bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Control System Using Time‐State Control Form for Balloon Robot
Authors: Miyamae Hiroki , Hori Katsuki , Uchida Masafumi
Published: January 2021

In this study, we considered an air ship robot with a body composed of a helium‐filled balloon. The robot can move in the air utilizing pectoral fin motion. The body of the robot has high cushioning properties, and it does not use a propeller as a propulsion mechanism. From this perspective, the robot can be considered safe. It can perform a stable floating flight in a room in which people and the robot are close to each other. As potential applications of the robot, we consider the monitoring of satellites and establishing advertising platforms. In this study, we construct an automatic control system for such practical applications. The robot cannot maneuver sideways; therefore, it can be considered a robot with nonholonomic constrains, based on Brockett's study. Various control models have been devised concerning motion with nonholonomic constraints; however, a control system using time‐state control is deemed efficient owing to excellent flexibility and expandability. Therefore, we seek to implement a control system using a time‐state control form. The outline of the proposed control method is as follows. First, we converted the motion model into a time‐state control form using a time state and a state control unit. Second, we constructed a feedback control system that stabilized the state control unit. Outputs of the propulsion velocity and the turning angular velocity were obtained from the control system. We measured the propulsion force and then, on their basis, derived the output patterns. After selecting the motion from the output patterns, we constructed a control system through the simulation and investigated the characteristics of each gain. Based on these results, we considered that gaink1adjusted the speed of reaching the target axis, gaink2adjusted the amount of turning, and gaink3regulated the output corresponding to the propulsion velocity. We conducted an experiment to test the established control system and confirmed that the robot was able to orbit. Based on the experimental results, we conclude that the robot can be controlled according to the user's intention by setting gainsk1andk2sufficiently small when moving along the target axis and by setting gainsk1andk2large when moving toward the target point. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Comparing the behaviour of dogs before and after enucleation due to glaucoma
Authors: Bujan Jesus Diaz , Boyd Emma J. , Pont Roser Tetas
Published: January 2021

Purpose: There is limited literature on owner's attitudes towards enucleation and behavioural changes after enucleation in dogs. The aim of this study is to investigate the owner's perception of canine enucleation as well as gain insight into the behavioural changes of dogs before and after enucleation due to glaucoma.

Methods: This retrospective study involved a questionnaire sent to the owners whose dogs were diagnosed with glaucoma and underwent enucleation at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals between June 2015 and January 2018. Owners were asked about their attitude towards enucleation, and to assess factors that affect their dogs' behaviours (appetite, general activity, playfulness and lethargy) at three time points: before enucleation, immediately after and 2 months after (TMA) enucleation.

Results: Twenty‐six of 45 questionnaires were completed and returned by the owners. TMA enucleation showed the most strongly positive responses indicating that owners perceived an improvement in the behaviours of their pets. 96% of participants were happy with their decision to go ahead with the surgery; and no participants regretted opting for enucleation.

Conclusion: The present study found expression of “normal” behaviour to increase after enucleation.
Clinicopathological features of cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy in 178 dogs
Authors: Walker Joshua James Allen , Holm Laura Phillipa , Sarmiento Óliver González , Caianiello Rosana , Cortellini Stefano , Walker David John
Published: January 2021

Background: One hundred seventy‐eight dogs with cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV) were evaluated to further the understanding of the natural course of CRGV. CRGV, a form of thrombotic microangiopathy, can cause skin lesions and potentially acute kidney injury (AKI) with a high mortality rate.

Methods: Cases were submitted from multiple practices from 2012 until June 2019. Clinical histories and laboratory data were reviewed to describe the features of CRGV.

Results: Most cases (91%) occurred between November and May. Fifteen dogs (8.4%) with CRGV were in contact with another dog that developed skin lesions +/– AKI. Limb lesions were present on 144 dogs (80.9%) at presentation. Median time from appearance of a lesion to AKI was 3 days (range –4–45 days). Neurological signs occurred in 33 dogs (18.6%) including at presentation in 2 (1.1%). Systemic signs were present in 13 dogs prior to a skin lesion (7.3%). Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs were prescribed prior to AKI identification in 92 of 170 dogs (54.1%). Thrombocytopenia was present in 115 of 137 (83.9%) of dogs.

Conclusion: The timeframe over which AKI may develop is longer than previously reported, neurological signs can be identified at presentation or during hospitalisation, and thrombocytopenia is even more common than previously reported.
Comparing two predictive risk models for nematodirosis in Great Britain
Authors: Hopkinson Aidan , Vineer Hannah R. , Armstrong Dave , Stubbings Lesley , Howe Mike , Morgan Eric R. , Graham‐Brown John
Published: January 2021

Background: Nematodirus battus infection is a major health concern in lambs. Development and hatch of infective larvae on pastures is temperature dependent, making model‐based risk forecasting a useful tool for disease control.

