bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Asma alérgica en la infancia: Influencia de los hongos durante el desarrollo
Authors: Behrends Ilse A.
Published: October 2020

Asthma is a chronic debilitating airway disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Although largely thought to be a disease of the first world, it is now clear that it is on the rise in many middle- and lower-income countries. The disease is complex, and its etiology is poorly understood, which explains failure of most treatment strategies. We know that in children, asthma is closely linked to poor lung function in the first 3-years of life, when the lung is still undergoing post-natal alveolarization phase. Epidemiological studies also suggest that environmental factors around that age do play a critical part in the establishment of early wheezing which persists until adulthood. Some of the factors that contribute to early development of asthma in children in Western world are clear, however, in low- to middle-income countries this is likely to differ significantly. The contribution of fungal species in the development of allergic diseases is known in adults and in experimental models. However, it is unclear whether early exposure during perinatal or post-natal lung development influences a protective or promotes allergic asthma. Host immune cells and responses will play a crucial part in early development of allergic asthma. How immune cells and their receptors may recognize fungi and promote allergic asthma or protect by tolerance among other immune mechanisms is not fully understood in this early lung development stage. The aim of this review is to discuss what fungal species are present during early exposure as well as their contribution to the development of allergic responses.We also discuss how the host has evolved to promote tolerance to limit hyper-responsiveness to innocuous fungi, and how host evasion by fungi during early development consequentially results in allergic diseases.
Sobreposición asma-EPOC: Aumentar la conciencia para un tratamiento adecuado
Authors: Acuña-Kaldman Moisés
Published: October 2020

Background: Many studies have described asthma-COPD overlap (ACO) among patients diagnosed with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but less so in broad populations of patients with chronic airway obstruction. Objective: This study aimed to (i) examine the prevalence of ACO, asthma, and COPD phenotypes among subjects referred for pulmonary function testing (PFT), who had airway obstruction in spirometry (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1]/forced vital capacity [FVC] < 0.7); and (ii) delineate the therapeutic approach of each group. Methods: Cross-sectional study of patients who were referred for PFT at the Rokach Institute, in Jerusalem. Working definitions were as follows: (a) COPD: post-bronchodilator (BD) FEV1/FVC < 0.70; (b) asthma: physician-diagnosed asthma before age 40 and/or minimum post-BD increase in FEV1 or FVC of 12% and 200 mL; and (c) ACO: the combination of the 2. Demographics, smoking habits, episodes of exacerbation, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and respiratory medication utilization were analysed. Results: Of 3,669 referrals from January 1 to April 30, 2017, 1,220 had airway obstruction of which 215 were included. Of these, 82 (38.1%) had ACO, 49 (22.8%) asthma, and 84 (39.1%) COPD. ACO subjects tended to (a) be predominantly female; (b) be older than asthmatics, (c) be smokers; (d) have worse HRQL in the activity domain; and (d) have more exacerbations. Treatment of ACO and COPD patients differed from that of asthmatics, but not from each other, in the proportion of subjects on maintenance treatment, use of LABA, LAMA, and ICS, alone or in combination, and in the number of inhaler devices used by patients. Conclusion: ACO represented > 1/3 of patients referred for PFT. Despite a clearly identifiable phenotype, ACO patients received treatment similar to COPD patients, suggesting poor ACO identification. Our data emphasize the need to raise the awareness of ACO among clinicians, in order to guide better recognition and appropriate treatment in individual patients.
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Apatinib for the Treatment of Patients with Metastatic, Recurrent Cervical Cancer after Failure of Radiotherapy and First-Line Chemotherapy: A Prospective Study
Authors: Xia Xiaoping , Jiang Wenjing , Qi Wencai , Hong Baoli , Zhao Weidong
Published: October 2020

Purpose: As a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), apatinib has shown a survival benefit in multiple solid tumors. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of apatinib in patients with metastatic, recurrent cervical cancer after failure of radiotherapy and first-line chemotherapy. Methods: A total of 42 patients between June 2018 and March 2019 were involved in this study. All patients orally received apatinib once daily in a 4-week cycle until disease progression or adverse events that prohibit further therapy. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), the secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and adverse events. Results: During a median follow-up of 13 months, 8 patients achieved a partial response and 24 cases achieved stable disease. None of them reported a complete response. The ORR and DCR were 19.0 and 76.2%, respectively. The median PFS was 6.0 months (95% CI 4.9–7.1), and the median OS was 12.0 months (95% CI 10.1–13.9). The global health score/HRQoL improved significantly following 3-cycle treatment (50.4 ± 12.5 vs. 60.1 ± 11.8; p < 0.01). The most frequent grade 3–4 adverse events were hand-foot syndrome, hypertension and fatigue. Conclusion: Apatinib should be an effective and tolerable treatment option for patients with metastatic, recurrent cervical cancer after failure of radiotherapy and first-line chemotherapy.
The Role of Trichoscopy in Keratosis Follicularis Spinulosa Decalvans: Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Alessandrini Aurora , Brattoli Giancarlo , Piraccini Bianca Maria , Di Altobrando Ambra , Starace Michela
Published: October 2020

