bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards Transparency by Design for Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Felzmann Heike , Fosch-Villaronga Eduard , Lutz Christoph , Tamò-Larrieux Aurelia
Published: November 2020

In this article, we develop the concept of Transparency by Design that serves as practical guidance in helping promote the beneficial functions of transparency while mitigating its challenges in automated-decision making (ADM) environments. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the ability of AI systems to make automated and self-learned decisions, a call for transparency of how such systems reach decisions has echoed within academic and policy circles. The term transparency, however, relates to multiple concepts, fulfills many functions, and holds different promises that struggle to be realized in concrete applications. Indeed, the complexity of transparency for ADM shows tension between transparency as a normative ideal and its translation to practical application. To address this tension, we first conduct a review of transparency, analyzing its challenges and limitations concerning automated decision-making practices. We then look at the lessons learned from the development of Privacy by Design, as a basis for developing the Transparency by Design principles. Finally, we propose a set of nine principles to cover relevant contextual, technical, informational, and stakeholder-sensitive considerations. Transparency by Design is a model that helps organizations design transparent AI systems, by integrating these principles in a step-by-step manner and as an ex-ante value, not as an afterthought.
Constitutive PGC-1α Overexpression in Skeletal Muscle Does Not Contribute to Exercise-Induced Neurogenesis
Authors: Karlsson Lars , González-Alvarado María Nazareth , Motalleb Reza , Wang Yafeng , Wang Yong , Börjesson Mats , Zhu Changlian , Kuhn Hans-Georg
Published: November 2020

Physical exercise can improve age-dependent decline in cognition, which in rodent is partly mediated by restoration of an age-dependent decline in neurogenesis. Exercise-inducible myokines in the circulation present a link in muscle-brain crosstalk. The transcription factor PGC-1α regulates the release of such myokines with neurotrophic properties into the circulation. We study how chronic muscular overexpression of PGC-1α could contribute to exercise-induced effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and if this effect could be enhanced in a running wheel paradigm. We used 3- and 11-month-old transgenic mice with overexpression of PGC-1α under the control of muscle creatinine kinase promoter (MCK-PGC-1α), which have a constitutively developed endurance muscle phenotype. Wild-type and MCK-PGC-1α mice were single housed with free access to running wheels. Four weeks of running in female animals increased the levels of newborn cells, immature neurons, and, for young animals, new mature neurons, compared to sedentary controls. However, no difference in these parameters was observed between wild-type and transgenic mice under sedentary or running conditions. Multiplex analysis of serum cytokines, chemokines, and myokines suggested several differences in serum protein concentrations between genotypes with musclin found to be significantly upregulated 4-fold in male MCK-PGC-1α animals. We conclude that constitutive muscular overexpression of PGC-1α, despite systemic changes and difference in serum composition, does not translate into exercise-induced effects on hippocampal neurogenesis, independent of the age of the animal. This suggests that chronic activation of PGC-1α in skeletal muscle is by itself not sufficient to mimic exercise-induced effects or to prevent decline of neurogenesis in aging.
On a Problem of Pichorides
Authors: Bakas Odysseas
Published: November 2020

Let $$S^{(\Lambda )}$$

S

(
Λ
)

denote the classical Littlewood–Paley operator formed with respect to a lacunary sequence $$\Lambda $$
Λ
of positive integers. Motivated by a remark of Pichorides, we obtain sharp asymptotic estimates of the behaviour of the operator norm of $$S^{(\Lambda )}$$

S

(
Λ
)

from the analytic Hardy space $$H^p_A (\mathbb {T})$$

H
A
p

(
T
)

to $$L^p (\mathbb {T})$$

L
p

(
T
)

and of the behaviour of the $$L^p (\mathbb {T}) \rightarrow L^p (\mathbb {T})$$

L
p

(
T
)

→

L
p

(
T
)

operator norm of $$S^{(\Lambda )}$$

S

(
Λ
)

($$1< p < 2$$

1
<
p
<
2

) in terms of the ratio of the lacunary sequence $$\Lambda $$
Λ
. Namely, if $$\rho _{\Lambda }$$

ρ
Λ

denotes the ratio of $$\Lambda $$
Λ
, then we prove that $$\begin{aligned} \sup _{\begin{array}{c} \Vert f \Vert _{L^p (\mathbb {T})} = 1 \\ f \in H^p_A (\mathbb {T}) \end{array}} \big \Vert S^{(\Lambda )} (f) \big \Vert _{L^p (\mathbb {T})} \lesssim \frac{1}{p-1} (\rho _{\Lambda } - 1)^{-1/2} \quad (1< p < 2) \end{aligned}$$

sup

‖
f
‖

L
p

(
T
)

=
1

f
∈

H
A
p

(
T
)

‖

S

(
Λ
)

(
f
)

‖

L
p

(
T
)

≲

1

p
-
1

(

ρ
Λ

-
1
)