Methods: Air and 30 cm soil temperature‐based risk models were used to predict hatch dates using meteorological data from 2019 and compared to infection dates, estimated from the first appearance of N. battus eggs, on 18 sheep farms distributed across Great Britain.

Results: The air temperature model was more accurate in its predictions than the soil temperature model on 12 of the 18 farms, but tended to predict late hatch dates in the early part of the season.

Conclusion: Overall, the air temperature model appears the more appropriate choice for predicting N. battus peak hatch in the UK in terms of accuracy and practicality, but some adjustment might be needed to account for microclimatic variations at the soil–air interface.
Peripheral vestibular disease caused by Raillietia auris in a Barzona bull in the USA
Authors: White Amelia , Bello Kaitlyn , Malmström Ester , Hicks Karly , Starkey Lindsay
Published: January 2021

A 2.5‐year‐old Barzona bull presented for right‐sided head tilt and decreased libido of three‐week duration. Video otoscopy of the external ear canal revealed severe erythema, stenosis, purulent debris, necrosis and numerous live Raillietia auris mites. Decontamination via saline lavages, injectable ceftiofur and dexamethasone treatments failed. Topical 10% permethrin solution in mineral oil proved efficacious at killing R. auris mites, and injectable tulathromycin and dexamethasone were administered until resolution of the bacterial otitis; however, the head tilt persisted, and the bull was slaughtered. Systemic administration of ceftiofur was not effective as a sole treatment, and topical antimicrobial treatments were significantly limited per Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank regulations. Video otoscopy was a useful tool in the rapid diagnosis and management of the otitis. This case highlights the long‐lasting impact of otitis secondary to R. auris mite infestation and the importance of ectoparasite control and rapid treatment of otitis in bovids.
On weak solutions of boundary value problems within the surface elasticity of Nth order
Authors: Eremeyev Victor A. , Lebedev Leonid P. , Cloud Michael J.
Published: January 2021

A study of existence and uniqueness of weak solutions to boundary value problems describing an elastic body with weakly nonlocal surface elasticity is presented. The chosen model incorporates the surface strain energy as a quadratic function of the surface strain tensor and the surface deformation gradients up to Nth order. The virtual work principle, extended for higher‐order strain gradient media, serves as a basis for defining the weak solution. In order to characterize the smoothness of such solutions, certain energy functional spaces of Sobolev type are introduced. Compared with the solutions obtained in classical linear elasticity, weak solutions for solids with surface stresses are smoother on the boundary; more precisely, a weak solution belongs to where and .
Isolationsmaßnahmen, Diagnostik und Organisation in deutschen Notaufnahmen während der COVID-19-Pandemie 2020
Authors: Finke M. , Pin M. , Bernhard M. , Rovas A. , Pavenstädt H.-J. , Kümpers P.
Published: January 2021

Hintergrund

Die deutschen Notaufnahmen arbeiten seit Beginn der COVID-19-Pandemie im Spannungsfeld zwischen hoher Patientendichte und zusätzlichen anspruchsvollen hygienischen und organisatorischen Herausforderungen. Ziel dieser Studie war es einen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand bei Isolationsmaßnahmen, Diagnostik und Patientenallokation von COVID-19-Verdachtsfällen zu gewinnen.

Methoden

Unterstützt durch die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interdisziplinäre Notfall- und Akutmedizin (DGINA) befragten wir Notaufnahmeleiter*Innen im Rahmen einer anonymen Online-Umfrage zu Isolationsmaßnahmen, Diagnostik und Organisation in Notaufnahmen während der COVID-19-Pandemie.

Ergebnisse

Insgesamt nahmen 139 Notaufnahmeleiter*Innen aus allen Bundesländern und allen Versorgungsstufen nach G-BA an der Umfrage teil. In fast allen teilnehmenden Notaufnahmen existieren schriftlich fixierte Verfahrensanweisungen zu COVID-19. Die meisten Notaufnahmen erfragen standardisiert die „klassischen“ COVID-19-Symptome wie Fieber, respiratorische Symptome oder Kontakt zu Corona-Patienten, wobei die Schwelle zur prophylaktischen Isolation sehr unterschiedlich hoch ist und konkrete Maßgaben zur Beendigung der Isolation häufig fehlen. Die individuellen Abstrich- und Allokations-Strategien variieren relativ stark. Weniger als die Hälfte aller Notaufnahmen haben ein gesondertes Procedere für nicht-anamnestizierbare Patienten (z.B. Polytrauma). In ca. 8 % der Verdachtsfälle erfolgt in der Notaufnahme eine COVID-19-spezifische thorakale Computertomographie.

