bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
16. Conclusion
Authors: Pettit Edward
Published: December 2019

Pettit’s conclusion reviews some of the key proposals of this study, which it supplements with fresh information and interpretation. Myths encapsulated in ‘Skírnir’s Journey’ and ‘The Lay of Svipdagr’ are further elucidated, the former especially by a new interpretation of the gambanteinn—a weapon Pettit thinks analogous to the giant sword—as essentially a ‘twig of tribute’. Petitt argues that this might be represented, beside solar and lunar symbols, on the pommel of a sword-hilt bearing decoration in Anglo-Saxon style from Bedale, North Yorkshire, England. The possible association of the giant sword with Ing and his circle is re-emphasized, with an explanation given of its relationship—and fundamental consubstantiality—with Hrunting as a solar symbol. Pettit ends by offering thoughts on the possible significance for an interpretation of Beowulf of the waning giant sword as a thought-provoking, inspiring symbol of transformative conversion.
Utilizing Recent Climate Data in Eastern Texas to Calculate Trends in Measures of Aridity and Estimate Changes in Watering Demand for Landscape Preservation
Authors: Smith Robert Kennedy , Chang Der-Chen
Published: December 2019

Eastern Texas houses a transition zone from semiarid conditions in the far west to some of the wettest areas of the continental United States not influenced by mountainous terrain. The region, vulnerable to drought and flooding rains, is projected to experience higher water demand with its growing population. In the coming decades, municipal consumption, including water for landscape preservation, will supplant irrigation as the largest usage category. The amount of supplemental water required to maintain plantings is dependent on evapotranspirative demand and precipitation patterns. Reference evapotranspiration can be calculated using four daily climate parameters in the FAO-56 Penman–Monteith equation. This was combined with soil moisture capacity and daily accumulated precipitation to determine historical evapotranspiration rates at 14 observation stations across the eastern region of Texas from 1973 through 2017 and allowed for the creation of a recursive algorithm that introduced supplemental water for vegetation preservation as conditions crossed thresholds of dryness. Time series data analysis showed an increasing degree of aridity, as higher temperatures have decreased relative humidity and dry periods have become more prolonged and severe under stable average annual precipitation totals. Without additional increases in rainfall, the region is expected to continue its drying trend, leading to moisture-stressed plant life and higher water demands to maintain landscapes in a well-watered state.
Impact of Global Warming on the Western North Pacific Circulation Anomaly during Developing El Niño
Authors: Wang Yuhao , He Chao , Li Tim
Published: December 2019

El Niño stimulates an anomalous cyclone over the North Pacific during its developing phase. Using 30 CGCMs and 11 AGCMs from CMIP5, we find a weakly strengthened anomalous North Pacific cyclone (NPC) in a warmer climate in CGCMs, and intermodel uncertainty exists. A similar change of the anomalous NPC is found in AGCMs with increased mean state SST but with a stronger amplitude of enhancement. Based on a simple Gill model, the diabatic heating anomaly, mean state static stability, and meridional gradient of relative vorticity are identified to be responsible for the change of the anomalous NPC. Analyses of the CMIP5 models suggest that the change of the anomalous NPC is largely determined by the competition between the enhanced diabatic heating anomaly and the enhanced mean state static stability. The amplitude of enhancement of the anomalous NPC is strongly modulated by the change of precipitation anomaly over the equatorial central-eastern Pacific, which depends on the changes of mean state SST and the El Niño–related SST anomaly. Compared with a uniform warming, an El Niño–like mean state SST warming favors a much stronger enhancement of the anomalous NPC, by enhancing the mean state precipitation and latent heating anomaly associated with the precipitation anomaly over the equatorial Pacific. However, the air–sea coupling acts to weaken the SST anomaly associated with El Niño in the CGCMs, which further reduces the enhancement of the anomalous NPC.
Relating the Radar Bright Band and Its Strength to Surface Rainfall Rate Using an Automated Approach
Authors: Lin Dongqi , Pickering Ben , Neely III Ryan R.
Published: December 2019

In radar observations of hydrometeors, the 0°C isotherm in the atmosphere (i.e., the freezing level) usually appears as a region of enhanced reflectivity. This region is known as the bright band (BB). In this study, observations over 12 months from a vertically pointing 35-GHz radar and a collocated disdrometer at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Facility for Atmospheric and Radio Research (NFARR) are used to identify and compare microphysical differences between BB and non-brightband (NBB) periods. From these observations, the relationship between radar reflectivity Z and rainfall intensity R is found to be Z = 772R0.57 for BB periods and Z = 108R0.99 for NBB periods. Additionally, the brightband strength (BBS) was calculated using a novel method derived from the Michelson contrast equation in an attempt to explain the observed variability in BB precipitation. A series of Z–R relationships are computed with respect to BBS. The coefficients increase with increasing BBS from 227 to 926, while the exponents decrease with increasing BBS from 0.85 to 0.38. The results also indicate that NBB periods identified in the presence of a 0°C isotherm in other studies may be misclassified due to their inability to identify weak brightband periods. As such, it is hypothesized that NBB periods are solely due to warm rain processes.
Patterns and Drivers of Atmospheric River Precipitation and Hydrologic Impacts across the Western United States
Authors: Albano Christine M. , Dettinger Michael D. , Harpold Adrian A.
Published: December 2019

