bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Two new species of the marine water mite family Pontarachnidae (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from the Gulf of Antalya, Turkey
Authors: DURUCAN FURKAN , CHATTERJEE TAPAS , PEŠIĆ VLADIMIR
Published: December 2018

Two new species of the marine water mite family Pontarachnidae, i.e., Litarachna enigmatica and L. antalyaensis are described from the Gulf of Antalya, Turkey. Litarachna enigmatica is unique in the postgenital sclerite having a pair of so-called wheel-like acetabula, a character so far found only in the females of Pontarachna. Litarachna antalyaensis is the second known species of the L. duboscqi—species group characterized by the absence of a ventral tubercle on P-2 and presence of a ventral tubercle on P-4, from the Mediterranean Sea. The new species can be separated from the widely distributed L. duboscqi in the glandularium-like structure posterior to the fourth coxal plates not fused with adjoining coxoglandularia 4.
Three new species of the leafhopper genus Processina (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Mileewinae) from Thailand
Authors: HE HONGLI , YANG MAOFA , YU XIAOFEI
Published: December 2018

Three new species of the leafhopper genus Processina Yang, Deitz & Li, 2005 are described from Thailand: Processina chandrai sp. nov., P. topoarmata sp. nov. and P. kamphaengensis sp. nov. A checklist to the species of the genus and a key for their separation are provided.
Revision of Autolytinae (Syllidae: Polychaeta)
Authors: NYGREN ARNE
Published: December 2018

Autolytinae is revised based on available types, and newly collected specimens. Out of 170 nominal species, 18 are considered as incertae sedis, 43 are regarded as junior synonyms, and 25 are referred to as nomina dubia. The relationships of Autolytinae is assessed from 51 morphological characters and 211 states for 76 ingroup-taxa, and 460 molecular characters from mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear 18S rDNA for 31 ingroup-taxa; outgroups include 12 non-autolytine syllid polychaetes. Two analyses are provided, one including morphological data only, and one with combined morphological and molecular data sets. The resulting strict consensus tree from the combined data is chosen for a reclassification. Three main clades are identified: Procerini trib. n., Autolytini Grube, 1850, and Epigamia gen. n. Proceraea Ehlers, 1864 and Myrianida Milne Edwards, 1845 are referred to as nomen protectum, while Scolopendra Slabber, 1781, Podonereis Blainville, 1818, Amytis Savigny, 1822, Polynice Savigny, 1822, and Nereisyllis Blainville, 1828 are considered
On the identity of an invasive leafhopper on Hawaii (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Nirvaninae)
Authors: WEBB M. D. , VIRAKTAMATH C. A.
Published: December 2018

The invasive Hawaiian nirvanine leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is identified as Sophonia orientalis (Matsumura). Related taxa are discussed and the following nomenclatorial changes made: Pseudonirvana furcilinea Kuoh & Kuoh, 1983, a junior synonym of Nirvana longitudinalis Distant, 1908, new synonymy; Quercinirvana Ahmed & Mahmood, 1970, a junior synonym of Sophonia Walker, 1870, synonymy revived; Quercinirvana longicephala Ahmed & Mahmood, status revived.
New morphological information on Simulium cerradense adults and new records of black fly species (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the western region of Bahia state, Brazil
Authors: HAMADA NEUSA , LUZ SÉRGIO L.B. , COSCARÓN SIXTO
Published: December 2018

S. cerradense Coscar n, Cerqueira, Sato & La Salvia (1992) was described based on pharate females and males, and pupae and larvae. Reared adults from the type locality region have different color patterns than those in the original description. The objectives of the present study are to redescribe the scutal color pattern of S. cerradense adults and to provide a list of black fly species collected in streams in the western region of Bahia state, where this fauna is poorly known.
Twenty-five new species of Costa Rican Limacodidae (Lepidoptera: Zygaenoidea)
Authors: EPSTEIN MARC E. , CORRALES JORGE F.
Published: December 2018