Introduction: Keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans (KFSD) is a rare, X-linked, hereditary disorder of keratinization, characterized by skin involvement and progressive scarring alopecia of scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes. The diagnosis is helped by the particular clinical features, but pathology is mandatory. Case Presentation: We described a case of a female patient referred to the outpatient’s hair consultation of our department, in which we performed trichoscopy as a very useful tool for the diagnosis, followed by pathology that confirmed KFSD. Conclusion: In our article, we underlined the importance of trichoscopy for the diagnosis of this hair disease, with also a review of the literature on diagnosis and treatment.
Etomidate Shows Prospect as an Anti-Arrhythmic Drug Conferring Safe Sedation and Sinus Conversion Simultaneously
Authors: Al Ali Maryam Saif , Musa Anas , Hamadeh Wael , Seddik Esam
Published: October 2020

This case is of a 76-year-old man with a known history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and ischemic heart disease, who presented to our department with chest pain and palpitations. His electrocardiogram showed a ventricular tachycardia (VT), but fortunately our patient was hemodynamically stable. A trial of adenosine was given to convert the patient’s heart back to sinus rhythm, but was unsuccessful and the rhythm remained as VT. Soon after, the patient suddenly became hemodynamically unstable as his blood pressure acutely declined; thus, the decision to perform a direct current cardioversion was taken. Bearing in mind that the patient was still awake, he was given 10 mg of intravenous etomidate as a pre-procedural sedative. During the time it took to prepare for the procedure, the patient’s rhythm reverted from VT to a regular sinus rhythm, raising his blood pressure back to normal and achieving hemodynamic stablility, negating the need of any electrical or chemical cardioversion. Our patient was then handed over to the cardiology team for an emergency percutaneous coronary intervention procedure and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator procedure, both of which were successful. Etomidate was used in this case for the purpose of sedation, and as luck would have it, it seems that it had also incidentally reverted the arrhythmia back to normal.
Fidelidade e mudança: a relação entre formas de vida e práxis enunciativa
Authors: Duarte Renata Cristina
Published: October 2020

Baseado nos pressupostos teóricos e metodológicos da Semiótica francesa, o presente artigo visa refletir sobre a relação entre os conceitos “formas de vida” e “práxis enunciativa”. De acordo com a teoria, as formas de vida evidenciam os modos como os indivíduos e as coletividades percebem o mundo e dão a conhecer suas concepções de existência. Ademais, elas concernem tanto à manutenção quanto à transformação, pois se formam e se desfazem pelo uso, são inventadas, praticadas ou recusadas pelas instâncias enunciantes. Tal consideração remete à noção de práxis enunciativa ao refletir sobre a passagem daquilo que é limitado e estabilizado no sistema da língua àquilo que é singular e inovador no exercício do discurso. Desse modo, este trabalho baseia-se no entendimento de que a dinâmica da práxis enunciativa permite o contraste entre formas de vida tradicionais, armazenadas no sistema cultural, e aquelas inventivas, que transgridem os códigos e os usos estabelecidos para fundar uma nova axiologia. Tal abordagem permite, assim, a inserção na teoria de discussões relativas ao uso, às identidades culturais, à variação das estruturas e sua tipificação.
Entre o grafismo e a sintaxe: considerações sobre as operações semióticas da escrita na poesia concreta brasileira
Authors: Frota Djavam Damasceno da
Published: October 2020

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo a descrição do modo de agenciamento discursivo inscrito em um poema concreto a partir da hipótese de que ele manifesta o que podemos chamar de uma poética da escrita. Assim, tecemos algumas considerações sobre o estatuto semiótico da escrita a fim de compreender como suas formas plásticas podem ser mobilizadas para constituição de sentido em um poema. Em seguida, procuramos identificar a especificidade da escrita concreta a partir da comparação do poema “pluvial/fluvial”, de Augusto de Campos, com um caligrama de Apollinaire, de modo a descrever as diferentes estratégias discursivas empregadas por cada enunciador para colocar em relação a expressão plástica da escrita e os conteúdos dos poemas. A partir da análise podemos afirmar que o poema concreto desloca a ênfase fonológica do sistema alfabético ocidental para uma dimensão gramatológica (Klock-Fontanille, 2016). Essa prática se diferencia de outras experimentações poéticas com a escrita por dar ênfase ao caráter sintático das formas plásticas em relação ao discurso verbal, bem como por atribuir objetivação à linguagem poética.
Use of Natural Language Processing to Improve Identification of Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease
Authors: Weissler E. Hope , Zhang Jikai , Lippmann Steven , Rusincovitch Shelley , Henao Ricardo , Jones W. Schuyler
Published: October 2020

Background:

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is underrecognized, undertreated, and understudied: each of these endeavors requires efficient and accurate identification of patients with PAD. Currently, PAD patient identification relies on diagnosis/procedure codes or lists of patients diagnosed or treated by specific providers in specific locations and ways. The goal of this research was to leverage natural language processing to more accurately identify patients with PAD in an electronic health record system compared with a structured data–based approach.

