bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gastrointestinal involvement in a patient with familial Mediterranean fever mimicking Crohn’s disease: a case report
Authors: Yokoyama Yoshihiro , Yamakawa Tsukasa , Ichimiya Tadashi , Kazama Tomoe , Hirayama Daisuke , Wagatsuma Kohei , Nakase Hiroshi
Published: May 2021

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) in gastrointestinal involvement has been considered rare, but resent reports suggest that FMF causes enterocolitis which is similar endoscopic findings to inflammatory bowel disease. The clinical characteristics and endoscopic findings of FMF with enterocolitis remain unclear. Here, we report a case of an FMF patient who had enterocolitis with stricture of the terminal ileum whose endoscopic and clinical features mimicked Crohn’s disease. A 23-year-old man who was diagnosed with FMF 10 years ago presented with abdominal pain and diarrhea. Colonoscopy showed terminal ileitis and aphthous colitis; however, these findings, including the histopathology, did not confirm Crohn’s disease. Therefore, we diagnosed FMF with enterocolitis and administered anti-interleukin-1β monoclonal antibody (canakinumab). The patient’s symptoms improved with treatment, but after 1 year, lower abdominal pain recurred. Colonoscopy revealed a stricture of the terminal ileum. Endoscopic balloon dilation relieved his symptoms. At present, he has been followed up without surgical treatment by endoscopic balloon dilation every 6 month. Clinicians should be aware that FMF accompanied with enterocolitis may resemble Crohn’s disease.
The Use of Social Media in Research on Gambling: a Systematic Review
Authors: James Richard J. E. , Bradley Alex
Published: May 2021

Purpose of Review

Social media enables a range of possibilities in the way gamblers and gambling operators interact and content communicate with gambling. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesise the extant literature to identify the ways in which social media has been investigated in the context of gambling.

Recent Findings

A systematic review of the literature identified 41 papers that collected primary data pertinent to gambling and social media from multiple disciplines. These papers broadly fell into three themes: communication, community and calculation (of sentiment). Papers on communication focused on the content of gambling advertising on social media and the impact on people exposed to it. Studies of gambling communities studied the activity and structures of discussion groups on social media concerning recreational or problematic gambling. Papers on calculation collated social media data to assess sentiment and compared it against betting odds.

There is an emerging multidisciplinary literature that has looked at the use of social media in relation to gambling. There is preliminary evidence that the content and the reach of gambling advertising on social media is a source of concern, particularly for younger people. The themes discussed on gambling support forums appear to be common across communities, focusing on negative emotions, recovery, addictive products and financial support. Using social media to assess sentiment appears to be particularly effective at identifying potential upsets in sporting matches. Future suggestions for research are explored.
Practical Demonstration of a Hybrid Model for Optimising the Reliability, Risk, and Maintenance of Rolling Stock Subsystem
Authors: Appoh Frederick , Yunusa-Kaltungo Akilu , Sinha Jyoti Kumar , Kidd Moray
Published: May 2021

Railway transport system (RTS) failures exert enormous strain on end-users and operators owing to in-service reliability failure. Despite the extensive research on improving the reliability of RTS, such as signalling, tracks, and infrastructure, few attempts have been made to develop an effective optimisation model for improving the reliability, and maintenance of rolling stock subsystems. In this paper, a new hybrid model that integrates reliability, risk, and maintenance techniques is proposed to facilitate engineering failure and asset management decision analysis. The upstream segment of the model consists of risk and reliability techniques for bottom-up and top-down failure analysis using failure mode effects and criticality analysis and fault tree analysis, respectively. The downstream segment consists of a (1) decision-making grid (DMG) for the appropriate allocation of maintenance strategies using a decision map and (2) group decision-making analysis for selecting appropriate improvement options for subsystems allocated to the worst region of the DMG map using the multi-criteria pairwise comparison features of the analytical hierarchy process. The hybrid model was illustrated through a case study for replacing an unreliable pneumatic brake unit (PBU) using operational data from a UK-based train operator where the frequency of failures and delay minutes exceeded the operator’s original target by 300% and 900%, respectively. The results indicate that the novel hybrid model can effectively analyse and identify a new PBU subsystem that meets the operator’s reliability, risk, and maintenance requirements.
Experimental investigations on the performance and emissions characteristics of dual biodiesel blends on a varying compression ratio diesel engine
Authors: Dugala Navdeep Sharma , Goindi Gyanendra Singh , Sharma Ajay
Published: May 2021

