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This article aims to investigate environmental education in preschools by taking Donna Haraway’s call of staying with the trouble together with preschool children seriously, here-and-now, in explorations of dirty water and water purification. This posthumanist inspired research project draws theoretically and methodologically on the writings of Haraway, Anna L. Tsing and Isabelle Stengers. The empirical data consist of three stories from a multidisciplinary intervention research project in the Stockholm region in Sweden, collected from collaboratively produced data such as films, photographs, drawings, and notes from the project. The study can be seen as an invitation to preschools to engage in the debate on climate change and to create a togetherness around environmental concerns, not only in the future, but also here-and-now in the preschool.

A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to examine older adults hip surgery patients’ post-surgery quality of life, and to study the causal relationships that directly and indirectly influence it. A total of 447 patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited from eight tertiary care hospitals and four universities in Thailand’ using convenience sampling. The results revealed that post-discharge quality of life in older adults patients following hip surgery was at a moderate level ( $$\overline{X}$$ = 79.40, SD = 12.41). The results of the final model fit well with the empirical data of all variables (X2 = 12.24, df = 15, p = .661, RMSEA = .000, GFI = .99, CFI = 1.00, X2/df = .816). The final model accounted for 16% of the total variance in QoL, 25% of the variance in self-management, and 3% of the variance in physical function recovery. Age, pain, comorbidity, family caregiver support and health service system factors had indirect effects on self-management through physical function recovery and quality of life. Self-management had a direct effect on physical function recovery. Comorbidities and health service system also had direct effects on quality of life. The findings suggest that appropriate health service system factors should be performed to help support self-management, including follow-up services with home or telephone visiting, in order to promote physical function recovery, particularly for female older adults hip surgery patients. This will improve patients’ quality of life.

In recent years, rather than enclosing data within a single organization, exchanging and combining data from different domains has become an emerging practice. Many studies have discussed the economic and utility value of data and data exchange, but the characteristics of data that contribute to problem-solving through data combination have not been fully understood. In big data and interdisciplinary data combinations, large-scale data with many variables are expected to be used, and value is expected to be created by combining data as much as possible. In this study, we conducted three experiments to investigate the characteristics of data, focusing on the relationships between data combinations and variables in each dataset, using empirical data shared by the local government. The results indicate that even datasets that have a few variables are frequently used to propose solutions for problem-solving. Moreover, we found that even if the datasets in the solution do not have common variables, there are some well-established solutions to these problems. The findings of this study shed light on the mechanisms behind data combination for solving problems involving multiple datasets and variables.

The objective of this paper is to identify time lag effect in the relationship between supply chain management and financial performance. We hypothesize that firms with higher supply chain management capability are associated with higher financial performance and the impact would last longer. In addition, we introduce two contextual variables, ownership and market orientation, to detect the moderating effect of ownership structure and organizational culture, respectively. We use firm-level empirical data from 1,131 public Chinese manufacturing firms for the 2010–2019 period to investigate the effect and the result shows that there is a two-year time lag effect in the relationship, which means the positive impact of current supply chain management would last for three years. Furthermore, we find evidence that supply chain management in non-state-owned firms is more efficient and its positive financial impact would last longer than that in state-owned enterprises. Finally, we indicate that market-orientation can’t moderate the relationship between supply chain management and financial performance.

Unleashing greenhouse gases especially CO2 has been proven to be detrimental in many aspects both globally and individually. Numerous techniques and models have been developed so far to achieve the best-matched outputs in terms of their coincidence to the empirical data. Among them, those which are based on artificial intelligence have gained more attention on the account of their outstanding potential to decode the relationships between inputs and outputs. The selection of the best AI-based technique for implementation of the CO2 approaches is fairly vital as it plays a crucial role to yield the most accurate results. This article has been assigned to scrutinize a relatively broad range of AI-based techniques by reviewing research works which were used to carry out CO2 capture to fully understand and compare their advantages and disadvantages and throw light on promising research areas.

Collaboration between industry and academia necessitates the management of entrepreneurial dynamics within ecosystem contexts. However, such partnerships perpetuate numerous challenges that, without effective management, can impact upon the ecosystem as a whole. Limited research to date has addressed the challenges affecting these university-industry partnerships and ascertained their impact upon ecosystem management. This study identifies the challenges pervading university-industry partnerships across entrepreneurial ecosystems, with a view that through an exposition of such challenges, more specific strategies could be implemented to address them. Questionnaires were distributed to key ecosystem stakeholders, requesting their perceptions of the key challenges affecting their collaborative relationships. Empirical data was analysed utilising fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to deduce the configurational nature of the conditions. Results reveal mutually exclusive solutions grounded upon distinct combinations of conditions, constituting distinct pathways to ineffective ecosystem management. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as well as acknowledged limitations of this study and suggestions for future research.

