bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Paradoxical” Dissatisfaction among Post-Socialist Farmers with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy: A Study of Farmers’ Subjectivities in Rural Poland
Authors: Bilewicz Aleksandra , Mamonova Natalia , Burdyka Konrad
Published: September 2021

Farmers in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe are the major beneficiaries of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), at least in monetary terms. Why, then, are they dissatisfied with the CAP? This study aims to understand farmers’ subjectivities (i.e., judgments shaped by personal opinions and feelings) regarding CAP and compares these subjectivities to the actual impact of CAP in rural areas. It is based on empirical research in the Błaszki commune in central Poland, where the farmers’ movement Agrounia originated. The study has found that in addition to its benefits, CAP created a number of new problems, such as socio-economic differentiation and related tensions in rural communities, misuse of the CAP’s direct payments, disappearance of rural (peasant) lifestyle, and environmental degradation. The empirical material has also revealed the fragile position of Polish farmers in the domestic market, which affects their dignity and self-esteem. Agrounia seeks to address the latter issue, yet it faces the problems of farmer mobilization and negative representation in the media. This article contributes to the discussions about the applicability of CAP in the post-socialist context, the impact of farmers’ subjectivities on their practices, and the farmers’ mobilization and social movements in post-socialist countries.
Breastfeeding Experiences During the COVID-19 Lockdown in the United Kingdom: An Exploratory Study Into Maternal Opinions and Emotional States
Authors: Costantini Cristina , Joyce Anna , Britez Yolanda
Published: September 2021

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely impacted upon people’s psychological and physical wellbeing; however, the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on mothers of young children, with particular regard to breastfeeding, are unknown.

Research Aims

To explore: (1) Sources of advice and support available to breastfeeding mothers during and prior to the COVID-19 lockdown; (2) Mothers’ opinions on statements and recommendations made by the World Health Organization on the importance of breastfeeding and breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic; (3) Maternal emotional states (i.e., anxiety and depression symptoms) experienced by breastfeeding mothers during the COVID-19 lockdown; and (4) influence of breastfeeding duration and number of children on breastfeeding opinions and emotional states.

Methods

Mothers of children aged 0–36 months ( N = 4018) took part in an online survey. The survey included demographic questions, as well as the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Mothers were further probed on opinions regarding breastfeeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Participants strongly agreed with the importance of breastfeeding, even if a mother showed symptoms of COVID-19. Differences in opinions on breastfeeding practices (e.g., the use of donor human milk and relactation), were found between participants in relation to breastfeeding duration and number of children. Participants with more than one child showed higher negative emotional states, namely anxiety symptoms. Except for Internet usage, participants indicated a decline in all sources of advice and support for breastfeeding during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Conclusions

Health bodies and professionals should consider maternal viewpoints and opinions regarding breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions are urgently needed in order to support breastfeeding mothers and prevent the development of mental health issues.
Patient perspectives of coping with automated peritoneal dialysis
Authors: Duncanson Emily , Chur-Hansen Anna , Jesudason Shilpanjali
Published: September 2021

Background:

Patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) experience poor quality of life, depression, anxiety and lifestyle changes. Insights into how patients adjust to and cope with PD from a psychological perspective will aid care.

Methods:

Participants were recruited purposively through the Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplantation Service in South Australia. Ten patients receiving automated PD (APD) (5 females and 5 males) aged 31 to 77 years (M = 59.3) participated in a semi-structured interview. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically through inductive and deductive methods.

Results:

Five main themes representing participants’ experiences and perspectives of adjusting to and coping with APD were identified: (1) Resigned Acceptance, (2) A Bridge to Transplant, (3) Navigating Emotions at Milestones and Transitions, (4) Professional Support (Sub-themes: Psychological Support and Education and Information Delivery and (5) Social Enablers (Sub-theme: Hidden from View and Hiding Illness).

Conclusions:

Patients employ cognitive, emotional and behavioural strategies and rely strongly on social supports to cope with APD. PD at home aids preservation of pre-illness identity, however, also results in feelings of isolation and being misunderstood. Psychological distress and poor coping may be heightened at key disease milestones and transition periods when professional psychological support should be offered. We provide suggestions to address patients’ psychosocial needs and coping in treatment decision-making and dialysis care.
Heat transfer augmentation in a radial curved microchannel
Authors: Mamidi Nitin Kumar , Balasubramanian Karthik , Kumar Kupireddi Kiran , Chandramohan V P , Lee Poh Seng , Kong Chui Chee
Published: September 2021

