bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contralateral parenchymal enhancement on breast MRI before and during neoadjuvant endocrine therapy in relation to the preoperative endocrine prognostic index
Authors: Ragusi Max A. A. , Loo Claudette E. , van der Velden Bas H. M. , Wesseling Jelle , Linn Sabine C. , Beets-Tan Regina G. , Elias Sjoerd G. , Gilhuijs Kenneth G. A.
Published: July 2020

Objectives

To investigate whether contralateral parenchymal enhancement (CPE) on MRI during neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) is associated with the preoperative endocrine prognostic index (PEPI) of ER+/HER2− breast cancer.

Methods

This retrospective observational cohort study included 40 unilateral ER+/HER2− breast cancer patients treated with NET. Patients received NET for 6 to 9 months with MRI response monitoring after 3 and/or 6 months. PEPI was used as endpoint. PEPI is based on surgery-derived pathology (pT- and pN-stage, Ki67, and ER-status) and stratifies patients in three groups with distinct prognoses. Mixed effects and ROC analysis were performed to investigate whether CPE was associated with PEPI and to assess discriminatory ability.

Results

The median patient age was 61 (interquartile interval: 52, 69). Twelve patients had PEPI-1 (good prognosis), 15 PEPI-2 (intermediate), and 13 PEPI-3 (poor). High pretreatment CPE was associated with PEPI-3: pretreatment CPE was 39.4% higher on average (95% CI = 1.3, 91.9%; p = .047) compared with PEPI-1. CPE decreased after 3 months in PEPI-2 and PEPI-3. The average reduction was 24.4% (95% CI = 2.6, 41.3%; p = .032) in PEPI-2 and 29.2% (95% CI = 7.8, 45.6%; p = .011) in PEPI-3 compared with baseline. Change in CPE was predictive of PEPI-1 vs PEPI-2+3 (AUC = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.57, 0.96).

Conclusions

CPE during NET is associated with PEPI-group in ER+/HER2− breast cancer: a high pretreatment CPE and a decrease in CPE during NET were associated with a poor prognosis after NET on the basis of PEPI.

Key Points

• Change in contralateral breast parenchymal enhancement on MRI during neoadjuvant endocrine therapy distinguished between patients with a good and intermediate/poor prognosis at final pathology.

• Patients with a poor prognosis at final pathology showed higher baseline parenchymal enhancement on average compared to patients with a good prognosis.

• Patients with an intermediate/poor prognosis at final pathology showed a higher average reduction in parenchymal enhancement after 3 months of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy.
The effect of bilingualism on brain development from early childhood to young adulthood
Authors: Pliatsikas Christos , Meteyard Lotte , Veríssimo João , DeLuca Vincent , Shattuck Kyle , Ullman Michael T.
Published: July 2020

Bilingualism affects the structure of the brain in adults, as evidenced by experience-dependent grey and white matter changes in brain structures implicated in language learning, processing, and control. However, limited evidence exists on how bilingualism may influence brain development. We examined the developmental patterns of both grey and white matter structures in a cross-sectional study of a large sample (n = 711 for grey matter, n = 637 for white matter) of bilingual and monolingual participants, aged 3–21 years. Metrics of grey matter (thickness, volume, and surface area) and white matter (fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity) were examined across 41 cortical and subcortical brain structures and 20 tracts, respectively. We used generalized additive modelling to analyze whether, how, and where the developmental trajectories of bilinguals and monolinguals might differ. Bilingual and monolingual participants manifested distinct developmental trajectories in both grey and white matter structures. As compared to monolinguals, bilinguals showed: (a) more grey matter (less developmental loss) starting during late childhood and adolescence, mainly in frontal and parietal regions (particularly in the inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis, superior frontal cortex, inferior and superior parietal cortex, and precuneus); and (b) higher white matter integrity (greater developmental increase) starting during mid-late adolescence, specifically in striatal–inferior frontal fibers. The data suggest that there may be a developmental basis to the well-documented structural differences in the brain between bilingual and monolingual adults.
Anomalous diffusion of random walk on random planar maps
Authors: Gwynne Ewain , Hutchcroft Tom
Published: July 2020

We prove that the simple random walk on the uniform infinite planar triangulation (UIPT) typically travels graph distance at most $$n^{1/4 + o_n(1)}$$

n

1
/
4
+

o
n

(
1
)

in n units of time. Together with the complementary lower bound proven by Gwynne and Miller (2017) this shows that the typical graph distance displacement of the walk after n steps is $$n^{1/4 + o_n(1)}$$

n

1
/
4
+

o
n

(
1
)

, as conjectured by Benjamini and Curien (Geom Funct Anal 2(2):501–531, 2013. arXiv:1202.5454). More generally, we show that the simple random walks on a certain family of random planar maps in the $$\gamma $$
γ
-Liouville quantum gravity (LQG) universality class for $$\gamma \in (0,2)$$

γ
∈
(
0
,
2
)

