bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abstract IA05: Distinct immune and molecular features of melanoma brain metastases
Authors: Davies Michael A.
Published: June 2022

Brain metastases are a common and devastating complication of metastatic melanoma. Clinical trials have shown that targeted and immune therapies frequently achieve less favorable results in melanoma brain metastases than in other metastatic sites, and the central nervous system (CNS) is a common initial site of systemic treatment failure in this disease. Several previous focused studies demonstrated significant differences between melanoma brain metastases (MBMs) and extracranial metastases (ECMs) that may contribute to therapeutic resistance. However, very little data are currently available about the global features of MBMs, particularly in comparison to patient-matched ECMs. Thus, we performed RNA sequencing (RNAseq) on a large cohort of resected MBMs, and resected ECMs, from metastatic melanoma patients treated at our institution. Parallel studies were performed on preclinical models of MBMs to further and functionally characterize these tumors. These studies have identified unique immune and metabolic features of MBMs. These differences provide new insights into possible mechanisms of therapeutic resistance among MBMs and suggest rational approaches to improve the efficacy of treatments for them.

Citation Format: Michael A. Davies. Distinct immune and molecular features of melanoma brain metastases [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Melanoma: From Biology to Target; 2019 Jan 15-18; Houston, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(19 Suppl):Abstract nr IA05.
Abstract IA08: Elevated endogenous SDHA drives pathologic metabolism in highly metastatic uveal melanoma
Authors: Chattopadhyay Chandrani , Oba Junna , Roszik Jason , Woodman Scott E. , Grimm Elizabeth A.
Published: June 2022

Purpose: Metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) has a very poor prognosis and no effective therapy. Despite remarkable advances in treatment of cutaneous melanoma, UM remains recalcitrant to chemotherapy, small-molecule kinase inhibitors, and immune-based therapy.

Experimental Design: We assessed two sets of oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) genes within 9,858 tumors across 31 cancer types. An OxPhos inhibitor was used to characterize differential metabolic programming of highly metastatic monosomy 3 (M3) UM. Seahorse analysis and global metabolomics profiling were done to identify metabolic vulnerabilities. Analyses of UM TCGA data set were performed to determine expressions of key OxPhos effectors in M3 and non M3 UM. We used targeted knockdown of succinate dehydrogenase A (SDHA) to determine the role of SDHA in M3 UM in conferring resistance to OxPhos inhibition.

Results: We identified UM as having among the highest median OxPhos levels and showed that M3 UM exhibits a distinct metabolic profile. M3 UM shows markedly low succinate levels and has highly increased levels of SDHA, the enzyme that couples the TCA cycle with OxPhos by oxidizing (lowering) succinate. We show that SDHA-high M3 UM has elevated expression of key OxPhos molecules, exhibits abundant mitochondrial reserve respiratory capacity, and is resistant to OxPhos antagonism, which can be reversed by SDHA knockdown.

Conclusions: Our study has identified a critical metabolic program within poor prognostic M3 UM. In addition to the heightened mitochondrial functional capacity due to elevated SDHA, M3 UM SDHA-high mediates resistance to therapy that is reversible with targeted treatment.

Citation Format: Chandrani Chattopadhyay, Junna Oba, Jason Roszik, Scott E. Woodman, Elizabeth A. Grimm. Elevated endogenous SDHA drives pathologic metabolism in highly metastatic uveal melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Melanoma: From Biology to Target; 2019 Jan 15-18; Houston, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(19 Suppl):Abstract nr IA08.
Biallelic Novel USP53 Splicing Variant Disrupting the Gene Function that Causes Cholestasis Phenotype and Review of the Literature
Authors: Gezdirici Alper , Kalaycik Şengül Özlem , Doğan Mustafa , Özgüven Banu Y. , Akbulut Ekrem
Published: June 2022

Introduction: Hereditary cholestasis is a heterogeneous group of liver diseases that mostly show autosomal recessive inheritance. The phenotype of cholestasis is highly variable. Molecular genetic testing offers an useful approach to differentiate different types of cholestasis because some symptoms and findings overlap. Biallelic variants in USP53 have recently been reported in cholestasis phenotype. Methods: In this study, we aimed to characterize clinical findings and biological insights on a novel USP53 splice variant causing cholestasis phenotype and provided a review of the literature. We performed whole-exome sequencing and then confirmed it with Sanger sequencing. In addition, as a result of in silico analyses and cDNA analysis, we showed that the USP53 protein in our patient was shortened. Results: We report a novel splice variant (NM_019050.2:c.238–1G>C) in the USP53 gene via whole-exome sequencing in a patient with cholestasis phenotype. This variant was confirmed by Sanger sequencing and was a result of family segregation analysis; it was found to be in a heterozygous state in the parents and the other healthy elder brother of our patient. According to in silico analyses, the change in the splice region resulted in an increase in the length of exon 2, whereas the stop codon after the additional 3 amino acids (VTF) caused the protein to terminate prematurely. Thus, the mature USP53 protein, consisting of 1,073 amino acids, has been reduced to a small protein of 82 amino acids. Conclusion: We propose a model for the tertiary structure of USP53 for the first time, and together with all these data, we support the association of biallelic variants of the USP53 gene with cholestasis phenotype. We also present a comparison of previously reported patients with USP53-associated cholestasis phenotype to contribute to the literature.
Comparison of electric motors used in electric vehicle propulsion system
Authors: Mohammad Khalid S. , Jaber Aqeel S.
Published: June 2022

