bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CEO age and tax planning
Authors: James Hui Liang
Published: July 2019

This study investigates the association between CEO age and corporate tax planning. Using a sample of 11,537 firm‐year observations from the fiscal year 1997–2013, I find CEO age exerts an economically significant influence on firms’ tax policies, incremental to economic determinants identified in prior research. Specifically, CEO age is positively related to cash and GAAP effective tax rates, and negatively related to permanent book‐tax difference, suggesting that older CEOs are less likely to take actions to lower tax burden. The results hold across different model specifications and robustness tests to address potential bias arising from endogeneity, sample selection issue, and the confounding effect of CEO tenure.
Summary of ISO/TC 201 Standard: ISO 22415—Surface chemical analysis—Secondary ion mass spectrometry—Method for determining yield volume in argon cluster sputter depth profiling of organic materials
Authors: Shard Alexander G. , Havelund Rasmus , Seah Martin P. , Clifford Charles A.
Published: July 2019

The International Standard ISO 22415 provides methods to measure sputtering yield volumes of organic test materials using argon cluster ions. The test materials should consist of thin films of known thicknesses between 50 and 1000 nm. The format of the test materials, the measurement of sputtering ion dose, sputtered depth, and reporting requirements for sputtering yield volumes are described.
Direct Saccharification and Fermentation for High Glucose and Ethanol Production from Non‐Detoxified Furfural Residue Without Any Pretreatment
Authors: Shi Xinxin , Zhao Baofu , Zhou Haifeng , Tian Yuanyu , Qiao Yingyun , Ji Bei
Published: July 2019

Furfural residue (FR) is utilized directly for bioethanol production without any pretreatment and detoxification. With only 10 FPU g−1 cellulase loading, the glucose yield of FR reached 86.4, 84.6 and 80.5% at solid loadings of 2, 10 and 20%, respectively. When FR is directly used for fermentation, the terminal ethanol concentration achieved at 41 and 57 g L−1 at solid loadings of 20% and 30% (w v−1), respectively. Washing with water enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of FR. The terminal ethanol of furfural residue washed by 5 times water (WFR‐5) was 48 and 66 g L−1, higher than that from FR. The enhancement is mainly due to the removal of chemical inhibitors and increase of specific surface area. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that FR contained fragmental structure, coarse surface and porous areas. Therefore, FR substrates represented good cellulase accessibility. It indicated that FR could be directly used for glucose and ethanol production without any further treatment. In addition, the quasi‐simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and combined fermentation (Q‐SSF) residues are characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetry (TG).
Predicting the postcracking strength of ultra‐high performance fiber reinforced concrete by means of three‐point bending tests according to EN 14651
Authors: Leutbecher Torsten , Rebling Jan
Published: July 2019

The postcracking strength of ultra‐high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) can be determined directly in axial tensile tests or derived from, for example, bending tests. The latter requires further consideration due to the nonlinear behavior of a UHPFRC specimen in bending. In order to provide a simple but experimentally validated determination of the postcracking strength by means of bending tests, three‐point and four‐point tests on beams as well as direct tensile tests on specimens sawn out of beams were carried out with different UHPFRC mixtures. The direct tensile tests showed a systematic variation of the postcracking strength within a beam's cross section, which may be attributed to a systematically heterogeneous fiber distribution and orientation. A correlation between the mean postcracking strength of a beam's cross section and the residual flexural tensile strength at small midspan deflection obtained from three‐point test could be established. The proposal will be considered for predicting the postcracking strength according to the forthcoming German guideline on UHPFRC.
Dynamic SMOTE training of neural networks used in real‐time pricing control for building air‐conditioners
Authors: Matsukawa Shun , Nakayama Takuya , Ninagawa Chuzo , Morikawa Junji
Published: July 2019

Recently, smart grid Real‐Time Pricing (RTP), which changes electricity unit price for every several 10 min, has been receiving attention. The RTP control system uses a Neural Network (NN) prediction model on the response of power consumption against the power limitation commands for power saving. In this research, we propose a new NN training method using the data that are observed during short‐term. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Quantile regression neural network‐based fault detection scheme for wind turbines with application to monitoring a bearing
Authors: Xu Qifa , Fan Zhenhua , Jia Weiyin , Jiang Cuixia
Published: July 2019

Under the framework of normal behavior modeling, this paper develops a novel scheme for fault detection via quantile regression neural networks (QRNNs). The QRNN model is a combination of quantile regressions and neural networks. It is able to identify the normal status or extract the normal behavior data accurately and quickly through lower and upper regression quantiles. Additionally, it is flexible to explore the potential nonlinear patterns contained in the normal status by taking advantage of neural networks. Finally, we monitor the residuals produced from QRNN to detect faults by using the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart. The utility of our scheme is illustrated by empirical analyses of bearing fault detection based on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) data from a wind turbine. We find that the QRNN model outperforms the multiple linear regression (MLR) and back propagation neural networks (BPNNs) in terms of mean absolute error (MAE). Besides, the obtained relationship between the width of control limits in EWMA and the number of alarms provides an important and convenient way for practical applications.
Frequent itemset mining: A 25 years review
Authors: Luna José María , Fournier‐Viger Philippe , Ventura Sebastián
Published: July 2019

