bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
UAV thermal image detects genetic trait differences among populations and genotypes of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii, Salicaceae)
Authors: Sankey Temuulen , Hultine Kevin , Blasini Davis , Koepke Dan , Bransky Nathaniel , Grady Kevin , Cooper Hillary , Gehring Catherine , Allan Gerard
Published: November 2020

Many plants are becoming increasingly maladapted to their environments due to changing climate and environmental conditions. It is, therefore, important to quantitatively evaluate what species, populations, and genotypes will survive in projected climate change scenarios and the implications this can have for associated biodiversity. We evaluate unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based high‐resolution thermal images for differentiating populations and genotypes in Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii S. Wats.), a foundation tree species that supports high levels of biodiversity and associated processes in riparian ecosystems. Specifically, we compare UAV thermal image‐derived tree canopy temperatures among 16 different populations and 10 replicated genotypes within two of the populations of Fremont cottonwood trees sourced from a broad environmental gradient and growing together in a common garden in central Arizona, USA. The UAV image‐derived tree canopy temperatures ranged 30°C–42°C resulting in a high overall accuracy of 85% in tree canopy classification. Our results indicate that the UAV thermal image‐derived mean tree canopy temperatures were significantly different among most of the 16 populations (P < 0.001). Within a warm‐adapted Sonoran Desert population and a cooler High Plateau population, the UAV thermal image‐derived tree canopy temperatures were also significantly different among many genotypes (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the UAV thermal image‐derived tree canopy temperatures were significantly correlated with tree canopy cover (R2 = 0.73; P‐value < 0.001) and varied with locations across the garden. Our findings have important implications for characterizing intraspecific genetic diversity in long‐lived forest trees like Fremont cottonwood and inferences for understanding ecosystem processes and guiding restoration efforts. We suggest that UAV thermal images can be used to rapidly scale laboratory‐ and plot‐based genetics research up to the landscape level. Ecological restoration efforts informed by projected climate scenarios can benefit from the UAV‐based genetics findings to identify future climate‐adapted populations and genotypes for potential propagation sources.
Soil gypsum determination
Authors: Herrero J. , Artieda O. , Weindorf D.C.
Published: November 2020

The methods for gypsum content determination in soils are summarized and their applicability discussed. Special attention is given to the critical step of sample preparation, stressing the elimination of the oven heating at temperatures surpassing 40°C. Wet methods are unsuitable for soils rich in gypsum or containing other sulfates. Instead, oven‐based methods playing on the mass variations due to the release of constitutional water of gypsum are preferable. Under laboratory settings, we recommend two existing methods: one directly measuring the loss of mass on heating and the other exploiting the gypsum–bassanite phase change under controlled conditions. Both reflectance and X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) provide nondestructive methods for quick gypsum appraisal, and combining both methods increases the accuracy. The results are easily calibrated with gravimetric methods.
Did court dismiss student's breach‐of‐contract claim?
Authors: Lyerly Eric
Published: November 2020

The plaintiff enrolled in the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. After failing classes in his second semester, the plaintiff was placed on academic probation and was required to repeat those courses. The plaintiff subsequently failed another class in his fifth semester. After failing a fourth class, the plaintiff was dismissed from the program due to his poor academic performance.
Surface‐sampling mass spectrometry and imaging: Direct analysis of bacterial species
Authors: Griffiths Rian L.
Published: November 2020

Surface‐sampling mass spectrometry and imaging techniques offer the opportunity to directly interrogate a wide range of surfaces. Ambient techniques have become popular as samples can be analysed at room conditions with little to no sample preparation. However, more traditional (vacuum based) techniques offer superior spatial resolution imaging. This review aims to offer an overview of the capabilities of some of the most widely used surface mass spectrometry and imaging techniques with a particular focus on the analysis of bacterial samples. The relative benefits of each approach and the differences in capabilities will be discussed. The complementarity of different approaches will also be described in the context of bacterial analysis. Different applications in terms of sample types and biomolecules analysed (within the context of bacterial samples) will be discussed and perspectives offered on which developments may play key roles in the future.
Social capital, social support and perceived stress in college students: The role of resilience and life satisfaction
Authors: Kalaitzaki Argyroula , Tsouvelas George , Koukouli Sofia
Published: November 2020

The study examined whether online and offline social capital and offline social support are associated with less perceived stress in 403 undergraduate Greek college students through the mediating role of resilience and life satisfaction. Gender differences were also explored. A path analysis explored the relationships among the study variables and multi‐group analysis explored gender differences. Perceived stress was predicted indirectly by offline social support and offline bonding social capital through resilience and life satisfaction and directly by online bonding. However, offline bonding was associated with reduced resilience and life satisfaction, whereas social support was associated with increased levels of both. Interestingly, whereas offline bonding was associated with reduced perceived stress through resilience for women, for men it occurred through life satisfaction, and it was primarily resilience for women and life satisfaction for men that predicted reduced perceived stress. It was concluded that different personal ties/relationships are associated with perceived stress through diversified pathways and the pathways are different for men and women. Offline social support between closely tied persons is positively associated and offline bonding is negatively associated with the inner resources for a person to cope with stress, whereas online bonding is beneficial in directly decreasing stress.
Microengineered Human Vein‐Chip Recreates Venous Valve Architecture and Its Contribution to Thrombosis
Authors: Rajeeva Pandian Navaneeth Krishna , Walther Brandon K , Suresh Rishi , Cooke John P , Jain Abhishek
Published: November 2020