—including spanning tree-weighted maps, bipolar-oriented maps, and mated-CRT maps—typically travels graph distance $$n^{1/d_\gamma + o_n(1)}$$

n

1
/

d
γ

+

o
n

(
1
)

in n units of time, where $$d_\gamma $$

d
γ

is the growth exponent for the volume of a metric ball on the map, which was shown to exist and depend only on $$\gamma $$
γ
by Ding and Gwynne (Commun Math Phys 374:1877–1934, 2018. arXiv:1807.01072). Since $$d_\gamma > 2$$

d
γ

>
2

, this shows that the simple random walk on each of these maps is subdiffusive. Our proofs are based on an embedding of the random planar maps under consideration into $${\mathbb {C}}$$
C
wherein graph distance balls can be compared to Euclidean balls modulo subpolynomial errors. This embedding arises from a coupling of the given random planar map with a mated-CRT map together with the relationship of the latter map to SLE-decorated LQG.
Faster & strong: string dictionary compression using sampling and fast vectorized decompression
Authors: Lasch Robert , Oukid Ismail , Dementiev Roman , May Norman , Demirsoy Suleyman S. , Sattler Kai-Uwe
Published: July 2020

String dictionaries constitute a large portion of the memory footprint of database applications. While strong string dictionary compression algorithms exist, these come with impractical access and compression times. Therefore, lightweight algorithms such as front coding (PFC) are favored in practice. This paper endeavors to make strong string dictionary compression practical. We focus on Re-Pair Front Coding (RPFC), a grammar-based compression algorithm, since it consistently offers better compression ratios than other algorithms in the literature. To accelerate compression times, we propose block-based RPFC (BRPFC) which consists in independently compressing small blocks of the dictionary. For further accelerated compression times especially on large string dictionaries, we also propose an alternative version of BRPFC that uses sampling to speed up compression. Moreover, to accelerate access times, we devise a vectorized access method, using $$\hbox {Intel}^{\circledR }$$

Intel
®

 Advanced Vector Extensions 512 ($$\hbox {Intel}^{\circledR }$$

Intel
®

 AVX-512). Our experimental evaluation shows that sampled BRPFC offers compression times up to 190 $$\times $$
×
faster than RPFC, and random string lookups 2.3 $$\times $$
×
faster than RPFC on average. These results move our modified RPFC into a practical range for use in database systems because the overhead of Re-Pair-based compression for access times can be reduced by 2 $$\times $$
×
.
Low-dose methadone for refractory chronic migraine accompanied by medication-overuse headache: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Benemei Silvia , Lupi Chiara , De Cesaris Francesco , Lombardi Niccolò , Bettiol Alessandra , Chiarugi Alberto , Geppetti Pierangelo , Galli Valentina , Pracucci Chiara , Occupati Brunella , Mannaioni Guido
Published: July 2020

Objectives

A refractory chronic migraine (RCM) accompanied by medication-overuse headache (MOH) is an extremely disabling disease. Evidence suggests that in selected patients, chronic opioids may be a valuable therapeutic option for RCM. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of prophylaxis with low-dose methadone (LDM) in patients affected by RCM with continuous headache and MOH.

Methods

A prospective cohort study was performed between May 2012 and November 2015 at the Headache Center and Toxicology Unit of the Careggi University Hospital. Eligible patients were treated with prophylactic LDM and followed up for 12 months. Headache exacerbations, pain intensity, use of rescue medications, and occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were recorded.

Results

Thirty patients (24 females, median age 48 years) were enrolled. Nineteen (63%) patients dropped out, mainly because of early ADRs (n = 10), including nausea, vomiting, and constipation. At last available follow-up, LDM was associated with a significant decrease in the number of headache attacks/month (from a median of 45 (interquartile range 30–150) to 16 (5–30), p < 0.001), in pain intensity (from 8.5 (8–9) to 5 (3–6), p < 0.001), and in the number of rescue medications consumed per month (from 95 (34–240) to 15 (3–28), p < 0.001). No misuse or diversion cases were observed.

Conclusion

LDM could represent a valuable and effective option in selected patients affected by RCM with continuous headache and MOH, although the frequency of early ADRs poses major safety concerns. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of LDM prophylaxis.
Are antiangiogenics a good ‘partner’ for immunotherapy in ovarian cancer?
Authors: García-Martínez Elena , Redondo Andres , Piulats Josep Maria , Rodríguez Analía , Casado Antonio
Published: July 2020

Ovarian cancer (OC) is associated with poor survival because there are a limited number of effective therapies. Two processes key to OC progression, angiogenesis and immune evasion, act synergistically to promote tumor progression. Tumor-associated angiogenesis promotes immune evasion, and tumor-related immune responses in the peritoneal cavity and tumor microenvironment (TME) affect neovascular formation. Therefore, suppressing the angiogenic pathways could facilitate the arrival of immune effector cells and reduce the presence of myeloid cells involved in immune suppression. To date, clinical studies have shown significant benefits with antiangiogenic therapy as first-line therapy in OC, as well as in recurrent disease, and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor bevacizumab is now an established therapy. Clinical data with immunomodulators in OC are more limited, but suggest that they could benefit some patients with recurrent disease. The preliminary results of two phase III trials have shown that the addition of immunomodulators to chemotherapy does not improve progression-free survival. For this reason, it could be interesting to look for synergistic effects between immunomodulators and other active drugs in OC. Since bevacizumab is approved for use in OC, and is tolerable when used in combination with immunotherapy in other indications, a number of clinical studies are underway to investigate the use of bevacizumab in combination with immunotherapeutic agents in OC. This strategy seeks to normalize the TME via the anti-VEGF actions of bevacizumab, while simultaneously stimulating the immune response via the immunotherapy. Results of these studies are awaited with interest.
Growth and biofouling in kelp aquaculture (Saccharina latissima): the effect of location and wave exposure
Authors: Visch Wouter , Nylund Göran M. , Pavia Henrik
Published: July 2020

