bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Canal reconstruction mastoidectomy: Outcomes comparison following primary versus secondary surgery
Authors: Stevens Shawn M. , Walters Zoe A. , Babo Kara , Peddireddy Nithin , Tawfik Kareem O. , Samy Ravi N.
Published: March 2019

Objectives/Hypothesis

Compare surgical and audiometric outcomes following canal wall reconstruction (CWR) tympanomastoidectomy used as a primary versus secondary approach for treating cholesteatoma.

Study Design

Retrospective.

Methods

Patients treated for primary/secondary cholesteatoma from 2006 to 2017 via CWR were included if they had preoperative/postoperative audiograms, detailed operative note(s), and >12 months’ follow‐up. Patients were stratified by previous surgical history into two groups: primary CWR group (PG) and secondary CWR group (SG). Surgical outcomes measured were prevalence of recidivistic cholesteatoma, canal cholesteatoma, revision rate, and canal wall down (CWD) conversion rates. Secondary outcomes were prevalence of infection, external canal adhesions/stenoses, and retractions. Audiometric outcomes included change in pure‐tone average and air‐bone gap.

Results

We stratified 45 patients/ears into the PG and 26 into the SG. The groups did not significantly differ in age, sex, or smoking status. Overall, median follow‐up was 35 months. SG patients had higher rates of cholesteatoma detected at staged surgery than did PG patients (P = .04). However, these patients exhibited lower rates of open revision surgery (4% vs.13%) and a significant improvement in air‐bone gap (P = .004). Three PG patients (7%) required conversion to CWD versus zero SG patients. Secondary outcomes were similar. Patients who underwent delayed staging >12 months from CWR had increased rates of recidivism and canal adhesion/stenosis.

Conclusions

CWR was effective for treating cholesteatoma as both a primary and secondary surgical approach. SG patients experienced higher rates of recidivism and secondary canal cholesteatoma. PG patients had higher rates of revision surgery. Staging of ears undergoing CWR is important regardless of prior surgical history.

Level of Evidence

4 Laryngoscope, 129:2580–2587, 2019
Soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations across land use categories and climatic zones in Southern Africa
Authors: Tamene Lulseged , Sileshi Gudeta W. , Ndengu Gift , Mponela Powell , Kihara Job , Sila Andrew , Tondoh Jérôme
Published: March 2019

Although soil degradation is a major threat to food security and carbon sequestration, our knowledge of the spatial extent of the problem and its drivers is very limited in Southern Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the risk of soil structural degradation and determine the variation in soil stoichiometry and nutrient limitations with land use categories (LUCs) and climatic zones. Using data on soil clay, silt, organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S) concentrations collected from 4,468 plots on 29 sites across Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, this study presents novel insights into the variations in soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations. The analysis revealed strikingly consistent stoichiometric coupling of total N, P, and S concentrations with SOC across LUCs. The only exception was on crop land where available P was decoupled from SOC. Across sample plots, the probability (φ) of severe soil structural degradation was 0.52. The probability of SOC concentrations falling below the critical value of 1.5% was 0.49. The probabilities of soil total N, available P, and S concentrations falling below their critical values were 0.95, 0.70, and 0.83, respectively. N limitation occurred with greater probability in woodland (φ = .99) and forestland (φ = .97) than in cropland (φ = .92) and grassland (φ = .90) soils. It is concluded that soil structural degradation, low SOC concentrations, and N and S limitations are widespread across Southern Africa. Therefore, significant changes in policies and practices in land management are needed to reverse the rate of soil structural degradation and increase soil carbon storage.
Competing Exchange and Irreversible Reactions in a Linear Co‐Polycondensation Lead to a Broad Composition Window Where Tunable High Molecular Weight Polymers can be Prepared
Authors: Lang Michael , Böhme Frank
Published: March 2019

A co‐polycondensation reaction is discussed analytically and by Monte‐Carlo simulations where two reactive units compete for reactions with an alternating third reactive unit, whereby irreversible reactions replace bonds which are able to undergo exchange reactions. The resulting number average molar mass,Mn, exhibits only one distinct peak at the stoichiometric condition of both competitors with the alternating partner. The weight average molar mass,Mw, reaches an additional second peak at the stoichiometric condition between the dominating competitor and the alternating partner. Both peaks ofMwsurround a range of compositions where a rather high and approximately constantMwis obtained. The degree of polymerization of the dominating and alternating reaction partners is rather insensitive towards composition fluctuations if the reaction mixture remains within this composition window. This promotes high molecular weight species and more homogeneous weight distributions at incomplete mixing conditions. An ideal reference case (identical reaction rates for all reactions) is solved analytically to describe these reactions. The position of the stable composition window and the average molar masses inside this window can be tuned by choosing appropriate precursor molecules, reaction mixtures, or post‐tuning steps at later times.
miR‐20a inhibits hypoxia‐induced autophagy by targeting ATG5/FIP200 in colorectal cancer
Authors: Che Jing , Wang Wenshan , Huang Yu , Zhang Lu , Zhao Jing , Zhang Peng , Yuan Xianglin
Published: March 2019

Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosome‐mediated protective cellular process in which cytosolic components, including damaged organelles and long‐lived proteins, are cleared. Many studies have shown that autophagy was upregulated in hypoxic regions. However, the precise molecular mechanism of hypoxia‐induced autophagy in colorectal cancer (CRC) is still elusive. In this study, we found that miR‐20a was significantly downregulated under hypoxia in colon cancer cells, and overexpression of miR‐20a alleviated hypoxia‐induced autophagy. Moreover, miR‐20a inhibits the hypoxia‐induced autophagic flux by targeting multiple key regulators of autophagy, including ATG5 and FIP200. Furthermore, by dual‐luciferase assay we demonstrated that miR‐20a directly targeted the 3′‐untranslated region of ATG5 and FIP200, regulating their messenger RNA and protein levels. In addition, reintroduction of exogenous ATG5 or FIP200 partially reversed miR‐20a‐mediated autophagy inhibition under hypoxia. A negative correlation between miR‐20a and its target genes is observed in the hypoxic region of colon cancer tissues. Taken together, our findings suggest that hypoxia‐mediated autophagy was regulated by miR‐20a/ATG5/FI200 signaling pathway in CRC. miR‐20a‐mediated autophagy defect that might play an important role in hypoxia‐induced autophagy during colorectal tumorigenesis.
Identification and prioritization of construction projects investment risks using a hybrid fuzzy approach
Authors: Gharanfoli Bardeya , Valmohammadi Changiz
Published: March 2019

Lack of sufficient knowledge of the project environment can increase investment risks. Accordingly, the identification, grading, and management of risks are essential to project success. Risk identification is an accurate, detailed, and probing process that identifies risks during project life cycle by interacting with individuals and experts. Because risks constantly recur and change during project life cycle, risk identification is an essential and iterative process in all project phases. So, this study aims to identify and prioritise construction projects risks using a hybrid quantitative approach, namely, Fuzzy Decision Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (FDEMATEL) and Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) techniques. After review of the relevant literature and classification of the identified investment risks into three main risks, the above‐mentioned techniques were applied. Results revealed that systemic risk is the most influential factor whereas environmental risk is the most permeable factor among the main criteria. The highest weight belongs to the business risk factor whereas the lowest weight belongs to systemic risk. These were the most and least important factors of the risks involved in construction projects from the perspective of the experts.
Systematic analysis of the impact of imaging noise on dual‐energy CT‐based proton stopping power ratio estimation
Authors: Lee Hugh H. C. , Li Bin , Duan Xinhui , Zhou Linghong , Jia Xun , Yang Ming
Published: March 2019

Purpose

Dual‐energy CT (DECT) has been shown to have a great potential in reducing the uncertainty in proton stopping power ratio (SPR) estimation, when compared to current standard method — the stoichiometric method based on single‐energy CT (SECT). However, a few recent studies indicated that imaging noise may have a substantial impact on the performance of the DECT‐based approach, especially at a high noise level. The goal of this study is to quantify the uncertainty in SPR and range estimation caused by noise in the DECT‐based approach under various conditions.

Methods

Two widely referred parametric DECT methods were studied: the Hünemohr‐Saito (HS) method and the Bourque method. Both methods were calibrated using Gammex tissue substitute inserts scanned on the Siemens Force DECT scanner. An energy pair of 80 and 150 kVp with a tin filter was chosen to maximize the spectral separation. After calibrating the model with the Gammex phantom, CT numbers were synthesized using the density and elemental composition from ICRU 44 human tissues to be used as a reference, in order to evaluate the impact of noise alone while putting aside other sources of uncertainty. Gaussian noise was introduced to the reference CT numbers and its impact was measured with the difference between estimated SPR and its noiseless reference SPR. The uncertainty caused by noise was divided into two independent categories: shift of the mean SPR and variation of SPR. Their overall impact on range uncertainty was evaluated on homogeneous and heterogeneous tissue samples of various water equivalent path lengths (WEPL).

Results

Due to the algorithms being nonlinear and/or having hard thresholds in the CT number to SPR mapping, noise in the CT numbers induced a shift in the mean SPR from its noiseless reference SPR. The degree of the mean shift was dependent on the algorithm and tissue type, but its impact on the SPR uncertainty was mostly small compared to the variation. All mean shifts observed in this study were within 0.5% at a noise level of 2%. The ratio of the influence of variation to mean shift was mostly greater than 1, indicating that variation more likely determined the uncertainty caused by noise. Overall, the range uncertainty (95th percentile) caused by noise was within 1.2% and 1.0% for soft and bone tissues, respectively, at 2% noise with 50 voxels. This value can be considered an upper limit as more voxels and lower noise level rapidly decreased the uncertainty.