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) significantly influence precipitation and hydrologic variability in many areas of the world, including the western United States. As ARs are increasingly recognized by the research community and the public, there is a need to more precisely quantify and communicate their hydrologic impacts, which can vary from hazardous to beneficial depending on location and on the atmospheric and land surface conditions prior to and during the AR. This study leverages 33 years of atmospheric and hydrologic data for the western United States to 1) identify how water vapor amount, wind direction and speed, temperature, and antecedent soil moisture conditions influence precipitation and hydrologic responses (runoff, recharge, and snowpack) using quantile regression and 2) identify differences in hydrologic response types and magnitudes across the study region. Results indicate that water vapor amount serves as a primary control on precipitation amounts. Holding water vapor constant, precipitation amounts vary with wind direction, depending on location, and are consistently greater at colder temperatures. Runoff efficiencies further covary with temperature and antecedent soil moisture, with precipitation falling as snow and greater available water storage in the soil column mitigating flood impacts of large AR events. This study identifies the coastal and maritime mountain ranges as areas with the greatest potential for hazardous flooding and snowfall impacts. This spatially explicit information can lead to better understanding of the conditions under which ARs of different precipitation amounts are likely to be hazardous at a given location.
A Passive Microwave Retrieval Algorithm with Minimal View-Angle Bias: Application to the TEMPEST-D CubeSat Mission
Authors: Schulte Richard M. , Kummerow Christian D. , Berg Wesley , Reising Steven C. , Brown Shannon T. , Gaier Todd C. , Lim Boon H. , Padmanabhan Sharmila
Published: December 2019

The rapid development of miniaturized satellite instrument technology has created a new opportunity to deploy constellations of passive microwave (PMW) radiometers to permit retrievals of the same Earth scene with very high temporal resolution to monitor cloud evolution and processes. For such a concept to be feasible, it must be shown that it is possible to distinguish actual changes in the atmospheric state from the variability induced by making observations at different Earth incidence angles (EIAs). To this end, we present a flexible and physical optimal estimation-based algorithm designed to retrieve profiles of atmospheric water vapor, cloud liquid water path, and cloud ice water path from cross-track PMW sounders. The algorithm is able to explicitly account for the dependence of forward model errors on EIA and atmospheric regime. When the algorithm is applied to data from the Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Technology Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) CubeSat mission, its retrieved products are generally in agreement with those obtained from the similar but larger Microwave Humidity Sounder instrument. More importantly, when forward model brightness temperature offsets and assumed error covariances are allowed to change with EIA and sea surface temperature, view-angle-related biases are greatly reduced. This finding is confirmed in two ways: through a comparison with reanalysis data and by making use of brief periods in early 2019 during which the TEMPEST-D spacecraft was rotated such that its scan pattern was along track, allowing dozens of separate observations of any given atmospheric feature along the satellite’s ground track.
Characterizing NWP Model Errors Using Doppler-Lidar Measurements of Recurrent Regional Diurnal Flows: Marine-Air Intrusions into the Columbia River Basin
Authors: Banta Robert M. , Pichugina Yelena L. , Brewer W. Alan , Choukulkar Aditya , Lantz Kathleen O. , Olson Joseph B. , Kenyon Jaymes , Fernando Harindra J. S. , Krishnamurthy Raghu , Stoelinga Mark J. , Sharp Justin , Darby Lisa S. , Turner David D. , Baidar Sunil , Sandberg Scott P.
Published: December 2019