Now days, it is vital to use electric vehicles (EVs) instead of traditional cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs) in order to reduce the high level of pollution in the environment, and many researchers are investigating the possible improvements on these vehicles. The main component of EVs is the electric motor and the selection of a motor with high efficiency, excellent dynamic response and high starting torque has a strong effect on the performance of EVs. In addition to that a reasonable price for the electric motor is required. This work focuses on the selection of the most suitable electric motor for EVs. Therefore a detailed study to compare between the performance of the major types of electric motors that are used in EVs is addressed in this paper. The results of this comparative study is tabulated and by careful consideration for all these results, the appropriate electric motor for EVs has been chosen. From the other hand, the artificial intelligent (AI) techniques play a crucial role in the EVs technologies, and several kinds of AI techniques used in EVs applications are overviewed in this work.
Prototype for wireless remote control of underwater robotic development
Authors: Al-Issa Huthaifa Ahmad , Swedan Wesam Fouad , Al-Shyyab Duha Ahmad , Altobosh Ruwa Ma’mon , Altarabsheh Ayeh Okleh
Published: June 2022

Human beings have been substituted with robots in the performance of tedious and risky activities that human beings do not like or are incapable of performing due to the size of restrictions or the existence of the world, such as outer space or the ocean's depths. It has evolved into a low-cost, dependable, and inexpensive medium that can be used by both scientific societies and different industries for various surveys, mapping, and other underwater activities. In this study of underwater robotics power, we create an underwater robot that can fly in three dimensions: up-down, left-right, and front-back. The robot's motion is monitored by three motors, which also enable it to perform other tasks. Due to the fact that one-third of the world's population lives within 100 kilometers of the ocean, and that we are so focused on land and atmospheric problems that we ignore the seas, it is important to observe marine life and calculate the temperature and strength of light underwater. This application allows determining the appropriate temperature and intensity for living sea creatures to preserve their lives.
Internet of things based wireless sensor network: a review
Authors: Nourildean Shayma Wail , Hassib Mustafa Dhia , Mohammed Yousra Abd
Published: June 2022

Recently, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are developing technology with a variety of applications. The Internet of Things (IoTs) is defined as a network of ordinary objects such as Internet TVs, smartphones, actuators and sensors that are smartly connected together to enable new types of communication between people and things as well as between things themselves. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) play an important part in Internet of Things (IoT) technology. A contribution to wireless sensor networks and IoT applications is wireless sensor nodes’ construction with high-speed CPUs and low-power radio links. The IoT-based wireless Sensor network (WSN) is a game-changing smart monitoring solution. ZigBee standard is an important wireless sensor network (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) communication protocol in order to facilitate low-power, low-cost IoT applications and to handle numerous network topologies. This paper presented a review on the energy efficient and routing topologies of ZigBee WSN, applications of IoT enabled Wireless Sensor Network as well IoT WSN security challenges.
Enhancement of single-mode optical fiber quality factor-bit error rate by using uniform fiber Bragg grating
Authors: Ali Alaa Husein , Ibrahim Raed Khalid
Published: June 2022

The properties of optical fibers transmission systems based on Bragg gratings and uniform fibers, which are discussed in detail in this paper. Two - fiber optic communication channels Bragg gratings are used, along with Optisystem software for simulations. It is widely used in a variety of optical communication systems, such as, dispersion compensators, band filters, amplifiers and in - fiber sensors or fiber grating lasers, because of its versatility. In this design, the distance has been changed from 10 km up to 100 km, as well as the input power from 2 dBm to 16 dBm, and the calculation of both the bit error rate (BER) and quality (Q) f actor at the receiver could be studied by modelling the model of a communication system and employing the syste m's most suited settings, such as fiber cable length (km) and input power (dBm).
Integrated framework studying contribution of information system to firm performance
Authors: Daghouri Ansar , Mansouri Khalifa
Published: June 2022

The main purpose of this paper is to study the correlation between information system (IS) success and firm performance based on two evaluation models already construct. The first model allowed to define the criteria and sub-criteria for evaluating the firm performance and the second model consisted of evaluating the IS success. Our contribution is to formalize a decision-making process based on the criteria of the two models as well as the weights generated by the implementation of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to construct the influence diagrams that will allow us to trace the causal links between the two models. This approach has been implemented in three sectors chosen according to their use of information systems. The results obtained confirmed that the evaluation models are sectorial and therefore even the influence diagrams, hence the difficulty of studying the contribution of the IS success in achieving the firm performance with a general and generic approach.
Review on the parameter settings in harmony search algorithm applied to combinatorial optimization problems
Authors: Ahmed Bilal , Hamdan Hazlina , Muhammed Abdullah , Husin Nor Azura
Published: June 2022

