bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of Structural Parameters of Intermittent Discharge Equipment on Hole Fertilization Performance
Authors: Zhang Kang , Wu Xue Mei , Song Zhu Jun , Zhang FuiGui , Zhen Le
Published: March 2022

Highlights

Intermittent fertilizer discharge equipment was designed to realize hole fertilizer application.

The optimal structure of the fluted discharge roller was three grooves with conical cross-sections.

This study provides a reference for the design of equipment and control systems for hole fertilizer application.

Abstract. Fertilizers are necessary for high crop yields. In mechanized application of starter fertilizer for tobacco, discharging the fertilizer immediately below the seedlings promotes root growth and nutrient uptake, resulting in a high utilization rate. This placement is called hole fertilizer application and is fertilizer-saving and environment-friendly. To meet the requirements of hole fertilizer application for crops with specific plant spacing, equipment to intermittently discharge fertilizer has been designed based on the structure of a fluted roller. To explore the influence of the structural and working parameters of the intermittent discharge equipment on the uniformity of hole fertilization and the accuracy of marking fertilizer positions, the fertilizer discharge process and marking process were simulated using a discrete element method based on theoretical analysis. The optimal combination of parameters was a tapered circular groove shape with three grooves, the rotational speed of the fluted roller was 30 rpm, and the center distance between two material bins was 40 cm. In the simulation, the coefficient of variation for single-hole fertilizer application was 3.39%, and the marking error was 1.86 cm. Bench tests were performed using the optimal combination of parameters to verify the simulation results. The intermittent discharge equipment was able to achieve hole fertilizer application and mark the fertilizer position. The coefficient of variation for single-hole fertilizer application was 4.35%, and the marking error was 1.95 cm. The bench tests proved that the discrete element method was feasible for optimizing the equipment parameters. This study provides a reference for developing hole fertilizer application equipment and control systems to improve fertilizer use efficiency. Keywords: Fertilizer performance, Groove structure, Hole fertilizer application, Intermittent fertilizer discharge, Structural parameter.s
Development and Testing of an Electro-Hydraulic System for Height Control of Sugarcane Harvester Basecutter
Authors: Ding Zhengliang , Ma Shaochun , Wang Fenglei , Xing Haonan , Bai Jing , Hu Jiwei
Published: March 2022

Highlights

This article focuses on an automatic control system for basecutter height.

The influence of three factors on the performance indexes was studied.

The best parameter combination for working performance was obtained.

Abstract. Precision control of the basecutter height of sugarcane harvesters is an effective method to reduce stubble damage and sugar loss. Due to uneven ground, it is difficult to maintain the desired basecutter height. Therefore, an electro-hydraulic control system for controlling the basecutter height was developed to address these issues. In this control system, an angle sensor was used to detect the basecutter height by measuring the swing angle of a profiling device. To evaluate the performance of the control system, a series of tests was conducted with a mobile cutting platform. Forward speed (1, 2, or 3 km h-1), ground wavelength (1, 2, or 3 m), and ground amplitude (4, 8, or 12 cm) were selected as influencing factors. ANOVA of the orthogonal experiment results showed that forward speed and ground amplitude had significant effects on the coefficient of variation (CV) of cutting depth, while ground wavelength had a non-significant effect. The influence order of the factors on the CV of cutting depth was forward speed > ground amplitude > ground wavelength. The best combination was determined as a forward speed of 1 km h-1, ground wavelength of 2 m, and ground amplitude of 4 cm. A single-factor test indicated that a forward speed of less than 2 km h-1 can meet the requirement that the CV is less than 10%. This study provides a reference for future design and development of automatic adjustment systems for basecutter height. Keywords: Automatic adjustment of basecutter height, Electro-hydraulic control system, Sugarcane, Sugarcane harvester.
Superlative Approach for Plant Disease Identification with Enhanced CSA Algorithm
Authors: Sowmya M. , Subramani Bojan
Published: March 2022

Disease detection in plant leaf helps farmers to protect the plant from diseases at its early stage. The most important problems are determining and anticipating plant diseases, which may be addressed for increasing output. In this research, Rider Cuckoo Search algorithm is improved with K nearest neighbour algorithm is used to classify the diseased leaf. Initially the Gaussian filtering is used in pre-processing to remove the noises in image. Following getting pre-processed image, it is exposed to segmentation step, which uses piecewise fuzzy C-means (piFCM) clustering to acquire the segments. Segmentation involves the feature extraction process which has information gain, histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), and entropy. Finally plant Disease is classified using the KNN algorithm. This proposed algorithm is implemented with the images of the plant village dataset. The proposed research work is evaluated using certain parameters like accuracy of the disease detection, Error of the algorithm, Speed of the algorithm, and time for classifying the disease. The Proposed algorithm outperformed with the values of 99.32% accuracy, 0.68% error, 2400 obs/sec speed, and time taken is 0.57743 sec respectively when compared with the existing algorithms like Hybrid SIFT algorithm, Hybrid K-means Fuzzy logic SVM algorithm, and Cuckoo Search Algorithm.
Novel MAGFinFET: Operation, Design and Geometry Effect for Modern Sensors
Authors: Swe Khine Thandar Nyunt , Pamonchom Chanvit , Poyai Amporn , Phetchakul Toempong
Published: March 2022