Methods:

The clinical notes from a cohort of 6861 patients in our health system whose PAD status had previously been adjudicated were used to train, test, and validate a natural language processing model using 10-fold cross-validation. The performance of this model was described using the area under the receiver operating characteristic and average precision curves; its performance was quantitatively compared with an administrative data–based least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) approach using the DeLong test.

Results:

The median (SD) of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the natural language processing model was 0.888 (0.009) versus 0.801 (0.017) for the LASSO-based approach alone (DeLong
P
<0.0001). The median (SD) of the area under the precision curve was 0.909 (0.008) versus 0.816 (0.012) for the structured data–based approach. When sensitivity was set at 90%, the precision for LASSO was 65% and the machine learning approach was 74%, while the specificity for LASSO was 41% and for the machine learning approach was 62%.

Conclusions:

Using a natural language processing approach in addition to partial cohort preprocessing with a LASSO-based model, we were able to meaningfully improve our ability to identify patients with PAD compared with an approach using structured data alone. This model has potential applications to both interventions targeted at improving patient care as well as efficient, large-scale PAD research.

Graphic Abstract:

A
graphic abstract
is available for this article.
Prevention of Progression of Aortic Aneurysm by Peptide Vaccine Against Ang II (Angiotensin II) in a Rat Model
Authors: Kurashiki Tomohiro , Miyake Takashi , Nakagami Hironori , Nishimura Motonobu , Morishita Ryuichi
Published: October 2020

There is no proven medical therapy to inhibit the progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in the clinical setting. To develop a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of AAA, we focused on vaccination targeting Ang II (angiotensin II) and assessed the effect of an Ang II peptide vaccine on the progression of AAA using a rat model. Ang II peptide was conjugated with KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) carrier protein to induce a sufficient immune response. Male rats were subcutaneously immunized with Ang II–KLH with an adjuvant on days 0, 14, and 28. Aortic dilatation was induced by intraluminal incubation with elastase on day 35. Treatment with Ang II vaccine successfully induced the production of a high titer of anti-Ang II antibodies. Immunization with Ang II vaccine resulted in a significant reduction in expansion of the aortic diameter compared with control rats, without a blood pressure–lowering effect. Four weeks after operation, the increase in Ang II in the aneurysm wall was significantly inhibited by treatment with Ang II vaccine. Inhibition of Ang II action led to suppression of the inflammatory response in the AAA wall through attenuation of the NFκB (nuclear factor kappa B) and c-jun N-terminal kinase signaling cascades. Treatment with Ang II vaccine inhibited accumulation of macrophages in the AAA wall. In addition, expression of TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and activation of MMP (matrix metalloproteinase)-2 and MMP-9 were also inhibited by treatment with Ang II vaccine, resulting in protection against the destruction of elastic fibers. This vaccine therapy could become a potent therapeutic option to treat patients with AAA.
Pedagogy and Social Critique in the Era of Fragmentation: A Collective Writing Experiment as cadavres exquis
Authors: Lazo Veronica Garcia , Locke Kirsten , Rupcich Nicolas , O’Connor Gabby , Yoon Caroline , Longley Alys
Published: October 2020

This is the result of a collaborative and creative experiment, a process in which six scholars—Garcia Lazo, Locke, Rupcich, O’Connor, Yoon and Longley—agreed to co-author an article through written and/or visual pieces of work. The emphasis taken in the article is to perform a methodology of fragmentation. The article is to be read as a series of ‘folds’, where collages or fragments of text are contained and while each fold is numbered, the reader is invited to read any fold in any order. Using fragmentation as method in writing also inspired our interpretation of a body of work made up of multiple ‘folds’ from the collaborative parlour game played by the surrealist movement. Known as cadavre exquis, surrealists enjoyed the strange juxtaposition created by each artist’s contribution as they drew part of a body onto a folded piece of paper without seeing the previous drawings in each fold. While often referred to in the context of psychoanalysis, we instead emphasise the fragmentation and hybridity of this form of collaboration in order to critique of universalising narratives about education (and writing) that we consider to be at odds with the post-capitalist realities of contemporary education and life.
Isophya sonora, a new bush-cricket species from Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Phaneropterinae)
Authors: SEVGİLİ HASAN
Published: October 2020

