bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exceeding the Recommended Energy Limits Due to Age and Gender in Occupational Aerobic Workloads
Authors: Armendariz Cesar Omar Balderrama , Figueroa Jose de Jesus Flores , Reyes Judith Lara , Nogueira Ludovico Soto
Published: November 2018

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the physical aerobic work in terms of the metabolic expenditure and compare it with the recommended boundaries of energy found in literature, proposing an alternative to the potential work overload through a compensatory equation introduced in the standard time of the workstation. To support the study, information considering the estimated metabolic expenditure in workers was applied to a novel procedure to reduce the metabolic demand of the task according to age and gender. Results of the study indicated that women older than 30 years exceeded the energy limits from moderate to very heavy load activities, and men older than 40 years exceeded the energy limits in heavy and very heavy workloads. The proposal of compensatory equation statistically reduced the energy loads below the recommended limits of energy. The aerobic workload is a sensitive factor for age and gender groups and can be potential risks for developing cardiovascular diseases as well as some musculoskeletal disorders.
Distribution of Food in a Specialized Hospital Using Ambient Intelligence to Improve a Model of Macroergonomics
Authors: Zezzatti Alberto Ochoa , Arellano Juan Luis Hernandez , Rivera Gilberto , Azpeitia Daniel , Maldonado Luis Fernando
Published: November 2018

SIDA (Intelligent Food Distribution System, for its acronym in Spanish) is a proposed tool for the distribution of food that can be personalized depending on the medical characteristics of each patient. The target of the tool is to provide foods that contain higher nutrients in the diet set by a hospital. A model of decision trees was based on data from the organization of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and used for decision making in the simulated three basic foods based on the diet of Latin American countries typically integrated by rice, potatoes, and lentils from the parameters of fat, energy, and protein, respectively, that contains every type of food.
Trends in Macroergonomics Applications for Improved Work Systems
Authors: Arredondo Karina Cecilia , Realyvásquez Arturo , Hernández-Escobedo Guadalupe
Published: November 2018

Macroergonomics is the subdiscipline of ergonomics that is concerned with the analysis, design, and evaluation of work systems. It means, macroergonomics focuses on harmonizing the organizational structure of a company and not only one workstation or one task, as microergonomics does. Macroergonomics is a top-down, middle-out, and bottom-up approach. In the top-down approach, the overall general work system structure may be prescribed to match the organization's sociotechnical characteristics. On the other hand, the middle-out approach focuses on the analysis of subsystems and work processes, which can be assessed both up and down the organizational hierarchy from intermediate levels, and also, up and down some changes may be done to ensure the work system design is harmonized. Finally, the bottom-up approach comprises an extensive participation of employees in the identification of problems. Currently, macroergonomics is considered an emergent subdiscipline, and there is the need to promote current theories and methods and propose new ones.
Clean Meat
Authors: Schmidinger Kurt
Published: November 2018

This chapter presents the production of real animal meat, which is grown outside of an animal. Starting cells are grown to meat products with the aid of tissue engineering techniques, a process with many names: “Lab meat,” “in vitro meat,” “cultured meat,” or “clean meat.” The chapter gives an overview of the technology and—maybe even more interesting for many readers—shows who were and who are the major players behind clean meat, with many well-known persons among them. Finally, the chapter shows in which ways clean meat could outperform conventional animal-derived meat and so overcome the obstacles of little consumer acceptance, which can be expected initially.
Microbial Protein
Authors: Saklani Akash , Navneet
Published: November 2018

In the next 30–40 years, the food production system will face the challenge of increasing the production and availability of food products. Compared to the other foods, meat products are the least environmentally friendly. This chapter explores the opportunities of including microbial protein—the dried cells of microorganisms, such as algae, fungi, actinomycetes, and bacteria—in the food system to improve food security. Since ancient times, different microbes have been used as part of the diet all over the world. Recently, the term single cell protein gained popularity to describe the dibble single-cell microorganisms. The health benefits of such products are well-known, and the environmental impacts of their production are low. Emerging meat substitutes based on microbial proteins combined with the right technologies is one of the promising trends in food production that is analyzed in comparison with conventional proteins.
Soybeans Consumption and Production in China
Authors: Guo Xiumei , Shao Xiaoling , Trishna Shagufta M. , Marinova Dora , Hossain Amzad
Published: November 2018

