bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Specific Attenuation Method for Radar-Based Quantitative Precipitation Estimation: Improvements and Practical Challenges
Authors: Seo Bong-Chul , Krajewski Witold F. , Ryzhkov Alexander 
Published: May 2020

AbstractThis study demonstrates an implementation of the prototype quantitative precipitation R estimation algorithm using specific attenuation A for S-band polarimetric radar. The performance of R(A) algorithm is assessed, compared to the conventional algorithm using radar reflectivity Z, at multiple temporal scales. Because the factor α, defined as the net ratio of A to specific differential phase, is a key parameter of the algorithm characterized by drop size distributions (e.g., differential reflectivity Zdr dependence on Z), the estimation equations of α and a proper number of Zdr–Z samples required for a reliable α estimation are examined. Based on the dynamic estimation of α, the event-based evaluation using hourly rain gauge observations reveals that the performance of R(A) is superior to that of R(Z), with better agreement and lower variability. Despite its superiority, the study finds that R(A) leads to quite consistent overestimations of about 10%–30%. It is demonstrated that the application of uniform α over the entire radar domain yields the observed uncertainty because of the heterogeneity of precipitation in the domain. A climatological range-dependent feature of R(A) and R(Z) is inspected in the multiyear evaluation at yearly scale using rain totals for April–October. While R(Z) exposes a systematic shift and overestimation, each of which arise from the radar miscalibration and bright band effects, R(A) combining with multiple R(Z) values for solid/mixed precipitation shows relatively robust performance without those effects. The immunity of R(A) to partial beam blockage (PBB) based on both qualitative and quantitative analyses is also verified. However, the capability of R(A) regarding PBB is limited by the presence of the melting layer and its application requirement for the total span of differential phase (e.g., 3°), which is another challenge for light rain.
Present and Past Sea Surface Temperatures: A Recipe for Better Seasonal Climate Forecasts
Authors: Switanek Matthew B. , Barsugli Joseph J. , Scheuerer Michael , Hamill Thomas M. 
Published: May 2020

AbstractMonthly tropical sea surface temperature (SST) data are used as predictors to make statistical forecasts of cold season (November–March) precipitation and temperature for the contiguous United States. Through the use of the combined-lead sea surface temperature (CLSST) model, predictive information is discovered not just in recent SSTs but also from SSTs up to 18 months prior. We find that CLSST cold season forecast anomaly correlation skill is higher than that of the North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) and the SEAS5 model from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) when averaged over the United States for both precipitation and 2-m air temperature. The precipitation forecast skill obtained by CLSST in parts of the Intermountain West is of particular interest because of its implications for water resources. In those regions, CLSST dramatically improves the skill over that of the dynamical model ensembles, which can be attributed to a robust statistical response of precipitation in this region to SST anomalies from the previous year in the tropical Pacific.
Quality of governance and political support in China, Japan, and South Korea
Authors: Zhai Yida 
Published: May 2020

Based on the theoretical distinction between specific and diffuse support, this study examines and compares the effects of governance quality on political support in China, Japan, and South Korea. As regime type is an important contextual factor, the three countries provide ideal cases for testing how the effects of governance on political support vary across different political systems in East Asia. The results show that both economic and political governance affects specific support in the three countries. Political governance is more important for specific support in Japan and South Korea than in China, though regime type does not moderate the effect of political governance on diffuse support. In addition, economic governance is more important for diffuse support in China than in Japan and South Korea. In the field of specific support, economic governance is more important for support for government officials in Japan and South Korea than in China. Points for practitioners Public support is critical to a political system’s effectiveness, stability, and even survival. Quality of governance determines the fate of authoritarian regimes. It is because of bad governance that the masses cannot continue to tolerate the authorities and take actions to overthrow authoritarian leadership. Echoing Fukuyama’s (2013) argument that an authoritarian regime can be well governed, the Chinese government attempts to improve the quality of governance so as to sustain autocratic leadership by promoting technical innovation in administrative management. However, the intrinsic defects in authoritarian systems, such as the absence of constitutional constraints on power, undermine their capacity to improve political governance. It is questionable how much good political governance in an authoritarian system can achieve without democratic reform of the political system.
Pregnancy Centers: A Clear Purpose of Medicine with Coherent Ethics
Authors: Lisanti Christopher , Christiansen Sandy 
Published: May 2020