The present work discusses the performance and emissions characterization of dual biodiesel sample blends on a varying compression ratio diesel engine. The dual biodiesel blends were obtained by blending two biodiesels (Mahua and Jatropha) in equal proportions volume (1:1, v/v) with mineral diesel. The sample blends were obtained on a ‘percentage by volume’ basis and named B10, B20, B30, and B40 (B10 was a blend of 5% each biodiesel with 90% mineral diesel and similarly for all other sample blends). All the experiments were performed at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm, 50% loading conditions (2.6 kW), and varying compression ratios of 13.5:1, 14.5:1, 15.5:1, and 16.5:1. The results revealed that the sample blends had slightly higher brake power and mechanical efficiency with sample blends B10 to B40 had (0.15–1.58%) higher brake power and (1.07–12.42%) higher mechanical efficiency as compared to mineral diesel at a compression ratio of 16.5:1. The In-cylinder peak pressure and exhaust gas temperature were observed to be lower than mineral diesel for the sample blends B10 to B40 by 0.15–0.36 bar and 11.1–69.8 ℃, respectively. Also, the emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons were lower by 33–62%, respectively, for the sample with the highest blend percentage. However, the carbon dioxide emissions were found to be higher by 42.85% than mineral diesel. From the overall performance and characterization, it is concluded that B20 had optimum properties and blend percentage to be a better substitute fuel for mineral diesel among all the tested samples.
The Church of England and the Home Front, 1914-1918
Authors: Beaken Robert , Waite CBE Terry
Published: May 2021

The Church of England is popularly believed to have had a bad First World War. This book challenges that tired orthodoxy. It examines the relationship between parish churches and the Army during the war, using the important garrison town of Colchester as a case study. Colchester in 1914-18 was a microcosm both of English society and of the Church of England, in all their diversity. The presence ofthe Army also meant that wartime experiences and trends which were noticeable elsewhere in England were sharply felt in Colchester. For the generation of Britons who lived through the Great War,Christianity was an important part of their culture, world view and, in many instances, personal lives. To understand life on the home front during the war, it is vital to understand the part playedby Christianity, and particularly by the parishes of the Church of England. With the help of newly discovered archival material, this book reassesses the relations between clergy, soldiers and civilians to show that, contrary to widely-held belief, the clergy and their parishioners responded to the crisis of 1914-18 with courage, common sense and self-sacrifice: their ministry kept much of the population going during the Great War. ROBERT BEAKEN is parish priest of St Mary the Virgin, Great Bardfield, and St Katharine, Little Bardfield, in Essex. He holds a PhD from King's College,London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of seven works, including Cosmo Lang: Archbishop in War and Crisis (2012).
Domus
Authors: Cirnigliaro Noelia S.
Published: May 2021

'Domus' aborda ejemplos de la dramaturgia y la narrativa corta del siglo XVII español en tanto formas estéticas que respondieron al desarrollo del mundo doméstico nobiliario y urbano de la Península Ibérica. Propone un recorrido por el terreno de lo habitable, incluyendo la arquitectura y decoración interior de la casa, las dinámicas de género, la economía doméstica y la utilización de los objetos, la luz y el espacio, deteniéndose en aspectos históricos que transformaron el hogar de la temprana modernidad así como también la imaginación creativa de los autores barrocos. Este estudio señala que la comedia urbana, el teatro breve y la novela cortesana ilustran tanto la importancia de temas domésticos en la ficción, como la percepción barroca de que la casa fue un escenario único para teatralizar la domesticidad.

'Domus' delves into examples of the drama and short fiction of seventeenth-century Spanish as aesthetic forms that responded to the development of the nobility and urban domestic world of the Iberian Peninsula. The book offers a journey through the realm of the habitable, including architecture and the interior decoration of the house; gender dynamics; domestic economy and the use of objects; and light and space, stopping along the way to consider the historical aspects that transformed the early modern home as well as the creative imagination of the authors of the Baroque. This study shows that urban comedy, theatre and the courtly novel illustrate both the importance of domestic issues in fiction and the Baroque perception that the house was a unique stage for dramatizing domesticity.

Noelia S. Cirnigliaro es Profesora Asociada en el Departamento de español y portugués en Dartmouth College.

Noelia S. Cirnigliaro is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dartmouth College.
The Antivaccine Heresy
Authors: Walloch Karen L.
Published: May 2021

Most people today celebrate vaccination as a great achievement, yet many nineteenth-century Americans opposed it, so much in fact that states had to make vaccination compulsory. In response, antivaccination societies formed all over the United States, lobbying state legislatures and bringing lawsuits to abolish these laws. One such lawsuit ultimately arrived at the United States Supreme Court, which upheld the laws in a landmark decision, Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905). In this study, Karen Walloch examines the history of vaccine development in the United States, the laws put in place enjoining the practice, and the popular reaction against them. Walloch finds that at the end of the nineteenth century Americans had good reason to fear vaccination. Vaccines simply did not live upto claims made for their safety and effectiveness. They induced pain, disability, and grim or even fatal infections. In this critical history of the antivaccine movement and of Jacobson v. Massachusetts in particular, Walloch locates the beginnings of a legacy of doubt about vaccination -- one that affected legislation in all fifty states and is still very much alive today.  Karen Walloch is a historian who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Accessibility and centralizers for partially hyperbolic flows
Authors: FISHER TODD , HASSELBLATT BORIS
Published: May 2021

