bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatially Inhomogeneous Populations with Seed-Banks: I. Duality, Existence and Clustering
Authors: den Hollander Frank , Nandan Shubhamoy
Published: July 2021

We consider a system of interacting Moran models with seed-banks. Individuals live in colonies and are subject to resampling and migration as long as they are active. Each colony has a seed-bank into which individuals can retreat to become dormant, suspending their resampling and migration until they become active again. The colonies are labelled by $${\mathbb {Z}}^d$$

Z

d

, $$d \ge 1$$

d
≥
1

, playing the role of a geographic space. The sizes of the active and the dormant population are finite and depend on the location of the colony. Migration is driven by a random walk transition kernel. Our goal is to study the equilibrium behaviour of the system as a function of the underlying model parameters. In the present paper, under a mild condition on the sizes of the active populations, the system is well defined and has a dual. The dual consists of a system of interacting coalescing random walks in an inhomogeneous environment that switch between an active state and a dormant state. We analyse the dichotomy of coexistence (= multi-type equilibria) versus clustering (= mono-type equilibria) and show that clustering occurs if and only if two random walks in the dual starting from arbitrary states eventually coalesce with probability one. The presence of the seed-bank enhances genetic diversity. In the dual this is reflected by the presence of time lapses during which the random walks are dormant and do not move.
‘Authorizing the Peril’: Mythologies of (Settler) Law at the End of Time
Authors: Shah Sahar
Published: July 2021

The promised paradises of colonial capitalism and neoliberalism are set in a perpetually elusive future (Fitzpatrick 1992). This future is not a set destination, but an endless linear journey set to the thrum of ‘progress’ and ‘development’. This paper considers, in the context of recent cases relating to development in the Athabasca tar sands region, what the law of the Canadian settler state does when it is faced with interruptions and ruptures in its timescape. Drawing on Fitzpatrick’s seminal work,The Mythology of Modern Law, I argue that a conceptualisation of law’s behaviour in these contexts as functionally mythological highlights some of the elusive ways that settler law maintains a stranglehold over legal imaginaries of oil and gas developments: by distorting and flattening the pasts and presents of Indigenous societies that pre-dated (and continue to co-exist with) the settler state on ‘Canadian’ land, by mediating between the ‘origin’ of the settler state and the daily rhythms of colonial time through ‘Eternal Objects’ such as property and economic development, and by asserting a general ‘objectivity’ of law to evade any direct grappling with the stark possibilities of the ‘end of the world’ created by the climate crisis. I conclude, drawing on Indigenous scholarship and the work of de Goede and Randalls, that a meaningful response to the climate crisis requires re-enchanted attachments to life that necessitate a departure from the one-dimensional temporality of the mythologies of settler law.
Taking the principle of the primacy of the human being seriously
Authors: Różyńska Joanna
Published: July 2021

This paper targets an orphan topic in research ethics, namely the so called principle of the primacy of the human being, which states that the interests of the human subject should always take precedence over the interests of science and society. Although the principle occupies the central position in the majority of international ethical and legal standards for biomedical research, it has been commented in the literature mainly in passing. With a few notable exceptions, there is little in-depth discussion about the meaning and role of the principle. Several authors note that the principle is vogue, ambiguous and apparently conflicting with the accepted practice of conducting non-beneficial research on individuals unable to give consent. There are opinions that it is just “a vacuous figure of speech” and should be abandoned. This paper argues that the primacy principle is far from being “a vacuous figure of speech”, rather it should be seen as a threefold concept: a fundamental interpretative rule, a procedural rule, and a substantive rule aimed at protecting research subjects from instrumental treatment and unacceptable risks. This interpretation tracks back to the principle regulatory and normative origins in the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, but also acknowledges changes in research ethics and practice, which took place at the turn on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Thus, the proposed reading of the principle is not only original, but also historically grounded and normatively fruitful. It provides a fresh and ethically rich perspective on extensively debated, but still controversial problem of an upper limit of permissible risks in non-beneficial studies.
Handwriting fluency and the quality of primary grade students’ writing
Authors: Skar Gustaf B. , Lei Pui-Wa , Graham Steve , Aasen Arne Johannes , Johansen Marita Byberg , Kvistad Anne Holten
Published: July 2021

Until children can produce letters quickly and accurately, it is assumed that handwriting disrupts and limits the quality of their text. This investigation is the largest study to date (2596 girls, 2354 boys) assessing the association between handwriting fluency and writing quality. We tested whether handwriting fluency made a statistically unique contribution to predicting primary grade students’ writing quality on a functional writing task, after variance due to attitude towards writing, students’ language background (L1, L2, bilingual), gender, grade, and nesting due to class and school were first controlled. Handwriting fluency accounted for a statistically significant 7.4% of the variance in the writing quality of primary grade students. In addition, attitude towards writing, language background, grade and gender each uniquely predicted writing quality. Finally, handwriting fluency increased from one grade to the next, girls had faster handwriting than boys, and gender differences increased across grades. An identical pattern of results were observed for writing quality. Directions for future research and writing practices are discussed.
The Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) Investigation: Design, Operational Properties, and Science Highlights
Authors: Baker Daniel N. , Kanekal Shrikanth G. , Hoxie Vaughn , Li Xinlin , Jaynes Allison N. , Zhao Hong , Elkington Scot R. , Foster John C. , Selesnick Richard , Ni Binbin , Spence Harlan , Filwett Rachel
Published: July 2021

The Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) instruments were designed to measure ∼2 to >18 MeV electrons and ∼18 to > 115 MeV protons as part of the science payloads onboard the dual Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) spacecraft. The REPT instruments were turned on and configured in their science acquisition modes about 2 days after the RBSP launch on 30 August 2012. The REPT-A and REPT-B instruments both operated flawlessly until mission cessation in 2019. This paper reviews briefly the REPT instrument designs, their operational performance, relevant mode changes and trending over the course of the mission, as well as pertinent background effects (and recommended corrections). A substantial part of this paper highlights discoveries and significant advancement of our understanding of physical-processes obtained using REPT data. We do this for energetic electrons primarily in the outer Van Allen belt and for energetic protons in the inner Van Allen zone. The review also describes several ways in which REPT data were employed for important space weather applications. The paper concludes with assessments of ways that REPT data might further be exploited to continue to advance radiation belt studies. The paper also discusses the pressing and critical need for the operational continuation of REPT-like measurements both for science and for space situational awareness.
Lack of efficacy of a partial adenosine A1 receptor agonist in neuropathic pain models in mice
Authors: Metzner Katharina , Gross Tilman , Balzulat Annika , Wack Gesine , Lu Ruirui , Schmidtko Achim
Published: July 2021

Previous studies suggest that adenosine A1 receptors (A1R) modulate the processing of pain. The aim of this study was to characterize the distribution of A1R in nociceptive tissues and to evaluate whether targeting A1R with the partial agonist capadenoson may reduce neuropathic pain in mice. The cellular distribution of A1R in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the spinal cord was analyzed using fluorescent in situ hybridization. In behavioral experiments, neuropathic pain was induced by spared nerve injury or intraperitoneal injection of paclitaxel, and tactile hypersensitivities were determined using a dynamic plantar aesthesiometer. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed to assess electrophysiological properties of dissociated DRG neurons. We found A1R to be expressed in populations of DRG neurons and dorsal horn neurons involved in the processing of pain. However, administration of capadenoson at established in vivo doses (0.03–1.0 mg/kg) did not alter mechanical hypersensitivity in the spared nerve injury and paclitaxel models of neuropathic pain, whereas the standard analgesic pregabalin significantly inhibited the pain behavior. Moreover, capadenoson failed to affect potassium currents in DRG neurons, in contrast to a full A1R agonist. Despite expression of A1R in nociceptive neurons, our data do not support the hypothesis that pharmacological intervention with partial A1R agonists might be a valuable approach for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
Deciding EA-equivalence via invariants
Authors: Kaleyski Nikolay
Published: July 2021

We define a family of efficiently computable invariants for (n,m)-functions under EA-equivalence, and observe that, unlike the known invariants such as the differential spectrum, algebraic degree, and extended Walsh spectrum, in the case of quadratic APN functions over $\mathbb {F}_{2^n}$

F

2

n

with n even, these invariants take on many different values for functions belonging to distinct equivalence classes. We show how the values of these invariants can be used constructively to implement a test for EA-equivalence of functions from $\mathbb {F}_{2}^{n}$

F

2

n

to $\mathbb {F}_{2}^{m}$

F

2

m

; to the best of our knowledge, this is the first algorithm for deciding EA-equivalence without resorting to testing the equivalence of associated linear codes.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Pass through the Filtration Barrier and Protect Podocytes in a 3D Glomerular Model under Continuous Perfusion
Authors: Bellucci Linda , Montini Giovanni , Collino Federica , Bussolati Benedetta
Published: July 2021

Background:

Dynamic cultures, characterized by continuous fluid reperfusion, elicit physiological responses from cultured cells. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) has been proposed as a novel approach in treating several renal diseases, including acute glomerular damage, by using traditional two-dimensional cell cultures andin vivomodels. We here aimed to use a fluidic three-dimensional (3D) glomerular model to study the EV dynamics within the glomerular structure under perfusion.

Methods:

To this end, we set up a 3D glomerular model culturing human glomerular endothelial cells and podocytes inside a bioreactor on the opposite sides of a porous membrane coated with type IV collagen. The bioreactor was connected to a circuit that allowed fluid passage at the rate of 80 µl/min. To mimic glomerular damage, the system was subjected to doxorubicin administration in the presence of therapeutic MSC-EVs.