Frequent itemset mining (FIM) is an essential task within data analysis since it is responsible for extracting frequently occurring events, patterns, or items in data. Insights from such pattern analysis offer important benefits in decision‐making processes. However, algorithmic solutions for mining such kind of patterns are not straightforward since the computational complexity exponentially increases with the number of items in data. This issue, together with the significant memory consumption that is present in the mining process, makes it necessary to propose extremely efficient solutions. Since the FIM problem was first described in the early 1990s, multiple solutions have been proposed by considering centralized systems as well as parallel (shared or nonshared memory) architectures. Solutions can also be divided into exhaustive search and nonexhaustive search models. Many of such approaches are extensions of other solutions and it is therefore necessary to analyze how this task has been considered during the last decades.

This article is categorized under:

Algorithmic Development > Association Rules

Technologies > Association Rules
Initial post‐buckling of the micro‐scaled beams based on the strain gradient elasticity
Authors: Jin M. , Qi H.Y.
Published: July 2019

An analysis of initial post‐buckling of a micro‐scaled beam with hinged‐hinged ends based on the strain gradient elasticity is presented. At the first bifurcation point, the second variation of the potential energy is analytically proved to be positive semidefinite when the compression equals to the critical load. The fourth variation of the potential energy is positive when the disturbance of the lateral deflection matches the buckling mode. Based on Koiter initial post‐buckling stability theory, the neutral equilibrium of straight state of the micro‐scaled beam is stable at the stability limit. The bending shape in the initial post‐buckling is stable when the compressive force exceeds slightly the critical load. Although the critical load of the micro‐scale beam with hinged‐hinged ends is influenced by size effects, the initial post‐buckling behavior of it is similar to that of the classical beam.
Half-BPS vertex operators of the AdS5 × S5 superstring
Authors: Berkovits Nathan
Published: July 2019

Abstract

Using the pure spinor formalism for the superstring in an AdS
5 × S
5 background, a simple expression is found for half-BPS vertex operators. At large radius, these vertex operators reduce to the usual supergravity vertex operators in a flat background. And at small radius, there is a natural conjecture for generalizing these vertex operators to non-BPS states.
More on Wilson loops for two touching circles
Authors: Dorn Harald
Published: July 2019

Abstract

We calculate both at leading weak and strong coupling the renormalised Maldacena-Wilson loop for contours formed by consecutive passage of two touching circles. At the touching point both circles should have the same normal direction but form cusps of non-zero opening angle α. Particular emphasis is put on the behaviour in the limit α → 0 and its comparison with the spiky situation studied in a previous paper, where α was set to zero before renormalisation.
Time-delayed electrons from Higgs decays to right-handed neutrinos
Authors: Mason John D.
Published: July 2019

Abstract

We consider the physics reach at the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) using the timing capability of a minimum ionizing particle (MIP) timing layer and the electromagnetic calorimeter in the CMS experiment for a simplified right-handed neutrino effective theory. In the simplified model, the lightest right-handed neutrinos are produced through Higgs decay with mean decay lengths of order

$$ \mathcal{O} $$

O

(0.1 m − 100 m) and then subsequently decay into final states that include electrons. We consider the effect of several different kinematic cuts for a timing based analysis of this model. We demonstrate that if timing information can be successfully incorporated into the event trigger, it is possible to probe the Higgs branching ratio to two right-handed neutrinos to the order

$$ \mathcal{O} $$

O

(10−5) for a range of different right-handed neutrino lifetimes.
Extra‐perigastric Extranodal Metastasis is a Significant Prognostic Factor in Node‐Positive Gastric Cancer
Authors: Tonouchi Akiko , Sugano Masato , Tokunaga Masanori , Sugita Shizuki , Watanabe Masahiro , Sato Reo , Kaito Akio , Akimoto Tetsuo , Ochiai Atsushi , Kinoshita Takahiro , Kuwata Takeshi
Published: July 2019

Background

Extranodal metastasis is an isolated tumor nodule without a residual lymph node structure and has been reported as a poor prognostic factor in gastric cancer. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic value of extranodal metastasis, especially from the viewpoint of its anatomical distribution.

Methods

A total of 139 consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent curative surgery with lymph node metastasis between 2008 and 2009 were included. Clinicopathological features and patient survival outcomes were retrospectively assessed. Patients with extranodal metastasis were subdivided into two groups: perigastric extranodal metastasis, located near the perigastric area (#1–#7 according to the Japanese classification of gastric carcinoma 15th edition), and extra‐perigastric extranodal metastasis, located alongside the major vessels (#8–#12).

