings include that the scheduled social groups, especially tribes, and daily wage casual laborers followed by agricultural laborers, were identified as the most vulnerable to poverty indicators in their respective population segments.
An Examination of Different Scale Usage Correction Procedures to Enhance Cross-Cultural Data Comparability
Authors: He Jia , Chung Joanne M. , van de Vijver Fons J. R.
Published: October 2020

This study aims to examine different scale usage correction procedures that are meant to enhance the cross-cultural comparability of Likert scale data. Specifically, we examined a priori study design (i.e., anchoring vignettes and overclaiming) and post hoc statistical procedures (i.e., ipsatization and extreme response style correction) in data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment across 64 countries. We analyzed both original item responses and corrected item scores from two targeted scales in an integrative fashion by using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel regressions. Results indicate that mean levels and structural relations varied across the correction procedures, although the psychological meaning of the constructs examined did not change. Furthermore, scores were least affected by these procedures for females who did not repeat a grade and students with higher math achievement. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer recommendations for researchers who are considering scale usage correction procedures.
Do Childhood Boarding School Experiences Predict Health, Well-Being and Disability Pension in Adults? A SAMINOR Study
Authors: Friborg Oddgeir , Sørlie Tore , Schei Berit , Javo Cecilie , Sørbye Øystein , Hansen Ketil Lenert
Published: October 2020

Indigenous Sámi and Kven minority children in Norway were during the 20th century placed at boarding schools to hasten their adoption of the Norwegian majority language and culture. This is the first population-based study examining health, well-being and disability pension rates among these children. Data stem from two epidemiological studies conducted in 2003/04 (SAMINOR 1) and 2012 (SAMINOR 2) by the Centre for Sami Health Research. The SAMINOR 1 study included N = 13,974 residents (50.1% women, Mage = 52.9 years) and n = 2,125 boarding participants (49.6% women, Mage = 56.2 years). The SAMINOR 2 part included N = 10,512 residents (55.5% women, Mage = 47.6 years) and n = 1246 boarding participants (48.7% women, Mage = 54.1 years). Main outcome measures are mental and general health, well-being and disability pension linearly regressed upon the predictors. We observed minor differences between boarding and non-boarding participants that generally disfavored the former, of which many disappeared after covariate adjustment. Boarding school participants reported more discrimination, violence, unhealthier lifestyle behavior (smoking), less education and household income compared to non-boarding participants. The exceptionally long timeframe between boarding school and the current outcome measures (40–50 years) is a likely reason for the weak associations. The study supports the international literature on health inequalities and highlights the risk of ill health following boarding school placement of indigenous or minority children. On a positive note, participants reporting stronger ethnic belonging (strong Sámi identity) were well protected, and even functioned better in terms of lower disability rates than majority Norwegians.
Religious Attendance and Physical Health in Later Life: A Life Course Approach
Authors: Upenieks Laura , Schafer Markus H.
Published: October 2020

Existing research on the life course origins of adult health has extensively examined the influence of childhood socioeconomic conditions, family structure, and exposure to trauma. Left unexplored are the potential long-term health effects of sociocultural exposures, such as religiosity at earlier phases of the life course. Integrating life course models of health with literature on the health-protective effects of adult religiosity, we consider how adolescent and midlife religiosity combine to structure the physical health profiles of adults past age 50. Using more than 35 years of representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79), we found that the stability of frequent religious practice over time was associated with better health composite scores and lower disease burden. Causal mediation analyses revealed that part of this association is driven by a lower risk of smoking for consistent, frequent attenders. Adulthood religiosity also mediated the relationship between frequent early-life religious attendance and health.
Feeding management before gastrointestinal studies in pigs
Authors: Gregson Rachael , Greenhalgh Stephen , Cox Benjamin , Cochrane Sandy , Clutton R Eddie
Published: October 2020