Ground-based Doppler-lidar instrumentation provides atmospheric wind data at dramatically improved accuracies and spatial/temporal resolutions. These capabilities have provided new insights into atmospheric flow phenomena, but they also should have a strong role in NWP model improvement. Insight into the nature of model errors can be gained by studying recurrent atmospheric flows, here a regional summertime diurnal sea breeze and subsequent marine-air intrusion into the arid interior of Oregon–Washington, where these winds are an important wind-energy resource. These marine intrusions were sampled by three scanning Doppler lidars in the Columbia River basin as part of the Second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2), using data from summer 2016. Lidar time–height cross sections of wind speed identified 8 days when the diurnal flow cycle (peak wind speeds at midnight, afternoon minima) was obvious and strong. The 8-day composite time–height cross sections of lidar wind speeds are used to validate those generated by the operational NCEP–HRRR model. HRRR simulated the diurnal wind cycle, but produced errors in the timing of onset and significant errors due to a premature nighttime demise of the intrusion flow, producing low-bias errors of 6 m s−1. Day-to-day and in the composite, whenever a marine intrusion occurred, HRRR made these same errors. The errors occurred under a range of gradient wind conditions indicating that they resulted from the misrepresentation of physical processes within a limited region around the measurement locations. Because of their generation within a limited geographical area, field measurement programs can be designed to find and address the sources of these NWP errors.
A Statistical Model to Predict the Extratropical Transition of Tropical Cyclones
Authors: Bieli Melanie , Sobel Adam H. , Camargo Suzana J. , Tippett Michael K.
Published: December 2019

This paper introduces a logistic regression model for the extratropical transition (ET) of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and the western North Pacific, using elastic net regularization to select predictors and estimate coefficients. Predictors are chosen from the 1979–2017 best track and reanalysis datasets, and verification is done against the tropical/extratropical labels in the best track data. In an independent test set, the model skillfully predicts ET at lead times up to 2 days, with latitude and sea surface temperature as its most important predictors. At a lead time of 24 h, it predicts ET with a Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.4 in the North Atlantic, and 0.6 in the western North Pacific. It identifies 80% of storms undergoing ET in the North Atlantic and 92% of those in the western North Pacific. In total, 90% of transition time errors are less than 24 h. Select examples of the model’s performance on individual storms illustrate its strengths and weaknesses. Two versions of the model are presented: an “operational model” that may provide baseline guidance for operational forecasts and a “hazard model” that can be integrated into statistical TC risk models. As instantaneous diagnostics for tropical/extratropical status, both models’ zero lead time predictions perform about as well as the widely used cyclone phase space (CPS) in the western North Pacific and better than the CPS in the North Atlantic, and predict the timings of the transitions better than CPS in both basins.
If-Conditionals and Modality: Frequency Patterns and Theoretical Explanations
Authors: Gabrielatos Costas
Published: December 2019

It has often been claimed that conditionals have a special relation to modality. This study tests this claim empirically by examining the frequency of modal marking in a number of conditional and non-conditional structures using a corpus-based approach. It then seeks to provide explanations for the emerging frequency patterns in light of the tenets of two linguistic theories: Lexical Grammar and Construction Grammar. This juxtaposition was motivated by the substantial overlap in their tenets: both take into account meaning (semantic and pragmatic), as well as lexical and grammatical factors.
New Divisions of Digital Labour in Architecture
Authors: Gardner Nicole
Published: December 2019

As architecture intersects with computer science to engage with large-scale data sets and informational systems, this demands new skills, competencies and commitments. Informed by the findings of an online survey, this article explores how, who and to what extent those in the profession of architecture are investing in technology knowledge and skills, and under what material conditions this occurs. Survey data collected from five large-scale architecture practices in Sydney, Australia finds that while technology-related skills are highly valued in the profession, more men than women are engaging with computationally intensive software and technology skills building remains a largely unstructured and often self-directed enterprise. Drawing on feminist technology studies and digital labour perspectives, it is argued that the drive to computationalise the profession of architecture rests heavily on discretionary, aspirational and invisible labour practices that disadvantage employees with lesser reserves of economic and social capital, and particularly women. This further contributes to revealing neo-liberalism’s influence on the concrete practices of the architecture workplace and highlights how the diminished structural role of employers breeds uneven opportunities and inequitable working conditions.
Outcomes of Overlapping Surgery in Otolaryngology
Authors: Sioshansi Pedrom C. , Jackler Robert K. , Damrose Edward J.
Published: December 2019

Objective

To compare outcomes in otolaryngology between overlapping and nonoverlapping surgeries.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

Tertiary referral center.

Subjects and Methods

All patients undergoing otolaryngologic procedures at Stanford University Hospital between January 2009 and June 2016 were included (n = 13,479). Cases were divided into 2 cohorts: overlapping (n = 1806, 13.4%) vs nonoverlapping (n = 11,673, 86.6%). Variables reviewed were type of operation performed, multidisciplinary team involvement, complications, reoperations, readmissions, and deaths.