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and its consequences are lethal, but current models cannot completely dissect its determinants—endothelium, flow, and blood constituents—together called Virchow's triad. Most models for studying DVT forego assessment of venous valves that serve as the primary sites of DVT formation. Therefore, the knowledge of DVT formed at the venous cusps has remained obscure due to lack of experimental models. Here, organ‐on‐chip methodology is leveraged to create a Vein‐Chip platform integrating fully vascularized venous valves and its hemodynamic, as seen in vivo. These Vein‐Chips reveal that vascular endothelium of valve cusps adapts to the locally disturbed microenvironment by expressing a different phenotype from the regions of uniform flow. This spatial adaptation of endothelial function recreated on the in vitro Vein‐Chip platform is shown to protect the vein from thrombosis from disturbed flow in valves, but interestingly, cytokine stimulation reverses the effect and switches the valve endothelium to becoming prothrombotic. The platform eventually modulates the three factors of Virchow's triad and provides a systematic approach to investigate the determinants of fibrin and platelet dynamics of DVT. Therefore, this Vein‐Chip offers a new preclinical approach to study venous pathophysiology and show effects of antithrombotic drug treatment.
Prioritize social justice, inclusion by offering professional development series
Authors: Pavlik Amelia
Published: November 2020

A change agent. Shawna Saad never thought of herself as being one until a colleague suggested she was, given efforts to educate her staff at Iowa State University about social justice and inclusion topics.
Achieving equity in education requires systemic change
Authors: Hope Joan
Published: November 2020

Creating equity in opportunities and outcomes in education has been a perpetual challenge. Panelists for “Opening the Door to Equity in Education,” a webinar hosted by the National Student Clearinghouse, described how COVID‐19 has highlighted the challenges and how data can help guide a way to solutions.
Non-vanishing zero-temperature normal density in holographic superfluids
Authors: Goutéraux Blaise , Mefford Eric
Published: November 2020

Abstract

The low energy and finite temperature excitations of ad+ 1-dimensional system exhibiting superfluidity are well described by a hydrodynamic model with two fluid flows: a normal flow and a superfluid flow. In the vicinity of a quantum critical point, thermodynamics and transport in the system are expected to be controlled by the critical exponents and by the spectrum of irrelevant deformations away from the quantum critical point. Here, using gauge-gravity duality, we present the low temperature dependence of thermodynamic and charge transport coefficients at first order in the hydrodynamic derivative expansion in terms of the critical exponents. Special attention will be paid to the behavior of the charge density of the normal flow in systems with emergent infrared conformal and Lifshitz symmetries, parameterized by a Lifshitz dynamical exponentz >1. When 1≤ z < d+ 2, we recover (z= 1) and extend (z >1) previous results obtained by relativistic effective field theory techniques. Instead, whenz > d+ 2, we show that the normal charge density becomes non-vanishing at zero temperature. An extended appendix generalizes these results to systems that violate hyperscaling as well as systems with generalized photon masses. Our results clarify previous work in the holographic literature and have relevance to recent experimental measurements of the superfluid density on cuprate superconductors.
Understanding emergent teaching and learning practices: iPad integration in Polish school
Authors: Kopciewicz Lucyna , Bougsiaa Hussein
Published: November 2020

The appearance of tablet technology in the classroom is considered an obvious modernisation milestone. In the last few years school professionals in Poland have made large investments in digitalisation, especially through one to one model (1:1), using digital devices such as tablets. Researches on tablet technology integration in school classrooms convince that digital technologies are closely related to the discourse of educational change. What really changes when digital technology is used in the classroom? This is a driving question for the present study. This research contributes knowledge and new insights into learning and teaching practices in two classrooms in a Polish primary school that were observed over a longer perspective of three school semesters. The design of teaching and learning with tablet technology was explored using the didactical design framework. This perspective focuses on both teachers’ practices and students’ learning activities in the classroom and how tablet technology is integrated into teaching and learning practices. Although the research project was performed on a small scale, it can be defined as one that documents the changes to learning and teaching practices happening in the traditional educational culture of the school under analysis. These changes were identified through the data collected by means of classroom video ethnography (63 teaching hours of recording) and follow-up interviews (18) with classroom’s teachers. The analysis resulted in three distinct maps of emergent teaching and learning practices and a series of conflicts and tensions teachers experience in their everyday tablet-mediated teaching practices. The findings point out that tablet technology integration needs the alignment of the classroom pedagogy - technology relationships.
No Purification Ontology, No Quantum Paradoxes
Authors: D’Ariano Giacomo Mauro
Published: November 2020