Pigs are used to model humans in gastrointestinal (GI) studies because of their comparable size, physiology and behaviour: both are monogastric omnivores. A porcine surgical model for testing novel, tethered ultrasound capsule endoscopes (USCE) requires a clean, motile small intestine. Recommendations for human GI tract preparation before the mechanically similar process of video capsule endoscopy describe using oral purgatives, while high-carbohydrate drinks are recommended before colorectal surgery. Reports of the GI preparation of pigs exist but lack technical details, that is, administration, efficacy and side effects. This report details feeding a high-energy liquid diet to 11 female pigs undergoing surgery and USCE which was readily accepted and easily administered, and which produced a clean, motile small intestine and caused no detectable physiological/behavioural abnormalities.
Genetic analysis of 12 X-short tandem repeats loci in a northern Thai population
Authors: Khacha-ananda Supakit , Mahawong Phatcharin
Published: October 2020

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are widely used as DNA markers in paternity testing and criminal investigations because of their high genetic polymorphism among individuals in population. However, many factors influence genetic variations of STRs. Therefore, understanding STR information within individual populations could provide database and scientifically reliable STR genotyping for forensic genetic purposes. We aimed to examine allele frequencies of X-STRs, including some forensic parameters, in a northern Thai population. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted by collecting X-STR data from unrelated individuals living in a northern region of Thailand. The allele frequency and forensic parameters – for example polymorphism information content (PIC), power of discrimination in females and males (PDf and PDm), mean exclusion chance (MEC) and haplotype frequency – were calculated. The Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was analysed. A total of 132 alleles were observed, with corresponding allele frequency ranging from 0.0064 to 0.4904. The PIC of all loci was >0.6, representing high genetic polymorphism, except DXS8378 and DXS7423. Notably, DXS10135 was the most diverse loci with the highest PD and MEC, while DXS7423 was the least polymorphic marker with the lowest PD and MEC. The highest haplotype diversity in male data was on linkage group III (DXS10101-DXS10103-HPRTB) by 0.9895. The genetic distance analysis demonstrated that the northern Thai population had a close relationship with Taiwanese (DA = 0.023). There are no significant deviations among the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium except DXS10148. This study has established a northern Thai X-STRs reference database to be used as a tool for forensic genetic purposes.
Disability Affirmation Predicts Employment Among Adults With Visual Impairment and Blindness
Authors: Zapata Mercedes A.
Published: October 2020

Empirical research on psychosocial correlates of employment among adults with visual impairment or blindness (VI) is limited, and previous studies involving psychological constructs have reported generally nonsignificant or mixed findings. Considering persistent disparities in employment outcomes faced by people with VI, further investigation is needed to understand the role of psychosocial factors in employment in this population. In the current study, stepwise logistic regression was used to explore the association between personal disability identity (i.e., disability affirmation and disability acceptance) and employment status in a sample of 180 working-age U.S. residents. Results indicated that employment status was predicted by higher disability affirmation ( p = .001, odds ratio [OR] = 2.21) in a model that included demographic and impairment-related variables that have previously been examined in employment among adults with VI. The exploratory model predicting employment also included higher educational attainment ( p < .001, OR = 6.03), self-reported visibility of disability ( p = .006, OR = 4.22), age ( p < .001, OR = 0.94), and use of mobility tool ( p < .001, OR = 0.05). The regression model yielded a pseudo R2 value of .32, indicating good fit. Important among these findings, the current study introduces disability affirmation, which involves disability pride and positive self-concept as a person with a disability, as a predictor of employment among working-age U.S. residents. Rehabilitation counselors may benefit from a consideration of the role of disability affirmation in consumer employment outcomes.
Black Women in the United States and Unpaid Collective Work: Theorizing the Community as a Site of Production
Authors: Banks Nina
Published: October 2020

This analysis discusses the lived experiences of Black American women as the basis for a new theoretical framework for understanding women’s unpaid work. Feminist economists have called attention to the invisibility of women’s unpaid work within the private household but have not adequately considered the unpaid, nonmarket work that women perform collectively to address urgent community needs that arise out of racial and ethnic group disparities. As such, racialized women’s unpaid, nonmarket work continues to be subject to invisibility. This analysis reconceptualizes Black women’s community activism as unpaid, nonmarket “work” and illustrates that the community is a primary site of nonmarket production by Black women and other racialized women. The community is an important site where racialized women perform unpaid, nonmarket collective work to improve the welfare of community members and address community needs not met by the public and private sectors. The analysis elevates the community to a site of production on par with the household, thereby calling for a paradigm shift in feminist economic conceptualizations of unpaid work. This new framework enables us to examine intersectional linkages across different sites of production—firms, households, and communities—where multiple forms of oppression operate in structuring peoples’ lives. Compared with additive models of gender and race, this intersectional approach more fully captures the magnitude of racialized women’s oppression.
Dis-mantling stigma: Parenting disabled children in an age of ‘neoliberal-ableism’
Authors: Thomas Gareth M.
Published: October 2020