This paper adds to recent discussions of young people’s porn literacy and argues that researchers must address porn users’ engagements with, and understandings of, different porn genres and practices. As part of a larger interdisciplinary project which consisted of a series of systematic reviews of literature on the relationship between pornography use and healthy sexual development, we reviewed articles addressing the relationship between pornography use and literacy. We found few articles that present empirical data to discuss porn literacies, and those we found commonly frame young people’s porn literacy as their ability to critically read porn as negative and comprising ‘unrealistic’ portrayals of sex. This model of porn literacy tends to be heteronormative, where only conservative ideals of ‘good’, coupled, and vanilla sex are deemed ‘realistic’. Data from the literature we reviewed shows that young people make sophisticated distinctions between different kinds of pornography, some of which could be called ‘realistic’, as per do-it-yourself and amateur porn. We extend this discussion to young people’s understandings of ‘authenticity’ across their broader digital and social media practices. From this focus, we propose the need to incorporate young people’s existing porn literacies into future education and research approaches. This includes engaging with their understandings and experiences of porn genres, digital media practice, and representations of authenticity.

Objective The aim is to evaluate whether smart worklist prioritization by artificial intelligence (AI) can optimize the radiology workflow and reduce report turnaround times (RTATs) for critical findings in chest radiographs (CXRs). Furthermore, we investigate a method to counteract the effect of false negative predictions by AI—resulting in an extremely and dangerously long RTAT, as CXRs are sorted to the end of the worklist. Methods We developed a simulation framework that models the current workflow at a university hospital by incorporating hospital-specific CXR generation rates and reporting rates and pathology distribution. Using this, we simulated the standard worklist processing “first-in, first-out” (FIFO) and compared it with a worklist prioritization based on urgency. Examination prioritization was performed by the AI, classifying eight different pathological findings ranked in descending order of urgency: pneumothorax, pleural effusion, infiltrate, congestion, atelectasis, cardiomegaly, mass, and foreign object. Furthermore, we introduced an upper limit for the maximum waiting time, after which the highest urgency is assigned to the examination. Results The average RTAT for all critical findings was significantly reduced in all prioritization simulations compared to the FIFO simulation (e.g., pneumothorax: 35.6 min vs. 80.1 min; p p p Conclusion Our simulations demonstrate that smart worklist prioritization by AI can reduce the average RTAT for critical findings in CXRs while maintaining a small maximum RTAT as FIFO. Key Points • Development of a realistic clinical workflow simulator based on empirical data from a hospital allowed precise assessment of smart worklist prioritization using artificial intelligence. • Employing a smart worklist prioritization without a threshold for maximum waiting time runs the risk of false negative predictions of the artificial intelligence greatly increasing the report turnaround time. • Use of a state-of-the-art convolution neural network can reduce the average report turnaround time almost to the upper limit of a perfect classification algorithm (e.g., pneumothorax: 35.6 min vs. 30.4 min).

Many hedge funds and retail investors demand volatility and variance derivatives in order to manage their exposure to volatility and volatility-of-volatility risk associated with their trading positions. The Heston model is a standard popular stochastic volatility model for pricing volatility and variance derivatives. However, it may fail to capture some important empirical features of the relevant market data due to the fact that the elasticity of volatility of volatility of the underlying price takes a special value, i.e., 1/2, whereas it has a merit of analytical tractability. We exploit a multiscale stochastic extension of volatility of volatility to obtain a better agreement with the empirical data while taking analytical advantage of the original Heston dynamics as much as possible in the context of pricing discrete variance swaps. By using an asymptotic technique with two small parameters, we derive a quasi-closed form formula for the fair strike price of variance swap and find useful pricing properties with respect to the stochastic extension parameters.

Comparative analysis of organic farming practices among farmers in South-South, Nigeria, was carried out. A review of previous studies on organic farming practices showed that little effort has been made by researchers to capture South-South agricultural zone. There is scarcely any empirical data on organic farming practices used by crop, livestock, and fish farmers in the study area. This has created a gap in knowledge which the outcome of this study intends to bring out. This study did not only determine whether there is difference in organic farming practices among farmers in the different states under study but assessed the farmers level of awareness and use of organic farming practices, and relationship between the level of use of organic farming practices and the farmers’ socio-economic characteristics. Multistage random selection technique was used to select rural household farmers engaged in fish, livestock, and crop production. A sample of four hundred and eighty farmers was used. Organic farming practices among crop farmers included the use of farmyard manure ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.79), inter cropping ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.58), mulching ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.50), and spot bush burning ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.50). The organic farming practices among livestock farmers were access to fresh drinking water ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.77) and adequate feeding ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.65). Fish farmers engaged in the use of three organic practices: eco-friendly design ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.56), site being far from polluting substances ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.57) and pond protection from predators ( $$ \overline{x} $$ = 2.70). There were significant differences in the farmers’ level of use of organic farming practices based on their states of origin (Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, and Delta). Education, age, and income were the socio-economic determinants of the level of use of organic farming practices. It was concluded that farmers’ in Akwa Ibom state engaged more in the use of organic farming practices, followed by Bayelsa state and the least is Delta state.

This paper aims to overcome the weaknesses of the relationship between knowledge management with a competitive advantage by adding management behavior as a mediating variable in the relationship of knowledge management with the internationalization strategy, which is an effort to increase competitive advantage in higher education. Respondents in this study were 198 people of structural officials managing colleges in 55 universities in Indonesia. The result shows that, from 7 hypotheses which are proposed, only 4 hypotheses are significant that are supported by empirical data. Market characteristics, cultural understanding, and knowledge management significantly affect management behavior and do not significantly affect the internationalization strategy. Furthermore, management behavior significantly affects internationalization strategy and can mediate relationships between market characteristics, cultural understanding, and knowledge management with internationalization strategy.