Herein I describe Isophya sonora sp. nov. a new bush-cricket species from Trabzon, Northeastern part of Turkey (Black Sea Region). The species is characterized by the shape of the markedly convergent fastigium, distinctly broadened pronotum at metazona, elongate tegmina and large mirror area of left tegmen in the male. The bioacoustic characteristics, and the shape and number of the teeth of stridulatory organs are also different compared to closely related species. The new species is clearly a member of I. zernovi species-group allied with I. bivittata. Both the bioacoustics, and the morphological data, demonstrate the relationships between species of the I. zernovi species-group are as follows: (I. bicarinata + (I. zernovi + I. horon)) + (I. sonora sp. n. + I. bivittata?))) + (I. karadenizensis + I. autumnalis)))).
Does Balance Dynamics Well Capture the Secondary Circulation and Spinup of a Simulated Hurricane?
Authors: Montgomery Michael T. , Persing John
Published: October 2020

This study investigates a claim made by Heng et al. in an article published in 2017 and intimated soon after in their article published in 2018 that axisymmetric “balanced dynamics can well capture the secondary circulation in the full-physics model” during hurricane spinup. Using output from a new, convection-permitting, three-dimensional numerical simulation of an intensifying hurricane, azimuthally averaged forcings of tangential momentum and heat are diagnosed to force an axisymmetric Eliassen balance model under strict balance conditions. The balance solutions are found, inter alia, to poorly represent the peak inflow velocity in the boundary layer and present a layer of relatively deep inflow extending well above the boundary layer in the high-wind-speed region of the vortex. Such a deep inflow layer, a hallmark of the classical spinup mechanism for tropical cyclones comprising the radial convergence of absolute angular momentum above the boundary layer, is not found in the numerical simulation during the period of peak intensification. These deficiencies are traced to the inability of the balance model to represent the nonlinear boundary layer spinup mechanism. These results are contrasted with a pseudobalance Eliassen formulation that improves the solution in some respects while sacrificing strict thermal wind balance. Overall, the quantitative results refute the Heng et al. claim and implicate the general necessity of the nonlinear boundary layer spinup mechanism to explain the spinup of a hurricane in realistic model configurations and in reality.
Nonlinear Forecast Error Growth of Rapidly Intensifying Hurricane Harvey (2017) Examined through Convection-Permitting Ensemble Assimilation of GOES-16 All-Sky Radiances
Authors: Minamide Masashi , Zhang Fuqing , Clothiaux Eugene E.
Published: October 2020

The dynamics and predictability of the rapid intensification (RI) of Hurricane Harvey (2017) were examined using convection-permitting initialization, analysis, and prediction from a cycling ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) that assimilated all-sky infrared radiances from the Advanced Baseline Imager on GOES-16. The EnKF analyses were able to evolve the various scales of the radiance fields associated with Harvey close to those observed, including those associated with scattered individual convective cells before the onset of rapid intensification (RI) and the organized vortex-scale convective system during and after RI. This was true for more than 3 days of a continuous assimilation cycling. Deterministic forecasts initialized from the EnKF analyses captured the rapidly deepening intensity of Harvey more than 24 h prior to its onset. To explore the predictability of Harvey’s intensity during RI, ensemble probabilistic forecasts and sensitivity analyses were conducted. It was found that significant ensemble spread growth was induced by initial perturbations individually in either the wind or moisture fields. The nonlinear interactions between wind and moisture perturbations further limited the predictability of the intensification process of Harvey by increasing the uncertainty in the simulated wind and moisture distributions and modifying the convective activity and its feedback on vortex flow. This study highlights both the importance of better initializing the dynamic and moisture state variables simultaneously and the potential contribution of satellite all-sky radiance assimilation on constraining them and their associated convective activity that impacts RI of tropical cyclones.
Assessment of Extremes in Global Precipitation Products: How Reliable Are They?
Authors: Rajulapati Chandra Rupa , Papalexiou Simon Michael , Clark Martyn P. , Razavi Saman , Tang Guoqiang , Pomeroy John W.
Published: October 2020

Global gridded precipitation products have proven essential for many applications ranging from hydrological modeling and climate model validation to natural hazard risk assessment. They provide a global picture of how precipitation varies across time and space, specifically in regions where ground-based observations are scarce. While the application of global precipitation products has become widespread, there is limited knowledge on how well these products represent the magnitude and frequency of extreme precipitation—the key features in triggering flood hazards. Here, five global precipitation datasets (MSWEP, CFSR, CPC, PERSIANN-CDR, and WFDEI) are compared to each other and to surface observations. The spatial variability of relatively high precipitation events (tail heaviness) and the resulting discrepancy among datasets in the predicted precipitation return levels were evaluated for the time period 1979–2017. The analysis shows that 1) these products do not provide a consistent representation of the behavior of extremes as quantified by the tail heaviness, 2) there is strong spatial variability in the tail index, 3) the spatial patterns of the tail heaviness generally match the Köppen–Geiger climate classification, and 4) the predicted return levels for 100 and 1000 years differ significantly among the gridded products. More generally, our findings reveal shortcomings of global precipitation products in representing extremes and highlight that there is no single global product that performs best for all regions and climates.
A socio-spatial research agenda on the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Chen Alexander LQ
Published: October 2020