The concept of ‘stigma’ is a dominant presence in many disciplines, yet it frequently remains ill-defined, individualist, and dislocated from matters of power, inequality and resistance. Extending a budding literature on rethinking the sociology of stigma, I draw upon interviews with parents of children with Down’s syndrome to revisit one of sociology’s most enduring concepts. I explore how parents articulate new imaginaries of difference which depart from narratives of disability as tragic and pitiful, and promote notions of dignity and worth. Parents talk of their children as a reason for celebration and pride, discuss their experiences of convivial community relations and public interactions, and praise evolving configurations of disability in popular media. Yet parents simultaneously highlight painful, convoluted and exhausting experiences with institutions (education, healthcare, welfare) as part of what they believe to be a wider (structural) hostility to disability that forces them into a series of ‘fights’ and ‘battles’. Whilst parents resist deficit framings of their children, and their lives more broadly, they lament dwelling in a society whereby disabled people, and their families, navigate enmity and indifference. In this article, then, I dis-mantle common conceptions of stigma by revealing not only its interactional properties, but also its political economy, in which disabled people are devalued, discounted, and cast as disposable in an age of ‘neoliberal-ableism’ (Goodley 2014).
Tears of blood – a female adolescent with essential idiopathic bilateral haemolacria: case report and brief review
Authors: Agrawal Sahil , T Monikha , Das Deepsekhar , Bajaj Mandeep Singh , Modaboyina Sujeeth , Modaboyina Vidya
Published: October 2020

Haemolacria is a rare condition that usually occurs secondary to a hidden pathology. On rare occasions when no underlying cause may be found, it is called essential idiopathic haemolacria. Here the authors report a case of a 13-year-old girl presented to the ophthalmology emergency department with spontaneous bloody tears from both eyes for the past six months. There was associated bleeding from the ear. The rest of the systemic and ophthalmology examinations were within normal limits. She was investigated systemically to look for any underlying pathology; however, her blood investigations, radiological imaging and local examinations performed by the Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Gynaecology and Internal Medicine departments were all normal. A final diagnosis of bilateral essential haemolacria was made.
Public science in the private garden: Noblewomen horticulturalists and the making of British botany c. 1785–1810
Authors: LaBouff Nicole
Published: October 2020

This study considers three noblewomen – Lady Amelia Hume (1751–1809), Jane Barrington (1733–1807), and Mary Watson-Wentworth, Marchioness of Rockingham (c. 1735–1804) – whose contributions to plant studies were so important that Linnean Society President James Edward Smith dedicated three books to them. Their skills in cultivating newly imported exotic plants rivaled those of elite nurserymen, and taxonomists of the highest caliber came to depend on them to unlock information encoded within flowers to enable classification and publication. Eventually, the women played strategic roles within national scientific studies of the world’s plants orchestrated by Smith, Joseph Banks, and William Roxburgh. The stories of Hume, Barrington, and Rockingham complicate our understandings of the gendered, professional, and disciplinary hierarchies of knowledge that constituted British science in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They also resituate the domestic hothouse as a publicly engaged laboratory and museum.
Disentangling the Myth of Nonprofit–Government Relations in China
Authors: Zhang Zhibin , Guo Chao
Published: October 2020

The evolving nonprofit–government relations in China have attracted increasing attention from scholars over the past four decades. The complexity and fluidity of the relations, however, pose substantial challenges to analysis. Recently, to disentangle the myth of the important relationships, research has been progressing primarily in three directions toward greater methodological diversity, stronger focus on the behaviors of nonprofit organizations vis-à-vis the governments, and more research synthesis. This symposium brings together three studies that represent these trends. After providing a brief historical overview of the study on nonprofit–government relations in China, individual contributions to this symposium are characterized.
A Shared (Graeco-Roman) Model of Mimesis in John and Paul?
Authors: Bennema Cornelis
Published: October 2020