China is the world's top consumer and largest importer of soybeans used as human food and livestock feed. Since the 1980s, China's meat consumption has been growing despite this being an inefficient way of feeding the world's largest population. It diverts resources which can be used directly for human consumption. If the Chinese people were to maintain or expand their high consumption of soybean-based foods instead of switching to a meat-rich diet, greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced, and natural resource use improved. This chapter examines the trends in soy consumption and production in China and explores people's dietary preferences for soybeans, including concerns about the import of genetically modified soybeans. Without diverting soybeans to animal feed, the demand for them will decrease and will make China more self-sufficient. This study also provides educational guidance about the health benefits of plant-based foods and environmental damage associated with high consumption of animal-based products.
Clustering and 5G-Enabled Smart Cities
Authors: Tal Irina , Muntean Gabriel-Miro
Published: November 2018

This chapter highlights the importance of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) in the context of the 5G-enabled smarter cities and roads, a topic that attracts significant interest. In order for VANETs and its associated applications to become a reality, a very promising avenue is to bring together multiple wireless technologies in the architectural design. 5G is envisioned to have a heterogeneous network architecture. Clustering is employed in designing optimal VANET architectures that successfully use different technologies. Therefore, clustering has the potential to play an important role in the 5G-VANET-enabled solutions. This chapter presents a survey of clustering approaches in the VANET research area. The survey provides a general classification of the clustering algorithms, presents some of the most advanced and latest algorithms in VANETs, and it is among the fewest works in the literature that reviews the performance assessment of clustering algorithms.
Resource Management of Mixed Unicast and Multicast Services Over LTE
Authors: Araniti Giuseppe , Condoluci Massimo , Pizzi Sara , Molinaro Antonella
Published: November 2018

In recent years, mobile operators are observing a growing demand of multicast services over radio cellular networks. In this scenario, multicasting is the technology exploited to serve a group of users who simultaneously request the same data content. Since multicast applications are expected to be massively exchanged over the forthcoming fifth generation (5G) systems, the third-generation partnership project (3GPP) defined the multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) standard. MBMS supports multicast services over long-term evolution (LTE), and the 4G wireless technology provides high quality services in mobile environments. Nevertheless, several issues related to the management of MBMS services together with more traditional unicast services are still open. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the main challenges in supporting heterogeneous traffic over LTE with particular attention to resource management, considered as the key aspect for an effective provisioning of mobile multimedia services over cellular networks.
Game Theory for Cooperation in Multi-Access Edge Computing
Authors: Moura Jose , Marinheiro Rui Neto , Silva Joao Carlos
Published: November 2018

Cooperative strategies amongst network players can improve network performance and spectrum utilization in future networking environments. Game Theory is very suitable for these emerging scenarios, since it models high-complex interactions among distributed decision makers. It also finds the more convenient management policies for the diverse players (e.g., content providers, cloud providers, edge providers, brokers, network providers, or users). These management policies optimize the performance of the overall network infrastructure with a fair utilization of their resources. This chapter discusses relevant theoretical models that enable cooperation amongst the players in distinct ways through, namely, pricing or reputation. In addition, the authors highlight open problems, such as the lack of proper models for dynamic and incomplete information scenarios. These upcoming scenarios are associated to computing and storage at the network edge, as well as, the deployment of large-scale IoT systems. The chapter finalizes by discussing a business model for future networks.
Managing 5G Converged Core With Access Traffic Steering, Switching, and Splitting
Authors: Mahmoodi Toktam , Johnson Stephen H. , Condoluci Massimo , Ayadurai Vicknesan , Cuevas Maria A. , Dohler Mischa
Published: November 2018

This chapter discusses the ongoing work around hybrid access and network convergence, with particular emphasis on recent works on ATSSS in 3GPP. Three main aspects are analyzed: policy enforcement, integration with 5G QoS framework, interaction with underlying multi-path transport protocol. The chapter also provides some preliminary testbed results showing the benefits of ATSSS in the management of multiple accesses analyzing some primary performance indicators such as achievable data rates, link utilization for aggregated traffic, and session setup latency. The chapter also provides some results by considering two examples of realization of ATSSS policies to avoid inefficiency in link utilization and to allow the fulfillment of data rate requirements.
Principles and Enabling Technologies of 5G Network Slicing
Authors: Bojkovic Zoran , Bakmaz Bojan , Bakmaz Miodrag
Published: November 2018

5G mobile systems can be comprehended as highly flexible and programmable E2E networking infrastructures that provide increased performance in terms of capacity, latency, reliability, and energy efficiency while meeting a plethora of diverse requirements from multiple services. Network slicing is emerging as a prospective paradigm to meet these requirements with reduced operating cost and improved time and space functionality. A network slice is the way to provide better resource isolation and increased statistical multiplexing. With dynamic slicing, 5G will operate on flexible zone of the network, permitting varying, adaptable levels or bandwidth and reliability. In this chapter, a comprehensive survey of network slicing is presented from an E2E perspective, detailing its origination and current standardization efforts, principal concepts, enabling technologies, as well as applicable solutions. In particular, it provides specific slicing solutions for each part of the 5G systems, encompassing orchestration and management in the radio access and the core network domains.
When Good Waters Go Bad
Authors: Wilson Lynn A.
Published: November 2018