Results

Extranodal metastasis was found in 51 patients (37%), and it was more frequent in those with bulky, ≥pT3, and pStage III tumors. All patients with extra‐perigastric extranodal metastasis had recurrence, resulting in a 0% 5‐year overall survival rate, which was significantly worse than that of patients with perigastric extranodal metastasis (59%), or those without extranodal metastasis (84%; P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis identified the presence of extra‐perigastric extranodal metastasis as an independent poor prognostic factor.

Conclusions

Extranodal metastasis, especially extra‐perigastric extranodal metastasis, was a pivotal poor prognostic factor in node‐positive gastric cancer. Recognizing extra‐perigastric extranodal metastasis would help provide optimal therapeutic options to these high‐risk patients.
ICU Risk Stratification Models Feasible for Use in Sub‐Saharan Africa Show Poor Discrimination in Malawi: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Prin Meghan , Pan Stephanie , Kadyaudzu Clement , Li Guohua , Charles Anthony
Published: July 2019

Background

Critical illness disproportionately affects people in low‐income countries (LICs). Efforts to improve critical care in LICs must account for differences in demographics and infrastructure compared to high‐income settings. Part of this effort includes the development and validation of intensive care unit (ICU) risk stratification models feasible for use in LICs. The purpose of this study was to validate and compare the performance of ICU mortality models developed for use in sub‐Saharan Africa.

Materials and Methods

This was a prospective, observational cohort study of ICU patients in a referral hospital in Malawi. Models were selected for comparison based on a Medline search for studies which developed ICU mortality models based on cohorts in sub‐Saharan Africa. Model discrimination was evaluated using the area under the curve with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

During the study, 499 patients were admitted to the study ICU, and after exclusions, there were 319 patients. The cohort was 62% female, with the mean age 31 years (IQR: 23‐41), and 74% had surgery preceding ICU admission. Discrimination for hospital mortality ranged from 0.54 (95% CI 0.48, 0.60) for the Universal Vital Assessment (UVA) to 0.72 (95% CI 0.66, 0.78) for the Malawi Intensive care Mortality Evaluation (MIME). After tenfold cross‐validation, these results were unchanged.

Conclusions

The MIME outperformed other models in this prospective study. Most ICU models developed for LICs had poor to modest discrimination for hospital mortality. Future research may contribute to a better risk stratification model for LICs by refining and enhancing the MIME.
Ten‐year Audit of Safe Bail‐Out Alternatives to the Critical View of Safety in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
Authors: Manatakis Dimitrios K. , Papageorgiou Dimitrios , Antonopoulou Maria‐Ioanna , Stamos Nikolaos , Agalianos Christos , Ivros Nikolaos , Davides Demetrios , Pechlivanides Georgios , Kyriazanos Ioannis
Published: July 2019

Background

To prevent vasculobiliary injuries according to the Tokyo Guidelines, Critical View of Safety (CVS) is the recommended method for the identification of the cystic duct and cystic artery. Our aim was to audit laparoscopic cholecystectomies, in order to determine the rate of CVS feasibility and to explore safe bail‐out alternatives, when CVS cannot be obtained.

Methods

Patients who underwent either elective or emergent laparoscopic cholecystectomy, between January 2009 and December 2018, in whom the CVS was attempted, were retrospectively identified from the institutional electronic database. Dissection technique was documented in the operative notes. Bile duct injuries (BDI) were classified by the Strasberg classification, and their management and outcome were reported in the patient files.

Results

In total, 1226 cases were included in the final analysis. CVS was feasible in 1128 cases (92.0%), whereas 65 patients (5.3%) were managed laparoscopically by a bail‐out technique. Of those, 52 (4.3%) underwent a subtotal cholecystectomy, 12 (0.9%) a fundus‐first cholecystectomy, and in one patient (0.1%) the operation was concluded by a tube cholecystostomy. Overall conversion rate was 2.7% (33/1226 cases). Male gender, older age, junior surgeons, and acute cholecystitis were significantly associated with higher conversion rates. Post‐operatively, 10 patients (0.82%) developed a type A bile leakage. No major BDI (types B–E) were observed, either with CVS or the bail‐out techniques.

Conclusions

Our study showed that CVS and the bail‐out alternatives complement each other in preventing major BDI and should belong to the armamentarium of every modern surgeon.
Perioperative Allogeneic Blood Transfusion Does not Influence Patient Survival After Hepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis
Authors: Yamashita Yo‐ichi , Hayashi Hiromitsu , Imai Katsunori , Okabe Hirohisa , Nakagawa Shigeki , Kitamura Fumimasa , Uemura Norio , Nakao Yosuke , Yusa Toshihiko , Itoyama Rumi , Yamao Takanobu , Umesaki Naoki , Miyata Tatsunori , Chikamoto Akira , Shimokawa Mototsugu , Baba Hideo
Published: July 2019

Background

Whether perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion (PABT) negatively influences patient survival after hepatectomy (HR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial.

