bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical and Epidemiological Determinants of Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients
Authors: Mirkarimi Mohammadreza , Alisamir Mohsen , Saraf Salar , Heidari Solmaz , Barouti Shahriar , Mohammadi Shooka
Published: November 2020

Background. Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is the main cause of pediatric mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. Purpose. This study was carried out to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of children with LRTI. Method. A retrospective study was conducted on all pediatric patients who were hospitalized due to LRTI in Abuzar Hospital (Ahvaz, Iran) during one year. Incomplete medical records and children who were treated on an outpatient basis, as well as infants younger than 1 month of age, were excluded. The patients were evaluated in terms of epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics. Results. A total of 303 hospitalized children and infants were identified. Their mean age was29.09±38.96months (range 1 month-15 years), and 59.4% of them were males. The highest frequency of patients was at the age below one year (50.8%,n=154). Pneumonia and bronchitis were the most common LRTIs. Respiratory (54.6%) and neurological (21.6%) diseases were the most prevalent underlying medical conditions. Admission was more common in winter (n=120, 39.6%) and spring (n=79, 26.1%). The mean length of stay (LOS) in the hospital was8.2±5.5days, and the overall mortality rate was 11.6%. In addition, 65 patients were severely underweight and 271 patients were malnourished. Moreover, there was a significant association between mortality and disease diagnosis (p<0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant association between having an underlying disease and consanguineous parents (p<0.01), as well as the frequency of hospitalization (p<0.001). Conclusion. Additional studies are required to determine factors contributing to disease severity among children with LRTI to develop appropriate preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Proposition of a Model for Selection of the Hybrid Contract Implementation Strategy for a Pilot Project of Regular Road Maintenance in Montenegro
Authors: Rutešić Snežana , Ćetković Jasmina , Lakić Slobodan , Živković Angelina , Knežević Miloš
Published: November 2020

Performance‐based maintenance contracts (PBMCs) are modern contracts that should allow road maintenance entities to contract maintenance activities more successfully and generate money value. In the case of Montenegro, a gradual approach of PBMC introduction is recommended through a hybrid contract for routine road maintenance. Hybrid contract implementation will enable a lower level of client risk in the early stages of PBM contract. Game theory is used for selection of an adequate model for hybrid contract structure in terms of size and nature of the BoQ elements. In addition to the estimated or charged quantities of works from previous contracts, the model also includes parameters that to some extent take into account the experience and expertise of contractors and clients, but also the availability of road data. In order for model to be applied, historical data from traditional road maintenance contracts, which were implemented in the previous period in Montenegro, are used.
Fault Detection and Behavior Analysis of Wheelset Bearing Using Adaptive Convolutional Sparse Coding Technique Combined with Bandwidth Optimization
Authors: He Liu , Yi Cai , Lin Jianhui , Tan Andy C.C.
Published: November 2020

Wheelset bearing is a critical and easily damaged component of a high-speed train. Wheelset bearing fault diagnosis is of great significance to ensure safe operation of high-speed trains and realize intelligent operation and maintenance. The convolutional sparse coding technique based on the dictionary learning algorithm (CSCT-DLA) provides an effective algorithm framework for extracting the impulses caused by bearing defect. However, dictionary learning is easily affected by foundation vibration and harmonic interference and cannot learn the key structure related to fault impulses. At the same time, the detection performance of fault impulse heavily depends on the selection of parameters in this approach. Union of convolutional dictionary learning algorithm (UC-DLA) is an efficient algorithm in CSCT-DLA. In this paper, UC-DLA is introduced and improved for wheelset bearing fault detection. Finally, a novel bearing fault detection method, adaptive UC-DLA combined with bandwidth optimization (AUC-DLA-BO), is proposed. The mathematical formulation of AUC-DLA-BO is a sort of constrained optimization problem, which can overcome foundation vibration and harmonic interference and adaptively determine parameters related to UC-DLA. The proposed method can detect the fault resonance band adaptively, eliminate the noise with the same frequency band as the fault resonance band, and highlight the bearing fault impulses. Simulated signals and bench tests are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that AUC-DLA-BO can effectively detect bearing faults and realize the refined analysis of fault behavior.
Energy Dissipation and Particle Size Distribution of Granite under Different Incident Energies in SHPB Compression Tests
Authors: Gong Fengqiang , Jia Hangyu , Zhang Zongxian , Hu Jian , Luo Song
Published: November 2020