While there is increasing awareness of the contributing effect of the academic mobility imperative on gendered inequalities in the academic profession at large, there is a missing link in current research on this topic. Namely, while ‘care’ is often named as the explanatory factor for why women, and to an extent professionals of any gender at peak childrearing age, are less mobile, this article argues that care is insufficient as an explanatory factor for immobility. Care and other terms such as ‘family responsibilities’ and ‘domestic obligations’ come to serve as a shorthand or explanatory factor for gendered immobility, but these terms elide the complexity of the relationship between care and mobility. This article argues that, without a fuller understanding of how care and mobility intersect, inclusivity drives run the risk of misunderstanding or even reproducing the problem. The specific mobility addressed here is international conference travel as a form of short-term academic mobility which contributes to academic career success and the perpetuation of a mobile academic ideal. The article elaborates a novel conceptual construct, ‘sticky care’, which is applied to empirical data from a diary-interview study of the impact of caring responsibilities on academics’ conference participation. Two dominant mobility-related strategies are elaborated: ‘night/s away’ and ‘get back’. The overarching ambition of this article is at a conceptual level: to bring more complexity and nuance to the concept of care when it is mobilized as an explanatory factor for (gendered) immobility and indeed for inequalities in the academic profession at large.

Although present United States (U.S.) policy restricts very nearly all Cuban commercial exports to the U.S., there is potential for the restrictions to be relaxed or perhaps even lifted at some point in the future. In light of the potential increased trade with Cuba, the potential arrival of invasive species such as bark beetles and ambrosia beetles—particularly from Asia via Cuban imports—could represent a serious threat for the southern U.S. forestlands. We develop a bioeconomic model that estimates potential economic damages to southern pine forests caused by the hypothetical introduction of an unknown Asian bark or ambrosia beetle via future trade with Cuba for the study period 2018–2050. We examine individual policies and combinations of them that could be considered in response to this hypothetical situation. Using the pre-revolution Cuban level of imports, the economic damages in absence of “any policy or management action” could reach $2.44 million ($76,250/year). These damages could be reduced to between $469,000 ($14,656/year) and $1.02 million ($31,875/year) if a risk mitigation policy (forest thinning) were implemented. When prevention polices are considered as the baseline, the risk mitigation policy (combined with prevention) is again observed to be the dominant policy. The differences between the various combinations with respect to the prevention policy are relatively minor ranging between $856,000 ($26,750/year) and $1.30 million ($40,635/year). These findings should be interpreted with caution given the limited amount of empirical data and policy assumptions, but they nonetheless can inform policy choices related to trade, pests, and Cuba.

The phenomenon of missing children is complex, further complicated by the specific circumstances of missing unaccompanied migrant minors. Owing to the (often forced) migration, these children have moved through different countries with diverse legislation and work practices. The international nature of these cases leads to confusion about the responsibility of different actors. Additionally, for these cases, little data are available. This article critically assesses current work practices in the EU. It also introduces a new practical solution based on empirical data from 26 international expert interviews, proposing a new alert system for missing children cases to improve the efficiency in responding to them and the international communication between stakeholders to improve the situation of missing unaccompanied migrant minors. The solution is currently in use by three organisations and has already been used in more than 85 real-life cases. It is concluded that it holds the potential to connect actors in a new, efficient way and prevent children, and unaccompanied migrant minors particularly, from falling off the grid. It is also highlighted that the situation of unaccompanied migrant minors is highly disadvantaged, and new, homogenous legislation among the EU member states that does not discriminate against the rights of migrant minors is imperative. New research should also actively involve them to better grasp their situation before and during their disappearance.

Traditional machine learning approaches usually hold the assumption that data for model training and in real applications are created following the identical and independent distribution (i.i.d.). However, several relevant research topics have demonstrated that such condition may not always describe the real scenarios. One particular case is that the patterns are equipped with diverse and changeable style information. In this paper, a novel classification framework named Style Neutralization Generative Adversarial Classifier (SN-GAC), based on an upgraded U-Net architecture, and trained adversarially with the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) framework, is introduced to accomplish the classification in such disparate and inconsistent data information case. The generative model in SN-GAC neutralizes style information from the original style-discriminative patterns (style-source) by building the mapping function from them to their style-free counterparts (corresponding standard examples, standard-target). A well-learned generator in the SN-GAC framework is capable of producing the targeted style-neutralized data (generated-target), satisfying the i.i.d. condition. Additionally, SN-GAC is trained adversarially, where an independent discriminator is used to surveil and supervise the training progress of the above-mentioned generator by distinguishing between the real and the generated. Simultaneously, an auxiliary classifier is also embedded in the discriminator to assign the correct class label of both the real and generated data. This process proves effective to aid the generator to produce high-quality human-readable style-neutralized patterns. It will then be further fine-tuned for the sake of promoting the final classification performance. Extensive experiments have adequately demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed SN-GAC framework: it outperforms several relevant state-of-the-art baselines on two empirical data sets in the non-i.i.d. data classification task.