It is almost universally believed that in quantum theory the two following statements hold: (1) all transformations are achieved by a unitary interaction followed by a von-Neumann measurement; (2) all mixed states are marginals of pure entangled states. I name this doctrine the dogma of purification ontology. The source of the dogma is the original von Neumann axiomatisation of the theory, which largely relies on the Schrődinger equation as a postulate, which holds in a nonrelativistic context, and whose operator version holds only in free quantum field theory, but no longer in the interacting theory. In the present paper I prove that both ontologies of unitarity and state-purity are unfalsifiable, even in principle, and therefore axiomatically spurious. I propose instead a minimal four-postulate axiomatisation: (1) associate a Hilbert space $${\mathcal {H}}_\text{A}$$

H
A

to each system$$\text{A}$$
A
; (2) compose two systems by the tensor product rule $${\mathcal {H}}_{\text{A}\text{B}}={\mathcal {H}}_\text{A}\otimes {\mathcal {H}}_\text{B}$$

H
AB

=

H
A

⊗

H
B

; (3) associate a transformation from system $$\text{A}$$
A
to $$\text{B}$$
B
to a quantum operation, i.e. to a completely positive trace-non-increasing map between the trace-class operators of $$\text{A}$$
A
and $$\text{B}$$
B
; (4) (Born rule) evaluate all joint probabilities through that of a special type of quantum operation: the state preparation. I then conclude that quantum paradoxes—such as the Schroedinger-cat’s, and, most relevantly, the information paradox—are originated only by the dogma of purification ontology, and they are no longer paradoxes of the theory in the minimal formulation. For the same reason, most interpretations of the theory (e.g. many-world, relational, Darwinism, transactional, von Neumann–Wigner, time-symmetric,...) interpret the same dogma, not the strict theory stripped of the spurious postulates.
Spectral clustering of combinatorial fullerene isomers based on their facet graph structure
Authors: Bille Artur , Buchstaber Victor , Spodarev Evgeny
Published: November 2020

After Curl, Kroto and Smalley were awarded 1996 the Nobel Prize in chemistry, fullerenes have been subject of much research. One part of that research is the prediction of a fullerene’s stability using topological descriptors. It was mainly done by considering the distribution of the twelve pentagonal facets on its surface, calculations mostly were performed on all isomers ofC40,C60andC80. This paper suggests a novel method for the classification of combinatorial fullerene isomers using spectral graph theory. The classification presupposes an invariant scheme for the facets based on the Schlegel diagram. The main idea is to find clusters of isomers by analyzing their graph structure of hexagonal facets only. We also show that our classification scheme can serve as a formal stability criterion, which became evident from a comparison of our results with recent quantum chemical calculations (Sure et al. in Phys Chem Chem Phys 19:14296–14305, 2017). We apply our method to classify all isomers ofC60and give an example of two different cospectral isomers ofC44. Calculations are done with our own Python scripts available at (Bille et al. in Fullerene database and classification software,https://www.uni-ulm.de/mawi/mawi-stochastik/forschung/fullerene-database/, 2020). The only input for our algorithm is the vector of positions of pentagons in the facet spiral. These vectors and Schlegel diagrams are generated with the software package Fullerene (Schwerdtfeger et al. in J Comput Chem 34:1508–1526, 2013).
Challenges concerning test case specifications in automotive software testing: assessment of frequency and criticality
Authors: Juhnke Katharina , Tichy Matthias , Houdek Frank
Published: November 2020

Automotive test case specifications document test cases to be performed for a specific test object at a defined test level. They are a fundamental part of a structured automotive testing process, as required by the ISO 26262. The aim of our research is to identify challenges from a practitioner’s point of view that lead to poor quality of test case specifications and thus negatively impact time, cost, and probability of defect detection. We designed an exploratory case study to systematically identify challenges focusing on (C) creation, (P) processing, and (Q) quality assurance related aspects of test case specifications. We conducted 17 semi-structured interviews covering a German OEM as well as three of its automotive suppliers and analyzed them qualitatively. We investigated causes and consequences arising from the challenges. Additionally, we conducted a descriptive survey to assess frequency and criticality. The identified challenges were summarized in a taxonomy consisting of nine main categories: (1) availability and (2) content-related problems with input artifacts, problems related to (3) a lack of knowledge, (4) the test case description, (5) the test case specification content, (6) processes, (7) communication, (8) quality assurance, and (9) tools. The challenges were assessed by 26 internal and 10 external employees. Hence, we identified differences between these groups in terms of access to documents, incomplete requirements, scope of model series, process, and tool-related aspects. Overall, the study results underline the necessity of quality assurance measures for test case specifications. Based on the assessments, our research indicates a broad range of test case description related challenges that are promising candidates for improving test case specification quality.
Temporal Variation of Road Dust Load and Its Size Distribution—a Comparative Study of a Porous and a Dense Pavement
Authors: Lundberg Joacim , Gustafsson Mats , Janhäll Sara , Eriksson Olle , Blomqvist Göran , Erlingsson Sigurdur
Published: November 2020