To investigate energy dissipation and particle size distribution of rock under dynamic loads, a series of dynamic compression tests of granite specimens were conducted using a conventional split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device with a high-speed camera. The experimental results show that the dissipated energy increases linearly with an increasing incident energy, following two different inclined paths connected by a critical incident energy, and the linear energy dissipation law in the dynamic compression test has been confirmed. This critical incident energy was found to be 0.29–0.33 MJ/m3. As the incident energy was smaller than the critical incident energy, the rock specimens remained unruptured after the impact. When the incident energy was greater than the critical incident energy, the rock specimens were ruptured or fragmented after the impact. In addition, the experimental results indicate that the dissipated energy and energy consumption ratio of a rock specimen, either unruptured or fragmented, increase with an increasing strain rate. Furthermore, it was found that fragment sizes at each mesh decrease with an increasing incident energy; that is, fragmentation becomes finer as incident energy increases.
Seismic Study of Skew Bridge Supported on Laminated‐Rubber Bearings
Authors: Liu Xueshan , Guo Wei , Li Jianzhong , Zhang Hua
Published: November 2020

Skew bridges consisting of simply supported girders, continuous decks, and laminated‐rubber bearings are widely used in western China; however, they are highly vulnerable to strong earthquakes. To investigate the seismic performance of skew bridges considering the sliding behavior of laminated‐rubber bearings, the Duxiufeng Bridge located in Sichuan, China, was used as a prototype bridge. This bridge is a skew bridge that suffered seismic damage during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The possible seismic response of this skew bridge under the Wenchuan earthquake was simulated, and the postearthquake repair methods were analyzed considering the effects of bearing types and cable restrainers. Parametric studies, using the finite element method, were also performed to investigate the effects of the skew angle and friction coefficient of the bearings on the seismic response of the skew bridge. The results indicate that pin‐free bearings could effectively control the seismic displacement of the bridge, and the cable restrainers with an appropriate stiffness could significantly reduce the longitudinal residual displacements. The effect of skew angles is less significant on skew bridges with laminated‐rubber bearings than on rigid‐frame skew bridges because of the sliding between the girders and bearings. The residual displacements of the bearings were more sensitive to the variation in the friction coefficient between the laminated‐rubber bearings and the girders compared to the maximum seismic displacements.
Matters of Life and Death: An Experimental Study Investigating Psychological Interventions to Encourage the Readiness for End-of-Life Conversations
Authors: von Blanckenburg Pia , Leppin Nico , Nagelschmidt Katharina , Seifart Carola , Rief Winfried
Published: November 2020

Introduction: Talking about death and dying is evoking discomfort in many persons, resulting in avoidance of this topic. However, end-of-life discussions can alleviate distress and uncertainties in both old and young adults, but only a minority uses this option in palliative care. Even in healthy populations, talking about death is often seen as alleviative and worthwhile, but rarely initiated. Objective: To investigate different psychological interventions (a) encouraging the readiness for end-of-life discussions and (b) changing death attitudes in healthy adults of different ages. Methods: 168 participants were randomized to four different interventions (IG1: value-based intervention with end-of-life perspective, IG2: motivation-based intervention with end-of-life perspective, IG3: combination of IG1 and IG2, CG: control group). Primary outcome was the readiness to engage in end-of-life topics. Secondary outcomes were fear of death, fear of dying and death acceptance. Assessments took place before, directly after the intervention and at 2 weeks of follow up. Results: IG2 and IG3 reported significantly more changes in the readiness to engage in end-of-life discussions than the CG (F[5.61, 307] = 4.83, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.081) directly after the intervention. The effect of IG3 remained stable at the follow-up. There were no significant effects of the interventions on end-of-life fears or death acceptance. Acceptability of the interventions was very high. Conclusions: Short interventions can be useful to encourage end-of-life discussions and could be integrated in health care programs. The efficacy and effectiveness of these short interventions in palliative patients are currently examined.
Trained Immunity and Cardiometabolic Disease
Authors: Mitroulis Ioannis , Hajishengallis George , Chavakis Triantafyllos
Published: November 2020

Until recently, immunologic memory was considered an exclusive characteristic of adaptive immunity. However, recent advances suggest that the innate arm of the immune system can also mount a type of nonspecific memory responses. Innate immune cells can elicit a robust response to subsequent inflammatory challenges after initial activation by certain stimuli, such as fungal-derived agents or vaccines. This type of memory, termed trained innate immunity (also named innate immune memory), is associated with epigenetic and metabolic alterations. Hematopoietic progenitor cells, which are the cells responsible for the generation of mature myeloid cells at steady-state and during inflammation, have a critical contribution to the induction of innate immune memory. Inflammation-triggered alterations in cellular metabolism, the epigenome and transcriptome of hematopoietic progenitor cells in the bone marrow promote long-lasting functional changes, resulting in increased myelopoiesis and consequent generation of trained innate immune cells. In the present brief review, we focus on the involvement of hematopoietic progenitors in the process of trained innate immunity and its possible role in cardiometabolic disease.
Is International Surrogacy the Lark’s Glimmer?: When Covid-19 Reveals the Legal Insecurity of Surrogacy Use
Authors: Deharo Gaëlle , Madanamoothoo Allane
Published: November 2020