-
1
/
2

(
1
<
p
<
2
)

and $$\begin{aligned} \big \Vert S^{(\Lambda )} \big \Vert _{L^p (\mathbb {T}) \rightarrow L^p (\mathbb {T})} \lesssim \frac{1}{(p-1)^{3/2}} (\rho _{\Lambda } - 1)^{-1/2} \quad (1<p < 2) \end{aligned}$$

‖

S

(
Λ
)

‖

L
p

(
T
)

→

L
p

(
T
)

≲

1

(
p
-
1
)

3
/
2

(

ρ
Λ

-
1
)

-
1
/
2

(
1
<
p
<
2
)

and that these results are optimal as $$p \rightarrow 1^+$$

p
→

1
+

. Variants in higher dimensions and in the Euclidean setting are also obtained.
The Interplay Between Adolescent Friendship Quality and Resilient Functioning Following Childhood and Adolescent Adversity
Authors: van Harmelen A.-L. , Blakemore S. J. , Goodyer I. M. , Kievit R. A.
Published: November 2020

Child and adolescent adversity (‘CA’) is a major predictor of mental health problems in adolescence and early adulthood. However, not all young people who have experienced CA develop psychopathology; their mental health functioning can be described as resilient. We previously found that resilient functioning in adolescence following CA is facilitated by adolescent friendships. However, during adolescence, friendships undergo significant change. It is unknown whether resilient functioning after CA fluctuates with these normative changes in friendship quality. We used Latent Change Score Modelling in a large sample of adolescents (i.e. the ROOTS cohort; N = 1238) to examine whether and how emergent friendship quality and resilient functioning at ages 14 and 17 inter-relate and change together. We found that friendships quality and resilient functioning had strong associations at age 14, although friendships at 14 did not predict higher resilient functioning at 17. Higher resilient functioning in 14-year-olds with a history of CA was associated with a positive change in friendships from age 14 to 17. Finally, improvements in friendship quality and resilient functioning went hand-in-hand, even when taking into account baseline levels of both, the change within friendship quality or resilient functioning over time, and the association between resilient functioning and change in friendship quality over time. We show that friendship quality and resilient functioning after CA inter-relate and change together between ages 14 and 17. Our results suggest that improving friendship quality or resilient functioning within this timeframe may benefit this vulnerable adolescent group, and this should be tested in future research.
Do sourcing networks make firms global? Microlevel evidence from firm-to-firm transaction networks
Authors: Itoh Ryo , Nakajima Kentaro
Published: November 2020

This study investigates how the structure of a domestic firm-to-firm transaction network influences the foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions of embedded firms in the network. We theoretically describe firms’ FDI decisions using an incomplete information game that considers the firm-to-firm transactions of intermediate inputs and in which firms have an incentive to collocate with their trading partners in foreign markets. We show that the probability of a firm engaging in FDI increases with its Katz–Bonacich centrality, which is defined as aggregated accessibility to all other firms and represents expected profit gained from colocation with its partners. We empirically show that this prediction is supported using disaggregated inter-firm transaction network data on Japanese firms. We also extended both theoretical and empirical frameworks to consider the dynamic aspect of FDI. When we consider existing foreign affiliates, accessibility to prior investors in the transaction network, named Katz–Bonacich accessibility, positively influences FDI as well as Katz–Bonacich centrality.
Speech Acts in English
Authors: Pérez-Hernández Lorena
Published: November 2020

Speech acts, those actions carried out mainly by means of language, are used in English in a range of complex ways. However, they have rarely been covered in English as a foreign language (EFL) materials and textbooks. Bringing together current theories from pragmatics and cognitive linguistics, this book addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive model of directive speech acts and showing how to teach them to learners of English. It provides a review of the strengths and weaknesses of current theories of illocution and a critical assessment of existing EFL textbooks. Descriptions of the meaning and form of directive speech act constructions are given in the cognitive pedagogical grammar of directive speech acts (included), which offers a wealth of examples to make the information accessible to non-specialist readers. The book also provides a wide range of practical activities, showing how research on illocutionary acts can be implemented in practice.
After the Deportation
Authors: Nord Philip
Published: November 2020

A total of 160,000 people, a mix of résistants and Jews, were deported from France to camps in Central and Eastern Europe during the Second World War. In this compelling new study, Philip Nord addresses how the Deportation, as it came to be known, was remembered after the war and how Deportation memory from the very outset, became politicized against the backdrop of changing domestic and international contexts. He shows how the Deportation generated competing narratives – Jewish, Catholic, Communist, and Gaullist – and analyzes the stories told by and about deportees after the war and how these stories were given form in literature, art, film, monuments, and ceremonials.
A maximally-graded invertible cubic threefold that does not admit a full exceptional collection of line bundles
Authors: Favero David , Kaplan Daniel , Kelly Tyler L.
Published: November 2020