Methods

Five hundred two patients who underwent HR for initial HCC between 1994 and 2015 were enrolled in this study. All patients were divided into two groups: the PABT group and the non‐PABT group. Differences of clinicopathological factors, overall survival (OS), recurrence‐free survival (RFS), and the recurrence pattern between the two groups were evaluated. Using propensity score matching for tumor‐related factors, liver functions, and surgical factors (total 11 factors), the survival impact of PABT was also analyzed.

Results

In the entire cohort, 78 patients (15.5%) received PABT such as red cell concentrate, fresh‐frozen plasma, or platelets. OS (5‐year OS: 55% vs. 76%; p = 0.0005) and RFS (2‐year RFS: 47% vs. 56%; p = 0.0131) were significantly worse in the PABT group. The extrahepatic recurrence happened more frequently in the PABT group (15% vs. 5.4%; p = 0.0039). There were many significant clinicopathological differences between the two groups: more advanced tumor stage (tumor diameter, stage III or IV, microvascular invasion), worse liver functions (albumin, indocyanine green retention rate at 15 min), and more surgical stress (blood loss, operation time) in the PABT group. After propensity score matching, 43 pairs of patients were extracted. In this matched cohort, the survival curves of the PABT and non‐PABT groups almost completely overlapped both in OS (5‐year OS: 62% vs. 62%; p = 0.4384) and in RFS (2‐year RFS: 49% vs. 47%; p = 0.8195). The significant difference of the extrahepatic recurrence rate disappeared in the matched cohort (p = 0.5789).

Conclusion

Using propensity score matching, we found that PABT does not influence patient survival after HR for HCC.
An empirical assessment of baseline feature location techniques
Authors: Razzaq Abdul , Le Gear Andrew , Exton Chris , Buckley Jim
Published: July 2019

Feature Location (FL) aims to locate observable functionalities in source code. Considering its key role in software maintenance, a vast array of automated and semi-automated Feature Location Techniques (FLTs) have been proposed. To compare FLTs, an open, standard set of non-subjective, reproducible “compare-to” FLT techniques (baseline techniques) should be used for evaluation. In order to relate the performance of FLTs compared against different baseline techniques, these compare-to techniques should be evaluated against each other. But evaluation across FLTs is confounded by empirical designs that incorporate different FL goals and evaluation criteria. This paper moves towards standardizing FLT comparability by assessing eight baseline techniques in an empirical design that addresses these confounding factors. These baseline techniques are assessed in twelve case studies to rank their performance. Results of the case studies suggest that different baseline techniques perform differently and that VSM-Lucene and LSI-Matlab performed better than other implementations. By presenting the relative performances of baseline techniques this paper facilitates empirical cross-comparison of existing and future FLTs. Finally, the results suggest that the performance of FLTs partially depends on system/benchmark characteristics, in addition to the FLTs themselves.
Practicing Histotechnologists Identify the Core Competencies Needed by Newly Graduated Biomedical Laboratory Scientists in Histotechnology and Histology
Authors: Liikanen Eeva
Published: July 2019

The universities of applied sciences in Finland offer 3.5-year courses for histotechnologists and they graduate as biomedical laboratory scientist with 12 credits in histology and histotechnology. The aim of this study was to survey practicing histotechnologists about the core competencies needed by newly graduated biomedical scientists in histology and histotechnology. The data were collected in Finland in 2015. We asked 43 participants to complete a questionnaire that comprised two background questions, five open-ended questions and 38 Likert scale questions, with the responses ranging from five (strongly agree) to one (strongly disagree), and 22 (51%) responded. They stated that the most important competencies were the principles of tissue processing (mean 4.77), embedding (4.64), laboratory safety (4.57), fixation methods (4.55), cutting by microtomy (4.55), quality control of sections (4.55), fixation methods (4.55), and principles of stains (4.36). The least important competencies were quality control of molecular pathology (2.56), interpretation of immunohistological stains (2.71), use of molecular pathology (2.89), and independent dissection (2.91). The respondents stated that there were 20 stains that newly graduated biomedical laboratory scientists needed to know. The practices involving staining emerged in the open responses and four were considered to be important: Hematoxylin-Eosin (n = 18), Periodic Acid Schiff (n = 11), Alcian Blue-Periodic Acid Schiff (n = 9), and Giemsa (n = 9). The most essential tissues to identify were the histology of the alimentary track (n = 9), skin (n = 6), and liver (n = 5). The core competencies that histotechnologists felt were important for newly graduated biomedical laboratory scientists seemed to be consistent with the current curriculum.
Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells: From Detailed Balance Limit Calculations to Photon Management
Authors: Hossain Mohammad I. , Qarony Wayesh , Ma Sainan , Zeng Longhui , Knipp Dietmar , Tsang Yuen Hong
Published: July 2019

Energy conversion efficiency losses and limits of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are investigated by detailed balance calculations and photon management. An extended Shockley–Queisser model is used to identify fundamental loss mechanisms and link the losses to the optics of solar cells. Photon management is used to minimize losses and maximize the energy conversion efficiency. The influence of photon management on the solar cell parameters of a perovskite single-junction solar cell and a perovskite/silicon solar cell is discussed in greater details. An optimized solar cell design of a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell is presented, which allows for the realization of solar cells with energy conversion efficiencies exceeding 32%.
Undocumented Nationals
Authors: Hunter Wendy
Published: July 2019

