bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Responses to assisted suicide requests: an interview study with Swiss palliative care physicians
Authors: Gamondi Claudia , Borasio Gian Domenico , Oliver Pam , Preston Nancy , Payne Sheila
Published: August 2017

Objectives

Assisted suicide in Switzerland is mainly performed by right-to-die societies. Medical involvement is limited to the prescription of the drug and certification of eligibility. Palliative care has traditionally been perceived as generally opposed to assisted suicide, but little is known about palliative care physicians’ involvement in assisted suicide practices. This paper aims to describe their perspectives and involvement in assisted suicide practices.

Methods

A qualitative interview study was conducted with 23 palliative care physicians across Switzerland. Thematic analysis was used to interpret data.

Results

Swiss palliative care physicians regularly receive assisted suicide requests while none reported having received specific training in managing these requests. Participants reported being involved in assisted suicide decision making most were not willing to prescribe the lethal drug. After advising patients of the limits on their involvement in assisted suicide, the majority explored the origins of the patient’s request and offered alternatives. Many participants struggled to reconcile their understanding of palliative care principles with patients’ wishes to exercise their autonomy. The majority of participants had no direct contact with right-to-die societies, many desired better collaboration. A desire was voiced for a more structured debate on assisted suicide availability in hospitals and clearer legal and institutional frameworks.

Conclusions

The Swiss model of assisted suicide gives palliative care physicians opportunities to develop roles which are compatible with each practitioner’s values, but may not correspond to patients’ expectations. Specific education for all palliative care professionals and more structured ways to manage communication about assisted suicide are warranted.
Determining the Mechanisms of Dietary Turnip Rapeseed Oil on Cholesterol Metabolism in Men with Metabolic Syndrome
Authors: Saarinen Harri Juhani , Sittiwet Chaiyasit , Simonen Piia , Nissinen Markku J , Stenman Ulf-Håkan , Gylling Helena , Palomäki Ari
Published: August 2017

We have earlier reported the reduction of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and oxidized LDL caused by short-term modification of diet with cold-pressed turnip rapeseed oil (CPTRO) instead of butter. The aim of this supplementary study was to determine whether the beneficial effects resulted from altered cholesterol metabolism during the intervention.

Thirty-seven men with metabolic syndrome (MetS) completed an open, randomized and balanced crossover study. Subjects' usual diet was supplemented with either 37.5 g of butter or 35 mL of CPTRO for 6–8 weeks. Otherwise normal dietary habits and physical activity were maintained without major variations. Serum non-cholesterol sterols were assayed with gas–liquid chromatography and used as surrogate markers of whole-body cholesterol synthesis and absorption efficiency. Serum proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) concentration was analyzed with Quantikine ELISA Immunoassay. Serum cholesterol synthesis markers and serum cholestanol (absorption marker), all as ratios to cholesterol, did not differ between the periods. Serum campesterol and sitosterol ratios to cholesterol were significantly increased after the administration of CPTRO resulting from the increased intake of 217 mg/day of plant sterols in CPTRO. Serum PCSK9 concentration did not differ between CPTRO and butter periods.

The reduction in serum cholesterol by 7.2% after consumption of rapeseed oil could not be explained by changes in cholesterol absorption, synthesis or PCSK9 metabolism in MetS.
Bioethics and multiculturalism: nuancing the discussion
Authors: Durante Chris
Published: August 2017

In his recent analysis of multiculturalism, Tom Beauchamp has argued that those who implement multicultural reasoning in their arguments against common morality theories, such as his own, have failed to understand that multiculturalism is neither a form of moral pluralism nor ethical relativism but is rather a universalistic moral theory in its own right. Beauchamp’s position is indeed on the right track in that multiculturalists do not consider themselves ethical relativists. Yet, Beauchamp tends to miss the mark when he argues that multiculturalism is in effect a school of thought that endorses a form of moral universalism that is akin to his own vision of a common morality. As a supporter of multiculturalism, I would like to discuss some aspects of Beauchamp’s comments on multiculturalism and clarify what a multicultural account of public bioethics might look like. Ultimately, multiculturalism is purported as a means of managing diversity in the public arena and should not be thought of as endorsing either a version of moral relativism or a universal morality. By simultaneously refraining from the promotion of a comprehensive common moral system while it attempts to avoid a collapse into relativism, multiculturalism can serve as the ethico-political framework in which diverse moralities can be managed and in which opportunities for ethical dialogue, debate and deliberation on the prospects of common bioethical norms are made possible.
Denoising Heavy-Tailed Data Using a Novel Robust Non-Parametric Method Based on Quantile Regression
Authors: Gorji Ferdos , Aminghafari Mina
Published: August 2017

We propose a new robust and non-parametric denoising method, quantile spectrum decomposition (QSD) that can handle heavy-tailed noise. Our method is an alternative to singular spectrum analysis which is not robust to such noises. In QSD, the trajectory matrix of the signal is decomposed using iterative quantile regressions. This implementation leads to a robust matrix decomposition and robust denoising. Simulations and real data analysis show that QSD is robust to heavy-tailed noise and its performance is promising in the presence of non-heavy-tailed noise.
Concurrent Multi-Domain Simulations in Structural Dynamics Using Multiple Grid and Multiple Time-Scale (MGMT) Method
Authors: Ruparel Tejas , Eskandarian Azim , Lee James D.
Published: August 2017