Results:

The integrity of the glomerular basal membrane in the 3D glomerulus was assessed by a permeability assay, demonstrating that the co-culture could limit the passage of albumin through the filtration barrier. In dynamic conditions, serum EVs engineered with cel-miR-39 passed through the glomerular barrier and transferred the exogenous microRNA to podocyte cell lines. Doxorubicin treatment increased podocyte apoptosis, whereas MSC-EV within the endothelial circuit protected podocytes from damage, decreasing cell death and albumin permeability.

Conclusion:

Using an innovative millifluidic model, able to mimic the human glomerular barrier, we were able to trace the EV passage and therapeutic effect in dynamic conditions.
Numerical study of 1D and 2D advection-diffusion-reaction equations using Lucas and Fibonacci polynomials
Authors: Ali Ihteram , Haq Sirajul , Nisar Kottakkaran Sooppy , Arifeen Shams Ul
Published: July 2021

In this work, a numerical scheme based on combined Lucas and Fibonacci polynomials is proposed for one- and two-dimensional nonlinear advection–diffusion–reaction equations. Initially, the given partial differential equation (PDE) reduces to discrete form using finite difference method and$$\theta -$$θ-weighted scheme. Thereafter, the unknown functions have been approximated by Lucas polynomial while their derivatives by Fibonacci polynomials. With the help of these approximations, the nonlinear PDE transforms into a system of algebraic equations which can be solved easily. Convergence of the method has been investigated theoretically as well as numerically. Performance of the proposed method has been verified with the help of some test problems. Efficiency of the technique is examined in terms of root mean square (RMS),$$L_2$$L2and$$L_\infty $$L∞error norms. The obtained results are then compared with those available in the literature.
Automated Data-Driven Generation of Personalized Pedagogical Interventions in Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Authors: Kochmar Ekaterina , Vu Dung Do , Belfer Robert , Gupta Varun , Serban Iulian Vlad , Pineau Joelle
Published: July 2021

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) have been shown to be highly effective at promoting learning as compared to other computer-based instructional approaches. However, many ITS rely heavily on expert design and hand-crafted rules. This makes them difficult to build and transfer across domains and limits their potential efficacy. In this paper, we investigate how feedback in a large-scale ITS can be automatically generated in a data-driven way, and more specifically how personalization of feedback can lead to improvements in student performance outcomes. First, in this paper we propose a machine learning approach to generate personalized feedback in an automated way, which takes individual needs of students into account, while alleviating the need of expert intervention and design of hand-crafted rules. We leverage state-of-the-art machine learning and natural language processing techniques to provide students with personalized feedback using hints and Wikipedia-based explanations. Second, we demonstrate that personalized feedback leads to improved success rates at solving exercises in practice: our personalized feedback model is used in , a large-scale dialogue-based ITS with around 20,000 students launched in 2019. We present the results of experiments with students and show that the automated, data-driven, personalized feedback leads to a significant overall improvement of 22.95% in student performance outcomes and substantial improvements in the subjective evaluation of the feedback.
Metabolic syndrome is not associated to an increased risk of low bone mineral density in men at risk for osteoporosis
Authors: Rendina D. , D’Elia L. , De Filippo G. , Abate V. , Evangelista M. , Giaquinto A. , Barone B. , Piccinocchi G. , Prezioso D. , Strazzullo P.
Published: July 2021

Purpose

We have recently demonstrated a significant association between osteoporosis (Op) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Caucasian women examined by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for suspected Op. This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the association between MetS and Op in Caucasian men enrolled in the same geographical area, with identical criteria and in the same time range.

Methods

Among subjects enrolled in the SIMON study, we selected the medical records of all free-living men who performed a contextual evaluation of both bone mineral density (BMD) by DXA and MetS constitutive elements (arterial blood pressure, waist circumference, serum levels of triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose). All enrolled subjects refer to “COMEGEN” general practitioners’ cooperative operating in Naples, Southern Italy.

Results

Overall, the medical records of 880 men were examined. No significant association between MetS and Op was observed. Among MetS constitutive elements, waist circumference was inversely related to Op risk.

Conclusion

In Caucasian men examined by DXA for suspected Op, no significant association was observed between Op and MetS. The study results contrast to those observed in women enrolled in the same geographical area, with identical criteria and in the same time range and may be related to sexual dimorphism occurring in clinical expressiveness of both MetS and Op.
Exploring the Utility and Personal Relevance of Co-Produced Multiplicity Resources with Young People
Authors: Parry Sarah , Eve Zarah , Myers Gemma
Published: July 2021