Harmony search algorithm (HSA) is relatively considered as one of the most recent metaheuristic algorithms. HSA is a modern - nature algorithm that simulates the musicians’ natural process of musical improvisation to enhance their instrument’s note to find a state of pleasant (harmony) according to aesthetic standards. Lots of variants of HSA have been suggested to tackle combinatorial optimization problems. They range from hybridizing some components of other metaheuristic approaches (to improve the HSA) to taking some concepts of HSA and utilizing them to improve other metaheuristic methods. This stud y reviews research pertaining to parameter settings of HSA and its applications to efficiently solve hard combinatorial optimization problems.
Augmentation of contextual knowledge based on domain dominant words for IoT applications interoperability
Authors: Shanmurthy Prakash , Thangamuthu Poongodi , Balusamy Balamurugan , Kadry Seifedine
Published: June 2022

Semantic web technology is adapted to the internet of things (IoT) for web - based applications to globally connect the services. Web ontology language (OWL) domain ontology is a powerful machine - readable language for domain knowledge representation. The developer stored the IoT application relevant ontology in a repository or catalogue. Hence, IoT application - related ontology files are available for reus e, but many of the IoT application - relevant ontology files are publicly not available or inaccessible. The proposed idea is to extract the contextual knowledge of IoT applications that contain inaccessible ontology files. The context - wise specific domain I oT applications are not obtainable, hence respective ontology - based research papers are identified and their frequent terms are computed. The selected contextual dominant frequent terms from the transport domain are passed into the skip - gram flavour of wor d2vector modelled n atural language processing ( NLP ) corpus which produces most similar terms. The domain experts select the appropriate terms to annotate in OWL ontology for contextual knowledge augmentation. Finally, 1422 contextual terms were generated b ased on dominant terms of selected IoT applications.
A semi-automated hybrid approach to identify radicalization on social digital platform
Authors: Batra Vandna , Kumar Suresh
Published: June 2022

The digital social platform is an important medium for sharing or communicating a message from one person to another or one to many. The growth of internet users and social media use has also led to many adverse consequences. Such a platform is also used for radical activity by spreading the radical message in public. The detection of such a message is impossible by human monitoring. Many researchers are continually working on automatic detection of such activity to find a way to stop it. Automatic identification is also not possible due to the massive amount of data present and ambiguity in messages. The proposed work presents a framework for detecting the radical message and taking action by automatically blocking it. A dataset of 33k tweets has been fetched from twitter based on radical words. Two machine learning models, first countervectorizer and Logistic regression-based and second convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been applied yielding 96.97% accuracy. The provision of human intervention is also given in doubt cases which helps further to improve the accuracy of overall model. The framework gives very good results in a simulated environment.
Design and modeling of solar water pumping system in Diyala region
Authors: Ali Mohammed Hasan , Mejeed Raghad Ali
Published: June 2022

In recent years, solar panels have become increasingly popular for converting solar energy is converted into electrical energy. The solar panel can be utilized as part of a larger solar system that is connected to the power grid or as a stand-alone system. Every day, the world receives 84 Terawatts of energy, yet we only use about 12 Terawatts. For optimal energy conversion, the tracking mechanism will keep the solar panel perpendicular to the sun at all times. In this setup, photo resistors will be employed as sensors. A light detection system, a microprocessor, a gear motor system, and a solar panel will make up the system. When compared to solar panels without tracking equipment, our system will produce up to 40% more electricity. Improvements to the board's efficiency include the addition of a dust sensor. The dust on the board is also detected by the sensor, which activates a pump inside the tank. It uses the Arduino to pump water onto the board to clean it of dust and maintain its efficiency. There is also a water sensor. When the tank's water level falls below a certain level, the attached pump activates.
Olive trees cases classification based on deep convolutional neural network from unmanned aerial vehicle imagery
Authors: Abdulhafed Sehree Noor , Khidhir Abdulsattar Mohammed
Published: June 2022

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are one of the various aerial remote sensing platforms with ease of use and cost-effectiveness it can deliver high-resolution imaging, obtained using a variety of sensors. Photogrammetric data is derived by the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS, which consists of a UAV, sensor(s), and base station). As a result of these types, vegetation monitoring is conceivable. Deep neural networks have had a lot of success with image classification tasks, especially in the remote sensing field. In this paper, we demonstrate how deep neural networks can be used to classify olive trees status from aerial images. We have addressed a multi-class classification problem. In this work five different neural network architectures: VGG16, ResNet50, MobileNet, Xception, and VGG19 had been compared. Transfer learning had been accomplished using training of the fully connected layer(s) at the end of the deep learning layers. We used metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and confusion metric to evaluate the results. With accuracy, our model achieves the best results using ResNet50 with an accuracy is (97.2%).
Proposta de integração do capital social ao ciclo de vida do turismo de base comunitária
Authors: Alves Luana de Oliveira , Gómez Carla Regina Pasa
Published: June 2022