Schlussfolgerung

Zusammenfassend zeigt die aktuelle Umfrage, dass die deutschen Notaufnahmen für den Moment gut aufgestellt. Mit Blick auf eine mögliche Fallzahlsteigerung in den Wintermonaten wäre eine genauere Ausdifferenzierung der bisherigen Empfehlungen des Robert Koch Instituts, speziell für Notaufnahmepatienten, wünschenswert. In diesem Zusammenhang schlagen wir einen universalen Algorithmus zur (Ent-)Isolation von Verdachtsfällen in der Notaufnahme vor.
Sturm theory with applications in geometry and classical mechanics
Authors: Barutello Vivina L. , Offin Daniel , Portaluri Alessandro , Wu Li
Published: January 2021

Classical Sturm non-oscillation and comparison theorems as well as the Sturm theorem on zeros for solutions of second order differential equations have a natural symplectic version, since they describe the rotation of a line in the phase plane of the equation. In the higher dimensional symplectic version of these theorems, lines are replaced by Lagrangian subspaces and intersections with a given line are replaced by non-transversality instants with a distinguished Lagrangian subspace. Thus the symplectic Sturm theorems describe some properties of the Maslov index. Starting from the celebrated paper of Arnol’d on symplectic Sturm theory for optical Hamiltonians, we provide a generalization of his results to general Hamiltonians. We finally apply these results for detecting some geometrical information about the distribution of conjugate and focal points on semi-Riemannian manifolds and for studying the geometrical properties of the solutions space of singular Lagrangian systems arising in Celestial Mechanics.
Evolution of the Standard Genetic Code
Authors: Yarus Michael
Published: January 2021

A near-universal Standard Genetic Code (SGC) implies a single origin for present Earth life. To study this unique event, I compute paths to the SGC, comparing different plausible histories. Notably, SGC-like coding emerges from traditional evolutionary mechanisms, and a superior route can be identified. To objectively measure evolution, progress values from 0 (random coding) to 1 (SGC-like) are defined: these measure fractions of random-code-to-SGC distance. Progress types are spacing/distance/delta Polar Requirement, detecting space between identical assignments/mutational distance to the SGC/chemical order, respectively. The coding system is based on selected RNAs performing aminoacyl-RNA synthetase reactions. Acceptor RNAs exhibit SGC-like Crick wobble; alternatively, non-wobbling triplets uniquely encode 20 amino acids/start/stop. Triplets acquire 22 functions by stereochemistry, selection, coevolution, or at random. Assignments also propagate to an assigned triplet’s neighborhood via single mutations, but can also decay. A vast code universe makes futile evolutionary paths plentiful. Thus, SGC evolution is critically sensitive to disorder from random assignments. Evolution also inevitably slows near coding completion. The SGC likely avoided these difficulties, and two suitable paths are compared. In late wobble, a majority of non-wobble assignments are made before wobble is adopted. In continuous wobble, a uniquely advantageous early intermediate yields an ordered SGC. Revised coding evolution (limited randomness, late wobble, concentration on amino acid encoding, chemically conservative coevolution with a chemically ordered elite) produces varied full codes with excellent joint progress values. A population of only 600 independent coding tables includes SGC-like members; a Bayesian path toward more accurate SGC evolution is available.
Late twentieth century increase in northern Spitsbergen (Svalbard) glacier-derived runoff tracked by coralline algal Ba/Ca ratios
Authors: Hetzinger Steffen , Halfar Jochen , Zajacz Zoltan , Möller Marco , Wisshak Max
Published: January 2021

The Arctic cryosphere is changing rapidly due to global warming. Northern Svalbard is a warming hotspot with a temperature rise of ~ 6 °C over the last three decades. Concurrently, modelled data suggest a marked increase in glacier runoff during recent decades in northern Svalbard, and runoff is projected to increase. However, observational data from before anthropogenic influence are sparse and the potential effects on the surface ocean are unclear. Here, we present a 200-year record of Ba/Ca ratios measured in annual increment-forming coralline algae from northern Spitsbergen as a proxy for past glacier-derived meltwater input. Our record shows a significant increasing trend in algal Ba/Ca ratios from the late-1980s onwards matching modelled regional runoff data, suggesting a drastic increase in land-based runoff. The rate of increase is unprecedented during the last two centuries and captures the impact of amplified warming on the coastal surface ocean in the high Arctic. The algal Ba/Ca runoff proxy offers an opportunity to reconstruct past land-based runoff variability in Arctic settings in high resolution, providing important data for validating and improving climate modelling studies.
Use of music during vaginal birth and caesarean section: an interprofessional survey
Authors: Hepp Philip , Fleisch Markus , Hasselbach Kathrin , Fehm Tanja , Schaal Nora K.
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Evidence abounds about the beneficial effects of music on patients and healthcare professionals for many medical indications. This study aimed to evaluate the dissemination and use of music in the obstetrical setting.

Methods

Invitations to an online survey were sent to physicians and midwives of all obstetrics departments in Germany. The survey gathered descriptive data as well as information about the personal relation to music and the use of it during vaginal birth (VB) and caesarean section (CS) and whether data about positive or negative effects of music were known to the participant.