Multiplicity, the experience of more than one self in the body, is an under-researched area of young people’s mental health. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of experts-by-experience within a community sample regarding two specific resources: a co-produced self-help guide about multiplicity for adolescents, and a set of guidelines for supporting someone who identifies as ‘multiple’. 34 participants (Mage= 22.06, 2.26 SD; 15F, 1M, 18NBG) completed an online survey consisting of open-ended and Likert scale questions to assess the language, utility, transferability and therapeutic impact of the materials. Descriptive statistics and a Foucauldian-informed Narrative Analysis were employed to analyse responses, producing a summary of utility and two narrative chapters. The emergent chapters, ‘Breaking the Stigma’ and ‘Recognising the Many’, highlight the need for greater understanding and awareness of multiplicity, with psychoeducation materials viewed as helpful. Inclusive language can reduce stigma and normalise multiplicity as a response to trauma. With greater understanding, practitioners and researchers can collaborate with young people through trauma wise care, providing multiplicity sensitive language and support. Overall, the term ‘parts’ was viewed as problematic by the participants as it could imply the plural system is not coexisting as a whole. Additionally, opinions varied as to how much diagnostic language could and should be used to describe multiplicity; linguistically and conceptually. Importantly, compassion was seen as particularly essential for younger selves within the system; older in their years and presence, but often more vulnerable within the societies in which the system resides.
Complement of max product of intuitionistic fuzzy graphs
Authors: Mohamed S. Yahya , Ali A. Mohamed
Published: July 2021

In this paper, the complement of max product of two intuitionistic fuzzy graphs is defined. The degree of a vertex in the complement of max product of intuitionistic fuzzy graph is studied. Some results on complement of max product of two regular intuitionistic fuzzy graphs are stated and proved. Finally, we provide an application of intuitionistic fuzzy graphs in school determination using normalized Hamming distance.
Big data-driven public transportation network: a simulation approach
Authors: Wang Zhaohua , Li Xuewei , Zhu Xin , Li Jing , Wang Fan , Wang Fei
Published: July 2021

With the maturity of big data technology, analyzing residents’ travel habits and tracks has become an important research direction in the field of intelligent transportation study. In this paper, based on the subway and bus ride data, a subway-bus double-layer network model was established using complex network theory, taking the optimal traffic efficiency as the goal, the structure of intelligent bus network optimization method is proposed, and an empirical study is conducted on the Beijing bus network. In the empirical study, by adding or deleting bus station in the network, obtain an efficient network structure, the goal of optimal operation efficiency of the bus network was realized, and the theoretical and practical research on solving the problem of transportation line network planning with big data of traffic travel was enriched.
Monkey’s Social Roles Predict Their Affective Reactivity
Authors: Bliss-Moreau Eliza , Santistevan Anthony C. , Beisner Brianne , Moadab Gilda , Vandeleest Jessica , McCowan Brenda
Published: July 2021

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that the number of social connections an individual has predicts health and wellbeing outcomes in people and nonhuman animals. In this report, we investigate the relationship between features of an individuals’ role within his social network and affective reactivity to ostensibly threatening stimuli, using a highly translatable animal model — rhesus monkeys. Features of the social network were quantified via observations of one large (0.5 acre) cage that included 83 adult monkeys. The affective reactivity profiles of twenty adult male monkeys were subsequently evaluated in two classic laboratory-based tasks of negative affective reactivity (human intruder and object responsiveness). Rhesus monkeys who had greater social status, characterized by age, higher rank, more close social partners, and who themselves have more close social partners, and who played a more central social role in their affiliative network were less reactive on both tasks. While links between social roles and social status and psychological processes have been demonstrated, these data provide new insights about the link between social status and affective processes in a tractable animal model of human health and disease.
The cycle of commodification: migrant labour, welfare, and the market in global China and Vietnam
Authors: Lin Jake , Nguyen Minh T. N.
Published: July 2021

China and Vietnam have experienced waves of labour and welfare reform since both countries shifted to market socialism, pursuing a development model that depends on the labour of millions of rural–urban migrants in global factories. Their similar development trajectories are productive for theorizing the relationship between labour and welfare. This article conceptualises the two countries’ distinctive regime of migrant labour welfare as integral to a cycle of commodification that encompasses the overlapping processes of commodification, de-commodification and re-commodification of labour. After decades of collectivized labour under state socialism, the cycle begins with the commodification of labour through market reforms that led to mass rural–urban migration and the rise of the global factory alongside the dismantling of the former socialist welfare system. It was then followed by de-commodification attempts aimed at providing forms of social protection that offset the labour precarity caused by decades of labour market liberalisation. Despite the emergence of new universal welfare programs, the market has increasingly intruded into social protection, especially through financialized products targeted at the labouring masses who must compensate for the failings of public welfare programs. As such, these welfare regimes are undergoing a process of re-commodification in which the protection of labour is re-embedded into the market as a commodity to be consumed by the migrant workers with their meagre wages. The “cycle of commodification” offers an analytical framework to understand welfare regimes as a social and political field that keeps evolving in response to the changing global valuation of labour.
Intraoperative Time-Out to Promote the Implementation of the Critical View of Safety in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Video-Based Assessment of 343 Procedures
Authors: Mascagni Pietro , Rodríguez-Luna María Rita , Urade Takeshi , Felli Emanuele , Pessaux Patrick , Mutter Didier , Marescaux Jacques , Costamagna Guido , Dallemagne Bernard , Padoy Nicolas
Published: July 2021

BACKGROUND:

The critical view of safety (CVS) is poorly adopted in surgical practices, although it is recommended ubiquitously to prevent major bile duct injuries during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This study aimed to investigate whether performing a short intraoperative time-out can improve CVS implementation.