Understood simply, people are either citizens of a country or stateless. Yet reality belies this dichotomy. Between absolute statelessness and full citizenship exist millions of people who are nationals of a country in principle but lack the identity documents to prove it, beginning with a birth certificate. Languishing in a gray zone, undocumented nationals have difficulty accessing the full services and rights that their documented counterparts enjoy. Drawing on a range of country examples, Undocumented Nationals: Between Statelessness and Citizenship calls attention to and analyzes the plight of people who cannot exercise full citizenship owing to evidentiary deficiencies. The existing literature has not adequately conceptualized and examined this in-between status, which results sometimes from state neglect and other times from intentional state discrimination. By highlighting its causes and consequences, and exploring ways to address the problem, this Cambridge Element addresses an important gap in the literature.
Towards an understanding of the ‘therapeutic’ in foster care: an exploration of foster carers’ capacities to help heal children with trauma
Authors: Harkness Christopher
Published: July 2019

This paper explores foster carers’ therapeutic capacities. This topic arises from advances in knowledge of the adverse effects of complex trauma on children’s social, emotional and cognitive development. A growing expectation of fostering agencies is that their carers work within a therapeutic framework. Knowledge of foster carers’ therapeutic capacities has importance, because while foster carers are the primary agents of therapeutic change for these children, the skills and processes in which they do so are not well understood. Eighteen foster carers who work within a therapeutic framework were interviewed about their perceptions of therapeutic care. Their responses were analysed using an ecological systems framework. Foundational to therapeutic care is the mesosystem, the relationship between the foster carer and the child. Key elements of this relationship are safety, trust and love. There are two other aspects to therapeutic care: the microsystem, which represents therapeutic capacities that foster carers exercise to help in the recovery of these children, and the exosystem, which includes the networks of support that foster carers require to exercise therapeutic care. This paper will present key findings relating to foster carers’ therapeutic capacities. I will also consider some key implications for fostering agencies.
The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia: Canadian Cohort Study
Authors: Chertkow Howard , Borrie Michael , Whitehead Victor , Black Sandra E. , Feldman Howard H. , Gauthier Serge , Hogan David B. , Masellis Mario , McGilton Katherine , Rockwood Kenneth , Tierney Mary C. , Andrew Melissa , Hsiung Ging-Yuek R. , Camicioli Richard , Smith Eric E. , Fogarty Jennifer , Lindsay Joseph , Best Sarah , Evans Alan , Das Samir , Mohaddes Zia , Pilon Randi , Poirier Judes , Phillips Natalie A. , MacNamara Elizabeth , Dixon Roger A. , Duchesne Simon , MacKenzie Ian , Rylett R. Jane
Published: July 2019

Background:

The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) cohort study of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) is a national initiative to catalyze research on dementia, set up to support the research agendas of CCNA teams. This cross-country longitudinal cohort of 2310 deeply phenotyped subjects with various forms of dementia and mild memory loss or concerns, along with cognitively intact elderly subjects, will test hypotheses generated by these teams.

Methods:

The COMPASS-ND protocol, initial grant proposal for funding, fifth semi-annual CCNA Progress Report submitted to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research December 2017, and other documents supplemented by modifications made and lessons learned after implementation were used by the authors to create the description of the study provided here.

Results:

The CCNA COMPASS-ND cohort includes participants from across Canada with various cognitive conditions associated with or at risk of neurodegenerative diseases. They will undergo a wide range of experimental, clinical, imaging, and genetic investigation to specifically address the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these conditions in the aging population. Data derived from clinical and cognitive assessments, biospecimens, brain imaging, genetics, and brain donations will be used to test hypotheses generated by CCNA research teams and other Canadian researchers. The study is the most comprehensive and ambitious Canadian study of dementia. Initial data posting occurred in 2018, with the full cohort to be accrued by 2020.

Conclusion:

Availability of data from the COMPASS-ND study will provide a major stimulus for dementia research in Canada in the coming years.
Multiscale Modeling of Endothelium Derived Wall Shear Stress Regulation in Common Carotid Artery
Authors: Siri Saeed , Nabaei Malikeh , Fatouraee Nasser
Published: July 2019