O turismo de base comunitária enquanto modelo alternativo ao turismo de massa tem alcançado visibilidade principalmente por direcionar seus benefícios para a comunidade. Mas, como qualquer produto, também passa por um ciclo de vida composto de seis fases, que sofrem influência de fatores que podem ser compreendidos por meio do conceito de capital social. Desta maneira, este artigo propõe uma integração entre o capital social e o ciclo de vida do turismo de base comunitária a partir da relação entre seus diversos elementos. A literatura apontou que os elementos desse ciclo de vida são: capacitação dos membros da comunidade, infraestrutura turística, benefícios à comunidade, modelo de desenvolvimento, participação da comunidade e envolvimento de atores externos. Por outro lado, os elementos do capital social são: capital social de ligação, de ponte e de conexão. Em suma, enquanto o capital social de ligação permite que as iniciativas se sustentem, o capital social de ponte e conexão pode ajudá-las a avançar para fases posteriores no ciclo de vida. Ao mesmo tempo, deve-se buscar a melhor otimização desses tipos, já que em excesso o efeito pode ser negativo.
Postnatal Deletion of Bmal1 in Cardiomyocyte Promotes Pressure Overload Induced Cardiac Remodeling in Mice
Authors: Liang Qing , Xu Hu , Liu Min , Qian Lei , Yan Jin , Yang Guangrui , Chen Lihong
Published: June 2022

Background

Mice with cardiomyocyte‐specific deletion of Bmal1, a core clock gene, had spontaneous abnormal cardiac metabolism, dilated cardiomyopathy, and shortened lifespan. However, the role of cardiomyocyte Bmal1 in pressure overload induced cardiac remodeling is unknown. Here we aimed to understand the contribution of cardiomyocyte Bmal1 to cardiac remodeling in response to pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction or chronic angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ) infusion.

Methods and Results

By generating a tamoxifen‐inducible cardiomyocyte‐specific Bmal1 knockout mouse line (cKO) and challenging the mice with transverse aortic constriction or AngⅡ, we found that compared to littermate controls, the cKO mice displayed remarkably increased cardiac hypertrophy and augmented fibrosis both after transverse aortic constriction and AngⅡ induction, as assessed by echocardiographic, gravimetric, histologic, and molecular analyses. Mechanistically, RNA‐sequencing analysis of the heart after transverse aortic constriction exposure revealed that the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was significantly activated in the cKOs. Consistent with the in vivo findings, in vitro study showed that knockdown of Bmal1 in cardiomyocytes significantly promoted phenylephrine‐induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and triggered fibroblast‐to‐myofibroblast differentiation, while inhibition of AKT remarkedly reversed the pro‐hypertrophy and pro‐fibrosis effects of Bmal1 knocking down.

Conclusions

These results suggest that postnatal deletion of Bmal1 in cardiomyocytes may promote pressure overload‐induced cardiac remodeling. Moreover, we identified PI3K/AKT signaling pathway as the potential mechanistic ties between Bmal1 and cardiac remodeling.
Rheumatic Heart Disease Is a Neglected Disease Relative to Its Burden Worldwide: Findings From Global Burden of Disease 2019
Authors: Ghamari Seyyed‐Hadi , Abbasi‐Kangevari Mohsen , Saeedi Moghaddam Sahar , Aminorroaya Arya , Rezaei Negar , Shobeiri Parnian , Esfahani Zahra , Malekpour Mohammad‐Reza , Rezaei Nazila , Ghanbari Ali , Keykhaei Mohammad , Naderian Mohammadreza , Larijani Bagher , Majnoon Mohamad Taghi , Farzadfar Farshad , Mokdad Ali H.
Published: June 2022

Background

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) takes a heavy toll in low‐ and middle‐income countries. We aimed to present worldwide estimates for the burden of the RHD during 1990 to 2019 using the GBD (Global Burden of Disease) study.

Methods and Results

Sociodemographic index (SDI) and age‐period‐cohort analysis were used to assess inequity. The age‐standardized death, disability‐adjusted life years, incidence, and prevalence rates of RHD were 3.9 (95% uncertainty interval, 3.3–4.3), 132.9 (95% uncertainty interval, 115.0–150.3), 37.4 (28.6–46.7), and 513.7 (405.0–636.3) per 100 000 in 2019, respectively. The age‐standardized incidence and prevalence rates increased by 14.4% and 13.8%, respectively. However, disability‐adjusted life years and death rates decreased by 53.1% and 56.9%, respectively. South Asia superregion had the highest age‐standardized disability‐adjusted life years and deaths. Sub‐Saharan Africa had the highest age‐standardized incidence and prevalence rates. There was a steep decline in RHD burden among higher‐SDI countries. However, only age‐standardized deaths and disability‐adjusted life years rates decreased in lower‐SDI countries. The age‐standardized years of life lost and years lived with disability rates for RHD significantly declined as countries' SDI increased. The coefficients of birth cohort effect on the incidence of RHD showed an increasing trend from 1960 to 1964 to 2015 to 2019; however, the birth cohort effect on deaths attributable to RHD showed unfailingly decreasing trends from 1910 to 1914 to 2015 to 2019.

