bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why Disagreement-Based Skepticism cannot Escape the Challenge of Self-Defeat
Authors: Grundmann Thomas 
Published: June 2019

AbstractGlobal meta-philosophical skepticism based upon disagreement faces the problem of self-defeat since it undercuts its motivating conciliatory principle. However, the skeptic may easily escape this threat by adopting extensive meta-philosophical skepticism, i.e. the view that most of our philosophical beliefs are unjustified, except our beliefs in epistemically fundamental principles. As I will argue in this paper, this kind of skepticism still poses a radical challenge to philosophy as a cognitive discipline. Moreover, non-global skepticism that is still extensive undermines itself as well. The deeper reason for this is that this more modest kind of skepticism can only be motivated by the assumption that disagreement with philosophical peers is abundant and that we can identify peers only by relying on track-record arguments. But then one can argue for extensive meta-philosophical skepticism only if one presupposes that those philosophical beliefs that form the basis of track-record evaluations are justified. Here, the threat of self-defeat looms again. I will proceed by first defending the premises of this new anti-skeptical argument against standard objections from the literature. Second, I will show in more detail where the epistemic inconsistency arises in the argument for extensive meta-philosophical skepticism.
Radiocarbon Dating of Mortar from the Aqueduct in Skopje
Authors: Sironić Andreja , Borković Damir , Barešić Jadranka , Bronić Ines Krajcar , Cherkinsky Alexander , Kitanovska Ljiljana , Štrukil Vjekoslav , Čukovska Lidija Robeva 
Published: June 2019

ABSTRACTThe Aqueduct is one of the city landmarks of Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia. It was part of a water-supply system, with a total original length of about 10 km, while its surface remains are about 385 m long. The age of the Aqueduct is not known—several hypotheses place it to periods between the 6th and 16th centuries. Six mortar samples from different positions of the eastern façade were taken for radiocarbon (14C) dating. In order to extract only the carbon associated to the time of building, three strategies for sample preparation were used: (1) mechanical separation of lime lumps formed during mortar hardening (2) selection on the basis of particle size and the ability to suspend in water induced by ultrasonic shock, and (3) collection of two gas CO2 fractions produced from the same bulk in reaction with acid. Characterization of fractions was performed by isotopic carbon composition and FTIR-ATR analyses. The most plausible results were obtained from lime lump fractions that were dated in the timeframe of 15th to 17th century.
Sodium butyrate protects against high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress in rat liver by promoting expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2
Authors: Sun Bo , Jia Yimin , Yang Shu , Zhao Nannan , Hu Yun , Hong Jian , Gao Shixing , Zhao Ruqian 
Published: June 2019

AbstractOxidative stress is closely related to metabolic disorders, which can lead to various diseases. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a central regulator of oxidative stress. Sodium butyrate (NaB) has been shown to alleviate oxidative stress and insulin resistance, yet how Nrf2 is involved in the action of NaB remains unclear. In the present study, rats were rendered obese by feeding a high-fat diet for 9 weeks. NaB (300 mg/kg), which was gavaged every 2 d for 7 weeks, significantly alleviated high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress and insulin resistance. Additionally, the insulin signalling pathway in the liver was activated by NaB, associated with significant activation of Nrf2, superoxide dismutase and glutathione. Furthermore, hepatic up-regulation of Nrf2 in NaB-treated rats was associated with reduced protein content of histone deacetylase 1 and increased histone H3 acetyl K9 (H3K9Ac) modification on the Nrf2 promoter. The actions of NaB were completely abolished when Nrf2 was knocked downin vitro. Taken together, NaB acts as a histone deacetylase inhibitor to up-regulate Nrf2 expression with enhanced H3K9Ac modification on its promoter. NaB-induced Nrf2 activation stimulates transcription of downstream antioxidant enzymes, thus contributing to the amelioration of high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress and insulin resistance.
Increasing misreporting levels of induced abortion in Turkey: is this due to social desirability bias?
Authors: Saraç Melike , Koç İsmet 
Published: June 2019