Results

The total complication rate over 7.5 years studied was 3.3% (n = 450). Complication rates were lower for overlapping cases (0.77%) compared to nonoverlapping cases (3.73%) with an odds ratio of 0.2014, which was statistically significant (P <. 0001). When examined by subspecialty, the complication rate for rhinology and endoscopic skull base procedures was approximately 10 times lower when overlapping (0.30%) was compared to nonoverlapping (3.15%), with an odds ratio of 0.094 (P =. 0001). There was no difference in complication rates for other surgical subspecialties. There were no deaths associated with overlapping surgery. The rate of major complications requiring reoperation was similarly lower for overlapping procedures (0.276%) compared to nonoverlapping procedures (1.35%) with an odds ratio of 0.2023 (P =. 0004). Readmission rates were lower for overlapping cases (0.49%) when compared to nonoverlapping cases (1.09%), with an odds ratio of 0.4553 (P =. 0229).

Conclusions

Patients undergoing overlapping surgery had lower overall complication rates, lower reoperation rates, lower readmission rates, and no mortalities. The institutional experience presented provides evidence that with appropriate patient and case selection, otolaryngologists may safely perform overlapping surgery without increased risk of adverse patient outcomes.
Soft power and hard choices: A critical perspective on health and inclusion in disadvantaged communities
Authors: Clark Julie , Jenkins Nick , Noone Sarah
Published: December 2019

The potential of area-based initiatives as a mechanism for addressing health inequities is coming increasingly to the fore within local policy and planning. The need to move beyond ‘bricks and mortar’ in order to mitigate and reverse concentrations of disadvantage is now well established within academic and policy discourse, yet plans to stimulate economic development may be of limited benefit to local communities without addressing poor population health. Drawing on attempts to introduce assets-based community development made by a health and social care partnership in Scotland, UK, this article explores the opportunities, risks and tensions that arise when statutory organisations seek to incorporate ‘bottom up’ approaches to community development within hierarchical organisational cultures. Those working within such structures frequently welcome more participatory approaches. However, syndicalist and co-operative models of health promotion risk dilution, as statutory organisations supporting more radical approaches to addressing the social determinants of health are forced to function within a context of increasingly strained public sector budgets.
Ukrainian migrants in Poland: Socio-economic inclusion or exclusion?
Authors: Kusek Weronika A
Published: December 2019

Poland is an important country to study when assessing migration. In fact, many scholars who focus on migration and its impact on the local economy, in relation to Poland, focus on Polish migrants living and working in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, or Australia. This viewpoint presents a different focus by addressing the need to conduct more work on migrants who are coming to Poland to work to fulfill labor shortages and take advantage of the country’s growing economy. Specifically this paper will look at Ukrainians who are migrating to Poland. The viewpoint will focus on push/pull factors and touch on aspects of the lived experience of Ukrainian migrants in Poland. This paper helps identify some observed trends from interviews to identify future research directions related to socio-economic inclusion or exclusion.
Investigation of the effect of magnetite iron oxide particles size on cytotoxicity in A549 cell line
Authors: Rafieepour Athena , Azari Mansour R , Peirovi Habibollah , Khodagholi Fariba , Jaktaji Jalal Pourahmad , Mehrabi Yadollah , Naserzadeh Parvaneh , Mohammadian Yousef
Published: December 2019

Introduction:

Magnetite as iron oxide is widely used in various industries, in the pharmaceutical industry in particular where it is used for its magnetic properties. The environmental and occupational exposure to airborne nanoparticles and microparticles of iron oxide compounds have been reported. Since authors have reported contradictory results, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of particles’ size in their toxicities.

Methods:

The human cell line A549 was exposed with magnetite iron oxide in two size categories of micro (≥5 µm) and nano (<100 nm), with four concentrations of 10, 50, 100, and 250 µg/ml at two time periods of 24 and 72 h. The cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), changes in mitochondrial membrane potential, and incidence of apoptosis were studied.

Results:

Nano and micro magnetite particles demonstrated diverse toxicity effects on the A549 cell line at the 24- and 72-h exposure periods; however, the effects produced were time- and concentration-dependent. Nano magnetite particles produced greater cellular toxicities in forms of decreased viabilities at concentration exposures greater than 50 µg/ml ( p < 0.05), along with increased ROS ( p < 0.05), decreased cellular membrane potential ( p < 0.05), and reduced rate of apoptosis ( p < 0.05).