Shear induced autoregulation is the natural ability of organs to maintain the local hemodynamic stresses in a stable condition in spite of altering perfusion rate. Endothelium cells are shear sensitive mechanoreceptors that are responsible for regulating the arterial wall architecture and mechanical properties in order to maintain homeostasis. This occurs by means of vasoactive mediators, which cause vasodilation or vasoconstriction. In this paper we presented a multiscale model of local flow regulation. First, a lumped parameter model of the whole cardiovascular system was implemented. Then a 3D numerical model of human common carotid artery was constructed considering fluid-structure interaction. The CCA inflow waveform obtained from the extended 0D model was applied to the 3D model as the boundary condition. After applying the Head-Up Tilt test, the local hemodynamics were disturbed. By considering the wall shear stress as the regulation criterion, then altering the arterial mechanical properties and the following vasodilation, shear forces exerted on the inner lining of the vessel were regulated and returned to the normal range. The resulting 0D/3D model can be considered as a plat-form for a more complete model containing local and systemic cardiovascular control mechanisms and patient-specific geometries which can be used for clinical purposes.
Qualitative exploration of cultural factors influencing diet among African-, Caribbean- and US-born Blacks living in the northeast USA
Authors: Brown A. G. M. , Houser R. F. , Mattei J. , Lichtenstein A. H. , Folta S. C.
Published: July 2019

Limited research considers the ethnic and cultural diversity among the US Black population, and how this diversity influences diet. The purpose of the present qualitative study is to (1) explore the influence of culture, nativity and ethnicity on the diet of US-born, African-born and Caribbean/Latin American-born Blacks and (2) explore a model of dietary acculturation among the African-born and Caribbean/Latin American-born Blacks. The purposive sample included twenty-two US-born, fifteen Caribbean/Latin American-born and ten African-born Blacks (n 47) living in Boston, who participated in either an in-depth interview (n 12) or a focus group (five groups, size 5–9). Satia-Abouta's model of dietary acculturation informed the interview and focus group questions, which explored the influence of psychosocial factors, taste preferences and environmental factors on dietary changes. NVivo 10 software was utilised for the coding and analysis. Topics based on a priori and posteriori analyses included differences in psychosocial factors and taste preferences and environmental factors by nativity. Caribbean/Latin American-born and African-born Blacks expressed the importance of cultural identity in their dietary preferences and found adaptive strategies to maintain cultural diet, while US-born Blacks demonstrated a variety of preferences for traditionally African American foods. Environmental factors varied by place of birth and residence, with US-born Blacks citing poorer quality and limited affordability of foods. These findings suggest the importance of psychosocial and environmental factors in shaping the diet of the ethnically diverse US Black population and underscore the dietary diversity within and across the different ethnic groups of Blacks.
A WELLORDER OF THE REALS WITH SATURATED
Authors: FRIEDMAN SY-DAVID , HOFFELNER STEFAN
Published: July 2019

We show that, assuming the existence of the canonical inner model with one Woodin cardinal $M_1 $ , there is a model of $ZFC$ in which the nonstationary ideal on $\omega _1 $ is $\aleph _2 $-saturated and whose reals admit a ${\rm{\Sigma }}_4^1 $-wellorder.
Waste work and the dialectics of precarity in urban Ghana: durable bodies and disposable things
Authors: Chalfin Brenda
Published: July 2019

What can the dialectics of waste work tell us about the urban underclass in the flux of late capitalism? What might waste reveal more broadly about the contradictions and uncharted possibilities of material accumulation in urban Africa? Utilizing a relational optic, these issues are explored from the perspective of young men working in the rubbish dumps of Ghana's ‘edge city’ of Ashaiman, a space where the detritus of local and global markets and struggles for urban survival converge. Here, day-to-day entanglements with city dwellers’ discarded items muddy the expected terms of economic dispossession and attainment. At Ashaiman's dump, the perils of social and bodily breakdown are matched by the promise of expanded reproduction via waste work, invigorating the economic prospects of the region's footloose underemployed. Relevant well beyond Ghana, such inversions point to an insistent underside of late-capitalist overproduction: namely, in this dense space of discard and decay, those on the lowest rungs of the urban economic ladder meld bodily expenditure, social aspiration and material breakdown to forge fragile futures and to format urban space. Blending materialisms new and old, a view from Ashaiman's dump bridges the insights of relational ontologies focused on the agency of things and labour-based renderings of capitalism's transformation.
Women who change into men: a gendered history of precarity in ‘useful’ Chad
Authors: Leonard Lori
Published: July 2019

This article is about two generations of women in south-western Chad – the baou déné and the mosso. It addresses the puzzle of how these groups of women are present in the everyday life of the region known as ‘useful’ Chad, while women as economic agents are absent from stories about the region and about successive schemes to make it profitable. The baou déné are wealthy farmers, but the last generation of these ‘women who have a lot of things’ is disappearing. Younger women are referred to as mosso, meaning ‘to fall down’. They are more likely to make a living from small trade than from farming and their lives are defined by precarity. Drawing on a range of historical and contemporary sources, I show how the erasure of women happened in different ways over time. In the colonial era, administrators and travel writers were unable to imagine that women transformed forests into cotton fields. In this century, the idea that women farm just like men was disseminated by oil companies, facilitating land expropriation while drowning out stories of women's marginalization. The baou déné and the mosso are the products of specific historical processes and profit-making schemes, and the silences about women's places in them helped make profits, empire and ‘useful’ Chad possible.
Persuading the Enemy: Estimating the Persuasive Effects of Partisan Media with the Preference-Incorporating Choice and Assignment Design
Authors: DE BENEDICTIS-KESSNER JUSTIN , BAUM MATTHEW A. , BERINSKY ADAM J. , YAMAMOTO TEPPEI
Published: July 2019