If globalisation has led to a greater mobility of people specific issues have emerged with the current coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, extreme measures have been taken worldwide to flatten the curb of the virus. From lockdowns to several levels of isolation these measures have worked undoubtedly for some situations. Nonetheless, these same measures have sown chaos in other situations. One good example is surrogacy especially when this practice is undergone overseas, revealing the legal insecurity of the use of surrogacy whether for the intended parents, the surrogate born child or the surrogate mother for whom the risks have heightened.
The Proportionality of Unilateral “Targeted” Sanctions: Whose Interests Should Count?
Authors: Hofer Alexandra
Published: November 2020

Comprehensive sanctions were considered to be disproportionate in their collateral effects for the harm caused to the populations of sanctioned States. With the emergence of the concept of targeted sanctions, questions regarding proportionality were expected to fade away. After all, targeted sanctions were supposed to be inherently proportional precisely because they were targeted. Nevertheless, the use of selective embargoes, also known as sectoral sanctions, continues to give rise to issues of proportionality. One of the lacunas of the current system is there is no uniform proportionality standard that applies to unilateral sanctions as these measures fall with different types of legal regimes, each with their own proportionality standard. Drawing from recent State practice and the existing legal standards, the present contribution maps the respective interests that should inform proportionality discussions in distinct sanctions regimes and explores to what extent the proportionality principle can account for each of these interests.
Proportionality and International Legal Pragmatics
Authors: Linderfalk Ulf
Published: November 2020

To respond to the question of whose interest proportionality serves, this article enquires into the function of this important principle. As the article argues, proportionality functions in much the same way as any generally applicable pragmatic principle: it facilitates comprehension of communicative behaviour on the part of utterers, in this case international lawmakers. Thus, the principle of proportionality serves two important interests. First, it serves the interest of legal communication, helping international lawmakers to make themselves understood. Second, it serves the interests of legal efficacy – it facilitates the effective realisation of the objects and purposes conferred by international lawmakers on international norms.
The Artist’s Destiny in Jewish Collective Memory: From Traditional Society to the Avant-Garde and Modernism
Authors: Kravtsov Sergey R.
Published: November 2020

The destiny of an architect, painter, or carver working on the construction and decoration of an Eastern-European synagogue is a popular subject in Jewish folklore and literature. These stories are related to the international tale “The Giant as a Master Builder” (classified as АТ 1099), which Jewish storytellers adapted to their audiences. This paper discusses narratives circulated in traditional societies of Central-Eastern Europe, traces formal and meaningful changes that surface in Jewish records of these legends in the early twentieth century, and shows the further transformation of the subject in national-romanticist, avant-garde, and modernist artistic discourses of the twentieth century. The adaptation of this international theme within Jewish folklore helps us to interpret Jewish collective memory regarding the artist and his work on a sacralized object.
Vitality versus cambium, xylem, and phloem characteristics in Cedrus libani
Authors: Sökücü Ayça , Güney Aylin
Published: November 2020

In many regions, such as the Mediterranean, anticipated climate change is seen as a serious threat to tree vitality and forest productivity. Recent studies show that wood and bark structure as well as the number of dormant cambial cells bear valuable information about the growth condition and vitality of trees and thus could function as indicators to help manage forests in the future. Microcores and tree cores were sampled from stems of adult Cedrus libani trees growing at different altitudes in SW-Turkey. Trees were divided into two groups based on basal area increments: vital trees (positive growth trend), and trees of diminishing vitality (negative growth trend). Histological cross-sections were investigated for their number of dormant cambial cells as well as their xylem and phloem characteristics. We measured the widths of the conducting phloem, most recent xylem ring, earlywood, and latewood. We further calculated the ratio between the width of xylem ring and conducting phloem (XR:CPH ratio), and earlywood to latewood ratio. Vital trees had a significantly higher number of dormant cambial cells (on average 32%), higher xylem (67%), and conducting phloem (36%) widths, and a higher XR:CPH ratio (47%). The XR:CPH ratio ranged between 1.8:1 and 21.4:1. The number of dormant cambial cells was closely related to xylem and conducting phloem widths and showed a significant decrease with tree age. Altitude showed no direct effect on the measured and calculated parameters. Our results indicate the potential of dormant cambium, xylem, and phloem characteristics to assess the vitality and growth conditions of C. libani trees.
Controllably Introducing Exposed Surfaces to Nanocrystalline CeO2 Catalysts by High-Pressure Treatment
Authors: Zhao Yunlei , Dong Hongliang , Chen Zhiqiang , Deng Yu
Published: November 2020