This study explores whether Johannine and Pauline Christianity show a common understanding of mimesis. Discourse on mimesis began in Graeco-Roman antiquity, so I will develop a model of Graeco-Roman mimesis and use it heuristically to examine whether the Johannine and Pauline writings adhere to it. If they do, we can justifiably compare the concept of mimesis in John and Paul based on this shared model. The findings show that, although there are differences in the workings of mimesis in John and Paul, there is sufficient evidence of a shared model that corresponds to that in Graeco-Roman antiquity.
Judaism/Hellenism in Early Christology: Prepositional Metaphysics and Middle Platonic Intermediary Doctrine
Authors: Kugler Chris
Published: October 2020

The last 30 years of NT studies has witnessed a rebirth of interest in the questions surrounding the complex relationship between early Christianity and ancient Greek philosophy. Over roughly the same period, we have also seen a major resurgence of interest in the historical and theological questions surrounding the origins and contours of NT Christology. Little explicit dialogue, however, has occurred between these two movements. As such, not only have too many NT scholars treated ancient Jewish monotheism and early Christology as though they were discrete and impermeable entities, they have simply failed to appreciate the significance of the use of ‘prepositional metaphysics’ in four of the most important christological texts in all of the NT (Jn 1.3, 10; 1 Cor. 8.6; Col. 1.15-20; and Heb. 1.2). As several philosophical studies have shown (esp. Sterling and Cox), this tradition ultimately derives from the technical metaphysical speculation of the Greek philosophical tradition, and, in particular, these four NT christological traditions reflect the christological appropriation of Middle Platonic intermediary doctrine. This fact, inter alia, militates against any over-simplistic historical narrative in which early Jewish Christology was much later polluted (and obfuscated) by the importation of Greek metaphysical categories.
Evaluation of response characteristics of thin film gauge for conductive heat transfer mode
Authors: Alam Tanweer , Kumar Rakesh
Published: October 2020

Heat transfer analysis is the one of the most important designing aspects for many engineering systems. The design prospect in the preview of heat transfer focuses on the prediction of heat flux with the help of measured transient temperature data. Thin film gauges are one of the most predominant method for the heat flux prediction especially for short duration transient temperature measurement. Thin film gauges are usually exposed to the heated environment for the measurement purpose. However, there are some prominent research areas like ablation phenomenon met to spacecraft thermal shields during re-entry to the atmosphere, for which direct exposure of the thin film gauge to the heated environment causes the functional and working difficulties associated with the gauge. In the present study, it is aimed to investigate the suitability of thin film gauge for the conduction-based short duration measurement. An experimental set up is fabricated, which is used to supply the heat load to the hand-made thin film gauge using platinum as sensing element and quartz as a substrate. The transient temperature data is recorded during experiment is further compared with the simulated temperature histories obtained through finite element analysis. The heat flux estimation for both the analysis is made using measured transient temperature data by convolute integral of one- dimensional heat conduction equation. The estimated heat flux value for the experimental and numerical result is found to be in excellent agreement.
Masseter Flap for Reconstruction of Defects After Excision of Buccal Mucosa Cancers with Intact Mandible
Authors: Chaturvedi Pankaj , Lerra Sandeep , Ustad Farheen , Pai Prathamesh S. , Chaukar Devendra A. , D’Cruz Anil K.
Published: October 2020

Among the reconstructive options available for buccal mucosa defects with an intact mandible, free flap with microvascular anastomosis is the best option. However, in the developing world, with poor resources, limited in- frastructure, and high patient load, this cannot be offered to all patients. We report on the success of the masseter flap for reconstruction of such defects in carefully selected patients. Despite some known limitations, this flap is easy to learn and carries acceptable complications. The results of this flap may not be comparable to those of microvas- cular reconstructions, but they are better than those from other options such as skin graft, nasolabial flap, submental flap, etc. in terms of surgical time required, no donor site morbidity, and minimal aesthetic deformity.
Aural Myiasis: A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Wang Yan , Sun Yu , Kong Weijia , Wang Yanjun
Published: October 2020

Myiasis is a type of parasitosis caused by the larvae of diptera. It commonly occurs in tropical and subtropical zones. The infestation of nose and ears can be extremely dangerous if the larvae destroy the bone and penetrate into the brain, in which case the fatality rate is reported to be as high as 8%. Here, we report a case of aural myiasis in a patient with congenital mental retardation. Twelve maggots were removed mechanically, and the patient was treated with appropriate antibiotics.
Civil Rights, Labor Conflict, and Integration: New Orleans Educators’ Struggle for Collective Bargaining 1965-1974
Authors: Chanin Jesse
Published: October 2020

