bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Investigating the Links between UK House Prices and Share Prices with Copulas
Authors: Bissoondeeal Rakesh K. , Tsiaras Leonidas 
Published: August 2021

AbstractWe investigate the nonlinear links between the housing and stock markets in the UK using copulas. Our empirical analysis is conducted at both the national and regional levels. We also examine how closely London house prices are linked to those in other parts of the UK. We find that (i) the dependence between the different markets exhibits significant time-variation, (ii) at the national level, the relationship between house prices and the stock market is characterised by left tail dependence, i.e., they are more likely to crash, rather than boom, together, (iii) although left tail dependence with the stock market is a prominent feature of some regions, it is by no means a universally shared characteristic, (iv) the dependence between property prices in London and other parts of the UK displays widespread regional variations.
Overview of the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Seventeen-Year Mission
Authors: Woods Thomas N. , Harder Jerald W. , Kopp Greg , McCabe Debra , Rottman Gary , Ryan Sean , Snow Martin 
Published: August 2021

AbstractTheSolar Radiation and Climate Experiment(SORCE) was a NASA mission that operated from 2003 to 2020 to provide key climate-monitoring measurements of total solar irradiance (TSI) and solar spectral irradiance (SSI). Three important accomplishments of the SORCE mission are i) the continuation of the 42-year-long TSI climate data record, ii) the continuation of the ultraviolet SSI record, and iii) the initiation of the near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared SSI records. All of the SORCE instruments functioned well over the 17-year mission, which far exceeded its five-year prime mission goal. The SORCE spacecraft, having mostly redundant subsystems, was also robust over the mission. The end of the SORCE mission was a planned passivation of the spacecraft following a successful two-year overlap with the NASATotal and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor(TSIS) mission, which continues the TSI and SSI climate records. There were a couple of instrument anomalies and a few spacecraft anomalies during SORCE’s long mission, but operational changes and updates to flight software enabled SORCE to remain productive to the end of its mission. The most challenging of the anomalies was the degradation of the battery capacity that began to impact operations in 2009 and was the cause for the largest SORCE data gap (August 2013 – February 2014). An overview of the SORCE mission is provided with a couple of science highlights and a discussion of flight anomalies that impacted the solar observations. Companion articles about the SORCE instruments and their final science data-processing algorithms provide additional details about the instrument measurements over the duration of the mission.
The indeterminacy of computation
Authors: Fresco Nir , Copeland B. Jack , Wolf Marty J. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractDo the dynamics of a physical system determine what function the system computes? Except in special cases, the answer is no: it is oftenindeterminatewhat function a given physical system computes. Accordingly, care should be taken when the question ‘What does a particular neuronal system do?’ is answered by hypothesising that the system computes aparticularfunction. The phenomenon of the indeterminacy of computation has important implications for the development of computational explanations of biological systems. Additionally, the phenomenon lends some support to the idea that a single neuronal structure may perform multiple cognitive functions, each subserved by a different computation. We provide an overarching conceptual framework in order to further the philosophical debate on the nature of computational indeterminacy and computational explanation.
Phytochemical screening and evaluation of the antioxidant and anti-bacterial activity of Woundwort (Anthyllis vulneraria L.)
Authors: Ouerfelli Manel , Majdoub Nesrine , Aroussi Jihen , Almajano María Pilar , Bettaieb Ben Kaâb Leila 
Published: August 2021

AbstractFor millennia, medicinal plants have been used to prevent and cure diseases. Up to now there is a growing interest in their use in several areas as conducted forAnthyllisin our investigation. Actually the present research aims to investigate the biochemical characterisation of a medicinal plant collected from Tunisia named Woundwort [Anthyllis vulnerariaL. (Jones and Turrill 1933)] by determining the mineral content, phenolic compound contents and biological activities of its leaf and flower extracts. On the one hand, the results obtained showed thatA. vulnerariaaccumulated minerals at different amounts with significant differences between leaves and flowers extracts. On the other hand, the data revealed that the hydroethanolic flower extract contained the highest content of total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannin, as it exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. The flower extract also showed better antibacterial effect than leaf extract. These results support the exploitation of active compounds extracted from the leaves and especially the flowers ofA. vulneraria,which can provide new alternatives to the use of certain drugs, additives, among others, as they can be used as structure–activity models for the development of new products.
Diagnosing and Managing Patients with Reactions to Radiocontrast Media
Authors: Brockow Knut 
Published: August 2021