As the scientific community urgently seeks to understand the uneven geographical patterns of transmission and mortality rates of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become necessary to challenge the tacit assumption that the pandemic is strictly a public health issue that is primarily reserved for the technocratic expertise of health professionals and officials. These discrepancies in outcome imply that the pandemic yields spatial selectivities (Jessop et al., 2008), which have been revealed through the uneven manifestation of societal impacts between places, localities, communities, and neighbourhoods. For this reason, the pandemic and the management thereof must be deemed as social issues that require the input of sociological theory, insofar as its spread is not only spatially embedded but also socially mediated. To foreground a socio-spatial perspective of the pandemic, I propose that we must start with two analytical premises on socio-spatiality.
Things Are Not Always What They Seem: The Origins and Evolution of Intragroup Conflict
Authors: Shah Priti Pradhan , Peterson Randall S. , Jones Stephen L. , Ferguson Amanda J.
Published: October 2020

Teams scholars have historically conceptualized and measured intragroup conflict at the team level. But emerging evidence suggests that perceptions of intragroup conflict are often not uniform, shared, or static. These findings suggest important questions about the microfoundations of intragroup conflict: Where does conflict within teams originate? And how does it evolve over time? We address these and other questions in three abductive studies. We consider four origination points—an individual, dyad, subgroup, or team—and three evolutionary trajectories—conflict continuity, contagion, and concentration. Study 1, a qualitative study of narrative accounts, and Study 2, a longitudinal social networks study of student teams, reveal that fewer than 30 percent of teams experience team-level conflict. Instead, conflict more commonly originates and persists at individual, dyadic, or subgroup levels. Study 2 further demonstrates that traditional psychometric intragroup conflict scales mask the existence of these various origins and trajectories of conflict. Study 3, a field study of manufacturing teams, reveals that individual and dyadic task conflict origins positively predict team performance, whereas traditional intragroup task conflict measures negatively predict team performance. The results raise serious concerns about current methods and theory in the team conflict literature and suggest that researchers must go beyond team-level conceptualizations of conflict.
Use of Near-Infrared–Mid-Infrared Dual-Wavelength Spectrometry to Obtain Two-Dimensional Difference Spectra of Sesame Oil as Inactive Drug Ingredient
Authors: Watari Masahiro , Nagamoto Akifumi , Genkawa Takuma , Morita Shigeaki
Published: October 2020

The present study has investigated the transformation of sesame oil kept at low temperature during a definite period of time for refinement (called winterization) as an inactive drug ingredient by using two-dimensional difference spectra (2D-DS) analysis of spectra collected using a near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) dual-wavelength spectrometer (NIR–MIR-DWS). The NIR and MIR spectra were measured nearly simultaneously from samples of sesame oil before and after winterization. The difference spectrum analysis of the obtained NIR–MIR data elucidated that, after the winterization process, the absorbances at peaks attributed to C=O, C=C, and OH groups decrease while the absorbances arising from the main chain (CH2) increase. The result indicated the removal of lignan and the fatty acids with relatively short main chains. Moreover, sesame oil unwinterized was cooled from room temperature to near 1 ℃ and subsequently warmed to room temperature. And the cycle was repeated two times. Real-time monitoring during the cooling and warming processes were carried out using the NIR-MIR-DWS. The prediction results obtained from partial least square calibration model for the temperature suggests that there are subtle differences in the oil composition between the first cooling process and after the warming and cooling cycle. For the more detailed analysis, the 2D-DS method is proposed. The results of the analyses using 2D-DS revealed that the starting point of the transformation is around 15 ℃. It can be estimated that sesame oil is mainly transformed by the first cooling down. Moreover, it was implied that the structure of methylene (CH2) was significantly related to the modifications in sesame oil with temperature change. A series of experimental results elucidated that the winterization of sesame oil removed its impurities and stabilized its conditions. These results are probably the first report on the effect of the winterization process on sesame oil.
Does student grade contribute to the declining trend in Programme for International Student Assessment reading and mathematics in Australia?
Authors: Ainley John , Cloney Dan , Thompson Jessica
Published: October 2020