We show that there exists a cubic threefold defined by an invertible polynomial that, when quotiented by the maximal diagonal symmetry group, has a derived category that does not have a full exceptional collection consisting of line bundles. This provides a counterexample to a conjecture of Lekili and Ueda.
Confronting Race and Ethnicity: Education and Cultural Identity for Immigrants and Students from Asia
Authors: Bu Liping
Published: November 2020

Years ago at graduate school, a fellow student in the American Seminar class asked, “What is the difference between race and ethnicity?” The professor replied, “Asians usually find it hard to distinguish the two.” The student was from an Asian country and the professor did not elaborate the distinction between the concepts. It is no brainer for Americans to tell the difference; however, for people new to American society who have not lived in a racially conscious and divisive society, it is confusing to refer to a minority people as belonging to both a particular race and to a different ethnicity. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when millions of immigrants came to America in search of better life and supplied American industries with labor, they were labeled white, yellow, brown, or black. This skin-colored definition of people as different races reflected American racial views of people of different cultures. Even in current mainstream discourse, racial and ethnic minorities are still calledpeople of colororcolored people, instead ofminorities.
Rethinking Racial, Ethnoracial, and Imperial Categories: Key Concepts in Comparative Race Studies in the History of Education
Authors: Warren Kim Cary
Published: November 2020

While researching racially segregated education, I came across speeches delivered in the 1940s by two educational leaders—one a black man and the other a Native American man. G. B. Buster, a longtime African American teacher, implored his African American listeners to work with white Americans on enforcing equal rights for all. A few years before Buster delivered his speech, Henry Roe Cloud (Winnebago), a Native American educator, was more critical of white Americans, specifically the federal government, which he blamed for destroying American Indian cultures. At the same time, Roe Cloud praised more recent federal efforts to preserve cultural practices, study traditions before they completely disappeared, and encourage self-government among Native American tribes.
Reconceiving Schooling: Centering Indigenous Experimentation in Indian Education History
Authors: McCoy Meredith L. , Villeneuve Matthew
Published: November 2020

Federal agents, church officials, and education reformers have long used schooling as a weapon to eliminate Indigenous people; at the same time, Indigenous individuals and communities have long repurposed schooling to protect tribal sovereignty, reconstitute their communities, and shape Indigenous futures. Joining scholarship that speaks to Indigenous perspectives on schooling, this paper offers seven touchpoints from Native nations since the 1830s in which Indigenous educators repurposed “schooling” as a technology to advance Indigenous interests. Together, these stories illustrate the broad diversity of Native educators’ multifaceted engagements with schooling and challenge settler colonialism's exclusive claim on schools. Though the outcomes of their efforts varied, these experiments with schooling represent Indigenous educators’ underappreciated innovations in the history of education in the United States.
Protests and Pushback: Women's Rights, Student Activism, and Institutional Response in the Deep South
Authors: Cain Timothy Reese , Dier Rachael
Published: November 2020

Pivoting around two sit-ins at the University of Georgia, this article examines student activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the US South. The first sit-in, at the conclusion of the spring 1968 March for Coed Equality, was part of the effort to overcome parietal rules that significantly restricted women's rights but left men relatively untouched. The second occurred in 1972 when the university responded to salacious allegations of immorality in women's residence halls by replacing progressive residential education programming with the policing of student behavior. This article centers student efforts for women's rights, demonstrates how students and administrators shifted tactics in reaction to external stimuli, and explores the repercussions of challenging the entrenched patriarchal power structure. In so doing, it joins the growing literature complicating understandings of student activism in the era by focusing attention away from the most famous and extreme cases.
‘All our joys will be complated’: the visit of George IV to Ireland, 1821
Authors: Holton Karina
Published: November 2020

The visit of George IV to Ireland in the summer of 1821 prompted an effusive display of royalist emotion. It left a visible and material legacy in Dublin in the form of Kingstown, the Round Room in the Mansion House, King's Bridge, and a variety of prints, paintings, commemorative coins and ephemera. The idea of constructing a palace to facilitate future royal visits was even floated. The visit was reported on extensively in the newspapers of the day and was the subject also of a range of poems, verses and songs. A royal visit made on a whim, together with vested interests and carefully managed propaganda, combined to produce mismatched expectations of what the visit would achieve. This article assesses the visit and argues that while the Dublin administration viewed it as a success, there was, in fact, little positive outcome.
Social support, adherence to Mediterranean diet and physical activity in adults: results from a community-based cross-sectional study
Authors: Laiou Elpiniki , Rapti Iro , Markozannes Georgios , Cianferotti Luisella , Fleig Lena , Warner Lisa Marie , Ribas Lourdes , Ngo Joy , Salvatore Sergio , Trichopoulou Antonia , Vigilanza Antonella , Tsiara Stavroula , Martimianaki Georgia , Pampaloni Barbara , Majem Luis Serra , Schwarzer Ralf , Brandi Maria Luisa , Ntzani Evangelia E.
Published: November 2020