Results

In total, there were 293 respondents. The 47% that had the means to play music during CS stated that music was played in 15% of the cases. Most respondents have the means to play music during VB (97%). Music is played in 38% of VB. Regardless of the mode of delivery, music was estimated to be positive for team communication and patient communication. It was also deemed calming and mood lifting on the respondents. Regarding the patient, music during CS and VB was rated as being positive on all scales. Listening to music was recommended more often during VB (66%) than CS (38%).

Conclusions

Although healthcare professionals are mostly aware of the beneficial effects of music in obstetrics, our study shows that music plays a more important role during VB than during CS in Germanys obstetrical wards. There is a lack of equipment to play music in operation theatres where CS take place.
Relationship between the degree of recanalization and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke is mediated by penumbra salvage volume
Authors: Broocks Gabriel , Jafarov Hashim , McDonough Rosalie , Austein Friederike , Meyer Lukas , Bechstein Matthias , van Horn Noel , Nawka Marie Teresa , Schön Gerhard , Fiehler Jens , Kniep Helge , Hanning Uta
Published: January 2021

Background

The presence of metabolically viable brain tissue that may be salvageable with rapid cerebral blood flow restoration is the fundament rationale for reperfusion therapy in patients with large vessel occlusion stroke. The effect of endovascular treatment (EVT) on functional outcome largely depends on the degree of recanalization. However, the relationship of recanalization degree and penumbra salvage has not yet been investigated. We hypothesized that penumbra salvage volume mediates the effect of thrombectomy on functional outcome.

Methods

99 acute anterior circulation stroke patients who received multimodal CT and underwent thrombectomy with resulting partial to complete reperfusion (modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction scale (mTICI) ≥ 2a) were retrospectively analyzed. Penumbra volume was quantified on CT perfusion and penumbra salvage volume (PSV) was calculated as difference of penumbra and net infarct growth from admission to follow-up imaging.

Results

In patients with complete reperfusion (mTICI ≥ 2c), the median PSV was significantly higher than the median PSV in patients with partial or incomplete (mTICI 2a–2b) reperfusion (median 224 mL, IQR: 168–303 versus 158 mL, IQR: 129–225; p < 0.01). A higher degree of recanalization was associated with increased PSV (+ 63 mL per grade, 95% CI: 17–110; p < 0.01). Higher PSV was also associated with improved functional outcome (OR/mRS shift: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.85–0.95, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

PSV may be an important mediator between functional outcome and recanalization degree in EVT patients and could serve as a more accurate instrument to compare treatment effects than infarct volumes.
Challenges arising for older workers from participating in a workplace intervention addressing work ability: a qualitative study from Germany
Authors: Sippli Khira , Schmalzried Pia , Rieger Monika A. , Voelter-Mahlknecht Susanne
Published: January 2021

Objective

Studies examining what renders workplace interventions to sustain and promote work ability of older workers successful have largely neglected older workers´ perspective. This paper outlines the results of a study with regard to older workers´ experiences and expectations of a workplace intervention. Based on these findings, some reflections on how to improve the design and the implementation of workplace interventions for older workers are provided.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with older workers (N = 8) participating in a workplace intervention undertaken at one production site of a large manufacturing company in Baden-Wurttemberg/Germany. The interview guide included questions on participants´ experiences with and expectations of the intervention. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2014).

Results

Older workers´ reported some challenges they face due to their participation in the workplace intervention. These resulted from the work environment (physical challenges), the work process design (new long work cycle), the work organization (tight time allowances, little job rotation, change of teams, age stereotypes) and the management of the workplace intervention (bad information, feeling of occupational insecurity and lack of being valued).

Conclusions

The study shows that challenges arising for older workers from their participation in the workplace intervention may have counteracted the promotion of work ability. As findings suggest, some of these challenges might have been avoided either by considering workers´ perspective during design and implementation of an intervention or by referring to evidence on aging and work ability.
Individuality counts: A new comprehensive approach to foraging strategies of a tropical marine predator
Authors: Schwarz Jonas F. L. , Mews Sina , DeRango Eugene J. , Langrock Roland , Piedrahita Paolo , Páez-Rosas Diego , Krüger Oliver
Published: January 2021

Foraging strategies are of great ecological interest, as they have a strong impact on the fitness of an individual and can affect its ability to cope with a changing environment. Recent studies on foraging strategies show a higher complexity than previously thought due to intraspecific variability. To reliably identify foraging strategies and describe the different foraging niches they allow individual animals to realize, high-resolution multivariate approaches which consider individual variation are required. Here we dive into the foraging strategies of Galápagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki), a tropical predator confronted with substantial annual variation in sea surface temperature. This affects prey abundance, and El Niño events, expected to become more frequent and severe with climate change, are known to have dramatic effects on sea lions. This study used high-resolution measures of depth, GPS position and acceleration collected from 39 lactating sea lion females to analyze their foraging strategies at an unprecedented level of detail using a novel combination of automated broken stick algorithm, hierarchical cluster analysis and individually fitted multivariate hidden Markov models. We found three distinct foraging strategies (pelagic, benthic, and night divers), which differed in their horizontal, vertical and temporal distribution, most likely corresponding to different prey species, and allowed us to formulate hypotheses with regard to adaptive values under different environmental scenarios. We demonstrate the advantages of our multivariate approach and inclusion of individual variation to reliably gain a deeper understanding of the adaptive value and ecological relevance of foraging strategies of marine predators in dynamic environments.
The impact of technical failures on recombinant production of soluble proteins in Escherichia coli: a case study on process and protein robustness
Authors: Pekarsky Alexander , Reininger Melanie , Spadiut Oliver
Published: January 2021