Conclusions

We have systematically evaluated the impact of noise to the DECT‐based SPR estimation and identified under various conditions that the variation caused by noise is the dominant uncertainty‐contributing component. We conclude that, based on the noise level and tumor depth, it is important to estimate and include the uncertainty due to noise in estimating the overall range uncertainty before implementing a small margin in the range of 1%.
An efficient 3D stack‐of‐stars turbo spin echo pulse sequence for simultaneous T2‐weighted imaging and T2 mapping
Authors: Keerthivasan Mahesh Bharath , Saranathan Manojkumar , Johnson Kevin , Fu Zhiyang , Weinkauf Craig C. , Martin Diego R. , Bilgin Ali , Altbach Maria I.
Published: March 2019

Purpose

To design a pulse sequence for efficient 3D T2‐weighted imaging and T2 mapping.

Methods

A stack‐of‐stars turbo spin echo pulse sequence with variable refocusing flip angles and a flexible pseudorandom view ordering is proposed for simultaneous T2‐weighted imaging and T2 mapping. An analytical framework is introduced for the selection of refocusing flip angles to maximize relative tissue contrast while minimizing T2 estimation errors and maintaining low specific absorption rate. Images at different echo times are generated using a subspace constrained iterative reconstruction algorithm. T2 maps are obtained by modeling the signal evolution using the extended phase graph model. The technique is evaluated using phantoms and demonstrated in vivo for brain, knee, and carotid imaging.

Results

Numerical simulations demonstrate an improved point spread function with the proposed pseudorandom view ordering compared to golden angle view ordering. Phantom experiments show that T2 values estimated from the stack‐of‐stars turbo spin echo pulse sequence with variable refocusing flip angles have good concordance with spin echo reference values. In vivo results show the proposed pulse sequence can generate qualitatively comparable T2‐weighted images as conventional Cartesian 3D SPACE in addition to simultaneously generating 3D T2 maps.

Conclusion

The proposed stack‐of‐stars turbo spin echo pulse sequence with pseudorandom view ordering and variable refocusing flip angles allows high resolution isotropic T2 mapping in clinically acceptable scan times. The optimization framework for the selection of refocusing flip angles improves T2 estimation accuracy while generating T2‐weighted contrast comparable to conventional Cartesian imaging.
Interaction of cathodal and anodal stimulations in nerve conduction studies
Authors: Kanbayashi Takamichi , Yamauchi Takaharu , Miyaji Yosuke , Sonoo Masahiro
Published: March 2019

Introduction

In this work we investigated the interaction of cathodal and anodal stimulations in nerve conduction studies (NCSs).

Methods

Subjects assessed consisted of 10 healthy volunteers. The ulnar nerve was stimulated at the wrist using 2 bipolar surface electrodes, simulating ordinary NCSs. We were able to independently change the stimulus current value at the distal cathode and the proximal anode.

Results

The anodal stimulation became more difficult to elicit as the stimulus current at the cathode was increased, whereas the cathodal stimulation became more likely to occur as the stimulus current at the anode was increased.

Discussion

During bipolar stimulation, the cathodal stimulation suppresses the anodal stimulation, whereas the anodal stimulation assists the cathodal stimulation. This explains the common observation in NCSs that the cathodal stimulation becomes difficult to elicit when the anode is moved away from the nerve. Muscle Nerve 59:713–716, 2019
The emotional stability of elders with tai chi experience in the sequential risk‐taking task
Authors: Yang Jing , Liu Zhiyuan , Liu Sijia , Li Lin , Zheng Li , Guo Xiuyan
Published: March 2019

The present study investigated the difference of emotional stability between elders with long‐term tai chi experience and elders in a control group during the sequential risk‐taking task. Twenty‐eight tai chi practitioners (age = 67.36 ± 5.91 years, exercise years = 9.23 ± 4.19) and 28 control participants (age = 65.21 ± 3.55 years, other physical exercise without meditation component) participated in the experiment. Participants were asked to open a series of boxes consecutively and decided when to stop. Each box contained a reward, except for one, which contained a “devil.” This box would eliminate the participant's score in the trial. Once participants stopped, both collected gains and missed chances were revealed. Then, participants rated how they felt on a 9‐point scale from extreme regret to extreme relief. Additionally, participants filled out the Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Version 11, the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory, and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. The tai chi group showed a higher meditation level, stronger emotional stability, and less risk propensity (all ps < .05) than the control group. In the tai chi group, meditation level was positively correlated with emotional stability (r = −.47, p < .01). Moreover, subjective emotion was negatively correlated with subsequent behavior (tai chi: β = −.44, p < .001; control: β = −.27, p < .001). Subjective emotion rating entirely mediated the relationship between objective outcome and subsequent behavioral change in the control group, whereas it partially mediated such relationship in the tai chi group. The current cross‐sectional study found a difference of behavior and feeling between elders with long‐term tai chi experience and elders in the control group, which suggests that long‐term tai chi experience could enhance elders’ emotional stability and reduce their risk propensity during the sequential risk‐taking task.
Numerical Simulation on Thickness Dependency and Bias Stress Test of Ultrathin IGZO Thin‐Film Transistors Via a Solution Process
Authors: Labed Mohamed , Sengouga Nouredine , Kim Kyung Hwan , Rim You Seung
Published: March 2019