Declines in the scores of Australian 15-year-old students from the Programme for International Student Assessment are a matter of policy interest. Some of the declines may have resulted from shifts in the age-grade distributions of students in the Programme for International Student Assessment samples. We use multiple regression methods to model the student-level effects of grade for each Programme for International Student Assessment cycle allowing for the effects of student characteristics (e.g. socioeconomic background and gender) and jurisdiction. We estimate an average net effect of grade over the Programme for International Student Assessment cycles since 2006 as 42 scale points with no difference between reading and mathematics. We explore the extent to which differences between grades in achievement and changes in the grade distributions of students contributed to changes in average Programme for International Student Assessment achievement scores. We conclude that the relatively greater decline in Grade 11, compared to Grade 10 achievement, contributed to the overall decline and that shifts in distributions may have also contributed a little to those declines.
Analytic eclecticism—continuing the conversation
Authors: Sil Rudra
Published: October 2020

In this response to the contributions in this symposium, I approach the above articles not as wholesale critiques requiring point-by-point rebuttal but as constructive engagements that require clarification or invite further reflection as part of an ongoing conversation. In some instances, I revisit and elaborate upon the main motivations and assumptions that Peter Katzenstein and I had in mind as we sought to lay out the significance of analytic eclecticism for different audiences. At other times, I take it upon myself to consider aspects of our approach that might be updated or reframed in light of concerns raised by some of the authors. I specifically address four issues that have been raised: the core logic of analytic eclecticism and its operationalization with respect to once-dominant paradigms in International Relations; the link between complexity, causality, and constitutive logics; the status of metatheory and the links between eclecticism and pragmatism; and the relationship between scholarly debates and “real-world” issues of policy and ethics. Whether the response is satisfactory or not, it is worth bearing in mind that, for Peter Katzenstein and myself, analytic eclecticism was always meant to be more of an ethos than a method or manifesto; that ethos long predates our published work and is evident in the thoughtful contributions that constitute this symposium.
Severely increased generalized anxiety, but not COVID-19-related fear in individuals with mental illnesses: A population based cross-sectional study in Germany
Authors: Skoda Eva-Maria , Bäuerle Alexander , Schweda Adam , Dörrie Nora , Musche Venja , Hetkamp Madeleine , Kohler Hannah , Teufel Martin , Weismüller Benjamin
Published: October 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic affected individuals, governments, and health care centers all around the globe. Social isolation obligation, restricted working shifts, and curfews posed unprecedented challenges for the population. Social isolation, boredom, and financial problems have been shown to stress peoples’ mental health in previous comparable pandemics and even in regular situations. Individuals with a mental illness may particularly be at risk due to an already instable mental health status. While research mainly focused on the pandemic’s impact on somatic health care and risk group patients, psychological obstacles caused by legal restrictions and their impact on already mentally affected individuals have been discussed, but so far only scarcely been investigated in a large sample. For this study, 12,028 people completed an online-survey during that time in Germany, when the COVID-19 outbreak gained momentum with a surge in cases and death rates as well as a lockdown of the public life. Generalized anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-2), distress (distress thermometer) and COVID-19-specific items, especially COVID-19-related fear, were assessed in healthy individuals, patients suffering from mental illnesses, and in patients with chronic somatic diseases, known to be at risk for an unfavorable course of COVID-19. Results show that the COVID-19-pandemic significantly worsens psychometric scores throughout the population – individuals with already heightened levels, like people with mental illnesses now reach concerning levels. Surprisingly, even though generalized anxiety, depressive symptoms, and perceived distress are elevated in individuals with mental illness, these individuals seem to be less affected by explicit COVID-19-related fear, than the general population or individuals with chronic somatic diseases. This study thus objectively quantifies the psychological impact of COVID-19 in a large sample and provides evidence for not only the public, but also critically affected individuals with a mental illness.
Monitoring and modeling of part thickness evolution in vacuum infusion process
Authors: Caglar Baris , Hancioglu Mert , Sozer E Murat
Published: October 2020

The main hurdles in Vacuum Infusion (VI) are the difficulty in achieving complete mold filling and uniform part thickness. This study integrates process monitoring by full field thickness measurements and resin flow modeling that accounts for compaction and permeability characterizations of fabric reinforcements to assess the evolution of part thickness during filling and post-filling stages of VI process. A Structured Light Scanning system is used for full field thickness monitoring in experiments and a Control Volume Finite Element Method solver is implemented to couple resin flow with fabric’s compaction and permeability. Two cases are studied both experimentally and numerically. Evolutions of thickness and pressure validate the developed flow solver, its accuracy in terms of predicting fill times and fill patterns, suitability and limitations of the elastic compaction models for thickness modeling.
The Impact of Soda Taxes: Pass-Through, Tax Avoidance, and Nutritional Effects
Authors: Seiler Stephan , Tuchman Anna , Yao Song
Published: October 2020

The authors analyze the impact of a tax on sweetened beverages using a unique data set of prices, quantities sold, and nutritional information across several thousand taxed and untaxed beverages for a large set of stores in Philadelphia and its surrounding area. The tax is passed through at an average rate of 97%, leading to a 34% price increase. Demand in the taxed area decreases by 46% in response to the tax. Cross-shopping to stores outside of Philadelphia offsets more than half of the reduction in sales in the city and decreases the net reduction in sales of taxed beverages to only 22%. There is no significant substitution to bottled water and modest substitution to untaxed natural juices. The authors show that tax avoidance through cross-shopping severely constrains revenue generation and nutritional improvement, thus making geographic coverage an important policy decision.
Why share? An analysis of the sources of post-conflict power-sharing
Authors: Nomikos William G
Published: October 2020