There is a growing recognition that social support can potentially exert consistent or opposing effects in influencing health behaviours. The present paper presents a cross-sectional study, including 2,064 adults from Italy, Spain and Greece, who were participants in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (C4H study), aiming to examine whether social support is correlated with adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Social support data were available for 1,572 participants. The majority of the sample reported emotional support availability (84·5 %), financial support availability (72·6 %) and having one or more close friends (78·2 %). Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support (P = 0·009) and social network support (P = 0·021). No statistically significant associations were found between participant physical activity and the social support aspects studied. In conclusion, emotional and social network support may be associated with increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. However, further research is needed to evaluate the role of social support in adherence to healthy Mediterranean diet.
Olfactory and taste dysfunction in coronavirus disease 2019 patients: its prevalence and outcomes
Authors: Jain A , Kumar L , Kaur J , Baisla T , Goyal P , Pandey A K , Das A , Parashar L
Published: November 2020

Objectives

To evaluate the occurrence, clinical course and outcomes of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in patients with laboratory confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 infection.

Methods

This is a prospective cross-sectional study of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 infection by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction over two months. The epidemiological and clinical outcomes studied were: age, sex, general symptoms, and olfactory and taste dysfunction.

Results

A total of 410 coronavirus disease 2019 infected patients were included in the study, with 262 males (63.9 per cent) and 148 females (36.1 per cent). Ninety-nine patients (24.1 per cent) reported chemosensory dysfunction, of which 85 patients (20.7 per cent) reported both olfactory and taste dysfunction. Olfactory and taste dysfunction were proportionally more common in females. The mean duration of olfactory and taste dysfunction was 4.9 days, with a range of 2–15 days.

Conclusion

Olfactory and taste dysfunction are prevalent symptoms in coronavirus disease 2019 patients. In this study, they were more common in females than males. The occurrence of such dysfunctions is lower in the Indian population than in the European population.
Properties of toroidal magnetic fields in axial plasma flow on the PF-1000U plasma focus facility
Authors: Krauz V. I. , Mitrofanov K. N. , Paduch M. , Tomaszewski K. , Szymaszek A. , Zielinska E. , Pariev V. I. , Beskin V. S. , Istomin Ya. N.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents the results of studies of plasma flow parameters on the PF-1000U facility. A distinctive feature of this facility is the ability to create profiled initial gas distributions using gas puffs. In the experiments described, a combined system for filling the vacuum chamber with a working gas was used, in which an additional injection of various gases (deuterium, helium, neon and their mixtures) into the axial region of the chamber prefilled with deuterium was performed using a pulse valve. Thus, both the pinching processes and, accordingly, the generation of axial plasma flows and the conditions of their propagation in the background gas of the facility chamber were affected. Regimes with the generation of compact stable plasma formations propagating over long distances were found. The results obtained can be used in laboratory modelling of astrophysical jets from young stellar objects.
Reproductive seasonality and the gonadal maturation of silver pomfret Pampus argenteus in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh
Authors: Akhter Fatema , Islam Md. Moudud , Iida Midori , Zahangir Md. Mahiuddin
Published: November 2020

The silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) is one of the most commercially important marine fish species in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean. However, detailed information on the reproductive biology of silver pomfret is limited for the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. To understand their reproductive biology, especially the gonadal developmental cycle and spawning season, a total of 373 individuals were collected monthly from February 2016 to January 2018 and examined. The total length (TL) and weight (TW) of P. argenteus ranged from 18.82–35.73 cm and 89.26–617.60 g, respectively. The highest gonadosomatic index (GSI) values were observed from April–June with a second (smaller) peak in October. The highest oocyte diameter was observed in May (630.50 ± 96.70 μm), when the fish reached full maturity, and the lowest was observed in July (35.10 ± 7.12 μm), when new eggs began their development for the next spawning season. The maximum number of eggs in the ovary were found in the yolk granule stage in May with a number of post-ovulatory follicles, which indicated that the ovaries developed to a peak leading up to the spawning season. A number of spermatids were also seen in males in April–June along with females. From these detailed observations, it may be concluded that P. argenteus shows two spawning peaks, in May–June and October. This observation will be helpful for the artificial breeding, sustainable management and conservation of this species in the study area.
A Trypanosoma cruzi zinc finger protein that is implicated in the control of epimastigote-specific gene expression and metacyclogenesis
Authors: Tavares Thais S. , Mügge Fernanda L. B. , Grazielle-Silva Viviane , Valente Bruna M. , Goes Wanessa M. , Oliveira Antonio E. R. , Belew Ashton T. , Guarneri Alessandra A. , Pais Fabiano S. , El-Sayed Najib M. , Teixeira Santuza M. R.
Published: November 2020