Technical failures lead to deviations in process parameters that can exceed studied process boundaries. The impact on cell and target protein is often unknown. However, investigations on common technical failures might yield interesting insights into process and protein robustness. Recently, we published a study on the impact of technical failures on an inclusion body process that showed high robustness due to the inherent stability of IBs. In this follow-up study, we investigated the influence of technical failures during production of two soluble, cytosolic proteins in E. coli BL21(DE3). Cell physiology, productivity and protein quality were analyzed, after technical failures in aeration, substrate supply, temperature and pH control had been triggered. In most cases, cell physiology and productivity recovered during a subsequent regeneration phase. However, our results highlight that some technical failures lead to persistent deviations and affect the quality of purified protein.
Orlicz–Minkowski flows
Authors: Bryan Paul , Ivaki Mohammad N. , Scheuer Julian
Published: January 2021

We study the long-time existence and behavior for a class of anisotropic non-homogeneous Gauss curvature flows whose stationary solutions, if they exist, solve the regular Orlicz–Minkowski problems. As an application, we obtain old and new existence results for the regular even Orlicz–Minkowski problems; the corresponding$$L_p$$Lpversion is the even$$L_p$$Lp-Minkowski problem for$$p>-n-1$$p>-n-1. Moreover, employing a parabolic approximation method, we give new proofs of some of the existence results for thegeneralOrlicz–Minkowski problems; the$$L_p$$Lpversions are the even$$L_p$$Lp-Minkowski problem for$$p>0$$p>0and the$$L_p$$Lp-Minkowski problem for$$p>1$$p>1. In the final section, we use a curvature flow with no global term to solve a class of$$L_p$$Lp-Christoffel–Minkowski type problems.
An existence theorem for Brakke flow with fixed boundary conditions
Authors: Stuvard Salvatore , Tonegawa Yoshihiro
Published: January 2021

Consider an arbitrary closed, countably n-rectifiable set in a strictly convex $$(n+1)$$

(
n
+
1
)

-dimensional domain, and suppose that the set has finite n-dimensional Hausdorff measure and the complement is not connected. Starting from this given set, we show that there exists a non-trivial Brakke flow with fixed boundary data for all times. As $$t \uparrow \infty $$

t
↑
∞

, the flow sequentially converges to non-trivial solutions of Plateau’s problem in the setting of stationary varifolds.
Temperature measurement with thin film sensors during warm forging of steel
Authors: Plogmeyer M. , Kruse J. , Stonis M. , Paetsch N. , Behrens B.-A. , Bräuer G.
Published: January 2021

Warm forged components have better surface properties and higher dimensional accuracy than hot forged components. Diamond-like-carbon (DLC) coatings can be used as wear protection coatings, which are anti-adhesive and extremely hard (up to 3500 HV), to increase tool service life. In the first funding period of the research project at the IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH and the Institute for Surface Technology (IOT) of the Technical University of Braunschweig in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films (IST), the influence of different coating types and process temperatures on tool wear was investigated. The result is, that DLC coatings can reduce tool wear in some cases significantly, but that their service life is strongly dependent on the temperature. Coating-integrated temperature measurement could not be realised at that point, due to adhesion challenges. During the second funding period, the effect of multilayer DLC coatings on tool wear was investigated. Also, an additional method of the temperature measurement on the engraving surface using thin film sensors was developed in order to correlate the local process temperature and local layer wear. In this work, the development of and the results gathered by the thin film temperature sensors are presented, which enable for more accurate temperature measurements than commonly used thermocouples. Their functionality and durability under high loads were investigated and showed to be promising.
Contemporary functional neuroanatomy and pathophysiology of dystonia
Authors: Brüggemann Norbert
Published: January 2021

Dystonia is a disabling movement disorder characterized by abnormal postures or patterned and repetitive movements due to co-contraction of muscles in proximity to muscles desired for a certain movement. Important and well-established pathophysiological concepts are the impairment of sensorimotor integration, a loss of inhibitory control on several levels of the central nervous system and changes in synaptic plasticity. These mechanisms collectively contribute to an impairment of the gating function of the basal ganglia which results in an insufficient suppression of noisy activity and an excessive activation of cortical areas. In addition to this traditional view, a plethora of animal, genetic, imaging and electrophysiological studies highlight the role of the (1) cerebellum, (2) the cerebello-thalamic connection and (3) the functional interplay between basal ganglia and the cerebellum in the pathophysiology of dystonia. Another emerging topic is the better understanding of the microarchitecture of the striatum and its implications for dystonia. The striosomes are of particular interest as they likely control the dopamine release via inhibitory striato-nigral projections. Striosomal dysfunction has been implicated in hyperkinetic movement disorders including dystonia. This review will provide a comprehensive overview about the current understanding of the functional neuroanatomy and pathophysiology of dystonia and aims to move the traditional view of a ‘basal ganglia disorder’ to a network perspective with a dynamic interplay between cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem and cerebellum.
Numerical model of energy dissipation and shallow-water sloshing motions in tank under different coupled excitations
Authors: Su Yan
Published: January 2021