The authors report the effect of ultra‐thin channel layer thickness on the performance of an amorphous InGaZnO (a‐IGZO) thin‐film transistor (TFT). Numerical simulation is used to investigate the thickness effect on the a‐IGZO TFT output parameters. The simulation results are compared to measurements of the stability of nitrate ligand‐based hexaaqua complexes solution‐processed ultrathin a‐IGZO transistors a‐IGZO. This TFT is also tested under negative illumination bias stress (NIBS) and positive bias stress (PBS). The thinner channel layer is found to have a better performance than the thicker channel layer. The 4 nm‐thick, ultra‐thin a‐IGZO TFT exhibits high saturation mobility (7.56 cm2 V−1 s−1), low threshold voltage (2.73 V), a small value of sub threshold swing (0.22 V dec−1), and a high on/off ratio (). It is also noticed that the threshold voltage (Vth) shifts negatively as the thickness increases. The 4 nm long channel TFT shows more stability under NIBS and PBS while 16 nm have a strong degradation under NIBS and PBS.
Optical Absorption of Excitons in Strained Quasi 2D GaN Quantum Dot
Authors: Aghoutane Noreddine , El‐Yadri Mohamed , El Aouami Asmae , Feddi El Mustapha , Dujardin Francis , El Haouari Mohamed
Published: March 2019

The influences of hydrostatic pressure combined to the size effect on the behavior of the exciton in 2D GaN/AlN quantum ultra‐thin disk, on the binding energy and optical absorption coefficient are investigated. Our approach is performed in the framework of effective mass theory and by using a variational method with a robust trial wave function and taking into account the dependence of the size, the dielectric constant and the effective masses on the pressure. Variations of the excitonic binding energy, optical transition energy are determined according to hydrostatic pressure. The results of our numerical calculations show that the applied pressure favors the electron–hole attraction leading to an increase of the ground state exciton binding energy, and causes a shift of the absorption coefficient toward high energies (blue shift).
Experimental proof of concept of an SDN‐based traffic engineering solution for hybrid satellite‐terrestrial mobile backhauling
Authors: Mendoza Fabian , Ferrus Ramon , Sallent Oriol
Published: March 2019

Satellite networks are expected to be an integral part of 5G service deployment. One compelling use case is mobile backhauling, where the exploitation of a satellite component can improve the reach, robustness, and economics of 5G rollout. The envisaged availability of new satellite capacity, together with the development of better integration approaches for the provisioning and operation of the satellite component in a more flexible, agile, and cost‐effective manner than done today, are expected to revamp such use case within the 5G ecosystem. In this context, sustained in the architectural designs proposed within H2020 VITAL research project, this paper presents an experimental proof of concept (PoC) of a satellite‐terrestrial integration solution that builds upon software‐defined networking (SDN) technologies for the realization of end‐to‐end traffic engineering (E2E TE) in mobile backhauling networks with a satellite component. A laboratory test bed has been developed and validated, consisting of a small‐scale private mobile network with a backhaul setting that combines Ethernet‐wired links, a satellite link emulator (OpenSAND), OpenFlow switches, and an OpenFlow controller running the network application for E2E TE. Provided results show the operation of a E2E TE application able to enforce different traffic routing and path failure restoration policies as well as the performance impact that it has on the mobile network connectivity services.
Jewels in the crown: Exploring the motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs
Authors: Shah Sonali K. , Agarwal Rajshree , Echambadi Raj
Published: March 2019

Research Summary

This study examines motivations and team building processes of employee entrepreneurs in the disk‐drive industry. Our inductive, grounded theory building approach uncovers that ringleaders—founders who spearhead spinout creation—are driven by a nonpecuniary desire to create in a fertile environment, when they encounter frictions within the parent firm. Cofounders share the desire to create, but ensure departure on good terms to retain the option of returning to paid employment as a safeguard against entrepreneurial risk. We uncover an endogenous team building process in which more successful founding teams engage in “workplace instrumentality”—creating workplaces through deliberate selection of cofounders who have complementary functional knowledge, but are similar in that they possess superior problem‐solving abilities, best‐in‐class talent, and common workplace values.

Managerial Summary

The paper examines the motivations and founding team building processes of individuals who leave existing firms to create new ventures. In contrast to conventional wisdom that suggests preformed teams working on innovation projects leave together, we find founding teams are created when a “ringleader” chooses to venture out and subsequently seeks out cofounders. Ringleaders and cofounders alike are motivated by a desire to create given fertile opportunities and care deeply about equity, but ringleaders additionally experience at least one organizational push factor. Almost all founding teams are created to ensure the presence of complementary, functional knowledge. However, more successful spinouts also select cofounders who are hands on problem‐solvers, best‐in‐class talent, and who share common workplace values.
Influence of V and Nb Micro‐Alloying on Direct Quenched and Tempered Ultra‐High Strength Steels
Authors: Esterl Raphael , Sonnleitner Markus , Gschöpf Boris , Schnitzer Ronald
Published: March 2019