Rapid advancement toward miniaturization has emerged with confront for superior heat dissipation techniques. Of all the available cooling systems, microchannel-based cooling systems stand out to provide better cooling performance through superior heat removal abilities. In the present study, the cooling performance and hydraulic flow characteristics of a radial curved microchannel with three curvature ratios were numerically investigated and compared with a radial straight microchannel. Unlike the conventional straight microchannels, curved channels possess better fluid mixing as a result of the centrifugal force caused due to curvature. This phenomenon has a significant effect on heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics. Work on radial curved microchannels has been scarce and there is a lot of potential to augment the heat transfer with lower pumping power particularly with a central inlet. A three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer analysis was carried out for three radial curved microchannels and a radial straight microchannel using the ANSYS Fluent commercial software with the Reynolds number range of 125–275. The results showed a Nusselt number increment of 36.38% for radial curved microchannels when compared to the radial straight microchannel. Further, the lowest average wall temperature was noted for the radial curved microchannel with a curvature ratio of 0.17 which was 15.63 °C lower when compared to that in a radial straight microchannel for the same Reynolds number. Contours of velocity and temperature are presented at various locations along the stream to aid the results. The overall performance of all three radial curved microchannels was found to be higher than that of the radial straight microchannel in the Reynolds number range considered, out of which the maximum performance factor of 1.245 was obtained for the radial curved microchannel with a curvature ratio of 0.17 as compared to the radial straight microchannel.
State movement for controlling trains operating under the virtual coupling system
Authors: Ketphat Naphat , Whiteing Anthony , Liu Ronghui
Published: September 2021

Train Virtual Coupling System (VCS) has been proposed as a new signalling system for controlling trains by building a group of trains as convoys in order to increase line’s capacity. This is achieved because the consecutive trains under the VCS is separated only by a relative braking distance; this is much shorter than the separation distance required in the Fixed Block Signaling (FBS) and Moving Block Signaling systems (MBS). In order to achieve the high capacity obtained from the VCS, the trains in a virtually coupled convoy should keep at a distance as close to the relative braking distance as possible and run at the same speed for maintaining the safe distance between them. In this paper, we propose a distance and velocity difference approach and introduce the multiple state movements for stimulating train’s movement under the VCS. The simulated results show that the capacity can be significantly increased and maximized in which the actual separation distance between trains when they are in convoy state is slightly longer than the minimum safe distance. It could be ensured that the train has proceeded safely in that the actual separation distance is surely longer than the minimum safe distance throughout the operation time period. In addition, we show that the trains can also proceed smoothly, in that a following train catches up with its leading train and joined in the convoy with a stable movement.
Conceptual exploration of power peak shaving by smart train operation in rail freight transport
Authors: Liu Zhendong , Berg Mats , Ekmark Anders
Published: September 2021

Powerful electric locomotives with high traction performance are foreseen to be used to boost the overall performance of freight transport. However, they would exert extra burden on the power supply system, so the power peak demand would be a bottleneck for future freight transport. To avoid large-scale modifications to the existing systems but ensure operational reliability, this study investigates the formation of power peaks and explores power peak shaving concepts to let the existing systems be more reliable and accommodate more freight traffic. Different from many previous studies which focus on energy saving, this study aims at lowering the power peak demand by “smart train operation”, i.e. altering the train speed profile without compromising running time. This study is mainly performed by simulation based on a standardized freight operation with full regenerative braking used. But this study also shows a real case study based on measurement data of power history from an onboard energy meter. The study shows the formation of power peaks in different conditions and suggests some possible measures to shave the power peak demand. The study also shows that there is a compromise between power peak shaving and energy saving, to which more attention is needed in future studies.
Rational loads of turbine inlet air absorption-ejector cooling systems
Authors: Radchenko Mykola , Radchenko Andrii , Radchenko Roman , Kantor Serhiy , Konovalov Dmytro , Kornienko Victoria
Published: September 2021

An increase in gas turbine efficiency is possible by inlet air cooling in chillers converting a heat of exhaust gas into refrigeration. In traditional absorption lithium-bromide chillers of a simple cycle an inlet air can be cooled to 15°С. More decrease of turbine inlet air temperature and greater fuel saving accordingly is possible in refrigerant ejector chiller as a simple in design and cheap. The innovative turbine inlet air cooling (TIC) system with absorption chiller as a high-temperature and ejector chiller as a low-temperature stages for cooling air to 7 or 10 °C is proposed. Its application in temperate climate provides annual fuel saving by 1.5 to 2 times higher compared with traditional air cooling in absorption chiller to 15 °C. A novel universal method of analysing the efficiency of TIC system operation and rational designing has been developed. The method involves the simple numerical simulation based on real input data of site actual climatic conditions. The annual fuel saving is chosen as a primary criterion. The novelty of the methodological approach consists in replacing the current yearly changeable fuel reduction due to TIC by its hour-by-hour summation as an annual fuel saving. The increment of annual fuel saving referred to needed refrigeration capacity of TIC system is used as an indicator to select a design refrigeration capacity. A rational design refrigeration capacity determined by applying the novel methodology allows to decrease the TIC system sizes by 10 to 20% compared with traditional designing issuing from the peaked thermal load during a year. So far as it was developed analytically by introducing quite reasonable criterion indicator and based on the simple summation procedure the method is quite applicable for designing in power and energy.
Simulation of complex strabismus surgical procedures on goat eyes
Authors: Pujari Amar , Rakheja Vaishali , Modaboyina Sujeeth , Das Deep , Tripathi Manasi , Phuljhele Swati , Saxena Rohit , Agarwal Tushar , Sharma Namrata , Titiyal Jeewan S
Published: September 2021

Purpose:

To describe the possibility of complex strabismus surgical simulation on goat eyes.