Shallow-water sloshing motions in a three-dimensional rectangular tank are investigated. The Boussinesq-type equations in terms of velocity potential and the finite-difference scheme are applied for the solutions of numerical model. Through linking the rate of decay of the wave amplitudes to the energy dissipation due to the friction at the tank walls, a linear damping term is proposed and added into the free surface boundary condition. Taking the tank under excited frequencies near the lowest natural frequency, the maximum transient wave amplitudes and steady-state wave amplitudes of sloshing motions at the tank wall are presented and verified by the experimental results given in the literature. The characteristics of sloshing motions in tank under different coupled excitations are studied. The results indicate that coupled surge-sway excitations lead to the weaker nonlinear sloshing motions in tank than the single degree of freedom excitations. The intersection of sloshing wave crest lines finally tend to the diagonal line of the tank under the coupled surge-sway excitations with different amplitudes. And the irregular free surface oscillations appear at the corners of the tank excited by the coupled surge-sway-roll-pitch-yaw harmonic motions.
Fulminant myocarditis parvovirus B19 related in a young woman
Authors: Pesce Rita , Taffarello PierPaolo , Rizzo Stefania , Basso Cristina , Cacciavillani Luisa , Del Monte Alvise , Babuin Luciano , Gerosa Gino , Bottio Tomaso
Published: January 2021

We present the case of a 18-year-old female with fulminant lymphocytic myocarditis caused by Parvovirus B19 (PVB19), successfully treated using temporary LVAD. In the literature there is no consensus on the surgical strategy. While some surgeons prefer to use a single device supporting only the LV, others prefer to start immediately with a biventricular supporting. At pre-procedural ultrasound evaluation, her anatomical features were not suitable for a percutaneous device such as the Impella. Thus, a temporary paracorporeal continuous flow LVAD was inserted. The heart recovery allowed LVAD removal 9 days after the implant.
Adultism at the Root of Youth Maltreatment in A. S. King’s Still Life with Tornado
Authors: Dziri Nourhene
Published: January 2021

While child abuse and neglect have been explored at length, less attention has been paid to the role of contemporary realist Young Adult Literature (YAL) in denouncing abusive treatments of young people in conjunction with adultism. It is hereby suggested that age inequality is at the core of youth maltreatment, and it is this intersectionality that should lead attempts to confront this global problem. YAL offers a bottom-up approach to deal with these social issues through first-hand experiences of oppressed, yet cognizant protagonists. This article foregrounds the voice of Sarah, the lead character featured in A. S. King’s Still Life with Tornado (2016), in addressing the drastic outcomes of ageist stereotypes at the family level. The emphasis on the perspective of young people provides an informative understanding of youth subordination, parental power, and adultist discrimination in an effort to challenge such practices.
Climate change—that is not real! A comparative analysis of climate-sceptic think tanks in the USA and Germany
Authors: Busch Timo , Judick Lena
Published: January 2021

The science is clear: climate change is real. In 2015, 195 countries adopted the global climate deal in Paris. Nonetheless, numerous well-organized conservative think tanks (CTTs) deny that climate change is happening. We ask what kind of counterclaims are used by climate-sceptic CTTs and to what extent these counterclaims change over time. We analyse about 2500 blog articles from prominent CTTs in the USA and Germany between 2008 and 2016. Our results show that sceptical arguments about climate policy and science dominate the countermovement. At the same time, we detect that the prevalence of counterclaims is CTT-specific and that US think tanks show a greater variability compared to their German counterparts. In a surprising outcome, we find that the Paris Agreement did not affect the climate denial movement. Based on these insights, we discuss our contributions to social movement research in the climate change denial context and derive conclusions for pro-climate campaigns.
Reviewing qualitative research approaches in the context of critical infrastructure resilience
Authors: Cantelmi R. , Di Gravio G. , Patriarca R.
Published: January 2021