This paper presents a new magnetic detection device, MAGFinFET, which is based on the advanced 3D FinFET structure. It can measure the vertical magnetic field by designing two contacts on both sides of the drain. The operation uses the principle of the current mode of Hall effect causing the deflection of the drain currents at both contacts. The 3D geometry effect was studied: channel length, fin height and fin width. It can be seen that when the values of these parameters are increased, the differential currents and relative sensitivities are increased linearly. Relative sensitivity has the highest value 0.00201 T−1-1 at channel length 50 nm. Fin height and fin width of 50 nm give the highest sensitivity of 0.00468 T−1-1 and 0.00415 T−1-1 respectively. Current density distributions of the different variations of each parameter Lgg, Fhh and Fww are observed by applying vertical magnetic field on the device. The 3D-MAGFinFET has been compared to that of the 2D non-split drain MAGFET structure and bulk fin resistor that use n-type semiconductor instead of induction channel. MAGFinFET shows quite higher sensitivity compared to bulk fin resistor. MAGFinFET mechanism models and simple characteristic equations are proposed in this work. Sentaurus TCAD is used for the device structure and simulation for the characteristics of MAGFinFET. This FinFET based device can be fabricated with modern integrated circuit technology.
Quality Enhancement of 3D Volumetric Contents Based on 6DoF for 5G Telepresence Service
Authors: Park Byung-Seo , Kim Woosuk , Kim Jin-Kyum , Kim Dong-Wook , Seo Young-Ho
Published: March 2022

In general, the importance of 6DoF (degree of freedom) 3D (dimension) volumetric contents technology is emerging in 5G (generation) telepresence service, Web-based (WebGL) graphics, computer vision, robotics, and next-generation augmented reality. Since it is possible to acquire RGB images and depth images in real-time through depth sensors that use various depth acquisition methods such as time of flight (ToF) and lidar, many changes have been made in object detection, tracking, and recognition research. In this paper, we propose a method to improve the quality of 3D models for 5G telepresence by processing images acquired through depth and RGB cameras on a multi-view camera system. In this paper, the quality is improved in two major ways. The first concerns the shape of the 3D model. A method of removing noise outside the object by applying a mask obtained from a color image and a combined filtering operation to obtain the difference in depth information between pixels inside the object were proposed. Second, we propose an illumination compensation method for images acquired through a multi-view camera system for photo-realistic 3D model generation. It is assumed that the three-dimensional volumetric shooting is done indoors, and the location and intensity of illumination according to time are constant. Since the multi-view camera uses a total of 8 pairs and converges toward the center of space, the intensity and angle of light incident on each camera are different even if the illumination is constant. Therefore, all cameras take a color correction chart and use a color optimization function to obtain a color conversion matrix that defines the relationship between the eight acquired images. Using this, the image input from all cameras is corrected based on the color correction chart. It was confirmed that the quality of the 3D model could be improved by effectively removing noise due to the proposed method when acquiring images of a 3D volumetric object using eight cameras. It has been experimentally proven that the color difference between images is reduced.
Perceptions of Producers of Small Wooden Objects in Brazil's Central-West Region about Highlighted Attributes of Nine Species from the Caatinga Biome
Authors: de Seabra Camila Costa , Angelo Humberto , de Almeida Alexandre Nascimento , Gonçalez Joaquim Carlos , de Paula Maristela Franchetti , da Silva Goulart Gislayne , Afonso Sandra Regina , de Souza Elisa Palhares , Gontijo Alexandre Bahia
Published: March 2022

Brazil has regions where the potential for wood supply is substantial and the lack of knowledge about forest species becomes a possible barrier to its acceptance, as is the case of the wood from the Caatinga biome. This research aims to identify the highlights attributes of wood from this biome in the perception of producers of small wooden objects as a premise for market studies. For this purpose, nine species of this biome were used as study objects for exploratory research with semistructured interviews and use of word cloud and similarity analyses with the IRAMUTEQ software. As a result, it was found that, in the perception of the producers, Caatinga biome species have peculiarities with the “color” aspect of the wood, which is the attribute considered important in adding value to products and, moreover, making it possible to group the woods according to their subjective peculiarities. It was found that a more effective participation of little-known species and an increase in demand due to greater acceptance in the market could enable the use in association with and/or as a replacement for traditional woods. In addition, the analysis of qualitative data with IRAMUTEQ is still incipient in the scientific forestry area; the present research contributes methodologically, demonstrating that its use increases the rigor of the investigation and the identification of prominent attributes of wood species, specifically those of the Caatinga studied, as alternatives for the market beyond firewood and charcoal.
Medical complications following shoulder arthroplasty: a review of the evidence
Authors: King HE , Ricketts D , Roper T , Phadnis J
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Shoulder arthroplasty (SA) procedures are increasing in number worldwide. Medical complications (MC) following SA have not been widely documented in the literature. Knowledge of these complications is needed to obtain informed consent.