The construction of mobile crane booms requires the usage of ultra‐high strength steels. Micro‐alloying elements promote grain refinement during hot rolling and result in increased toughness. The relevant strength is given through a martensitic microstructure, which is accomplished by elements retarding the γ to α transformation. Direct quenching (DQ) from the rolling heat and quenching after a preceding re‐austenitization (RQ) are two different production routes. They differ regarding their productivity, their achievable strength levels, and their resulting microstructures. In order to explore the influence of the production route in combination with prominent micro‐alloying elements, which come to application during hot‐rolling, six steels with varying content of V and Nb are investigated concerning their different properties after DQ and RQ as well as their behavior after tempering. It is found, that Nb strongly improves the strength after thermomechanical processing in the as‐rolled condition. Furthermore, Nb compensates the loss of strength during tempering. This effect is not thoroughly discussed in literature so far. Although Nb leads to grain refining during re‐austenitization, the effects on the strength of RQ steels are minimal. The effect after tempering is also weaker than after direct quenching. It is also shown, that V offers a high strength potential after tempering, however weakens the impact toughness significantly.
High Temperature Deformation Characteristics of an Alumina‐Forming Stainless Steel
Authors: Luo Rui , Yang Yutong , Bian Huakang , Chen Leli , Ouyang Lingxiao , Peng Ching‐Tun , Gao Pei , Xu Guifang , Cheng Xiaonong
Published: March 2019

This investigation study deformation characteristics of an innovative stainless steel, alumina‐forming austenitic (AFA) Fe–20Cr–30Ni–0.6Nb–2Al–Mo steel, at elevated temperature, and those isothermal hot compression tests are performed with various temperatures and strain rates. The results show that as the temperature decreases (or as strain rate rised), the stress level increases. On the other hand, in order to better predict the flow stress behavior, a modified constitutive relationship model is established based on the strain‐compensated Arrhenius‐type equation, and the accuracy of this modified model is examined statistically. Furthermore, by comparing with the experimental results, this modified constitutive model is proved to be able to precisely predict the high temperature flow behaviors of the AFA alloy. In addition, processing maps of this alloy are also constructed, and expanded instability regions are found with higher strain rate values (above 0.18 s−1). Moreover, from the microstructure characterization, the features of both adiabatic shear bands and flow localization are formed in those samples of instability regions. Eventually, the optimum high temperature deformation parameters can be determined as 1050–1120 0.01–0.1 s−1 and 1120–1150 °C/10−0.5–10−1.5 s−1 for this AFA alloy.
How strongly does statistical reasoning influence knowledge and acceptance of evolution?
Authors: Fiedler Daniela , Sbeglia Gena C. , Nehm Ross H. , Harms Ute
Published: March 2019

A large body of research has examined students' conceptions of evolution and their relationships to acceptance of evolution. Proficiency in statistical and probabilistic reasoning has long been considered to be an essential feature of evolutionary reasoning, yet almost no empirical work has explored these putative connections. The RaPro instruments have recently been developed to measure statistical reasoning in the contexts of mathematics (RaProMath) and evolution (RaProEvo). Our study provides additional validation of these instruments using Rasch analysis and quantifies the contribution of statistical reasoning to both understanding and accepting evolution. We recruited a large sample (N = 564) of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory biology course at a large public research university in the United States. Students completed a suite of published instruments that assessed statistical reasoning, evolutionary understanding, and evolutionary acceptance. Our findings indicate that validity inferences derived from RaPro scores generalized to the new sample, and that proficiency in statistical reasoning explained 28% of the variance in evolutionary knowledge and 19% of the variation in evolutionary acceptance. The inclusion of demographic variables into the model significantly increased the explained variance in acceptance. Notably, the variance in evolution acceptance explained by statistical reasoning was comparable to that of thinking dispositions or evolutionary knowledge reported in the literature. This work provides the first large‐scale evidence of the role of statistical reasoning in evolutionary knowledge and acceptance and motivates future work to explore how statistical literacy should be integrated into evolution education efforts.
Taiwanin C elicits apoptosis in arecoline and 4‐nitroquinoline‐1‐oxide‐induced oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and hinders proliferation via epidermal growth factor receptor/PI3K suppression
Authors: Tsai Cheng‐Yen , Fang Hsin‐Yuan , Shibu Marthandam Asokan , Lin Yueh‐Min , Chou Yung‐Chen , Chen Yi‐Hui , Day Cecilia‐Hsuan , Shen Chia‐Yao , Ban Bo , Huang Chih‐Yang
Published: March 2019