Controllably introducing highly active exposed surfaces into catalysts is a promising way to improve their properties. In addition to the widely used bottom-up method by limited crystal growth and topdown method by etching, in this study, a high-pressure treatment method is used to
introduce fully crystalline clean, highly active exposed planes on submicrometer- or tens of nanometer-sized brittle catalysts. This treatment is based on a mechanism at the submicrometer or tens of nanometer scale, in which the catalysis materials are still brittle (they become ductile only
when reaching the size of a couple of nanometers by the strong size effect) but do not crack randomly under high pressure like macrosized materials do. In fact, the catalyst displays a predominant cracking orientation, which is likely a highly active exposed plane, in the predominant dislocation
orientation under high pressure. In this work, we used a CeO2 catalyst as a model system to show the mechanism that leads to an obvious photocatalytic property enhancement. Currently, since most catalysts have already been prepared at the submicrometer or tens of nanometer level,
we believe that our findings provide a potential route to further improve their properties through a high-pressure treatment.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Adsorption Behaviour and Its Relationship with Nano-Structure in an Organic-Rich Shale: A Case Study of the Longmaxi Shale in Southeast Chongqing
Authors: Wang Meng , Xie Weidong , Dai Xuguang , Huang Kai
Published: November 2020

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in shale reservoirs have attracted increasing interest in recent years. To study the CO2 adsorption behaviour in the Longmaxi shale, isothermal adsorption experiments, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and other techniques were
employed in this study. The results show that when the pressure is less than 7.37 MPa, the Langmuir model fits well with the experimental CO2 adsorption data in the shale. In contrast, when the pressure is greater than 7.37 MPa, the D+R-K model fits better with the experimental
data. From low pressure to high pressure (>20 MPa), the CO2 adsorption isothermal curves can be divided into four stages: rapid adsorption stage, slow adsorption stage, linear decreasing stage and slightly decreasing stage. With increases in temperature, the CO2 adsorption
capacity decreases as expected. In addition, the effects of the Longmaxi shale nano-structure on the CO2 adsorption behaviour were also investigated. It was found that organic matter has a greater influence than clay and quartz on the CO2 adsorption behaviour. Based on
the SEM observations, large numbers of nanoscale organic pores were found in the shale samples, and these nanoscale organic pores may control the CO2 adsorption behaviour in organic-rich Longmaxi shale. With increasing total organic carbon (TOC) content, the CO2 adsorption
capacity increases linearly. In this study, the characteristics of the CO2 adsorption in shale and its relationship with the shale nano-structure were studied, which may be helpful for understanding CCS technologies and their application in enhanced shale gas recovery.
Nanoscale Pore Fractal Characteristics of Permian Shale and Its Impact on Methane-Bearing Capacity: A Case Study from Southern North China Basin, Central China
Authors: Wei Xiaoliang , Chen Qian , Zhang Jinchuan , Nie Haikuan , Dang Wei , Li Zhongming , Tang Xuan , Lang Yue , Lin Lamei
Published: November 2020

Fractal dimension is closely related to the nanoscale pore structure of shale, and it also has an important influence on the gas content of shale. To investigate the correlation between the fractal dimension and the methane (CH4) bearing features of shale, seven Permian shale
samples were analyzed with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), low temperature nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4 adsorption and on-site gas desorption experiments. Based on the N2 adsorption and desorption data, we proposed
a new method to better determine the gas adsorption stage at different relative pressure (P/P0) points in the multilayer adsorption or capillary condensation stage. On this basis, two fractal dimensions, D1 (representing the surface roughness) and
D2 (representing pore irregularity), were obtained. By correlating the fractal dimensions and nanoscale pore structure parameters, we found that D1 does not correlate with the pore structure parameters except for the micropore volume. Influenced by the aggregation
of porous and nonporous materials, D2 has a positive linear relationship with the specific surface area (SSA) and micropore volume but has a negative linear correlation with the average diameter of pores. D1 is negatively correlated with water saturation
and positively correlated with free CH4 content. The CH4 adsorption content is positively correlated with D2. By fitting the on-site desorption data, the positive correlation between the total desorbed CH4 content and the desorbed CH4
content in stage 2 and D2 was also confirmed. D2 better reflects the CH4 adsorption capacity of organic-rich shale than D1. However, D1 can be used to reflect the influence of shale surface properties on water
saturation and to indirectly reflect the free CH4 content in shale. The fractal dimension (D1 and D2) is a clear indicator of the total free and adsorbed CH4 content, but cannot indicate the desorbed CH4 content at different
stages.
Satellite Perspectives of Sea Surface Temperature Diurnal Warming on Atmospheric Moistening and Radiative Heating during MJO
Authors: Itterly Kyle , Taylor Patrick , Roberts J. Brent
Published: November 2020