Methods

The aim of this review article was to summarise the literature regarding systemic complications and mortality after SA to aid the consenting process.

Findings

We found that the literature regarding MC after SA was variable in quality. The rate of MC was 12% and the rate of mortality was 0.01%. The most common MC were cardiovascular, genitourinary and respiratory. The patients most at risk were the elderly, females, fracture patients and those with HIV or hepatitis C. During inpatient stay, reverse arthroplasty and blood transfusion were associated with MC. We recommend that our data are used to obtain informed consent for SA.

Conclusions

To reduce risk, we encourage optimisation of patients prior to surgery with correction of anaemia, arranging necessary clinician reviews and appropriate postoperative nursing care.
Exploring a public health approach to modern slavery: potential, problems and translating principles into practice
Authors: McCoig April , Campos-Matos Ines , Such Liz
Published: March 2022

This reflective article was drafted in November 2020. Since this time, the authors have worked with the counter-slavery sector to co-develop a refined public health framework to address modern slavery (Such et al, 2021). Significant knowledge mobilisation has also occurred with a range of stakeholders, and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has encouraged the UK Home Office and the Home Secretary to embed a public health approach within the UK’s response to modern slavery (IASC/Home Secretary, 2021). Key references and insights from research in 2021 are available as a collection.
Stigma and emergency and community food assistance: ‘But… beggars can’t be choosers’
Authors: McKay Fiona H , McKenzie Hayley , Lindberg Rebecca
Published: March 2022

An increasing number of Australians are experiencing food insecurity due to rising costs of living and stagnant wage and welfare growth, as a result an increasing number of people are reliant on charity to meet their food needs. This research employs qualitative methods to explore the experiences of people who are reliant on emergency and community food assistance. The two main findings of this study are that people relying on charity often experience humiliation and embarrassment when accessing these services, and that when accessing theses services, they feel both judged and judgemental of others. Findings of this study highlight some of the challenges faced by people experiencing food insecurity and hunger.
Surviving in Overcome Heights: living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town
Authors: Jensen Steffen Bo , Schneidermann Nanna
Published: March 2022

What can surviving in Overcome Heights teach us about the concept of crisis? In the multi-ethnic informal settlement in Cape Town, residents faced multiple and continuously unfolding emergencies during our ethnographic, participatory fieldwork in 2018 and 2019. By taking an inductive approach to crisis, we explore the layered nature of crisis and foreground a sensitivity towards how differently positioned actors have distinct modes of being the protagonists of, confronting or engaging with crisis. By examining how intersecting inequalities on the margins of the city place people sometimes within and sometimes alongside crisis, we sketch out three different scales and temporalities of crisis: individual, communal and crisis as large-scale historical structures. Understanding survival in Overcome Heights as lives lived in and alongside crisis means resisting neat theorical definitions of crisis. Rather, we suggest that it may be an analytical heuristic to pose new questions as to how phenomena that may politically, institutionally and temporally be considered as separate intersect, compounding their negative effects, and how actors within these intersections are positioned differently along spatial lines and the temporal rhythms of urban life.
The ends of perpetual crisis
Authors: Roitman Janet
Published: March 2022

We now live in perpetual crisis: ‘an age of crisis’, ‘times of crisis’, ‘chronic crisis’ and so on. These expressions seem to merely describe a state of affairs, but they are foundational claims. The concept of crisis qualifies a world: it determines what gets to count as an event and what gets inscribed as history in the ongoing stream of competing phenomena. Crisis is a naturalising category that subsumes specificity. It has colonised the life-worlds of communities across the globe and become foundational to knowledge production despite its Christian-European genealogy. Analyses that attempt to gain insights by elucidating discourses of crisis, or how people use the term ‘crisis’, and the experience of crisis, or how people narrate crisis, disregard the constitutive questions that make crisis a primary means of qualifying the observable world. Asking those constitutive questions has political import because they raise the long-standing problem of representation – of the Other, of alterity, of language and of experience. The problem of representation has been a central topic of epistemology and the principal subject of critique in the social sciences and humanities. It should not be ignored, and it compels us to ask: what becomes of the concept of crisis when we problematise practices of representation?
Narrow-bandwidth Bragg grating filter based on Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide glasses
Authors: Zhou Chenfeng , Zhang Xuelei , Luo Ye , Hou Cheng , Yang Zhen , Zhang Wei , Li Lan , Xu Peipeng , Xu Tiefeng
Published: March 2022