Resuspension of road dust contributes to air quality issues with resulting health impacts. Limited studies imply that porous pavements can initially mitigate PM10 emissions by acting as a dust trap, but the abrasion wear generates road dust and thus accelerates the clogging processes. In addition, knowledge regarding the impact of pavement types on road dust load dynamics is limited. Road traffic noise can be mitigated using porous pavements, but the use of studded tyres increases the abrasion wear of the pavement as well as increasing the noise emission. Due to this durability problem, porous pavements are rarely used in the Nordic countries where, instead, dense pavements which are abrasion resistant are more common. Linköping municipality, in Sweden, constructed a porous pavement to mitigate road traffic noise. This led to the opportunity to investigate the temporal variation of the dust load dynamics and inherent size distributions over the winter and spring in comparison to those of an adjacent dense pavement. Results, when using the wet dust sampler (WDS) method, showed similar dust load dynamics for the dense and porous pavements. The results were also compared to previous studies using the same method on different dense pavements in Stockholm, Sweden. All locations showed a seasonal variation with higher dust loads during winter and early spring and declining loads towards summer. The size distributions were more complex for the wheel tracks at the porous pavement, having primarily properties of a mixture model compared to the simple size distributions for the dense pavement. On the other hand, the dust load and size distribution were more similar between the porous and dense pavements regarding loads and shapes, indicating a less pronounced but similar behaviour between the surfaces outside of the wheel tracks.
Capability Sensitive Design for Health and Wellbeing Technologies
Authors: Jacobs Naomi
Published: November 2020

This article presents the framework Capability Sensitive Design (CSD), which consists of merging the design methodology Value Sensitive Design (VSD) with Martha Nussbaum's capability theory. CSD aims to normatively assess technology design in general, and technology design for health and wellbeing in particular. Unique to CSD is its ability to account for human diversity and to counter (structural) injustices that manifest in technology design. The basic framework of CSD is demonstrated by applying it to the hypothetical design case of a therapy chatbot for mental health. By applying CSD to a design case, the merits of this new framework over the standard VSD approach become apparent. Also, the application demonstrates what a technology design would look like when attention is paid to capabilities right from the start of the design process.
Influencers on YouTube: a quantitative study on young people’s use and perception of videos about political and societal topics
Authors: Zimmermann Daniel , Noll Christian , Gräßer Lars , Hugger Kai-Uwe , Braun Lea Marie , Nowak Tine , Kaspar Kai
Published: November 2020

The roles of YouTube videos and YouTubers for getting information about political and societal topics are becoming gradually more important to young people. Quantitative research about young people’s use and perception of YouTube-videos and their potential effects on opinion formation is sparse though. This cross-sectional quantitative study addresses this empirical gap. We examined young people’s analytic-critical evaluations of YouTubers and their videos about political and societal topics (YTPS-videos), and how these are affected by the young people’s age and gender. We analysed questionnaire data of 562 participants and divided them into three different age groups. Overall, the participants reported a moderate watching frequency of YTPS-videos. They also rated YTPS-videos as moderately credible and considered specific characteristics of YTPS-videos and their producers as being moderately indicative for fake news. When comparing to traditional TV news, YTPS-videos were perceived as more entertaining, emotional, funny, exciting, modern, and motivating but also as more subjective and manipulating. Regarding YouTubers, the participants ascribed them an important role model function, but criticised them for handling it rather irresponsibly. Concerning opinion formation processes, the participants reported of a rather unimportant role of YTPS-videos for their learning about political and societal topics. They also perceived themselves as less influenceable than other peers and younger people. Still, they prefer talking with friends instead of teachers about YTPS-videos. Age and gender also had effects on various scales. These results deliver essential data for future research and educational measures and opened up unexplored areas in this research field.
How to become more grateful? The mediating role of resilience between empathy and gratitude
Authors: Lasota Agnieszka , Tomaszek Katarzyna , Bosacki Sandra
Published: November 2020

The current study examined the relationship between empathy, resilience, and gratitude. Specifically, the study investigated the potential mediating role of resilience between empathy and gratitude. The study involved 214 participants who completed the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test-Revised (GRAT-R), the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE), and the Resilience Measurement Scale (SPP-25). The results showed significant positive correlations among resilience, empathy, and gratitude. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that resilience, gender, and affective empathy were direct predictors of the level of gratitude. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis supported the hypothesis that resilience played a mediating role between empathy and gratitude. Implications for research and the promotion of positive psychology programs for adults are discussed.
AI and robotics in the European restaurant sector: Assessing potentials for process innovation in a high-contact service industry
Authors: Blöcher Katharina , Alt Rainer
Published: November 2020