AbstractPurpose of the reviewIodinated radio contrast media (RCM) belong to the most common elicitors of drug hypersensitivity reactions (HR). Urticaria or anaphylaxis may occur ≤ 1(−6) hour(s) (immediate HR) and exanthems (non-immediate HR) develop > 6 h after application of RCM. Evidence for an immunologic mechanism of RCM HR against the different RCM benzene ring molecules and the benefit of allergological testing in patients with previous hypersensitivity reactions is progressively increasing.Recent findingsPositive skin tests can confirm allergy in patients with previous reactions to RCM and help to select alternative better tolerated RCMs. Severe hypersensitivity reactions are mainly caused by an allergic mechanism, whereas the majority of non-severe reactions appear to be non-allergic. Skin testing is highly recommended to help identify allergic hypersensitivity reactions and to select alternatives. Using structurally different RCM is more effective than premedication for the prevention of future reactions. Drug provocation tests to RCM have been increasingly used, but are not yet standardized among different centers.SummaryIn patients with previous severe hypersensitivity reactions to RCM, skin testing is recommended. For future RCM-enhanced examinations in patients with previous reactions, structurally different, skin test-negative preparations should be applied. Drug provocation tests do confirm or exclude RCM hypersensitivity or may demonstrate tolerability of alternative RCMs.
‘e’-thinking teaching and assessment to uphold academic integrity: lessons learned from emergency distance learning
Authors: Khan Zeenath Reza , Sivasubramaniam Shivadas , Anand Pranit , Hysaj Ajrina 
Published: August 2021

AbstractCovid-19 pandemic had an impact on many day-to-day activities but one of the biggest collateral impacts was felt by the education sector. The nature and the complexity of higher education is such that no matter how prepared we are as faculty, how planned our teaching and assessments, faculty are all too aware of the adjustments that have to be made to course plans, assessments designed, content delivery strategies and so on once classes begin. Faculties find themselves changing, modifying and deviating from original plans to ensure accessibility and inclusiveness, this may be due to a variety of reasons such as student abilities, behaviour, disturbances and even outside factors that may be political, environmental, social etc. Majority of the time, faculty are prepared for the change that needs to be incorporated and are quick to adjust. However, no one expected the disruption to education that was caused by COVID19 pandemic. The world came to a standstill while schools and universities scrambled to push learning to the digital space. It was important to try to ensure continuity of learning for students, but the issue of integrity came to the forefront by summertime. Faculties were suddenly expected to restructure their lessons, delivery, teaching and assessing digitally, at the same time ensuring and upholding integrity of the concepts taught and assessed. This has neither been easy or straightforward because the situation was unprecedented with little or no prior documentation or guidelines to help. Recognising this gap, this paper is an attempt at providing exploratory findings from authors’ experiences in their respective institutions over the ensuing months. The paper attempts to record the changes made by the faculty and colleagues to lessons and assessments with particular focus on how technology has been used to help restructure classes, deliver lessons and assess students which have aided in minimizing the likelihood of students cheating. The paper further narrates the reflective changes that were made in response to experience, student/external examiners feedback etc.
City consumption profile: a city perspective on the spending behavior of citizens
Authors: Galdeman Alessia , Ba Cheick T. , Zignani Matteo , Quadri Christian , Gaito Sabrina 
Published: August 2021