The ability of the fire service to save lives in building fires has a profound impact on planning. However, very little empirical data are available on how different factors affect this capability—or even how many that are rescued annually. The current paper aims to partly fill this gap with an assessment of all rescues performed by the fire departments in Sweden during 2017. A combination of incident reports and a large number of post-event interviews yielded a total of 51 rescues (to be compared to 88 fatalities) during that year, which show that the fire service has a great potential to reduce the number of fire fatalities. In these cases, the call to the dispatcher most frequently came from a neighbor (55%) or the victim (26%). The rescue was in 71% of the cases performed with interior attack with a breathing apparatus. The cases were also compared with fatal fires revealing that the odds of successful rescue increased, for example, if the fire occurred in an apartment building or if the response time was short. The joint data set of rescues and fatal fires was used to develop a methodology to calculate the probability of successful rescue depending on the capability of the fire service. This methodology provides the first fully empirical method for organizing the fire service in relation to saving lives in fires. A similar approach should be pursued for other accident types and consolidated for an evidence based assessment of the capability of the fire service.

(1) Determine the pervasiveness of the belief that brain death/death by neurologic criteria (BD/DNC) is not death among rabbis. (2) Examine rabbinic beliefs about management after BD/DNC. An electronic anonymous survey about BD/DNC determination and management after BD/DNC was created and distributed to members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (the Reform Rabbinic leadership organization), the Rabbinic Council of America (an Orthodox organization), the Rabbinic Assembly (a Conservative organization), and the Reconstructionist Rabbinic Association. Ninety-nine rabbis (40 Reform, 32 Orthodox, 22 Conservative, and 5 Reconstructionist) completed the survey. Awareness of the requirements for BD/DNC was poor (median of 33% of the requirements correctly identified [interquartile range of 22–66%]), but 81% of rabbis knew that absence of heartbeat is not required for BD/DNC. Although only 5% of all rabbis believed a person who is brain dead could recover, 22% did not believe BD/DNC is death, and 18% believed mechanical ventilation should be continued after BD/DNC. There was a significant relationship between denomination and belief that: (1) a person who is brain dead can recover (p = 0.04); (2) a person who is brain dead is dead (p

The study reported here provides the most current empirical data on household water conservation strategies and behaviors in the city of Ada, Oklahoma. Survey data was collected in the summer of 2017. The results indicate that households in Ada employ several strategies to conserve water including checking and repairing water leakages around the house (90%), washing dishes by hand (83%), lowering the water level on washing machines and using the dishwasher with full loads (72%). Additionally, the following factors are identified as having the greatest influence on a household water conservation drive; drought (92%), pollution of fresh water, and substantial increases in water bills (91%). In contrast to previous works, it is notable that our findings on pollution of freshwater sources as a water conservation motive are unique to this study. Regarding efficacy, the results indicate that households in Ada are aware of the need to conserve water and generally have a positive attitude towards water conservation (90%). These findings are remarkable for several reasons. Most importantly, they provide recent data on a collection of conservation strategies employed by household in a rural American town. We conclude the study by suggesting policy options that should be considered by policymakers when developing strategies to incentivize effective water conservation practices. These include; encouraging water efficiencies regarding the use of household appliances, the use of pricing, and the application of restrictive local ordinances.

Evidence shows that orphaned and separated children (OSC) in resource-poor societies are more likely to experience maltreatment in the forms of neglect, discrimination, malnutrition, and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse than their non-orphaned peers. As the number of OSC rapidly increases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is important not to discount high-quality residential care centers (RCCs) as suitable options on the continuum of alternative care for OSC. This statement should not be taken to mean that residential care is always the best care option for OSC but that all alternative care options should be carefully evaluated to determine the best and most suitable fit for a child and their current needs. This essay uses photos as well as empirical data and non-empirical observations from several modern-day high-quality RCCs in LMICs to gather lessons and best practices on how to address child maltreatment. In summary, the high-quality RCCs in LMICs observed typically focused on holistically enriching and improving their centers at the child, organizational, and environmental levels to the greatest extent possible.

Understanding of the constitution of client involved decisions is important for future improvements of the processes. Significant decisions in construction projects are reliant on heuristic processes where assumptions are developed from past experience. The paper presents a methodology to collect empirical data in an unstructured manner utilizing participant intuition and experience regarding project level collaboration, a term easily understood by practitioners. Empirical data collected from 6 focus group discussions in Norway and 18 individual interviews in Finland is associated with biases in decision making aimed at bridging the gap of understanding and literature’s insufficient coverage. An analytic framework was developed to suit the diverse emergence of concepts to allow application of psychological principles in a structured manner to empirical data. The paper contributes by identifying types of cognitive and motivational biases in client involved decisions. The biases are found to be alleviated by one another depending on the particular application of the decision. Findings suggest that normative beliefs exist developed from past experience and habitual thinking. A number of emerged biases in this domain are alleviated from normative beliefs which are discussed in this paper.

Previous entry timing studies have reinforced the timing wisdom by primarily focusing on new markets. This inductive study investigates how firms make decisions about the entry speed of new product features to a well-developed market using a classification of two dimensions of entry speed, namely internal and external. The analysis uses empirical data from 565 new product entry events by followers (not first movers) in the Chinese auto industry from 2011 to 2013 to explore the impacts of the follower’s product line breadth and product pre-entry experience on its internal and external feature-entry speed. We find that both product line breadth and product pre-entry experience can accelerate the speed of internal entry while only the firm product line breadth deters the external entry. Additionally, market-specific uncertainty moderates the relationship between breadth, experience and entry speed decisions. Greater market uncertainty tends to boost the internal and external entry speed than that of lower uncertainty.