Seaweed aquaculture is receiving increasing attention for food and non-food applications in Europe, where it is still an emerging industry. The cultivation of seaweeds in the sea is attractive as it does not compete with agricultural crops for land and freshwater, whilst generating high yearly biomass yield. The selection of suitable cultivation sites in coastal waters is essential for the sustainable establishment and further development of seaweed aquaculture in Europe. Here, we investigate the effects of wave exposure and geographic location on growth and biofouling of kelp (Saccharina latissima), using a transplantation experiment along the Swedish west coast. Biofouling of kelp decreased with increased wave exposure, from 10 and 6% coverage at sheltered and moderately exposed locations, respectively, to 3% at exposed locations. Growth, measured as blade surface area, generally increased with decreased wave exposure, with approximately 40% less growth at exposed locations compared to sheltered or moderately exposed location. We identified that there is large spatial variation in growth and fouling of the seaweed biomass at the selected farm sites, with significant differences from the km-scale to the m-scale. In addition, exposure level affected the tissue composition, with a high carbon, but low nitrogen and water content at exposed locations compared to moderate and sheltered sites. Isotope signatures (i.e. δ13C and δ15N) also differed between exposure levels. Together, these results indicate that wave exposure is an important factor to consider in site selection for both yield as well as quality of the seaweed biomass for future kelp farms.
Art (Pre)History: Ritual, Narrative and Visual Culture in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe
Authors: Robb John
Published: July 2020

Can we reconstruct how prehistoric people perceived things (their “ways of seeing” or visual culture)? This challenge is made more difficult by the traditional disciplinary assumptions built into prehistoric art studies, for instance focusing narrowly upon a single body of art in isolation. This paper proposes an alternative approach, using comparative study to reveal broad regional changes in visual culture. Although prehistoric art specialists rarely work comparatively, art historians are familiar with describing continent-wide general developments in visual culture and placing them in social context (for instance, the traditional broad-brush history from Classical to medieval to Renaissance systems of representation). This paper does the same for Neolithic (6000–2500 BC) vs. Bronze Age (2500–800 BC) and Iron Age (800 BC–Classical) rock and cave art from sites across Europe, uncovering broad patterns of change. The principal pattern is a shift from a Neolithic iconic art which uses heavily encoded imagery, often schematic geometric motifs, to a Bronze/Iron Age narrative art, which increasingly involves imagery of identifiable people, animals and objects. Moreover, there is also an increasing tendency for motifs to be associated in scenes rather than purely accumulative, and with contextual changes in how art is used—a movement from hidden places to more open or accessible places. Underlying all these changes is a shift in how rock and cave art was used, from citations reproducing ritual knowledge to composed arrays telling narratives of personhood.
Online Problem Gambling: A Comparison of Casino Players and Sports Bettors via Predictive Modeling Using Behavioral Tracking Data
Authors: Ukhov Ivan , Bjurgert Johan , Auer Michael , Griffiths Mark D.
Published: July 2020

In this study, the differences in behavior between two groups of online gamblers were investigated. The first group comprised individuals who played casino games, and the second group comprised those who bet on sports events. The focal point of the study was on problem gambling, and the objective was to identify and quantify both common and distinct traits that are characteristic to casino and sports problem gamblers. To this end, a set of gamblers from the gaming operator LeoVegas was studied. Each gambler was ascribed two binary variables: one separating casino players from sports bettors, and one indicating whether there was an exclusion related to problem gambling. For each of the four combinations of the two variables, 2500 gamblers were randomly selected for a thorough comparison, resulting in a total of 10,000 participants. The comparison was performed by constructing two predictive models, estimating risk scores using these models, and scrutinizing the risk scores by means of a technique originating from collaborative game theory. The number of cash wagers per active day contributed the most to problem-gambling-related exclusion in the case of sports betting, whereas the volume of money spent contributed the most to this exclusion in the case of casino players. The contribution of the volume of losses per active day was noticeable in the case of both casino players and sports bettors. For casino players, gambling via desktop computers contributed positively to problem-gambling-related exclusion. For sports bettors, it was more concerning when the individual used mobile devices. The number of approved deposits per active day contributed to problem-gambling-related exclusion to a larger extent for sports bettors than casino players. The main conclusion is that the studied explanatory variables contribute differently to problem-gambling-related exclusion among casino players and sports bettors.
Estimation of Local Microcanonical Averages in Two Lattice Mean-Field Models Using Coupling Techniques
Authors: Koskinen Kalle , Lukkarinen Jani
Published: July 2020