AbstractIn designing the city of the future, city managers and urban planners are driven by specific citizens’ behaviors. In fact, economic and financial behaviors, and specifically, which goods and services citizens purchase and how they allocate their spending, are playing a central role in planning targeted services. In this context, cashless payments provide an invaluable data source to identify such spending behaviors. In this work, we propose a methodology to extract the consumption behaviors of a large sample of customers through credit card transaction data. The main outcome of the methodology is a concise representation of the economic behavior of people residing in a city, the so-called city consumption profile. We inferred the city consumption profile from a network-based representation of the similarity among the customers in terms of purchase allocation; on top of which we applied a community detection algorithm to identify the representative consumption profiles. By applying the above methodology to a set of credit card transactions of an Italian financial group, we showed that cities, even geographically close, exhibit different profiles which makes them unique. Specifically, usage patterns focused on a single type of good/service—mono-categorical consumption profile—are the main factors leading to the differences in the city profiles. Our analysis also showed that there is a group of consumption profiles common to all cities, made up by purchases of primary goods/services, such as food or clothing. In general, the city consumption profile represents a tool for understanding the economic behaviors of the citizens and for comparing different cities. Moreover, city planners and managers may use it in the outline of city services tailored to the citizens’ needs.
Ausgabenseitige Effekte der demografischen Entwicklung auf die Kommunalfinanzen
Authors: Starke Tim 
Published: August 2021

ZusammenfassungDer demografische Wandel stellt die Kommunen vor zahlreiche Herausforderungen: Darunter sind insbesondere die Effekte der Altersstruktur (ausgabensteigernde Effekte durch Jugendlastigkeit, tendenziell entlastende Effekte durch eine ansteigende Quote an über 65-Jährigen), aber auch sog. Kostenremanenzeffekte zu nennen. Zur empirischen Überprüfung, inwiefern sich die Bevölkerungsstruktur und der Bevölkerungsrückgang auf die kommunalen Haushalte auswirken, wird auf einen Datensatz der kreisangehörigen Gemeinden und kreisfreien Städte Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns im Zeitraum 2000–2016 zurückgegriffen.Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass sich der andauernde Rückgang der Einwohnerzahlen und die verändernde Altersstruktur in den Kommunen Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns zu einem höheren Niveau von Pro-Kopf-Zuschussbeträgen und -Ausgaben führen. So wird zum einen deutlich, dass höhere Anteile von unter 6‑Jährigen sowie 6‑ bis 18-Jährigen zu Mehrbelastungen in den Gemeinden und Städten führen. Die bislang vermehrt in der finanzwissenschaftlichen Literatur beschriebenen Kostenremanenzen werden zum anderen statistisch signifikant nachgewiesen, wobei die Ergebnisse der geografisch gewichteten Regression einen stärkeren Kostenremanenzeffekt in Gemeinden mit einem höheren Bevölkerungsrückgang anzeigen.Mit Blick auf den Kommunalen Finanzausgleich bietet es sich daher an, die demografischen Sonderbedarfe der Gemeinden gezielt bei der Bestimmung des Finanzbedarfs zu veredeln. Der Bevölkerungsrückgang könnte dabei nach geografischer Lage und somit nach Stärke des Kostenremanenzeffektes unterschiedlich stark berücksichtigt werden.
Kommissionieren in Kälte – eine Superposition aus körperlich schwerer Arbeit und Klimabelastung
Authors: Groos Sandra , Penzkofer Mario , Strasser Helmut , Kluth Karsten 
Published: August 2021