Modern societies are increasingly dependent on the proper functioning of critical infrastructures (CIs). CIs produce and distribute essential goods or services, as for power transmission systems, water treatment and distribution infrastructures, transportation systems, communication networks, nuclear power plants, and information technologies. Being resilient becomes a key property for CIs, which are constantly exposed to threats that can undermine safety, security, and business continuity. Nowadays, a variety of approaches exist in the context of CIs’ resilience research. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review on the approaches that have a complete qualitative dimension, or that can be used as entry points for semi-quantitative analyses. The study aims to uncover the usage of qualitative research methods through a systematic review based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). The paper identifies four principal dimensions of resilience referred to CIs (i.e., techno-centric, organisational, community, and urban) and discusses the related qualitative methods. Besides many studies being focused on energy and transportation systems, the literature review allows to observe that interviews and questionnaires are most frequently used to gather qualitative data, besides a high percentage of mixed-method research. The article aims to provide a synthesis of literature on qualitative methods used for resilience research in the domain of CIs, detailing lessons learned from such approaches to shed lights on best practices and identify possible future research directions.
Is a Negative Attentional Bias in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Explained by Comorbid Depression? An Eye-Tracking Study
Authors: Bergman M. Annemiek , Vrijsen Janna N. , Rinck Mike , van Oostrom Iris , Kan Cornelis C. , Collard Rose M. , van Eijndhoven Philip , Vissers Constance Th. W. M. , Schene Aart H.
Published: January 2021

Heightened attention towards negative information is characteristic of depression. Evidence is emerging for a negative attentional bias in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), perhaps driven by the high comorbidity between ASD and depression. We investigated whether ASD is characterised by a negative attentional bias and whether this can be explained by comorbid (sub) clinical depression. Participants (n = 116) with current (CD) or remitted depression (RD) and/or ASD, and 64 controls viewed positively and negatively valenced (non-)social pictures. Groups were compared on three components of visual attention using linear mixed models. Both CD individuals with and without ASD, but not remitted depressed and never-depressed ASD individuals showed a negative bias, suggesting that negative attentional bias might be a depressive state-specific marker for depression in ASD.
Signaling pathways in human osteoclasts differentiation: ERK1/2 as a key player
Authors: Pennanen Paula , Kallionpää Roope A. , Peltonen Sirkku , Nissinen Liisa , Kähäri Veli-Matti , Heervä Eetu , Peltonen Juha
Published: January 2021

Little is known about the signaling pathways involved in the differentiation of human osteoclasts. The present study evaluated the roles of the Ras/PI3K/Akt/mTOR, Ras/Raf/MEK1/2/ERK1/2, calcium-PKC, and p38 signaling pathways in human osteoclast differentiation. Mononuclear cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of control persons and patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), and the cells were differentiated into osteoclasts in the presence of signaling pathway inhibitors. Osteoclast differentiation was assessed using tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5B. Inhibition of most signaling pathways with chemical inhibitors decreased the number of human osteoclasts and disrupted F-actin ring formation, while the inhibition of p38 resulted in an increased number of osteoclasts, which is a finding contradictory to previous murine studies. However, the p38 inhibition did not increase the bone resorption capacity of the cells. Ras-inhibitor FTS increased osteoclastogenesis in samples from control persons, but an inhibitory effect was observed in NF1 samples. Inhibition of MEK, PI3K, and mTOR reduced markedly the number of NF1-deficient osteoclasts, but no effect was observed in control samples. Western blot analyses showed that the changes in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 correlated with the number of osteoclasts. Our results highlight the fact that osteoclastogenesis is regulated by multiple interacting signaling pathways and emphasize that murine and human findings related to osteoclastogenesis are not necessarily equivalent.
DNA-binding properties of the MADS-domain transcription factor SEPALLATA3 and mutant variants characterized by SELEX-seq
Authors: Käppel Sandra , Eggeling Ralf , Rümpler Florian , Groth Marco , Melzer Rainer , Theißen Günter
Published: January 2021

Key message

We studied the DNA-binding profile of the MADS-domain transcription factor SEPALLATA3 and mutant variants by SELEX-seq. DNA-binding characteristics of SEPALLATA3 mutant proteins lead us to propose a novel DNA-binding mode.

MIKC-type MADS-domain proteins, which function as essential transcription factors in plant development, bind as dimers to a 10-base-pair AT-rich motif termed CArG-box. However, this consensus motif cannot fully explain how the abundant family members in flowering plants can bind different target genes in specific ways. The aim of this study was to better understand the DNA-binding specificity of MADS-domain transcription factors. Also, we wanted to understand the role of a highly conserved arginine residue for binding specificity of the MADS-domain transcription factor family. Here, we studied the DNA-binding profile of the floral homeotic MADS-domain protein SEPALLATA3 by performing SELEX followed by high-throughput sequencing (SELEX-seq). We found a diverse set of bound sequences and could estimate the in vitro binding affinities of SEPALLATA3 to a huge number of different sequences. We found evidence for the preference of AT-rich motifs as flanking sequences. Whereas different CArG-boxes can act as SEPALLATA3 binding sites, our findings suggest that the preferred flanking motifs are almost always the same and thus mostly independent of the identity of the central CArG-box motif. Analysis of SEPALLATA3 proteins with a single amino acid substitution at position 3 of the DNA-binding MADS-domain further revealed that the conserved arginine residue, which has been shown to be involved in a shape readout mechanism, is especially important for the recognition of nucleotides at positions 3 and 8 of the CArG-box motif. This leads us to propose a novel DNA-binding mode for SEPALLATA3, which is different from that of other MADS-domain proteins known.
Language skills, and not executive functions, predict the development of reading comprehension of early readers: evidence from an orthographically transparent language
Authors: Dolean Dacian Dorin , Lervåg Arne , Visu-Petra Laura , Melby-Lervåg Monica
Published: January 2021