This chapter offers commentary on adaptation and resilience to stresses on water systems in a potentially catastrophic future. While considering futures studies as an integral part of science education is not new, reorganizing knowledge and its deployment to equip future leaders to address the complexity, paradox and unpredictability of problem requires new educational paradigms. Youth are poised as agents of change in a collaborative, networked, and complexity-embracing future. Through exploring the changes in waters due to climate change and human activity, and what those changes may mean for developing and maintaining resilience in the postnormal future, a complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework guides new alternatives for education and water policy action in these changing times and within the broad goals of sustainability.
Science Communication for Climate Change Disaster Risk Management and Environmental Education in Africa
Authors: Chirisa Innocent , Matamanda Abraham Rajab
Published: November 2018

This chapter describes and explains the role of science communication to advance environmental education on climate change with a special reference on Africa being one of the regions suffering from the effects of climate-induced disasters and risks in the increased anthropogenic effects of modern development. It is argued that scientists are poor communicators on what they do, and hence, are often misunderstood by the media and society. This then calls for attention to be paid with regards to science communication, which has to be packaged in ways that make it easier for the generality of citizens to interpret and understand. Efforts in this regard are made possible through environmental education, which has proved to be useful in the discourse of disaster risk management in different parts of the world. The buttressing methodological philosophy to this chapter is applied systems approach. Critical areas of reference are health and diseases, resilient communities, coastal adaptation, and farming practices and technologies.
Elimination of Power Line Interference in ECG Signal Using Adaptive Filter, Notch Filter and Discrete Wavelet Transform Techniques
Authors: Srinivasa M.G.  , Pandian P.S.
Published: November 2018

An ECG is a biomedical non-stationary signal, which contains valuable information about the electrical activity of the heart. The ECG is very sensitive and a weak signal, hence, it gets corrupted by various types of noise such as power line interference, baseline wander, motion artifacts, muscle contractions, electrode contact noise, etc., that may lead to a misdiagnosis. Among these noise parameters the power line interference is very crucial because noise falls in the ECG bandwidth, i.e. 0.05 Hz to 100 Hz. The article proposes the removal of power line interference (PLI) noise in an ECG signal based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and adaptive filtering techniques. The results are compared with the existing notch filter both in time and frequency domain by filter performance parameters like ESD, MSE %PSD and SNR.
Comparison of Three Kinds of Alternative Essay-Rating Methods to the ESL Composition Profile
Authors: Ishikawa Shin'ichiro
Published: November 2018

Although the ESL Composition Profile (CP) has been widely used by scholars as a well-balanced rubric for learner essay evaluation, it is not necessarily easy for L2 teachers to rate students' essays based on the five criteria of the CP. This indicates the necessity to explore reliable alternatives to the CP. This article, therefore, compares three kinds of alternative approaches: (1) using the simplified version of the CP, (2) using edited essays, and (3) using model essays, paying attention to the correlation between each of the possible alternatives and the original CP. Our learner-corpus-based analysis has shown that simplifying the CP and paying attention to the organization of learner essays appears to be the most effective method.
Electronic Lecture Versus Traditional Lecture
Authors: Hassell David G. , Hewakandamby Buddhika , Yueh Lee Kok
Published: November 2018

This article presents work undertaken in the 2010-2011 academic year at two international campuses of Nottingham University. Although the data was shared after seven years, it is believed the findings have implications for the present time. The primary aim of this study was to compare the use of podcasts against traditional lectures on student learning of a course designed for Bachelors of Engineering (BEng) and Masters of Engineering (MEng) students majoring in chemical engineering, and chemical and environmental engineering. The campus based in the UK (UNUK) taught the module using a conventional “chalk-and-talk” approach whilst the other in Malaysia (UNMC) used electronic lectures (podcasts) to deliver the taught component of the module. The same assessment (exam and coursework) was used in both campuses to measure the differences in effectiveness of the two approaches. The comparison found that the mode of delivery has no obvious effect on the academic performance of the students for both coursework and exam components, however, the electronic lecture approach was found to have a negative impact on student attendance on campus.
Similarity Measure of Breast Cancer Datasets Using Fuzzy Rule-Based Classification by Attribute
Authors: Li Tengyue , Fong Simon
Published: November 2018