ZusammenfassungZur Objektivierung von Belastung und Beanspruchung beim Kommissionieren in Kälte wurden insgesamt 120 Ganztagsanalysen mit 60 Arbeitspersonen (Apn) in einem Kühl- (+3 °C) bzw. Tiefkühllager (−24 °C) durchgeführt. Während des Kommissionierens von 2–15 kg schweren Warenpaketen mit einer Umsetzleistung von 1,6 t/h wurden u. a. die Parameter Energieumsatz, Herzschlagfrequenz und Körperkerntemperatur erfasst sowie durch subjektive Einschätzungen ergänzt. Die Werte der O2-Aufnahme zeigen, dass die Tätigkeit in Abhängigkeit von den Lauf- und Fahrwegen knapp unter bzw. oberhalb der energetischen Dauerleistungsgrenze (DLG) stattfindet. Auch die Arbeitspulse sprechen für ein Arbeiten knapp unterhalb bzw. an der DLG. Die Körperkerntemperaturabnahmen zeigen, dass die tiefe Kälte trotz der anstrengenden und somit wärmeproduzierenden Arbeit die Körperkerntemperatur signifikant absinken lässt. Das geht auch mit einem verstärkten Kälteempfinden einher. Insgesamt wird das Kommissionieren bei −24 °C im Vergleich zu +3 °C bei gleicher Arbeitsbelastung von den Apn als körperlich beanspruchender empfunden.Praktische Relevanz: Kommissionierarbeitsplätze erfordern eine besondere ergonomische Gestaltung, insbesondere dann, wenn die Tätigkeit im tiefkalten Bereich ausgeführt wird. Die Superposition aus kalter Arbeitsumgebung und körperlich schwerer Arbeit verursacht eine hohe Belastung und resultiert in einer erheblichen Beanspruchung, die durch die Gefahr einer eintretenden Unterkühlung zudem ein ernstzunehmendes Gesundheitsrisiko darstellt. Im Sinne des präventiven Gesundheitsschutzes müssen daher insbesondere die Kälteschutzkleidung, das Arbeitszeit-Pausenzeit-Regime sowie verbindliche Regelungen zur arbeitsmedizinischen Vor- und Nachsorge angepasst werden.
Projected Changes in Climate Extremes Using CMIP6 Simulations Over SREX Regions
Authors: Almazroui Mansour , Saeed Fahad , Saeed Sajjad , Ismail Muhammad , Ehsan Muhammad Azhar , Islam M. Nazrul , Abid Muhammad Adnan , O’Brien Enda , Kamil Shahzad , Rashid Irfan Ur , Nadeem Imran 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis paper presents projected changes in extreme temperature and precipitation events by using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) data for mid-century (2036–2065) and end-century (2070–2099) periods with respect to the reference period (1985–2014). Four indices namely, Annual maximum of maximum temperature (TXx), Extreme heat wave days frequency (HWFI), Annual maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation (RX5day), and Consecutive Dry Days (CDD) were investigated under four socioeconomic scenarios (SSP1-2.6; SSP2-4.5; SSP3-7.0; SSP5-8.5) over the entire globe and its 26 Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change
Adaptation (SREX) regions. The projections show an increase in intensity and frequency of hot temperature and precipitation extremes over land. The intensity of the hottest days (as measured by TXx) is projected to increase more in extratropical regions than in the tropics, while the frequency of extremely hot days (as measured by HWFI) is projected to increase more in the tropics. Drought frequency (as measured by CDD) is projected to increase more over Brazil, the Mediterranean, South Africa, and Australia. Meanwhile, the Asian monsoon regions (i.e., South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia) become more prone to extreme flash flooding events later in the twenty-first century as shown by the higher RX5day index projections. The projected changes in extremes reveal large spatial variability within each SREX region. The spatial variability of the studied extreme events increases with increasing greenhouse gas concentration (GHG) and is higher at the end of the twenty-first century. The projected change in the extremes and the pattern of their spatial variability is minimum under the low-emission scenario SSP1-2.6. Our results indicate that an increased concentration of GHG leads to substantial increases in the extremes and their intensities. Hence, limiting CO2 emissions could substantially limit the risks associated with increases in extreme events in the twenty-first century.
A hybrid environment control system combining EMG and SSVEP signal based on brain-computer interface technology
Authors: Rashid Mamunur , Bari Bifta Sama , Sulaiman Norizam , Mustafa Mahfuzah , Hasan Md Jahid , Islam Md Nahidul , Naziullah Shekh 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe patients who are impaired with neurodegenerative disorders cannot command their muscles through the neural pathways. These patients are given an alternative from their neural path through Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems, which are the explicit use of brain impulses without any need for a computer's vocal muscle. Nowadays, the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) modality offers a robust communication pathway to introduce a non-invasive BCI. There are some crucial constituents, including window length of SSVEP response, the number of electrodes in the acquisition device and system accuracy, which are the critical performance components in any BCI system based on SSVEP signal. In this study, a real-time hybrid BCI system consists of SSVEP and EMG has been proposed for the environmental control system. The feature in terms of the common spatial pattern (CSP) has been extracted from four classes of SSVEP response, and extracted feature has been classified using K-nearest neighbors (k-NN) based classification algorithm. The obtained classification accuracy of eight participants was 97.41%. Finally, a control mechanism that aims to apply for the environmental control system has also been developed. The proposed system can identify 18 commands (i.e., 16 control commands using SSVEP and two commands using EMG). This result represents very encouraging performance to handle real-time SSVEP based BCI system consists of a small number of electrodes. The proposed framework can offer a convenient user interface and a reliable control method for realistic BCI technology.
Women in Surgery Italia: National Survey Assessing Gender-Related Challenges
Authors: Parini Sara , Lucidi Daniela , Azzolina Danila , Verdi Daunia , Frigerio Isabella , Gumbs Andrew A. , Spolverato Gaya 
Published: August 2021