Conclusions

There was a divergence in the burden of RHD among countries based on SDI levels, which calls for including RHD in global assistance and funding. Indeed, many countries are still dealing with an unfinished infectious disease agenda, and there is an urgency to act now to prevent an increase in future RHD burden.
The Bromeliad Blue Horn Katydid—a new genus of the Cone-headed Katydid (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae: Copiphorini) from the Serra da Jibóia, Bahia, Brazil
Authors: DE MELLO MENDES DIEGO MATHEUS , DA SILVA NETO ALBERTO MOREIRA
Published: June 2022

The tribe Copiphorini (Conocephalinae: Tettigoniidae) currently comprises 58 genera and 442 species widely distributed across all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. In Brazil, 19 genera and 100 species are recorded. The tribe stands out within the Conocephalinae for including several genera with the fastigium-vertex expanded, forming horns and other elaborate structures. In this work, the new monotypic genus Ibityraboia gen. nov. and the new species Ibityraboia caraguata sp. nov., from Serra da Jibóia, located in the Agreste of Bahia, Brazil. Maps, natural history observations, and comments on the differences between Ibityraboia gen. nov. and Copiphora Serville are provided.
Three new species of Entomobryinae (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from Gansu, China
Authors: ZHOU RONG , MA YITONG
Published: June 2022

Three new species of Entomobryidae are described here. Willowsia trifascia sp. nov. is mainly characterised by its three longitudinal blue stripes on body and chaetotaxy of dorsal head. Himalanura gansuensis sp. nov. is the second species of the genus reported from China and characterised by its chaetotaxy, such as nine macrochaetae on Abd. I, and denticle on labral papilla. Homidia maijiensis sp. nov. is characterised for its yellow-green ground colour, labial base chaetae and dental spines.
New species of tree cricket Oecanthus Serville, 1831 (Orthoptera: Grylloidea) from Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, with bioacoustics
Authors: ZEFA EDISON , ACOSTA RIULER CORRÊA , TIMM VÍTOR FALCHI , COSTA MARIA KÁTIA MATIOTTI DA
Published: June 2022

Tree Crickets, Oecanthus Serville, 1831 have a worldwide distribution, and are known as Tree Crickets because they are common in the treetops, even though many species occur in different strata of forest, and also in open fields. In this work we describe a new species of Oecanthus from Southern Brazil, based on the most significant diagnostic structures in the ocanthine taxonomy, such as the phallic sclerites and metanotal gland morphology, as well as calling song. The new species herein described has a distinct faint red spot between the eyes, a metanotal gland with a triangular posterior median lobe with the apex curved up and forward, the median lophi of pseudepiphallus slightly elongate with an U-shaped invagination, and the ectophallic distal arc prolongation with the posterior apex U-bifurcated. The calling song stands out among the local stridulating crickets for alternate a regular and an irregular train of chirps. Illustrations of the external morphology, information about type specimens, material examined, measurements, and spectrogram of the calling and courtship songs is provided.
Revision of the genus Lethierium Dlabola, 1980 (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Issidae), with description of two new species from Central Morocco
Authors: GNEZDILOV VLADIMIR M.
Published: June 2022

North-African planthopper genus Lethierium Dlabola, 1980 is revised. Lethierium cedricolum (Dlabola, 1989), L. juniperi (Bergevin, 1915), and L. reiberi (Lethierry, 1878) are redescribed, with new records provided. Two new species are described from Central Morocco—L. carinatum sp. nov. from Middle Atlas Mountains and L. grandilobum sp. nov. from High Atlas Mountains. L. juniperi is recorded for the first time from Morocco. A key to species of the genus is provided. The phylogenetic relationships of Lethierium Dlabola within the subfamily Hysteropterinae are discussed.
Key to Ooctonus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) in China, with one new species and three new country records
Authors: AISHAN ZHULIDEZI , TRIAPITSYN SERGUEI V. , ZHU CHAO-DONG , HU HONG-YING
Published: June 2022

A new species of Ooctonus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), O. innermongolicus Aishan & Hu sp. nov., is described from Inner Mongolia and Tibet, China. Eight other species of the genus, including the three new records O. hemipterus Haliday, O. lokomotiv Triapitsyn and O. spartak Triapitsyn, are also reported and illustrated. A key to females is provided for the 18 species of Ooctonus known from China.
Dynamic and Thermodynamic Factors Involved in Future Changes in Extreme Summertime Precipitation in Japan Projected by Convection-Permitting Regional Climate Model Simulations
Authors: Murata Akihiko , Nosaka Masaya , Sasaki Hidetaka , Kawase Hiroaki
Published: June 2022