What is the purpose of medicine? This fundamental question is at the heart of the criticisms faced by pregnancy centers (PCs) and accusations that they are unethical. PCs maintain that the purpose of medicine is to treat and prevent disease. Because pregnancy is not a disease, PCs do not advocate for elective abortion or contraceptives. PCs view the function of values (e.g., autonomy) as constraints upon physicians that prevent physical and ethical harms. Their critics either embrace an ill-defined purpose of medicine such as promoting well-being or conflate the value of autonomy with medicine’s purpose. This leads to a subjective view of medicine and changes the relationship from physician–patient to vendor–customer. This subjective nature along with its attendant vendor–customer relationship cannot solve for current or future ethical problems such as sex-selective abortion and its fatal discrimination against females. Summary: Pregnancy Centers embrace a traditional “treat and prevent disease” purpose of medicine. This clear and objective purpose logically leads to not advocating for abortion or contraceptives. The authors outline a coherent ethical structure outlining the role values play in regards to this purpose. This is contrasted with the current ill-defined purpose within medicine today that has led to an inconsistent change of the physician-patient relationship to a vendor-customer one, ethical incoherence, and several attendant harms, most notably sex-selective abortion.
Approaching Otolaryngology Patients During the COVID‐19 Pandemic
Authors: Cui Chong , Yao Qi , Zhang Di , Zhao Yu , Zhang Kun , Nisenbaum Eric , Cao Pengyu , Zhao Keqing , Huang Xiaolong , Leng Dewen , Liu Chunhan , Li Ning , Luo Yan , Chen Bing , Casiano Roy , Weed Donald , Sargi Zoukaa , Telischi Fred , Lu Hongzhou , Denneny James C. , Shu Yilai , Liu Xuezhong 
Published: May 2020

Objective.To describe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) patient presentations requiring otolaryngology consultation and provide recommendations for protective measures based on the experience of ear, nose, and throat (ENT) departments in 4 Chinese hospitals during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Study Design.Retrospective case series.Setting.Multicenter.Subjects and Methods.Twenty hospitalized COVID‐19 patients requiring ENT consultation from 3 designated COVID‐19 hospitals in Wuhan, Shanghai, and Shenzhen were identified. Data on demographics, comorbidities, COVID‐19 symptoms and severity, consult reason, treatment, and personal protective equipment (PPE) use were collected and analyzed. Infection control strategies implemented for ENT outpatients and emergency room visits at the Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University were reported.Results.Median age was 63 years, 55% were male, and 95% were in severe or critical condition. Six tracheotomies were performed. Posttracheotomy outcomes were mixed (2 deaths, 2 patients comatose, all living patients still hospitalized). Other consults included epistaxis, pharyngitis, nasal congestion, hyposmia, rhinitis, otitis externa, dizziness, and tinnitus. At all hospitals, powered air‐supply filter respirators (PAPRs) were used for tracheotomy or bleeding control. PAPR or N95‐equivalent masks plus full protective clothing were used for other complaints. No inpatient ENT providers were infected. After implementation of infection control strategies for outpatient clinics, emergency visits, and surgeries, no providers were infected at the Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University.Conclusions and Relevance.COVID‐19 patients require ENT consultation for many reasons, including tracheotomy. Otolaryngologists play an indispensable role in the treatment of COVID‐19 patients but, due to their work, are at high risk of exposure. Appropriate protective strategies can prevent infection of otolaryngologists.
Housing as a Fertility Trap: The Inability of States, Markets, or Families to Provide Adequate Housing in East Central Europe
Authors: Makszin Kristin , Bohle Dorothee 
Published: May 2020

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. We explore housing finance and policy in East Central Europe to understand the connection between housing, in particular independent household formation, and the demographic crisis. The combination of high debt-free homeownership rates with illiquid housing finance and limited rental markets produces conditions where housing restricts independent household formation and likely has a restrictive effect on fertility. We first assess the housing regime type in East Central Europe and demonstrate that it closely corresponds to the “difficult housing regime” in Southern Europe, which has well-established negative effects on independent household formation and fertility. Then we present a detailed case study of Hungary, which is a country with very low fertility rates and substantial changes in housing finance and policy over time. In particular, the issue was recently politicized through housing policies centered on household formation to counter the demographic crisis. We present a detailed analysis of policies related to access to housing for young adults through increased access to markets or state housing support schemes. These policies attempted to reduce dependence on families, but after the crisis, we find that these policies reinforce, rather than challenge, dependence on families for housing solutions, thereby limiting independent household formation. While these policies may serve a rhetorical role demonstrating a state response to the demographic crisis, we claim that their impact on fertility can be at most minimal because of stringent restrictions in access that concentrates on upper-middle-income households and limited financial commitment.
Aging Societies, Civil Societies, and the Role of the Past: Active Aging beyond Demography in Contemporary Poland
Authors: Robbins Jessica C. 
Published: May 2020