To compare with two datasets based on attributes by using classification algorithms, for the attributes, the authors need to select them by rules and the system is known as rule-based reasoning system which classifies a given test instance into a particular outcome from the learned rules. The test instance carries multiple attributes, which are usually the values of diagnostic tests. In this article, the authors propose a classifier ensemble-based method for comparison of two breast cancer datasets. The ensemble data mining learning methods are applied to rule generation, and a multi-criterion evaluation approach is used for selecting reliable rules over the results of the ensemble methods. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is illustrated via an example of two breast cancer datasets. This article introduces a novel fuzzy rule-based classification method called FURIA, to obtain a relationship between two breast cancer datasets. Hence, it can find the similarity between these two datasets. The new method is compared vis-à-vis with other classical statistical approaches such as correlation and mutual information gain.
Prescriptive Grammar for Clinical Prescribing Workflow
Authors: Kauranen Kalle , Kim Arnold , Osial Phillip
Published: November 2018

Health information technology is being increasingly introduced into the healthcare environment with its benefits of providing safer and more effective practices. However, the new solutions are brought in issues of implementing them with existing clinical workflows and presents a variety of solutions that do not work well together. For healthcare professionals that want total control over their work, existing solutions can appear rigid and inflexible for their needs. Other solutions can also appear cumbersome as they take user experience for granted with their focus on ease of access. This research presents a prescriptive grammar for prescribing of medications which address the problems of fractured clinical workflow and rigid design of current prescribing tools. The author's solution uses a fully validated Parser Combinator Grammar with an Integrated Development Environment for the construction of prescriptions that once completed, are entered into an electronic health record using the HL7 standard.
Customers' Perceived Risk and Trust in Using Mobile Money Services—an Empirical Study of Ghana
Authors: Abdul-Hamid Ibn Kailan , Shaikh Aijaz A. , Boateng Henry , Hinson Robert E.
Published: November 2018

Although mobile money (MM) has been explored in the existing literature, the roles of trust and risk in MM use have received little attention from researchers. Furthermore, many of the existing studies have treated these constructs as unidimensional. The extant literature also shows that perceived risk has received little attention from researchers who have conducted studies on MM. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the roles of trust and perceived risk in customers' intent to adopt MM services in Ghana. Both trust and perceived risk were broken down into various dimensions. The study involved 671 respondents who were selected via an intercept approach and an online survey. Structural equation modelling was used to test the study's hypotheses. The findings show that perceived risk is negatively associated with customers' intent to use MM services and economy-based trust. Trust in service providers and economy-based trust are positively associated with customers' intent to use MM services. The implications of the findings are provided in the latter part of this study.
Social Media Banking Usage From Banks' Perspective
Authors: Parusheva Silvia
Published: November 2018

Social media is a fundamental trend in both the social and economic life of modern society. This study examines how banks, in the case of the top ten banks in Bulgaria according to their assets, are active in using different types of social media tools. A definition of the concept of social media banking and its scope is proposed. Based on significant amount of data collected from different sources including from an online questionnaire from a sample of mainly young people, an in-depth analysis of banks' use of social networking sites and other types of social media tools is provided. A special focus is placed on the assessment of the intensity of banks' presence on Facebook with a system of quantitative and qualitative indicators being proposed. The article finally identifies conclusions, and recommendations regarding the banks' practices, limitations, and directions for future research.
Overview of Big Data-Intensive Storage and its Technologies for Cloud and Fog Computing
Authors: Segall Richard S. , Cook Jeffrey S , Niu Gao
Published: November 2018

Computing systems are becoming increasingly data-intensive because of the explosion of data and the needs for processing the data, and subsequently storage management is critical to application performance in such data-intensive computing systems. However, if existing resource management frameworks in these systems lack the support for storage management, this would cause unpredictable performance degradation when applications are under input/output (I/O) contention. Storage management of data-intensive systems is a challenge. Big Data plays a most major role in storage systems for data-intensive computing. This article deals with these difficulties along with discussion of High Performance Computing (HPC) systems, background for storage systems for data-intensive applications, storage patterns and storage mechanisms for Big Data, the Top 10 Cloud Storage Systems for data-intensive computing in today's world, and the interface between Big Data Intensive Storage and Cloud/Fog Computing. Big Data storage and its server statistics and usage distributions for the Top 500 Supercomputers in the world are also presented graphically and discussed as data-intensive storage components that can be interfaced with Fog-to-cloud interactions and enabling protocols.
Demand Estimation When There Are Unobservable Substitutions Amongst Choice Alternatives
Authors: Bai Lihua , Ren Yuan , Shaikh Nazrul I.
Published: November 2018