Stable accessibility of partially hyperbolic systems is central to their stable ergodicity, and we establish its
$C^1$
-density among partially hyperbolic flows, as well as in the categories of volume-preserving, symplectic, and contact partially hyperbolic flows. As applications, we obtain on one hand in each of these four categories of flows the
$C^1$
-density of the
$C^1$
-stable topological transitivity and triviality of the centralizer, and on the other hand the
$C^1$
-density of the
$C^1$
-stable K-property of the natural volume in the latter three categories.
RADIOCARBON PROTOCOLS AND FIRST INTERCOMPARISON RESULTS FROM THE CHRONOS 14CARBON-CYCLE FACILITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Authors: Turney Chris , Becerra-Valdivia Lorena , Sookdeo Adam , Thomas Zoë A , Palmer Jonathan , Haines Heather A , Cadd Haidee , Wacker Lukas , Baker Andy , Andersen Martin S , Jacobsen Geraldine , Meredith Karina , Chinu Khorshed , Bollhalder Silvia , Marjo Christopher
Published: May 2021

The Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility is a new radiocarbon laboratory at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Built around an Ionplus 200 kV MIni-CArbon DAting System (MICADAS) Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) installed in October 2019, the facility was established to address major challenges in the Earth, Environmental and Archaeological sciences. Here we report an overview of the Chronos facility, the pretreatment methods currently employed (bones, carbonates, peat, pollen, charcoal, and wood) and results of radiocarbon and stable isotope measurements undertaken on a wide range of sample types. Measurements on international standards, known-age and blank samples demonstrate the facility is capable of measuring 14C samples from the Anthropocene back to nearly 50,000 years ago. Future work will focus on improving our understanding of the Earth system and managing resources in a future warmer world.
‘Seeing with one's own eyes’ and speaking to the mind: a history of the Wilson cloud chamber in the teaching of physics
Authors: Bertozzi Eugenio
Published: May 2021

In 1911 the Wilson cloud chamber opened new possibilities for physics pedagogy. The instrument, which visualized particles’ tracks as trails of condensed vapour, was adopted by physicists to pursue frontier research on the Compton effect, the positron and the transmutation of atomic nuclei. But as the present paper will show, Wilson's instrument did not just open up new research opportunities, but the possibility of developing a different kind of teaching. Equipped with a powerful visualization tool, some physicists–teachers employed Wilson's instrument to introduce their students to a wide range of phenomena and concepts, ranging from the behaviour of clouds to Einstein's photon, the wave–particle duality and the understanding of the nucleus. This paper uses the notes, books and prototypes of these pioneering physicists–teachers to compose a pedagogical history of the Wilson cloud chamber, documenting an episode of immense ingenuity, creativity and scientific imagination.
Ediacaran initial subduction and Cambrian slab rollback of the Junggar Ocean: New evidence from igneous tectonic blocks and gabbro enclave in Early Palaeozoic accretionary complexes, southern West Junggar, NW China
Authors: Liao Wen , Han Bao-Fu , Xu Yan , Li Ang
Published: May 2021

New zircon U–Pb ages and whole-rock chemical data from four adakitic and two non-adakitic igneous rocks as tectonic blocks in the southern West Junggar accretionary complexes, northwestern China and one gabbro enclave in adakitic block provide further constraints on the initial subduction and following rollback process of the Junggar Ocean as part of southern Palaeo-Asian Ocean. The oldest adakitic monzonite in Tangbale is intruded by the non-adakitic quartz monzonite at 549 Ma, and the youngest adakitic diorite in Tierekehuola formed at 520 Ma. The Ediacaran–Cambrian magmatism show a N-wards younger trend. The high-SiO2 adakitic rocks have high Sr (300–663 ppm) and low Y (6.68–12.2 ppm), with Sr/Y = 40–84 and Mg no. = 46–60, whereas the non-adakitic rocks have high Y (13.2–22.7 ppm) and Yb (2.32–2.92 ppm), with Mg no. = 36–40. The gabbro has high MgO (14.81–15.11 wt%), Co (45–48 ppm), Cr (1120–1360 ppm) and Ni (231–288 ppm), with Mg no. = 72–73. All the samples show similar large-ion lithophile element (LILE) and light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment and Nb, Ta, Ti and varying Zr and Hf depletion, suggesting that they were formed in a subduction-related setting. The adakitic rocks were produced by partial melting of subducted oceanic slab, but the melts were modified by mantle wedge and slab-derived fluids; the non-adakitic rocks were likely derived from partial melts of the middle-lower arc crust; and the gabbro originated from the mantle wedge modified by slab-derived fluids. The magmatism could have been generated during the Ediacaran initial subduction and Cambrian slab rollback of the Junggar Ocean.
POLITICS ON LIBERATION'S FRONTIERS: STUDENT ACTIVIST REFUGEES, INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ZIMBABWE, 1965–79
Authors: Hodgkinson Dan
Published: May 2021