AbstractWomen tend to under-report or misreport their abortion experiences, mainly because abortion is considered a sensitive issue for cultural, religious, political or other reasons in many countries across the world. Turkey, where induced abortion is an increasingly sensitive issue due to intense statements against induced abortion on religious grounds by influential politicians, and a hidden agenda to prohibit the practice, especially in public health facilities, in recent years, is no exception. This study focused on the increase in level of misreporting of induced abortion in Turkey and its link to social desirability bias using pooled data from 1993 and 2013 Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys. A probabilistic classification model was used to classify women’s reported abortions. The findings confirmed that the level of misreporting of induced abortions has increased from 18% to 53% among all terminated pregnancies over the period 1993–2013 in Turkey. This marked increase, especially among women in the lower socioeconomic sections of society, may be largely associated with the prevailing political environment, and increase in social stigmatization against induced abortion in Turkey over recent decades.
Eleven new species of crustose lichenized fungi from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Authors: FRYDAY Alan M. 
Published: June 2019

AbstractEleven new species of crustose, lichenized fungi are described from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Nine species are saxicolous, whereasLecania vermisporaoccurs on the stems ofHebe ellipticaandTephromela lignicolais lignicolous on fence posts. The new species are:Bacidia marina, with a sordid blue-green K−, N+ violet epihymenium and acicular, multiseptate ascospores;B. pruinata, with pruinose apothecia and multiseptate ascospores;Buellia gypsyensis, with a thallus containing 5-O-methylhiascic acid and withAmandinea-type conidia;Cliostomum albidum, with pruinose apothecia lacking pigments;C. longisporum, with long narrow ascospores (c.20 × 3 µm);Coccotrema rubromarginatum, with a placodioid thallus having a red-brown margin and lower surface;Hymenelia microcarpa, with minute, immersed apothecia (<0·1 mm diam.) and a trebouxioid photobiont;Lecania vermispora, with vermiform, 3–6 septate ascospores;Lepra argentea, with papillate isidia with dark caps;Rhizocarpon malvinae, which is similar toR. reductumbut with a grey thallus, generally sessile apothecia with a thick raised margin and often with the Cinereorufa-green pigment in the epithecium and upper exciple; andTephromela lignicola,a sterile, sorediate species on fence posts. Most of these species are reported only from the Falkland Islands althoughCoccotrema rubromarginatumis also reported from Isla de los Estados and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Ascoconidia are reported fromLepra argenteaand cephalodia fromPertusaria pachythallina.Keys to the species reported from the Falkland Islands in the genera of the newly described species are also provided.
Lobaria amplissima thalli with external cephalodia need more rain than thalli without
Authors: GAUSLAA Yngvar , JOHLANDER Stina , NORDÉN Björn 
Published: June 2019

AbstractHydration traits determine much of a lichen’s distribution pattern along a climatic gradient but the mechanisms involved are still incompletely known. A higher abundance of large external cephalodia in wet oceanic than in drier climates has previously been reported in Lobaria amplissima. This study aims to quantify how much more rain L. amplissima thalli with external cephalodia would need to fill their internal water holding capacity (WHCinternal) than thalli without. The mean WHCinternal was 1·8 times higher in thalli with external cephalodia than in those without. The WHCinternal when converted to mm rain needed to saturate an average specimen was 1·37 mm (min–max: 0·55–3·8 mm) for a cephalodiate thallus, whereas an average thallus without external cephalodia needed just 0·76 mm (min–max: 0·36–1·3 mm). Known dewfall rates and rates of water uptake from humid air are far below what is needed to saturate even the cephalodiate thallus with the lowest WHCinternal, implying a stronger dependency on rain for thalli with external cephalodia. Thus, the observed trends in this study are consistent with earlier reports of decreasing frequency of external cephalodia from wet to drier climates.
Path Planning for Vehicle-borne System Consisting of Multi Air–ground Robots
Authors: Chen Yang , Ren Shiwen , Chen Zhihuan , Chen Mengqing , Wu Huaiyu 
Published: June 2019