BACKGROUND:
In 2019, women accounted for 46% of surgical residents. Despite the international debate on gender disparities, no literature regarding the experience in Italy is available. The aim of this survey study was to assess satisfaction among female surgeons in Italy, and determine whether they encounter gender-based discrimination.

STUDY DESIGN:
An anonymous, 83-item web-based survey was distributed among female surgeons working in Italy, from November 18 to December 31, 2020. Gender equity, satisfaction, and factors associated with higher satisfaction and work-life balance were explored.

RESULTS:
There were 3,242 volunteer respondents, 1,833 of whom completed at least 50% of the specific questions and were included in the study. Approximately 54% of female Italian surgeons reported being satisfied with their job, but only 34% with their work-life balance. Among residents, 67% thought they were not adequately trained. The majority of respondents were responsible for most of the housekeeping (60%) and childcare duties (53%), regardless of their partner's workload, and 62% reported that gender affects the way they are treated at work, with most of them experiencing microaggressions. Sexual harassment was common (59%), but only 10% of women reported it.

CONCLUSIONS:
Most Italian female surgeons are satisfied with their professional choice. However, they face gender discrimination, including incidents of sexual harassment and microaggression. Due to the fact that half of surgeons working in Italian hospitals will be females in the next few years, actions are urgently required to build a culture that supports a gender-neutral environment.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sexual Behaviors: Findings From a National Survey in the United States
Authors: Gleason Neil , Banik Swagata , Braverman Jesse , Coleman Eli 
Published: August 2021

ABSTRACTBackgroundStudies from the first months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting lockdown and social distancing measures have shown that there have been decreases in sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction.AimTo evaluate the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual behavior, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence in the United States using a large national convenience sample.MethodsAbout 1,051 participants across the United States were recruited in October 2020 to complete a cross-sectional online survey.OutcomesParticipants were asked to retrospectively report their sexual behavior frequency, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence during the pandemic and prior to the pandemicRESULTSThere was a small but significant decrease in some retrospectively-reported partnered sexual activities, and men reported a small increase in masturbation and pornography use. There was no evidence for a change in relationship satisfaction or intimate partner violence, but both men and women reported a small decrease in sexual pleasure, and women reported a small decrease in sexual desire. The sexual behaviors with greatest reduction were casual sex, hookups, and number of partners, and the most diminished as aspect of sexual functioning was sexual enjoyment. Depression symptoms, relationship status, and perceived importance of social distancing emerged as predictors of these reductions. Less than half of individuals who engaged with casual sex partners before the start of the pandemic ceased this behavior completely after the start of the pandemic. Individuals waited on average 6–7 weeks before reengaging in casual sex.Clinical ImplicationsThese results inform public health response to the effects of the pandemic and add to our understanding of how the pandemic has continued to impact sexual behavior.Strengths and LimitationsThis is the first known study to evaluate sexual behavior several months into the COVID-19 pandemic using a large national sample. However, the results of this study are limited by its convenience sampling method and cross-sectional design.CONCLUSIONThese results indicate that the changes in sexual behavior observed in the early months of the pandemic have continued, with small but significant decreases in many partnered sexual behaviors and a small increase in men’s solitary sexual behaviors.