Trypanosoma cruzi has three biochemically and morphologically distinct developmental stages that are programmed to rapidly respond to environmental changes the parasite faces during its life cycle. Unlike other eukaryotes, Trypanosomatid genomes contain protein coding genes that are transcribed into polycistronic pre-mRNAs and have their expression controlled by post-transcriptional mechanisms. Transcriptome analyses comparing three stages of the T. cruzi life cycle revealed changes in gene expression that reflect the parasite adaptation to distinct environments. Several genes encoding RNA binding proteins (RBPs), known to act as key post-transcriptional regulatory factors, were also differentially expressed. We characterized one T. cruzi RBP, named TcZH3H12, which contains a zinc finger domain and is up-regulated in epimastigotes compared to trypomastigotes and amastigotes. TcZC3H12 knockout (KO) epimastigotes showed decreased growth rates and increased capacity to differentiate into metacyclic trypomastigotes. Transcriptome analyses comparing wild type and TcZC3H12 KOs revealed a TcZC3H12-dependent expression of epimastigote-specific genes such as genes encoding amino acid transporters and proteins associated with differentiation (PADs). RNA immunoprecipitation assays showed that transcripts from the PAD family interact with TcZC3H12. Taken together, these findings suggest that TcZC3H12 positively regulates the expression of genes involved in epimastigote proliferation and also acts as a negative regulator of metacyclogenesis.
Stigma resistance is associated with advanced stages of personal recovery in serious mental illness patients enrolled in psychiatric rehabilitation
Authors: Dubreucq J. , Plasse J. , Gabayet F. , Faraldo M. , Blanc O. , Chereau I. , Cervello S. , Couhet G. , Demily C. , Guillard-Bouhet N. , Gouache B. , Jaafari N. , Legrand G. , Legros-Lafarge E. , Pommier R. , Quilès C. , Straub D. , Verdoux H. , Vignaga F. , Massoubre C. ,   REHABAse network, Franck N.
Published: November 2020

Background

Stigma resistance (SR) is defined as one's ability to deflect or challenge stigmatizing beliefs. SR is positively associated with patient's outcomes in serious mental illness (SMI). SR appears as a promising target for psychiatric rehabilitation as it might facilitate personal recovery.

Objectives

The objectives of the present study are: (i) to assess the frequency of SR in a multicentric non-selected psychiatric rehabilitation SMI sample; (ii) to investigate the correlates of high SR

Methods

A total of 693 outpatients with SMI were recruited from the French National Centers of Reference for Psychiatric Rehabilitation cohort (REHABase). Evaluation included standardized scales for clinical severity, quality of life, satisfaction with life, wellbeing, and personal recovery and a large cognitive battery. SR was measured using internalized stigma of mental illness – SR subscale.

Results

Elevated SR was associated with a preserved executive functioning, a lower insight into illness and all recovery-related outcomes in the univariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis adjusted by age, gender and self-stigma, elevated SR was best predicted by the later stages of personal recovery [rebuilding; p = 0.004, OR = 2.89 (1.36–4.88); growth; p = 0.005, OR = 2.79 (1.30–4.43)). No moderating effects of age and education were found.

Conclusion

The present study has indicated the importance of addressing SR in patients enrolled in psychiatric rehabilitation. Recovery-oriented psychoeducation, metacognitive therapies and family interventions might improve SR and protect against insight-related depression. The effectiveness of psychiatric rehabilitation on SR and the potential mediating effects of changes in SR on treatment outcomes should be further investigated in longitudinal studies.
Code-switching alone cannot explain intraspeaker syntactic variability: Evidence from a spoken elicitation experiment
Authors: Lundquist Björn , Westendorp Maud , Strand Bror-Magnus S.
Published: November 2020

We address the question whether speakers activate different grammars when they encounter linguistic input from different registers, here written standardised language and spoken dialect. This question feeds into the larger theoretical and empirical question if variable syntactic patterns should be modelled as switching between different registers/grammars, or as underspecified mappings from form to meaning within one grammar. We analyse 6000 observations from 26 high school students from Tromsø, comprising more than 20 phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic variables obtained from two elicited production experiments: one using standardised written language and one using spoken dialect as the elicitation source. The results suggest that most participants directly activate morphophonological forms from the local dialect when encountering standardised orthographic forms, suggesting that they do not treat the written and spoken language as different grammars. Furthermore, the syntactic variation does not track the morphophonological variation, which suggests that code/register-switching alone cannot explain syntactic optionality.
‘There was no preamble’: Comparing the Transition from Hospital to Home in Different Care Settings
Authors: Saragosa Marianne , Jeffs Lianne , Hahn-Goldberg Shoshana , Abrams Howard , Soong Christine , Hart Michelle , Shea Beverley , Okrainec Karen
Published: November 2020