Methods:

The goat eyes were procured from local slaughterhouse with retained extra ocular muscle tissues. The obtained eyes were inspected for globe integrity, muscle quality, muscle length, and the surrounding teno-conjunctival layers. The included eyes were then segregated for surgical simulation based on their insertion and orientation (as oblique or recti), and they were mounted on a mannequin head, with a fixation suture at free end to simulate the resting tension. Additionally, as per necessary, extra muscles were also transplanted along desired sites to simulate human extra ocular muscle anatomy.

Results:

The inferior oblique, superior oblique, and all other four recti were successfully simulated in varying proportions in more than 50 eyes. Primarily, by simulating the lateral rectus, inferior rectus, and the inferior oblique muscle, staged weakening procedures of inferior oblique were successfully practiced (Fink’s recession, Park’s recession, Elliot and Nankin procedure, total anterior positioning, and antero-nasal trans-position or Stager’s procedure). Similarly, by simulating superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, and the medial rectus muscles, half width transposition, full width transposition, and other complex procedures were practiced (Knapp’s procedure, augmented Knapp’s, Nishida’s procedure, Faden operation, and Y splitting procedure). Furthermore, by simulating superior oblique and the superior rectus muscles, superior oblique tuck, posterior tenectomy, loop tenotomy, and Harada Ito procedures were successfully practiced.

Conclusions:

On goat eyes, the complex strabismus surgical procedures can be successfully simulated and practiced after re-organizing the existing muscles in different patterns.
Application of tetrad testing to the evaluation of blinding strategies for ancillary supplies used in controlled clinical trials
Authors: Dasnoy Sébastien , Fouache Maxime , White Andy
Published: September 2021

Background/Aims:

Ensuring verum and placebo cannot be visually distinguished from each other is a critical aspect of blinded controlled clinical trials. Our objective was to propose a rational approach to the visual evaluation of placebo matching candidates.

Methods:

Verum and placebo samples were prepared in clear clinical ancillary supplies (intravenous bags, syringes and administration lines) covered at different levels using opaque sleeves. Triangle and tetrad tests, two sensory discriminative testing methods widely used in the food industry, were applied to assess visual differences between verum and placebo.

Results:

Triangle and tetrad test results allowed defining the level of opaque coverage required to ensure blinding for three biological drug molecules of therapeutic interest. While the limited number of panelists did not allow a statistically sound comparison of triangle and tetrad test methodologies, tetrad test has a theoretical higher power than triangle test, meaning fewer panelists are needed to reach the same statistical conclusion.

Conclusion:

Tetrad test offers a rational approach to define a blinding strategy for ancillary supplies used in a controlled clinical trial.
The dynamic mask: Facial correlates of character portrayal in professional actors
Authors: Berry Matthew , Brown Steven
Published: September 2021

Actors make modifications to their face, voice, and body to match standard gestural conceptions of the fictional characters they are portraying during stage performances. However, the gestural manifestations of acting have not been quantified experimentally, least of all in group-level analyses. To quantify the facial correlates of character portrayal in professional actors for the first time, we had 24 actors portray a contrastive series of nine stock characters (e.g., king, bully, lover) that were organised according to a predictive scheme based on the two statistically independent personality dimensions of assertiveness (i.e., the tendency to satisfy personal concerns) and cooperativeness (i.e., the tendency to satisfy others’ concerns). We used three-dimensional motion capture to examine changes in facial dimensions, with an emphasis on the relative expansion/contraction of four facial segments related to the brow, eyebrows, lips, and jaw, respectively. The results demonstrated that expansions in both upper- and lower-facial segments were related to increases in the levels of character cooperativeness, but not assertiveness. These findings demonstrate that actors reliably manipulate their facial features in a contrastive manner to differentiate characters based on their underlying personality traits.
Good neighbors or good prisoners? Non-uniformed staff beliefs about incarcerated people influence prison social climate
Authors: Gonzales Carlos M , Dewey Susan , Anasti Theresa , Lockwood-Roberts Susan , Codallos Kym , Gilmer Brittany , Dolliver Matthew
Published: September 2021