Fragility functions are an important tool in earthquake engineering, used to compute the probabilities of different damage states as a function of seismic response. They can be developed for large systems like buildings and bridges, as well as for individual structural and non-structural components, such as those used in the FEMA P-58 Seismic Performance Assessment Procedure. There are currently a number of problems associated with some P-58 non-structural mechanical component fragility functions and related loss predictions, including non-convergence when fitting the fragility functions in some cases and non-monotonic loss predictions. In this study, we recommend improvements to these fragility functions and loss predictions. Firstly, we recommend using the maximum likelihood method to fit the fragility functions to the underlying empirical data. This mitigates the non-convergence problems when fitting and makes predictions that better align with damage observed in past events. To compute predicted losses for anchored mechanical components, it is necessary to additionally consider anchorage damage, which can be predicted using fragility functions based on building code provisions. We recommend refining the current FEMA P-58 method for predicting anchored mechanical component losses, such that component and anchorage damage are calculated directly according to their corresponding fragility functions. The proposed method yields more intuitive loss predictions that vary monotonically with anchorage capacity. It also leads to better predictions of losses relative to damage observed in previous events. If implemented, the recommendations made in this paper would enhance the FEMA P-58 Seismic Performance Assessment Procedure.

Renewable energy technologies often face high upfront costs, making financing conditions highly relevant. Thus far, the dynamics of financing conditions are poorly understood. Here, we provide empirical data covering 133 representative utility-scale photovoltaic and onshore wind projects in Germany over the last 18 years. These data reveal that financing conditions have strongly improved. As drivers, we identify macroeconomic conditions (general interest rate) and experience effects within the renewable energy finance industry. For the latter, we estimate experience rates. These two effects contribute 5% (photovoltaic) and 24% (wind) to the observed reductions in levelized costs of electricity (LCOEs). Our results imply that extant studies may overestimate technological learning and that increases in the general interest rate may increase renewable energies’ LCOEs, casting doubt on the efficacy of plans to phase out policy support. A decrease in the cost of renewable energy is often attributed to technological learning. This study uses 18 years of data from 133 renewable energy projects in Germany, alongside practitioner interviews, to find that changing financing costs, not just technology, are responsible for a significant cost decrease.

Empirical and taxonomic approaches are the two main methods used to assign plant mycorrhizal traits to species lists. While the empirical approach uses only available empirical information, the taxonomic approach extrapolates certain core information about plant mycorrhizal types and statuses to related species. Despite recent claims that the taxonomic approach is now almost definitive, with little benefit to be gained from further empirical data collection, it has not been thoroughly compared with the empirical approach. Using the most complete available plant mycorrhizal trait information for Europe and both assignment approaches, we calculate the proportion of species for each trait, and model environmental drivers of trait distribution across the continent. We found large degrees of mismatch between approaches, with consequences for biogeographical interpretation, among facultatively mycorrhizal (FM; 91% of species mismatched), non-mycorrhizal (NM; 45%), and to a lesser extent arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM; 16%) plant species. This can partly be attributed to the taxonomic precision of the taxonomic approach and the use of different AM, NM, and FM concepts. Our results showed that the extrapolations of the taxonomic approach do not consistently match with empirical information and indicate that more empirical data are needed, in particular for FM, NM, and AM plant species. Clarifying certain concepts underlying mycorrhizal traits and empirically describing NM, AM, and FM species within plant families can greatly improve our understanding of the biogeography of mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Prostate cancer is a common cancer among males in the USA and is often treated by intermittent androgen deprivation therapy. This therapy requires a patient to alternate between periods of androgen suppression treatment and no treatment. Prostate-specific antigen levels are used to track relative changes in tumor volume of prostate cancer patients undergoing intermittent androgen deprivation therapy. During this therapy, there is a pause between treatment cycles. Traditionally, continuous ordinary differential equations are used to estimate prostate-specific antigen levels. In this paper, we use dynamic equations to estimate prostate-specific antigen levels and construct a novel time scale model to account for both continuous and discrete time simultaneously. This allows us to account for breaks between treatment cycles. Using empirical data sets of prostate-specific antigen levels, a known bio-marker of prostate cancer, across multiple patients, we fit our model and use least squares to estimate two parameter values. We then compare our model to the data and find a resemblance on treatment intervals similar to our time scale.

The spatial distributions of diverse facilities are often understood in terms of the optimization of the commute distance or the economic profit. Incorporating more general objective functions into such optimization framework may be useful, helping the policy decisions to meet various social and economic demands. As an example, we consider how hospitals should be distributed to minimize the total fatalities of tuberculosis (TB). The empirical data of Korea shows that the fatality rate of TB in a district decreases with the areal density of hospitals, implying their correlation and the possibility of reducing the nationwide fatalities by adjusting the hospital distribution across districts. Approximating the fatality rate by the probability of a patient not to visit a hospital in her/his residential district for the duration period of TB and evaluating the latter probability in the random-walk framework, we obtain the fatality rate as an exponential function of the hospital density with a characteristic constant related to each district’s effective lattice constant estimable empirically. This leads us to the optimal hospital distribution which finds the hospital density in a district to be a logarithmic function of the rescaled patient density. The total fatalities is reduced by 13% with this optimum. The current hospital density deviates from the optimized one in different manners from district to district, which is analyzed in the proposed model framework. The assumptions and limitations of our study are also discussed.