Diurnal air–sea coupling affects climate modes such as the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) via the regional moist static energy budget. Prior to MJO initiation, large-scale subsidence increases (decreases) surface shortwave insolation (winds). These act in concert to significantly warm the uppermost layer of the ocean over the course of a single day and the ocean mixed layer over the course of 1–2 weeks. Here, we provide an integrated analysis of multiple surface, top-of-atmosphere, and atmospheric column observations to assess the covariability related to regions of strong diurnal sea surface temperature (dSST) warming over 44 MJO events between 2000 and 2018 to assess their role in MJO initiation. Combining satellite observations of evaporation and precipitation with reanalysis moisture budget terms, we find 30%–50% enhanced moistening over high-dSST regions during late afternoon using either ERA5 or MERRA-2 despite large model biases. Diurnally developing moisture convergence, only modestly weaker evaporation, and diurnal minimum precipitation act to locally enhance moistening over broad regions of enhanced diurnal warming, which rectifies onto the larger scale. Field campaign ship and sounding data corroborate that strong dSST periods are associated with reduced middle-tropospheric humidity and larger diurnal amplitudes of surface warming, evaporation, instability, and column moistening. Further, we find greater daytime increases in low cloud cover and evidence of enhanced radiative destabilization for the top 50th dSST percentile. Together, these results support that dSST warming acts in concert with large-scale dynamics to enhance moist static energy during the suppressed to active phase transition of the MJO.
Management without morals: Construct development and initial testing of amoral management
Authors: Quade Matthew J , Bonner Julena M , Greenbaum Rebecca L
Published: November 2020

What happens when leaders do not respond to the ethical components of business situations? We study this question by examining amoral management, which entails a lack of response from leaders during ethical situations. Our work helps establish amoral management, a leadership style that is thought to be quite common in practice, in the behavioral ethics literature by first validating an empirical measure. Then, we examine an initial nomological network of amoral management and by demonstrating that it negatively affects employees. Drawing on moral conation theory (Hannah et al., 2011a), we argue that amoral management leads to lower levels of moral courage among employees. Unfortunately, with lower levels of moral courage, employees become more susceptible to engaging in unethical behavior. Interestingly, we find that the negative relationship between amoral management and moral courage is exacerbated under the condition of an ethical environment, which therefore also exacerbates employees’ unethical conduct (i.e., a first-stage moderated-mediation model). We provide theoretical contributions and practical implications regarding amoral management as an important yet understudied ethics-based leadership style, as well as make suggestions for future research.
Laz caregivers’ talk to their young children: The importance of context and utterance type in eliciting ancestral language use
Authors: Yuksel Peri , Lowry Cass , Brooks Patricia J.
Published: November 2020

This study examined play interactions of 15 to 48-month-old children ( n = 59) and their caregivers in Lazuri, a UNESCO-rated endangered South-Caucasian ancestral language, and Turkish, a dominant language supplanting Lazuri usage in the community. Child–caregiver dyads played with two toy sets (animal farm and tea set) that provided different contexts for interaction. Participants’ utterances were coded as instances of distinct functional utterance types (e.g. labels, commands, and questions). Our goal was to analyze the influence of play context on child and caregiver functional utterances in order to identify factors that prompted children to use the ancestral language. The animal farm encouraged dyads to engage in labeling objects, while the tea set encouraged use of social language (e.g. comments). The differing contextual affordances led children to produce many more Lazuri labels than expected when playing with the animal farm. Mixed-effects regression analysis indicated that caregivers’ use of Lazuri and their use of labels predicted children’s use of Lazuri, along with child age. Notably, older children were less likely to use the ancestral language than younger children. The children’s strong preference for speaking Turkish highlights the urgency of interventions to ensure language preservation in Laz communities. Interactions that promote labeling may serve as an effective first step in encouraging children’s use of the Lazuri vocabulary.
The Neoliberal Disciplining of LeBron James and Kevin Durant: Sports Media Discourse on NBA Free Agency as Ideological Critique
Authors: Foy Matt
Published: November 2020

Through content analysis of sports media commentary focusing on the high-profile free agencies of NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the author demonstrates how commercial sports media discourse responding to these critical exigencies strategically reinforces neoliberal ideology and parlays its disciplinary rhetoric into a derogatory ideological critique of James, Durant, and their contemporaries. The analysis demonstrates how media discourse surrounding James and Durant covertly but significantly reinforces cultural myths of rugged individualism, self-sufficiency, and competition as concomitant with success and self-worth while exalting idealized constructions of the prior generation of basketball icons, particularly Michael Jordan, whose mythic self-reliance is metonymic of an influx of nostalgic discourse which framed today’s players as constitutionally inferior to the stars of the 1980s and 1990s.
Successfully minimal approach ViV-TAVR without angiography in a severe restenosis with renal dysfunction 17 years post-surgical aortic valve replacement: A case report
Authors: Jiang Xiaofei , Zhang Zhe , Wang Kun , Li Jie
Published: November 2020