This paper describes a generic algorithm for concurrently solving multiple sub-domains that are selectively discretized in space and time. The mathematical background for this approach is largely based upon the fundamental principles of domain decomposition methods (DDM) and Lagrange multipliers. A proof of stability is provided using energy method and overall efficiency, accuracy and stability of multiple sub-domain coupling is evaluated using a series of numerical examples. Numerical stability is verified by ensuring energy balance at global as well as component sub-domain level. Discussed examples highlight the greatest advantage of MGMT method; which is high simulation speedups (at the cost of reasonably small errors).
Spinor representations of positive definite ternary quadratic forms
Authors: Ju Jangwon , Kim Kyoungmin , Oh Byeong-Kweon
Published: August 2017

For a positive definite integral ternary quadratic form [Formula: see text], let [Formula: see text] be the number of representations of an integer [Formula: see text] by [Formula: see text]. The famous Minkowski–Siegel formula implies that if the class number of [Formula: see text] is one, then [Formula: see text] can be written as a constant multiple of a product of local densities which are easily computable. In this paper, we consider the case when the spinor genus of [Formula: see text] contains only one class. In this case the above also holds if [Formula: see text] is not contained in a set of finite number of square classes which are easily computable. By using this fact, we prove some extension of the recent results on both the representations of generalized Bell ternary forms and the representations of ternary quadratic forms with some congruence conditions.
Luminosity Function Statistics Applied in GRB Samples
Authors: Lemos Luis Juracy Rangel , Bianco Carlo L. , Ruffini Remo
Published: August 2017

The luminosity function (LF) statistics applied in data of GRBs detected by GBM/Fermi and BAT/Swift is the theme approached in this work. The LF is a strong statistical tool to extract useful information from astrophysical samples, and the key point of this statistical analysis is in the detector sensitivity, where we have performed careful analysis. We produced, by LF statistics, the GRB predicted distributions of: peak ux N(Fpk), redshift N(z) and peak luminosity N(Lpk). We also used different GRB rates. We performed a comparison between the distributions predicted and observed (with and without redshifts), where we had to build a list with more then 250 GRBs with known redshifts. We estimated the effects of the Malmquist bias in all samples, and we looked for a correlation between the isotropic luminosity and the Band peak spectral energy.
The Weird Side of the Universe: Preferred Axis
Authors: Zhao Wen , Santos Larissa
Published: August 2017

In both WMAP and Planck observations on the temperature anisotropy of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation a number of large-scale anomalies were discovered in the past years, including the CMB parity asymmetry in the low multipoles. By defining a directional statistics, we find that the CMB parity asymmetry is directional dependent, and the preferred axis is stable, which means that it is independent of the chosen CMB map, the definition of the statistic, or the CMB masks. Meanwhile, we find that this preferred axis strongly aligns with those of the CMB quadrupole, octopole, as well as those of other large-scale observations. In addition, all of them aligns with the CMB kinematic dipole, which hints to the non-cosmological origin of these directional anomalies in cosmological observations.
The Cosmic Censorship and Kantowski-Sachs Model
Authors: Carvalho Patrícia , Campos Miguel , Terezón Brisa
Published: August 2017

Let’s discuss some points, concerning to the cosmic censorship conjecture for the Kantowski-Sachs model.
Quadrupole of a Composite Mass Optimization in Very High Speed Using FEM
Authors: Coppedé Daniel , Frajuca Carlos , Nogueira Paulo R. M. , Bortoli Fabio S. , Souza Marco A. , Santos Givanildo A. , Nakamoto Francisco Y.
Published: August 2017

A experiment to measure the velocity of gravity is been planned. In order to achieve a reasonable signal in the detector, a very massive quadrupole mass is put to rotate at a very high rotation speed. In order to maximize the signal, the product mass and rotation radius squared much be as higher as possible. This work test a composite mass-quadrupole geometries in Finite Element Modeling (FEM) with the goal to maximize the signal
Combustion of Hadrons to Strange Quark Matter Inside a Neutron Star
Authors: Rosero Jhon Andersson , Kemp Ernesto
Published: August 2017

We have studied the phase transition from hadronic to quark matter inside neutron stars, we calculate the rate and emissivity for all the relevant weak interaction processes and solve the Boltzmann transport equation, considering the effect of strong interactions in the perturbative regime to the order of QCD coupling constant [Formula: see text]. We find that the neutrino and antineutrino emissivity is around of 10[Formula: see text] erg.
Simplified Thermal Evolution of Proto-Hybrid Stars
Authors: Mariani Mauro , Orsaria Milva , Vucetich Héctor
Published: August 2017