Twenty-five new species of neotropical Limacodidae, primarily from Central America, are described. The majority of these species (n=15) are from Parasa and Natada generic complexes, both presently known to contain only spiny caterpillars. In the Parasa complex, they include: Parasa figueresi, new species, Parasa joanae, new species, Parasa sandrae, new species, Parasa shirleyae, new species, Euclea mesoamericana, new species, Euclea zurquicola, new species, Euclea microcippus, new species, Euclea costaricana, new species, Euclea gajentaani, new species, Euclea josepsi, new species, Talima beckeri, new species, Talima weissi, new species, and Talima erojasi, new species. In the Natada complex, two new taxa are Natada delgadoi, new species, and Natada varablancana, new species. In a generic complex with hairy caterpillars, the Phobetron complex, six new taxa are: Phobetron guzmanae, new species, Isochaetes dwagsi, new species, Isochaetes kenjii, new species, Isochaetes heevansi, new species, Isochaetes tapantiensis, new species, and Vipsophobetron davisi, new species. In the Prolimacodes and Perola complexes, caterpillars are known to be smooth. New species in the Prolimacodes complex are Prolimacodes montanus, new species, and Dichromapteryx saborioi, new species, while the Perola complex includes Perola aenea, new species, and Epiperola browni, new species. Euclea microcippus, Parasa sandrae and Vipsophobetron davisi are the smallest species known to occur in their genera. Euclea mesoamericana and Parasa figueresi are relatively common in collections but have been mistakenly grouped with Euclea cippus (Cramer) and Parasa schausi Dyar, respectively. Each was reported from both Central and South America, but is now considered to be limited to South America. Talima weissi is closely related to the Mexican species T. assimilis (Dyar), sharing both a detachable clump of hairs on 8 th abdominal segment in males and large ductus seminalis, which hold the hairs, in females. Larval descriptions or hostplants are presented for P. sandrae, P. joanae, E. mesoamericana, E. gajentaani, T. beckeri, T. weissi, I. dwagsi, I. kenjii, I. heevansi, and V. davisi. Euclea zurquicola, E. josepsi, T. erojasi, N. delgadoi, N. varablancana, P. guzmanae, I. tapantiensis, and E. browni are known from only one locality, each in Costa Rica, while the last four are known only from unique specimens.
2. Etnos Thinking in the Long Twentieth Century
Authors: Anderson David G. , Arzyutov Dmitry V. , Alymov Sergei S.
Published: December 2018

This chapter contextualizes the first appearance of ‘etnos’ as a principal object of research of ethnography as a discipline. It explores etnos from the end of the nineteenth century, right through to the present day. Here, etnos is examined in relation to its connections to both the development of Biosocial Science in Russia and to Soviet Marxism, and alongside wider concepts.
5. Notes from His “Snail’s Shell”: Shirokogoroff’s Fieldwork and the Groundwork for Etnos Thinking
Authors: Anderson David G.
Published: December 2018

This chapter surveys the fieldwork of Sergei Shirokogoroff and his wife Elizabeta in north-eastern Zabaikal’e in 1912 and 1913 to document the people whom he identified as Orochens. According to his own reflections, he felt his ideas on etnos and his acquaintance with Tungus shamanism, occurred at this time. Through surveying manuscripts and letters written from the field, or shortly after, the article weights the atmosphere of competition and introspection that may have led him and his wife to seek out ever more isolated peripheries from which to theorize. Nevertheless, this first encounter with Orochen hunters and shamans would form the kernel of his theory of cultural resilience and degradation which would be a constant theme in his life’s work. The paper is illustrated with one map, one diagram and five photographs.
Institutional-Political Scenarios for Anthropocene Society
Authors: Hoffman Andrew J. , Jennings P. Devereaux
Published: December 2018

Natural scientists have proposed that humankind has entered a new geologic epoch. Termed the “Anthropocene,” this new reality revolves around the central role of human activity in multiple Earth ecosystems. That challenge requires a rethinking of social science explanations of organization and environment relationships. In this article, we discuss the need to politicize institutional theory as a means understanding “Anthropocene Society,” and in turn what that resultant society means for the Anthropocene in the natural environment. We modify the constitutive elements of institutional orders and a set of main change mechanisms to explore three scenarios around which future Anthropocene Societies might be built—Collapsing Systems, Market Rules, and Cultural Re-Enlightenment. Simultaneously, we use observations from the Anthropocene to expose limitations in present institutional theory and propose extensions to remedy them. Overall, this article challenges organizational scholars to consider a new paradigm under which research in environmental sustainability and social sustainability takes place.
Microstructural and basic mechanical characteristics of ZA27 alloy-based nanocomposites synthesized by mechanical milling and compocasting
Authors: Bobić Biljana , Vencl Aleksandar , Ružić Jovana , Bobić Ilija , Damnjanović Zvonko
Published: December 2018

Particulate nanocomposites with the base of ZA27 alloy were synthesized using an innovative route, which includes mechanical milling and compocasting. Scrap from the matrix alloy and ceramic nanoreinforcements were mechanically milled using the ball-milling technique, which led to the formation of composite microparticles. The use of these particles in the compocasting process provided better wettability of ceramic nanoreinforcements in the semi-solid metal matrix, which resulted in a relatively good dispersion of the nanoreinforcements in nanocomposite castings. The presence of nanoreinforcements led to the grain refinement in the matrix of nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of the synthesized nanocomposites are improved and compared with the properties of the metal matrix. The observed increase in the hardness of nanocomposites with Al2O3 nanoreinforcements (20–30 nm) was 6.5% to 10.8%, while the yield strength of these nanocomposites has increased by 12.2% to 23.2%. The hardness and compressive yield strength of the nanocomposites with Al2O3 nanoparticles (100 nm) increased by 1.7% to 8.0% and 2.3% to 8.3%, respectively. The increase in hardness of the nanocomposites with SiC nanoparticles (50 nm) was 11.5% to 20.6%, while the increase in the yield strength was 15.6% to 24.5%. The greatest contribution to the overall strengthening in the synthesized nanocomposites is the result of increased dislocation density due to the difference in coefficients of thermal expansion for the matrix alloy and nanoreinforcements.
The Irish Railway Commission (1836–39) aiming to reform railways in the United Kingdom and to improve the governance of Ireland
Authors: Lloyd Philip
Published: December 2018