Discussion:

The results of this study demonstrated that magnetite iron in nano-range sizes had a greater absorbability for the A549 cell line compared to micro sizes, and at the same time, nanoparticles were more toxic than microparticles, demonstrating higher production of ROS and decreased viabilities. Considering the greater toxicity of nanoparticles of magnetite iron in this study, thorough precautionary control measures must be taken before they can be used in various industries.
DNA damage and oogenesis anomalies in Pimelia latreillei (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) induced by heavy metals soil pollution
Authors: Kheirallah Dalia Abdel Moneim , El-Samad Lamia Mostafa , Mokhamer El Hassan Mostafa , Abdul-Aziz Karolin Kamel , Toto Noura Abdel Haleem
Published: December 2019

The present study used Pimelia latreillei as a biomonitoring insect for heavy metals soil pollution in a populated industrial area at Zawya Abd El-Qader, Alexandria, Egypt. Comet assay and histological analysis were applied to evaluate the potential risk of heavy metals. X-ray analysis of the soil samples collected from the polluted site revealed significantly increased metal percentages compared with the reference site. Moreover, a significant increase in metal percentages was detected by the X-ray analysis in insect ovaries collected from the polluted site. The Tail DNA length was significantly greater in the insects collected from the polluted site—47.6% compared with 11.4% at the reference site. Pronounced disruptions in oogenesis were observed through histological and ultrastructure investigations in insects collected from the polluted site. The study summarized the potential utility of insect biomonitors in predicting the effect of heavy metals soil pollution on occupational health.
Toxic effects of subchronic oral acetamiprid exposure in rats
Authors: Karaca Bahar Ulus , Arican Yağmur Emre , Boran Tugce , Binay Sevgi , Okyar Alper , Kaptan Engin , Özhan Gül
Published: December 2019

Acetamiprid, a selective agonist of type-2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, is one of the most widely used neonicotinoids. The hepato- and nephrotoxic potential of acetamiprid has not been clarified although it is known to be toxic to other several organ systems, including the nervous, respiratory and immune systems. The present study aimed to investigate acetamiprid liver and kidney toxicity in male rats after a 90-day subchronic exposure to 12.5, 25 and 35 mg/kg. The biochemical and oxidative damage parameters were determined in the plasma and tissue samples as well as histopathological evaluation in the liver and kidney tissues. Acetamiprid caused oxidative damage and affected the liver, denoted by injury markers including the levels of cholesterol, and alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase enzymes. There was also a decrease in plasma urea, uric acid and creatinine levels, all of which might result from liver injury. Additionally, acetamiprid was more toxic to the liver than the kidney according to the histopathological examinations. In conclusion, acetamiprid exhibited hepatotoxic potential at all treatment doses on male Sprague Dawley rats.
Effect of the number of design variables in thickness optimization of concrete barrel roof shells using evolutionary algorithms
Authors: Ostovari Shadi , Shayani Hooman
Published: December 2019

This study looks into some practical implications of using evolutionary algorithms for optimization of free-form concrete shells in search of methods for automating design representation and determining the number of design variables. This study reports the insights and learnings from a set of numerical experiments, by changing the number of parameters, on thickness optimization of a barrel roof shell subjected to self-weight, an additional snow load, and an earthquake response spectrum. The practical advantages and challenges of two methods, parametric and direct representations, are analysed, and a spectrum of methods between these two extremes are investigated through experiments. The results demonstrate how changing the number of variables affects the quality of the design and the performance of the algorithm and why a systematic problem-dependent method for finding the best design representation and number of variables outside this spectrum can be beneficial.
Patterns of Religiosity, Death Anxiety, and Hope in a Population of Community-Dwelling Palliative Care Patients in New Zealand—What Gives Hope If Religion Can’t?
Authors: Byrne Catherine M. , Morgan Deidre D.
Published: December 2019

This study examines the prevalence of religiosity, death anxiety, and hope in a sample of New Zealand community hospice patients in the last 6 months of life. It explores the factors triggering distress or hope and examines whether religiosity is protective against death anxiety for this population. Early studies showed religious faith helps relieve death anxiety, but later work suggests this may only be the case in societies which are generally religious. Very little research has been conducted on this topic in New Zealand, from which recent censuses indicate is an increasingly secular country. If religion is not an important source of hope for dying, it is important to explore what factors do help relieve existential anxiety and to consider their clinical relevance. This study confirmed that organized religion was not a major support factor. Yet several people who declared themselves nonreligious scored highly for intrinsic religiosity and were among the most hopeful participants. This could suggest that spirituality may be more relevant than organized religion in relieving existential distress. The main source of hope for most participants was joyful memories and meaningful relationships. Fear of being a burden and of causing family suffering were the most significant causes of distress. Systematic spiritual assessment for all patients, not just those with a declared religious faith, a biography service, and psychotherapy, may all have a role in managing death anxiety at the end of life. Further work with larger and more diverse populations would be needed to confirm these findings.
Medication-rights detection using incident reports: A natural language processing and deep neural network approach
Authors: Wong Zoie Shui-Yee , So HY , Kwok Belinda SC , Lai Mavis WS , Sun David TF
Published: December 2019