During Zimbabwe's struggle for national liberation, thousands of black African students fled Rhodesia to universities across the world on refugee scholarship schemes. To these young people, university student activism had historically provided a stable route into political relevance and nationalist leadership. But at foreign universities, many of which were vibrant centres for student mobilisations in the 1960s and 1970s and located far from Zimbabwean liberation movements’ organising structures, student refugees were confronted with the dilemma of what their role and future in the liberation struggle was. Through the concept of the ‘frontier’, this article compares the experiences of student activists at universities in Uganda, West Africa, and the UK as they figured out who they were as political agents. For these refugees, I show how political geography mattered. Campus frontiers could lead young people both to the military fronts of Mozambique and Zambia as well as to the highest circles of government in independent Zimbabwe. As such, campus frontiers were central to the history of Zimbabwe's liberation movements and the development of the postcolonial state.
The influence of lime application on the chemical and physical characteristics of acidic grassland soils with impeded drainage
Authors: Corbett D. , Wall D. P. , Lynch M. B. , Tuohy P.
Published: May 2021

Soil acidity and poor nutrient use efficiency are major limiting factors as regards output potential on heavy soils, soils which are dominated by high proportions of clay and organic matter, with impeded drainage, high buffering capacity and located in high rainfall areas. Lime is applied in order to counteract these limiting factors and in turn improve agricultural output and productivity. The current study investigates the effects of two commonly used lime products at three comparable treatment rates, ground lime (7.5, 5 and 2.5 tonne/ha) and granulated lime (7.5, 2.5 and 1.5 tonne/ha), applied across three distinct sites. The ability of each lime product and treatment rate to counteract soil acidity, increase nutrient availability and influence soil physical structure was assessed over time. On average across sites, 1 tonne/ha of each lime product increased soil pH by 0.15 and 0.21 pH units between ground and granulated lime, respectively. Site 3 experienced the greatest increase change in soil pH in comparison to the other two sites, largely due to lower clay content and cation exchange capacity. Granulated lime was 5.7 times more expensive than ground lime in its ability to reduce soil acidity. The high treatment rate showed the greatest reduction in soil acidity, aluminium and iron concentration as a mean across all sites. Morgan's soil test phosphorus concentration increased across all sites, with treatment rates having no effect on the rate of increase. There was evidence of reduced soil compaction and lime application showed no negative implication on soil physical structure.
Opera in primary education for the development of social and emotional skills: a case study from Mexico City
Authors: Soliveres Rosa , Giráldez-Hayes Andrea , Parejo Jose Luis
Published: May 2021

The study examines the impacts of a project-based learning (PBL) methodology on the development of emotional skills involved in the learner’s individual and social well-being. This paper summarises the preliminary results of the case study in which the project ‘Opera as a Vehicle for Learning’ (LOVA) was implemented with a key stage 2 group in Mexico City. This project fostered the development of the students’ intra- and interpersonal skills, group decision-making, critical reasoning, active listening, oral and written expression and emotion sharing. Findings suggest that LOVA has proved to be a powerful methodological resource for the development of collaborative learning, emotional education and social interaction in groups. Findings also suggest that music learning can be used as a highly effective device for the development of social skills.
On inactivity times of failed components of coherent system under double monitoring
Authors: Guo Zhouxia , Zhang Jiandong , Yan Rongfang
Published: May 2021

This article discusses the stochastic behavior and reliability properties for the inactivity times of failed components in coherent systems under double monitoring. A mixture representation of reliability function is obtained for the inactivity times of failed components, and some stochastic comparison results are also established. Furthermore, some sufficient conditions are developed in terms of the aging properties of the inactivity times of failed components. Finally, some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.
A broadened estimate of syntactic and lexical ability from the MB-CDI
Authors: DAY Trevor K.M. , ELISON Jed T.
Published: May 2021

A critical question in the study of language development is to understand lexical and syntactic acquisition, which play different roles in speech to the extent it would be natural to surmise they are acquired differently. As measured through the comprehension and production of closed-class words, syntactic ability emerges at roughly the 400-word mark. However, a significant proportion of the developmental work uses a coarse combination of function and content words on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MB-CDI). Using the MB-CDI Wordbank database, we implemented a factor analytic approach to distinguish between lexical and syntactic development from the Words and Sentences (WS) form that involves both function words and the explicit categorizations. Although the Words and Gestures (WG) form did not share the factor structure, common WG/WS elements recapitulate the expected age-related changes. This parsing of the MB-CDI may prove simple, yet fruitful in subsequent investigation.
Salinity response to atmospheric forcing of the Terra Nova Bay polynya, Antarctica
Authors: Le Bel Deborah A. , Zappa Christopher J. , Budillon Giorgio , Gordon Arnold L.
Published: May 2021