SummaryThis paper considers the path planning problem for deployment and collection of a marsupial vehicle system which consists of a ground mobile robot and two aerial flying robots. The ground mobile robot, usually unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), as a carrier, is able to deploy and harvest the aerial flying robots, and each aerial flying robot, usually unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), takes off from and lands on the carrier. At the same time, owing to the limited duration in the air in one flight, UAVs should return to the ground mobile robot timely for its energy-saving and recharge. This work is motivated by cooperative search and reconnaissance missions in the field of heterogeneous robot system. Especially, some targets with given positions are assumed to be visited by any of the UAVs. For the cooperative path planning problem, this paper establishes a mathematical model to solve the path of two UAVs and UGV. Many real constraints including the maximum speed of two UAVs and UGV, the minimum charging time of two UAVs, the maximum hovering time of UAVs, and the dynamic constraints among UAVs and UGV are considered. The objective function is constructed by minimizing the time for completing the whole mission. Finally, the path planning problem of the robot system is transformed into a multi-constrained optimization problem, and then the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to obtain the path planning results. Simulations and comparisons verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Equilibrium-Based Force and Torque Control for an Aerial Manipulator to Interact with a Vertical Surface
Authors: Tavora Bruno , Park Hyeongjun , Romano Marcello , Yun Xiaoping 
Published: June 2019

SUMMARYIn this paper, a force and torque controller for aerial manipulation is developed using an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a robotic arm to interact near or on a vertical surface such as a wall. Control of aerial manipulators interacting with the environment is a challenging task due to dynamic interactions between aerial vehicles, robotic arms, and environment. To achieve this, modeling of aerial manipulators is first investigated and presented considering interaction with the environment. Nonlinear models of generic aerial manipulators, as well as of a prototype aerial manipulator composed of a hexacopter with a three-joint robotic arm, are established. An equilibrium-based force and torque controller is developed to conduct tasks that require the aerial manipulator to exert forces and torques on a wall. Simulations and experiments validate the performance of the controller that successfully applies desired forces and torques to an object fixed on a wall while flying near the wall.
Securing human rights through risk-management methods: Breakthrough or misalignment?
Authors: Mares Radu 
Published: June 2019

AbstractThis is a study of three authoritative instruments that promote a common idea: economic activities and development should be conducted with respect for human rights. The World Bank Framework, the International Financial Corporation Performance Standards and the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights are examined to get clarity on how human rights risk management differs from more conventional management approaches. The focus here is on prevention of human rights impacts. Do the three instruments employ approaches adequate for handling human rights risks? To understand prevention, one needs to reflect on what makes human rights a particular type of impact and account for the regulatory context of protecting human rights transnationally. The analysis identifies four ‘offsets’ through which economic decision-makers can distort their human rights performance and place causal observers at a disadvantage. Prevention becomes an issue of how to relate to ‘residual impacts’ on human rights. This article finds that the ‘hierarchy or mitigation’ and even ‘human rights due diligence’ under illuminate the challenge. The proposal here is to add ‘reduction at source’ as a parameter of human rights risk management. The sources for this analysis are the three instruments, and the practice of implementing organizations, particularly IFC projects, CAO cases, impact assessments, and CSR reports. In conclusion, the potential for cross-fertilization among instruments is genuine. Increased clarity on prevention of human rights impacts should assist economic decision-makers in their risk management task and casual observers in assessing their performance.
Using routine testing data to understand circulation patterns of influenza A, respiratory syncytial virus and other respiratory viruses in Victoria, Australia
Authors: Price O. H. , Sullivan S. G. , Sutterby C. , Druce J. , Carville K. S. 
Published: June 2019