When American Federation of Teachers-Local 527 launched their collective bargaining campaign in 1965, they were one of five mostly segregated teachers’ locals in New Orleans and represented a minority of the system’s educators. Spurred on by the National, who saw them as the lynchpin to organizing the South, they held a three-day job action, the first teachers’ strike in the South, in 1966 and then a longer nine-day strike in 1969. Through these mobilizations, they connected their demand for collective bargaining to racial and economic equity in the schools, aligning themselves with Black students, parents, and lower paid support workers. In the early 1970s, New Orleans underwent an ambitious faculty desegregation program that transformed the schools and led to the merger between Local 527 and the majority-white National Education Association (NEA) local to form the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO). Although faculty desegregation was a top-down reform, the union capitalized on teacher integration to form intentional alliances across race and mobilize new members. Following the merger, UTNO renewed their call for collective bargaining, eventually pressuring the board to approve an election in 1974. I argue that by positioning racial justice as central to their union organizing, prioritizing participatory democracy among membership, and engaging in civil rights unionism, UTNO succeeded in achieving collective bargaining when so many other Southern cities failed.
Global Trials, Local Bodies: Negotiating Difference and Sameness in Indian For-profit Clinical Trials
Authors: Merz Sibille
Published: October 2020

Global clinical trials depend on a range of standards in order for research results to be comparable. As standardization is more than a mere technical exercise, tensions can arise when things are not uniform. This paper uses empirical data from interviews with principal investigators as well as Clinical Research Organization and pharmaceutical industry representatives working in India’s clinical trial industry to critically examine the ways Indian researchers navigate quests for standardization. It turns the analytical lens to the often obfuscated work of standardization aiming to transcend the biological and cultural specificity of research participants and research sites. Drawing on the concept of local biologies, it illustrates that the universal body presumed by clinical trial methodology is, in fact, a specifically Euro-American one: Indian participants not only need to be made globally comparable but also aligned with the drugs’ future consumers. Focusing on the tensions between biomedicine’s postulation of bodily universality and trial participants’ local biologies, this paper advances recent interventions problematizing the structural violence undergirding global clinical trials. It also contributes to the literature on local biologies in its discussion of how these are negotiated in Indian for-profit clinical trials.
Orally Inhaled Drug Particle Transport in Computerized Models of Laryngotracheal Stenosis
Authors: Frank‐Ito Dennis Onyeka , Cohen Seth Morris
Published: October 2020

Objective

Adjuvant management for laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) may involve inhaled corticosteroids, but metered dose inhalers are designed for pulmonary drug delivery. Comprehensive analyses of drug particle deposition efficiency for orally inhaled corticosteroids in the stenosis of LTS subjects are lacking.

Study Design

Descriptive research.

Setting

Academic medical center.

Methods

Anatomically realistic 3‐dimensional reconstructions of the upper airway were created from computed tomography images of 4 LTS subjects—2 subglottic stenosis and 2 tracheal stenosis subjects. Computational fluid dynamics modeling was used to simulate airflow and drug particle transport in each airway. Three inhalation pressures were simulated, 10 Pa, 25 Pa, and 40 Pa. Drug particle transport was simulated for 100 to 950 nanoparticles and 1 to 50 micron‐particles. Particles were released into the airway to mimic varying inhaler conditions with and without a spacer chamber.

Results

Based on smallest to largest cross‐sectional area ratio, the laryngotracheal stenotic segment shrunk by 57% and 47%, respectively, for subglottic stenosis models and by 53% for both tracheal stenosis models. Airflow resistance at the stenotic segment was lower in subglottic stenosis models than in tracheal stenosis models: 0.001 to 0.011 Pa.s/mL vs 0.024 to 0.082 Pa.s/mL. Drug depositions for micron‐particles and nanoparticles at stenosis were 0.06% to 2.48% and 0.10% to 2.60% for subglottic stenosis and tracheal stenosis models, respectively. Particle sizes with highest stenotic deposition were 6 to 20 µm for subglottic stenosis models and 1 to 10 µm for tracheal stenosis models.