The density and salinity of High Salinity Shelf Water, a key component of Antarctic Bottom Water emanating from the Ross Sea, are intensified by brine rejection induced by ice formation within the Terra Nova Bay (TNB) polynya. Ocean mooring data from 2007, meteorological observations from automatic weather stations and a satellite-derived history of the opening of TNB polynya delineate variability in water column salinity linked to atmospheric forcing, with a period on the order of 10 days. Lagged correlation analysis indicates that on average salinity response lags the polynya opening by 2 days and the wind forcing by 5 days. We find stronger correlations of salinity with the wind during March through May and with the polynya open-water fraction during June through October, with decreasing lags in the latter period. A one-dimensional mixed-layer model incorporating thermodynamic ice formation captures the oscillations in salinity. A process study shows that the variability in the polynya open-water fraction governs the final salinity attained by the model as well as the salinity cycling. Variability in surface heat fluxes modulates that effect. Our work suggests that there is a more complex relationship between salinity, the polynya open-water fraction, and atmospheric forcing than previously suggested.
The profile of pragmatic language impairments in children with ADHD: A systematic review
Authors: Carruthers Sophie , Taylor Lauren , Sadiq Hafiza , Tripp Gail
Published: May 2021

This systematic review synthesizes the empirical literature examining pragmatic language in children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using a taxonomy of pragmatic language, we compared the pragmatic language profiles of children with ADHD to those of typically developing (TD) children and children with autism. Three databases were searched up to October 2019: PsychInfo; PubMed; and CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. We included 34 studies reporting on 2,845 children (ADHD = 1,407; TD = 1,058; autism = 380). Quality and risk of bias assessments included sample size and representativeness; measure reliability and validity; and missing data management. Children with ADHD were found to have higher rates of pragmatic difficulties than their TD peers. Specific difficulties were identified with inappropriate initiation, presupposition, social discourse, and narrative coherence. Children with ADHD appear to differ from those with autism in the degree of their pragmatic language impairments. General language skills contribute to, but do not explain, pragmatic difficulties in samples of children with ADHD. Though the extant evidence is limited, a preliminary profile of the pragmatic language impairments in children with ADHD is indicated. This supports a call for evidence-based interventions that include pragmatic language skills training.
Mobile-assisted vocabulary learning: Investigating receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge of Chinese EFL learners
Authors: Li Yan , Hafner Christoph A.
Published: May 2021

Considerable research has been conducted on the advancement of mobile technologies to facilitate vocabulary learning and acquisition in a second language (L2). However, whether mobile platforms lead to a comprehensive mastery of both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge has seldom been addressed in previous literature. This study investigated English vocabulary learning from engagement with mobile-based word cards and paper word cards in the context of the Chinese university classroom. A total of 85 undergraduate students were recruited to take part in the study. The students were divided into two groups, a mobile learning group and a paper-based learning group, and tested on two word knowledge components: receptive knowledge of the form–meaning connection and productive knowledge of collocations. Both the digital and non-digital word cards enhanced L2 vocabulary learning, and the results showed that the mobile application (app) promoted greater gains than physical word cards.
Origins of arbitrage
Authors: Poitras Geoffrey
Published: May 2021

Following a review of the etymology and modern usage of the term ‘arbitrage’, this article explores the relevance of historical context to possible instances of ancient arbitrage activity. Types of possible ‘arbitrage’ associated with the use of overvalued coinage in regions of Greek influence are considered. Comparison with Roman civilization reveals the relevance of social attitudes and legal institutions to the ability to execute arbitrage trades. Specific attention is given to the possibility of arbitrage across the Roman frontier to India and the impact of debasements during the imperial period. Recognizing that sources prior to early modern times are scant, numismatic, epigraphic and literary evidence that is available to make inferences about ancient arbitrage activity is assessed.
A Comparison of Time to Treatment between an Emergency Department Focused Stroke Protocol and Mobile Stroke Units
Authors: Madhok Debbie Y. , Mangasarian Paul H. , Keenan Kevin J. , Hemphill J. Claude , Brown John F. , Kim Anthony S.
Published: May 2021

Background:

San Francisco (California USA) is a relatively compact city with a population of 884,000 and nine stroke centers within a 47 square mile area. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) transport distances and times are short and there are currently no Mobile Stroke Units (MSUs).

Methods:

This study evaluated EMS activation to computed tomography (CT [EMS-CT]) and EMS activation to thrombolysis (EMS-TPA) times for acute stroke in the first two years after implementation of an emergency department (ED) focused, direct EMS-to-CT protocol entitled “Mission Protocol” (MP) at a safety net hospital in San Francisco and compared performance to published reports from MSUs. The EMS times were abstracted from ambulance records. Geometric means were calculated for MP data and pooled means were similarly calculated from published MSU data.