STUDY DESIGN:

In this before vs after study, surgeons performing LCs at an academic center were invited to use a 5-second long time-out to verify CVS before dividing the cystic duct (5-second rule). The primary aim was to compare the rate of CVS achievement for LC performed in the year before vs the year after implementation of the 5-second rule. The CVS achievement rate was computed after exclusion of bailout procedures using a mediated video-based assessment made by 2 independent reviewers. Clinical outcomes, LC workflows, and postoperative reports were also compared.

RESULTS:

Three hundred and forty-three of 381 LC performed between December 2017 and November 2019 (171 before and 172 after implementation of the 5-second rule) were analyzed. The 5-second rule was associated with a significantly increased rate of CVS achievement (15.9% vs 44.1% before vs after the 5-second rule, respectively; p < 0.001). Significant differences were also observed with respect to the rate of bailout procedures (8.2% vs 15.7%; p = 0.04), median time (hours:minutes:seconds) to clip the cystic duct or artery (00:17:26; interquartile range 00:11:48 to 00:28:35 vs 00:23:12; interquartile range 00:14:29 to 00:31:45 duration; p = 0.007), and the rate of postoperative CVS reporting (1.3% vs 28.8%; p < 0.001). Postoperative morbidity was comparable (1.8% vs 2.3%; p = 0.68).

CONCLUSIONS:

Performing a short intraoperative time-out was associated with an improved CVS achievement rate. Systematic intraoperative cognitive aids should be studied to sustain the uptake of guidelines.
Why Is Aboriginal Title Property if It Looks Like Sovereignty?
Authors: Sanderson Douglas , Singh Amitpal C.
Published: July 2021

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Aboriginal title is a property right, albeit of a distinctive kind. Most significantly, the right is subject to an inherent limit: title lands cannot be used in a way that deprives present and future generations of the right to use the land. Aboriginal title is also encumbered by a restraint on alienation, and has its source in Aboriginal legal systems that predate and survive the assertion of Crown sovereignty. In this paper, we argue that these features of Aboriginal title are not burdensome judicial innovations on a property right, but are instead the essential contours of a sovereign right. That is, the Court’s own description of Aboriginal title does not comport with sound theoretical understandings of a property right. Aboriginal title is much more akin to a right of sovereignty—the right to make laws about the use of a territory. Aboriginal title is the right of law-making jurisdiction over the title lands. The existing literature, while edging towards the view that Aboriginal title is a sovereign right, has lacked the unifying theoretical basis needed to decisively dispatch the Court’s property paradigm. In particular, all extant accounts find the inherent limit inexplicable. The account in this article theorizes and explains the inherent limit, as well as all of the sui generis elements of Aboriginal title, and shows their interconnectedness. Our view additionally answers a number of questions that the Court’s property paradigm does not, including: (1) what laws primarily govern title lands; (2) who has standing to question whether any particular use of title land violates the inherent limit; (3) what is the status of private land interests that overlap with Aboriginal title lands; and (4) how should the doctrine of Aboriginal title be updated in light of jurisprudential developments emphasizing that Indigenous peoples never ceded their sovereignty?
How Venture Capital Firms Choose Syndication Partners: The Moderating Effects of Institutional Uncertainty and Investment Preference
Authors: Zheng Lu , Cao Likun , Ren Jie , Li Xibao , Yin Ximing , Chen Jin
Published: July 2021

This study investigates how venture capital firms (VCs) choose syndication partners. Exponential random graph models of Chinese VC syndication networks from 2006 to 2013 show that the homophily mechanism does not always determine VCs’ partner selection. In selecting partners, VCs have to strike a balance between reducing uncertainty and mobilizing heterogeneous resources. Therefore, decisions about partners depend on institutional uncertainty and VCs’ investment preferences. While VCs that focus on traditional business in an immature market are more likely to form homogeneous syndications, their peers that prefer to invest in innovative companies and that can rely on a stable market tend to syndicate with heterogeneous partners.
Is Deliberation an Antidote to Extreme Partisan Polarization? Reflections on “America in One Room”
Authors: FISHKIN JAMES , SIU ALICE , DIAMOND LARRY , BRADBURN NORMAN
Published: July 2021

This paper is positioned at the intersection of two literatures: partisan polarization and deliberative democracy. It analyzes results from a national field experiment in which more than 500 registered voters were brought together from around the country to deliberate in depth over a long weekend on five major issues facing the country. A pre–post control group was also asked the same questions. The deliberators showed large, depolarizing changes in their policy attitudes and large decreases in affective polarization. The paper develops the rationale for hypotheses explaining these decreases and contrasts them with a literature that would have expected the opposite. The paper briefly concludes with a discussion of how elements of this “antidote” can be scaled.
A Thousand Flowers on the Road to Epistemic Anarchy: Comments on Chakravartty's Scientific Ontology
Authors: Bryant Amanda
Published: July 2021