We consider an application of probabilistic coupling techniques which provides explicit estimates for comparison of local expectation values between label permutation invariant states, for instance, between certain microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensemble expectations. A particular goal is to obtain good bounds for how such errors will decay with increasing system size. As explicit examples, we focus on two well-studied mean-field models: the discrete model of a paramagnet and the mean-field spherical model of a continuum field, both of which are related to the Curie–Weiss model. The proof is based on a construction of suitable probabilistic couplings between the relevant states, using Wasserstein fluctuation distance to control the difference between the expectations in the thermodynamic limit.
Convolutional neural networks for relevance feedback in content based image retrieval
Authors: Putzu Lorenzo , Piras Luca , Giacinto Giorgio
Published: July 2020

Given the great success of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for image representation and classification tasks, we argue that Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) systems could also leverage on CNN capabilities, mainly when Relevance Feedback (RF) mechanisms are employed. On the one hand, to improve the performances of CBIRs, that are strictly related to the effectiveness of the descriptors used to represent an image, as they aim at providing the user with images similar to an initial query image. On the other hand, to reduce the semantic gap between the similarity perceived by the user and the similarity computed by the machine, by exploiting an RF mechanism where the user labels the returned images as being relevant or not concerning her interests. Consequently, in this work, we propose a CBIR system based on transfer learning from a CNN trained on a vast image database, thus exploiting the generic image representation that it has already learned. Then, the pre-trained CNN is also fine-tuned exploiting the RF supplied by the user to reduce the semantic gap. In particular, after the user’s feedback, we propose to tune and then re-train the CNN according to the labelled set of relevant and non-relevant images. Then, we suggest different strategies to exploit the updated CNN for returning a novel set of images that are expected to be relevant to the user’s needs. Experimental results on different data sets show the effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms in improving the representation power of the CNN with respect to the user concept of image similarity. Moreover, the pros and cons of the different approaches can be clearly pointed out, thus providing clear guidelines for the implementation in production environments.
Rooted Spanning Superpixels
Authors: Chai Dengfeng
Published: July 2020

This paper proposes a new approach for superpixel segmentation. It is formulated as finding a rooted spanning forest of a graph with respect to some roots and a path-cost function. The underlying graph represents an image, the roots serve as seeds for segmentation, each pixel is connected to one seed via a path, the path-cost function measures both the color similarity and spatial closeness between two pixels via a path, and each tree in the spanning forest represents one superpixel. Originating from the evenly distributed seeds, the superpixels are guided by a path-cost function to grow uniformly and adaptively, the pixel-by-pixel growing continues until they cover the whole image. The number of superpixels is controlled by the number of seeds. The connectivity is maintained by region growing. Good performances are assured by connecting each pixel to the similar seed, which are dominated by the path-cost function. It is evaluated by both the superpixel benchmark and supervoxel benchmark. Its performance is ranked as the second among top performing state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, it is much faster than the other superpixel and supervoxel methods.
Floodability: A New Paradigm for Designing Urban Drainage and Achieving Sustainable Urban Growth
Authors: La Loggia Goffredo , Puleo Valeria , Freni Gabriele
Published: July 2020

For a large part of human history, urbanization was focused on two main objectives: defence and resource harvesting. The first objective was always achieved in a broad sense, i.e., defending the population from other humans and from natural events. Focusing on human activities, this defensive approach was also applied to urban drainage, which resulted in a systematic underestimation of the impacts of urbanization on natural systems. Environmental sustainability was introduced in an attempt to mitigate these impacts, as they had the potential to endanger future developments; thus, the possibility that urban floods may be the lesser evil was accepted. Resilience was then introduced to improve not only defence of urban areas but also their ability to recover from negative events, even though physical resilience is not always accompanied by social resilience. This paper attempts to address the philosophy of urban drainage design, introducing the new concept of floodability as an evolution of flood resilience by identifying its requirements and drivers and by using real examples to present the new concept.
Constraints in Anaerobic Microbial Dechlorination, Fermentation, and Sulfate-Reduction Induced by High Concentrations of Tetrachloroethylene
Authors: Yoshikawa Miho , Zhang Ming
Published: July 2020

Anaerobic bioremediation of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) under high concentration conditions is difficult. Anaerobic dechlorination of PCE occurs with synergetic reactions, fermentation, and sulfate-reduction; however, the way in which high concentrations of PCE affects these reactions is still poorly understood. This study aims to elucidate how high concentrations of PCE affect fermentation and sulfate-reduction, as well as PCE dechlorination. Laboratory dechlorination tests were performed using a wide concentration range of PCE between 2 and 125 mg/L added to a microbial consortium that had been continuously cultivated in the laboratory and completely dechlorinated PCE for over 4 years. Fermentation of lactate, reduction of sulfate, and dechlorination of PCE were monitored in addition to microbial activities based on RNA. All three reactions, fermentation, sulfate-reduction, and PCE dechlorination were observed to be inhibited. The inhibition for fermentation, sulfate-reduction, and dechlorination occurred when PCE concentrations were higher than 125, 75, and 30 mg/L, respectively. The fermenter, Anaerotignum, and the sulfate-reducer, Desulfosporosinus, were active when the dechlorination was inhibited with 30 mg/L of PCE. These findings suggest that there is interference of PCE dechlorination, despite the occurrence of fermentation and sulfate reduction. Bioaugmentation with a PCE dechlorinator that is tolerant to high PCE concentrations can be a possible solution for bioremediation of PCE when its concentrations are greater than 30 mg/L.
Recovery-stress balance in professional and U-21 soccer: differences between starters and substitutes
Authors: Filho Edson , Butterworth Kelly
Published: July 2020