We analyzed results from semi-structured interviews and participant observation with educators, clinical staff, and administrators who worked at nearly 100 different correctional facilities centrally managed by eight separate state prison systems to understand how the beliefs they hold about the life experiences and future trajectories of incarcerated people influence prison social climate. We found that staff who regard incarcerated people as past and/or future neighbors are more likely to foster a safe, mutually respectful prison social climate conducive to positive personal transformation. Envisioning prison social climate as a product of the relationship between staff and incarcerated people demonstrates how prisons and communities interact with each other to shape the past and future possibilities for people who are incarcerated. Our results offer six policy implications, to (1) mandate administrative-institutional commitment to creating a positive prison social climate in which correctional staff and incarcerated people are partners in rehabilitation; (2) expand existing program opportunities in prison to ensure widespread availability of educational, vocational, and therapeutic treatment programs; (3) increase representation of staff who share experiential and demographic characteristics with incarcerated people to reduce or eliminate unconscious bias; (4) generate public awareness of, and support for, rehabilitative measures proven to better prepare incarcerated people for release from prison; (5) increase community engagement by publicizing graduation and other positive events; and (6) foster a mutually supportive work environment among educational, clinical, and administrative staff.
Antioxidant Profiling of Ginger via Reaction Flow Chromatography
Authors: Zhou Xian , Power Declan , Jones Andrew , Acquaviva Agustín , Dennis Gary R. , Shalliker R. Andrew , Li Chunguang , Soliven Arianne
Published: September 2021

Reaction flow (RF) chromatography is a powerful and efficient approach that utilizes conventional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)–ultraviolet (UV)–visible detection. This technique exploits a novel column end-fitting and an extra HPLC pump that delivers a reagent specific for selective detection, in particular the antioxidant profiling of natural products. This study employed RF for the first time to identify antioxidants in a commercial ginger sample. This demonstrated the previously validated assay's ease and power to extract information about the natural product's antioxidant properties. Due to the simplicity involved with data analysis and peak matching process, the following information was revealed between the chemical and antioxidant profiles: three of the strongest antioxidant activity peaks in the ginger sample (593 nm) did not correlate with the three most abundant chemical profile peaks (UV absorbance at 254 and 280 nm); the ratio of seven antioxidant peaks may be potentially used for food authenticity purposes, and future research should target these peaks for the early discovery of novel antioxidants sourced in ginger. Utilization of this previously validated assay provided the resolution of numerous peaks in the ginger extract and information associated with their antioxidant attributes and chemical abundance. This approach is more informative than total antioxidant assays that lack compound specificity information. Furthermore, it is superior to mass spectrometric (MS) assays that cannot evaluate each compound's antioxidant strength, and does not involve the expense involved in the acquisition and maintenance of the MS detection hardware, and does not require the high level of expertise needed to conduct the MS data analysis.
Toward functional recovery performance in the seismic design of modern tall buildings
Authors: Molina Hutt Carlos , Hulsey Anne M , Kakoty Preetish , Deierlein Greg G , Eksir Monfared Alireza , Wen-Yi Yen , Hooper John D
Published: September 2021

Current building code requirements for seismic design are primarily intended to minimize life-safety risks due to structural damage under extreme earthquakes. While tall buildings designed under current standards are expected to achieve the life-safety goal, this study estimates that they may require up to 7.5 months of repair to return to functionality after a design-level earthquake (roughly equivalent to ground motion shaking with a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years), and over 1 year after a risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake (roughly equivalent to ground motion shaking with a 2%–4% chance of exceedance in 50 years). These long downtimes, which correspond to median predictions, far exceed recovery goals for major employers and other recovery-critical uses and can have disproportionately harmful effects on businesses and residents. To address such extensive downtime risks, we evaluate the impact of recovery-based design guidelines for reducing recovery times through (1) more stringent drift limits under expected ground motions and (2) measures to mitigate externalities that impede recovery. The results suggest that by combining these strategies, expected recovery times following a design-level earthquake can be reduced to roughly 1 month, and to 2 months following a risk-targeted maximum considered earthquake. These findings are illustrated for an archetype 42-story reinforced concrete shear wall residential building and a 40-story steel buckling-restrained braced frame office building in San Francisco, CA.
ERS International Congress 2020 Virtual: highlights from the Respiratory Intensive Care Assembly
Authors: Rolland-Debord Camille , D'Haenens Alexander , Mendiluce Leire , Spurr Lydia , Konda Shruthi , Cherneva Radostina , Lhuillier Elodie , Heunks Leo , Patout Maxime
Published: September 2021

During the virtual European Respiratory Society Congress 2020, early career members summarised the sessions organised by the Respiratory Intensive Care Assembly. The topics covered included diagnostic strategies in patients admitted to the intensive care unit with acute respiratory failure, with a focus on patients with interstitial lung disease and for obvious reasons, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. These sessions are summarised in this article, with take-home messages highlighted.
Normal limits for oscillometric bronchodilator responses and relationships with clinical factors
Authors: Jetmalani Kanika , Brown Nathan J. , Boustany Chantale , Toelle Brett G. , Marks Guy B. , Abramson Michael J. , Johns David P. , James Alan L. , Hunter Michael , Musk Arthur W. , Berend Norbert , Farah Claude S. , Chapman David G. , Thamrin Cindy , King Gregory G.
Published: September 2021

Introduction

We aimed to determine normal thresholds for positive bronchodilator responses for oscillometry in an Australian general population sample aged ≥40 years, to guide clinical interpretation. We also examined relationships between bronchodilator responses and respiratory symptoms, asthma diagnosis, smoking and baseline lung function.