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. Like other countries in Europe, Poland’s population is growing older, because of a combination of increasing life expectancies and decreasing birth rates. Such demographic change poses challenges for policy makers, who often understand population aging to put strain on social-service, health care, and pension systems. In response, governments and civil society often emphasize “active aging,” a rubric encompassing a wide range of policies and programs meant to promote health, workforce participation, lifelong learning, and social engagement. Although active aging is often part of neoliberal policies that focus on individual responsibility, recent anthropological theory shows that neoliberal ideals of self-care cannot fully explain contemporary forms of responsibility and social relations. Anthropological theory and ethnographic data can thus help to analyze the effects of demographic change as evident in social policy and programs. In this article, I integrate an analysis of Polish governmental documents meant to promote active aging with an analysis of ethnographic data of older Poles’ experiences of active aging. This article provides an ethnographically grounded perspective on the concept of active aging that focuses on how people actually experience such policies by exploring the meanings such programs and activities take on in the lives of individual and groups. Ethnographic data reveal that the past has multiple emotional valences that shape people’s experiences of these programs, stemming from histories of violence and rupture in the region. This suggests that making explicit the multiple, complex meanings of the past could shape active aging policy and thus civil society to be more inclusive.
Migration and Socio-economic Transition: Lessons from the Polish Post–EU Accession Experience
Authors: Kaczmarczyk Paweł , Aldaz-Carroll Enrique , Hołda Paulina 
Published: May 2020

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. Even if Poland has been commonly presented as a typical emigration country, the post–EU accession migration still presents an extremely interesting case in terms of its (very high) scale, structural characteristics, and consequences. With about 2.5 million of its citizens staying temporarily abroad, Poland belongs to the most mobile European nations, and the post-accession migration to the EU is presented as a “natural experiment.” The article aims to discuss the main economic outcomes of the post-2004 migration from Poland and to address the question to what extent the Polish experience is transferable and can be used as a policy lesson for other developing countries. Based on the Polish case, the authors argue that labor migration from a country with large workforce surpluses (as present in most of the less developed countries) can help avoid hysteresis and support the structural transformation of the economy. Fulfillment of these positive expectations is however dependent on several factors including structure of migration (and return migration), structural conditions at origin and public policies imposed. Authors argue that migration policies have only limited impact on the scale and structure of international migration but public policies are critically important in harnessing the developmental potential of migration.
Introduction: Politics and Current Challenges of Demography in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Petrova Tsveta , Inglot Tomasz 
Published: May 2020

This article belongs to the special cluster, “Politics and Current Demographic Challenges in Central and Eastern Europe,” guest-edited by Tsveta Petrova and Tomasz Inglot. In this article, we introduce a multidisciplinary and multimethod, special section on the intersection of politics, policy, and the current challenges of demography in Hungary and Poland. We argue that aging, declining fertility, and migration as well as their politicization all deserve urgent attention as some of the most pressing concerns for most of Central and Eastern Europe today. Accordingly, we first use European Commission data to paint a comparative picture of the demographic challenges that the region faces. We then introduce the article contributions in the special section that examine aging, declining fertility, and migration. Next we turn to the question of the politicization of these demographic challenges. We discuss how the proposed special section speaks to two important but previously rarely linked debates taking place within the social sciences today: (1) the voluminous literature on the demographic changes and policies in Central and Eastern Europe, including their ethnic and cultural dimensions, and (2) the expanding scholarship on the rise of nationalist populism and decline in the quality of liberal democracy in the region. Lastly, we summarize the arguments of the contributing authors, who pay closer attention to policy responses to and the politicization of the demographic challenges faced by Central and Eastern Europe.
Tele-orthopaedics: A systematic mapping study
Authors: Behmanesh Ali , Sadoughi Farahnaz , Mazhar Farid Najd , Joghataei Mohammad Taghi , Yazdani Shahram 
Published: May 2020

Introduction The use of telemedicine in orthopaedics can provide high-quality orthopaedic services to patients in remote areas. Tele-orthopaedics is widely acknowledged for decreasing travel, time and cost, increasing accessibility and quality of care. In the absence of a comprehensive review on tele-orthopaedics applications and services, here, we systematically identify and classify the tele-orthopaedic applications and services, and provide an overview of the trends in the field. Methods In this study, a systematic mapping was conducted to answer six research questions, we searched the databases Scopus, PubMed, IEEE Digital Library and Web of Science up to 2019. Consequently, 77 papers were screened and selected on the basis of specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results We found that mobile-based teleconsultation was mostly asynchronous, while non-mobile teleconsultation was synchronous. The results showed that the physician–patient relationship was more common than other interactions, such as physician–physician and physician–robot interactions. In addition, more than half of the services provided by tele-orthopaedics have been used for orthopaedic diseases/traumas in which joint replacement and fracture reduction have been the most important orthopaedic procedures. It has been noted that more attention has been paid to tele-orthopaedics in developed countries such as the USA, Australia, Canada and Finland. Discussion Telemonitoring (teleconsultation and telemetry) and telesurgery (telerobotics and telementoring) were found to be the two major forms of tele-orthopaedics. Mobile phones were used asynchronously in most of the teleconsultations. The development of different applications may result in the use of multiple smartphones applications in real-time teleconsultation. The use of smartphones is expected to increase in the near future.
Willingness of family caregivers of people with dementia to undertake Advance Care Planning: Examining an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior
Authors: Kermel Schiffman Ile , Werner Perla 
Published: May 2020