The restaurant technology market is rapidly evolving and is transforming the restaurant business as a significant sector of tourism and hospitality. Enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), mobile apps, kiosks and chatbots revolutionize the guest experience and robots automate restaurant operations. Despite the increasing interest, the use of AI and robotics in restaurants is still in its early stage and restaurant managers are seeking guidance to leverage these technologies for service excellence. In this high-contact service sector, emotional skills need to be balanced with the possible automation potentials. The present research analyzes the current state of AI and robotics in the restaurant sector and proposes a systematic identification of process innovation potentials. For this purpose, a market analysis of the European AI and robotics market for restaurant operations is conducted, which yields a first knowledge base for future research and conceptual work. Besides detailed empirical data, a reference process is developed for leveraging new technologies for process innovation.
State of the art of friction modelling at interfaces subjected to elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL)
Authors: Bi Zhuming , Mueller Donald W. , Zhang Chris W. J.
Published: November 2020

Elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) is a type of fluid-film lubrication where hydrodynamic behaviors at contact surfaces are affected by both elastic deformation of surfaces and lubricant viscosity. Modelling of contact interfaces under EHL is challenging due to high nonlinearity, complexity, and the multi-disciplinary nature. This paper aims to understand the state of the art of computational modelling of EHL by (1) examining the literature on modeling of contact surfaces under boundary and mixed lubricated conditions, (2) emphasizing the methods on the friction prediction occurring to contact surfaces, and (3) exploring the feasibility of using commercially available software tools (especially, Simulia/Abaqus) to predict the friction and wear at contact surfaces of objects with relative reciprocating motions.
Geringe Literalität und politische Grundbildung: Die Bedeutung schriftsprachlicher Fähigkeiten für die Selbsteinschätzung politischer Grundkompetenzen
Authors: Dutz Gregor
Published: November 2020

Politische Grundbildung hat sich inzwischen als ein inhaltlicher Pfeiler in der Diskussion um Grundbildung etabliert, wobei über die politikbezogenen Grundkompetenzen gering literalisierter Erwachsener bisher wenig bekannt ist. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen der Studie LEO 2018 und mithilfe logistischer Regressionsmodelle wird die These überprüft, dass gering literalisierte Erwachsene die eigenen politikbezogenen Kompetenzen als eher gering einschätzen und sich so vom politischen Feld ausschließen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass auch bei der Kontrolle verschiedener soziökonomischer Faktoren gering literalisierte Erwachsene mit einer höheren Wahrscheinlichkeit die eigenen Kompetenzen als eher niedrig einschätzen.
Osteoporose im Kindes- und Jugendalter
Authors: Raimann Adalbert , Haeusler Gabriele
Published: November 2020

Osteoporose ist eine Erkrankung des Skelettapparats, die durch eine Beeinträchtigung der Knochenmikroarchitektur zu einer erhöhten Knochenbruchrate führt. Während Osteoporose im höheren Erwachsenenalter eine häufige Diagnose darstellt, wird der Osteoporose des Kindes- und Jugendalters erst seit relativ kurzer Zeit zunehmend Bedeutung zugesprochen. Generell werden zwei unterschiedliche Formen der Erkrankung unterschieden: Die primäre Osteoporose wird verursacht durch genetische Veränderungen in skelettrelevanten Genen, die häufigste Erkrankungsgruppe stellt die Osteogenesis imperfecta mit ursächlichen Mutationen im Kollagen-1-Gen dar. Internistische Maßnahmen umfassen neben funktionell-therapeutischen Maßnahmen auch pharmakologische Therapien mit Bisphosphonaten. Die sekundäre Osteoporose als Symptom chronischer Grunderkrankungen oder pharmakologischer Interventionen weist eine deutlich höhere Prävalenz als die primären Formen der Osteoporose auf. Abhängig von Pathomechanismus und Verlauf der Grunderkrankung kommt es zu osteoporotischen Symptomen unterschiedlichster Ausprägung. Die Therapiekonzepte müssen der individuellen Symptomatik angepasst werden, die Datenlage zum Einsatz von Bisphosphonaten ist deutlich geringer als bei der Osteogenesis imperfecta. Ziel dieses Artikels ist es, einen Überblick über Diagnostik und Therapie der sehr unterschiedlichen Formen der pädiatrischen Osteoporose sowie einen Einblick in die rezenten Entwicklungen für den primär und Sekundärversorgungsbereich zu geben.
Insurgent Imaginations
Authors: Majumder Auritro
Published: November 2020

This book argues that contemporary world literature is defined by peripheral internationalism. Over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a range of aesthetic forms beyond the metropolitan West - fiction, memoir, cinema, theater - came to resist cultural nationalism and promote the struggles of subaltern groups. Peripheral internationalism pitted intellectuals and writers not only against the ex-imperial West, but also against their burgeoning national elites. In a sense, these writers marginalized the West and placed the non-Western peripheries in a new center. Through a grounded yet sweeping survey of Bengali, English, and other texts, the book connects India to the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Latin America, and the United States. Chapters focus on Rabindranath Tagore, M. N. Roy, Mrinal Sen, Mahasweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, and Aravind Adiga. Unlike the Anglo-American emphasis on a post-national globalization, Insurgent Imaginations argues for humanism and revolutionary internationalism as the determinate bases of world literature.
Beirut Ammonium Nitrate Explosion: A Man-Made Disaster in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: El Sayed Mazen J.
Published: November 2020