Soccer players at the U-21 level are in the challenging process of transitioning to the professional level. Accordingly, we examined whether U-21 soccer players would show a similar recovery-stress balance profile as professional soccer players. Furthermore, we explored differences in recovery-stress balance by playing status (i.e., starter or substitute). Twenty-nine players from a League One (UK) soccer club (15 professional players and 14 U-21 players) participated in the study. The players completed a demographic form and the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport). A series of 2 (team: professional or U-21) × 2 (player status: starter or substitute) ANOVAs were performed on all sub-dimensions of the RESTQ-Sport. Starters showed significantly higher levels of general well-being, being in shape, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, analysis of the interaction terms suggested that players who were professional and substitutes showed the least healthy recovery-stress balance profile among all groups of players. Accordingly, coaches and applied sport psychologists should pay special attention to the recovery-stress balance of substitute players who might be at a higher risk of overtraining and burnout.
The contribution of PM2.5 to cardiovascular disease in China
Authors: Zhang Shuqi , Routledge Michael N.
Published: July 2020

China is experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization with correspondingly high levels of air pollution. Although the harm of PM2.5 has been long reported, it is only quite recently that there is increasing concern in China for its possible adverse health effects on cardiovascular disease. We reviewed the epidemiologic evidence of potential health effects of PM2.5 on cardiovascular disease reported from recent studies in China (2013 onwards). There is clear evidence for the contribution of PM2.5 to cardiovascular outcomes, including mortality, ischemic heart disease, and stroke from studies based in various regions in China. This evidence adds to the global evidence that PM2.5 contributes to adverse cardiovascular health risk and highlights the need for improved air quality in China.
Bases for Structures and Theories I
Authors: Ketland Jeffrey
Published: July 2020

Sometimes structures or theories are formulated with different sets of primitives and yet are definitionally equivalent. In a sense, the transformations between such equivalent formulations are rather like basis transformations in linear algebra or co-ordinate transformations in geometry. Here an analogous idea is investigated. Let a relational signature $$P = \{P_i\}_{i \in I_P}$$

P
=

{

P
i

}

i
∈

I
P

be given. For a set $$\Phi = \{\phi _i\}_{i \in I_{\Phi }}$$

Φ
=

{

ϕ
i

}

i
∈

I
Φ

of $$L_P$$

L
P

-formulas, we introduce a corresponding set $$Q = \{Q_i\}_{i \in I_{\Phi }}$$

Q
=

{

Q
i

}

i
∈

I
Φ

of new relation symbols and a set of explicit definitions of the $$Q_i$$

Q
i

in terms of the $$\phi _i$$

ϕ
i

. This is called a definition system, denoted $$d_{\Phi }$$

d
Φ

. A definition system $$d_{\Phi }$$

d
Φ

determines a translation function$$\tau _{\Phi } : L_Q \rightarrow L_P$$

τ
Φ

:

L
Q

→

L
P

. Any $$L_P$$

L
P

-structure A can be uniquely definitionally expanded to a model $$A^{+} \models d_{\Phi }$$

A
+

⊧

d
Φ

, called $$A + d_{\Phi }$$

A
+

d
Φ

. The reduct $$A + d_{\Phi }$$

A
+

d
Φ

to the Q-symbols is called the definitional image$$D_{\Phi }A$$

D
Φ

A

of A. Likewise, a theory T in $$L_P$$

L
P

may be extended a definitional extension $$T + d_{\Phi }$$

T
+

d
Φ

; the restriction of this extension $$T + d_{\Phi }$$

T
+

d
Φ

to $$L_Q$$

L
Q

is called the definitional image$$D_{\Phi }T$$

D
Φ

T

of T. If $$T_1$$

T
1

and $$T_2$$

T
2

are in disjoint signatures and $$T_1 + d_{\Phi } \equiv T_2 + d_{\Theta }$$

T
1

+

d
Φ

≡

T
2

+

d
Θ

, we say that $$T_1$$

T
1

and $$T_2$$

T
2

are definitionally equivalent (wrt the definition systems $$d_{\Phi }$$

d
Φ

and $$d_{\Theta }$$

d
Θ

). Some results relating these notions are given, culminating in two characterization theorems for the definitional equivalence of structures and theories.
Malcolm X and the Philosophical Theology of James H. Cone
Authors: Pugh Maurice
Published: July 2020

Malcolm X emerged as one of the foremost and formidable leaders of the late 50s and early 60s. He esteemed and affirmed black culture, history, and beauty, thus igniting a nationalistic movement that injected “Black Power” and “Black Pride” into the America lexicon. Malcolm’s pro-black message also shaped the philosophy and methodology of a young theologian named James H. Cone who was struggling at the time to construct a Christian faith relevant to an oppressed and frustrated Black community. Cone blazed a new trail in the 1960s as the prophetic voice and the prolific scholar who creatively integrated the social justice theology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the black ideology of Malcolm X.
A Contrastivist Response to Gerken’s Arguments for False Positives
Authors: Volpe Giorgio
Published: July 2020