This article uses a range of primary and secondary sources to analyse the work of the Irish Railway Commission 1836–39 and its challenge to the predominantly laissez-faire approach to railway development in Britain. The commission produced a model for developing railways with the state and public interest at its heart, and it advocated railways as a system that was planned to deliver specific political and economic objectives. It thereby threatened railway interests in Britain and mobilised senior political advocates of laissez-faire to defeat the commission. Nonetheless, its work was a substantial contribution to understanding Ireland and the weaknesses of nineteenth-century railway regulation that deserves a more prominent place in the history of the relationship between technology and politics.
Gentrification in the wake of a hurricane: New Orleans after Katrina
Authors: van Holm Eric Joseph , Wyczalkowski Christopher K
Published: December 2018

Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans in August of 2005, devastating the built environment and displacing nearly one-third of the city’s residents. Despite the considerable literature that exists concerning Hurricane Katrina, the storm’s long-term impact on neighbourhood change in New Orleans has not been fully addressed. In this article we analyse the potential for Hurricane Katrina to have contributed to patterns of gentrification during the city’s recovery one decade after the storm. We study the association between Hurricane Katrina and neighbourhood change using data on the damage from the storm at the census tract level and Freeman’s (2005) gentrification framework. We find that damage is positively associated with the likelihood of a neighbourhood gentrifying in New Orleans after one decade, which drives our recommendations for policy makers to take greater concern for their communities during the process of rebuilding from storm damage.
Rent gap reloaded: Airbnb and the shift from residential to touristic rental housing in the Palma Old Quarter in Mallorca, Spain
Authors: Yrigoy Ismael
Published: December 2018

In light of the advent of Airbnb, rent gap theory can be helpful for understanding how tourist rentals affect residential rental housing. It is argued that on those properties currently rented to residents, rental payments are not only ‘actual ground rent’, but also ‘potential ground rent’. The shift from a residential to a touristic use of rental housing thereby creates a potential ground rent. Taking as a case study the Palma Old Quarter in Mallorca, Spain, this paper analyses the evolution of the stock, prices, and revenues of residential rentals vis-à-vis tourist rentals and finds that, because it is more profitable to rent to tourists than to residents, the number of houses listed on Airbnb has increased, housing affordability for residents has shrunk, and the threat of displacement has increased.
The Conditionality of Norms: The Case of Bridewealth
Authors: Horne Christine , Dodoo Naa Dodua , Dodoo F. Nii-Amoo
Published: December 2018

Social norms are rules that prescribe and proscribe behavior. The application of norms is conditional. But scholars have little systematic understanding of the factors that affect conditionality. The authors argue that understanding norms requires assessing the costs and benefits of focal and nonfocal behaviors for norm targets, beneficiaries, and enforcers. The authors develop hypotheses about two combinations of these factors; they hypothesize that 1) costs to the norm target of complying with the norm, and 2) behavior by the norm beneficiary that hurts the norm target, weaken the norm. The authors use a vignette experiment to test these hypotheses in the context of bridewealth norms in Africa. The results are consistent with the predictions. The study contributes to the literature on norms by suggesting a systematic approach to understanding norm conditionality.
Socially necessary superfluity: Adorno and Marx on the crises of labor and the individual
Authors: Arzuaga Fabian
Published: December 2018

This article considers Theodor W. Adorno’s thesis of the ‘liquidation of the individual’ as a contribution to the critique of political economy insofar as it links structural economic imperatives of the capitalist order to transformations of consciousness and human conduct. For Adorno, such ‘liquidation’ amounts to not only the superfluity of bourgeois individuality as an anthropological type but also to the objective superfluity of actually living individuals. I develop Adorno's argument that the ‘form and organization of labor’ in capitalism produces these forms of superfluity by turning to Marx’s critique of value with an emphasis on the logic of ‘socially necessary labor-time.’ My argument is that as long as society is enthralled to the ongoing self-valorization of value (i.e. capital), social reproduction makes ‘socially necessary’ the superfluity of individuality as well as actually-living human individuals. In short, the anthropological decomposition of the bourgeois individual and the generation of ‘surplus populations’ are expressions of the same contradiction: the necessity and superfluity of labor in capitalism. After illustrating some current expressions of this contradiction evident in the global ‘crisis of work’ – including the displacement and transformation of labor by automation and the massive growth of the ‘global slums’ – I suggest that further analysis of the temporal contradictions of the law of value evinces the conditions of an emancipated individual in a post-work society.
Functional performance and safety of bone-anchored prostheses in persons with a transfemoral or transtibial amputation: a prospective one-year follow-up cohort study
Authors: Leijendekkers Ruud A , van Hinte Gerben , Frölke Jan Paul , van de Meent Hendrik , Atsma Femke , Nijhuis-van der Sanden Maria WG , Hoogeboom Thomas J
Published: December 2018

Objectives:

(1) To compare level of function, activity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and satisfaction in persons with a lower extremity amputation before surgery and 6- and 12-months after implantation of an osseointegration implant and (2) to report adverse events.