Results:

From July 2017 through June 2019, a total of 423 patients with suspected stroke were evaluated under the MP, and 166 of these patients were either ultimately diagnosed with ischemic stroke or were treated as a stroke but later diagnosed as a stroke mimic. The EMS and treatment time data were available for 134 of these patients with 61 patients (45.5%) receiving thrombolysis, with mean EMS-CT and EMS-TPA times of 41 minutes (95% CI, 39-43) and 63 minutes (95% CI, 57-70), respectively. The pooled estimates for MSUs suggested a mean EMS-CT time of 35 minutes (95% CI, 27-45) and a mean EMS-TPA time of 48 minutes (95% CI, 39-60). The MSUs achieved faster EMS-CT and EMS-TPA times (P <.0001 for each).

Conclusions:

In a moderate-sized, urban setting with high population density, MP was able to achieve EMS activation to treatment times for stroke thrombolysis that were approximately 15 minutes slower than the published performance of MSUs.
Implications of international trade and investment agreements on policy space for restricting marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children: lessons from inter-disciplinary expert interviews
Authors: Garton Kelly , Swinburn Boyd , Thow Anne Marie
Published: May 2021

Objective:

To determine the implications of international trade and investment agreements (TIA) for national governments’ policy space to restrict the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children.

Design:

In-depth interviews based on a series of policy scenario ‘vignettes,’ guided by an adapted scenario analysis methodology.

Setting:

Global.

Participants:

Nine key informants from relevant sectors, with expertise regarding the intersection of public health nutrition policy, international trade law and international investment law.

Results:

Participants consistently identified the relevance of several principles, common to many TIA: non-discrimination, necessity and justification, market access requirements and quantitative restrictions, intellectual property rights and trademark protections and fair and equitable treatment of investors. Two main policy design factors that interact heavily with TIA-related policy space were the framing of objectives and regulatory distinctions drawn. Contextual factors may shape the analysis of TIA-related policy space on a case-by-case basis, while the relative power of the actors and institutions involved in both domestic and international policy spheres may influence whether and how such legal constraints to policy space are activated.

Conclusions:

Regulatory marketing restrictions run the risk of incurring challenges under World Trade Organization agreements and other free TIA. However, concerned policymakers should be aware of the difference between theoretical risk, threat of a challenge and realistic initiation and/or loss of a formal dispute. Our findings indicate that there is policy space to adopt significant marketing restrictions, though an understanding of these legal risks and strategic policy design are important.
‘Reason’s Sympathy’ and its Foundations in Productive Imagination
Authors: Vilhauer Benjamin
Published: May 2021

This paper argues that Kant endorses a distinction between rational and natural sympathy, and it presents an interpretation of rational sympathy as a power of voluntarya posterioriproductive imagination. In rational sympathy we draw on the imagination’s voluntary powers (a) to subjectively unify the contents of intuition, in order to imaginatively put ourselves in others’ places, and (b) to associate imagined intuitional contents with the concepts others use to convey their feelings, in such a way that those contents prompt feelings in us that are like their feelings.
Direct Visualization of the Earliest Stages of Crystallization
Authors: Singh Manish Kumar , Ghosh Chanchal , Miller Benjamin , Carter C. Barry
Published: May 2021

Investigating the earliest stages of crystallization requires the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and is particularly challenging for materials which can be affected by the electron beam. Typically, when imaging at magnifications high enough to observe local crystallinity, the electron beam's current density must be high to produce adequate image contrast. Yet, minimizing the electron dose is necessary to reduce the changes caused by the beam. With the advent of a sensitive, high-speed, direct-detection camera for a TEM that is corrected for spherical aberration, it is possible to probe the early stages of crystallization at the atomic scale. High-quality images with low contrast can now be analyzed using new computing methods. In the present paper, this approach is illustrated for crystallization in a Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST-225) phase-change material which can undergo particularly rapid phase transformations and is sensitive to the electron beam. A thin (20 nm) film of GST-225 has been directly imaged in the TEM and the low-dose images processed using Python scripting to extract details of the nanoscale nuclei. Quantitative analysis of the processed images in a video sequence also allows the growth of such nuclei to be followed.
Herd behavior of pension funds in sovereign bond investments
Authors: Koetsier Ian , Bikker Jacob A.
Published: May 2021

This study investigates herd behavior exhibited by pension funds in the sovereign bond market before, during and after the European debt crisis. It uses unique monthly data on sovereign bond holdings of pension funds and transactions between December 2008 and December 2014. The dataset covers 67 large Dutch pension funds that invest in bonds from 109 countries. We find evidence of intensive herd behavior of Dutch pension funds in sovereign bonds. We also distinguish between European countries which suffer from the European debt crisis, such as Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and those that have not. We find high sell herding and low buy herding for the crisis countries during the European debt crisis, whereas in the non-crisis period their herd behavior does not differ substantially from that in non-crisis countries. When we control for institutional, macroeconomic, financial market and pension fund factors, sell herding in crisis countries is still significantly higher. However, we find no evidence of destabilizing behavior with respect to bonds of crisis countries during the European debt crisis.
De jureproperty rights and state capacity: evidence from land specification in the Boer Republics
Authors: Dimitruk Kara , Du Plessis Sophia , Du Plessis Stan
Published: May 2021