The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history took place on August 4, 2020, at 6:07 PM in Beirut, Lebanon, after an estimated 2750 tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded. The physical and social impacts of this catastrophic event coinciding with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic were massive. This article describes the national and international emergency responses to this event and highlights the impact of the explosion on the health care sector in Lebanon. Challenges noted during this response with recommendations for improving response to future disasters are also described.
Expansive dynamics on locally compact groups
Authors: KITCHENS BRUCE P.
Published: November 2020

Let

$\mathcal {G}$
be a second countable, Hausdorff topological group. If

$\mathcal {G}$
is locally compact, totally disconnected and T is an expansive automorphism then it is shown that the dynamical system

$(\mathcal {G}, T)$
is topologically conjugate to the product of a symbolic full-shift on a finite number of symbols, a totally wandering, countable-state Markov shift and a permutation of a countable coset space of

$\mathcal {G}$
that fixes the defining subgroup. In particular if the automorphism is transitive then

$\mathcal {G}$
is compact and

$(\mathcal {G}, T)$
is topologically conjugate to a full-shift on a finite number of symbols.
‘Un'arte ancora in embrione’: international expositions, empire, and the evolution of Fascist architectural design
Authors: Fortuna James J.
Published: November 2020

This article reconsiders the development of Fascist architecture throughout the late interwar period. It pays especial attention to the structures erected for the most significant international expositions held, or planned to be held, between 1933 and 1942, in order to identify significant trends in Party-sponsored design. It argues that the ‘dynamism’ of Fascist design was a consequence of the regime's preference for an increasingly imperial tone which developed in direct proportion to its increasingly imperial identity. It points to Piacentini and Pagano's Italian Pavilion built for the 1937 Paris Exposition, the first national pavilion constructed following the May 1936 proclamation of empire, as a significant flashpoint in the tension between Fascist interpretations of modern and classical design. This article concludes that the often-overlooked world's fair buildings can be viewed as crystalline distillations of the stylistic experimentation which defined the broader Fascist building programme both in Italy and abroad.
Macrointerest
Authors: Peterson David A. M. , Miller Joanne M. , Saunders Kyle L. , McClurg Scott D.
Published: November 2020

An interested and engaged electorate is widely believed to be an indicator of democratic health. As such, the aggregate level of political interest of an electorate – macrointerest – is an essential commodity in a democracy, and understanding the forces that change macrointerest is important for diagnosing the health of a democracy. Because being interested in politics requires time and effort, the article theorizes that the electorate's level of political interest will be highest when the electorate believes the government cannot be trusted or is performing poorly. To test hypotheses derived from a proposed theory against rival explanations, the study develops a measure of macrointerest using a quarterly time series of aggregated survey items (1973–2014) of political interest. The authors find support for the theory that the electorate responds as reasonable agents when determining how closely to monitor elected officials: interest is positively related to decreases in trust in government.
Efficacy of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty as a first line treatment for otitis media with effusion in children
Authors: Demir B , Batman C
Published: November 2020

Objective

This study aimed to compare the outcomes of ventilation tube insertion and balloon Eustachian tuboplasty as a first line treatment for otitis media with effusion in children.

Method

This was a retrospective evaluation of 62 children, 30 cases that underwent balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (group 1) and 32 cases that underwent ventilation tube insertion (group 2), from July 2016 to April 2018.

Results

The pre-operative air–bone gap of patients who underwent balloon Eustachian tuboplasty was 15–35 dB (mean: 27.6 ± 8.2 dB). The mean pre-operative air–bone gap decreased to 9.6 dB after a mean of 14.4 months (p< 0.05). The air–bone gap decreased from 25.6 dB to 17.6 dB in the ventilation tube group. There was a significant improvement in the air–bone gap values in both groups; however, this decrease was significantly higher in the balloon Eustachian tuboplasty group (p= 0.043).