We study the possibility of a hadron-quark phase transition in the interior of neutron stars, taking into account different schematic evolutionary stages at finite temperature. Furthermore, we analyze the astrophysical properties of hot and cold hybrid stars, considering the constraint on maximum mass given by the pulsars J1614-2230 and J1614-2230. We obtain cold hybrid stars with maximum masses [Formula: see text] M[Formula: see text]. Our study also suggest that during the proto-hybrid star evolution a late phase transition between hadronic matter and quark matter could occur, in contrast with previous studies of proto-neutron stars.
Quantum Relativistic Electron Gas Expanding in One Dimension
Authors: Pérez Rojas Hugo , Rodríguez Querts Elizabeth , Pérez Martínez Aurora
Published: August 2017

Under the action of field intensities around the Schwinger critical field, a dense electron gas behaves as unidimensional, exerting strong pressure along the applied field. We suggest a model for maintaining the magnetic field self-consistently, by assuming spin parallel pairing leading to a partial bosonization of the electron gas, which is described by a charged vector boson field, able to experience condensation, leading to a ferromagnetic behavior. Our aim is to suggest a possible quantum relativistic self-magnetized jet model. High frequency photons will be deviated also along paths parallel to the external field, leading to a model for a jet. Any addition of matter and/or energy to the electron system, would contribute to increase the kinetic energy along the magnetic field axis, an the jet may extend for long distances.
Heuristic Approach on Anomalous Apsidal Precession of Planets
Authors: Capistrano Abraão J. S. , Penagos Joice A. M. , Alárcon Manuel S.
Published: August 2017

In this paper we study the anomalous movement of planet precession as compared with different observational data from Ephemerides of the Planets and the Moon (EPM2008 and EPM2011) and the Planetary and Lunar Ephemeris (INPOP10a). Using a heuristic methodology we obtain a very close results to observations.
Toward a Practical Regularity-based Model
Authors: Li Yu , Cheng Albert M. K.
Published: August 2017

Most Hierarchical Real-time Scheduling (HiRTS) techniques have focused on temporal resource partitions in which time units are periodically distributed. Although such periodic partitions could provide great flexibility for the resource-level scheduling, engineers face significant obstacles when trying to determine the schedulability of real-time tasks running on them. The main reason is that periodic partitions fail to effectively bound the difference between the ideal and the actual resource allocation. To solve this problem, some researchers introduced the Regular Partition, a type of temporal resource partition that is almost evenly distributed. Recent research has shown that it achieves maximal transparency for task scheduling—some classical real-time scheduling problems on a regular partition can be easily transformed into equivalent problems on a dedicated single resource. However, the resource partitioning problem for regular partitions is much more complicated than the one for periodic partitions. Based on a practical two-layer HiRTS platform, this article introduces MulZ (Multiple Z-seqences), which is the first to solve this problem with a partitioned scheduling strategy. By using a more complicated approximation methodology, our experimental results show that MulZ outperforms the current best global scheduling algorithm on this problem. After that, it compares the overall performance of the periodic partition and the regular partition. We conclude that the regular partition is a better choice for the integration of real-time applications.
High-Resolution ISAR Imaging with Wideband V-FM Waveforms
Authors: Feng Dejun , Pan Xiaoyi , Wang Guoyu
Published: August 2017

V-FM waveforms, composed of two chirp signals with the opposite slopes, can also achieve high range resolution with wide bandwidth via intrapulse frequency modulation. In this paper, a framework for inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of moving targets with V-FM waveforms is investigated, where the range compression of the received signals is achieved by the dual-channel dechirping and the azimuth compression is done via the traditional Fourier transform (FT). The two corresponding reconstructed temporary high-resolution range profiles (HRRPs) from the double channels are synthesized for the HRRPs of the target, in which one is flipped from left to right and added to the other. Then the final HRRPs are arranged into a two-dimensional (2D) array and the azimuth compression is done via FT to achieve the ISAR imaging after the motion compensation. Simulated trials, adopting the scattering center modeling of the Yak-42 plane, are used to validate the correctness of the analyses and the finally well-focused images greatly support the effectiveness of V-FM waveforms in ISAR imaging.
Comprehensive Numerical Investigations of Unsteady Internal Flows and Cavitation Characteristics in Double‐Suction Centrifugal Pump
Authors: Tang Xuelin , Zou Mingde , Wang Fujun , Li Xiaoqin , Shi Xiaoyan
Published: August 2017

The RNG k‐ε turbulence model combined with cavitation model was used to simulate unsteady cavitating flows inside a double‐suction centrifugal pump under different flow rate conditions based on hexahedral structured grid. The numerical external characteristic performances agree well with the experimental performances. The predicted results show that the turbulence kinetic energy and the turbulence dissipation rate inside the impeller at design flow rate are lower than those at other off‐design flow rates, which are caused by various vortexes. Based on frequency‐domain analyses in the volute casing, the blade passing frequency is the dominant one of the pressure fluctuations except the vicinity of volute tongue for all operating cases, and the dominant frequency near the volute tongue ranges from 0 to 0.5 times the blade passing frequency for other off‐design points, while the blade passing one near the volute tongue is the dominant one of the pressure fluctuations at design point. The increase of flow rate reduces the pressure fluctuations amplitude. For cavitation cases, the blade loading of the middle streamline increases a bit during the initial stage, but, for serious cavitation, the blade loading near the blade inlet reduces to 0 and even negative values, and the serious cavitation bubbles block the blade channels, which results in a sharp drop in pump head. Under noncavitation condition, the predicted power related to the pressure in the impeller channels increases from the inlet to the exit, while, under different cavitation conditions at the design flow rate, these power‐transformation distributions in the impeller channels show that these power conversions are affected by the available NPSHa and the corresponding work in leading regions of the blades increases increases gradually a bit, and then it increases sharply in the middle regions, but it decreases in the blade trailing regions and is greatly influenced by secondary flows.
Study on Frequency Characteristics of Rotor Systems for Fault Detection Using Variational Mode Decomposition
Authors: Chen Kai , Zhou Xin-Cong , Fang Jun-Qiang , Qin Li
Published: August 2017