Medication errors often occurred due to the breach of medication rights that are the right patient, the right drug, the right time, the right dose and the right route. The aim of this study was to develop a medication-rights detection system using natural language processing and deep neural networks to automate medication-incident identification using free-text incident reports. We assessed the performance of deep neural network models in classifying the Advanced Incident Reporting System reports and compared the models’ performance with that of other common classification methods (including logistic regression, support vector machines and the decision-tree method). We also evaluated the effects on prediction outcomes of several deep neural network model settings, including number of layers, number of neurons and activation regularisation functions. The accuracy of the models was measured at 0.9 or above across model settings and algorithms. The average values obtained for accuracy and area under the curve were 0.940 (standard deviation: 0.011) and 0.911 (standard deviation: 0.019), respectively. It is shown that deep neural network models were more accurate than the other classifiers across all of the tested class labels (including wrong patient, wrong drug, wrong time, wrong dose and wrong route). The deep neural network method outperformed other binary classifiers and our default base case model, and parameter arguments setting generally performed well for the five medication-rights datasets. The medication-rights detection system developed in this study successfully uses a natural language processing and deep-learning approach to classify patient-safety incidents using the Advanced Incident Reporting System reports, which may be transferable to other mandatory and voluntary incident reporting systems worldwide.
Continuity and change in Scandinavian police reforms
Authors: Holmberg Lars
Published: December 2019

The paper provides an overview of recent police reforms in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, including what is known about the results of those reforms. The reform processes in the three countries are quite similar. The number of individual police districts is drastically reduced, strong centralized management is introduced, and reforms are expected to yield additional manpower though rationalization. To date, however, the results do not live up to expectations; reforms are hard realize in the expected time, resources are scarce, local policing is hard to maintain, and police performance and efficiency do not seem to increase. The paper offers two related explanations for the lack of results. First, all three reforms place emphasis on centralizing police management, regardless of the problems they are expected to solve. Second, a staple of Scandinavian police reforms is the quest for viability; police districts must be large enough to handle all eventualities. Even though the concept of viability has changed over the past 50 years, it is still at the core of reform plans. The paper concludes with a discussion about the possibility of ever achieving police viability.
An institutional perspective of neighbourhood policing reform in austerity era England and Wales
Authors: Greig-Midlane Jack
Published: December 2019

In the austerity era in England and Wales, both socio-economic change and shifts in the policing field have triggered a range of police reform narratives. For resource intensive manifestations of community policing, police disinvestment in England and Wales has led to concerns of a swing away from neighbourhood security functions and proactive police work and toward crime management functions and a more reactive approach (Punch, 2012; IPC, 2013). The paper uses an institutional perspective of change in police organisations (March and Olsen, 2011; Crank, 2003) to highlight the importance of values and narratives in processes of reform, mediation, and resistance. The empirical element of the paper explores how changes in the austerity era impact on the reform and delivery of ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ and cultural storytelling in an English police force. The analysis reveals a discursive struggle over the principles and delivery of neighbourhood policing. Police in policymaking and managerial roles subscribe to narratives that suggest Neighbourhood Policing can be reformed to be more scientific, efficient, professional, and effective to counter the impact of austerity, but this is challenged by street level accounts of the impact of austerity on delivery as well as the distinctive cultural values of Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
Constructions of knowledge and childhood: Addressing current affairs with children with a focus on parents’ practices and children’s news media
Authors: Robinson Kerry H , Díaz Criss Jones , Townley Cris
Published: December 2019

This paper examines the ways in which current affairs related to diversity and difference, nationally and globally, are represented to Australian children in children’s digital news media and through family discussions. The discussion is based on qualitative research that explores parents’ views and practices in addressing news media and diversity and difference issues with their children. In addition, this project includes a discursive analysis of stories found in Behind The News ( BTN), the primary digital news media source for Australian children, aged 8–13 years, from 2015–2018. The news stories are related to three significant topics: the marriage equality debate, refugees and terrorism. Within feminist post-structuralist, post-developmentalist and critical theorist frameworks, a focus is given to examining the dominant discourses that prevail in the stories, which provide insight into how childhood and children’s access to certain types of knowledge is viewed and regulated through media and family practices. Drawing on thematic and Foucaultian discursive analyses, the pilot study findings demonstrate that children’s news media is closely scrutinised and regulated, with major news stories framed within dominant discourses of childhood innocence, as well as the agenda and particular interests of the producers of children’s new media. These topics, which have dominated news in recent years, are frequently considered by some adults as inappropriate or difficult topics to discuss with children.
The elementary school library: Tensions between access and censorship
Authors: Rumberger Alyson
Published: December 2019