Why do former belligerents institutionalize power-sharing arrangements after a civil war ends? The choice of power-sharing institutions shapes the nature of governance in many post-conflict settings. A better understanding of how belligerents come to choose institutionalized forms of power-sharing would thus help us explain how belligerents come to make a seemingly simple institutional choice that may have immense consequences. Existing scholarship emphasizes the nature of the conflict preceding negotiations, international actors, or state institutional capacity as critical factors for determining whether former belligerents will agree to share power or not. Yet these accounts overlook the importance of political considerations between and within ethnic groups. This article argues that elites create power-sharing institutions when the most significant threat to their political power comes from an outside group as opposed to from within their own group. That is, forward-looking and power-minded leaders of former belligerents push for the type of power-sharing at the negotiating table that affords them the greatest opportunity to influence country-level politics after the conflict has concluded in full. For elites facing competition from outside, this means securing power-sharing through institutional rules and guidelines in the settlement of the civil war to ensure that they are included in the governance of the state. By contrast, for elites fearing in-group rivals, complex governance institutions are at best unnecessary and, at worst, a significant concession to weaker opponents. I test the argument with a cross-national analysis of an original dataset of 186 power-sharing negotiations from 1945–2011. The empirical analysis suggests that elites are most likely to institutionalize power-sharing when no single ethnic group dominates politics and when most ethnic groups are unified. The quantitative analysis is complemented with illustrative examples from cases of power-sharing negotiations that offer insight into the proposed theoretical mechanisms.
Self-othering in the testimonials of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Madrid
Authors: Vasconcelos de Castro Moreira Leonardo
Published: October 2020

This article analyzes discourses of conversion involving members of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in the city of Madrid, Spain. Drawing on the biographies of members and religious leaders and focusing on their testimonials of conversion in particular, I observe how the church’s message of a better life after conversion always relates to a misguided past. I have proposed the concept of self-othering to link the process through which members internalize and interpret their transformations through religion with othering, as the first step, and individual salvation, as the second step. This study observes specific rites of passage, namely baptisms, which induce an individual to become a member of the church. Self-othering as a concept helps to explain how individuals reinterpret their past and present lives through the lens of religious conversion.
Can Geometry Achievement and Geometric Habits of Mind Be Improved Online? Reflections From a Computer-Aided Intervention
Authors: Bülbül Buket Özüm , Güler Mustafa
Published: October 2020

This article aims to examine the impact of an online learning environment enriched with computer activities on geometry achievement and geometric habits of mind (GHoM). The study includes reflections from an online application of a one-term computer-aided mathematics teaching course in which the participants were preservice teachers (PTs) enrolled in a faculty of education. A test was used to measure all participating PTs’ learning outcome and determine their GHoM. In addition, clinical interviews were administered before and after the intervention to examine the opinions of the PTs regarding the online learning environment. The results revealed that the design provided for positive development in terms of both geometry achievement and GHoM. However, the impact was found to be very limited for some components of GHoM. The article presents a discussion of the effective aspects of the intervention.
A nonlinear method for monitoring industrial process
Authors: Li Yuan , Feng Chengcheng
Published: October 2020

Aiming at fault detection in industrial processes with nonlinear or high dimensions, a novel method based on locally linear embedding preserve neighborhood for fault detection is proposed in this paper. Locally linear embedding preserve neighborhood is a feature-mapping method that combines Locally linear embedding and Laplacian eigenmaps algorithms. First, two weight matrices are obtained by the Locally linear embedding and Laplacian eigenmaps, respectively. Subsequently, the two weight matrices are combined by a balance factor to obtain the objective function. Locally linear embedding preserve neighborhood method can effectively maintain the characteristics of data in high-dimensional space. The purpose of dimension reduction is to map the high-dimensional data to low-dimensional space by optimizing the objective function. Process monitoring is performed by constructing T2 and Q statistics. To demonstrate its effectiveness and superiority, the proposed locally linear embedding preserve neighborhood for fault detection method is tested under the Swiss Roll dataset and an industrial case study. Compared with traditional fault detection methods, the proposed method in this paper effectively improves the detection rate and reduces the false alarm rate.
Local drags of the completion string with packers in horizontal wells
Authors: Liang Qimin , Xia Bairu , Liu Baolin , Gao Baokui
Published: October 2020