Abstract
Several studies have reported evidence of interference between respiratory viruses: respiratory viruses rarely reach their epidemic peak concurrently and there appears to be a negative association between infection with one respiratory virus and co-infection with another. We used results spanning 16 years (2002–2017) of a routine diagnostic multiplex panel that tests for nine respiratory viruses to further investigate these interactions in Victoria, Australia. Time series analyses were used to plot the proportion positive for each virus. The seasonality of all viruses included was compared with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A virus using cross-correlations. Logistic regression was used to explore the likelihood of co-infection with one virus given infection with another. Seasonal peaks were observed each year for influenza A and RSV and less frequently for influenza B, coronavirus and parainfluenza virus. RSV circulated an average of 6 weeks before influenza A. Co-infection with another respiratory virus was less common with picornavirus, RSV or influenza A infection. Our findings provide further evidence of a temporal relationship in the circulation of respiratory viruses. A greater understanding of the interaction between respiratory viruses may enable better prediction of the timing and magnitude of respiratory virus epidemics.
An Improved Upper Bound for Bootstrap Percolation in All Dimensions
Authors: Uzzell Andrew J. 
Published: June 2019

AbstractIn r-neighbour bootstrap percolation on the vertex set of a graph G, a set A of initially infected vertices spreads by infecting, at each time step, all uninfected vertices with at least r previously infected neighbours. When the elements of A are chosen independently with some probability p, it is natural to study the critical probability pc(G, r) at which it becomes likely that all of V(G) will eventually become infected. Improving a result of Balogh, Bollobás and Morris, we give a bound on the second term in the expansion of the critical probability when G = [n]d and d ⩾ r ⩾ 2. We show that for all d ⩾ r ⩾ 2 there exists a constant cd,r &gt; 0 such that if n is sufficiently large, then
$$p_c (\left[ n \right]^d ,{\rm{ }}r){\rm{\le }}\left( {\frac{{\lambda (d,r)}}{{\log _{(r - 1)} (n)}} - \frac{{c_{d,r} }}{{(\log _{(r - 1)} (n))^{3/2} }}} \right)^{d - r + 1} ,$$where λ(d, r) is an exact constant and log(k) (n) denotes the k-times iterated natural logarithm of n.
Quality of life in adult survivors after paediatric heart transplantation in Australia
Authors: Parker Alice , Ye Xin Tao , Mathew Jacob , Lee Melissa , Konstantinov Igor E. , d’Udekem Yves , Brizard Christian , Brink Johann 
Published: June 2019

AbstractBackground:Paediatric heart transplantation in Australia is centralised at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. Survival to adulthood is improving but the ongoing need for complex medical therapy, surveillance, and potential for late complications continues to impact on quality of life. Quality of life in adults who underwent heart transplantation in childhood in Australia has not been assessed.Methods:Cross-sectional quality of life data were collected from paediatric heart transplant survivors >18 years of age using Rand 36-Item Health Survey. Self-reported raw scores were transformed to a 0–100 scale with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Mean scores were compared to National Health Survey Short Form-36 Population Norms data using the independent sample t-test.Results:A total of 64 patients (64/151) who underwent transplantation at The Royal Children’s Hospital between 1988 and 2016 survived to adulthood. In total 51 patients (51/64, 80%) were alive at the time of the study and 27 (53%) responded with a mean age of 25 ± 6 years, being a median of 11 years (interquartile range 7–19) post-transplantation. Most self-reported quality of life subscale scores were not significantly different from the Australian normative population data. However, self-reported ‘General Health’ was significantly worse than normative data (p = 0.02). Overall, 93% (25/27) reported their general health as being the same or better compared to 1-year ago.Conclusion:Adult survivors after paediatric heart transplantation in Australia report good quality of life in multiple domains and demonstrate independence in activities of daily living and employment. However, lifelong medical treatment may affect perceptions of general health.
Health Risks and Challenges in Earthquake Responders in Nepal: A Qualitative Research
Authors: Khatri KC Jyoti , Fitzgerald Gerard , Poudyal Chhetri Meen B. 
Published: June 2019