We examine the development ofde jureproperty rights to land by assessing how accurately governments recorded borders of property. We use surveys of farm parcels from two historical states, the Republic of the Orange Free State (OFS) and the South African Republic (ZAR), which are in modern-day South Africa, and employ a descriptive analysis to infer how accurately maps represent parcels of property. We argue that differences in state administrative capacity explains differences in map accuracy and therefore the provision ofde jureproperty rights to land. We find that maps of farms in the ZAR, which had lower administrative capacity, tend to be less accurate than maps of farms in the OFS. Comparisons with military maps compiled under a different administration provide evidence that the costs incurred from previous administrations can limit future attempts to accurately record property. The analysis shows how state administrative capacity can facilitate (or hinder) the provision of property rights to land.
Statistical features of persistence and long memory in mortality data
Authors: Peters Gareth W. , Yan Hongxuan , Chan Jennifer
Published: May 2021

Understanding core statistical properties and data features in mortality data are fundamental to the development of machine learning methods for demographic and actuarial applications of mortality projection. The study of statistical features in such data forms the basis for classification, regression and forecasting tasks. In particular, the understanding of key statistical structure in such data can aid in improving accuracy in undertaking mortality projection and forecasting when constructing life tables. The ability to accurately forecast mortality is a critical aspect for the study of demography, life insurance product design and pricing, pension planning and insurance-based decision risk management. Though many stylised facts of mortality data have been discussed in the literature, we provide evidence for a novel statistical feature that is pervasive in mortality data at a national level that is as yet unexplored. In this regard, we demonstrate in this work a strong evidence for the existence of long memory features in mortality data, and second that such long memory structures display multifractality as a statistical feature that can act as a discriminator of mortality dynamics by age, gender and country. To achieve this, we first outline the way in which we choose to represent the persistence of long memory from an estimator perspective. We make a natural link between a class of long memory features and an attribute of stochastic processes based on fractional Brownian motion. This allows us to use well established estimators for the Hurst exponent to then robustly and accurately study the long memory features of mortality data. We then introduce to mortality analysis the notion from data science known as multifractality. This allows us to study the long memory persistence features of mortality data on different timescales. We demonstrate its accuracy for sample sizes commensurate with national-level age term structure historical mortality records. A series of synthetic studies as well a comprehensive analysis of real mortality death count data are studied in order to demonstrate the pervasiveness of long memory structures in mortality data, both mono-fractal and multifractal functional features are verified to be present as stylised facts of national-level mortality data for most countries and most age groups by gender. We conclude by demonstrating how such features can be used in kernel clustering and mortality model forecasting to improve these actuarial applications.
Design and analysis of 3D-printed hybrid couplers for D-band applications
Authors: Lomakin K. , Klein L. , Gold G.
Published: May 2021

This work focuses on the impact of the build orientation on additively manufactured waveguide-based hybrid couplers for D-band frequency range and relates it to other sources of uncertainty within the overall manufacturing process and measurement instrumentation for the D-band frequency range. The designed specimens are first printed from UV curable photopolymer resin and subsequently metal coated by an electroless silver plating process, which in turn is improved by making use of the slotted waveguide approach. Although the requirements toward geometrical precision to achieve phase errors below 10° are in an order of 0.1 mm, a desktop grade DLP printer is utilized in this work in order to point out the prospects and limitations of additive manufacturing. Furthermore, waveguide paths with bends are part of the model and their impact on the measured attenuation is estimated explicitly.

Despite this narrow field of tolerances, one specimen could have been realized, which achieves a measured output magnitude imbalance of 0.7 dB over the frequency range from 120 to 155 GHz while at the same time exhibiting a phase deviation of only <10° from the desired 90°. With these demonstrated results, the proposed approach provides suitability for future applications in the D-band frequency range.
Constraining Fault Friction and Stability With Fluid‐Injection Field Experiments
Authors: Larochelle Stacy , Lapusta Nadia , Ampuero Jean‐Paul , Cappa Frédéric
Published: May 2021

While the notion that injecting fluids into the subsurface can reactivate faults by reducing frictional resistance is well established, the ensuing evolution of the slip is still poorly understood. What controls whether the induced slip remains stable and confined to the fluid‐affected zone or accelerates into a runaway earthquake? Are there observable indicators of the propensity to earthquakes before they happen? Here, we investigate these questions by modeling a unique fluid‐injection experiment on a natural fault with laboratory‐derived friction laws. We show that a range of fault models with diverging stability with sustained injection reproduce the slip measured during pressurization. Upon depressurization, however, the most unstable scenario departs from the observations, suggesting that the fault is relatively stable. The models could be further distinguished with optimized depressurization tests or spatially distributed monitoring. Our findings indicate that avoiding injection near low‐residual‐friction faults and depressurizing during slip acceleration could help prevent large‐scale earthquakes.
The Effects of 180 years of Aging on the Physical and Seismic Properties of Partially Saturated Sands
Authors: Wright Vanshan , Hornbach Matthew
Published: May 2021