Design:

Prospective cohort study.

Setting:

University medical centre.

Subjects:

A total of 40 consecutive persons (median age: 56 years) who received a transfemoral (31) or transtibial (9) osseointegration implant, between April 2014 and March 2016.

Intervention:

Osseointegration implant surgery followed by a predefined rehabilitation programme.

Main measures:

Hip abductor strength, prosthetic use, back pain frequency, postoperative pain, mobility level (Timed-Up and Go (TUG) and wheelchair-boundedness), walking ability (6 minute walking test (6MWT) and walking distance in daily life), HRQoL, satisfaction regarding the prosthesis, and adverse events.

Results:

Strength, prosthetic use, walking distance, HRQoL, and satisfaction level increased significantly at 6- and 12-month follow-up compared to baseline ( P ⩽ 0.002). The TUG showed no change at 6-month follow-up ( P = 0.420) but improved significantly at 12-month follow-up compared to baseline ( P = 0.005). Wheelchair-boundedness decreased from 12/40 participants at baseline to 0 at follow-ups. The 6MWT ( P ⩾ 0.038) and back pain ( P ⩾ 0.437) did not change over time. Stump pain was present in 28/39 and 22/40 of the participants at 6-and 12-month follow-up, respectively. The major adverse events were managed successfully and included three dual-cone breakages and four bone fractures. An uneventful course was completed by 19/31 transfemoral and 4/9 transtibial bone-anchored prostheses users.

Conclusion:

Bone-anchored prostheses lead to improved performance and appear to be safe, so they might be considered for persons with socket-related problems.
Effects of kinesiotape on pain and disability in individuals with chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Li Yuejie , Yin Ying , Jia Gongwei , Chen Hong , Yu Lehua , Wu Dandong
Published: December 2018

Objective:

To explore the effects of kinesiotape on pain and disability in individuals with chronic low back pain.

Data sources:

PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for English language publications from inception to 13 February 2018.

Review methods:

This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018089831). Our key search terms were ((kinesio taping) OR (kinesiotaping) OR (kinesiotape)) AND (low back pain). Randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of kinesiotape published in English language were included in this review. The reference lists of retrieved studies and relevant reviews were also searched. Quality of the included trials was assessed according to 2015 updated Cochrane Back and Neck Review Group 13-Item criteria.

Results:

A total of 10 articles were included in this meta-analysis. A total of 627 participants were involved, with 317 in the kinesiotape group and 310 in the control group. The effects of kinesiotape on pain and disability were explored. While kinesiotape was not superior to placebo taping in pain reduction, either alone ( P = 0.07) or in conjunction with physical therapy ( P = 0.08), it could significantly improve disability when compared to the placebo taping ( P < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Since kinesiotape is convenient for application, it could be used for individuals with chronic low back pain in some cases, especially when the patients could not get other physical therapy.
Increasing Social Initiations During Shared Book Reading: An Intervention for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: D’Agostino Sophia R. , Dueñas Ana D. , Plavnick Joshua B.
Published: December 2018

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often delayed in acquiring social initiation skills utilized during common early childhood activities. A multiple probe design was utilized to assess the efficacy of a shared book reading intervention to increase the independent commenting of three young children with ASD. The intervention resulted in participant’s acquisition of social commenting in the form of independent pointing and verbal commenting to gain social attention from an adult. The results suggest that young children with ASD can independently initiate social interactions during shared book reading when these behaviors are systematically taught and reinforced. Implications for practice and directions for future research aimed toward generalization and improving the implementation of shared book reading interventions are discussed.
Free-form surface-oriented five-axis single-point color printing technology
Authors: Shen Hongyao , Liu Senxin , Wu Senyang , Zhang Linchu , Sha Jianfeng
Published: December 2018

Two-dimensional inkjet technology has made great progress in colorful plane printing. However, color printing technology for three-dimensional model is currently only at the exploratory stage; there are few reports on this issue. In this article, a free-form surface-oriented five-axis single-point printing technology with exclusive color nozzle is proposed. The single-point color nozzle consists of four print heads: prints cyan, magenta, yellow, and black pigment. For high-efficiency color printing, each print head prints on the same single point when the color nozzle moves along the surface. The method of color printing along the surface normal direction is proposed as normal direction printing mode. The algorithm of print point generation is introduced, and the path planning method of self-adaptive slicing and self-adaptive printing filling is proposed. In addition, a five-axis single-point printing platform is designed. Experiments are done to demonstrate the feasibility of the printing system.
Intelligent explicit model predictive control based on machine learning for microbial desalination cells
Authors: Wang Jing , Wang Qilun
Published: December 2018