Ayurveda is a traditional Indian system of medicine that is more than 3000 years old, consisting mostly of a specific diet, oily infusions mainly in the area of the head, enemas, medicinal plants and yoga. It is based on a naturopathic and anthropological belief in association with the hinduistic religion. Ayurveda has been practiced very successfully in India but so far it has only been insufficiently appreciated by western medicine, especially psychiatry. An exception is Scharfetter from Zurich who wrote a review article on this topic in 1976. Nevertheless, it is probable that particularly the immunological mechanisms of psychotic and affective disorders can be influenced by the application of ayurvedic methods; however, the empirical data source, particularly with respect to randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses regarding psychiatric disorder symptoms is limited. Even if Ayurveda is applied in a highly individualized manner, this should be rapidly improved for further evidential assessment. First positive experiences in the neuropsychiatric field in Germany are already available.

Social workers are involved in numerous efforts to engage youth in programs, communities, and civic life. One potential strategy has focused on engagement and empowerment of youth through the form of youth councils. Multiple theoretical frames have characterized the scholarly literature. This has limited the conceptual coherence of the field. In this paper, we report empirical data on the operation of several youth councils. We analyze the data to identify the implicit frameworks in use and apply the data from our study to sort practice components within frameworks. This effort is designed to improve conceptualization of youth councils, to inform the development of councils, and eventually to improve outcomes of councils.

Traditionally, the visual analogue scale (VAS) has been proposed to overcome the limitations of ordinal measures from Likert-type scales. However, the function of VASs to overcome the limitations of response styles to Likert-type scales has not yet been addressed. Previous research using ranking and paired comparisons to compensate for the response styles of Likert-type scales has suffered from limitations, such as that the total score of ipsative measures is a constant that cannot be analyzed by means of many common statistical techniques. In this study we propose a new scale, called the Visual Analogue Scale for Rating, Ranking, and Paired-Comparison (VAS-RRP), which can be used to collect rating, ranking, and paired-comparison data simultaneously, while avoiding the limitations of each of these data collection methods. The characteristics, use, and analytic method of VAS-RRPs, as well as how they overcome the disadvantages of Likert-type scales, ranking, and VASs, are discussed. On the basis of analyses of simulated and empirical data, this study showed that VAS-RRPs improved reliability, response style bias, and parameter recovery. Finally, we have also designed a VAS-RRP Generator for researchers' construction and administration of their own VAS-RRPs.

Research indicates that juvenile delinquency, if not intervened earlier, could potentially lead to the youth’s future involvement with the criminal justice system as an adult. This study identifies research evidence to support the building of a desistance-focused pathway for juvenile offenders positively reentering society. It examines the “desistance” components of treatment programs and assets that help ex-offending adolescents achieve success in reintegrating back to the community. A review of research evidence summarized the empirical data from twelve studies published between 2007 and 2017. Diverse service components were found in addressing the treatment needs of young offenders, indicating that multiple services are needed to lower their recidivism rate. These diverse components were benchmarked with the 40-asset model developed by the Search Institute, providing additional support that these service components are resilience-based and desistance-focused. Both internal and external assets were emphasized in these reviewed studies. Highlighted are the holistic nature of asset-based programs and service components for helping juveniles gain internal awareness and access external resources. A balanced treatment model is recommended with an emphasis on building assets for designing a holistic plan of reintegration to help juveniles reenter society and stay crime-free.

Purpose of Review This paper presents an empirical basis for combination treatments in borderline personality disorder (PD), including medication combinations, psychotherapy combinations, and psychotherapy with medication. The goals are to synthesize empirical data evaluating combination treatments and to demonstrate gaps between research and clinical practice. Recent Findings The limited research supporting combination treatments displayed mixed results. There is minimal support for the frequent clinical practice of polypharmacy, with some evidence for the use of atypical antipsychotics with antidepressants. The scant research in combination psychotherapies supported its use primarily in individuals with comorbid psychiatric disorders (e.g., borderline PD and PTSD). Similarly, medication combined with psychotherapy had the greatest utility in individuals with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Summary Further research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn on the use of combination treatments in borderline PD. The few studies that exist had mixed results, were often based on small sample sizes, and had abbreviated treatment courses. Nonetheless, there does appear to be a potential utility in the use of combination treatments for this complex neuropsychiatric disorder with significant morbidity and mortality, a wide range of symptoms, and frequent comorbid diagnoses.

Market-wide, stock market specific, and real estate market specific risk – what kind of risk and to which extent drives the returns of listed real estate? Based on a structural asset pricing model calibrated to the empirical data in the U.S., we show that at least two thirds of the risk premium of listed real estate are driven by the same factors as direct real estate. Our results shed new light on the risk-characteristics of listed real estate returns and are of high interest for academics, regulators, and portfolio managers alike.

As the leading social media tool, Facebook is increasingly becoming an important channel for two-sided stakeholder communication in the energy sector. Even though public utilities more and more all relying on such virtual communication, little is known regarding the communication-related factors and their interdependencies. This study aims to reduce this research gap by analysing correlations between a public utility’s specifications, communication interactivity, the resources spent and the outcome of the Facebook conversation. In 2016, an online questionnaire was sent to German, Austrian and Swiss utility companies. The empirical data of the 139 utilities that responded fully support relationships between the communication interactivity and the invested resources as well as the outcomes of a communication. In this way, the results provide new insights for scholars and practitioners into the Facebook conversations of public entities.