Constraining how the physical properties and seismic responses of recently deposited sands change with time is important for understanding earthquake site response, subsurface fluid flow, and early stages of lithification. Currently, however, there is no detailed (cm‐scale) assessment of how sand's physical properties and associated seismic velocities evolve over the first two centuries after deposition. Here, we integrate sedimentation rates with seismic velocity and sediment physical properties data to assess how the vadose zone sands at Port Royal Beach, Jamaica, change within 180 years after deposition. We show that compressional and shear wave velocities increase with sediment age, whereas porosity, grain size, sorting, mineralogy, and cementation fraction remain relatively unchanged during the same period. Rock physics models (constrained by the measured physical properties) predict constant seismic velocities at all sites regardless of sediment age, though misfits between modeled and observed velocities increase with sediment age. We explain these misfits by proposing that shallow sands undergo microstructural grain reorganization that leads to a more uniform distribution of grain contact forces with time. Our results imply that beach sands undergo a previously undocumented lithification process that occurs before compaction.
High‐Temperature VIS‐IR Spectroscopy of NH4‐Phyllosilicates
Authors: De Angelis S. , Ferrari M. , De Sanctis M. C. , Ammannito E. , Raponi A. , Ciarniello M.
Published: May 2021

Ammonium phyllosilicates have been identified on the dwarf planet Ceres, thanks to infrared telescopic and orbital data from the Dawn mission, by means of the 3.06 μm spectral feature. Nevertheless, it is not known which ammonium‐bearing phyllosilicate species are present, nor the thermal processing they underwent throughout Ceres history. Identifying the NH4+‐hosting mineral species is important for deciphering Ceres’ surface mineralogy, which provides a link to its interior and putative different evolutionary pathways. Ammoniated species can have formed in the presence of water/ammonia‐rich fluids in different conditions in the interior of the planet; in case of an exogenous outer Solar System origin, they can have undergone heating at depth. In this work, we study the visible‐infrared spectra of several NH4‐treated/untreated phyllosilicates in the range 0.35–5 μm, acquired in vacuum and at temperatures between 298 and 723 K. Previously NH4‐phyllosilicates have been mostly studied at ambient condition, preventing the characterization of the NH4+ band at 3.06 μm, due to overlapping bands of water. With this new set of measurements, we investigate how the NH4‐phyllosilicates spectra are modified when the mineral’s water is lost, and which temperature is the limit for the releasing of NH4+. We present the first high‐temperatures/high vacuum 3‐μm reflectance spectra of ammonium phyllosilicates. Our measurements indicate that Mg‐phyllosilicates are the best candidates for the ammonium‐bearing species. Moreover, the almost complete disappearing of NH4+ absorption feature at ∼3.06 μm for ammoniated phyllosilicates heated at the highest temperatures indicates that such species on Ceres could not have experienced temperatures higher than 623 K.
Divergent Response of Vegetation Growth to Soil Water Availability in Dry and Wet Periods Over Central Asia
Authors: Zhang Wen , Li Yang , Wu Xiuchen , Chen Yunhao , Chen Anping , Schwalm Christopher R. , Kimball John S.
Published: May 2021

Vegetation growth is interactively controlled by hydrothermal conditions and the associated biophysiological changes. These factors have experienced dramatic changes over the past decades in Central Asia, where vegetation growth is primarily constrained by soil water availability. However, we have limited understanding of the time scales and the underlying drivers for the responses of vegetation growth to variations in soil water availability between wet and dry periods. Here, we explored the response of vegetation growth to decadal‐scale hydroclimatic variations in wet versus dry periods, during 1992–2015, using remote sensing retrievals of normalized difference vegetation index and multiple climate factors. We discovered divergent responses of vegetation growth to soil water availability, measured by soil moisture content (SM), between wet and dry periods, with spatiotemporally intensified correlation to SM in the dry period. We revealed a unanimous 1‐month time lag in the response of vegetation growth to SM in the dry period, contrary to much longer time lags and a more spatially heterogeneous response in the wet period. The divergent vegetation responses to SM can be largely explained by the variations in hydroclimatic conditions and spring phenology. The intensified vegetation growth‐SM response in the dry period was strongly associated with increased temperature and vapor pressure deficit. Earlier spring phenology exerts a crucial role in mediating the relationship between vegetation growth and SM in the dry period. The complicated interactions between vegetation phenology and hydroclimatic variations should be explicitly considered in predicting regional vegetation growth under a warmer and drier climate regime in water‐stressed regions.