Severe aortic stenosis (AS) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an approach in cardiovascular interventional therapy. As we known, most of the candidates for TAVR are suffered from advanced heart dysfunction (New York Heart Association functional class III or IV) and chronic kidney disease. However, contrast-enhanced computed tomography and coronary angiography are necessary for pre-procedures for TAVR. TAVR could have adverse effects on kidney function including contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI), which is related to poor prognosis. In a severe recurrent valve stenosis with progressive renal dysfunction, receiving surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) using bioprosthetic valve (BV) 17 years ago, we successfully reversed restenosis by performing pre-procedure evaluating and valve-in-valve (ViV) TAVR without angiography. Angiography-free TAVR may be a beneficial approach for patients with aortic restenosis after SAVR complicated with renal dysfunction.
Successful treatment of unilateral neck pain with transforaminal epidural steroid injection on the left C3 nerve root: a case report
Authors: Chang Min Cheol , Boudier-Revéret Mathieu , Hsiao Ming-Yen , Shyu Shaw-Gang
Published: November 2020

In clinical practice, neck pain is one of the most common complaints. Although most of the cervical radicular pain is manifested in the neck and upper extremities, C3 or C4 radicular pain only results in neck pain. It does not produce upper extremity radiating pain. This case report describes a 70-year-old male that presented with a numeric rating scale score of 5 out of 10 for the left neck pain that he had been experiencing for the previous 1 month. Hyperalgesia was present on the left C3 dermatome. Foraminal stenosis at the left C2–C3 was observed on cervical magnetic resonance imaging. In order to manage the neck pain on the left side due to the foraminal stenosis at the left C2–C3, a transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) was undertaken on the left C3 nerve root. Thirty minutes after TFESI, the patient’s neck pain had completely resolved. At the 1-month and 3-month follow-ups, no neck pain was evident. Clinicians should consider the possibility of C3 radicular pain as a cause of neck pain, especially when the neck pain presents as neuropathic pain combined with sensory deficits.
Clostridium perfringens–Associated Necrotic Enteritis-Like Disease in Coconut Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus)
Authors: Grau-Roma Llorenç , Navarro Mauricio , Blatter Sohvi , Wenker Christian , Kittl Sonja , Uzal Francisco A. , Posthaus Horst
Published: November 2020

Several outbreaks of necrotic enteritis-like disease in lorikeets, from which Clostridium perfringens was consistently isolated, are described. All lorikeets had acute, segmental, or multifocal fibrinonecrotizing inflammatory lesions in the small and/or the large intestine, with intralesional gram-positive rods. The gene encoding C. perfringens alpha toxin was detected by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues in 20 out of 24 affected lorikeets (83%), but it was not amplified from samples of any of 10 control lorikeets ( P < .0001). The second most prevalent C. perfringens toxin gene detected was the beta toxin gene, which was found in FFPE from 7 out of 24 affected lorikeets (29%). The other toxin genes were detected inconsistently and in a relatively low number of samples. These cases seem to be associated with C. perfringens, although the specific type involved could not be determined.
p53, ER, and Ki67 Expression in Canine Mammary Carcinomas and Correlation With Pathological Variables and Prognosis
Authors: Brunetti Barbara , Bacci Barbara , Angeli Cristian , Benazzi Cinzia , Muscatello Luisa Vera
Published: November 2020

Using immunohistochemistry, 170 canine mammary carcinomas were evaluated for p53, ER (estrogen receptor), and Ki67. Of the 170 tumors, 89 were grade I (52.3%), 36 were grade II (21.2%), and 45 were grade III (26.4%). Eight cases (0.5%) were positive for p53 and 69/170 cases (40.5%) were positive for ER. Ki67 values were 24 ± 18% (mean ± SD). Using a cutoff value of 33.3% Ki67-positive neoplastic nuclei, 38/159 (23.8%) were classified as high proliferative and 121/159 (76.2%) as low proliferative. p53-positive cases had significantly higher Ki67 expression and higher histological grade. ER expression was not correlated with p53 expression but was significantly related to low Ki67 values and low histological grade. Moreover, ER-positive cases had significantly longer survival compared to ER-negative tumors, and ER expression had better correlation with tumor-related survival than histological grade. In summary, p53 accumulated in a small subset of canine mammary tumors and was associated with higher proliferative activity and higher histological grade. ER expression was confirmed as a differentiation marker associated with more favorable prognosis and biological behavior. The combined use of these 3 markers could be used in addition to histological grade to predict the biological behavior of canine mammary carcinomas.
On Measuring Ancient Egyptian Architecture
Authors: Rossi Corinna
Published: November 2020

This article discusses the meaning and function of the act of measuring ancient Egyptian architecture in the present-day context, in which the advent of digital culture has allowed the accumulation of extremely precise and accurate data. Our expectations on our modern measurements may lead us to select the ancient data through a filter that does not correspond to the ancient perspective, thus affecting the validity of the results. In order to disentangle past and current perspectives, it may be useful to discuss two aspects: the difference between ancient measures obtained from calculations and observations, and the meaning of precision and accuracy in modern and ancient times. A reconstruction of the planning and building process of ancient monuments is likely to take a successful path only if we are willing to look at the evidence from a slightly different perspective, in which numbers become part of a larger and more complex operation.
Post-traumatic headache due to mild traumatic brain injury: Current knowledge and future directions
Authors: Schwedt Todd J
Published: November 2020

Background/objective

Post-traumatic headache is one of the most common and persistent symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury. The objective of this narrative review is to provide an update on the diagnostic criteria, clinical presentation, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of post-traumatic headache, and to identify future research priorities.