Dynamic and thermodynamic factors involved in future changes in local-scale short-term extreme summertime precipitation on the mesoscale and hourly time scale in Japan were examined using convection-permitting regional climate model simulations under the representative concentration pathway 8.5 scenario. The change in the dynamic component primarily contributes to the total change in vertically integrated moisture flux convergence over the analysis domain that is located off Okinawa Island, whereas the thermodynamic component is dominant over the analysis domain that is located off Kyushu Island. Differences in the amount of the dynamic and thermodynamic components are noticeable in these two domains. These results are explained by the difference in the vertical profiles of the convergence term, and hence the convergence itself between the two specific domains. A mesoscale low pressure system on the seasonal rain front—termed the baiu front—is a key factor underlying the difference in the magnitudes and vertical profiles of convergence between the two specific domains. In the vicinity of the domain off Okinawa Island, a mesoscale low pressure system on the baiu front enhances low-level convergence in the future climate when compared with the present climate. This atmospheric state is attributable to the location of the baiu front itself, which is located relatively southward in the future climate and is affected by the domain off Okinawa Island. In the domain where the dynamic component is dominant such as the domain off Okinawa Island, the total moisture flux convergence follows a super–Clausius–Clapeyron scaling.
Recent Early-Spring Drying Trend over Southern China Associated with Changes in the Zonal Thermal Contrast over the Pacific
Authors: Li Yana , Zhou Wen , Yang Song , Zhang Ruhua , Cheung Ho-Nam , Zhang Yue
Published: June 2022

Southern China has experienced a discernible early-spring drying trend in recent decades. This drying trend is a direct result of a severe deficiency of water vapor, which is induced by local descent anomalies and strong anomalous northerlies from the northwestern Pacific. The predominant anomalous northerlies are directly associated with two anomalous warm highs over the North Pacific (NPH) and East Asia (EAH), respectively. Anomalous easterlies along the southern edge of the NPH divert southwestward over southern Japan and form a branch of the northerlies, which merges into strong northerlies east of the EAH to construct the prevalent and deep northerly anomalies along the coast of East Asia. The NPH is related to changes in the zonal contrast of the Pacific sea surface temperature (SST-Tri), whose linear trend is dominated by warming in the western Pacific. The change in SST-Tri causes more precipitation in the tropical North Pacific, where strong ascent occurs and further facilitates robust descent over the extratropical North Pacific, facilitating the formation of the NPH. The EAH results from the interaction of tropical and higher latitudinal forcing in the context of global warming. On the one hand, enhanced precipitation over the Maritime Continent associated with the change in SST-Tri induces descent anomalies of the EAH over southern China via a local Hadley cell circulation. On the other hand, a “positive–negative–positive” tripolar tendency over the North Atlantic forces a wave train, which propagates eastward, becomes intensified over the Ural Mountains, and then moves farther eastward to affect the EAH. In addition, changes in SST-Tri can also modulate the tripole pattern over the North Pacific to further contribute to the EAH.
The Wavelength Dependence of the Propagation of Near-Inertial Internal Waves
Authors: Rama Jemima , Shakespeare Callum J. , Hogg Andrew McC.
Published: June 2022

Wind-generated near-inertial internal waves (NIWs) are triggered in the mixed layer and propagate down into the ocean interior. Observational and numerical studies have shown the effects of background vorticity and high shear on propagating NIWs. However, the impacts of the background mean flow on NIWs as a function of the waves’ horizontal wavelength have yet to be fully investigated. Here, two distinct cases are analyzed, namely, the propagation of wind-generated, large-scale NIWs in negative vorticity and the behavior of small-scale NIWs in high shear. The propagation and energetics of the respective NIWs are investigated using a realistic eddy-resolving numerical simulation of the Kuroshio region. The large-scale NIWs display a rapid vertical propagation to depth in negative vorticity areas, while the small-scale NIWs are confined to shallower depths in high-shear regions. Furthermore, the dominant energy sources and sinks of near-inertial energy are estimated as the respective NIWs propagate into the ocean’s interior. The qualitative analysis of NIW energetics reveals that the wind triggers the generation of both the large-scale and small-scale NIWs, but the waves experience further amplification as they draw energy from the background mean flow upon propagation in negative vorticity and high-shear regions, respectively. In addition, the study demonstrates that small-scale NIWs can be induced independently by wind fluctuations and do not necessarily rely on straining nor refraction of large-scale NIWs by mesoscale motions.
A Three-Dimensional Inertial Model for Coastal Upwelling along Western Boundaries
Authors: Guo Haihong , Spall Michael A. , Pedlosky Joseph , Chen Zhaohui
Published: June 2022