Product stock-outs and the resultant purchase of substitutes by customer is common in retail. These stock-out lead to censored sales data; the observed demand for products with stock-outs could be lower that the true demand for the same while the observed demand for the substitutes could be inflated. If historical sales data is used to forecast future demand for a product without accounting for stock-outs, it could lead to errors in demand forecasting on account of misspecification. In this paper, we demonstrate the need and the benefits of data unconstraining and develop a data unconstraining method to address the dual issues of estimation of demand and substitution rates when there are unobserved substitutions among choice alternatives. We compare the effectiveness of the proposed technique by comparing it against the popular techniques available in extant literature.
Low Glycemic Index Diets for Subjects With Diabetes by Minimizing Glycemic Load of Individual Foods
Authors: Mentado Maximino Navarro , Pérez Esther Segura
Published: November 2018

In this article, the authors develop and analyze a linear programming model to obtain an ideal diet for individuals with diabetes by setting the glycemic load as the objective function. Additionally, a standardized system is used in order to facilitate the substitutability of foods present in a diet since those are classified according to their macronutrient content (proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates) and these values are, on average, very similar. Finally, the diet glycemic index is calculated with the model's outcome to corroborate that it is indeed a diet with low glycemic index and that, at the same time, it complies with the nutrient restrictions, which proves that the model can be a useful tool both to generate low glycemic index diets and to restrict certain nutrients from the diet.
Multi-Level Security in Healthcare Using a Lattice-Based Access Control Model
Authors: Demurjian Steven A. , Sanzi Eugene , Agresta Thomas P. , Yasnoff William A.
Published: November 2018

Controlling access to sensitive personal information is a primary concern in healthcare. Regardless of whether access control policies are determined by patients, healthcare professionals, institutions, legal and regulatory authorities, or some combination of these, assuring the strict enforcement of policies across all systems that store personal health information is the overriding, essential goal of any healthcare security solution. While a comprehensive healthcare security architecture may need to impose specific controls on individual data items, most access control decisions will be based on sensitivity levels automatically assigned to information classes by a “sensitivity profile,” combined with the authorization level of the user. This article proposes the use of multi-level security, defined by lattice-based sensitivity profiles, to ensure compliance with data access restrictions between systems. This security approach accommodates the complexities needed for health data access and benefits from existing, proven tools that are used for defense and national security applications.
BPMN Coordination and Devs Network Architecture for Healthcare Organizations
Authors: Sbayou Mariem , Zacharewicz Gregory , Bouanan Youssef , Vallespir Bruno
Published: November 2018

The adoption of business processes (BP) can help healthcare providers in structuring the way information systems and people have to interact. Business process management (BPM) is a methodology that structures a way of representing system processes. At the same time, the human resources are organized in identified or implicit structures that allows individuals to exchange information either related to their work function or not. Nevertheless, the human organizations structure and communication channels are not, up to now, fully captured by the information systems. It may lead to losing part of the useful information exchanged by participants. Accordingly, this article focuses on multi-agent solutions representing social networks in the healthcare domain associated with BPM of patient pathways. The purpose is to study the feasibility of combining BP with agent-based models in order to better improve performance, manage resources, and ensure coordination between them.
A Survey on Household Energy Saving Measures for Last Decade in Western India
Authors: Sony Michael
Published: November 2018

There has been a large interest in household energy-saving measures as they are major consumers of energy. The higher level of awareness need not culminate into the household energy savings. This study investigates the impact of the changes on both home-based and transport -based energy-saving measures over a period. In addition, it also investigated the percentage of money spent on these energy-saving activities. A postal based self-reported survey was undertaken in western India. The result suggested that only 24% of the respondents reported that money spent on household energy-saving measures have increased in the last 10 years. Whereas 43% have reported they have not spent any money on the energy saving measures. Little study is done on the changes in household energy saving measures. In this study, the authors extend the research on household energy-saving measures by addressing the gap in extant literature in understanding the changing paradigm of household energy-saving measures in a decade
Patient Involvement in Health Care. Different Terms Same Concept?
Authors: Xochelli Aliki , Stamatopoulos Kostas , Karamanidou Christina
Published: November 2018

Patient participation in health care is widely considered as crucial for the development of improved health systems and the refined management of chronic conditions. Against this background, however, there are divergent views and contradictions regarding its definition and actual content and scope. Moreover, there is no consensus as to the appropriate interventions, hence assessing their impact remains a challenge. The authors herein comment on the terms that are most commonly used for defining patient involvement in health care and underline the barriers identified in everyday clinical practice that may be responsible for failing to fully materialize its potential impact and/or endorsing it in real life.
Developing a Method to Valuate the Collection of Big Data
Authors: Wolverton Colleen Carraher , Hollier Brandi N. Guidry , Totaro Michael W. , Slatten Lise Anne D.
Published: November 2018

