bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Embryonic development, locomotor behavior, biochemical, and epigenetic effects of the pharmaceutical drugs paracetamol and ciprofloxacin in larvae and embryos of Danio rerio when exposed to environmental realistic levels of both drugs
Authors: Nogueira Ana F. , Pinto Glória , Correia Barbara , Nunes Bruno 
Published: July 2019

AbstractFor several years, the scientific community has been concerned about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the wild, since these compounds may have unpredictable deleterious effects on living organisms. Two examples of widely used pharmaceuticals that are present in the environment are paracetamol and ciprofloxacin. Despite their common presence in the aquatic environment due to their poor removal by sewage treatment plants, knowledge concerning their putative toxic effects is still scarce. This work aimed to characterize the effects of paracetamol (0.005, 0.025, 0.125, 0.625, and 3.125 mg/L) and ciprofloxacin (0.005, 0.013, 0.031, 0.078, 0.195, and 0.488 μg/L) in zebrafish embryos and larvae, exposed to environmentally relevant levels, close to the real concentrations of these pharmaceuticals in surface waters and effluents. The adopted toxic end points were developmental, a behavioral parameter (total swimming time), and a biomarker‐based approach (quantification of the activities of catalase, glutathione‐S‐transferase, cholinesterases, glutathione peroxidase, and lipid peroxidation levels) combined with epigenetic analysis (immunohistochemical detection of 5‐methylcytidine). Exposure to paracetamol had effects on all of the adopted toxic end points; however, ciprofloxacin only caused effects on behavioral tests and alterations in biomarkers. It is possible to ascertain the occurrence of oxidative stress following exposure to both drugs, which was more evident regarding paracetamol, an effect that may be related to the observed epigenetic modifications.
Introduction
Authors: King Bridgett A. , Hale Kathleen , Brown Mitchell 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAs the American election administration landscape changes as a result of major court cases, national and state legislation, changes in professionalism, and the evolution of equipment and security, so must the work of on-the-ground practitioners change. This Open Access title presents a series of open access case studies designed to highlight practical responses to these changes from the national, state, and local levels. This book is designed to be a companion piece to The Future of Election Administration, which surveys these critical dimensions of elections from the perspectives of the most forward-thinking practitioner, policy, advocacy, and research experts and leaders in these areas today. Drawing upon principles of professionalism and the practical work that is required to administer elections, this book lifts up the voices and experiences of practitioners from around the country to describe, analyze, and anticipate the key areas of election administration systems on which students, researchers, advocates, policy makers, and practitioners should focus.
What Is the Role of the Vendor in Modern Elections?
Authors: Perkins Mindy 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe election official is the voice of integrity in election administration. They represent the process when elections go wrong and when they go right. Many people and groups help support the process including political parties, nonprofit groups, and vendors. This case focuses on the vendor’s perspective of the elections process and how integral it is to incorporate vendor voices into election administration. Communication between vendors and state and local election offices leads to successful partnerships and to successful elections. It is essential that the vendor community be viewed as a subset of the larger elections community. Communication is key for election officials to be able to trust the outcome, and trust in the outcome inspires confidence in voters and stakeholders across the process.
Professional Development and Election Administration Advocacy
Authors: Forson Lindsey 
Published: July 2019

AbstractStudents in public administration and public policy programs often find it difficult to choose a substantive area in which to pursue a career. These are broad fields, and many different options are available. This case study summarizes the experience of choosing a substantive area for one graduate student who eventually chose election cybersecurity as her main focus. She provides insight into why she chose this policy area and why she has been successful in finding career opportunities within this space. The case study concludes with advice for students of public administration and public policy who are trying to select a specific area on which to focus their studies as well as trying to set themselves up for finding a great job and getting onto a successful career trajectory.
Observations and Lessons from Election Administration in Nigeria
Authors: St. Clair Tyler , Williams Shaniqua 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe consolidation of democracy in transitioning governments is a topic of interest for established nations around the globe. As Auburn University graduate students who have focused on election administration in the United States, we found that the opportunity to observe elections in a comparative perspective created a unique learning experience. In February 2019, Nigeria was preparing to host their sixth democratic election since the end of military rule in 1999. Although these elections were expected to be the next step in launching the country forward as an exemplar of democracy, they were instead delayed at the last minute due to logistical issues. The response from the electorate was immediate: institutions and the electoral process were questioned and officials were criticized. Our in-country observations illustrate the true costs of postponing the presidential election and the impact that the decision to postpone the election had on the democratic process in Nigeria.
Inter-Organizational Implementation: Carrying Out a Federal Court Order in Alabama
Authors: Montjoy Robert 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAdministering elections requires coordination among independent parties. The implementation of a 1988 court ruling in Alabama was an extreme case of this proposition. State and local officials, volunteer trainers, Auburn University, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service worked together in a compressed time frame to carry out new procedures for recruiting and training poll workers. The case illustrates the need for and the results of interorganizational cooperation in unusual circumstances.
Election Security and Large Counties
Authors: Praetz Noah 
Published: July 2019