Methods

Subjects recruited from Sydney, Melbourne and Busselton, Australia, underwent measurements of spirometry, resistance (Rrs6) and reactance (Xrs6) at 6 Hz, before and after inhalation of salbutamol 200 μg. Respiratory symptoms and/or medication use, asthma diagnosis, and smoking were recorded. Threshold bronchodilator responses were defined as the fifth percentile of decrease inRrs6and 95th percentile increase inXrs6in a healthy subgroup.

Results

Of 1318 participants, 1145 (570 female) were analysed. The lower threshold for ΔRrs6was −1.38 cmH2O·s·L−1(−30.0% or −1.42 Z-scores) and upper threshold for ΔXrs6was 0.57 cmH2O·s·L−1(1.36 Z-scores). Respiratory symptoms and/or medication use, asthma diagnosis, and smoking all predicted bronchodilator response, as did baseline oscillometry and spirometry. When categorised into clinically relevant groups according to those predictors, ΔXrs6was more sensitive than spirometry in smokers without current asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ∼20% having a positive response. Using absolute or Z-score change provided similar prevalences of responsiveness, except in COPD, in which responsiveness measured by absolute change was twice that for Z-score.

Discussion

This study describes normative thresholds for bronchodilator responses in oscillometry parameters, including intra-breath parameters, as determined by absolute, relative and Z-score changes. Positive bronchodilator response by oscillometry correlated with clinical factors and baseline function, which may inform the clinical interpretation of oscillometry.
Towards a comprehensive breastfeeding-friendly workplace environment: insight from selected healthcare facilities in the central region of Ghana
Authors: Nkrumah Jacqueline , Abuosi Aaron Asibi , Nkrumah Rodney Buadi
Published: September 2021

Background

In the last three decades, Ghana has championed the objectives of Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiatives to provide pregnant women and nursing mothers with the skills and support systems necessary for attaining optimal breastfeeding. Yet, little is known in literature on how these intervention regimes practically promote breastfeeding-friendly work environment in healthcare facilities and their level of effectiveness. This study explores the extent to which healthcare facilities in Ghana’s Effutu Municipality provide breastfeeding-friendly workplace environment to breastfeeding frontline health workers.

Methods

A descriptive mixed-method approach was employed to collect data from fifty-four participants, comprising healthcare facility representatives and breastfeeding frontline health workers. A self-administered questionnaire with structured responses was administered to frontline health workers, followed by interview guides for representatives of hospital management. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview responses. Responses to questionnaires were processed with SPSS version 23.0 and presented using frequencies and percentages.

Results

Three main themes emerged, namely, Standpoints on workplace breastfeeding support; Breastfeeding support, and Suggested future directions. Beyond this, six sub-themes emerged, including backings for workplace breastfeeding support; perceived benefits of breastfeeding support; factors of poor breastfeeding workplace support; maternity protection benefits; workplace support gaps, and awareness creation on benefits. Breastfeeding frontline health workers held that their hospitals have no breastfeeding policy (96%), no breastfeeding facility (96%), they do not go to work with baby (96%), but had 12 weeks maternity leave (96%) and worked half-day upon return to work (70%).

Conclusion

Health facilities in the study do not provide a breastfeeding-friendly work environment except for the privileges provided by the Labor Act and conditions of service. Continuous advocacy on breastfeeding workplace support and stakeholder engagement to build consensus on the mix of strategies suitable to cushion breastfeeding frontline health workers is recommended for optimal breastfeeding and improved productivity.
Prevalence and characteristics of alcohol consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural China
Authors: Wu Xueyan , Liu Xiaotian , Liao Wei , Kang Ning , Dong Xiaokang , Abdulai Tanko , Zhai Zhihan , Wang Chongjian , Wang Xiaoqiong , Li Yuqian
Published: September 2021

Background

The study aimed to characterize the prevalence of alcohol consumption and further investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods

We studied 39,259 participants aged 18 to 79 years of the Henan Rural Cohort study. The associations between alcohol consumption and T2DM were examined using the logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline.