Bragg grating (BG) filters play important roles in integrated photonics such as signal processing and optical sensing. In silicon-based counterpart photonic platforms, the application of narrow-bandwidth (Δλ) filters is often restrained by fabrication limitations. In this study, narrow-bandwidth BG filters based on Ge-Sb-Se chalcogenide materials are investigated. The structure of the filter is designed by optimizing the grating period, corrugation height, and grating number. The large corrugation of chalcogenide BG is more friendly and convenient for manufacturing process. The symmetric and asymmetric corrugation filters are then fabricated and characterized. Experimental results show a half-maximum bandwidth of 0.97 nm and 0.32 nm for symmetric and asymmetric filters, respectively, which demonstrates excellent narrow-bandwidth filtering performance of chalcogenide BG.
Deep learning in attosecond metrology
Authors: Brunner Christian , Duensing Andreas , Schröder Christian , Mittermair Michael , Golkov Vladimir , Pollanka Maximilian , Cremers Daniel , Kienberger Reinhard
Published: March 2022

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy provides a versatile tool for investigating electron dynamics in gaseous, liquid, and solid samples on sub-femtosecond time scales. The extraction of information from spectrograms recorded with the attosecond streak camera remains a difficult challenge. Common algorithms are highly specialized and typically computationally heavy. In this work, we apply deep neural networks to map from streaking traces to near-infrared pulses as well as electron wavepackets and extensively benchmark our results on simulated data. Additionally, we illustrate domain-shift to real-world data. We also attempt to quantify the model predictive uncertainty. Our deep neural networks display competitive retrieval quality and superior tolerance against noisy data conditions, while reducing the computational time by orders of magnitude.
Crosstalk mitigation and small-pitch consequences in SWIR InGaAs FPAs
Authors: Glasmann Andreu , Bellotti Enrico
Published: March 2022

A consistent trend in infrared imaging systems is a drive towards smaller pixel pitches in focal plane arrays. In this work, we present an extensive numerical study on how dark current, quantum efficiency, and modulation transfer function are affected when reducing the pixel pitch in SWIR InGaAs pixel arrays. From the results, we propose the introduction of diffusion control junctions into the pixel sub-architecture to lower dark current and improve modulation transfer function, with a minor decrease in specific detectivity.
Ultrahigh extinction ratio and ultra-low insertion loss silicon TE polarizer covering 1260–1675 nm bandwidth
Authors: Li Xiao , Lin Zongxing , He Sailing
Published: March 2022

An ultra-broadband TE polarizer with outstanding performance is proposed and demonstrated on a 220 nm-thick silicon-on-insulator platform. The proposed TE polarizer consists of six cascaded directional couplers assisted by subwavelength grating (SWG) structures and two Euler bends. The SWG is introduced to control the coupling strength of the fundamental TE and TM modes. Simulations show that our proposed TE polarizer possesses ultra-low insertion loss (IL < 0.3 dB) for the fundamental TE mode and an ultrahigh polarization extinction ratio (PER > 35 dB) for the fundamental TM mode covering all communication bands from 1260 nm to 1675 nm. The experimental results show that the fabricated TE polarizer has excellent performance of IL < 0.6 dB and PER > 35 dB over a 210 nm bandwidth, which is limited by the measurement equipment. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed TE polarizer is the first single-etched all-silicon TE polarizer with such high PER covering all communication bands.
Incorporating regulatory interactions into gene-set analyses for GWAS data: A controlled analysis with the MAGMA tool
Authors: Groenewoud David , Shye Avinoam , Elkon Ran
Published: March 2022

To date, genome-wide association studies have identified thousands of statistically-significant associations between genetic variants, and phenotypes related to a myriad of traits and diseases. A key goal for human-genetics research is to translate these associations into functional mechanisms. Popular gene-set analysis tools, like MAGMA, map variants to genes they might affect, and then integrate genome-wide association study data (that is, variant-level associations for a phenotype) to score genes for association with a phenotype. Gene scores are subsequently used in competitive gene-set analyses to identify biological processes that are enriched for phenotype association. By default, variants are mapped to genes in their proximity. However, many variants that affect phenotypes are thought to act at regulatory elements, which can be hundreds of kilobases away from their target genes. Thus, we explored the idea of augmenting a proximity-based mapping scheme with publicly-available datasets of regulatory interactions. We used MAGMA to analyze genome-wide association study data for ten different phenotypes, and evaluated the effects of augmentation by comparing numbers, and identities, of genes and gene sets detected as statistically significant between mappings. We detected several pitfalls and confounders of such “augmented analyses”, and introduced ways to control for them. Using these controls, we demonstrated that augmentation with datasets of regulatory interactions only occasionally strengthened the enrichment for phenotype association amongst (biologically-relevant) gene sets for different phenotypes. Still, in such cases, genes and regulatory elements responsible for the improvement could be pinpointed. For instance, using brain regulatory-interactions for augmentation, we were able to implicate two acetylcholine receptor subunits involved in post-synaptic chemical transmission, namely CHRNB2 and CHRNE, in schizophrenia. Collectively, our study presents a critical approach for integrating regulatory interactions into gene-set analyses for genome-wide association study data, by introducing various controls to distinguish genuine results from spurious discoveries.
Malaria prevalence, knowledge and associated factors among household heads in Maygaba town, Ethiopia
Authors: Yhdego Tsegay Gebremaryam , Gardew Asnake Desalegn , Yifat Fitsum Tigu
Published: March 2022