Conclusion

This study suggests that at most, 2.60% of inhaled drug particles deposit at the stenosis. Particle size ranges with highest stenotic deposition may not represent typical sizes emitted by inhalers.
Oral Intubation Attempts in Patients With a Laryngectomy: A Significant Safety Threat
Authors: Brenner Michael J. , Cramer John D. , McGrath Brendan A. , Balakrishnan Karthik , Stepan Katelyn O. , Pandian Vinciya , Roberson David W. , Shah Rahul K. , Chen Amy Y. , Brook Itzhak , Nussenbaum Brian
Published: October 2020

It is impossible to secure the airway of a patient with “neck‐only” breathing transorally or transnasally. Surgical removal of the larynx (laryngectomy) or tracheal rerouting (tracheoesophageal diversion or laryngotracheal separation) creates anatomic discontinuity. Misguided attempts at oral intubation of neck breathers may cause hypoxic brain injury or death. We present national data from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the American Head and Neck Society, and the United Kingdom’s National Reporting and Learning Service. Over half of US otolaryngologist respondents reported instances of attempted oral intubations among patients with laryngectomy, with a mortality rate of 26%. UK audits similarly revealed numerous resuscitation efforts where misunderstanding of neck breather status led to harm or death. Such data underscore the critical importance of staff education, patient engagement, effective signage, and systems‐based best practices to reliably clarify neck breather status and provide necessary resources for safe patient airway management.
Velcro Ties in Early Postoperative Pediatric Tracheostomy Care: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Authors: Chang Brent A. , Gurberg Joshua , Ware Erin , Luu Kimberly
Published: October 2020

Objective

To systematically review the literature to determine the difference in complications between standard twill and Velcro ties following pediatric tracheostomy.

Data Sources

MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and CINAHL Plus were searched up to August 2020.

Review Methods

Two authors independently screened articles for eligibility. Retrospective and prospective studies were included as long as there was a direct comparison between twill and Velcro ties. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was performed. The main outcomes were skin‐related complications and accidental decannulation.

Results

Three studies were included in the final analysis: 1 randomized prospective trial and 2 retrospective studies. There were 238 patients total (137 twill, 101 Velcro). Combined analysis showed skin‐related complications in 23% of the Velcro group and 44% of the twill group. Meta‐analysis for skin‐related complications showed no significant difference when comparing Velcro with standard twill ties (risk ratio, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.24‐1.17]; P =. 12, n = 238 participants from 3 studies, I2 = 66%). Accidental decannulation rates were overall low and comparable between groups (1.0% of twill, 1.4% of Velcro).

Conclusion

Based on limited data, skin‐related complications were not statistically different between Velcro and twill ties. Accidental decannulation is rare with Velcro and standard twill ties, and both are viable options following pediatric tracheostomy.
Can Computed Tomography Findings Predict the Recurrence of Sinonasal Inverted Papilloma?
Authors: Glikson Eran , Dragonetti Alberto , Soudry Ethan , Rozendoren Noa , Landsberg Roee , Bedrin Lev , Mozzanica Francesco , Schneider Shay , Yakirevitch Arkadi
Published: October 2020

Objective

To evaluate the correlation between the ability to predict the attachment site of sinonasal inverted papilloma by computed tomography and the long‐term surgical outcome.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

Five tertiary medical centers.

Methods

Study patients underwent attachment‐oriented resection of inverted papilloma. The primary outcome was tumor recurrence.

Results

Among 195 patients eligible for the study, focal hyperostosis was recognized on computed tomography in 65% (n = 127), in 71% of primary cases (n = 101), and in 50% of revision procedures (n = 26). There was a trend for a higher incidence of squamous cell carcinoma among the patients without detectable hyperostosis (P =. 051). Location of hyperostosis coincided with the actual tumor attachment site in 114 patients (90%). Discordance between these parameters did not differ significantly (P =. 463) between 11 primary and 2 revision cases. The overall rate of recurrence was 9.7% (n = 19), with a mean time to recurrence of 20 months (range, 7‐96 months). The rate of recurrence did not correlate with any of the following: tumor stage, surgical approach, presence of squamous cell carcinoma, whether the surgery was primary or revision, and the presence or location of focal hyperostosis on computed tomography. Inverted papilloma recurred significantly more often (38.5%) when the intraoperative findings of the tumor attachment site did not match the location of hyperostosis observed on computed tomography (odds ratio, 6.5; 95% CI, 1.78‐23.66).