AbstractIntroduction:While the impact of disasters is strongly felt by those directly affected, they also have significant impact on the mental and physical health of rescue/relief workers and volunteers during the response phase of disaster management.Method:Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 experts in the field of disaster management from Nepal, inquiring specifically about the impact of the 2015 mega-earthquake on the mental and physical health of rescue/relief workers and volunteers. A thematic approach was used to analyze the results. These were used to assess the applicability of a previously developed conceptual framework which illustrates the hazards and risk factors affecting disaster response workers and the related hazard mitigation approaches.Results:The findings suggested a relationship between the type of injuries to responders and the type of disaster, type of responder, and vulnerability of location. The conceptual framework derived from literature was verified for its applicability with a slight revision on analysis of experts’ opinion based on particular context and disaster setting. Technical skills of responders, social stigma, governance, and the socio-economic status of the affected nation were identified as critical influencing factors to heath injuries and could be minimized utilizing some specific or collective measures targeted at the aforementioned variables. Some geographic and weather-specific risks may be challenging to overcome.Conclusion:To prevent or minimize the hazards for disaster relief workers, it is vital to understand the variables that contribute to injuries. Risk minimization strategies should address these critical factors.
Predictors of Prehospital On-Scene Time in an Australian Emergency Retrieval Service
Authors: Fok Patrick T. , Teubner David , Purdell-Lewis Jeremy , Pearce Andrew 
Published: June 2019

AbstractIntroduction:Prehospital physicians balance the need to stabilize patients prior to transport, minimizing the delay to transport patients to the appropriate level of care. Literature has focused on which interventions should be performed in the prehospital environment, with airway management, specifically prehospital intubation (PHI), being a commonly discussed topic. However, few studies have sought additional factors which influence scene time or quantify the impact of mission characteristics or therapeutic interventions on scene time.Hypothesis/Problem:The goal of this study was to identify specific interventions, patient demographics, or mission characteristics that increase scene time and quantify their impact on scene time.Methods:A retrospective, database model-building study was performed using the prehospital mission database of South Australian Ambulance Service (SAAS; Adelaide, South Australia) MedSTAR retrieval service from January 1, 2015 through August 31, 2016. Mission variables, including patient age, weight, gender, retrieval platform, physician type, PHI, arterial line placement, central line placement, and finger thoracostomy, were assessed for predictors of scene time.Results:A total of 506 missions were included in this study. Average prehospital scene time was 34 (SD = 21) minutes. Four mission variables significantly increased scene time: patient age, rotary wing transport, PHI, and arterial line placement increased scene time by 0.09 (SD = 0.08) minutes, 13.6 (SD = 3.2) minutes, 11.6 (SD = 3.8) minutes, and 34.4 (SD = 8.4) minutes, respectively.Conclusion:This study identifies two mission characteristics, patient age and rotary wing transport, and two interventions, PHI and arterial line placement, which significantly increase scene time. Elderly patients are medically complex and more severely injured than younger patients, thus, may require more time to stabilize on-scene. Inherent in rotary wing operations is the time to prepare for the flight, which is shorter during ground transport. The time required to safely execute a PHI is similar to that in the literature and has remained constant over the past two years; arterial line placement took longer than envisioned. The SAAS MedSTAR has changed its clinical practice guidelines for prehospital interventions based on this study’s results. Retrieval services should similarly assess the necessity and efficiency of interventions to optimize scene time, knowing that the time required to safely execute an intervention may reach a minimum duration. Defining the scene time enables mission planning, team training, and audit review with the aim of improved patient care.
PUBLIC DEBT MANAGEMENT AND TAX EVASION
Authors: Argentiero Amedeo , Cerqueti Roy 
Published: June 2019

AbstractThis paper deals with the optimal management of the public debt-to-GDP ratio. We specifically focus on a contrasting tax evasion-based strategy for controlling the debt-to-GDP ratio. Two devices can be employed by the policymaker: by the one side, the tax rate is to be applied to the tax payers; by the other side, the monitoring activity is to be performed in order to detect the evaded taxes. To pursue our scopes, a stochastic control problem is developed and solved. Some numerical experiments validate the theoretical proposal and lead to an intuitive discussion of the obtained findings.