Tall building construction projects involve two critical resources of manpower and equipment. Their usage, however, widely varies due to several factors affecting their productivity. Currently, no systematic study for estimating and increasing their productivity is available. What is prevalent is the use of empirical data, experience of similar projects and assumptions. As tall building projects are here to stay and increase, to meet the emerging demands in ever shrinking urban spaces, it is imperative to explore ways and means of scientific productivity models for basic construction activities: concrete, reinforcement, formwork, block work and plastering for the input of specific resources in a mixed environment of manpower and equipment usage. Data pertaining to 72 tall building projects in India were collected and analyzed. Then, suitable productivity estimation models were developed using multiple linear regression analysis and validated using independent field data. It is hoped that the models developed in the study will be useful for quantity surveyors, cost engineers and project managers to estimate productivity of resources in tall building projects.

Most of our current understanding on colour discrimination by animal observers is built on models. These typically set strict limits on the capacity of an animal to discriminate between colour stimuli imposed by physiological characteristics of the visual system and different assumptions about the underlying mechanisms of colour processing by the brain. Such physiologically driven models were not designed to accommodate sigmoidal-type discrimination functions as those observed in recent behavioural experiments. Unfortunately, many of the fundamental assumptions on which commonly used colour models are based have been tested against empirical data for very few species and many colour vision studies solely rely on physiological measurements of these species for predicting colour discrimination processes. Here, we test the assumption of a universal principle of colour discrimination only mediated by physiological parameters using behavioural data from four closely related hymenopteran species, considering two frequently used models. Results indicate that there is not a unique function describing colour discrimination by closely related bee species, and that this process is independent of specific model assumptions; in fact, different models produce comparable results for specific test species if calibrated against behavioural data.

Empirical data on deep urban excavations can provide designers a significant reference basis for assessing potential deformations of the deep excavations and their impact on adjacent structures. The construction of the Shanghai Center involved excavations in excess of 33-m-deep using the top-down method at a site underlain by thick deposits of marine soft clay. A retaining system was achieved by 50-m-deep diaphragm walls with six levels of struts. During construction, a comprehensive instrumentation program lasting 14 months was conducted to monitor the behaviors of this deep circular excavation. The following main items related to ground surface movements and deformations were collected: (1) walls and circumferential soils lateral movements; (2) peripheral soil deflection in layers and ground settlements; and (3) pit basal heave. The results from the field instrumentation showed that deflections of the site were strictly controlled and had no large movements that might lead to damage to the stability of the foundation pit. The field performance of another 21cylindrical excavations in top-down method were collected to compare with this case through statistical analysis. In addition, numerical analyses were conducted to compare with the observed data. The extensively monitored data are characterized and analyzed in this paper.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection is increasingly being used to assess the potential presence of aquatic species. Setting defensible thresholds for qPCR assays are necessary to differentiate “detection” from “non-detection”, but threshold rationales are rarely reported in eDNA studies. Detection thresholds for data inclusion and exclusion have implications for downstream data analysis; uncritical acceptance could result in false positive results (Type I error), whereas overly conservative thresholds could result in high false negative interpretation (Type II error). We assessed the use of the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) framework to identify a detection threshold for balancing sensitivity and specificity of eDNA data. The ROC framework was tested using empirical eDNA data from redside dace (Clinostomus elongatus), an endangered freshwater fish in southwestern Ontario. Based on negative controls, positive controls, and quality assurance guidelines, a minimum concentration of 1 copy reaction−1 was identified as the most appropriate threshold for this study. Although optimal thresholds will likely vary between studies and labs based on empirical data, the ROC framework provides a statistical method for establishing defensible thresholds for data acceptance or rejection as well as tradeoffs between the sensitivity and specificity of eDNA data.

With the implementation of integrated curricula, less time is spent on teaching basic sciences to the benefit of subjects with more clinical relevance. Even though learning in a clinical context seems to benefit medical students, concerns have been raised about the level of (bio)medical knowledge students possess when they enter their rotations. This study aimed to obtain empirical data on the level of knowledge retention of second year medical students at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. A longitudinal study was performed in which second year medical students were retested for retention of first year knowledge by a study test consisting of questions from two course examinations of year 1, each with an interval of 8 to 10 months. Results were compared in a within-participants design. The results of 37 students were analysed. Students scored on average 75% (±8.2%) correct answers during the initial unit examinations and 42% (±8.8%) for the knowledge retention test. With correction for guessing this was 71% (±9.3%) versus 33% (± 9.9%), which means knowledge retention was on average 46%. Knowledge retention was higher for multiple choice questions (MCQs) (53%) versus non-MCQs (41%), and somewhat different for the two courses (53% and 40%). After an interval of 8–10 months, more than half of first year knowledge cannot be reproduced. Medical students and faculty should be aware of this massive loss of knowledge and provide means to improve long-term retention.