Although organizations recognize the potential of “big data,” implementation of data analytics processes can consume a considerable amount of resources. The authors propose that when organizations are considering this costly and often risky investment, they need a systematic method to evaluate the costs of data collection associated with the implementation of a new data and analytics (D & A) strategy or an expansion of an existing effort. Therefore, in this article, a new dimension of big data is proposed which is incorporated into a theoretically justified and systematic method for quantifying the costs and benefits of the data collection process. By estimating the worth of data, organizations can more efficiently focus on streamlining the collection of the most beneficial data and jettisoning less valuable data collection efforts.
How Cooperative Is ‘Cooperative Investment'?
Authors: Mitra Arijit , Sarkar Sumit , Vijayaraghavan T.A.S.
Published: November 2018

The literature identifies the importance of cooperation in enhancing supply chain performance, but only a few papers have studied the role of cooperative investment in supply chain contracting. This article contributes to the literature of supply chain contracts by highlighting the importance of a cooperative investment in improving quality in presence of uncertainty. When the delivery of a high-quality product is uncertain and costly, the supplier may choose to deliver a less costly standard product, delivery of which is not uncertain, and hence the buyer needs to incentivize the supplier to take the risk. Using a principal-agent set-up, this article shows that incentivizing the supplier to choose the risky action of attempting delivery of the high-quality product is easier for the buyer in presence of shared cooperative investment that reduces epistemic quality uncertainty. However, the supplier passes the entire burden of investment on the buyer. The optimal investment for the buyer depends on parameters that determine effectiveness of the investment in reducing quality uncertainty.
CD62L Is a Functional and Phenotypic Marker for Circulating Innate Lymphoid Cell Precursors
Authors: Bar-Ephraim Yotam E. , Koning Jasper J. , Burniol Ruiz Estefany , Konijn Tanja , Mourits Vera P. , Lakeman Kim A. , Boon Louis , Bögels Marijn , van Maanen J. Peter , Den Haan Joke M. M. , van Egmond Marjolein , Bouma Gerd , Reijmers Rogier M. , Mebius Reina E.
Published: November 2018

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) guard epithelial tissue integrity during homeostasis, but can be potent immune effector cells during inflammation. Precursors to all ILC subsets (ILC precursors [ILCP]) have been identified in human peripheral blood (PB). We found that during homeostasis, ILCP in PB of mouse and human expressed homing receptors for secondary lymphoid organs, mainly CD62L. These ILCP entered mouse lymph nodes in a CD62L-dependent way and relied on S1P receptors for their exit. Importantly, CD62L expression was absent on human ILCs expressing NKp44 in tonsils and PB of Crohn disease patients, and relatively fewer CD62L+ ILCP were present in PB of Crohn disease patients. These data are in agreement with selective expression of CD62L on nonactivated ILCP. As such, we conclude that CD62L not only serves as a functional marker of ILCP, but has potential to be used in the clinic as a diagnostic marker in inflammatory disorders.
Computational Analysis Supports IL-17A as a Central Driver of Neutrophil Extracellular Trap–Mediated Injury in Liver Ischemia Reperfusion
Authors: Tohme Samer , Yazdani Hamza O. , Sud Vikas , Loughran Patricia , Huang Hai , Zamora Ruben , Simmons Richard L. , Vodovotz Yoram , Tsung Allan
Published: November 2018

Hepatic ischemia reperfusion (I/R) is a clinically relevant model of acute sterile inflammation leading to a reverberating, self-sustaining inflammatory response with resultant necrosis. We hypothesized that computerized dynamic network analysis (DyNA) of 20 inflammatory mediators could help dissect the sequence of post-I/R mediator interactions that induce injury. Although the majority of measured inflammatory mediators become elevated in the first 24 h, we predicted that only a few would be secreted early in the process and serve as organizational centers of downstream intermediator complexity. In support of this hypothesis, DyNA inferred a central organizing role for IL-17A during the first 3 h of reperfusion. After that, DyNA revealed connections among almost all the inflammatory mediators, representing an ongoing cytokine storm. Blocking IL-17A immediately after reperfusion disassembled the inflammatory networks and protected the liver from injury. Disassembly of the networks was not achieved if IL-17A blockage was delayed two or more hours postreperfusion. Network disassembly was accompanied by decrease in neutrophil infiltration and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. By contrast, administration of recombinant IL-17A increased neutrophil infiltration, NET formation, and liver necrosis. The administration of DNase, a NET inhibitor, significantly reduced hepatic damage despite prior administration of IL-17A, and DNase also disassembled the inflammatory networks. In vitro, IL-17A was a potent promoter of NET formation. Therefore, computational analysis identified IL-17A’s early, central organizing role in the rapid evolution of a network of inflammatory mediators that induce neutrophil infiltration and NET formation responsible for hepatic damage after liver I/R.
First records of Lygaeus simulans Deckert, 1985 for Albania (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae: Lygaeinae)
Authors: Van der Heyden Torsten , Dioli Paride
Published: November 2018