A three-dimensional inertial model that conserves quasigeostrophic potential vorticity is proposed for wind-driven coastal upwelling along western boundaries. The dominant response to upwelling favorable winds is a surface-intensified baroclinic meridional boundary current with a subsurface countercurrent. The width of the current is not the baroclinic deformation radius but instead scales with the inertial boundary layer thickness while the depth scales as the ratio of the inertial boundary layer thickness to the baroclinic deformation radius. Thus, the boundary current scales depend on the stratification, wind stress, Coriolis parameter, and its meridional variation. In contrast to two-dimensional wind-driven coastal upwelling, the source waters that feed the Ekman upwelling are provided over the depth scale of this baroclinic current through a combination of onshore barotropic flow and from alongshore in the narrow boundary current. Topography forces an additional current whose characteristics depend on the topographic slope and width. For topography wider than the inertial boundary layer thickness the current is bottom intensified, while for narrow topography the current is wave-like in the vertical and trapped over the topography within the inertial boundary layer. An idealized primitive equation numerical model produces a similar baroclinic boundary current whose vertical length scale agrees with the theoretical scaling for both upwelling and downwelling favorable winds.
Terrorism in America in the Twenty-First Century: Revisiting My Prognostications
Authors: Kushner Harvey W.
Published: June 2022

In this article, I analyze the warnings I gave prior to the new millennium concerning the possibility of terrorism visiting American soil. The sources of the problem are discussed in detail. These warnings were not showcased in academic journals gathering dust on some university library shelve. They were given to a variety of governmental agencies as well as discussed in the mainstream media. My sources are revealed for all to see. Unfortunately, my prognostications proved accurate when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Impact of Mental Health on General Surgery Patients and Strategies to Improve Outcomes
Authors: Josephs Cooper A. , Shaffer Virginia O. , Kucera Walter B.
Published: June 2022

Mental Health Disorders (MHD) are a growing concern nationwide. The significant impact MHD have on surgical outcomes has only recently started to be understood. This literature review investigated how mental health impacts the outcomes of general surgery patients and what can be done to make improvements. Patients with schizophrenia had the poorest surgical outcomes. Mental health disorders increased post-surgical pain, hospital length of stay, complications, readmissions, and mortality. Mental health disorders decreased wound healing and quality of care. Optimizing outcomes will be best accomplished through integrating more effective perioperative screening tools and interventions. Screenings tools can incorporate artificial intelligence, MHD data, resilience and its biomarkers, and patient mental health questionnaires. Interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy, virtual reality, spirituality, pharmacology, and resilience training.
The Visual Politics of Fear: Anti-Communist Imagery in Postwar Greece
Authors: Kazamias Alexander
Published: June 2022

From the mid-1940s to the fall of the Colonels’ Dictatorship in 1974, Greek society was defined by an official anti-communist discourse that divided it into ‘nationally-minded’ Ethnikofron citizens and left-wing ‘enemies of the nation’. The article shows how this power discourse deployed visual media to construct an emotional regime of fear around communism during and after the Greek Civil War. It uncovers a large volume of propaganda imagery, including posters, illustrations, book covers, photographs, newsreels and feature films, which was used alongside texts and corporeal practices to vilify the Greek left. The article argues that the visual language of Ethnikofrosyni patterned itself on older scripts of negative othering embedded in Greek popular culture, such as lycanthropy, teratology, witchcraft, Islamophobia and Orientalism to discredit communism without engaging with its twentieth-century ideas and policies. Communists were therefore portrayed as monsters, beasts, barbarians, Muslims, Turks, Jews and unfeminine women to arouse primordial fears that threatened the deepest symbols of Greek national identity. The article stresses the centrality and relative autonomy of images in the discourse of Ethnikofrosyni and uses comparisons to unveil the processes of circulation and domestication operating across different national strands of anti-communism in the Cold War.
Map It Out! Using Technology-Based Concept Mapping for Written Expression
Authors: Flanagan Sara M.
Published: June 2022

For many students with high-incidence disabilities, they may experience challenges with written expression, beginning with brainstorming on-topic information prior to writing. One way to support brainstorming and, ultimately, content generation, is using concept mapping as a prewriting strategy. Concept maps are not writing-task specific, allowing them to be applied to a variety of writing tasks. Technology-based concept maps provide added benefits to students and can be created using software or accessed via web-based tools and apps.
Risk Perception of COVID-19, Religiosity, and Subjective Well-Being in Emerging Adults: The Mediating Role of Meaning-Making and Perceived Stress
Authors: Krok Dariusz , Zarzycka Beata , Telka Ewa
Published: June 2022

The pressured experienced due to COVID-19 for young people has become clearly visible in the domain of well-being. Although the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on emerging adults have been examined, little is known about the role played by risk perception and religiosity for their well-being. In addition, the mediating effects of meaning-making and perceived stress still need to be investigated. A total of 316 emerging adults (143 males and 173 females) participated in the present study. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, we showed that the relationship of risk perception of COVID-19 and religiosity with subjective well-being was largely mediated by meaning-making and perceived stress. However, their mediational roles were different and depended on the interplay of perceptual and religious factors, which can be more fully understood within the meaning-making model. Emerging adults tend to rely on both their personal evaluation of COVID-related risks and religious beliefs to the extent that it helps them understand current life situations and restore cognitive and emotional balance.
Increased Protection Versus the Cost of Increased Protection: Victimization and the Use of Protective Measures Against Identity Theft
Authors: Vanhee Alexander J.
Published: June 2022