Due to the complicated structure, vibration signal of rotating machinery is multicomponent with nonstationary and nonlinear features, so it is difficult to diagnose faults effectively. Therefore, effective extraction of vibration signal characteristics is the key to diagnose the faults of rotating machinery. Mode mixing and illusive components existed in some conventional methods, such as EMD and EEMD, which leads to misdiagnosis in extracting signals. Given these reasons, a new fault diagnosis method, namely, variation mode decomposition (VMD), was proposed in this paper. VMD is a newly developed technique for adaptive signal decomposition, which can decompose a multicomponent signal into a series of quasi-orthogonal intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) simultaneously, corresponding to the components of signal clearly. To further research on VMD method, the advantages and characteristics of VMD are investigated via numerical simulations. VMD is then applied to detect oil whirl and oil whip for rotor systems fault diagnosis via practical vibration signal. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of VMD method.
MIMO High Frequency Surface Wave Radar Using Sparse Frequency FMCW Signals
Authors: Pan Mengguan , Chen Baixiao
Published: August 2017

The heavily congested radio frequency environment severely limits the signal bandwidth of the high frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR). Based on the concept of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar, we propose a MIMO sparse frequency HFSWR system to synthesize an equivalent large bandwidth waveform in the congested HF band. The utilized spectrum of the proposed system is discontinuous and irregularly distributed between different transmitting sensors. We investigate the sparse frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal and the corresponding deramping based receiver and signal processor specially. A general processing framework is presented for the proposed system. The crucial step is the range-azimuth processing and the sparsity of the carrier frequency causes the two-dimensional periodogram to fail when applied here. Therefore, we introduce the iterative adaptive approach (IAA) in the range-azimuth imaging. Based on the initial 1D IAA algorithm, we propose a modified 2D IAA which particularly fits the deramping processing based range-azimuth model. The proposed processing framework for MIMO sparse frequency FMCW HFSWR with the modified 2D IAA applied is shown to have a high resolution and be able to provide an accurate and clear range-azimuth image which benefits the following detection process.
An Automatic Gastrointestinal Polyp Detection System in Video Endoscopy Using Fusion of Color Wavelet and Convolutional Neural Network Features
Authors: Billah Mustain , Waheed Sajjad , Rahman Mohammad Motiur
Published: August 2017

Gastrointestinal polyps are considered to be the precursors of cancer development in most of the cases. Therefore, early detection and removal of polyps can reduce the possibility of cancer. Video endoscopy is the most used diagnostic modality for gastrointestinal polyps. But, because it is an operator dependent procedure, several human factors can lead to misdetection of polyps. Computer aided polyp detection can reduce polyp miss detection rate and assists doctors in finding the most important regions to pay attention to. In this paper, an automatic system has been proposed as a support to gastrointestinal polyp detection. This system captures the video streams from endoscopic video and, in the output, it shows the identified polyps. Color wavelet (CW) features and convolutional neural network (CNN) features of video frames are extracted and combined together which are used to train a linear support vector machine (SVM). Evaluations on standard public databases show that the proposed system outperforms the state-of-the-art methods, gaining accuracy of 98.65%, sensitivity of 98.79%, and specificity of 98.52%.
Thermodynamic Analysis of Gravitational Field Equations in Lyra Manifold
Authors: Moradpour H. , Sadeghnezhad N. , Ghaffari S. , Jahan A.
Published: August 2017

Considering the Einstein field equations in Lyra manifold and applying the unified first law of thermodynamics as well as the Clausius relation to the apparent horizon of FRW universe, we find the entropy of apparent horizon in Lyra manifold. In addition, the validity of second law of thermodynamics and its generalized form are also studied. Finally, we use the first law of thermodynamics in order to find the horizon entropy of static spherically symmetric spacetimes. Some results of considering (anti)de-Sitter and Schwarzschild metrics have also been addressed.
Breast Cancer Immunotherapy: Facts and Hopes
Authors: Emens Leisha A.
Published: August 2017