The first records of Lygaeus simulans Deckert, 1985 in Albania are reported. Additional information on the ecology (habitat preferences, host plants) and the distribution of this species is given.
Perceptions of retirement adequacy in Lesotho: Behavioural and socio-economic influences
Authors: Nthebe Tokiso , Reyers Michelle
Published: November 2018

Orientation: Saving for retirement is complicated for employees because of the complexity of the financial decisions involved. Financial decision-making is believed to be associated with a number of behavioural and socio-economic factors, and these factors may in turn be related to whether employees perceive themselves to be adequately saving for retirement.Research purpose: This study assesses which factors predict whether individuals working in both the financial and non-financial sectors in Lesotho perceive themselves to be adequately preparing for retirement. The main focus is on financial literacy (FL), financial risk tolerance (FRT) and future time perspective (FTP). As a secondary focus, the study looks at the potential differences between two sectors of employees that may be attributed to differing levels of FL.Motivation for the study: This study focuses on Lesotho to provide an African context on retirement saving and hopefully lay the foundation for future research in the field of retirement saving.Research approach/design and method: Data were collected from 200 participants using an online survey at three companies in Lesotho and analysed using bivariate and multivariate techniques, with a linear regression model used in terms of the multivariate analysis.Main findings: This study finds that FL, FRT and FTP are all positively related to perceived retirement adequacy (RA) in the bivariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, for those working outside the financial sector, objective FL, subjective FL and FTP were positively related to perceived RA, whereas for those in the financial sector, higher levels of FTP, higher household income and being older were all associated with higher levels of perceived RA.Practical/managerial implications: The participants in this study are not representative of the broader Lesotho population; therefore, further research would be required before this conclusion is generalised.Contribution/value-add: These findings provide insights to industry role players about the profile of individuals who are confident about retirement savings and how this contrasts with those who are not confident.
Effect of Tadalafil on Erectile Function in Patients after Robotic-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy with Unilateral or Bilateral Nerve Sparing
Authors: Lee I-Yen , Tung Min-Che , Hsu Chao-Yu , Yin Jue-Hawn , Chang Yu-Kang , Weng Wei-Chun , Huang Li-Hua , Huang Zhon-Min , Yang Cheng-Kuang , Ou Yen-Chuan
Published: November 2018

Objective:

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major complication of radical prostatectomy. Despite advances in surgical techniques, the postoperative continence and potency rates are still not satisfactory. Many studies have reported experiences with penile rehabilitation using tadalafil for patients receiving nerve-sparing robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy, but similar reports are still lacking in Taiwan.

Patients and Methods:

We collected 163 patients that had undergone unilateral or bilateral nerve-sparing robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy from January 2013 to December 2014 in Tungs' Hospital. One month after operation, 5 mg tadalafil once daily was prescribed for 54 patients whose Foley's catheter had been removed and who had ED. We recorded the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) score at the 12th month after surgery. We defined postsurgery IIEF-5 ≥22 as potency or no ED. We compared the differences in clinical parameters and postsurgery potency rates between patients with or without tadalafil treatment.

Results:

The postsurgery potency rates of those with tadalafil treatment were significantly higher than that of those without tadalafil treatment (55.6% vs. 32.1%) after a 1-year follow-up observation. The mean (standard deviation) of IIEF-5preamong those with and without tadalafil treatment was 21.3 (4.5) and 19.2 (4.2), respectively. There were no significant differences in baseline clinical condition parameters between patients with potency with or without tadalafil treatment. The results indicated that the tadalafil-treated patients had a higher odds ratio (OR) of potency (adjusted OR = 2.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28–5.22) than the nontadalafil-treated patients. However, those ≥65 years old were associated with a lower potency rate (adjusted OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.89-0.99).

Conclusion:

Starting penile rehabilitation with tadalafil 5 mg daily 1 month after nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy is safe for patients. Patients with mild-to-moderate ED should use tadalafil 5 mg daily after receiving nerve-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy due to its significant benefit in erectile function recovery.
Formatos narrativos para la prevención del embarazo. Efecto de la modalidad narrativa en las actitudes de prevención
Authors: González-Cabrera Catalina , Igartua Perosanz Juan-José
Published: November 2018