Malaria remains a leading public health issue in Ethiopia, despite wide use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs). Consistent use of ITNs reduces malaria transmission by 90%. However, coverage and proper use of ITNs are the major challenge for most rural settings of Ethiopia. We assessed the prevalence of malaria, ITNs use and associated factors among household heads in Maygaba town, northwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 403 households using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected from household heads and examined for malaria parasites by microscopy. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to check the association between the dependent and independent variables. Of the 403 blood samples, 19 (4.7%) had malaria parasites (12 cases of Plasmodium falciparum and 7 cases of Plasmodium vivax). Majority of the respondents were aware of the cause, communicability, preventability and curability of the disease. ITNs use was identified as the main malaria prevention method. About 64% (257) of the respondents owned ITNs, of which, 66.9% (172) consistently slept under the nets during the peak malaria season. Majority of the respondents (83.6%) had positive attitude towards the benefit of sleeping under ITNs. Educational status and livelihood of the respondents had statistically significant (p < 0.05) association with malaria knowledge. Malaria infection was significantly (p < 0.05) higher among household heads aged 18–30 years (AOR = 5.982; 95% CI = 1.715–20.863). Moderate prevalence rate and acceptable ITNs ownership was detected among the community of Maygaba town. However, a considerable proportion had misconceptions about the use of ITNs. A comprehensive malaria control measures and health education about the use of ITNs should be in place for effective prevention and control of malaria in the locality.
Developing and psychometric testing of the evaluation tool for disaster exercises design stage: A mixed method study
Authors: Sheikhbardsiri Hojjat , Nekoei-Moghadam Mahmood , Yarmohammadian Mohammad H. , Khankeh Hamidreza , Aminizadeh Mohsen , Ebadi Abbas
Published: March 2022

Background

Exercise in different health sectors is an important step in preparing programs for disaster risk management. The present study aimed to develop and validate a tool for evaluating disaster exercises during the design stage in the health sector.

Methods

This methodological study was conducted in two phases using an explanatory sequential mixed method approach. Semi-structured interviews with 25 disaster-related health professionals were conducted during the qualitative phase (item generation), and a systematic review was done to evaluate items pool of disaster exercises design stage tool. The quantitative phase (item reduction) assessed both face and content validity, as well as reliability using Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient.

Results

At the first stage four main categories and eleven subcategories were extracted from the data, the main categories including "coordination, command and guidance of exercise", "hardware and software requirements of exercise ", "organizational exercise resources", and "communication and exercise public information". The initial items pool included 164 items that were reduced to 50 after the assessment of validity (face and content). Cronbach’s alpha (0.89) and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.72) tests indicated that the tool is also reliable.

Conclusion

The research findings provide a new categorization perspective to understand the disaster exercises evaluation in the health sector. The existing 50-item tool can evaluate disaster exercises design stage in the health sector through collecting data with appropriate validity and reliability.
Fitted filtration efficiency and breathability of 2-ply cotton masks: Identification of cotton consumer categories acceptable for home-made cloth mask construction
Authors: Drouillard Ken G. , Tomkins Amanda , Lackie Sharon , Laengert Scott , Baker Allison , Clase Catherine M. , De Lannoy Charles F. , Cavallo-Medved Dora , Porter Lisa A. , Rudman Rebecca S.
Published: March 2022

The objective of this study was to characterize commercially-available cotton fabrics to determine their suitability as materials for construction of cloth masks for personal and public use to reduce infectious disease spread. The study focused on cottons because of their widespread availability, moderate performance and they are recommended for inclusion in home-made masks by international health authorities. Fifty-two cottons were analyzed by electron microscopy to determine fabric characteristics and fabric weights. Sixteen fabrics were selected to test for breathability and to construct 2-ply cotton masks of a standard design to use in quantitative fit testing on a human participant. Cotton mask fitted filtration efficiencies (FFEs) for 0.02–1 μm ambient and aerosolized sodium chloride particles ranged from 40 to 66% compared with the mean medical mask FFE of 55±2%. Pressure differentials across 2-ply materials ranged from 0.57 to > 12 mm H2O/cm2 on samples of equal surface area with 6 of 16 materials exceeding the recommended medical mask limit. Models were calibrated to predict 2-ply cotton mask FFEs and differential pressures for each fabric based on pore characteristics and fabric weight. Models indicated cotton fabrics from 6 of 9 consumer categories can produce cloth masks with adequate breathability and FFEs equivalent to a medical mask: T-shirt, fashion fabric, mass-market quilting cotton, home décor fabric, bed sheets and high-quality quilting cotton. Masks from one cloth mask and the medical mask were re-tested with a mask fitter to distinguish filtration from leakage. The fabric and medical masks had 3.7% and 41.8% leakage, respectively. These results indicate a well fitted 2-ply cotton mask with overhead ties can perform similarly to a disposable 3-ply medical mask on ear loops due primarily to the superior fit of the cloth mask which compensates for its lower material filtration efficiency.
Constructive episodic simulation in dreams
Authors: Wamsley Erin J.
Published: March 2022