Results

For men, alcohol abstinence was associated with an increased risk of T2DM (1.491(1.265, 1.758)), whereas current drinkers were not associated with T2DM (1.03(0.91, 1.15)). Further analysis of alcohol drinkers revealed that only high-risk drinkers of WHO drinking risk levels increased the risk of T2DM (1.289(1.061,1.566)) compared to never drinkers. The risk of T2DM increased as the age of starting to consume alcohol decreased and as the number of years of consuming alcohol and the alcohol intake increased only in men. We further found that the risk of T2DM decreased as the number of years of abstinence increases and no association between alcohol abstinence and T2DM was found after more than 10 years of abstinence among men.

Conclusions

Our results suggested that reducing the amount of alcohol consumed and adhering to abstinence from alcohol consumption are beneficial in reducing the risk of T2DM.

Trial registration

The Henan Rural Cohort Study has been registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Register (Registration number: ChiCTR-OOC-15006699). Date of registration: 2015-07-06. http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=11375
Power flow adjustment for smart microgrid based on edge computing and multi-agent deep reinforcement learning
Authors: Pu Tianjiao , Wang Xinying , Cao Yifan , Liu Zhicheng , Qiu Chao , Qiao Ji , Zhang Shuhua
Published: September 2021

In current power grids, a massive amount of power equipment raises various emerging requirements, e.g., data perception, information transmission, and real-time control. The existing cloud computing paradigm is stubborn to address issues and challenges such as rapid response and local autonomy. Microgrids contain diverse and adjustable power components, making the power system complex and difficult to optimize. The existing traditional adjusting methods are manual and centralized, which requires many human resources with expert experience. The adjustment method based on edge intelligence can effectively leverage ubiquitous computing capacities to provide distributed intelligent solutions with lots of research issues to be reckoned with. To address this challenge, we consider a power control framework combining edge computing and reinforcement learning, which makes full use of edge nodes to sense network state and control power equipment to achieve the goal of fast response and local autonomy. Additionally, we focus on the non-convergence problem of power flow calculation, and combine deep reinforcement learning and multi-agent methods to realize intelligent decisions, with designing the model such as state, action, and reward. Our method improves the efficiency and scalability compared with baseline methods. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method with intelligent adjusting and stable operation under various conditions.
The sleep loss insult of Spring Daylight Savings in the US is observable in Twitter activity
Authors: Linnell Kelsey , Arnold Michael , Alshaabi Thayer , McAndrew Thomas , Lim Jeanie , Dodds Peter Sheridan , Danforth Christopher M.
Published: September 2021

Sleep loss has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and an increase in accidents, all of which are among the leading causes of death in the United States. Population-scale sleep studies have the potential to advance public health by helping to identify at-risk populations, changes in collective sleep patterns, and to inform policy change. Prior research suggests other kinds of health indicators such as depression and obesity can be estimated using social media activity. However, the inability to effectively measure collective sleep with publicly available data has limited large-scale academic studies. Here, we investigate the passive estimation of sleep loss through a proxy analysis of Twitter activity profiles. We use “Spring Forward” events, which occur at the beginning of Daylight Savings Time in the United States, as a natural experimental condition to estimate spatial differences in sleep loss across the United States. On average, peak Twitter activity occurs 15 to 30 min later on the Sunday following Spring Forward. By Monday morning however, activity curves are realigned with the week before, suggesting that the window of sleep opportunity is compressed in Twitter data, revealing Spring Forward behavioral change.
Outcomes of a culturally informed weight-loss competition for New Zealand Indigenous and Pacific peoples: a quasi-experimental trial
Authors: Glover Marewa , Kira Anette , McRobbie Hayden , Kruger Rozanne , Funaki-Tahifote Mafi , Stephen Jane , Breier Bernhard H. , Kira Geoff
Published: September 2021

Background

Reducing obesity prevalence among marginalised subgroups with disproportionately high obesity rates is challenging. Given the promise of incentives and group-based programmes we trialled a culturally tailored, team-based weight-loss competition with New Zealand Māori (Indigenous) and Pacific Island people.

Methods

A quasi-experimental 12-months trial was designed. The intervention consisted of three six-months competitions, each with seven teams of seven members. Eligible participants were aged 16 years and older, with a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and being at risk of or already diagnosed with type-2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Height, weight and waist circumference were measured at baseline, 6 and 12 months.

Results

Recruitment of a control group (n = 29) versus the intervention (n = 132) was poor and retention rates were low (52 and 27% of intervention participants were followed-up at six and 12 months, respectively). Thus, analysis of the primary outcome of individual percentage weight loss was restricted to the 6-months follow-up data. Although not significant, the intervention group appeared to lose more weight than the control group, in both the intention to treat and complete-case analyses.

Conclusions

The intervention promoted some behaviour change in eating behaviours, and a resulting trend toward a reduction in waist circumference.