AbstractState election officials do a tremendous service overseeing and regulating elections in America. But when it comes to defending against cyber threats the work falls to the local election officials—over 8000 nationwide—who mostly control, secure, and run elections. They are on the front lines of this new battlefield. And they are the entities most in need of support and attention from state and federal, public and private partners.
Using GIS to Improve Accuracy and Efficiency in Election Administration
Authors: Brace Kim 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn addition to managing voter registration and voting, election administrators in many local jurisdictions are responsible for dividing voters into precincts. This process requires election administrators to often use data from the Census and sophisticated Geographic Information Systems software for mapping. The process of redistricting presents a variety of challenges ranging from the technical use of the software to considering the different political boundaries that voters must be incorporated into. Discussed are the challenges of redistricting and a potential strategy to address the challenges and limitations.
Communication and Etiquette Considerations When Working with Voters Who Have Disabilities
Authors: Terry Jim , Dunlap Kaylan , Flickinger Steve , Woosley Dan 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWhen trying to provide the most optimal voting experience for voters, it is important to understand who they are and how they see themselves. This is especially true of voters with disabilities. The way individuals identify their disability as a part of their life and how they adapt or adjust to address challenges associated with disability will not always be the same. When serving the public and working with voters, it is important to understand that there are diverse orientations toward diversity and to not assume what type of resources a voter may need to ensure that information is communicated effectively.
Reflections on the Creation and Implementation of Voting System Guidelines
Authors: Davidson Donetta , Wilkey Tom 
Published: July 2019

AbstractFor some, it may be difficult to remember a time when we had no electronic voting equipment—no scanners accepting paper ballots, no touch screens—whereas the voting system today is the result of decades of work by federal agencies and groups of election officials about voting systems and technology. We participated in these efforts over several decades in different roles over time. This case reflects our observations and experiences about how the current certification system came to be, and reflections about how improvements can be made.
Assisting Voters, Language Access, and the Role of Election Administrators
Authors: LaVine Jill , Jarboe Alice 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWhile the federal government under the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) Section 203 requires election jurisdictions to provide language assistance to voters, there is no financial support and not enough detailed information from the government to make this a success. Election jurisdictions must find the location of the voters through extensive outreach programs, mailings, and media efforts. This is a very costly undertaking and often still does not reach the voters who really need the assistance. If a jurisdiction does not meet the needs of their voters needing language assistance, they can be sued by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Community organizations and advocacy groups can be helpful in identifying voters who need assistance, but often they have their own agenda. Election officials want to assist voters for the right reason—so the voter can be an informed voter. But this can be difficult unless we have the information we need, the financial support, and without the constant fear of being sued.
Changing Demographics in Election Administration
Authors: Dozier Shauna 
Published: July 2019

AbstractOver the last 15–20 years, the election administration profession has emerged from its status as an understudied area of public administration. At the same time, there has also been a demographic, cultural, and generational shift among election administration professionals. While some have embraced the shift, others have been resistant resulting in the exposure of beliefs and behaviors that are ageist, sexist, and racist. This case presents the experience of a 17-year career professional in the field who is both a woman and African American. Discussed here are both the mentorship and professional development training opportunities which have helped her navigate the field and the barriers and challenges that she continues to face as an election administration professional.
ALP inflation and Big Bang on Earth
Authors: Takahashi Fuminobu , Yin Wen 
Published: July 2019

Abstract

We study a hilltop inflation model where an axion-like particle (ALP) plays the role of the inflaton. We find that, for a broad class of potentials, the decay constant and the mass at the potential minimum satisfy the relation, m

ϕ
∼ 10− 6
f, to explain the CMB normalization. The ALP is necessarily coupled to the standard model particles for successful reheating. The ALP with the above relation can be searched at beam dump experiments, e.g., the SHiP experiment, if the inflation scale is sufficiently low. In this case, the ALP decays through the interactions that led to the reheating of the Universe. In other words, the Big Bang may be probed at ground-based experiments.
3D printable inter cross-linking network (ICN) gels for reversible transparency control with water content
Authors: Watanabe Yosuke , Inoue Shota , Saito Azusa , Kawakawami Masasu , Furukawa Hidemitsu 
Published: July 2019