Does media choice cause polarization, or merely reflect it? We investigate a critical aspect of this puzzle: How partisan media contribute to attitude polarization among different groups of media consumers. We implement a new experimental design, called the Preference-Incorporating Choice and Assignment (PICA) design, that incorporates both free choice and forced exposure. We estimate jointly the degree of polarization caused by selective exposure and the persuasive effect of partisan media. Our design also enables us to conduct sensitivity analyses accounting for discrepancies between stated preferences and actual choice, a potential source of bias ignored in previous studies using similar designs. We find that partisan media can polarize both its regular consumers and inadvertent audiences who would otherwise not consume it, but ideologically opposing media potentially also can ameliorate the existing polarization between consumers. Taken together, these results deepen our understanding of when and how media polarize individuals.
Blacklists, Market Enforcement, and the Global Regime to Combat Terrorist Financing
Authors: Morse Julia C.
Published: July 2019

This paper highlights how international organizations can use global performance indicators (GPIs) to drive policy change through transnational market pressure. When international organizations are credible assessors of state policy, and when monitored countries compete for market resources, GPIs transmit information about country risk and stabilize market expectations. Under these conditions banks and investors may restrict access to capital in noncompliant states and incentivize increased compliance. I demonstrate this market-enforcement mechanism by analyzing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that issues nonbinding recommendations to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The FATF's public listing of noncompliant jurisdictions has prompted international banks to move resources away from listed states and raised the costs of continued noncompliance, significantly increasing the number of states with laws criminalizing terrorist financing. This finding suggests a powerful pathway through which institutions influence domestic policy and highlights the power of GPIs in an age where information is a global currency.
Contributions of soil temperature and moisture drivers to variations in perennial vetch (Vicia unijuga) productivity potential in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region of China
Authors: Tang Wei , Christensen Michael J. , Nan Zhibiao
Published: July 2019

In alpine regions of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, perennial vetch (Vicia unijuga A. Br.) productivity is often low and variable, constrained by the cold and erratic precipitation environment. The aim of the current study was to identify the soil-environmental modifications needed in harsh alpine environmental conditions for improvement of perennial vetch growth, forage biomass production and seed yield. A 3-year field experiment was conducted in an alpine region of China to evaluate the effects of modified soil temperature and moisture conditions generated by three mulching treatments – plastic film mulching (FM), removal of plastic film mulching at the 30% flowering stage and barley straw mulching – on perennial vetch productivity. Higher mean soil temperature and soil water content were recorded in the FM treatment than in the control and other treatments. This enhanced perennial vetch growth, as indicated by higher photosynthetic rate, higher leaf area index and greater above-ground dry matter, and thus higher seed yield and water productivity. Examination by multiple linear regression showed the relative contribution of mean soil temperature to the variations in photosynthetic rate, above-ground dry matter and seed yield were greater than soil water content, whereas the reverse occurred in seeds/pod. In conclusion, the FM treatment provided adequate soil temperature and water resources to improve photosynthetic rate, above-ground dry matter, seed yield and water productivity, and thus increased the productivity potential for perennial vetch in the alpine region. The current research provides scientific support for large-scale perennial vetch cultivation and management in alpine regions.
Evaluation of Mobile Health Applications: Is Regulatory Policy Up to the Challenge?
Authors: Moshi Magdalena Ruth , Parsons Jacqueline , Tooher Rebecca , Merlin Tracy
Published: July 2019

Objectives

The aim of this study is to determine whether the approach used in Australia to regulate mobile medical applications (MMA) is consistent with international standards and is suitable to address the unique challenges of these technologies.

Methods

The policies of members of the International Medical Device Regulator's Forum (IMDRF) were analyzed, to determine whether these regulatory bodies address IMDRF recommendations for the clinical evaluation of software as a medical device (SaMD). Case-studies of varying types of regulated MMAs in Australia and the United States were also reviewed to determine how well the guidance in the IMDRF's SaMD: Clinical Evaluation (2017) document was operationalized.

Results

All included jurisdictions evaluated the effectiveness of MMAs and addressed the majority of the key sub-categories recommended in the IMDRF guidance document. However, safety principles concerning information security (cybersecurity) and potential dangers of misinformation (risk-classification) were generally not addressed in either the case-studies or in the policy documents of international regulatory bodies. Australia's approach was consistent with MMA regulation conducted internationally. None of the approaches used by global regulatory bodies adequately addressed the risk of misinformation from apps and the potential for adverse clinical consequences.