Aiming at the online control problem of microbial fuel cells, this article presents a class of explicit model-predictive control methods based on the machine learning data model. The proposed method is divided into two stages: off-line design and on-line control. In the off-line design stage, (1) a feasible data set is collected by sampling the admissible state in the feasible region and solving the optimal model predictive control law for each sampling data point off-line, (2) a feasible sample discriminator is constructed based on the support vector machine–based binary classification in order to judge the whether the real sampling state is feasible, and (3) according to the feasible samples and the corresponding optimal control law, the control surface of explicit model predictive controller is constructed based on the machine learning methods. In the on-line control stage, the process data are collected in real time and the feasible control output is calculated by using the trained explicit predictive control surface. Extensive testing and comparison among the different machine learning algorithms, such as artificial neural network, extreme learning machine, Gaussian process regression, and relevance vector machine, are performed on the benchmark model of a class of microbial desalination fuel cells. These results demonstrate that the proposed explicit model predictive control method can avoid the exhausting optimization computing and is easy to realize on-line with good control performance.
Laser Acupuncture for Relieving Nausea and Vomiting in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Varejão Cristiane da Silva , Santo Fátima H. do Espírito
Published: December 2018

Nausea and vomiting are frequent side effects associated with chemotherapy treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of laser acupuncture in relieving nausea and vomiting in children and adolescents undergoing laser treatment. This is an experimental, randomized, single-blind study. The research was carried out at the INCA (Instituto Nacional de Câncer), a reference institution in the control and treatment of cancer, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The research project was approved by the INCA Research and Ethics Committee under Registration No. 164/14 and CAAE 3374551.0.3001.5274. Children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 years who were undergoing chemotherapy with drugs of high and medium degrees of emetogenic toxicity were selected. The participants were divided into two groups, A and B. In A, the active acupuncture was applied, and in B, the placebo acupuncture was applied. Analysis of the data indicated that there was significant relief from nausea in the intervention group when compared with the placebo group. A decrease in the number of episodes of vomiting on the second and third days of chemotherapy was also observed. On Days 1, 4, and 5, there was no significant difference in the number of episodes of vomiting in the intervention group as compared with the placebo group. The study concluded that laser acupuncture was effective in relieving nausea within 5 days of chemotherapy and in reducing the number of episodes of vomiting on Days 2 and 3 after chemotherapy.
Organizational Justice in Arab Countries: Investigation of the Measurement and Structural Invariance
Authors: Gadelrab Hesham F. , Alkhadher Othman , Aldhafri Said , Almoshawah Saad , Khatatba Yahya , El Abiddine Fares Zine , Alyetama Mohammed , Elmsalak Said , Tarboush Nabha , Slimene Sarah
Published: December 2018

Given the importance of comparing different groups in terms of perceptions of justice and justice effects, it is essential that the instrument used to measure perceptions behaves the same way across all groups. This study investigates the measurement invariance of the four-factor structure of organizational justice across nine Arab countries. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis is used with 2,914 employees working in the public sector to represent the variety of cultures among the Arab nations. We assess organizational justice using a measure developed by Alkhadher and Gadelrab primarily for Arab cultural perspectives of justice. This study shows that the four-dimensional model of justice is valid across the nine countries at the configural, metric, and scalar invariance. Fit indices showed sufficient to optimal fit, and difference test values were not significant across the set of the increasingly constrained confirmatory factor models. According to these results, we conclude that comparisons could be made safely on the justice latent variable level across the nine Arab groups. Moreover, justice dimension intercorrelations were found to be moderate to high and independent of cultural groups.
The optimization of prebiotic sucrose-free mango nectar by response surface methodology: The effect of stevia and inulin on physicochemical and rheological properties
Authors: Alizadeh Ainaz , Oskuyi Amin Seyedan , Amjadi Sajed
Published: December 2018

The reduction of sugar consumption is one of the major challenges for nutritionists and food industry. Therefore, it is significant to replace sucrose with other types of sweeteners, especially, natural ones. The aim of the present study is to produce low-calorie, sucrose-free mango nectar and to optimize the formulation by employing response surface methodology. The two independent variables were stevia, as a low-calorie sugar replacer (0, 1.5, and 3% w/w) and inulin as a prebiotic texturizer (0, 3, and 6% w/w) in order to compensate sugar elimination defect on viscosity and °Brix. The fitted models indicated a high coefficient of determination. The results revealed that stevia and inulin are as the independent variables which had significant effects on °Brix, viscosity, and sensory scores (p < 0.05). Also, pH was affected by stevia concentration. The rheological behavior of the sucrose-free mango nectar was non-Newtonian, shear thinning as Herschel–Bulkley model which was not different from the reported behavior for normal mango nectar-containing sucrose. The optimization of the variables, based on the response surface three-dimensional plots, demonstrated that utilizing 6% w/w inulin and 3% w/w stevia produced the optimum mango nectar with the desirability of 0.85 without undesirable changes in the physicochemical and organoleptic properties. The optimum sample was produced in triplicate to validate the optimum model as well.
Safety Assessment of Barium Sulfate as Used in Cosmetics
Authors: Johnson Wilbur , Bergfeld Wilma F. , Belsito Donald V. , Hill Ronald A. , Klaassen Curtis D. , Liebler Daniel C. , Marks James G. , Shank Ronald C. , Slaga Thomas J. , Snyder Paul W. , Gill Lillian J. , Heldreth Bart
Published: December 2018