Methods

This is a narrative review of the literature regarding post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury.

Results

Onset of post-traumatic headache within 7 days of injury is the only evidence for a causal relationship between the injury and the headache included in the diagnostic criteria. Post-traumatic headache often resolves within the first few days of onset, whereas it persists for at least 3 months in 30–50%. The majority of insights into post-traumatic headache pathophysiology come from pre-clinical animal studies and human imaging studies, which implicate structural, functional, metabolic, and neuroinflammatory mechanisms for post-traumatic headache. There is a paucity of quality evidence for how to best treat post-traumatic headache.

Conclusions

Although meaningful progress has been made in the post-traumatic headache field, priorities for future research are numerous, including the optimization of diagnostic criteria, a greater understanding of post-traumatic headache pathophysiology, identifying mechanisms and predictors for post-traumatic headache persistence, and identifying safe, well-tolerated, effective therapies.
Recommended Test Vehicle Update for Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware
Authors: Ronspies Kellon , Stolle Cody , Faller Ronald , Bielenberg Robert
Published: November 2020

Passenger vehicles in Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) crash testing are required to be representative of the modern vehicle fleet and practical worst-case impact scenarios. The objective of this paper was to identify potential updates for standard test vehicle selection criteria for MASH as well as develop a preferred strategy for performing future standard test vehicle reviews. Representative vehicles were documented using sales data, and registration and crash data were observed to validate the primary use of sales data. Curb weights were plotted against cumulative market share of new vehicle sales to identify the 5th and 95th percentile “practical worst-case” weights of 2,800 lb and 5,850 lb, respectively, consistent with MASH philosophy. Suitable test vehicle options were found at the 5th percentile weight; however, a pickup near the 92.5 percentile weight (5,400 lb) was recommended to ensure vehicles are both representative of the fleet and obtainable for crash sites. MASH test vehicle specifications were recommended based on a review of geometrical and inertial properties of candidate vehicles near these target weights. Potential mid-size test vehicles were also explored, and four vehicle classes (two mid-size car and two crossover utility vehicle [CUV] classes) were identified as test vehicle candidates. Research on vehicle impact behavior of mid-size cars and CUVs are desired to determine impact behavior of each vehicle with different roadside hardware. Future revisions to MASH test vehicle selection criteria were outlined and should use analysis and attributes of new vehicle sales.
Comparisons of a Multi-Objective Compromise Weight Model and a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm in Hazmat Transportation Route Planning
Authors: Hu Ta-Yin , Hsu Yu-Cheng , Liao Tsai-Yun
Published: November 2020

On July 31, 2014, a series of gas pipeline explosions occurred in Kaohsiung City, causing 32 deaths and 321 injuries. Following this accident, the Kaohsiung City government decided to replace the use of pipelines with trucks for transporting hazmat, transfering the risk from beneath the road to the surface. This means that careful consideration needs to be given to safety and cost in hazardous material (hazmat) transportation route planning. The issue of how to design optimal routes for the transportation of hazmat is, therefore, important and involves consideration of various criteria. This research focuses on three objectives: cost, risk, and emergency response capability. It then constructs two solution algorithms, the compromise weight model and the evolutionary algorithm, to solve the multi-objective problem. The results from these two algorithms are observed and compared. In addition, this research also provides some recommendations for stakeholders, including the hazmat industry, government, and residents.
Impact of Weather, Activities, and Service Disruptions on Transportation Demand
Authors: Lepage Simon , Morency Catherine
Published: November 2020

This paper aims to estimate short-term transportation demand fluctuations because of events such as meteorological events, major activities, and subway service disruptions. Four different modes are analyzed and compared, being bikesharing, taxi, subway, and bus. Case study includes 3 years of transactional data on working days collected in Montreal, Canada. Generalized additive models (GAM) are developed for every mode. The dependent variable is the hourly number of trip departures from one subway station neighborhood. Independent variables are data from various events. Different models are calibrated for every subway station neighborhood to better understand spatial differences. Also, performance of GAM and autoregressive integrated moving average models are compared for prediction on different horizons. Results suggest that presence of rain decreases bikesharing, subway, and bus demand, while increasing taxi demand. In fact, after four consecutive hours of rain, bikesharing demand decreases by 28.0%, subway and bus demand decreases by 4.6%, while taxi increases by 13.9%. Wind is only found significant for bikesharing. Temperature is found significant for all four modes but has a larger effect on bikesharing and taxi. Moreover, demand increases significantly during subway service disruptions for the three alternative modes studied, especially for taxi, suggesting an increase in demand of 182% during disruptions of 1 h. Furthermore, activities influence demand for all four modes, but subway seems to be the most affected one. This method allows for a better understanding of travel behaviors and makes it possible to consider a more dynamic adaptation of the transportation service supply to match travel demand based on various events. This could lead to better co-planning of events and transportation service, for example by temporarily increasing subway frequency or changing the position of some bikesharing stations.
Varieties of ‘rationality’ and the question of their continued theoretical relevance
Authors: Rutar Tibor
Published: November 2020