Most identity theft victims experience no personal monetary loss or other financial problems; rational choice theory suggests that this could lead people to not change their behavior, increasing their future risk of victimization. Consequently, the current study will investigate if and how the severity and incidence of identity theft affect individuals’ protective behavior using the 2016 Identity Theft Supplement (ITS) victimization survey. It uses ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to predict the number of protective measures practiced and multinomial logistic regression to predict self-reported motivation for use of protective measures. The results indicate that victims use more protective measures than nonvictims and that victimization has a greater impact if it occurs repeatedly and/or the victims personally lost money or experienced other financial problems. However, there is evidence of a threshold effect. The multinomial results indicate victims who lost money or experienced other financial problems are more likely to say they practice protective measures because of their victimization.
Two New Models for Item Preknowledge
Authors: Gorney Kylie , Wollack James A.
Published: June 2022

To evaluate preknowledge detection methods, researchers often conduct simulation studies in which they use models to generate the data. In this article, we propose two new models to represent item preknowledge. Contrary to existing models, we allow the impact of preknowledge to vary across persons and items in order to better represent situations that are encountered in practice. We use three real data sets to evaluate the fit of the new models with respect to two types of preknowledge: items only, and items and the correct answer key. Results show that the two new models provide the best fit compared to several other existing preknowledge models. Furthermore, model parameter estimates were found to vary substantially depending on the type of preknowledge being considered, indicating that answer key disclosure has a profound impact on testing behavior.
A Critical Assessment of the Requirement for a Single Time Point Vaginal Cytology on the Day of Necropsy in Rats
Authors: de Rijk Eveline , Beekhuijzen Manon , Lambregts Ankie , Czajkowski Melissa , van den Brink-Knol Hetty
Published: June 2022

For toxicology testing of (agro)chemicals, different study types are being performed with general and/or reproductive toxicity endpoints (see Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines). In most of these rat studies, vaginal cytology is performed on serial samples (collected by lavage) for evaluation of cycle regularity and evidence of mating, and/or on a single sample collected on the day of necropsy for information on the estrous cycle stage and allowing correlation with histopathology. In the latter case, the utility of vaginal cytology can be argued. In this article, estrous cycle stages based on vaginal cytology of samples taken on the day of necropsy and histopathology of ovaries, uterus, and vagina (gold standard for estrous cycle stage assessment) were compared. The agreement was generally low. Disagreement between the two methods could be explained by time differences between lavage and necropsy, by manipulation of vaginal epithelium during lavage which may impact epithelial morphology on histology, and by misinterpretation of vaginal cytology during or shortly after lactation. Based on the results of estrous staging within different study types, we strongly discourage vaginal cytology from samples collected on the day of necropsy since there is no added value, vaginal manipulation can be stressful and may complicate the histologic diagnosis.
The banality of state violence: Institutional neglect in austere local authorities
Authors: Kiely Ed , Warnock Rosalie
Published: June 2022

Theorisations of state violence under austerity have been criticised for their imprecision. In response, this article introduces the concept of institutional neglect: a specific modality of structural violence. We argue that institutional neglect occurs when state services deny care to eligible clients. This is a normative claim which locates an obligation to care in the body of the state. Through case studies of two local authority-run care services in the UK, we identify three banal, quotidian techniques of neglect: delay, deferral, and diversion. We emphasise that care is not necessarily an antidote to violence; instead, care and violence are increasingly entangled within state bureaucracies under austerity.
Effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in improving mobility in children with cerebral palsy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Chen Yu-Hsuan , Wang Hsun-Yi , Liao Chun-De , Liou Tsan-Hon , Escorpizo Reuben , Chen Hung-Chou
Published: June 2022

Objective

To investigate whether neuromuscular electrical stimulation improves mobility in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Methods

PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Scopus were searched for randomized controlled trials studying the effects of NMES on the lower limbs in children with spastic CP. Randomized controlled trials comparing the effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation with that of placebo or conventional therapy on mobility in children with cerebral palsy were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and examined the risk of bias and quality of evidence by using the revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias Tool for Randomized Trials (RoB 2.0) and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. The final search was conducted on May 23, 2022.

Results

A total of 14 randomized controlled trials (2 crossover studies and 12 parallel studies including 421 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with the control group (conventional physical therapy), the treatment group exhibited greater improvement in walking speed (standardized mean difference = 0.29; 95% confidence interval = 0.02–0.57) and the standing, walking, running, and jumping dimension of the Gross Motor Function Measure (standardized mean difference = 1.24; 95% confidence interval = 0.64–1.83).

Conclusion

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation improved mobility in children with spastic cerebral palsy, particularly in standing, running, and jumping function, and it is safe for children with spastic cerebral palsy.