Conclusion

Balloon Eustachian tuboplasty may be an effective and safe method for use as a first-line treatment of otitis media with effusion in children.
Powder X-ray diffraction of azelastine hydrochloride, C22H25ClN3O·Cl
Authors: Kaduk James A. , Gindhart Amy M. , Blanton Thomas N.
Published: November 2020

Commercial azelastine hydrochloride crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n (#14) with a = 13.7844(5), b = 16.39920(14), c = 9.41231(22) Å, β = 97.5340(20)°, V = 2109.32(4) Å3, and Z = 4. The lattice parameters differ by −0.02, +0.04, and +0.04% from those in the previous determination (reflecting differences in the temperature and the sample source), and are more precise, from the use of synchrotron radiation. The experimental powder pattern is included in the Powder Diffraction File™ (PDF®) as entry 00-070-1219.
Compound pronouns in English
Authors: WU ZHEN
Published: November 2020

This article explores the syntax of compound pronouns (e.g.someone,nothing). Several theories of these formatives have been proposed previously (e.g. Kishimoto 2000; Blöhdorn 2009), but most of them fail to account for the fact that compound pronouns behave simultaneously like compounds and phrases. By presenting corpus data of some special coordination and modification patterns of compound pronouns, I argue that they should instead be analysed as compound phrases: constructions which are morphologically compounds, but syntactically phrases. Both features play important roles in determining how compound phrases are modified. Moreover, I propose a modification paradigm based on Larson & Marušič (2004), which classifies common postmodifiers at different levels. Finally, I examine the syntactic behaviour of less frequently used nominal compound pronouns such asnobody, which are supplementary to the phrasal ones.
On the Performative Use of the Past Participle in German
Authors: Ørsnes Bjarne
Published: November 2020

In German, past participles not only occur in root position with a directive force, as inStillgestanden!‘Stop!’ lit. ‘stood still(ptcp)’, but also as performatives in responses: A:Du sagst also nichts zu Papi.‘So you won’t tell dad.’ B:Versprochen!‘I promise!’ lit. ‘promised(ptcp)’. Here B performs the speech act denoted by the verb by saying that it has been performed. The propositional argument of the participle (what is promised) is resolved contextually, and the agent and the recipient arguments are restricted to the speaker and the hearer, respectively. This article presents a syntactic analysis of this rarely studied phenomenon, arguing that the construction with a performative participle is not ellipsis but an IP with a participial head and null pronominal complements. The syntactic analysis is formalized within Lexical-Functional Grammar. A pragmatic analysis is proposed arguing that the performative participle in its core use alternates withYes!to express agreement with an assertion or compliance with a request, that is, to express consent to the effect that a proposition p may safely be added to the Common Ground. This analysis is cast within the dialogue framework of Farkas & Bruce (2010) and extended to response performative participles in monological uses.*
Land Surface Temperature Trend and Its Drivers in East Africa
Authors: Abera Temesgen Alemayehu , Heiskanen Janne , Maeda Eduardo Eiji , Pellikka Petri K. E.
Published: November 2020

Land surface temperature (LST) is affected by surface‐atmosphere interaction. Yet, the degree to which surface and atmospheric factors impact the magnitude of LST trend is not well established. Here, we used surface energy balance, boosted regression tree model, and satellite observation and reanalysis data to unravel the effects of surface factors (albedo, sensible heat, latent heat, and ground heat) as well as incoming radiation (shortwave and longwave) on LST trends in East Africa (EA). Our result showed that 11% of EA was affected by significant (p < 0.05) daytime annual LST trends, which exhibited both cooling of −0.19 K year−1 (mainly in South Sudan and Sudan) and warming of 0.22 K year−1 (mainly in Somalia and Kenya). The nighttime LST trends affected a large part of EA (31%) and were dominated by significant warming trend (0.06 K year−1). Influenced by contrasting daytime and nighttime LST trends, the diurnal LST range reduced in 15% of EA. The modeling result showed that latent heat flux (32%), incoming longwave radiation (30%), and shortwave radiation (23%) were stronger in explaining daytime LST trend. The effects of surface factors were stronger in both cooling and warming trends, whereas atmospheric factors had stronger control only on surface cooling trends. These results indicate the differential control of surface and atmospheric factors on warming and cooling trends, highlighting the importance of considering both factors for accurate evaluation of the LST trends in the future.
Long‐Term Variability and Tendencies in Middle Atmosphere Temperature and Zonal Wind From WACCM6 Simulations During 1850–2014
Authors: Ramesh K. , Smith Anne K. , Garcia Rolando R. , Marsh Daniel R. , Sridharan S. , Kishore Kumar K.
Published: November 2020

Long‐term variability of middle atmosphere temperature (T) and zonal wind (U) is investigated using a three‐member ensemble of historical simulations of NCAR's Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model latest version 6 (WACCM6) for 1850–2014 (165 years). The model reproduces the climatological features of T and U. The contributions of Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) at 10 and 30 hPa, solar cycle (SC), El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO), ozone depleting substances (ODS), carbon dioxide (CO2), and stratospheric sulfate aerosol (volcanic eruptions) to change in monthly zonal mean T and U are analyzed using multiple linear regression. The signal due to CO2 increase dominates as a predictor of the net multidecadal global annual mean temperature change at all levels in the middle atmosphere. Contributions from ODS also affect the net multidecadal global mean temperature trend in the stratosphere. Because of similarities in the time evolution of the emissions of CO2 and ODS, the analysis of existing model output cannot accurately separate the attributions of cooling to these two dominant forcing processes. On shorter time scales, solar flux variations are the largest source of variability in the mesosphere while volcanic eruptions are the largest in the stratosphere. In the stratosphere and mesosphere, both QBO and ENSO can significantly impact zonal mean temperature and zonal‐mean zonal wind depending on latitudes, but their impact on the multidecadal global mean temperature trend is very small.
The Roles of Climate Extremes, Ecological Succession, and Hydrology in Repeated Permafrost Aggradation and Degradation in Fens on the Tanana Flats, Alaska
Authors: Jorgenson M. Torre , Douglas Thomas A. , Liljedahl Anna K. , Roth Joanna E. , Cater Tim C. , Davis Wendy A. , Frost Gerald V. , Miller Patricia F. , Racine Charles H.
Published: November 2020