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing the management of multiple solid tumors, and early data have revealed the clinical activity of programmed cell death-1/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) antagonists in small numbers of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Clinical activity appears more likely if the tumor is triple negative, PD-L1+, and/or harbors higher levels of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes. Responses to atezolizumab and pembrolizumab appear to be durable in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), suggesting that these agents may transform the lives of responding patients. Current clinical efforts are focused on developing immunotherapy combinations that convert nonresponders to responders, deepen those responses that do occur, and surmount acquired resistance to immunotherapy. Identifying biomarkers that can predict the potential for response to single-agent immunotherapy, identify the best immunotherapy combinations for a particular patient, and guide salvage immunotherapy in patients with progressive disease are high priorities for clinical development. Smart clinical trials testing rational immunotherapy combinations that include robust biomarker evaluations will accelerate clinical progress, moving us closer to effective immunotherapy for almost all patients with breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 24(3); 511–20. ©2017 AACR.
Simultaneous Targeting of Two Distinct Epitopes on MET Effectively Inhibits MET- and HGF-Driven Tumor Growth by Multiple Mechanisms
Authors: Grandal Michael M. , Havrylov Serhiy , Poulsen Thomas T. , Koefoed Klaus , Dahlman Anna , Galler Gunther R. , Conrotto Paolo , Collins Sara , Eriksen Karsten W. , Kaufman Dafna , Woude George F.Vande , Jacobsen Helle J. , Horak Ivan D. , Kragh Michael , Lantto Johan , Bouquin Thomas , Park Morag , Pedersen Mikkel W.
Published: August 2017

Increased MET activity is linked with poor prognosis and outcome in several human cancers currently lacking targeted therapies. Here, we report on the characterization of Sym015, an antibody mixture composed of two humanized IgG1 antibodies against nonoverlapping epitopes of MET. Sym015 was selected by high-throughput screening searching for antibody mixtures with superior growth-inhibitory activity against MET-dependent cell lines. Synergistic inhibitory activity of the antibodies comprising Sym015 was observed in several cancer cell lines harboring amplified MET locus and was confirmed in vivo. Sym015 was found to exert its activity via multiple mechanisms. It disrupted interaction of MET with the HGF ligand and prompted activity-independent internalization and degradation of the receptor. In addition, Sym015 induced high levels of CDC and ADCC in vitro. The importance of these effector functions was confirmed in vivo using an Fc-effector function–attenuated version of Sym015. The enhanced effect of the two antibodies in Sym015 on both MET degradation and CDC and ADCC is predicted to render Sym015 superior to single antibodies targeting MET. Our results demonstrate strong potential for use of Sym015 as a therapeutic antibody mixture for treatment of MET-driven tumors. Sym015 is currently being tested in a phase I dose escalation clinical trial (NCT02648724). Mol Cancer Ther; 16(12); 2780–91. ©2017 AACR.
EGFR Mutations Compromise Hypoxia-Associated Radiation Resistance through Impaired Replication Fork–Associated DNA Damage Repair
Authors: Saki Mohammad , Makino Haruhiko , Javvadi Prashanthi , Tomimatsu Nozomi , Ding Liang-Hao , Clark Jennifer E. , Gavin Elaine , Takeda Kenichi , Andrews Joel , Saha Debabrata , Story Michael D. , Burma Sandeep , Nirodi Chaitanya S.
Published: August 2017

EGFR signaling has been implicated in hypoxia-associated resistance to radiation or chemotherapy. Non–small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) with activating L858R or ΔE746-E750 EGFR mutations exhibit elevated EGFR activity and downstream signaling. Here, relative to wild-type (WT) EGFR, mutant (MT) EGFR expression significantly increases radiosensitivity in hypoxic cells. Gene expression profiling in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) revealed that MT-EGFR expression elevated transcripts related to cell cycle and replication in aerobic and hypoxic conditions and downregulated RAD50, a critical component of nonhomologous end joining and homologous recombination DNA repair pathways. NSCLCs and HBEC with MT-EGFR revealed elevated basal and hypoxia-induced γ-H2AX–associated DNA lesions that were coincident with replication protein A in the S-phase nuclei. DNA fiber analysis showed that, relative to WT-EGFR, MT-EGFR NSCLCs harbored significantly higher levels of stalled replication forks and decreased fork velocities in aerobic and hypoxic conditions. EGFR blockade by cetuximab significantly increased radiosensitivity in hypoxic cells, recapitulating MT-EGFR expression and closely resembling synthetic lethality of PARP inhibition.

Implications: This study demonstrates that within an altered DNA damage response of hypoxic NSCLC cells, mutant EGFR expression, or EGFR blockade by cetuximab exerts a synthetic lethality effect and significantly compromises radiation resistance in hypoxic tumor cells. Mol Cancer Res; 15(11); 1503–16. ©2017 AACR.
The Grandchildren of Yūnis: Palestinian Protest Camps, Infiltration, and Ilyās Khūrī’s Bāb al-shams
Authors: Paul Drew
Published: August 2017