I introduce the symposium on Anjan Chakravartty's Scientific Ontology by summarizing the book's main claims. In my commentary, I first challenge Chakravartty's claim that naturalized metaphysics cannot be indexed to science simpliciter. Second, I argue that there are objective truths regarding what conduces to particular epistemic aims, and that Chakravartty is therefore too permissive regarding epistemic stances and their resultant ontologies. Third, I argue that it is unclear what stops epistemic stances from having unlimited influence. Finally, I argue that Chakravartty's epistemic stance voluntarism is inadequately motivated and lacks empirical support for its psychological content.
A clinical review of human disease due to Paragonimus kellicotti in North America
Authors: Coogle Brianna , Sosland Samuel , Bahr Nathan C.
Published: July 2021

Human autochthonous infections with the trematode Paragonimus kellicotti are increasingly being reported in North America, but the true prevalence and geographic distribution are unknown. Ingestion of raw crayfish is reported in most human cases, typically in the context of alcohol intoxication. Risk of infection varies depending on what part of the crayfish is ingested as metacercariae of P. kellicotti (>50% mature to adults) localize to the heart and pericardium of the crayfish. Reported human cases have manifested primarily in otherwise healthy young adults presenting with severe eosinophilic pneumonia, pleuritis, systemic symptoms, dermatologic lesions and cerebral involvement. However, it is likely that many infections go unreported due to lack of awareness, mild illness or the absence of rapid commercially available diagnostic tests. Promising advances have been made related to novel diagnostic targets. Conservation of these antigen targets among at least four Paragonimus species could make these antigens viable for diagnostic testing of P. kellicotti specifically as well as other Paragonimus species, but additional studies and funding investments are required. Public and physician awareness may have improved due to targeted education campaigns, but ongoing activities to raise awareness are needed, particularly in areas where cases have not been frequently reported to date.
Genetic diversity of cervid Trypanosoma theileri in Honshu sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Japan
Authors: Rosyadi Imron , Setsuda Aogu , Eliakunda Mafie , Takano Ai , Maeda Ken , Saito-Ito Atsuko , Suzuki Kazuo , Sato Hiroshi
Published: July 2021

The taxonomy of ruminant Trypanosoma theileri and its relatives (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) is controversial, with recent phylogenetic studies segregating T. theileri in cattle and other ruminants worldwide into two major genetic lineages (the TthI and TthII clades) based on genetic markers. In the present study, T. theileri-like trypanosomes isolated from Honshu sika deer (Cervus nippon) in the western Japan (YMG isolate) were genetically characterized using a number of genetic markers. Sika deer trypanosomes of the YMG isolate were genetically different from the Trypanosoma sp. TSD1 isolate previously recorded from Hokkaido sika deer in northern Japan, with the former trypanosome isolate being genetically closer to European cervid trypanosomes and the bovine T. theileri TthII lineage. In contrast, the latter isolate exhibited greater relatedness to North American cervid trypanosomes and the bovine T. theileri TthI lineage, although a clear genetic distinction between these was apparent. Furthermore, trypanosomes in Honshu sika deer from the central part of Japan harboured additional genetic diversity and were closer to either TSD1 or YMG isolates, while distinct from known T. theileri-related genotypes. Importantly, cervids and wild ruminants worldwide might harbour divergent descendants of a T. theileri ancestor, which exhibit rigid host specificity to either bovines or cervid species.
‘Keep calm, stay safe, and drink bubble tea’: Commodifying the crisis of Covid-19 in Singapore advertising
Authors: Starr Rebecca Lurie , Go Christian , Pak Vincent
Published: July 2021

Advertisements employ multimodal configurations of semiotic resources in an effort to lead consumers to draw particular meanings from desired consumption behaviors. This analysis examines the deployment of such resources in advertising during the global Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on the Southeast Asian nation of Singapore. We identify five discourses that offer distinct framings of Covid-19 as a challenge for workers, a wellness issue, a threat to home and family, a challenge for women, and a threat to the Singapore lifestyle. Undergirded by neoliberal notions such as the productivity imperative, these discourses rationalize a range of consumer behaviors as necessary and justified in the struggle to defeat the virus. Advertisements are argued to place the burden of navigating the pandemic primarily on women via the evocation of power femininity. We propose a new framework, crisis commodification, as a means of understanding the ideological mechanisms at play in Covid-19 advertising. (Critical discourse analysis, crisis commodification, semiotic analysis, advertising, public health, Southeast Asia)*
Biological sensitivity to context as a dyadic construct: An investigation of child–parent RSA synchrony among low-SES youth
Authors: Oshri Assaf , Liu Sihong , Suveg Cynthia M. , Caughy Margaret O’Brien , Goodgame Huffman Landry
Published: July 2021