Children’s news media offers access points for students to learn about the complex and evolving world around them, and school libraries are spaces where students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to interact with media. Yet despite the potential of children’s news media, school libraries often become regulatory spaces where children are directed away from texts (both digital and printed) that are deemed inappropriate due to sophisticated content (Heins, 2007) or in some cases, are encouraged to read on their “level” (Kontovourki, 2012). This constructs children as vulnerable and in need of protection (Robinson, 2013). Instead, I seek to position the focal children as active, critical agents at the center of their own lives. In this article, I analyze conceptions of childhood innocence (James and Prout, 1997), arguing that both childhood and literacy are fluid and permeable constructions. I ask: What are the ways in which texts and literacy practices are censored in one elementary school library? To investigate this, I followed one school librarian, Deborah, and three first-grade students in their school library at City Partnership School as they navigated texts, learned about the world around them through multimedia platforms, and constructed their own identities as readers in a system with clear expectations for what a “readerly” identity looks like.
Children’s literature in China: Revisiting ideologies of childhood and agency
Authors: Tesar Marek , Tong Zhen Phoebe , Gibbons Andrew , Arndt Sonja , Sansom Adrienne
Published: December 2019

In this article we consider historical and contemporary ideologies of childhood in China and critically examine notions of ‘child’ and ‘childhood’ in Chinese children’s literature. We analyse the themes and knowledge that relate to relevant historical and contemporary political events and policies, and how these contribute to the production of childhoods. We focus on three images of childhoods in China: the Confucian child, the Modern child and the Maoist child. Each of the images reflects a way of seeing, a perspective about what a child ought to be and become, and what their childhood should look like. Everyday media are reflected in the texts and stories examined and portray both ‘imagined’ and ‘real-life’ narratives of children and their childhoods. The stories, and the connected power relations, represent an important link between the politics of childhood and the pedagogy associated with these politics, including large-scale state investment in the production of desired, ideal and perfect childhoods. Through such an examination of contemporary and historical children’s literature and media in China we also explore the ways in which contemporary media revitalise particular notions of child agency.
Multiple scaled contaminated normal distribution and its application in clustering
Authors: Punzo Antonio , Tortora Cristina
Published: December 2019

The multivariate contaminated normal (MCN) distribution represents a simple heavy-tailed generalization of the multivariate normal (MN) distribution to model elliptical contoured scatters in the presence of mild outliers (also referred to as ‘bad’ points herein) and automatically detect bad points. The price of these advantages is two additional parameters: proportion of good observations and degree of contamination. However, in a multivariate setting, only one proportion of good observations and only one degree of contamination may be limiting. To overcome this limitation, we propose a multiple scaled contaminated normal (MSCN) distribution. Among its parameters, we have an orthogonal matrix Γ. In the space spanned by the vectors (principal components) of Γ, there is a proportion of good observations and a degree of contamination for each component. Moreover, each observation has a posterior probability of being good with respect to each principal component. Thanks to this probability, the method provides directional robust estimates of the parameters of the nested MN and automatic directional detection of bad points. The term ‘directional’ is added to specify that the method works separately for each principal component. Mixtures of MSCN distributions are also proposed, and an expectation-maximization algorithm is used for parameter estimation. Real and simulated data are considered to show the usefulness of our mixture with respect to well-established mixtures of symmetric distributions with heavy tails.
The Legislative Matching Game: Committee Matching and Effective Legislating in the States
Authors: Swift Clint S.
Published: December 2019

I argue that the value of a particular set of committee assignments for a legislator is dependent on that legislator’s policy interests. By this, I mean that “good” assignments will match committee policy jurisdictions with member policy priorities. I develop this concept of committee-agenda matching and present a measure of this match for legislators in 12 state lower chambers. After some brief measure validation, I present a substantive application, demonstrating that this match poses serious consequences for individual legislator’s ability to shepherd their bills through the legislative process.
Reliability modeling and maintenance optimization for the two-unit system with preset self-repairing mechanism
Authors: Zhao Xian , Huang Xinqian , Sun Jinglei
Published: December 2019

In this article, the reliability model and the opportunistic maintenance optimization model are formulated for the preset self-repairing mechanism which is artificially designed and applied to many engineering systems. The preset self-repairing mechanism is first introduced into the reliability model, and a series system consisting of two units is built to describe the proposed model. One unit in the system is subject to external shocks and has the preset self-repairing mechanism, the other does not have the recovery mechanism and its lifetime distribution follows exponential distribution. For the system, the analytical expression of reliability is derived, and a maintenance optimization model taking the long-run average cost per unit time as objective function is established. The decision parameters of the maintenance policy are preventive and opportunistic degradation levels. Besides, a preventive maintenance policy is proposed for comparison with the opportunistic maintenance policy. Finally, the numerical examples are provided to obtain the optimal decision parameters and demonstrate the effectiveness of opportunistic maintenance policies.
Outpatient specialist clinics for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in the Nordic countries
Authors: Kjellström Barbro , Ryftenius Henrik , Landenfelt‐Gestre Lise‐Lotte , Ivarsson Bodil
Published: December 2019

Pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension are rare conditions that require complex interventions by multidisciplinary teams. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2015 guidelines included recommendations for pulmonary hypertension (PH) referral centers including minimum number of patients, staff, facilities, and network. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the PH‐specialist centers in the Nordic countries are presently organized. A descriptive, questionnaire was sent to all PH‐specialist centers in the Nordic countries in 2018. Sixteen of 20 PH‐specialist centers completed the questionnaire. Seven centers (43%) followed less than 50 patients and three centers (19%) followed 125 patients or more. All had a physician or nurse attending or available at the clinic and eight had support staff such as physiotherapists, counsellors, dieticians, or psychologists directly connected to the center. Twelve centers were available by telephone five days or more per week. Nine centers offered a nurse‐led outpatient clinic and of those, six had nurses delegated to make protocol‐led changes in pulmonary arterial hypertension‐specific treatment. Half of the centers had cooperation with a patient organization. All centers except one used international guidelines to guide care and treatment. More than half of the Nordic PH‐specialist centers adhered to the ESC/ERS 2015 guidelines recommendations for volumes and staff in 2018, but there is potential for improvement. However, when formulating recommendations of patient volumes in guidelines, the situation for the geographical large but sparsely populated Nordic countries needs to be considered.
The Clinical Course and Management of Severe Esophagitis Dissecans Superficialis: A Case Report
Authors: Jaben Isaac , Schatz Richard , Willner Ira
Published: December 2019

Esophagitis dissecans superficialis is a rare clinical endoscopic finding with poorly understood pathogenesis and ill-defined management. A 71-year-old man is admitted with progressively worsening dysphagia and odynophagia with endoscopic features most consistent with severe esophagitis dissecans superficialis. Extensive workup did not reveal an etiology, and he was subsequently treated with steroids, resulting in rapid, almost complete clinical and endoscopic recovery.
Etched p-Type Si Nanowires for Efficient Ozone Decomposition
Authors: Li Xuan , Luo Linqu , Bi Yicheng , Wang Anqi , Chen Yunfa , Han Ning , Wang Fengyun
Published: December 2019

High concentration ozone can damage greatly to the respiratory, cardiovascular systems, and fertility of people, and catalytic decomposition is an important strategy to reduce its harm. However, it remains a challenge to develop efficient ozone decomposition catalysts with high efficiency. In this study, p- and n-type silicon nanowires (Si NWs) are fabricated by wet chemical etching method and are firstly applied to catalytic decompose ozone at room temperature. The p-type Si NWs exhibit 90% ozone (20 ppm O3/air) decomposition efficiency with great stability, which is much better than that of n-type Si NWs (50%) with same crystal orientation, similar diameter and specific surface area. The catalytic property difference is mainly attributed to the more delocalization holes in the p-type Si NWs, which can accelerate the desorption of ozone decomposition intermediates (i.e., adsorbed oxygen species).
Right main bronchus rupture associated with blunt chest trauma: a case report
Authors: Díaz Carime , Carvajal Daniel F. , Morales Eliana I. , Sangiovanni Saveria , Fernández-Trujillo Liliana
Published: December 2019

Background

Tracheobronchial injury is one of the least common injuries in the scenario of blunt chest trauma. However, around 81% of patients with airway injury die immediately or before arriving at the emergency department due to tension pneumothorax. It presents with non-specific signs and symptoms challenging prompt diagnosis.

Case presentation

A 15-year-old adolescent who was riding a bicycle suffered an accident when he fell down a cliff, approximately 5 m deep. Upon admission to the emergency department, he presented with signs of respiratory distress. The airway was secured and a thoracoabdominal angiography was performed. The image reported pneumomediastinum, a small right pneumothorax, areas of pulmonary contusion, and an image of loss of continuity in the anterior superior wall of the right main bronchus highly suggestive of bronchial rupture. The bronchial lesion was then confirmed by fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Taking into account the patient’s characteristics, conservative management was chosen, and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where protective tracheal intubation was performed.

Conclusions

A delay in diagnosis increases the rate of complications, mainly infectious complications and the formation of granulation tissue that could potentially obstruct the airway, impacting the patient’s outcome. The first step in the management of these patients is securing the airway, which should be done immediately. The gold standard for the diagnosis and characterization of airway injuries is bronchoscopy as it is the most effective tool to assess topography, extent, and depth of the lesion.