Memories of the past help us adaptively respond to similar situations in the future. Originally described by Schacter & Addis in 2007, the “constructive episodic simulation” hypothesis proposes that waking thought combines fragments of various past episodes into imagined simulations of events that may occur in the future. This same framework may be useful for understanding the function of dreaming. N = 48 college students were asked to identify waking life sources for a total of N = 469 dreams. Participants frequently traced dreams to at least one past or future episodic source (53.5% and 25.7% of dreams, respectively). Individual dreams were very often traced to multiple waking sources (43.9% of all dreams with content), with fragments of past memory incorporated into scenarios that anticipated future events. Waking-life dream sources are described in terms of their phenomenology and distribution across time and sleep stage, providing new evidence that dreams not only reflect the past, but also utilize memory in simulating potential futures.
Increased yield of AP-3 by inactivation of asm25 in Actinosynnema pretiosum ssp. auranticum ATCC 31565
Authors: Cheng Hong , Xiong Guoqing , Li Yi , Zhu Jiaqi , Xiong Xianghua , Wang Qingyang , Zhang Liancheng , Dong Haolong , Zhu Chen , Liu Gang , Chen Huipeng
Published: March 2022

Asamitocins are maytansinoids produced by Actinosynnema pretiosum ssp. auranticum ATCC 31565 (A. pretiosum ATCC 31565), which have a structure similar to that of maytansine, therefore serving as a precursor of maytansine in the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Currently, there are more than 20 known derivatives of ansamitocins, among which ansamitocin P-3 (AP-3) exhibits the highest antitumor activity. Despite its importance, the application of AP-3 is restricted by low yield, likely due to a substrate competition mechanism underlying the synthesis pathways of AP-3 and its byproducts. Given that N-demethylansamitocin P-3, the precursor of AP-3, is regulated by asm25 and asm10 to synthesize AGP-3 and AP-3, respectively, asm25 is predicted to be an inhibitory gene for AP-3 production. In this study, we inactivated asm25 in A. pretiosum ATCC 31565 by CRISPR-Cas9-guided gene editing. asm25 depletion resulted in a more than 2-fold increase in AP-3 yield. Surprisingly, the addition of isobutanol further improved AP-3 yield in the asm25 knockout strain by more than 6 times; in contrast, only a 1.53-fold increase was found in the WT strain under the parallel condition. Thus, we uncovered an unknown function of asm25 in AP-3 yield and identified asm25 as a promising target to enhance the large-scale industrial production of AP-3.
Baseline situational analysis in Bangladesh, Jordan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe for the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health: Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health
Authors: Kemp Christopher G. , Concepcion Tessa , Ahmed Helal Uddin , Anwar Nazneen , Baingana Florence , Bennett Ian M. , Bruni Andrea , Chisholm Dan , Dawani Hania , Erazo Marcia , Hossain Saima Wazed , January James , Ladyk-Bryzghalova Alisa , Momotaz Hasina , Munongo Edmore , Oliveira e Souza Renato , Sala Giovanni , Schafer Alison , Sukhovii Oleksii , Taboada Luis , Van Ommeren Mark , Vander Stoep Ann , Vergara Jasmine , Waters Chloe , Kestel Devora , Collins Pamela Y.
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Mental, neurological and substance use conditions lead to tremendous suffering, yet globally access to effective care is limited. In line with the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW 13), in 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health: Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health to advance mental health policies, advocacy, and human rights and to scale up access to quality and affordable care for people living with mental health conditions. Six countries were selected as ‘early-adopter’ countries for the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health in the initial phase. Our objective was to rapidly and comprehensively assess the strength of mental health systems in each country with the goal of informing national priority-setting at the outset of the Initiative.

Methods

We used a modified version of the Program for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) situational analysis tool. We used a participatory process to document national demographic and population health characteristics; environmental, sociopolitical, and health-related threats; the status of mental health policies and plans; the prevalence of mental disorders and treatment coverage; and the availability of resources for mental health.

Results

Each country had distinct needs, though several common themes emerged. Most were dealing with crises with serious implications for population mental health. None had sufficient mental health services to meet their needs. All aimed to decentralize and deinstitutionalize mental health services, to integrate mental health care into primary health care, and to devote more financial and human resources to mental health systems. All cited insufficient and inequitably distributed specialist human resources for mental health as a major impediment.