The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel (Panel) reviewed the safety of barium sulfate, which functions as an opacifying agent in cosmetic products and is being used at concentrations up to 0.99% and 37% in rinse-off and leave-on products, respectively. The Panel noted that the history of safe medical use of barium sulfate indicates no significant toxicity concerns relating to systemic exposure to this ingredient. Furthermore, the extensive clinical experience of the Panel, including the results of numerous patch tests, indicates that barium salts do not have the potential to induce sensitization. The Panel noted that since salts of sulfuric acid can be irritating to the skin, cosmetic products containing barium sulfate should be formulated to be nonirritating. The Panel concluded that barium sulfate is safe in cosmetics in the present practices of use and concentration described in this safety assessment when formulated to be nonirritating.
CUBE: A scalable framework for large-scale industrial simulations
Authors: Jansson Niclas , Bale Rahul , Onishi Keiji , Tsubokura Makoto
Published: December 2018

Writing high-performance solvers for engineering applications is a delicate task. These codes are often developed on an application to application basis, highly optimized to solve a certain problem. Here, we present our work on developing a general simulation framework for efficient computation of time-resolved approximations of complex industrial flow problems—Complex Unified Building cube method (CUBE). To address the challenges of emerging, modern supercomputers, suitable data structures and communication patterns are developed and incorporated into CUBE. We use a Cartesian grid together with various immersed boundary (IB) methods to accurately capture moving, complex geometries. The asymmetric workload of the IB is balanced by a predictive dynamic load balancer, and a multithreaded halo exchange algorithm is employed to efficiently overlap communication with computations. Our work also concerns efficient methods for handling the large amount of data produced by large-scale flow simulations, such as scalable parallel I/O, data compression, and in-situ processing.
Why Is Hyperparathyroidism Underdiagnosed and Undertreated in Older Adults?
Authors: Dombrowsky Alex , Borg Benjamin , Xie Rongbing , Kirklin James K , Chen Herbert , Balentine Courtney J
Published: December 2018

Introduction:

Hyperparathyroidism significantly decreases quality of life, yet elderly patients are underdiagnosed and undertreated even though parathyroidectomy offers definitive cure with minimal morbidity. The purpose of this study is to determine why older patients with hyperparathyroidism are not appropriately diagnosed and referred for parathyroidectomy.

Methods:

We reviewed charts for a random sample of 25 patients aged 75 and older who had hyperparathyroidism and were referred for surgical evaluation, and 25 who were not referred. Two reviewers independently evaluated medical records to identify reasons for delayed diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism and reasons for nonreferral for parathyroidectomy.

Results:

The median age of our cohort was 84 (80-96) years, 90% were women, 60% were white, and median follow-up was 5.5 (1-17) years. In 58% of all patients, an elevated serum calcium was not acknowledged. Even when calcium and parathyroid hormone levels were both elevated, the diagnosis was missed in 28% of patients, and 16% with clear symptoms of hyperparathyroidism remained undiagnosed. For 42% of patients, a nonsurgeon informed them that surgery offered no benefit. Surgery was also rejected as a treatment for 36% of patients despite the development of new symptoms or rising calcium.

Conclusions:

Substantial gaps exist in processes for diagnosis and referral of patients with hyperparathyroidism that lead to underdiagnosis and undertreatment. To improve rates of diagnosis and treatment, strategies are needed to educate nonsurgeons and patients about the benefits of surgery and to modify care processes to more efficiently diagnose and refer patients.
Breaking barriers: Adjunctive use of the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to reach adolescents with obesity living in remote locations
Authors: Coles Nicole , Patel Barkha P , Li Ping , Cordeiro Kristina , Steinberg Alissa , Zdravkovic Ana , Hamilton Jill K
Published: December 2018

Introduction

Implementation of telemedicine has been shown to improve health outcomes, such as body mass index (BMI). However, it is unclear whether telemedicine is useful alongside traditional weight-management programmes for adolescents with complex obesity. The objective was to evaluate implementation of the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), a videoconferencing programme, as an adjunctive tool to face-to-face counselling within the setting of an established interdisciplinary obesity treatment programme.