The Tanana Flats in central Alaska are a hot spot for thermokarst that is rapidly transforming the landscape. Time series analysis of high‐resolution imagery showed that permafrost degradation increased the area of three large fens by 26% from 1949 to 2018, but surprisingly permafrost also aggraded in small areas. Permafrost soils in adjacent birch forests frequently had fen peat near the surface indicating recent permafrost degradation and aggradation. We attribute groundwater as the primary driver of recent permafrost degradation, while climate extremes (especially cold, less snowy winters) caused recent permafrost aggradation, but only after ecological succession provided conditions favorable for permafrost formation. Near‐surface groundwater temperatures during early winters (2–6°C during 2011–2014) contributed to a near steady rate of lateral permafrost degradation (0.36 m/yr) over three periods. Fairbanks climate records (1904–2019) showed large ranges in mean winter temperatures (12°C) and snow depths (69 cm) between cold, less snowy winters and warm, snowy winters. During ecological succession from the collapsing margins to the fen centers over a ~250‐yr period, vegetation transitioned from aquatic forbs to shrubs and mosses, water depths decreased, and the soil carbon stock of new peat increased. These interactions among permafrost, groundwater, climate warming, and succession complicate our ability to project future ecological transitions and soil carbon changes across this dynamic boreal lowland landscape. The more frequent warm, snowy winters since 2014 and model projections for warmer winters, however, indicate that the region has crossed a tipping point where permafrost will no longer form and permafrost loss is irreversible.
Evaporation From Unsaturated Soils as a Function of the Air and Soil Sides of the Land Surface
Authors: de Amesti Pedro , de la Fuente Alberto , Suárez Francisco
Published: November 2020

A theoretical framework for computing the evaporation from unsaturated soils is presented and validated based on laboratory experiments that were conducted in an uncontrolled environment where forcing variables vary in time according to diurnal meteorological cycles. This theory introduces a dimensionless number that controls the ratio between the actual and potential evaporation from unsaturated soils. The dimensionless number depends on the transfer velocity, which characterizes evaporation into the atmosphere, the diffusion coefficient of water vapor in the soil, and the water table depth. We show that depending on the value of the dimensionless number, evaporation can be limited by either the air‐side or the soil‐side of the land surface. For large transfer velocity values, evaporation is controlled by water vapor diffusion in the soil, while for shallow water tables, evaporation is controlled by water vapor transport from the land surface into the atmosphere. Despite the good agreement between the shape of the observed and predicted evaporation rates, a fitted dimensionless parameter is required to match the predicted evaporation rates. Possible explanations for this disagreement are given in the discussion.
The prevalence of pediatric metabolic syndrome—a critical look on the discrepancies between definitions and its clinical importance
Authors: Reisinger Carolin , Nkeh-Chungag Benedicta N. , Fredriksen Per Morten , Goswami Nandu
Published: November 2020

Introduction

The Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) describes the clustering of cardio-metabolic risk factors—including abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, and low levels of high-density lipoproteins—that increase the risk for developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, a generally accepted definition of MetS in pediatric patients is still lacking.

Objectives

The aim was to summarize current prevalence data of childhood MetS as well as to discuss the continuing disagreement between different pediatric definitions and the clinical importance of such diagnosis.

Methodology

A systematic literature search on the prevalence of pediatric MetS was conducted. Articles that were published during the past 5 years (2014–2019), using at least one of four predetermined classifications (International Diabetes Federation, Cook et al., Ford et al., and de Ferranti et al.), were included.

Results

The search resulted in 1167 articles, of which 31 publications met all inclusion criteria.

Discussion

The prevalence of MetS ranged between 0.3 and 26.4%, whereby the rising number of children and adolescents with MetS partly depended on the definition used. The IDF definition generally provided the lowest prevalences (0.3–9.5%), whereas the classification of de Ferranti et al. yielded the highest (4.0–26.4%). In order to develop a more valid definition, further research on long-term consequences of childhood risk factors such as abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia is needed. There is also a temptation to suggest one valid, globally accepted definition of metabolic syndrome for pediatric populations but we believe that it is more appropriate to suggest definitions of MetS that are specific to males vs. females, as well as being specific to race/ethnicity or geographic region. Finally, while this notion of definitions of MetS specific to certain subgroups is important, it still needs to be tested in future research.