In this paper, I defend epistemological contrastivism—the view that propositional knowledge is a three-place, contrastive relation between an agent, a proposition (or fact) and a contrast term—against two a priori arguments recently offered by Mikkel Gerken for the conclusion that intuitive judgements exhibiting a contrast effect on knowledge ascriptions are false positives. I show that the epistemic argument for false positives begs the question against contrastivism by assuming the independently implausible claim that knowledge of a contrastive proposition always presupposes knowledge of a related ordinary proposition. This claim is apparently also presupposed by the doxastic argument for false positives, the conclusion of which, I argue, is not only perfectly compatible with epistemological contrastivism but also heavily dependent on a (questionable)de dictoconstrual of the relevant knowledge ascriptions.
Discrepancies in parents’ and adolescents’ reports on parent-adolescent communication and associations to adolescents’ psychological health
Authors: Kapetanovic Sabina , Boson Karin
Published: July 2020

Parental knowledge of adolescents’ whereabouts is central for healthy adolescent development. However, parents and their adolescent children often perceive parenting practices differently. Using data from matching parent and adolescent dyads (n = 477) from the longitudinal research program LoRDIA, we investigated in what way disagreement between parents’ and adolescents’ reports on parental knowledge, solicitation and behavioral control and adolescent disclosure, is longitudinally related to girls’ and boys’ psychological problems (internalizing and externalizing) and well-being. The adolescents’ mean age was 13.0 years (SD = .56) at T1 and 14.30 years (SD = .61) at T2, evenly distributed between boys (52.6%) and (47.4%) girls at baseline. The discrepancy scores were calculated by subtracting the adolescent’s scores from the parent’s scores. Parent-adolescent discrepancies had somewhat different patterns of associations with boys’ and girls’ psychological problems and well-being. Parental knowledge discrepancy was related to higher levels of girls’ externalizing problems while parental solicitation discrepancy was related to higher levels of boys’ externalizing problems and lower levels of girls’ wellbeing. Adolescent disclosure discrepancy was related to higher levels of girls’ internalizing problems and lower levels of well-being. Negative concurrent associations were shown between parental control discrepancy and adolescents’ internalizing problems. Parents’ overestimating the level of parent-adolescent communication, including adolescent disclosure, and parental solicitation in particular, is disadvantageous for adolescent psychological health.
Enhancing expatriates’ assignments success: the relationships between cultural intelligence, cross-cultural adaptation and performance
Authors: Setti Ilaria , Sommovigo Valentina , Argentero Piergiorgio
Published: July 2020

Today’s increasingly global marketplace is resulting in more organizations sending employees to work outside their home countries as expatriates. Consequently, identifying factors influencing expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment at work and performance has become an increasingly important issue for both researchers and firms. Drawing on Kim et al. (2008), this study examines the critical elements to expatriate success, which are the relationships between cultural intelligence, cross-cultural adjustment at work, and assignment-specific performance. One-hundred and fifty-one expatriates working within the energy sector, who were mainly located in the Middle East completed questionnaires, investigating: cultural intelligence (Cultural Intelligence Scale), cross-cultural adjustment (Expatriate Adjustment Scale), performance (Expatriate Contextual/Managerial Performance Skills), cultural distance (Kogut and Singh’ index), length of staying in the host country and international work experience. Findings indicated that the four cultural intelligence components were directly and indirectly (through cross-cultural adjustment at work) associated with performance. The positive relationship between motivational cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment at work was stronger when cultural distance was low, when expatriates were at the beginning of a new international assignment, and when they had lower experience. Organizations can greatly benefit from hiring cross-culturally intelligent expatriates for international assignments, providing their employees with pre-departure training programs aimed at increasing cultural intelligence, and giving them organizational resources and logistical help to support them.
What Competences Are Required to Deliver Person-Person Behaviour Change Interventions: Development of a Health Behaviour Change Competency Framework
Authors: Dixon Diane , Johnston Marie
Published: July 2020

Background

The competence of the person delivering person-to-person behaviour change interventions may influence the effectiveness of the intervention. However, we lack a framework for describing the range of competences involved. The objective of the current work was to develop a competency framework for health behaviour change interventions.

Method

A preliminary framework was developed by two judges rating the relevance of items in the competency framework for cognitive behaviour therapies; adding relevant items from reviews and other competency frameworks; and obtaining feedback from potential users on a draft framework. The Health Behaviour Change Competency Framework (HBCCF) was used to analyse the competency content of smoking cessation manuals.

Results

Judges identified 194 competency items as relevant, which were organised into two domains: foundation (12 competency topics comprising 56 competencies) and behaviour change (12 topics, 54 competencies); several of the 54 and 56 competencies were composed of sub-competencies (84 subcompetencies in total). Smoking cessation manuals included 14 competency topics from the foundation and behaviour change competency domains.