Methods

Our observational cohort included two groups of adolescents enrolled in a clinical obesity-management programme over a two year period. Adolescents ( n = 50) in group 1 attended both in-person and virtual visits (OTN group), and adolescents ( n = 50) in group 2 received only in-person visits (comparison group). Within the OTN group, satisfaction survey responses were compared between patients and healthcare professionals. Change in BMI per month, paediatric quality of life scores, session attendance and demographic variables were compared between groups.

Results

OTN subjects averaged 4.9 telehealth visits per adolescent over the two year programme. Both OTN and comparison groups had similar changes in BMI ( p = 0.757), with increases over time ( p = 0.042). Paediatric quality of life scores in both groups improved over time compared to baseline ( p < 0.001), with higher scores for children compared to parental-reported child scores ( p = 0.008). Both adolescents and healthcare professionals using the OTN were similarly satisfied with their experience.

Conclusion

Adjunctive use of the OTN within the setting of a weight-management programme is feasible, well accepted by families and healthcare providers, and led to similar outcomes compared to usual care.
Current challenges in health information technology–related patient safety
Authors: Sittig Dean F , Wright Adam , Coiera Enrico , Magrabi Farah , Ratwani Raj , Bates David W , Singh Hardeep
Published: December 2018

We identify and describe nine key, short-term, challenges to help healthcare organizations, health information technology developers, researchers, policymakers, and funders focus their efforts on health information technology–related patient safety. Categorized according to the stage of the health information technology lifecycle where they appear, these challenges relate to (1) developing models, methods, and tools to enable risk assessment; (2) developing standard user interface design features and functions; (3) ensuring the safety of software in an interfaced, network-enabled clinical environment; (4) implementing a method for unambiguous patient identification (1–4 Design and Development stage); (5) developing and implementing decision support which improves safety; (6) identifying practices to safely manage information technology system transitions (5 and 6 Implementation and Use stage); (7) developing real-time methods to enable automated surveillance and monitoring of system performance and safety; (8) establishing the cultural and legal framework/safe harbor to allow sharing information about hazards and adverse events; and (9) developing models and methods for consumers/patients to improve health information technology safety (7–9 Monitoring, Evaluation, and Optimization stage). These challenges represent key “to-do’s” that must be completed before we can expect to have safe, reliable, and efficient health information technology–based systems required to care for patients.
Locally exact discretization method for nonlinear oscillation systems
Authors: Zhang Jingjing
Published: December 2018

Nonlinear oscillations are ubiquitous in various fields of engineering and applied sciences. In engineering, vibration isolators such as absorbers and dampers have been used to reduce damages of most undesired vibrations to a structure or a system. One important class of dampers is the pendulum tuned mass damper. Since it is difficult to solve nonlinear oscillation equations analytically, it is highly demanded to design numerical methods that preserve as much as possible intrinsic properties of the original system. To this end, we propose a locally exact modified midpoint rule with a parameter ω by combining ideas of locally exact discretization and symplecticness. We prove that it is convergent of order two for any ω as its classical partner; however, its local error accuracy can be remarkably improved with a proper choice of ω. A numerical example is provided to highlight the accuracy and effectiveness of the new method. Finally, effective implementation of the new method is also discussed based on approximate analytical solution.
Pressure fluctuation–vortex interaction in an ultra-low specific-speed centrifugal pump
Authors: Wang Cong , Zhang Yongxue , Li Zhiwei , Xu Ao , Xu Chang , Shi Zhicheng
Published: December 2018

To provide a comprehensive understanding of the pressure fluctuation–vortex interaction in non-cavitation and cavitation flow, in this article, the unsteady flow in an ultra-low specific-speed centrifugal pump was investigated by numerical simulation. The uncertainty of the numerical framework with three sets of successively refined mesh was verified and validated by a level of 1% of the experimental results. Then, the unsteady results indicate that the features of the internal flow and the pressure fluctuation were accurately captured in accordance with the closed-loop experimental results. The detailed pressure fluctuation at 16 monitoring points and the monitoring of the vorticity suggest that some inconsistent transient phenomena in frequency spectrums show strong correlation with the evolution of vortex, such as abnormal increasing amplitudes at the monitoring points near to the leading edge on the suction surface and the trailing edge on the pressure surface in the case of lower pressurization capacity of impeller after cavitation. Further analysis applies the relative vortex transport equation to intuitionally illustrate the pressure fluctuation–vortex interaction by the contribution of baroclinic torque, viscous diffusion and vortex convection terms. It reveals that the effect of viscous diffusion is weak when the Reynolds number is much greater than 1. Pressure fluctuation amplitude enlarges on the suction side of blade near to the leading edge due to the baroclinic torque in cavitation regions, whereas the abnormal increase of pressure fluctuation after cavitation on the pressure surface of blade approaching the trailing edge results from the vortex convection during vortices moving downstream with the decrease of available net positive suction head at the same instance.
Degradation assessment of ball bearings utilizing curvilinear component analysis
Authors: Tiwari Prashant , Upadhyay SH
Published: December 2018