The simple view of reading proposes that the development of reading comprehension in early elementary school is best predicted by children’s fluent decoding and oral language skills. Recent studies challenge this view and suggest that executive functions should also be included in this theoretical model; however, the empirical evidence is not strong enough to clearly support or refute this hypothesis. In this short-term longitudinal study, we used latent variables to test whether executive functions have direct effects on the development of reading comprehension in 184 Romanian second graders, beyond fluent decoding and oral language skills. The results indicated that the initial stages of reading comprehension were associated with executive functions, but only the language skills could independently predict the development of reading comprehension. Our findings show that executive functions do not have a significant direct effect on the development of reading comprehension in early readers beyond fluent decoding and oral language skills in languages with transparent orthography. The results also suggest that once children learn to decode well, their language skills (and not their executive functions) have a strong effect on the development of reading comprehension. Therefore, reading interventions in elementary school should stress on the development of oral language skills.
Judicial Response to the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines
Authors: Shapiro Carl , Shelanski Howard
Published: January 2021

We study how the courts have responded to the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Looking at decided cases, we find that both the government and merging parties rely on the 2010 Guidelines in presenting their cases, each side respectively arguing that it should win if the court properly follows them
. The 2010 Guidelines had the strongest effect on the case law in the area of unilateral effects, where a number of courts have embraced them in ways that clearly depart from earlier decisions. The case law now exhibits much greater receptivity to a government showing that the merger will lead to higher prices simply due to the loss of direct competition between the two merging firms. The courts also have followed the 2010 Guidelines by more willingly defining markets around targeted customers. We do not detect any effect on decided cases of the higher concentration thresholds found in the 2010 Guidelines. Both the average pre-merger level of market concentration and the average increase in market concentration alleged by the government in litigated cases to date declined after 2010
.
Education as a Positional Good? Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Authors: Durst Alessa K.
Published: January 2021

People care about their relative standing in society and therefore compare themselves to relevant others. Empirical findings suggest that there are concerns for relative standing for different goods and life domains such as income, cars, attractiveness, and supervisor’s praise. Even education has been mentioned as having a (partially) positional character. However, there has been only small consideration of education as a positional good in the empirical literature so far. Based on the literature on positional concerns and the role of education on relative position, I use German panel data to investigate the relationship between education and life satisfaction beyond the effect education might have through other variables such as income, health, or occupational prestige. Additionally, I consider the possibility that the consumption of education is subject to positional concerns. I discover a positive relationship between education and life satisfaction, indicating that education has a consumption component. Moreover, the relationship depends on the distribution of particular levels of education, suggesting that education has a positional character.
Modeling Within-Item Dependencies in Parallel Data on Test Responses and Brain Activation
Authors: Jeon Minjeong , De Boeck Paul , Luo Jevan , Li Xiangrui , Lu Zhong-Lin
Published: January 2021

In this paper, we propose a joint modeling approach to analyze dependency in parallel response data. We define two types of dependency: higher-level dependency and within-item conditional dependency. While higher-level dependency can be estimated with common latent variable modeling approaches, within-item conditional dependency is a unique kind of information that is often not captured with extant methods, despite its potential to shed new insights into the relationship between the two types of response data. We differentiate three ways of modeling within-item conditional dependency by conditioning on raw values, expected values, or residual values of the response data, which have different implications in terms of response processes. The proposed approach is illustrated with the example of analyzing parallel data on response accuracy and brain activations from a Theory of Mind assessment. The consequence of ignoring within-item conditional dependency is investigated with empirical and simulation studies in comparison to conventional dependency analysis that focuses exclusively on relationships between latent variables.
Seasonalities in the German stock market
Authors: Hofmann Daniel , Keiber Karl Ludwig
Published: January 2021

This paper suggests innovative investment strategies drawing on return seasonalities. By means of an out-of-sample study of the German stock market, we report that these long–short investment strategies earn on average raw returns up to 233 basis points per month throughout two decades from 1998 to 2017. On a monthly basis, this documents an outperformance of the corresponding Heston and Sadka (J Financ Econ 87(2):418–445, 2008) strategy by 66%. This outperformance is robust in magnitude even after adjusting for common risk factors along both the three-factor Fama and French (J Financ Econ 33(1):3–56, 1993) model and the four-factor Carhart (J Finance 52(1):57–82, 1997) model. Categorizing stocks into three risk profiles lets us conclude that long–short momentum portfolios of stocks with a low-risk profile generate robust investment performance.