Conclusions

The risks posed by MMAs are mainly through the information they provide and how this is used in clinical decision-making. Policy in Australia and elsewhere should be adjusted to follow the IMDRF risk-classification criteria to address potential harms from misinformation. Australian regulatory information should also be updated so the harm posed by cybersecurity and connectivity can be comprehensively evaluated.
Criteria Used for Priority-Setting for Public Health Resource Allocation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
Authors: Kaur Gunjeet , Prinja Shankar , Lakshmi P.V.M. , Downey Laura , Sharma Deepshikha , Teerawattananon Yot
Published: July 2019

Objectives

This systematic review aimed to identify criteria being used for priority setting for resource allocation decisions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Furthermore, the included studies were analyzed from a policy perspective to understand priority setting processes in these countries.

Methods

Searches were carried out in PubMed, Embase, Econlit, and Cochrane databases, supplemented with pre-identified Web sites and bibliographic searches of relevant papers. Quality appraisal of included studies was undertaken. The review protocol is registered in International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO CRD42017068371.

Results

Of 16,412 records screened by title and abstract, 112 papers were identified for full text screening and 44 studies were included in the final analysis. At an overall level, cost-effectiveness 52 percent (n = 22) and health benefits 45 percent (n = 19) were the most cited criteria used for priority setting for public health resource allocation. Inter-region (LMICs) and between various approaches (like health technology assessment, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), accountability for reasonableness (AFR) variations among criteria were also noted. Our review found that MCDA approach was more frequently used in upper middle-income countries and AFR in lower-income countries for priority setting in health. Policy makers were the most frequently consulted stakeholders in all regions.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Priority-setting criteria for health resource allocation decisions in LMICs largely comprised of cost-effectiveness and health benefits criteria at overall level. Other criteria like legal and regulatory framework conducive for implementation, fairness/ethics, and political considerations were infrequently reported and should be considered.
CONSUMER DEMAND, CONSUMPTION, AND ASSET PRICING: AN INTEGRATED ANALYSIS WITH INTERTEMPORAL TWO-STAGE BUDGETING
Authors: Kim H. Youn , Mclaren Keith R. , Wong K. K. Gary
Published: July 2019

This paper integrates seemingly disjoint studies on consumer behavior in micro and macroanalyses via an intertemporal two-stage budgeting procedure with durable goods and liquidity constraints. The model specifies an indirect utility function as a function of nondurable consumption, commodity (nondurables) prices, and durables stock, and derives the demand functions for nondurable goods. A demand function for durable goods is derived in an adjustment cost framework. The consumption growth equation accounts for relative price effects with precautionary saving, durables stock, and liquidity constraints. The stochastic discount factor is approximated by a time-varying linear function of nondurable consumption growth, commodity price growth, durables stock growth, and disposable income growth. The demand functions for six nondurable goods and services are jointly estimated with the Euler equations for bonds, stocks, and durable goods with allowance for liquidity constraints, using US data. Estimation provides new findings for intertemporal consumption and a multifactor consumption-based capital asset pricing model.
Electron Probe Microanalysis Through Coated Oxidized Surfaces
Authors: Matthews Mike B. , Buse Ben , Kearns Stuart L.
Published: July 2019

Low voltage electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of metals can be complicated by the presence of a surface oxide. If a conductive coating is applied, analysis becomes one of a three-layer structure. A method is presented which allows for the coating and oxide thicknesses and the substrate intensities to be determined. By restricting the range of coating and oxide thicknesses, tc and to respectively, x-ray intensities can be parameterized using a combination of linear functions of tc and to. tc can be determined from the coating element k-ratio independently of the oxide thickness. to can then be derived from the O k-ratio and tc. From tc and to the intensity components of the k-ratios from the oxide layer and substrate can each be derived. Modeled results are presented for an Ag on Bi2O3 on Bi system, with tc and to each ranging from 5 to 20 nm, for voltages of 5–20 kV. The method is tested against experimental measurements of Ag- or C-coated samples of polished Bi samples which have been allowed to naturally oxidize. Oxide thicknesses determined both before and after coating with Ag or C are consistent. Predicted Bi Mα k-ratios also show good agreement with EPMA-measured values.
Writing the ‘self’ into self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR) in CBT: learning from autoethnography
Authors: Chigwedere Craig
Published: July 2019

Self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR) allows cognitive behavioural therapists (CBT) to self-experience the techniques they use clinically. However, it is difficult to find published first-hand accounts of CBT therapists’ SP/SR experiences. This may be because CBT research is primarily positivist and objective, while SP/SR is intrinsically subjective. Borrowing from the principles of autoethnography may offer a subjectivist qualitative methodology, allowing CBT therapists to write up their SP/SR experiences as rich, first-hand research material, potentially impacting theory and practice. This novel personal case study of SP/SR borrows from autoethnography, adapting it to analyse the self-practice of the CBT model of worry, in order to understand my own experience of worry as well as the model itself.

Key learning aims

(1)

To develop an approach to the research that is applicable to first-hand SP/SR material.

(2)

To demonstrate how therapists can continue SP/SR practice post-CBT training.

(3)

To illustrate how, with the aid of autoethnographic principles, SP/SR practice can influence not only the practitioner’s personal and therapist-self, but also theory development.