Trial registration

ACTRN12617000871347 Registered 15/6/2017 Retrospectively registered.
A characteristic-featured shock wave indicator for simulating high-speed inviscid flows on 3D unstructured meshes
Authors: Feng Yiwei , Liu Tiegang , He Xiaofeng , Zhang Bin , Wang Kun
Published: September 2021

In this work, we extend the characteristic-featured shock wave indicator based on artificial neuron training to 3D high-speed flow simulation on unstructured meshes. The extension is achieved through dimension splitting. This leads to that the proposed indicator is capable of identifying regions of flow compression in any direction. With this capability, the indicator is further developed to combine with h-adaptivity of mesh refinement to improve resolution with less computational costs. The present indicator provides an attractive alternative for constructing high-resolution, high-efficiency shock-processing methods to simulate high-speed inviscid flows.
African Ecomedia
Authors: Iheka Cajetan
Published: September 2021

In African Ecomedia, Cajetan Iheka examines the ecological footprint of media in Africa alongside the representation of environmental issues in visual culture. Iheka shows how, through visual media such as film, photography, and sculpture, African artists deliver a unique perspective on the socioecological costs of media production, from mineral and oil extraction to the politics of animal conservation. Among other works, he examines Pieter Hugo's photography of electronic waste recycling in Ghana and Idrissou Mora-Kpai's documentary on the deleterious consequences of uranium mining in Niger. These works highlight not only the exploitation of African workers and the vast scope of environmental degradation but also the resourcefulness and creativity of African media makers. They point to the unsustainability of current practices while acknowledging our planet's finite natural resources. In foregrounding Africa's centrality to the production and disposal of media technology, Iheka shows the important place visual media has in raising awareness of and documenting ecological disaster even as it remains complicit in it.
Review of Ten Thousand Years of Inequality: The Archaeology of Wealth Differences
Authors: Roland Gerard
Published: September 2021

Archeologists are actively working to quantitatively measure income and wealth inequality in ancient history based on available data, some of them being quite sophisticated. Timothy A. Kohler and Michael E. Smith’s Ten Thousand Years of Inequality: The Archaeology of Wealth Differences presents existing measurement efforts and insightful discussions of the challenges faced, on all continents except Oceania. These first exercises should help us over time understand better the evolution of inequality in ancient history and its determinants. Understanding better the effects of differences in institutions in the ancient past should be a crucial next step. (JEL D31, D63, N30, O15, Z13)
Antibiotic Drug screening and Image Characterization Toolbox (A.D.I.C.T.): a robust imaging workflow to monitor antibiotic stress response in bacterial cells in vivo
Authors: Mayer Benjamin , Schwan Meike , Thormann Kai M. , Graumann Peter L.
Published: September 2021

The search for novel drugs that efficiently eliminate prokaryotic pathogens is one of the most urgent health topics of our time. Robust evaluation methods for monitoring the antibiotic stress response in prokaryotes are therefore necessary for developing respective screening strategies. Besides advantages of common in vitro techniques, there is a growing demand for in vivo information based on imaging techniques that allow to screen antibiotic candidates in a dynamic manner. Gathering information from imaging data in a reproducible manner, robust data processing and analysis workflows demand advanced (semi-)automation and data management to increase reproducibility. Here we demonstrate a versatile and robust semi-automated image acquisition, processing and analysis workflow to investigate bacterial cell morphology in a quantitative manner. The presented workflow, A.D.I.C.T, covers aspects of experimental setup deployment, data acquisition and handling, image processing (e.g. ROI management, data transformation into binary images, background subtraction, filtering, projections) as well as statistical evaluation of the cellular stress response (e.g. shape measurement distributions, cell shape modeling, probability density evaluation of fluorescence imaging micrographs) towards antibiotic-induced stress, obtained from time-course experiments. The imaging workflow is based on regular brightfield images combined with live-cell imaging data gathered from bacteria, in our case from recombinant Shewanella cells, which are processed as binary images. The model organism expresses target proteins relevant for membrane-biogenesis that are functionally fused to respective fluorescent proteins. Data processing and analysis are based on customized scripts using ImageJ2/FIJI, Celltool and R packages that can be easily reproduced and adapted by users. Summing up, our approach aims at supporting life-scientists to establish their own imaging-pipeline in order to exploit their data as versatile as possible and in a reproducible manner.
Clinical performance of FractionLab in patient-specific quality assurance for intensity-modulated radiotherapy: a retrospective study
Authors: Oh Se An , Kim Sung Yeop , Park Jaehyeon , Park Jae Won , Yea Ji Woon
Published: September 2021