Se analiza el efecto en las actitudes, conocimientos, percepciones e intención de conducta de la persuasión narrativa y del nivel de alfabetización mediática en un video creado para prevenir el embarazo adolescente. Método: Las participantes del experimento (N = 220) cumplimentaron un cuestionario pre-test que medía la habilidad crítica para percibir el contenido sexualizado de los medios y las variables dependientes. Un mes después las adolescentes fueron distribuidas aleatoriamente a dos condiciones experimentales: la mitad vio un video narrativo en formato testimonial y la otra mitad un vídeo narrativo en formato dialógico. Luego rellenaron el cuestionario post-test. Resultados: Se observó́ que el nivel de alfabetización mediática moderaba los efectos indirectos del vídeo narrativo testimonial en la percepción de riesgo de vivir situaciones negativas en un embarazo adolescente. Conclusiones: Se discuten los resultados como un avance en el conocimiento de los procesos de la persuasión narrativa en salud.
Surface–atmosphere exchange of inorganic water-soluble gases and associated ions in bulk aerosol above agricultural grassland pre- and postfertilisation
Authors: Ramsay Robbie , Di Marco Chiara F. , Heal Mathew R. , Twigg Marsailidh M. , Cowan Nicholas , Jones Matthew R. , Leeson Sarah R. , Bloss William J. , Kramer Louisa J. , Crilley Leigh , Sörgel Matthias , Andreae Meinrat , Nemitz Eiko
Published: November 2018

Abstract. The increasing use of intensive agricultural practices can lead to damaging
consequences for the atmosphere through enhanced emissions of air pollutants.
However, there are few direct measurements of the surface–atmosphere exchange
of trace gases and water-soluble aerosols over agricultural grassland,
particularly of reactive nitrogen compounds. In this study, we present
measurements of the concentrations, fluxes and deposition velocities of the
trace gases HCl, HONO, HNO3, SO2 and NH3 as well as their
associated water-soluble aerosol counterparts Cl−, NO2-,
NO3-, SO42- and NH4+ as determined hourly
for 1 month in May–June 2016 over agricultural grassland near Edinburgh,
UK, pre- and postfertilisation. Measurements were made using the Gradient
of Aerosols and Gases Online Registrator (GRAEGOR) wet-chemistry two-point
gradient instrument. Emissions of NH3 peaked at
1460 ngm-2s-1 3 h after fertilisation, with an
emission of HONO peaking at 4.92 ngm-2s-1 occurring 5 h
after fertilisation. Apparent emissions of NO3- aerosol
were observed after fertilisation which, coupled with a divergence of
HNO3 deposition velocity (Vd) from its theoretical maximum
value, suggested the reaction of emitted NH3 with atmospheric
HNO3 to form ammonium nitrate aerosol. The use of the conservative
exchange fluxes of tot-NH4+ and tot-NO3- indicated
net emission of tot-NO3-, implying a ground source of
HNO3 after fertilisation. Daytime concentrations of HONO remained
above the detection limit (30 ng m−3) throughout the campaign,
suggesting a daytime source for HONO at the site. Whilst the mean Vd of
NH4+ was 0.93 mm s−1 in the range expected for the
accumulation mode, the larger average Vd for Cl− (3.65 mm s−1),
NO3- (1.97 mm s−1) and SO42- (1.89 mm s−1) reflected the
contribution of a super-micron fraction and decreased with increasing
PM2.5∕PM10 ratio (a proxy measurement for aerosol size), providing
evidence – although limited by the use of a proxy for aerosol size – of a
size dependence of aerosol deposition velocity for aerosol chemical
compounds, which has been suggested from process-orientated models of aerosol
deposition.
Nitrogen oxides in the global upper troposphere: interpreting cloud-sliced NO2 observations from the OMI satellite instrument
Authors: Marais Eloise A. , Jacob Daniel J. , Choi Sungyeon , Joiner Joanna , Belmonte-Rivas Maria , Cohen Ronald C. , Beirle Steffen , Murray Lee T. , Schiferl Luke D. , Shah Viral , Jaeglé Lyatt
Published: November 2018

Abstract. Nitrogen oxides (NOx≡NO+NO2) in the
upper troposphere (UT) have a large impact on global tropospheric ozone and
OH (the main atmospheric oxidant). New cloud-sliced observations of UT
NO2 at 450–280 hPa (∼6–9 km) from the Ozone
Monitoring Instrument (OMI) produced by NASA and the Royal Netherlands
Meteorological Institute (KNMI) provide global coverage to test our
understanding of the factors controlling UT NOx. We find
that these products offer useful information when averaged over coarse scales
(20∘×32∘, seasonal), and that the NASA product is
more consistent with aircraft observations of UT NO2. Correlation
with Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD)
satellite observations of lightning flash frequencies suggests
that lightning is the dominant source of NOx to the upper
troposphere except for extratropical latitudes in winter. The NO2
background in the absence of lightning is 10–20 pptv. We infer a global
mean NOx yield of 280±80 moles per lightning flash,
with no significant difference between the tropics and midlatitudes, and a
global lightning NOx source of 5.9±1.7 Tg N a−1. There is indication that the NOx
yield per flash increases with lightning flash footprint and with flash
energy.