Background and objectives Family caregivers of people with dementia experience high burden making medical decisions for their loved ones. Undertaking Advance Care Planning (ACP) can help reduce burden and stress. Having experiences making medical decisions for someone else may influence the way people make decisions for themselves. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess the willingness of family caregivers of people with dementia to undertake ACP for themselves, using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Research design and methods Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 195 family caregivers of people with dementia. A structured questionnaire was used to assessed participants’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, anticipated regret, the wish to prolong life and caregiver burden. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to test the contribution of the variables to the willingness to undertake ACP. Results Overall, participants expressed moderate willingness to undertake ACP. Among the various options for undertaking ACP, the highest willingness expressed was to appoint a durable power of attorney and the lowest willingness was to have informal conversations with their doctor. The hierarchical regression revealed that attitudes, subjective norms and anticipated regrets were main determinants of the willingness to undertake ACP. Discussion and implications Interventions should be developed to encourage family members to undertake ACP for themselves, which emphasize the advantages of the process and involve significant others in the formal and informal aspects of ACP.
Pharmacists’ perceptions of their working conditions and the factors influencing this: Results from 5 Canadian provinces
Authors: Tsao Nicole W. , Salmasi Shahrzad , Li Kathy , Nakagawa Bob , Lynd Larry D. , Marra Carlo A. 
Published: May 2020

Introduction: Our previous study in British Columbia (BC) indicated that pharmacists have a poor perception of their working conditions. The objective of this study is to assess pharmacists’ perceptions of their working conditions in 4 other Canadian provinces. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study across Alberta, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, using a survey adapted from the Oregon Board of Pharmacy. Data collected previously from BC were also included in the analyses. The survey was emailed to all pharmacist registrants. Respondents were provided with 6 statements and asked to rate their agreement with them, using a 5-point Likert scale. Statements were framed such that agreement with them indicated good perception of working conditions. Logistic regression analyses were used to study the relationship between workplace factors on perception of working conditions. Results: Pharmacists perceived their working conditions to be poor. Pharmacists indicated that they do not have time for break/lunch (48.3% of respondents), work in environments that are not conducive to safe and effective primary care (26.5%), are not satisfied with the amount of time they have to do their job (44.0%) and face shortage of staff (shortage of pharmacists: 33.7%, technicians: 36.4%, clerk staff: 30.3%). Significant factors associated with poor perception were workplace-imposed quotas, high prescription volume, working in chain pharmacies and long prescription wait times. Conclusion: A high percentage of Canadian pharmacists perceived their working conditions to be poor. Considering the patient-related consequences of pharmacists’ poor working conditions and the system-related reasons identified behind it, we call for collaborative efforts to tackle this issue.
Maximising engagement and participation of intellectual disability staff in research: Insights from conducting a UK-wide survey
Authors: Lam Claire Kar Kei , Bernal Jane , Finlayson Janet , Todd Stuart , Taggart Laurence , Boaz Annette , Tuffrey-Wijne Irene 
Published: May 2020

Aim: This article explores ways of maximising engagement of intellectual disability staff as research participants, research advisers and research implementers. Method: The authors describe and reflect on a three-phased strategy in recruiting front-line staff ( n = 690) working for intellectual disability service providers ( n = 25) to participate in a UK-wide anonymous online survey about death, dying and bereavement. Results: Important elements in engaging participants were: involving stakeholders at all stages of the research process, which includes: building relationships with participating organisations; enlisting organisational management support at all levels; an attractive and well laid-out collection tool; a well-structured recruitment strategy; time and flexibility; and a varied and targeted dissemination strategy. However, the recruitment method had limitations, in particular around representativeness, bias and generalisability. Conclusions: Staff in intellectual disability services can be enthusiastic and invaluable research participants. Active engagement between researchers, participating organisations and stakeholder groups is key to ensuring involvement of intellectual disability staff with research.