Background: This study was aimed at comparing and analyzing the results of FractionLab (Varian/Mobius Medical System) with those of portal dosimetry that uses an electronic portal imaging device. Portal dosimetry is extensively used for patient-specific quality assurance (QA) in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: The study includes 29 patients who underwent IMRT on a Novalis-Tx linear accelerator (Varian Medical System and BrainLAB) between June 2019 and March 2021. We analyzed the multileaf collimator (MLC) DynaLog files generated after portal dosimetry to evaluate the same condition using FractionLab. The results of the recently launched FractionLab at various gamma indices (0.1%/0.1 mm–1%/1 mm) are analyzed and compared with those of portal dosimetry (3%/3 mm). Results: The average gamma passing rates of portal dosimetry (3%/3 mm) and FractionLab are 98.1 (95.5%–100%) and 97.5% (92.3%–99.7%) at 0.6%/0.6 mm, respectively. The results of portal dosimetry (3%/3 mm) are statistically comparable with the QA results of FractionLab (0.6%/0.6 mm–0.9%/0.9 mm).Conclusion: This paper presents the clinical performance of FractionLab by the comparison of the QA results of FractionLab using portal dosimetry with various gamma indexes when performing patient-specific QA in IMRT treatment. Further, the appropriate gamma index when performing patient-specific QA with FractionLab is provided.
Snakebites in “Invisible Populations”: A cross-sectional survey in riverine populations in the remote western Brazilian Amazon
Authors: Maciel Salazar Guilherme Kemeron , Saturnino Cristino Joseir , Vilhena Silva-Neto Alexandre , Seabra Farias Altair , Alcântara João Arthur , Azevedo Machado Vinícius , Murta Felipe , Souza Sampaio Vanderson , Val Fernando , Sachett André , Bernarde Paulo Sérgio , Lacerda Marcus , Hui Wen Fan , Monteiro Wuelton , Sachett Jacqueline
Published: September 2021

In the Brazilian Amazon, long distances, low healthcare coverage, common use of ineffective or deleterious self-care practices, and resistance to seeking medical assistance have an impact on access to antivenom treatment. This study aimed to estimate snakebite underreporting, and analyze barriers that prevent victims from obtaining healthcare in communities located in 15 municipalities on the banks of the Solimões, Juruá and Purus Rivers, in the remote Western Brazilian Amazon. Information on the participants’ demographics, previous snakebites, access to healthcare, time taken to reach medical assistance, use of self-care practices, and the reason for not accessing healthcare were collected through semi-structured interviews. In the case of deaths, information was collected by interviewing parents, relatives or acquaintances. A total of 172 participants who reported having suffered snakebites during their lifetime were interviewed. A total of 73 different treatment procedures was reported by 65.1% of the participants. Participants living in different river basins share few self-care procedures that use traditional medicine, and 91 (52.9%) participants reported that they had access to healthcare. Living in communities along the Juruá River [OR = 12.6 (95% CI = 3.2–49.7; p<0.001)] and the use of traditional medicine [OR = 11.6 (95% CI = 3.4–39.8; p<0.001)] were variables that were independently associated to the lack of access to healthcare. The main reasons for not accessing healthcare were the pprioritization of traditional treatments (70.4%), and the failure to recognize the situation as being potentially severe (50.6%). Four deaths from complications arising from the snakebite were reported, and three of these were from communities on the banks of the Juruá River. Only one of these received medical assistance. We found an unexpectedly high underreporting of snakebite cases and associated deaths. Snakebite victims utilized three main different healing systems: 1) self-care using miscellaneous techniques; 2) official medical healthcare generally combined with traditional practices; and 3) self-care using traditional practices combined with Western medicines. To mitigate snakebite burden in the Brazilian Amazon, an innovative intervention that would optimize timely delivery of care, including antivenom distribution among existing community healthcare centers, is needed.
Facebook as an engagement tool: How are public benefit organizations building relationships with their public?
Authors: Olinski Marian , Szamrowski Piotr
Published: September 2021

The beginning of the 21st century brought a change in the approach to public relations (PR). Both the literature and the practice saw a shift in focus from evaluating the efficiency of communication strategies to relationship management. On the other hand, the growing interest in the use of social media in the management of many types of organizations has prompted researchers to seek the theoretical causes of this trend. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine the scope of the Polish public benefit organizations’ (PBO) use of the social network Facebook in managing relationships with stakeholders. The PBO is a specific form of non-profit organization, which enjoys the special privilege of collecting tax-deductible donations of 1% of personal income tax (PIT). The research covered 876 entities, which were divided into four clusters depending on their size. A database of posts was created that the organizations published in the period selected for the research. Then, the impact of the Facebook content on user engagement was analyzed. For this purpose, various statistical methods were used, i.e. descriptive statistics, statistical tests and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that, in spite of social media’s unquestionable advantages, public benefit organizations only take advantage of a small proportion of this potential. The role of the most popular service, Facebook, in increasing organizational revenue from 1% of PIT deductions seems secondary at best. Apart from that, the results showed that the rates of posting by different Polish public benefit organizations vary widely. Although some organizations were very active in this aspect, the Facebook pages of many organizations remained completely inactive throughout the analysis or showed only minimal activity. Larger organizations exhibited a much greater posting activity than their smaller counterparts.