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSSC) is a major life‐threatening disease with high incidence in the Southeast Asian countries. Chronic exposure to arecoline causes genetic changes in the epithelial cells of the oral mucosa, induces proliferation through activation of the EGF receptor and promotes downstream COX‐2 expression. Taiwanin C, a podophyllotoxin derived from Taiwania cryptomerioides Hayata is known to inhibit COX activity and to hinder PGE2 production in macrophages. In this study a tumor cell line T28 and a non‐tumor cell line N28 derived from mice OSCC models were used to study the effect of Taiwanin C on PGE2 associated COX‐2 expression and cell cycle regulators. Taiwanin C activated p21 protein expression, down‐regulated cell cycle regulatory proteins, elevated apoptosis and down‐regulated p‐PI3K/p‐Akt survival mechanism in T28 oral cancer cells. Our results therefore emphasize the therapeutic potential of Taiwanin C against arecoline‐induced oral cancer.
Elektronenstrahlverdampfen von Silizium
Authors: Amkreutz Daniel , Muske Martin
Published: March 2019

Electron beam evaporation of silicon

High rate electron beam evaporation of silicon is a versatile technique to deposit silicon layers with tailored properties on large areas in a cost effective manner. A unique feature of the process is the wide range of deposition rates that can be selected. This technique allows for the deposition of nanometer thin layers with high reproducibility on the one hand, on the other hand layers with thicknesses of several tens of micrometers and low film stress can be deposited within minutes. Due to the high quality of the deposited silicon it is possible to form ultra‐thin layers as contacts in solar cells or for TFT applications or several 10 micrometer thick films as absorbers in LPC solar cells or as “construction” material for MEMS. This article reports on the deposition process, the material properties and illustrates the applicability based on examples from our current research activities.
An Internet of Things Based Platform for Real-Time Management of Energy Consumption in Water Resource Recovery Facilities
Authors: Nunes Mário , Alves Rita , Casaca Augusto , Póvoa Pedro , Botelho José
Published: March 2019

The article describes the design of an Internet of Things based platform having as main objective the real-time management of energy consumption in water resource recovery facilities and their integration in a future demand side management environment. The monitoring of several electrical parameters, including energy consumption, is done via a dedicated energy meter, whose design is detailed in the article. The high level data communication from the energy meters to a central platform of the wastewater utility is done via the MQTT protocol. Within the water resource recovery facility, the access network is based either on Wi-Fi or LoRa, which are two enabling technologies for the Internet of Things. The meters are deployed in pilot demonstrators located in two water resource recovery facilities in Lisbon, Portugal.
Issues in Implementing a Data Integration Platform for Electric Vehicles Using the Internet of Things
Authors: Smuts Martin , Scholtz Brenda , Wesson Janet
Published: March 2019

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has brought new improvement and development opportunities to the automotive industry, such as electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are well-known for their short ranges and many studies have reported on the challenges of trip planning and accurate remaining driving range (RDR) estimation. While the demand for connected vehicle applications and its enabling technology has progressed significantly in recent years, there are several constraints for connected and collaborative vehicle application deployments. Data integration issues are currently hindering the development of effective trip planning and RDR estimation solutions for drivers of EVs. Additional constraints have been identified in developing countries, including lack of charging station networks, EV data sources, and software applications. The purpose of this paper is to report on some of the main issues hindering EV data integration, as well as to report on an implementation in South Africa of a Data Integration Platform for EV data using the IoT. The findings show that data integration issues primarily relate to data availability, data quality, and interoperability between devices, IoT platforms, and EV service providers. The paper also identifies enabling technologies, drivers, and future directions for researchers in the IoT and EV domains.
A physiological perspective on the ecology and evolution of partial migration
Authors: Hegemann Arne , Fudickar Adam M. , Nilsson Jan-Åke
Published: March 2019

Billions of animals migrate between breeding and non-breeding areas worldwide. Partial migration, where both migrants and residents coexist within a population, occurs in most animal taxa, including fish, insects, birds and mammals. Partial migration has been hypothesised to be the most common form of migration and to be an evolutionary precursor to full migration. Despite extensive theoretical models about partial migration and its potential to provide insight into the ecology and evolution of migration, the physiological mechanisms that shape partial migration remain poorly understood. Here, we review current knowledge on how physiological processes mediate the causes and consequences of avian partial migration, and how they may help us understand why some individuals migrate and others remain resident. When information from birds is missing, we highlight examples from other taxa. In particular, we focus on temperature regulation, metabolic rate, immune function, oxidative stress, telomeres, and neuroendocrine and endocrine systems. We argue that these traits provide physiological pathways that regulate the ecological and behavioural causes and/or consequences of partial migration, and may provide insight into the mechanistic basis of wintering decisions. They may, thus, also help us to explain why individuals switch strategies among winters. We also highlight current gaps in our knowledge and suggest promising future research opportunities. A deeper understanding of the physiological mechanisms mediating the causes and consequences of partial migration will not only provide novel insights into the ecology and evolution of migration in general, but will also be vital to precisely modelling population trends and predicting range shifts under global change.
Emotions in Organization Theory
Authors: Zietsma Charlene , Toubiana Madeline , Voronov Maxim , Roberts Anna
Published: March 2019