The notion of ‘rationality’ has always been one of the more controversial social-scientific ideas. Today there exist many conceptual varieties of rationality which are often less than clearly distinguished and the precise intellectual import of which likewise tends to be opaque. In this article I draw on classical and contemporary examples from sociology, political science and economics in the effort to clarify the many meanings of the notion and to demonstrate that it is more useful as well as more legitimate for explanatory purposes than some canonical critiques suggest. As the behavioral economics revolution has made clear, many varieties of rationality are both empirically and theoretically limited or outright falsified. However, although it is now certain that rationality cannot be the singular basis of a universal, general theory of social behavior, I argue it can and should form one important part of a larger conceptual toolbox upon which a social theorist can draw when devising tractable theoretical explanations of social phenomena.
Mechanistic explanations in the cognitive social sciences: Lessons from three case studies
Authors: Sarkia Matti , Kaidesoja Tuukka , Hyyryläinen Mikko
Published: November 2020

Discussions of the relations between the social sciences and the cognitive sciences have proliferated in recent years. Our article contributes to the philosophical and methodological foundations of the cognitive social sciences by proposing a framework based on contemporary mechanistic approaches to the philosophy of science to analyze the epistemological, ontological and methodological aspects of research programs at the intersection of the social sciences and the cognitive sciences. We apply this framework to three case studies which address the phenomena of social coordination, transactive memory, and ethnicity. We also assess how successful these research programs have been in providing mechanistic explanations for these phenomena, and where more work remains to be done.
‘Psychosis of civilization’: a colonial-situated diagnosis
Authors: Scarfone Marianna
Published: November 2020

In the late 1930s, when colonial psychiatry was well established in the Maghreb, the diagnosis ‘psychosis of civilization’ appeared in some psychiatrists’ writings. Through the clinical case of a Libyan woman treated by the Italian psychiatrist Angelo Bravi in Tripoli, this article explores its emergence and its specificity in a differential approach, and highlights its main characteristics. The term applied to subjects poised between two worlds: incapable of becoming ‘like’ Europeans – a goal to which they seem to aspire – but too far from their ‘ancestral habits’ to revert for a quiet life. The visits of these subjects to colonial psychiatric institutions, provided valuable new material for psychiatrists: to see how colonization impacted inner life and to raise awareness of the long-term socio-political dangers.
Integrating refugees through active labour market policy: A comparative survey experiment
Authors: Fossati Flavia , Liechti Fabienne
Published: November 2020

In the wake of the recent increase in the inflows of refugees to Europe, governments have made considerable investments in public policies aimed at facilitating the labour market integration of refugees. Despite these efforts, the labour market participation of refugees remains low. This situation raises the question of whether employers actually appreciate these public policies and whether refugees’ participation in specific active labour market policies (ALMPs), such as work practice or wage subsidies, increases their likelihood of being hired. In this article, we take a novel approach and combine employers’ evaluations of specific ALMPs with their attitudes towards refugees. We argue that these labour market policies can only be successful when employers hold positive attitudes towards refugees in the first place. We investigate this question by means of a factorial survey experiment with employers in Austria, Germany and Sweden. Our results show that, indeed, employers’ evaluations of fictional refugee candidates who participated in ALMPs are influenced by their attitudes towards this group. Participation in these policy measures is regarded positively only by those employers who already hold positive attitudes towards refugees.
Policing markets: The role of the social partners in internal immigration enforcement
Authors: Morgan Kimberly J
Published: November 2020

In recent decades, governments have made labour markets sites of immigration enforcement through employer sanctions and other measures. In some countries, unions and employers’ associations facilitate implementation of these initiatives, while in others they openly or tacitly resist cooperation. This paper explores these patterns of cooperation and resistance through analysis of six countries. The method used is qualitative comparative analysis, using primary and secondary sources that include newspaper coverage, government reports, union documents and scholarly accounts. The explanation centres on the degree of social partner embeddedness in government decision-making and economic management. In countries with institutionalized, coordinated relationships between the social partners and the state, this coordination extends to implementation of employers’ sanctions. In systems with less institutionalized cooperation, employers and unions are less likely to assist the immigration control objectives of state officials. These practices also affect migrants’ ability to live within a society, making them not only a form of immigration control, but also important for migrant wellbeing.