AbstractA patient-specific phantoms, which are equivalent to human tissues, is needed in the experimental dosimetric verification before radiotherapy treatments. Most of the shape of gel phantoms have been structurally limited because of the fabrication method using mold technique. The present study focuses on direct freeform fabrication of gel phantom with the customized optical 3D gel printing system. Life-sized gel phantoms were replicated using conventional mold techniques, the 3D printer with two-step sequential free-radical polymerization process and inter cross-linking network gels as 3D printing materials. The gel phantoms are ultraviolet light-sensitive instead of radiation. The ultraviolet sensitivity of the gel phantoms (using mold techniques) with different molar ratios were experimentally evaluated with transmittance measurements, and were theoretically estimated by curve fitting to the observed data. This measurement gave us the insight that more vinyl monomers in the gel phantoms caused rapid polymerization and visibly opaque as well as conventional gel dosimeters. We confirmed that inter cross-linking network gel was 3D printable with the customized 3D printer, with resolution of fabrication 500 μm, as pre-finger-shaped phantom. The cross section of 3D printed gel phantom showed the distribution of opacity, that is, the distribution of UV irradiation. We expect that the 3D printer specialized gel materials and ICN gels are feasible for practical fabrication method of 3D gel phantom.
Sexuality-Related Factors and Quality of Life Among Reproductive-Aged Married Female Migrant Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southern China
Authors: Li Bingbing , Liu Nan , Li Bo , Huang Lingling , Wang Xiaoxiao , Wu Xiao , Fu Liying , Wu Yanyan , Su Zhenzhen , Wang Peixi 
Published: July 2019

Abstract

Introduction
Sexuality is a critical part of overall well-being. However, until now, studies on women’s health related to the effect of sexuality on physical and psychosocial outcomes have been seriously ignored, especially the health-related quality of life (QOL) of reproductive-aged married female migrant workers.

Aim
To analyze the associations between sexuality-related factors and QOL and explore the independent contributions of sexuality-related factors to QOL in this population group in southern China.

Methods
In this cross-sectional survey, 609 Chinese married female migrant workers aged 19–49 years were studied. Clustered multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the associations between sexuality-related variables and QOL.

Outcomes
QOL was measured using the Short Form (SF-36) Healthy Survey. Details of the participants (sociodemographic, health-related and sexuality-related factors) were obtained.

Results
Approximately 10.0% of respondents always felt a lack of sexual interest and lubrication difficulties, and 37.5% of respondents seldom or never experienced sexual satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that women who never felt lubrication difficulties obtained higher role physical, bodily pain, general health, and physical component summary scores in physical domains and higher vitality (VT), mental health (MH), and mental component summary (MCS) scores in mental domains compared with those who always felt lubrication difficulties. Compared with those who always experienced sexual satisfaction, women who never experienced sexual satisfaction had relatively lower role physical, bodily pain, and general health scores in physical domains, and women who never or seldom experienced sexual satisfaction had lower VT, MH, and MCS scores in mental domains. The independent contributions of sexuality-related factors in mental domains (VT, MH, and MCS) accounted for 50.0%, 52.4%, and 39.5%, respectively; more than that of all sociodemographic and health-related variables in the VT and MH domains.

Conclusions
Sexuality-related factors (lubrication difficulties and sexual satisfaction) were significant independent determinants of QOL among reproductive-aged Chinese married female migrant workers, especially in mental domains.
The impact of GDPR one year on
Authors: Breitbarth Paul 
Published: July 2019