Our qualitative descriptive study compared how older patients and their informal caregivers experienced the care transition from acute care or rehabilitation to home. We recruited patients 65 years of age or older, or their informal caregivers, from in-patient units within acute care hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to participate in semi-structured interviews. We identified emergent themes via thematic analysis. In all, 16 patients and four patient caregivers participated. Across all care settings, caregivers were integral in facilitating the transition as well as experiencing variable discharge preparation, health care providers’ optimizing transitions, and missed care and medication discrepancies at transition points. Orthopedic and rehabilitation patients more commonly voiced prior transition experiences in discharge preparation, including having to unexpectedly coordinate and wait for outpatient services. Differing responses between acute care and orthopedic settings suggest that transitional care practices and policies favor an individualized approach that considers patients’ previous experiences, needs, and care expectations.
Are early palliative procedures providing an adequate long-term benefit in young cyanotic infants from developing countries, despite advances in surgery and interventions?
Authors: Sagar Pramod , Sivakumar Kothandam , Umamaheshwar Koneru L. , Sonawane Bhushan , Mohakud Asish R. , Rajendran Monica , Agarwal Ravi , Varghese Roy , Sheriff Ejaz Ahamed
Published: November 2020

Objectives:

Ductal stents, right ventricular outflow tract stents, and aortopulmonary shunts are used to palliate newborns and infants with reduced pulmonary blood flow. Current long-term outcomes of these palliations from resource-restricted countries are unknown.

Methods:

This single-centre, retrospective, observational study analysed the technical success, immediate and late mortality, re-interventions, and length of palliation in infants ≤5 kg who underwent aortopulmonary shunts, ductal, and pulmonary outflow stents. Patients were grouped by their anatomy.

Results:

There were 69 infants who underwent one of the palliations. Technical success was 90% for aortopulmonary shunts (n = 10), 91% for pulmonary outflow stents (n = 11) and 100% for ductal stents (n = 48). Early mortality within 30 days in 12/69 patients was observed in 20% after shunts, 9% after pulmonary outflow stents, and 19% after ductal stents. Late mortality in 11 patients was seen in 20% after shunts, 18% after outflow stents, and 15% after ductal stents. Seven patients needed re-interventions; two following shunts, one following outflow stent, and four following ductal stents for hypoxia. Among the anatomical groups, 10/12 patients with pulmonary atresia, intact ventricular septum survived after valvotomy and ductal stenting. Survival to Glenn shunt after ductal stent for pulmonary atresia, intact ventricular septum and diminutive right ventricle was very low in two out of eight patients, but very good (100%) for other univentricular hearts. Among 35 patients with biventricular lesions, 22 survived to the next stage.

Conclusions:

Cyanotic infants, despite undergoing technically successful palliation had a high inter-stage mortality irrespective of the type of palliation. Duct stenting in univentricular hearts and in pulmonary atresia with an intact ventricular septum and adequate sized right ventricle tended to have low mortality and better long-term outcome. Completion of biventricular repair after palliation was achieved only in 63% of patients, reflecting unique challenges in developing countries despite advances in intensive care and interventions.
Eastern North Carolina Head Start Teachers’ personal and professional experiences with healthy eating and physical activity: a qualitative exploration
Authors: Stage Virginia C , Jones Lorelei , Bayles Jocelyn , Hegde Archana V , Dev Dipti A , Goodell L Suzanne
Published: November 2020

Objective:

Explore the interrelationship between teachers’ personal and professional socio-ecological structures while examining Head Start (HS) teachers’ experiences with (1) trying to eat healthy and engage in physical activity (PA) and (2) promote healthy eating and PA in their classrooms.

Design:

In-depth semi-structured interviews were collected from March through June 2017. Researchers designed the data collection and analysis methods using a phenomenological approach. All interviews were recorded using digital audio and transcribed verbatim.

Setting:

Seven HS centres in two rural eastern North Carolina counties.

Participants:

Teachers (n 15) who had recently participated in a healthy eating and physical activity intervention. Participants were 100 % female, an average age of 43 years (sd 9·6) and primarily Black/African American (93·3 %).

Results:

Eighteen primary themes were identified providing unique insight into individual, social and environmental determinants that may influence teachers’ personal health behaviours and professional health promotion practices. Findings indicated that teachers want to improve health behaviours personally (individual/family health) and professionally (children/families served); however, barriers exist at all levels impacting their ability to improve their own health and facilitate positive behaviours among the children/families they serve. Many teachers observed connections between their personal and professional experiences, but not beyond the individual level.

Conclusions:

Study findings highlight the importance of considering and emphasising the potential relationship between personal and professional determinants of health when working with early childhood teachers. Findings from this study may be useful for informing the development, implementation and evaluation of future health promotion interventions using teachers as implementers.
Can Asia provide models for tax-based European health systems? A comparative study of Singapore and Sweden
Authors: Saltman Richard B. , Yeh Ming-Jui , Liu Yu
Published: November 2020