Parenting behaviors are significantly linked to youths’ behavioral adjustment, an association that is moderated by youths’ and parents’ self-regulation. The biological sensitivity to context theory suggests that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) indexes youths’ varying susceptibility to rearing contexts. However, self-regulation in the family context is increasingly viewed as a process of “coregulation” that is biologically embedded and involves dynamic Parent×Child interactions. No research thus far has examined physiological synchrony as a dyadic biological context that may moderate associations between parenting behaviors and preadolescent adjustment. Using a two-wave sample of 101 low-socioeconomic status (SES) families (children and caretakers; mean age 10.28 years), we employed multilevel modeling to examine dyadic coregulation during a conflict task, indicated by RSA synchrony, as a moderator of the linkages between observed parenting behaviors and preadolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. Results showed that high dyadic RSA synchrony resulted in a multiplicative association between parenting and youth adjustment. High dyadic synchrony intensified the relations between parenting behaviors and youth behavior problems, such that in the context of high dyadic synchrony, positive and negative parenting behaviors were associated with decreased and increased behavioral problems, respectively. Parent–child dyadic RSA synchrony is discussed as a potential biomarker of biological sensitivity in youth.
A microfluidic sperm-sorting device reduces the proportion of sperm with double-stranded DNA fragmentation
Authors: Pujol A. , García-Peiró A. , Ribas-Maynou J. , Lafuente R. , Mataró D. , Vassena R.
Published: July 2021

Sperm DNA fragmentation can be produced in one (ssSDF) or both (dsSDF) DNA strands, linked to difficulties in naturally achieving a pregnancy and recurrent miscarriages, respectively. The techniques more frequently used to select sperm require centrifugation, which may induce sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). The objective of this study was to assess whether the microfluidic-based device FertileChip® (now ZyMot®ICSI) can diminish the proportion of sperm with dsSDF. First, in a blinded split pilot study, the semen of nine patients diagnosed with ≥60% dsSDF, was divided into three aliquots: not processed, processed with FertileChip®, and processed with swim up. The three aliquots were all analyzed using neutral COMET for the detection of dsSDF, resulting in a reduction of 46% (P < 0.001) with FertileChip® (dsSDF: 34.9%) compared with the ejaculate and the swim up (dsSDF: 65%). Thereafter, the FertileChip® was introduced into clinical practice and a cohort of 163 consecutive ICSI cycles of patients diagnosed with ≥60% dsSDF was analyzed. Fertilization rate was 75.41%. Pregnancy rates after the first embryo transfer were 53.2% (biochemical), 37.8% (clinical), 34% (ongoing) and the live birth rate was 28.8%. Cumulative pregnancy rates after one (65.4% of patients), two (27.6% of patients) or three (6.4% of patients) transfers were 66% (biochemical), 56.4% (clinical), 53.4% (ongoing) and the live birth rate was 42%. The selection of spermatozoa using Fertile Chip® significantly diminishes the percentage of dsSDF, compared with either the fresh ejaculate or after swim up. Its applicability in ICSI cycles of patients with high dsSDF resulted in good laboratory and clinical outcomes.
Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Outcome after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Older People
Authors: Hume Camilla H. , Wright Bradley J. , Kinsella Glynda J.
Published: July 2021

Objective:

Older age is often identified as a risk factor for poor outcome from traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, this relates predominantly to mortality following moderate–severe TBI. It remains unclear whether increasing age exerts risk on the expected recovery from mild TBI (mTBI). In this systematic review of mTBI in older age (60+ years), a focus was to identify outcome through several domains – cognition, psychological health, and life participation.

Methods:

Fourteen studies were identified for review, using PRISMA guidelines. Narrative synthesis is provided for all outcomes, from acute to long-term time points, and a meta-analysis was conducted for data investigating life participation.

Results:

By 3-month follow-up, preliminary findings indicate that older adults continue to experience selective cognitive difficulties, but given the data it is possible these difficulties are due to generalised trauma or preexisting cognitive impairment. In contrast, there is stronger evidence across time points that older adults do not experience elevated levels of psychological distress following injury and endorse fewer psychological symptoms than younger adults. Meta-analysis, based on the Glasgow Outcome Scale at 6 months+ post-injury, indicates that a large proportion (67%; 95% CI 0.569, 0.761) of older adults can achieve good functional recovery, similar to younger adults. Nevertheless, individual studies using alternative life participation measures suggest more mixed rates of recovery.