In January 2013, Palestinian activists set up a camp on Israeli-occupied land in the West Bank to protest Israeli settlement plans. They named their village “Bāb al-shams,” or “Gate of the Sun,” after Ilyās Khūrī’s novel by the same name that chronicles the Palestinian refugee experience from the beginning of the conflict to the present. A subsequent protest camp, called “Aḥfād Yūnis” or “the Grandchildren of Yūnis,” positioned the protesters as the heirs to the struggle waged by the novel’s hero, Yūnis, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter who has fallen into a coma. They drew upon the novel’s narrative and characters to create videos, images, and songs in support of their protest. This article uses this moment of interaction between literature and politics to consider how the protesters’ invocation of the novel complicates the relationship between literature, memory, and political activism. Just as the novel critiques an overreliance on certain forms of memory of Palestine, the protesters use the novel’s narrative to move beyond memory as a primary mode of articulating Palestinian political aims in the present. They seek a mode of engaging with the past that is not bound by the fragmented and unreliable recollections of earlier generations, but rather one that is dynamic and constituted through acts of infiltration and movement.
The Estonian-Russian Territorial Sea Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Finland
Authors: Lott Alexander
Published: August 2017

In 2014, Estonia and the Russian Federation signed their land and maritime boundary agreements that are currently awaiting ratification. This study reconstructs the maritime boundary delimitation between the two States. In particular, the role of islands and pre-existing agreements for the delimitation of the territorial sea boundary in the south-eastern part of the Gulf of Finland are critically examined. It is established that the agreed maritime boundary line is a median line which was influenced by the use of the special circumstances method in the delimitation process.
METHODOLOGY IN EPISTEMOLOGY
Authors: Hendricks Vincent F.
Published: August 2017

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how methodological insights from formal and modal learning theory have a significant bearing on the classical definition of knowledge as true justified belief.
ESTHÉTIQUE DU ≪SIGNE PUR≫. ADORNO, MERLEAU-PONTY ET L’ART COMME RÉINVENTION INFINIE DU RÉEL
Authors: Bachofen Blaise
Published: August 2017

AESTHETICS OF “PURE SIGN” ADORNO, MERLEAU-PONTY AND ART AS AN ENDLESS REINVENTION OF REALITY

Contemporary painting has often dealt with signs, graffiti, calligraphy, and more precisely with aesthetic objects that take the form and appearance of signs, but which do not belong to any existing alphabet. These are forms that imitate signs but are what we might call “pure signs”, i.e. signifiers without a signified. This form of artistic experimentation (of which Paul Klee is the precursor) has elicited parallel and convergent analyses by Merleau-Ponty and Adorno. These authors show the ways in which this kind of artistic experimentation at once renews reflection on language and reflection on art, through a more fundamental reflection on the cognitive actions that they necessarily share, namely deciphering and interpretation. By asking how signs that have no conventional meaning can still be identified as signs–the “decryption” of which is therefore impossible–we re-actualize a question that goes back to Plato and Augustine. How can we begin to investigate and understand what we do not know yet? How does the decryption and interpretation process arise for one who does not yet know if there is something to understand? This type of artwork actually has a meaning, but not in the traditional sense. Although they are unreadable and untranslatable, such works clarifying the meaning of interpretation for us, they free us from a naive and simplistic conception of the process of understanding. They show us that interpretation is always a process of inventing and producing a new meaning, but never of actually finding a pre-existing meaning. In doing so, these kinds of artwork are inseparable from ontological and political issues. Against a conservative view of our relationship to reality, they make us aware that the sense of reality is never simply given nor definitive, and that our relationship to reality contains much more potential than we commonly believe.
Effect of Spring Precipitation on Summer Precipitation in Eastern China: Role of Soil Moisture
Authors: Liu Li , Zhang Renhe , Zuo Zhiyan
Published: August 2017

The relation of spring (March–May) to summer (July–August) precipitation in eastern China is examined using observed data. It is found that when spring precipitation from the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River valley to northern China (the YRNC region) is higher (lower), more (less) summer precipitation occurs in northeastern China and the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River valley, and less (more) in southeastern China. The analysis of physical mechanism showed that higher (lower) spring precipitation in the YRNC region is closely related to wet (dry) spring soil moisture, which decreases (increases) the surface temperature and sensible heat flux in late spring. Because the memory of spring soil moisture in the YRNC region reaches about 2.4 months, the surface thermal anomaly lasts into the subsequent summer, resulting in a weak (strong) East Asian summer monsoon. A weak East Asian summer monsoon corresponds to an anomalous anticyclone and a cyclone over southeastern and northeastern China, respectively, in the lower troposphere. The anomalous anticyclone depresses the summer precipitation in southeastern China, and the anomalous cyclone promotes precipitation over northeastern China. The abnormal northerly and southerly winds associated with the anomalous cyclone and anticyclone, respectively, converge in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River valley, inducing more summer precipitation there.
Evacuation Decision-Making during Hurricane Matthew: An Assessment of the Effects of Social Connections
Authors: Collins Jennifer , Ersing Robin , Polen Amy
Published: August 2017