Conclusions

This rapid assessment facilitated priority-setting for mental health system strengthening by national stakeholders. Next steps include convening design workshops in each country and initiating monitoring and evaluation procedures.
Interaction between grasping and articulation: How vowel and consonant pronunciation influences precision and power grip responses
Authors: Vainio Lari , Vainio Martti
Published: March 2022

Grasping and mouth movements have been proposed to be integrated anatomically, functionally and evolutionarily. In line with this, we have shown that there is a systematic interaction between particular speech units and grip performance. For example, when the task requires pronouncing a speech unit simultaneously with grasp response, the speech units [i] and [t] are associated with relatively rapid and accurate precision grip responses, while [ɑ] and [k] are associated with power grip responses. This study is aimed at complementing the picture about which vowels and consonants are associated with these grasp types. The study validated our view that the high-front vowels and the alveolar consonants are associated with precision grip responses, while low and high-back vowels as well as velar consonants or those whose articulation involves the lowering of the tongue body are associated with power grip responses. This paper also proposes that one reason why small/large concepts are associated with specific speech sounds in the sound-magnitude symbolism is because articulation of these sounds is programmed within the overlapping mechanisms of precision or power grasping.
Evaluating the population-level effects of overdose prevention sites and supervised consumption sites in British Columbia, Canada: Controlled interrupted time series
Authors: Panagiotoglou Dimitra
Published: March 2022

Background

On 14 April 2016, British Columbia’s Provincial Medical Health Officer declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency, sanctioning the implementation of new overdose prevention sites (OPS) and supervised consumption sites (SCS) across the province.

Methods

We used the BC Centre for Disease Control’s Provincial Overdose Cohort of all overdose events between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017 to evaluate the population-level effects of OPSs and SCSs on acute health service use and mortality. We matched local health areas (LHA) that implemented any site with propensity score matched controls and conducted controlled interrupted time series analysis.

Results

During the study period, twenty-five OPSs and SCSs opened across fourteen of British Columbia’s 89 LHAs. Results from analysis of LHAs with matched controls (i.e. excluding Vancouver DTES) were mixed. Significant declines in reported overdose events, paramedic attendance, and emergency department visits were observed. However, there were no changes to trends in monthly hospitalization or mortality rates. Extensive sensitivity analyses found these results persisted.

Conclusions

We found OPSs and SCSs reduce opioid-related paramedic attendance and emergency department visit rates but no evidence that they reduce local hospitalization or mortality rates.
Use of a decision support system for benchmarking analysis and organizational improvement of regional mental health care: Efficiency, stability and entropy assessment of the mental health ecosystem of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain)
Authors: García-Alonso Carlos R. , Almeda Nerea , Salinas-Pérez José A. , Gutiérrez-Colosía Mencía R. , Iruin-Sanz Álvaro , Salvador-Carulla Luis
Published: March 2022

Decision support systems are appropriate tools for guiding policymaking processes, especially in mental health (MH), where care provision should be delivered in a balanced and integrated way. This study aims to develop an analytical process for (i) assessing the performance of an MH ecosystem and (ii) identifying benchmark and target-for-improvement catchment areas. MH provision (inpatient, day and outpatient types of care) was analysed in the Mental Health Network of Gipuzkoa (Osakidetza, Basque Country, Spain) using a decision support system that integrated data envelopment analysis, Monte Carlo simulation and artificial intelligence. The unit of analysis was the 13 catchment areas defined by a reference MH centre. MH ecosystem performance was assessed by the following indicators: relative technical efficiency, stability and entropy to guide organizational interventions. Globally, the MH system of Gipuzkoa showed high efficiency scores in each main type of care (inpatient, day and outpatient), but it can be considered unstable (small changes can have relevant impacts on MH provision and performance). Both benchmark and target-for-improvement areas were identified and described. This article provides a guide for evidence-informed decision-making and policy design to improve the continuity of MH care after inpatient discharges. The findings show that it is crucial to design interventions and strategies (i) considering the characteristics of the area to be improved and (ii) assessing the potential impact on the performance of the global MH care ecosystem. For performance improvement, it is recommended to reduce admissions and readmissions for inpatient care, increase workforce capacity and utilization of day care services and increase the availability of outpatient care services.
The Oxford Handbook of Musical Theatre Screen Adaptations, Dominic Mchugh (Ed.) (2018)
Authors: Daniel Jennifer
Published: March 2022

Review of: The Oxford Handbook of Musical Theatre Screen Adaptations, Dominic Mchugh (Ed.) (2018)

Oxford: Oxford University Press,

ISBN 978-0-19046-999-3, e-book, £110.00
Controles y regulaciones para una vitivinicultura incontrolable: la trayectoria de las direcciones general de industrias y de fomento industrial y agrícola (Mendoza, Argentina, 1908-1943)
Authors: Rodríguez Vázquez Florencia , Barrio Patricia
Published: March 2022

El estudio de la gestión estatal con impacto en las agroindustrias obliga a detenerse en los lineamientos y directrices desplegados por las dependencias públicas. Se parte de la línea de estudios que relativiza la concepción de un Estado compacto y que, por el contrario, presta atención a las dependencias que lo componen, los funcionarios que las integran, la evolución de sus competencias, los conflictos con otras agencias y el juego de posiciones en el tiempo. En el caso de las economías regionales, el diseño y organización de agencias técnicas que atendieron las demandas de diversas agroindustrias cobra especial interés para conocer derroteros singulares, el grado de complementariedad con organismos de jurisdicción nacional, así como también los elencos que las integraron. A partir de la reconstrucción de la Dirección de Industrias de la provincia de Mendoza, que en su devenir atravesó cambios en su denominación, se advierte un solapamiento con funciones asignadas también a agencias nacionales y un esfuerzo, primero, por especializar la dependencia en cuestiones vitivinícolas y, finalmente, la ampliación de funciones para atender los requerimientos de una agroindustria en transformación.
Ajuste al control: el ejercicio del control social sobre la gestión pública. El caso de Recife, Brasil
Authors: Pasa Gómez Carla , De Oliveira Alves Luana , Leite Rodrigues Andrea , Eliseu Costa Renato
Published: March 2022