Conclusions:

Although our initial review suggests some optimism in recovery from mTBI in older age, there is an urgent need for more investigations in this under-researched but growing demographic. This is critical for ensuring adequate health service provision, if needed.
Forgoing the architect’s vision: American home economists as pioneers of participatory design, 1930–60
Authors: Myjak-Pycia Anna
Published: July 2021

The phenomenon of participatory architectural design is thought to have emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Europe. In 1969, Giancarlo De Carlo, one of its main advocates, presented a manifesto in which he asserted that ‘architecture is too important to be left to architects’, criticised architectural practice as a relationship of ‘the intrinsic aggressiveness of architecture and the forced passivity of the user’, and called for establishing ‘a condition of creative and decisional equivalence’ between the architect and the user, so that in fact both the architect and the user take on the architect’s role. He also argued for the ‘discovery of users’ needs’ and envisioned the process of designing as planning ‘with’ the users instead of planning ‘for’ the users.1 In the same year, De Carlo began working on a housing estate in Terni, Italy that involved future dwellers in design decisions. Among other participatory projects carried out around that time were Lucien Kroll’s medical faculty building for the University de Louvain (1970–6) and Ottaker Uhl‘s Fesstgasse Housing, a multi-storey apartment block in Vienna (1979).
Charting the Rough Journey to ‘Home’: The Contribution of Qualitative Longitudinal Research to Understandings of Homelessness in Austerity
Authors: Davidson Emma , Nugent Briege , Johnsen Sarah
Published: July 2021

This article reflects on the contribution of qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to understandings of homeless peoples’ experiences of support service interventions in an era of austerity in the UK. It brings into ‘analytic conversation’ data from qualitative longitudinal evaluations of homeless support projects operated by voluntary sector organisations in Scotland. With fieldwork spanning 2014-2019, the analysis expands the analytical potential of pooling small-scale studies through an interrogation of individuals’ ‘journeys’ through homelessness services and their rough path to ‘home’. By reflecting on our substantive findings, the article explores the added value and challenges of a longitudinal approach. It concludes that while QLR can deliver deep insight into lives lived by vulnerable populations and potentially reduce the distance between policy makers and those affected, its benefits must be balanced against pragmatism and the ethical responsibilities associated with the method.
The Limits and Power of Law: What the Absence of #MeToo in Taiwan Can Tell Us about Legal Mobilization
Authors: Chen Chao-ju
Published: July 2021

The #MeToo movement gained global prominence after Hollywood celebrities came forward with their experiences of sexual violence and encouraged others to do the same. This was by no means the first time a woman had told the world of her experience of sexual violation, but this time, the powerful were paying attention: “Women have been saying these things forever. It is the response to them that has changed” (MacKinnon 2020, 7). High-quality investigative journalists vetted the women's accounts and provided more stories of sexual abuse and predation. Many survivors have since come forward with their own names and their perpetrators’ names, leading some prominent men to be deprived of their fame and positions of power. The #MeToo movement makes two things matter and count: what the victims say and what the perpetrators did. It has raised the perpetrators’ accountability and the victims’ credibility and reversed the scenario of sexual violation: making the perpetrator, not the victim, pay for the sexual harm.
Directive mmWave radio channel modeling in a ship hull
Authors: De Beelde Brecht , Lopéz Andrés Almarcha , Plets David , Yusuf Marwan , Tanghe Emmeric , Joseph Wout
Published: July 2021

Wireless connectivity has been realized for multiple environments and different frequency bands. However, little research exists about mmWave communication in industrial environments. This paper presents the 60 GHz double-directional radio channel for mmWave communication in a ship hull for Line-of-Sight (LOS) and non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions. We performed channel measurements using the Terragraph channel sounder at different locations in the ship hull and fitted LOS path loss to a one-slope path loss model. Path loss and root-mean-square delay spread of the LOS path is compared to the reflected path with lowest path loss. NLOS communication via this first-order reflected path is modeled by calculating the path distance and determining the reflection loss. The reflection losses have a considerable contribution to the signal attenuation of the reflected path. The channel models are implemented in an indoor coverage prediction tool, which was extended with a ray launching algorithm and validated by comparison with an analytical electromagnetic solver. The results show that the mmWave radio channel allows high-throughput communication within a ship hull compartment, even when no LOS path between the transmitter and receiver is present.
The Nutri-Score nutrition label
Authors: Hercberg Serge , Touvier Mathilde , Salas-Salvado Jordi
Published: July 2021

Abstract. Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack nutrition label with summary graded colour-coding, which aims to inform consumers, in a simple and understandable way, of the overall nutritional value of foods, in order to help them to make healthier choices at the point of purchase and to encourage manufacturers to improve the nutritional quality of their products. It is based on a five-colour scale (from dark green to dark orange) associated with letters, from A to E, to optimize logo accessibility and understanding by the consumer. Nutri-Score does not merely characterize foods as “healthy” or “unhealthy”. Rather, the graded logo provides semi-quantitative information, depending on the colour/ letter, of the relative overall nutritional composition of a food product compared to other similar products as to whether it is more or less favourable to health. Nutri-Score is the only proposed labelling scheme that adheres entirely to the concepts and processes that were published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe concerning the validation studies that are required to select and evaluate a front-of-pack nutrition label. The aim of the present paper is to present the scientific basis for the design of the Nutri-Score and to summarize the various studies to validate its calculation method and its graphic format. We explore its effectiveness and superiority compared to other labelling schemes that have been implemented in other countries or supported by pressure groups. The necessity for objective, impartial consideration of how best to use Nutri-Score and avoid misunderstandings is highlighted.