The performance degradation assessment of ball bearings is of great importance to increase the efficiency and the reliability of rotating mechanical systems. The large dimensionality of feature space introduces a lot of noise and buries the potential information about faults hidden in the feature data. This paper proposes a novel health assessment method facilitated with two compatible methods, namely curvilinear component analysis and self-organizing map network. The novelty lies in the implementation of a vector quantization approach for the sub-manifolds in the feature space and to extract the fault signatures through nonlinear mapping technique. Curvilinear component analysis is a nonlinear mapping tool that can effectively represent the average manifold of the highly folded information and further preserves the local topology of the data. To answer the complications and to accomplish reliability and accuracy in bearing performance degradation assessment, the work is carried out with following steps; first, ensemble empirical mode decomposition is used to decompose the vibration signals into useful intrinsic mode functions; second, two fault features i.e. singular values and energy entropies are extracted from the envelopes of the intrinsic mode function signals; third, the extracted feature vectors under healthy conditions, further reduced with curvilinear component analysis are used to train the self-organizing map model; finally, the reduced test feature vectors are supplied to the trained self-organizing map and the confidence value is obtained. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is validated on three run-to-failure test signals with the different type of defects. The results indicate that the proposed technique detects the weak degradation earlier than the widely used indicators such as root mean square, kurtosis, self-organizing map-based minimum quantization error, and minimum quantization error-based on the principal component analysis.
Testing and ranking on round-robin design for data sport analytics with application to basketball
Authors: Corain Livio , Arboretti Rosa , Ceccato Riccardo , Ronchi Fabrizio , Salmaso Luigi
Published: December 2018

By modelling results of sport matches as a set of paired fixed effect linear models, the goal of the present article is showing that traditional scoring outputs can be used to do inference on parameters related to the net relative strength or weakness of teams within a league. As hypothesis testing method, we propose either a normal-based and a non-parametric permutation-based approach. As an extension to round-robin of the ranking methodology recently proposed by Arboretti Giancristofaro et al. (2014) and Corain et al. (2016) , results of pairwise testing are then exploited to provide a ranking of teams within a league. Through an extensive Monte Carlo simulation study, we investigated the properties of the proposed testing and ranking methodology where we proved its validity under different random distributions. In its simplest univariate version, the proposed methodology allows us to infer on the teams average net scoring within a league, while in its more intriguing multivariate layout it is suitable for looking for any team-related global dominance using a wide set of performance indicators. Finally, by using traditional basketball box scores, we present an application to the Italian Basket League.
Muddling along in the city: Framing the cityscape of dementia
Authors: Manthorpe Jill , Iliffe Steve
Published: December 2018

There is growing interest in the social geography of dementia, with the development of dementia-friendly communities, localities and cities in the developed world. This paper considers the claims being made for cities to be risky spaces for people with dementia. It debates this through an analysis based on Bacchi’s ‘representation of problems’ framework, evidencing this with policy documents and research findings. This reveals that the city is often seen as problematic for people with dementia, despite evidence to the contrary, and that local politicians are making claims for cities to be responsive dementia communities. The nature of local political ambitions is illustrated by strategies from London and from Manchester in the UK.
Neutrality without pluralism
Authors: Rivera-Castro Faviola
Published: December 2018

Friends and foes of liberal neutrality assume that neutrality presupposes pluralism. On this view, the state should be neutral among the many permissible conceptions of the individual good that citizens affirm. I argue that neutrality need not be construed as a response to pluralism. I focus on the case of specifically religious neutrality and argue that it can be an appropriate political response to what I call “the fact of religious hegemony,” which is a social scenario in which a particular religion is unanimously recognized as dominant. Religious neutrality, in this kind of context, requires the state to avoid all religious words and symbols that can be taken as an expression of endorsement or criticism of religion. I take this conception of religious neutrality from both political history and current political practice and discourse. Neutrality was originally conceived of as a proper political response in contexts of religious hegemony both in France and in Mexico. Today, and despite the growth of religious pluralism, this conception continues to be a live political posture in the places where it first originated. I call it “neutrality as independence from religion” and argue that it differs from liberal neutrality in crucial respects.
Undocumented Critical Theory
Authors: Aguilar Carlos
Published: December 2018

Despite an increasing body of literature on undocumented immigrants and an improved access to academia by DACAdemics and undocumented scholars, the need for theories about undocumented experiences in the United States persists. In this article, I introduce the central tenets of a developing theory that I call Undocumented Critical Theory (UndocuCrit). Rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latina/o Critical Theory (LatCrit), and Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), UndocuCrit introduces the lens to better understand the nuanced and liminal experiences that characterize undocumented communities in the United States. Although this initial rendering focuses on the experiences of Mexican immigrants and individuals of Mexican descent, UndocuCrit exhorts DACAdemics and undocumented scholars to contribute to this emerging framework by applying it to their experiences and those of other undocumented communities. As a theoretical framework, UndocuCrit challenges an immigrant binary rhetoric as well as embarking on a journey toward social justice and the empowerment of our communities.