The one-year anniversary since the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect has recently passed (25 May 2019). During the past year or so, Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) across different countries have worked diligently to enforce compliance and ensure that the core principles at the heart of the GDPR are met – namely responsible and transparent handling and protection of individuals’ personal data. Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) across Europe have worked diligently to enforce compliance and ensure that the core principles at the heart of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are met. Meanwhile, organisations have worked to ensure compliance. Paul Breitbarth of Nymity looks at what has been learned in the past year. How have businesses responded? Has the GDPR impacted other national data protection regulations? And what impact will the UK's impending exit from the European Union (EU) have on regulatory compliance and data flows?
Understanding the nexus of rising CO2, climate change, and evolution in weed biology
Authors: Ziska Lewis H. , Blumenthal Dana M. , Franks Steven J. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractRapid increases in herbicide resistance have highlighted the ability of weeds to undergo genetic change within a short period of time. That change, in turn, has resulted in an increasing emphasis in weed science on the evolutionary ecology and potential adaptation of weeds to herbicide selection. Here we argue that a similar emphasis would also be invaluable for understanding another challenge that will profoundly alter weed biology: the rapid rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and the associated changes in climate. Our review of the literature suggests that elevated CO2 and climate change will impose strong selection pressures on weeds and that weeds will often have the capacity to respond with rapid adaptive evolution. Based on current data, climate change and rising CO2 levels are likely to alter the evolution of agronomic and invasive weeds, with consequences for distribution, community composition, and herbicide efficacy. In addition, we identify four key areas that represent clear knowledge gaps in weed evolution: (1) differential herbicide resistance in response to a rapidly changing CO2/climate confluence; (2) shifts in the efficacy of biological constraints (e.g., pathogens) and resultant selection shifts in affected weed species; (3) climate-induced phenological shifts in weed distribution, demography, and fitness relative to crop systems; and (4) understanding and characterization of epigenetics and the differential expression of phenotypic plasticity versus evolutionary adaptation. These consequences, in turn, should be of fundamental interest to the weed science community.
BLACKTOWN, MASS-OBSERVATION, AND THE DYNAMICS OF VOLUNTARY ACTION IN MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY ENGLAND
Authors: CHILD PHIL 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThis article examines the place of class and religion in discourses of voluntary action in mid-twentieth-century England, focusing on an overlooked Mass-Observation survey of the district of Aston in Birmingham. It situates Lord Beveridge's Voluntary Action report in its intellectual and social context, through utilizing the qualitative findings of the Mass-Observation district survey of Aston, elements of which were repurposed for the Voluntary Social Services Enquiry from which Voluntary Action emerged. The article takes a thematic approach, investigating how class and religion was seen and reported by Mass-Observers in the context of Aston. Two key arguments are made: that contrary to overarching narratives of post-war secularization, Christian churches actually remained in a relatively dominant position in terms of voluntary action; and that conceptions of voluntary action fundamentally misread working-class understandings of voluntarism, as well as the wider priorities of the post-war working classes. Drawing attention to the importance of class and religion to patterns of voluntary action evident in the Aston survey, yet less considered in historiographical terms, the construction of elite narratives of voluntary action and civil society are more discernible.
Enumerating coloured partitions in 2 and 3 dimensions
Authors: DAVISON BEN , ONGARO JARED , SZENDRŐI BALÁZS 
Published: July 2019

AbstractWe study generating functions of ordinary and plane partitions coloured by the action of a finite subgroup of the corresponding special linear group. After reviewing known results for the case of ordinary partitions, we formulate a conjecture concerning a basic factorisation property of the generating function of coloured plane partitions that can be thought of as an orbifold analogue of a conjecture of Maulik et al., now a theorem, in three-dimensional Donaldson–Thomas theory. We study natural quantisations of the generating functions arising from geometry, discuss a quantised version of our conjecture, and prove a positivity result for the quantised coloured plane partition function under a geometric assumption.
Impacts of Fire on Forest Biomass Dynamics at the Southern Amazon Edge
Authors: Nogueira Denis S , Marimon Beatriz S , Marimon-Junior Ben Hur , Oliveira Edmar A , Morandi Paulo , Reis Simone M , Elias Fernando , Neves Eder C , Feldpausch Ted R , Lloyd Jon , Phillips Oliver L 
Published: July 2019

SummaryOver recent decades, biomass gains in remaining old-growth Amazonia forests have declined due to environmental change. Amazonia’s huge size and complexity makes understanding these changes, drivers, and consequences very challenging. Here, using a network of permanent monitoring plots at the Amazon–Cerrado transition, we quantify recent biomass carbon changes and explore their environmental drivers. Our study area covers 30 plots of upland and riparian forests sampled at least twice between 1996 and 2016 and subject to various levels of fire and drought. Using these plots, we aimed to: (1) estimate the long-term biomass change rate; (2) determine the extent to which forest changes are influenced by forest type; and (3) assess the threat to forests from ongoing environmental change. Overall, there was no net change in biomass, but there was clear variation among different forest types. Burning occurred at least once in 8 of the 12 riparian forests, while only 1 of the 18 upland forests burned, resulting in losses of carbon in burned riparian forests. Net biomass gains prevailed among other riparian and upland forests throughout Amazonia. Our results reveal an unanticipated vulnerability of riparian forests to fire, likely aggravated by drought, and threatening ecosystem conservation at the Amazon southern margins.