Conclusion

Detectability of focal hyperostosis on preoperative computed tomography does not affect the long‐term outcome of inverted papilloma resection.
Olfactory Cleft Measurements and COVID‐19–Related Anosmia
Authors: Altundag Aytug , Yıldırım Duzgun , Tekcan Sanli Deniz Esin , Cayonu Melih , Kandemirli Sedat Giray , Sanli Ahmet Necati , Arici Duz Ozge , Saatci Ozlem
Published: October 2020

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the differences in olfactory cleft (OC) morphology in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) anosmia compared to control subjects and postviral anosmia related to infection other than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2).

Study Design

Prospective.

Setting

This study comprises 91 cases, including 24 cases with anosmia due to SARS‐CoV‐2, 38 patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) due to viral infection other than SARS‐CoV‐2, and a control group of 29 normosmic cases.

Methods

All cases had paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT), and cases with OD had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dedicated to the olfactory nerve. The OC width and volumes were measured on CT, and T2‐weighted signal intensity (SI), olfactory bulb volumes, and olfactory sulcus depths were assessed on MRI.

Results

This study showed 3 major findings: the right and left OC widths were significantly wider in anosmic patients due to SARS‐CoV‐2 (group 1) or OD due to non–SARS‐CoV‐2 viral infection (group 2) when compared to healthy controls. OC volumes were significantly higher in group 1 or 2 than in healthy controls, and T2 SI of OC area was higher in groups 1 and 2 than in healthy controls. There was no significant difference in olfactory bulb volumes and olfactory sulcus depths on MRI among groups 1 and 2.

Conclusion

In this study, patients with COVID‐19 anosmia had higher OC widths and volumes compared to control subjects. In addition, there was higher T2 SI of the olfactory bulb in COVID‐19 anosmia compared to control subjects, suggesting underlying inflammatory changes. There was a significant negative correlation between these morphological findings and threshold discrimination identification scores.

Level of Evidence

Level 4.
Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis: An Institutional Review of Outcomes With a Multimodality Surgical Approach
Authors: Dwyer Christopher D. , Qiabi Mehdi , Fortin Dalilah , Inculet Richard I. , Nichols Anthony C. , MacNeil S. Danielle , Malthaner Richard , Yoo John , Fung Kevin
Published: October 2020

Objectives

This article reports on a unique cohort of patients with idiopathic subglottic stenosis spilt fairly equally between endoscopic and open surgical approaches. Patients’ sequence of operations and reinterventions over time are outlined, offering insight to improve surgical counseling and allow for informative, autonomous patient decision making.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

Tertiary care academic center.

Methods

Cases of consecutive adults with idiopathic subglottic stenosis managed surgically over a 12‐year period (January 2006–December 2017) were retrospectively reviewed. Surgical workflow, complications, and outcomes, including reinterventions and tracheotomy dependence, are reported.

Results

Seventy‐two patients (71 women; mean age, 50.4 years) with idiopathic subglottic stenosis requiring surgical airway intervention were identified. Six patients underwent tracheotomy prior to attempt at airway stenosis surgery. Initial surgical approach thereafter included endoscopic (73.5%, n = 53) and open (26.4%, n = 19) procedures. Thirty‐one patients underwent cricotracheal resection; the reintervention rate was 22.5%. Sixty patients underwent 147 endoscopic procedures; the reintervention rate was 75.5%, and the mean time between dilations was 83 weeks (range, 5‐402). Two (2.8%) patients remain tracheotomy dependent. Adverse events were significantly higher in the cricotracheal group, especially with respect to dysphonia and temporary gastrostomy tube placement (P <. 01).

Conclusions

Endoscopic and open surgical airway intervention can be employed successfully to avoid tracheotomy dependence and maintain airway patency; however, multiple procedures are usually required, regardless of surgical approach. Cricotracheal reintervention rates are lower than endoscopic dilation but with increased morbidity. Quality‐of‐life outcomes should be clearly discussed with patients before deciding on a surgical management strategy.