Emotions are central to social life and thus they should be central to organization theory. However, emotions have been treated implicitly rather than theorized directly in much of organization theory, and in some literatures, have been ignored altogether. This Element focuses on emotions as intersubjective, collective and relational, and reviews structuralist, people-centered and strategic approaches to emotions in different research streams to provide one of the first broad examinations of emotions in organization theory. Charlene Zietsma, Maxim Voronov, Madeline Toubiana and Anna Roberts provide suggestions for future research within each literature and look across the literatures to identify theoretical and methodological considerations.
Teaching research methods: Introducing a psychogeographical approach
Authors: Hindley Clare , Knowles Deborah , Ruth Damian
Published: March 2019

This paper explores teaching business students research methods using a psychogeographical approach, specifically the technique of dérive. It responds to calls for new ways of teaching in higher education and addresses the dearth of literature on teaching undergraduate business students qualitative research methods. Psychogeography challenges the dominance of questionnaires and interviews, introduces students to data variety, problematizes notions of success and illuminates the importance of observation and location. Using two studies with undergraduate students, the authors emphasize place and setting, the perception of purpose, the choice of data, criteria of success and the value of guided reflection and self-reflection in students’ learning. Additionally the data reflect on the way students perceive research about management and the nature of management itself. The paper concludes that the deployment of psychogeography to teach business research methods although complex and fraught with difficulty is nevertheless viable, educationally productive and worthy of further research.
Le «deux-en-un» : les racines platoniciennes de la «banalité du mal»
Authors: LAVALLÉE MARIE-JOSÉE
Published: March 2019

Le concept de banalité du mal, proposé par Hannah Arendt pour décrire le profil psychologique du criminel nazi dansEichmann in Jerusalem, est intimement lié à ses lectures de Platon. Pour aborder la question du mal, elle a découvert des appuis chez Kant, mais le problème de la culpabilité sous le régime nazi renvoie ultimement au défaut de penser. Le deux-en-un, concept qui décrit la pensée, a été défini sur la base de l’œuvre platonicienne. L’examen de ces sources philosophiques permet de mieux comprendre les possibilités et les limites de la réflexion arendtienne sur le mal.
REBELS, THE DEATH PENALTY, AND LEGAL PROCESS IN LATE COLONIAL BURMA
Authors: BROWN IAN
Published: March 2019

For imperial Britain, it has often been stated, the introduction and maintenance of the rule of law was a cardinal responsibility and indeed the great achievement of empire. But this is a view that has also been strongly challenged. For example, it has been argued that often at times of crisis, maintaining the rule of law collided with the primary responsibility of the colonial state to secure social order, with the state then turning to emergency measures, forsaking the rule of law and legal process. In the early 1930s, the colonial state in Burma faced a major rebellion, and indeed emergency measures were introduced to try the large number of rebels captured. However, this article, drawing on a substantial collection of files created by the trials and the appeals that arose from them, argues that, within that emergency regime, long-established legal processes were retained to a striking degree. In fact, the article concludes, at a time of severe challenge to the colonial order, maintaining the rule of law and legal process became still more critical in the colonial mind, for were it to be forsaken, those charged with running the colonial state would be forced to question its – and their – very purpose.
Ion Landau damping and drift tearing modes
Authors: Connor J. W. , Ham C. J. , Hastie R. J. , Zocco A.
Published: March 2019

Kinetic treatments of drift tearing modes that match an inner, resonant layer solution to an external magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) solution, characterised by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E5}^{\prime }$, can fail to match the ideal MHD boundary condition on the parallel electric field, $E_{\Vert }=0$. In this paper we demonstrate how consideration of ion sound and ion Landau damping effects achieves this, placing the theory on a firm footing. These effects are found to modify the effective critical $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E5}^{\prime }$ for instability of drift tearing modes, in particular for weak electron temperature gradients. The implications for a realistic hot plasma resonant layer model – involving large ion Larmor radius and semi-collisional electron physics (Connor et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, vol. 54, 2012, 035003) – are determined.
How uncertainty begets hope: A model of adaptive and maladaptive seeking behavior
Authors: Zack Martin
Published: March 2019

The “incentive hope” model creatively explains hoarding and fat accumulation by foragers under uncertainty and food seeking when food cues are present but food is not. The model has difficulty explaining why animals driven by cues fare better than animals driven by food reward itself, why human obesity exists when food is abundant, and why people enjoy gambling and care about winning.
Considerations for the study of “incentive hope” and sign-tracking behaviors in humans
Authors: Pool Eva R. , Sander David
Published: March 2019

The amplification of reward-seeking behavior under uncertainty described by Anselme & Güntürkün is based on the animal literature. However, this phenomenon could provide valuable information for the understanding of several dysfunctional human behaviors such as overeating and gambling. Therefore, we formulated some considerations on how the “incentive hope” hypothesis could be tested on a human population.
Beyond “incentive hope”: Information sampling and learning under reward uncertainty
Authors: Wang Maya Zhe , Hayden Benjamin Y.
Published: March 2019