Singapore's health system generates similar levels of health outcomes as does Sweden's but for only 4.4% rather than 11.0% of gross domestic product, with Singapore's resulting health sector savings being re-directed to help fund both long-term care and retirement pensions for its elderly citizens. This paper contrasts the framework of financial risk-sharing and the configuration and management of health service providers in these two high-income, small-population countries. Two main institutional distinctions emerge from this country case comparison: (1) Key differences exist in the practical configuration of solidarity for payment of health care services, reflecting differing cultural roots and social expectations, which in turn carry substantial implications for financing long-term care and pensions. (2) Differing arrangements exist in the organization of health service institutions, in particular balancing public as against private sector responsibilities for owning, operating and managing these two countries' respective hospitals. These different structural characteristics generate fundamental differences in health sector financial and delivery outcomes in one developed country in Far East Asia as compared with a well-respected tax-funded health system in Western Europe. In the post-COVID era, as Western European policymakers find themselves forced to adjust their publicly funded health systems to (further) reductions in economic growth rates and overall tax receipts, and as the cost of the information revolution continues to rise while efforts to fund better coordinated social and home care services for growing numbers of chronically ill elderly remain inadequate, this two-country case comparison highlights a series of health system design questions that could potentially provide alternative health sector financing and service delivery strategies.
Feasibility of one-session treatment for specific needle phobia in an adult IAPT service – a case series
Authors: Hiermeier Ursula Maria , Mofrad Layla
Published: November 2020

One-session treatment for specific phobias (OST; Öst, 2012) has been found to be efficient and effective in reducing the severity of phobia in an adult population. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of OST in an Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) primary care service in the North East of England. Participants were four women and one man between the ages of 21 and 46 years; all presented with needle phobia. Treatment consisted of three clinical contacts: a 1-hour pre-treatment interview to identify the catastrophic belief centred on the phobic situation; a 2.5–3-hour treatment session using exposurein vivo(i.e. images, videos and handling of a syringe – no actual injections) and participant modelling in accordance with OST protocol; and a 30-minute follow-up telephone appointment. Outcome was measured with standard IAPT and additional psychometrics, as well as qualitative client feedback. The outcome suggests the application of OST to be effective for needle phobia, as well as feasible and cost- and resource-efficient in its application to an IAPT primary care service. Further research needs to investigate its effects in comparison with multiple single sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy in an adult population, as well as appropriate outcome measures to suit an IAPT application.

Key learning aims

(1)

To gain a basic understanding of one-session treatment for specific phobias (OST).

(2)

To enhance understanding of the implications of OST in an IAPT primary care service.

(3)

To acquire useful information about practicalities and challenges of OST in an IAPT primary care setting.
Global constitutionalism and cultural diversity: The emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism in Africa
Authors: GEBEYE BERIHUN ADUGNA
Published: November 2020

This article examines the path of global constitutionalism and its encounter with cultural diversity in Africa. It situates the phenomenon of global constitutionalism in the late nineteenth century and traces some of its tectonic transformations since the inauguration of the liberal international order. Besides referring to the processes of and calls for the constitutionalization of the international legal regime and the emergence of global constitutional law, global constitutionalism played a constitutive role for constitutionalism in Africa. As constitutionalism in Africa is configured within a biosphere of global constitutionalism and cultural diversity, their dynamic interplay leads to the emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism, which is procedurally and normatively open to accommodate a plural conception of rights, justice and values. As a result, what is constitutionally permissible and what is not cannot simply be determined by an attachment to either global constitutionalism or cultural diversity. Rather, it is the interaction of global constitutionalism and cultural diversity in time and place that dictates what the constitutional practice or outcome should look like. By taking the women’s rights jurisprudence related to customary and Islamic laws and the phenomenon of Shariacracy as themes of analysis, and Nigeria as a case study, this article explores how the emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism mediates global constitutionalism and cultural diversity in Africa. By bringing in the African experience, the article sheds some light on the range of theoretical and practical possibilities available to the emerging field of global constitutionalism.
Cardiovascular Responses to Stress Utilizing Anticipatory Singing Tasks
Authors: Jump Owen , Dockray Samantha
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Models of psychobiological stress reactivity have a foundation in the measurement of responses to standardized stress tasks. Tasks with anticipatory phases have been proposed as an effective method of stress induction, either as a stand-alone task or replacement constituent elements for existing stressor paradigms. Tasks utilizing singing as a primary stressor have been proposed but the efficacy of these tasks have not been demonstrated while maintaining adherence to a resting/reactivity/recovery framework desirable for heart rate variability (HRV) measurement. This study examines the viability of an anticipatory sing-a-song task as a method for inducing mental stress and examines the utility of the task with specific reference to measures of cardiovascular reactivity and recovery activity, and standard protocols to examine HRV reactivity and recovery. Participants completed a dual task with a math task and an anticipation of singing component. Responses were examined according to a resting/reactivity/recovery paradigm and the findings indicate that the sing-a-song stimulus is effective in generating a stress response. Significant differences in heart rate and self-reported stress between baseline and stressor conditions were detected, with greater magnitude differences between baseline and anticipatory phases. This study has demonstrated the viability of the anticipation of singing as a standardized stressor using cardiovascular measures and has described variants of this task that may be used for repeated measures study designs.
Evidence for Altered Neural Processing in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder
Authors: Flasbeck Vera , Juckel Georg , Brüne Martin
Published: November 2020