The multistage stimulation technique and horizontal wells are increasingly being utilized to improve oil and gas recovery. However, the sticking that occurs due to large drag during the completion string with packers tripping into the horizontal section, resulting in an abandoned well and huge economic losses. Based on a classical drag model, this paper illustrates how local drags affect the overall stress of the completion string by a case study. Mechanical models are also presented for analyzing the local drag of packers in horizontal sections considering the effects of microsteps or slots, borehole curvatures, and caliper variation respectively. The results confirmed that the local contact force is affected by centralizers, and local drags can be magnified during their upward transmission process. It is revealed that the slopes of microsteps or slots affect more on local drag of packers than the effects of microsteps’s height and slots’ depth; Moreover, the local drag of the packer was found increases with the increase of the borehole curvature, but less affected by the caliper variation; As to the effect of cuttings on the local drag of packers, it is affected by cuttings size and cuttings amount and cannot be quantitatively analyzed. This research could be utilized as a theoretical reference for estimating the sticking risks of the completion string and conditioning the horizontal open hole.
Understanding theory in social science research: Public administration in perspective
Authors: Chijioke Onah Celestine , Ikechukwu Asadu , Aloysius Aduma
Published: October 2020

The role theory plays in research work cannot be over-emphasized. A theory that is apt gives direction to research work in explaining, organizing, analyzing, and predicting phenomenon and showing their relationships in order to enhance understanding. Despite these roles played by theory, upcoming scholars and students many at times fail to use theory that is apt in their research work, while some skip to adopt any theory in their research, even when it is necessary to adopt one. Thus, leading to disjointed and poor research work. Lack of good theory and/or lack of its correct application instantly de-links the relationship and blurs the understanding of research questions, variables, and hypotheses, which theory integrates to give a coherent and holistic view of phenomenon, and answering the question of “why” the phenomenon is the “way” it is. Explanatory and qualitative research approaches were employed. Secondary data were collected from books, journal articles; internet materials, etc. were used in analyzing the roles theory plays in research work. The findings are (1) that the purpose of theory is to explain, describe, analyze, and predict phenomenon to aid understanding (2) a good theory that is apt and well applied gives clarity and logicality to the problem understudy (3) theory in research is like a bridge that links concepts, variables, and hypotheses. The paper recommends among other things that scholars/teachers should devote more chapters or contribute more papers in journal specifically on theory.
Unilateral Maxillary Sinus Plasmablastic Lymphoma in an Immunocompetent Patient. An Unusual Occurrence Report and Literature Review
Authors: Chicuellar Nayellin Reyes , Sufyan Wajiha , Mahendran Suresh
Published: October 2020

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare and aggressive form of mature B cell neoplasms almost exclusively identified in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The small number of HIV-negative PBL cases reported in the literature to date is composed of single case reports and small case series which characteristically are present involving the oral cavity mucosa or gingiva. We present a 72-year-old HIV-negative Australian patient without any cause of immunodeficiency, with an isolated left maxillary sinus PBL.
Globalization and Neoliberalism: Structural Determinants of Global Mental Health?
Authors: Roberts Matthew T.
Published: October 2020

Globalization is reshaping the world, the conditions in which we exist and the societies in which we live. However, globalization is not politically neutral; in its current form, it is enmeshed with the ideology of neoliberalism. This ideology encompasses both economic theory and normative ideals of self and society. Thus, neoliberal globalization spreads both the economic and normative elements of neoliberalism across the globe. Neoliberal globalization influences global mental health in three spheres. Firstly, it alters the material conditions of life through its interactions with inequality, recessions, employment, and living environments. Secondly, it changes the cultural and ideological environments it encounters, with implications for the goals, values, satisfaction, and self-conception of those within. Finally, the globalization of psychiatry itself poses new challenges and questions for how we can address mental illness in heterogeneous global contexts, promoting mental health for all while avoiding the mistakes of the past. Ultimately, I argue that those involved in mental health must not only be more willing to discuss the ways in which upstream sociopolitical factors act as structural determinants of mental health, but they must also be prepared to challenge these determinants.
Structural and Cohort Effects on Women’s Attitudes toward Gender Egalitarianism in Mexico
Authors: Ortiz-Rodriguez Jeyle , Pillai Vijayan Kumara
Published: October 2020

Women’s attitudes toward egalitarianism rest on a number of micro and macro conditions. Their education level and labor force participation significantly influence their attitudes toward gender equality. We apply a cohort change model to explain attitudes toward gender equality in Mexico using data from the 2011 National Survey on the Dynamics of Households Relationships (ENDIREH). Hierarchical linear modeling of data shows that younger women are more likely to adopt egalitarian attitudes than older women. Within birth cohorts, attitudes toward gender equality diverge significantly between employed and unemployed women. Availability of job opportunities resulting from labor market transformations appears to play an important and independent role in the growth of egalitarianism in Mexico. We find that the impact of education on gender egalitarianism starts decreasing with age and then increases for women born before the 1980s. We will discuss implications of the findings.