Conclusion

The HBCCF provides a structured method for assessing and reporting competency to deliver behaviour change interventions. It can be applied to assess a practitioner’s competency and training needs and to identify the competencies needed for a particular intervention. To date, it has been used in self-assessments and in developing training programmes. We propose the HBCCF as a practical tool for researchers, employers, and those who design and provide training. We envisage the HBCFF maturing and adapting as evidence that identifies the essential elements required for the effective delivery of behaviour change interventions emerges.
Donor hearts in the Sydney Heart Bank: reliable control but is it ‘normal’ heart?
Authors: Marston Steven , Jacques Adam , Bayliss Christopher , Dyer Emma , Memo Massimiliano , Papadaki Maria , Messer Andrew
Published: July 2020

Human heart samples from the Sydney Heart Bank have become a de facto standard against which others can be measured. Crucially, the heart bank contains a lot of donor heart material: for most researchers this is the hardest to obtain and yet is necessary since we can only study the pathological human heart in comparison with a control, preferably a normal heart sample. It is not generally realised how important the control is for human heart studies. We review our studies on donor heart samples. We report the results obtained with 17 different donor samples collected from 1994 to 2011 and measured from 2005 to 2015 by our standard methodology for in vitro motility and troponin I phosphorylation measurements. The donor heart sample parameters are consistent between the hearts, over time and with different operators indicating that Sydney Heart Bank donor hearts are a valid baseline control for comparison with pathological heart samples. We also discuss to what extent donor heart samples are representative of the normal heart.
Time-domain non-linear aeroelastic analysis via a projection-based reduced-order model
Authors: Lee S. , Cho H. , Kim H. , Shin S.-J.
Published: July 2020

The aeroelastic phenomenon of limit-cycle oscillations (LCOs) is analysed using a projection-based reduced-order model (PROM) and Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the time domain. The proposed approach employs incompressible Navier–Stokes CFD to construct the full-order model flow field. A proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the snapshot matrix is conducted to extract the POD modes and corresponding temporal coefficients. The POD modes are directly projected to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equation to reconstruct the flow field efficiently. The methodology is applied to a plunging cylinder and an aerofoil undergoing LCOs. This scheme decreases the computational time while preserving the capability to predict the flow field accurately. The ROM is capable of reducing the computational time by at least 70% while maintaining the discrepancy within 0.1%. The causes of LCOs are also investigated. The scheme can be used to analyse non-linear aeroelastic phenomena in the time domain with reduced computational time.
An estimation method for the fuel burn and other performance characteristics of civil transport aircraft in the cruise. Part 1 fundamental quantities and governing relations for a general atmosphere
Authors: Poll D.I.A. , Schumann U.
Published: July 2020

This paper is one of a series addressing the need for simple, yet accurate, methods for the estimation of cruise fuel burn and other important aircraft performance parameters. Here, a previously published, constant Reynolds number model for turbofan-powered, civil transport aircraft is extended to include Reynolds number effects. Provided the variation of temperature with pressure is known, the method is applicable to flight in any atmospheric conditions. For a given aircraft, cruising in a given atmosphere, there is a single Mach number and Flight Level pair, at which the fuel burn per unit distance travelled through the air has an absolute minimum value. Both these quantities depend upon the Reynolds number, which, in turn, depends upon the aircraft weight and the atmospheric vertical temperature profile. Simple, explicit expressions are developed for all parameters at the optimum condition. These are shown to be in close agreement with numerical solutions of the governing equations. It is found that typical operational mass and temperature profile variations can change cruise fuel burn rate by several percent. In the International Standard Atmosphere, when the speed and altitude deviate from their optimum values, the fuel burn penalty is reduced slightly relative to the constant Reynolds number case. By way of example, the method is used to estimate the minimum fuel, speed-versus-height trajectory for cruise in a realistic atmosphere.

For each aircraft, cruise fuel burn is found to be governed by six independent parameters. All are constants. Two are simple, involving only size and weight, whereas four are complex and must be determined by either theoretical, or empirical, means. The estimation of these quantities will be considered in Part 2.
Essential Properties Are Super-Explanatory: Taming Metaphysical Modality
Authors: GODMAN MARION , MALLOZZI ANTONELLA , PAPINEAU DAVID
Published: July 2020

This article aims to build a bridge between two areas of philosophical research: the structure of kinds and metaphysical modality. Our central thesis is that kinds typically involvesuper-explanatoryproperties, and that these properties are therefore metaphysically essential to natural kinds. Philosophers of science who work on kinds tend to emphasize their complexity, and are generally resistant to any suggestion that they have essences. The complexities are real enough, but they should not be allowed to obscure the way that kinds are typically unified by certain core properties. We show how this unifying role offers a natural account of why certain properties are metaphysically essential to kinds.
The Grounds of Political Legitimacy
Authors: PETER FABIENNE
Published: July 2020

The debate over rival conceptions of political legitimacy tends to focus on first-order considerations—for example, on the relative importance of procedural and substantive values. In this essay, I argue that there is an important, but often overlooked, distinction among rival conceptions of political legitimacy that originates at the meta-normative level. This distinction, which cuts across the distinctions drawn at the first-order level, concerns the source of the normativity of political legitimacy, or, as I refer to it here, the grounds of political legitimacy. If we focus on the grounds of political legitimacy, there are three main conceptions of political legitimacy: will-based, belief-based, and fact-based conceptions. I present an objection to each of those main conceptions and defend a hybrid account of the grounds of political legitimacy.
Research on COVID-19 through patient-reported data: a survey for observational studies in the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Verma Shefali Setia , Chung Wendy K. , Dudek Scott , Williamson Jennifer L. , Verma Anurag , Robinson Scott , Rader Daniel J. , Reilly Muredach P. , Sengupta Soumitra , FitzGerald Garret A. , Kiryluk Krzysztof , Ritchie Marylyn D.
Published: July 2020