Abstract. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by difficulties in emotion regulation, self-identity disturbances, self-injurious behavior, and reduced inhibitory control. Event-related potential (ERP) studies have sought to reveal the neural correlates of cognitive distortions and behavioral alterations in BPD. The article presents an overview of the existing ERP literature pertaining to BPD and discusses whether any one of the electrophysiological findings could serve as a reliable and specific marker for BPD. In short, ERP studies investigating P300 tentatively suggest impaired inhibitory control. Moreover, reduced error- and feedback-related processing and impaired response inhibition seem to be associated with impulsivity and risk-taking behavior in BPD patients. However, these findings are not specific for BPD. Regarding emotional and self-referential information processing, individuals with BPD display heightened vigilance toward social threat impacting their cognitive performance in various social-cognitive tasks demonstrating alterations of early negative and late positive potentials. These multifaceted electrophysiological alterations may be attributed to dysfunctional activity and connectivity of frontal brain regions and the limbic system.
On the Electromagnetic Propagation Paths and Wavefronts in the Vicinity of a Refractive Object
Authors: Fokkema Jacob T. , van den Berg Peter M.
Published: November 2020

Maxwell's equations are transformed from a Cartesian geometry to a Riemannian geometry. A geodetic path in the Riemannian geometry is defined as the raypath on which the electromagnetic energy efficiently travels through the medium. Consistent with the spatial behavior of the Poynting vector, the metric tensor is required to be functionally dependent on the refractive index of the medium. A symmetric nonorthogonal transformation is introduced, in which the metric is a function of an electromagnetic tension. This so‐called refractional tension determines the curvature of the geodetic line. To verify the geodetic propagation paths and wavefronts, a spherical object with a refractive index not equal to one is considered. A full 3‐D numerical simulation based on a contrast‐source integral equation for the electric field vector is used. These experiments corroborate that the geodesics support the actual wavefronts. This result has consequences for the explanation of the light bending around the Sun. Next to Einstein's gravitational tension there is room for an additional refractional tension. In fact, the total potential interaction energy controls the bending of the light. It is shown that this extended model is in excellent agreement with historical electromagnetic deflection measurements.
Possible Modulation of the Interannual ENSO‐East Asian Winter Monsoon Relationship by the North American Ice Sheets During the Last 21 ka
Authors: Shi Jian , Yan Qing , Yang Yize , Zhou Fang
Published: November 2020

Observations have demonstrated an unstable interannual relationship between El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the East Asian winter monsoon in recent decades due to internal variability. However, it remains unclear whether the interannual ENSO‐East Asian winter monsoon relationship (EER) may change with long‐term external forcings, especially when they vary substantially. The results of a set of transient simulations during the last 21,000 years demonstrate the EER is enhanced during the Last Glacial Maximum relative to the Holocene, characterized by a poleward migration of ENSO's signal over the northwest Pacific. The strengthened EER results from the weakened interannual ENSO‐Aleutian Low teleconnection and the northeastward displacement of the climatological Aleutian Low, ultimately forced by the massive North American ice sheets at that time. Our study suggests a changing EER with various external forcings and implies potential uncertainty in applying the present‐day ENSO teleconnections during glacials.
Record‐Breaking Meiyu Rainfall Around the Yangtze River in 2020 Regulated by the Subseasonal Phase Transition of the North Atlantic Oscillation
Authors: Liu Boqi , Yan Yuhan , Zhu Congwen , Ma Shuangmei , Li Jianying
Published: November 2020

In 2020, the Yangtze River (YR) suffered a long‐persisting Meiyu season. The accumulated rainfall broke its record since 1961 and caused severe flooding and death in China. Our results show the sequential warm and cold Meiyu front regulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was responsible for this unexpected extreme Meiyu event. From 11 to 25 June with the positive NAO, the interaction between the South Asian High (SAH) and the western Pacific subtropical high maintained a warm front to strengthen the rainband north of the YR. Afterward, the coupling between SAH and midlatitude Mongolian Cyclone induced a cold front, which retreated the rainband to the south of YR from 30 June to 13 July with the negative NAO. Although the ECMWF S2S model successfully predicted the warm‐front‐related Meiyu rainband, it failed to forecast the Meiyu rainband in the cold‐front period, suggesting a great challenge of S2S forecasting on Meiyu rainfall.
On the Dependency of Atlantic Hurricane and European Windstorm Hazards
Authors: Angus M. , Leckebusch G. C.
Published: November 2020

The Atlantic hurricane season and the European windstorm season are found to be negatively correlated in a seasonal forecast model. The probability of extremes occurring in both seasons is compared to the probability of extremes in each season being independent of one another. An above average Atlantic hurricane season is followed by an above average European windstorm season less often than if they were independent, consistent across three intensity measures. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation is found to be in the positive (negative) phase when hurricane activity is suppressed (enhanced) and European windstorm activity is enhanced (suppressed). A clear extratropical response in the seasonal forecast model to El Niño/La Niña provides a probable pathway for the observed correlation between the extreme event seasons. This result has important predictability implications for both the actuarial and seasonal forecasting communities.