This study conducted in Florida examines the relationship between an individual’s social connections and their decision to evacuate during a hurricane warning. Using Hurricane Matthew in 2016 as a case study, a survey was conducted on two groups (those who evacuated and those who did not), assessing one’s social connections considering three dimensions: dependability, density, and diversity. These factors, in addition to socioeconomic variables (e.g., age, race, education), were used to better define a picture for what influences evacuation decision-making. To avoid memory decay, the surveys were completed at the time of the evacuation for those who evacuated and immediately after the passage of Matthew for those who did not evacuate. It was concluded, through statistical analyses, that the perceived dependability of a person’s social connections (i.e., their perceived access to resources and support) played a significant role in the decision to evacuate or not, with non-evacuees having more dependable relationships and having a tightknit community they can rely on during a storm event. On the other hand, the density and diversity of peoples’ social connections did not significantly impact the decision to evacuate. This study has important implications for adding to the knowledge base on community-based sustainable disaster preparedness and resilience.
Social connectedness improves public mental health: Investigating bidirectional relationships in the New Zealand attitudes and values survey
Authors: Saeri Alexander K , Cruwys Tegan , Barlow Fiona Kate , Stronge Samantha , Sibley Chris G
Published: August 2017

Background:

The importance of social connectedness in supporting public mental health is well established. However, the reverse causal pathway (that psychological ill-health leads to reduced social connectedness) remains a dominant perspective among mental health practitioners. Our analysis aimed to provide a rigorous test of the directionality of this relationship.

Method:

A cross-lagged panel analysis of a large longitudinal national probability sample ( N ≈ 21,227), the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey, was used to assess the bidirectional longitudinal relationship between social connectedness and mental health, controlling for baseline levels of both variables and demographics.

Results:

Social connectedness was found to be a stronger and more consistent predictor of mental health year-on-year than mental health was of social connectedness.

Conclusion:

These results further demonstrate how the psychological resources conferred by social connectedness can act as a ‘social cure’ for psychological ill-health, and provide the strongest evidence to date for the direction of this relationship in the general community.
Socioeconomic crisis and aggressive behaviour of Greek adolescents
Authors: Lazaratou Helen , Kalogerakis Zacharias , Economou Marina , Xenitidis Kiriakos
Published: August 2017

Background:

Aggressive behaviours are common during adolescence. In Greece, adolescents and their families experience a severe and enduring recession with potentially adverse impact on mental health.

Aim:

This study aimed to examine the correlation between adolescents’ aggressive behaviour and economic factors.

Methods:

The Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) was used to measure aggression. Reduction in pocket money and three items of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale were used to measure material deprivation as a result of the economic crisis. The questionnaires were administrated to a sample of 2,159 adolescent students of the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area.

Results:

Students who during the previous 4 weeks had experienced household food insecurity (anxiety/uncertainty about food, insufficient food quality or insufficient food intake) or had their pocket money decreased within the last 6 months scored on average significantly higher in the AQ compared to their counterparts who did not.

Conclusion:

The shortage in basic goods due to the actual Greek economic crisis seems to be related to aggressive behaviours during adolescence and we should take this into account in clinical practice.
Toward a hauntology on data: On the sociopolitical forces of data assemblages
Authors: Dixon-Román Ezekiel
Published: August 2017

This article engages the philosophy of science of data, with a focus on the extent to which data are always already imbued with racializations.As Alexander Weheliye has argued, racializations are not to be reduced to race but rather is the sociopolitical process that hierarchizes and differentiates bodies producing the entangled by-products of race, gender, class, sexuality, and disability among other formations of difference. The article leans on black literary feminist Sylvia Wynter’s work on science, blackness, and the human. In particular, the article works through her concepts of the cosmogonies of the human and the sociogenics of the fictively constructed models of Man. Cosmogonies, for Wynter, refer to the myths, narratives, and stories of the ontological origin of the human and the way in which this shapes the histor(icit)y of the human, including the later sociogenic formations of Western Man as the exclusive white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual rendering all other bodies as nonhuman. Wynter rejects cultural and biological explanations of race while still accounting for the ways in which the fabrications of race, as sociogenic, become ontogenic via the flesh. With her theories of power, inheritance, and the body, the article examines the ways in which data become haunted by sociopolitical relations of racialization. The article then points toward alternative futures by arguing for Wynter’s proposed Autopoietic Turn/Overturn praxis of science to critically examine the sociogenic codes toward reconstituting the human.
Textile binding and release of body odor compounds measured by proton transfer reaction – mass spectrometry
Authors: Richter Tobias M , Bremer Phil J , Silcock Patrick , Laing Raechel M
Published: August 2017

The creation of axillary body odor and its interaction with worn textiles is of continuing interest to textile manufacturers and finishers, product developers and marketers, and end users. This paper explains a novel proton transfer reaction – mass spectrometry model system to investigate the adsorption and release behavior of three fiber types commonly worn next to the skin (cotton, polyester, wool) for compounds found in body odor (dimethyl disulfide, 2-propanethiol, benzaldehyde, nonanal, butanoic acid, and 3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid). Three different patterns were observed: low relative adsorption and low overall release of the volatiles for cotton, high relative adsorption and continuous release of the volatiles for polyester, and high relative adsorption but low overall release for wool. This investigation, coupled with earlier studies by our group, goes some way to explain why the different fiber types are perceived as enhancing or suppressing body odor.
Non-native Japanese learners’ perception of consonant length in Japanese and Italian
Authors: Tsukada Kimiko , Cox Felicity , Hajek John , Hirata Yukari
Published: August 2017