Information seeking, especially when motivated by strategic learning and intrinsic curiosity, could render the new mechanism “incentive hope” proposed by Anselme & Güntürkün sufficient, but not necessary to explain how reward uncertainty promotes reward seeking and consumption. Naturalistic and foraging-like tasks can help parse motivational processes that bridge learning and foraging behaviors and identify their neural underpinnings.
Mechanistic models must link the field and the lab
Authors: Houston Alasdair I. , Malhotra Gaurav
Published: March 2019

In the theory outlined in the target article, an animal forages continuously, making sequential decisions in a world where the amount of food and its uncertainty are fixed, but delays are variable. These assumptions contrast with the risk-sensitive foraging theory and create a problem for comparing the predictions of this model with many laboratory experiments that do not make these assumptions.
“Incentive hope” and the nature of impulsivity in low-socioeconomic-status individuals
Authors: Walsh Francesca , Cheries Erik , Kwak Youngbin
Published: March 2019

Low-income environments have been associated with greater levels of impulsive behavior, which contribute to the higher debt and obesity rates that further perpetuate current wealth and health disparities. In this commentary, we describe how this might be explained by an appeal to “incentive hope” and the motivational drive toward consumption triggered by the future uncertainty these groups face.
“How Foraging Works”: Let's not forget the physiological mechanisms of energy balance
Authors: Smulders Tom V. , Boswell Timothy , Henderson Lindsay J.
Published: March 2019

Anselme & Güntürkün propose a novel mechanism to explain the increase in foraging motivation when experiencing an unpredictable food supply. However, the physiological mechanisms that maintain energy homeostasis already control foraging intensity in response to changes in energy balance. Therefore, unpredictability may just be one of many factors that feeds into the same dopaminergic “wanting” system to control foraging intensity.
Extending models of “How Foraging Works”: Uncertainty, controllability, and survivability
Authors: Hulme Oliver J. , Kvitsiani Duda
Published: March 2019

We argue that How Foraging Works sketches a good foundational model, but it needs expanding to incorporate hierarchical and multiscale conceptions of uncertainty and to incorporate inference of environmental controllability. Most pressingly, its algorithmic implementation needs to be better justified in terms of its functional forms and, ultimately, to be more heavily constrained by survival optimality.
Complex social ecology needs complex machineries of foraging
Authors: Matsushima Toshiya , Amita Hidetoshi , Ogura Yukiko
Published: March 2019

Uncertainty is caused not only by environmental changes, but also by social interference resulting from competition over food resources. Actually, foraging effort is socially facilitated, which, however, does not require incentive control by the dopamine system; Zajonc's “drive” theory is thus questionable. Instead, social adjustments may be pre-embedded in the limbic network responsible for decisions of appropriate effort-cost investment.
Expression and intracellular localization of Nanos2-homologue protein in primordial germ cells and spermatogonial stem cells
Authors: Pandey Vivek , Tripathi Anima , Dubey Pawan K.
Published: March 2019

The decision by germ cells to differentiate and undergo either oogenesis or spermatogenesis takes place during embryonic development and Nanos plays an important role in this process. The present study was designed to investigate the expression patterns in rat of Nanos2-homologue protein in primordial germ cells (PGCs) over different embryonic developmental days as well as in spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). Embryos from three different embryonic days (E8.5, E10.5, E11.5) and SSCs were isolated and used to detect Nanos2-homologue protein using immunocytochemistry, western blotting, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry. Interestingly, Nanos2 expression was detected in PGCs at day E11.5 onwards and up to colonization of PGCs in the genital ridge of fetal gonads. No Nanos2 expression was found in PGCs during early embryonic days (E8.5 and 10.5). Furthermore, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence data revealed that Nanos2 expression was restricted within a subpopulation of undifferentiated spermatogonia (As, single type A SSCs and Apr, paired type A SSCs). The same results were confirmed by our western blot and RT-PCR data, as Nanos2 protein and transcripts were detected only in PGCs from day E11.5 and in undifferentiated spermatogonia (As and Apr). Furthermore, Nanos2-positive cells were also immunodetected and sorted using flow cytometry from the THY1-positive SSCs population, and this strengthened the idea that these cells are stem cells. Our findings suggested that stage-specific expression of Nanos2 occurred on different embryonic developmental days, while during the postnatal period Nanos2 expression is restricted to As and Apr SSCs.
Religion and Democratic Citizenship: A Multilevel Examination
Authors: Bolzendahl Catherine , Schnabel Landon , Sagi Rottem
Published: March 2019

We conduct a multilevel examination of the relationship between religiosity and democratic citizenship norms and behaviors using International Social Survey Program data. We analyze how democratic engagement varies according to individual and national average religious involvement in 28 predominantly-Christian democracies. We find that (1) individual-level religious attendance is positively linked to both what people say (norms) and what they do (participation); (2) nations with higher aggregate national attendance participate less politically; and (3) the relationship between individual-level religious engagement and citizenship varies by national religious context. More specifically, individual religious attendance matters more where it is more distinctive (i.e., in more secular countries). Individual-level religious participation is generally conducive to citizenship, but its impact is context-dependent.