Interesado en comprender el control social externo, este artículo tiene como objetivo investigar el uso de instrumentos y canales de las redes sociales utilizados para ejercer el control social en la administración pública, a partir de la participación ciudadana de los residentes en Recife (Pernambuco, Brasil). Para ello, se utilizó una investigación de campo, utilizando entrevistas no estructuradas, investigación empírica con habitantes del lugar investigado e investigación documental cuyos datos fueron confrontados con discursos teóricos. Como hallazgos de esta investigación, se revela información de interés para los gestores públicos, para el ámbito académico y para la sociedad, pues se concluye que a pesar de la existencia y disponibilidad de datos para el ejercicio del control social externo, estos aún son poco entendidos para un gran parte de la población; que los ciudadanos estén interesados ​​en expresar su opinión sobre los actos de la administración pública; y, que el uso de las redes/medios sociales debe ser mejor explorado por los proveedores de información para evitar el ruido informativo y la generación de noticias falsas.
Dinámicas intersectoriales en las redes de protección de derechos (opd) en la región de ñuble, Chile
Authors: Ávila Crisóstomo Claudia , Contreras Álvarez Jaime Andrés , Martínez Muñoz Gabriela Andrea
Published: March 2022

La presente investigación revisó elementos que propician las dinámicas intersectoriales en las redes de protección de la infancia realizados por los programas de Oficina de Protección de Derechos OPD, instancia cofinanciada por el Servicio Nacional de Menores SENAME y los municipios de Chile. Se realizó una investigación de tipo cualitativa, mediante la utilización de entrevistas semi-estructurada a los coordinadores de OPD de la región de Ñuble, Chile. Presentando como resultados elementos que permiten facilitar la gestión intersectorial, analizando los niveles de coordinación, cooperación, comunicación e integralidad que muestran las dinámicas de trabajos de estas redes comunales. Se concluye principalmente la existencia de mecanismos formales e informales de coordinación, elementos que favorecen la cooperación, mecanismos de comunicación informales, presencia de trabajo colaborativo entre instituciones y la inexistencia de experiencias de integralidad.
Uporaba virtualnih simulacij ali virtualnih pacientov pri izobraževanju študentov v zdravstveni negi
Authors: Kamenšek Tina
Published: March 2022

Uvod: Epidemija covida-19 je omejila praktično usposabljanje študentov zdravstvene nege. V zdravstveni negi simulacije niso novost, razmeroma novo področje izobraževanja pa so virtualne simulacije ali virtualni pacienti. Namen pregleda je bil preučiti najnovejše empirične ugotovitve o učinkovitosti oziroma uspešnosti uporabe virtualnih simulacij ali virtualnih pacientov pri študiju zdravstvene nege po svetu.Metode: Pregledani so bili znanstveni članki, objavljeni med letoma 2016 in 2021 v bibliografskih bazah CINAHL, MEDLINE, ERIC ter v kataložno-bibliografski bazi podatkov COBIB. Proučevani so bili članki, ki so obravnavali študente zdravstvene nege, pri katerih sta bila virtualna simulacija ali virtualni pacient uporabljena za način učenja in ne kot način preverjanja usvojenega znanja druge učne metode. Sinteza rezultatov je bila narejena s tematsko analizo.Rezultati: Vključenih je bilo 12 raziskav, ki so bile večinoma opravljene v razvitih državah. Rezultati so pokazali pozitiven vpliv virtualnih simulacij ali virtualnih pacientov na kognitivno in afektivno domeno znanja, praktično izvedbo intervencij, oceno samoučinkovitosti, kompetentnosti in zadovoljstva študentov.Diskusija in zaključek: Kadar kliničnega usposabljanja za študente zdravstvene nege ni mogoče zagotoviti, so virtualne simulacije ali virtualni pacienti lahko eno izmed možnih okolij za trening kliničnih odločitev, ki bi jih študent sicer pridobil v klinični praksi, ne morejo pa nadomestiti kliničnega usposabljanja in izkušenj, ki jih študent pridobi ob pacientu.
Early development support for children with speech and language disorders from the perspective of needs and developmental tasks
Authors: Chilman Agata
Published: March 2022

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the risk of child disability in the period between birth and commencement of primary education. The first part of the paper analyses differences in defining the target group of early development support and intervention, a distinction is made between disability and the risk of disability. The paper describes selected concepts of early developmental support and traditional psychological concepts regarding human development. The second part of the paper presents concepts of speech and language disorders in children. The paper discusses the dependence between linguistic competencies and global development of a child and the problem of early development diagnosis and evaluation of cognitive functions, listing the methods and tools used to examine young children.