Understanding the clinical risk factors for COVID-19 disease severity and outcomes requires a combination of data from electronic health records and patient reports. To facilitate the collection of patient-reported data, as well as accelerate and standardize the collection of data about host factors, we have constructed a COVID-19 survey. This survey is freely available to the scientific community to send electronically for patients to complete online. This patient survey is designed to be comprehensive, yet not overly burdensome, to gather data useful for a range of clinical investigations, and to accommodate a wide variety of implementation settings including at a COVID-19 testing site, at home during infection or after recovery, and/or for individuals while they are hospitalized. A widely adopted standardized survey that can be implemented online with minimal resources can serve as a critical tool for combining and comparing data across studies to improve our understanding of COVID-19 disease.
Social Jetlag is Independently Associated with Chronotype and Poor Memory for Extinguished Fear
Authors: Bottary Ryan , Cunningham Tony J. , Spencer Rebecca M.C. , Pace-Schott Edward F.
Published: July 2020

Social jetlag (SJ) occurs when sleep-timing irregularities from social or occupational demands conflict with endogenous sleep–wake rhythms. SJ is associated with evening chronotype and poor mental health, but mechanisms supporting this link remain unknown. Impaired ability to retrieve extinction memory is an emotion regulatory deficit observed in some psychiatric illnesses. Thus, SJ-dependent extinction memory deficits may provide a mechanism for poor mental health. To test this, healthy male college students completed 7–9 nights of actigraphy, sleep questionnaires, and a fear conditioning and extinction protocol. As expected, greater SJ, but not total sleep time discrepancy, was associated with poorer extinction memory. Unexpectedly, greater SJ was associated with a tendency toward morning rather than evening chronotype. These findings suggest that deficient extinction memory represents a potential mechanism linking SJ to psychopathology and that SJ is particularly problematic for college students with a greater tendency toward a morning chronotype.
Attenuation of glycaemic and insulin responses following tapioca resistant maltodextrin consumption in healthy subjects: a randomised cross-over controlled trial
Authors: Astina Junaida , Sapwarobol Suwimol
Published: July 2020

Resistant maltodextrin (RMD) from various sources of starch has been extensively studied. However, studies which reported the effects of tapioca RMD (TRM) on glucose and insulin response are lacking. This study investigated the effect of TRM on postprandial plasma glucose and serum insulin in healthy subjects. Additionally, satiety and gastrointestinal tolerability were also evaluated. Sixteen healthy participants received five different treatments on five separate days. Participants received 50 g of either: glucose (GL), tapioca maltodextrin (TM), TRM, MIX15% (7⋅5 g TRM + 42⋅5 g TM) or MIX50% (25 g TRM + 25 g TM). Plasma glucose, serum insulin and subjective appetite responses were measured postprandially over 180 min. Gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated by questionnaire before and after each test day. Results showed that at 30 min after treatment drinks, plasma glucose after TRM was significantly lowest (104⋅60 (sem 2⋅63 mg/dl) than after GL (135⋅87 (sem 4⋅88) mg/dl; P <0⋅001), TM (127⋅93 (sem 4⋅05) mg/dl; P = 0⋅001), MIX15% (124⋅67 (sem 5⋅73) mg/dl; P = 0⋅039) and MIX50% (129⋅33 (sem 5⋅23) mg/dl; P = 0⋅003) (1 mg/dl = 0⋅0555 mmol/l). In addition, TRM also significantly reduced serum insulin (13⋅01 (sem 2⋅12) μIU/ml) compared with GL (47⋅90 (sem 11⋅93) μIU/ml; P = 0⋅013), TM (52⋅96 (sem 17⋅68) μIU/ml; P = 0⋅002) and MIX50% (33⋅16 (sem 4⋅99) μIU/ml; P = 0⋅008). However, there were no significant differences in subjective appetite between treatments (P > 0⋅05). A single high dose of TRM (50 g) caused flatulence (P < 0⋅05). Tapioca resistant maltodextrin has low digestibility in the small intestine and, therefore, reduced incremental plasma glucose and serum insulin, without affecting satiety in healthy subjects over 180 min. Gastrointestinal tolerability of TRM should be considered when consumed in high doses.
VOICULESCU’S THEOREM FOR NONSEPARABLE -ALGEBRAS
Authors: VACCARO ANDREA
Published: July 2020

We prove that Voiculescu’s noncommutative version of the Weyl-von Neumann Theorem can be extended to all unital, separably representable
$\mathrm {C}^\ast $
-algebras whose density character is strictly smaller than the (uncountable) cardinal invariant
$\mathfrak {p}$
. We show moreover that Voiculescu’s Theorem consistently fails for
$\mathrm {C}^\ast $
-algebras of larger density character.