Learners of a foreign language (FL) typically have to learn to process sounds that do not exist in their first language (L1). As this is known to be difficult for adults, in particular, it is important for FL pedagogy to be informed by phonetic research. This study examined the role of FL learners’ previous linguistic experience in the processing of a contrast absent in the L1. The FLs under investigation are Japanese and Italian, which both use contrastive consonant length. Two groups of non-native Japanese (NNJ) learners – L1 Australian English (OZ) and L1 Korean – participated in the consonant length identification task. Neither OZ nor Korean has an underlying consonant length contrast, but Korean has non-contrastive lengthening of tense obstruents with corresponding shorter preceding vowels, which may be beneficial in perceiving consonant length in an FL. We have taken a novel, two-stage approach. First, we compared the perception of Japanese long/geminate and short/singleton consonants by the two groups of NNJ learners. Second, we investigated whether FL Japanese learning by the two groups transfers to the processing of consonant length in an unknown language, Italian. Native speakers of Japanese (NJ) and Italian (NI) were included as controls. They were familiar with contrastive consonant length in their L1, but were naïve to the other language. The NJ and NI groups accurately identified the consonant length category in their L1 but were slightly less accurate in the unknown language. The two NNJ groups were generally accurate (> 80%) in perceiving consonant length not only in Japanese, but also in Italian. However, the direction of NNJ learners’ misperception (i.e. singleton as geminate or geminate as singleton) varied, suggesting that some learners, according to their L1, may categorize length in Japanese and Italian differently rather than uniformly applying the concept of [±long].
Restored Hope? The Function of the Temple, Priest, and Cult as Restoration in the Book of the Twelve
Authors: Lecureux Jason
Published: August 2017

This article offers a cursory overview of the role of cult within the first half (eighth-century block, Hosea–Micah) of the Book of the Twelve, in an attempt to lay a foundation for examining the cult in the book's concluding Persian Period (Haggai–Malachi). This study addresses the idea of restoration, in particular how the prophets' vision of restoration relates to their own understanding of the role of cult. In other words, when the prophets envision a restored Temple (or Zion), what is the role of the cult in that restoration? This study demonstrates that the details of a restored cult prove surprisingly limited, and that this should make readers reconsider how to understand both prophetic critique and prophetic views of repentance and restoration in the Twelve. Such answers may conflict with the concluding books of the Twelve.
Including the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise in the FIFA 11+ Provides Missing Eccentric Hip Adduction Strength Effect in Male Soccer Players: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Harøy Joar , Thorborg Kristian , Serner Andreas , Bjørkheim André , Rolstad Linn E. , Hölmich Per , Bahr Roald , Andersen Thor Einar
Published: August 2017

Background:

The FIFA 11+ was developed as a complete warm-up program to prevent injuries in soccer players. Although reduced hip adduction strength is associated with groin injuries, none of the exercises included in the FIFA 11+ seem to specifically target hip adduction strength.

Purpose:

To investigate the effect on eccentric hip adduction strength of the FIFA 11+ warm-up program with or without the Copenhagen adduction exercise.

Study Design:

Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1.

Methods:

We recruited 45 eligible players from 2 U19 elite male soccer teams. Players were randomized into 2 groups; 1 group carried out the standard FIFA 11+ program, while the other carried out the FIFA 11+ but replaced the Nordic hamstring exercise with the Copenhagen adduction exercise. Both groups performed the intervention 3 times weekly for 8 weeks. Players completed eccentric strength and sprint testing before and after the intervention. Per-protocol analyses were performed, and 12 players were excluded due to low compliance (<67% of sessions completed). The main outcome was eccentric hip adduction strength (N·m/kg).

Results:

Between-group analyses revealed a significantly greater increase in eccentric hip adduction strength of 0.29 Nm/kg (8.9%; P = .01) in favor of the group performing the Copenhagen adduction exercise, whereas no within-group change was noted in the group that used the standard FIFA 11+ program (–0.02 N·m/kg [–0.7%]; P = .69).

Conclusion:

Including the Copenhagen adduction exercise in the FIFA 11+ program increases eccentric hip adduction strength, while the standard FIFA 11+ program does not.

Registration:

Registration: ISRCTN13731446 (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry).
Epistemology, Power, Discourse, Truth and Groups
Authors: Coombe Paul
Published: August 2017

This article begins with reference to a recent publication that has challenged some of the previously asserted origins and attributions of group analysis and psychoanalysis. Trigant Burrow was one of the earliest psychoanalysts and coined the term ‘group analysis’ in a certain context early in the 20th-century. The book edited by the Petegatos in Italy is then used as the basis of a study examining the nature of epistemology and its being intimately and necessarily associated with power: a politics of truth. What follows then is an exploration of the work of philosophers, in particular Foucault, and others, venturing across the realms of sociology, history, politics and psychoanalysis and the nature of discourse. It is demonstrated that the claims for truth in any sphere of human life need to be subject to healthy doubt and that the perversion of truth in groups is an ever present risk which we must all take responsibility to challenge.