The debate on whether the peer-review system is in crisis has been heated recently. A variety of alternative systems have been proposed to improve the system and make it sustainable. However, we lack sufficient evidence and data related to these issues. Here we used a previously developed agent-based model of the scientific publication and peer-review system calibrated with empirical data to compare the efficiency of five alternative peer-review systems with the conventional system. We modelled two systems of immediate publication, with and without online reviews (crowdsourcing), a system with only one round of reviews and revisions allowed (re-review opt-out) and two review-sharing systems in which rejected manuscripts are resubmitted along with their past reviews to any other journal (portable) or to only those of the same publisher but of lower impact factor (cascade). The review-sharing systems outperformed or matched the performance of the conventional one in all peer-review efficiency, reviewer effort and scientific dissemination metrics we used. The systems especially showed a large decrease in total time of the peer-review process and total time devoted by reviewers to complete all reports in a year. The two systems with immediate publication released more scientific information than the conventional one but provided almost no other benefit. Re-review opt-out decreased the time reviewers devoted to peer review but had lower performance on screening papers that should not be published and relative increase in intrinsic quality of papers due to peer review than the conventional system. Sensitivity analyses showed consistent findings to those from our main simulations. We recommend prioritizing a system of review-sharing to create a sustainable scientific publication and peer-review system.

Hernia surgery has undergone rapid development in the past decades. The ever greater array of surgical techniques and materials together with the demand for individualized treatment concepts thus present a special challenge not only to qualified surgeons but also when devising education programs for trainee surgeons. To that effect, continuing education and training concepts must be reviewed and possibly new concepts formulated. This study now reports on the findings from a survey on continuing education and training in hernia surgery, while presenting and evaluating the existing concepts. In 2014 the German Hernia Society (DHG) in cooperation with the Federal Association of German Surgeons (BDC) conducted a broad-based online survey among surgeons on the future of continuing education in hernia surgery. Since 2011 basic courses in hernia surgery have been in place in Germany, and since 2014 in Austria too. In the meantime, further Hernia School levels have also been introduced. We compared the learning effects identified for participants of the two Hernia compact courses in Salzburg in 2014 and 2016. Besides, special questionnaires were designed to explore new and topical issues. In total, 1296 surgeons in Germany took part in the BDC / DHG online survey on the future of continuing education in hernia surgery. The vast majority (more than 80%) of respondents deemed the establishment of a systematic, step-by-step and structured continuing education program to be useful or very useful. Evaluation of the basic training courses already conducted revealed that both the theoretical knowledge and practical experience of participants improved thanks to these courses. From the perspective of surgeons there is an urgent need for a systematic, structured and step-by-step concept for continuing education hernia surgery. This should include, in addition to theoretical and practical aspects, eLearning, video tutorials, and simulation models. Since to date there is a lack of empirical data, continuous evaluation of the training courses is an important component for further development of such courses. This can markedly enhance the theoretical knowledge and practical experience of participants. Besides, systematic survey of participants helps to continuously tailor the curriculum to future needs.

The cost of life distribution varies considerably across markets and channels. This is increasingly important for insurers and regulators due to the continuing low interest rate environment in Europe, which strongly affects profits. The aim of this paper is to study the distribution costs of different distribution systems/channels and markets, examine the key drivers of distribution costs and discuss future developments against the background of digitalisation and an increasing intensity of intermediary regulation. Our analysis is based on empirical data for the European insurance market. This is complemented by interviews with several industry experts. Our findings suggest that distribution costs depend on various factors and cannot be explained solely by differences in distribution channel strategies.

Adolescent-to-parent violence is an increasingly recognized family and societal problem. Documented prevalence rates range between 5 and 22% of the population; however, researchers speculate that this is a gross underestimate. Parents and caregivers are hesitant to report adolescent-to-parent violence because, in large part, there are no standardized protocols for police response and evidence-based treatment practices are nonexistent. This article offers an updated narrative review of existing literature on adolescent-to-parent violence found through word searches in the databases Google Scholar and PsychInfo followed by additional review of cited literature in all articles located. We review extant theoretical frameworks that guide research and practice, discuss the impact of inconsistent research methods on the current state of knowledge, integrate new empirical data on risk and protective factors and assessment procedures, and detail existing intervention approaches. There are substantial detrimental consequences of adolescent-to-parent violence for families and current research, assessment, and intervention practices have fallen short of fully addressing these needs. A collective, collaborative, and interdisciplinary effort by clinical scientists, mental health practitioners, and the legal community is greatly needed to develop a more comprehensive and integrated literature that can then inform policy and practice.

We present a logic, $$\mathbf {ELI^r}$$ , for the discovery of deterministic causal regularities starting from empirical data. Our approach is inspired by Mackie’s theory of causes as INUS-conditions, and implements a more recent adjustment to Mackie’s theory according to which the left-hand side of causal regularities is required to be a minimal disjunction of minimal conjunctions. To derive such regularities from a given set of data, we make use of the adaptive logics framework. Our knowledge of deterministic causal regularities is, as Mackie noted, most often gappy or elliptical. The adaptive logics framework is well-suited to explicate both the internal and the external dynamics of the discovery of such gappy regularities. After presenting $$\mathbf {ELI^r}$$ , we first discuss these forms of dynamics in more detail. Next, we consider some criticisms of the INUS-account and show how our approach avoids them, and we compare $$\mathbf {ELI^r}$$ with the CNA algorithm that was recently proposed by Michael Baumgartner.

This review synthesized the literature on predictors and mechanisms of post-bariatric alcohol problems, in order to guide future research on prevention and treatment targets. Consistent evidence suggests an elevated risk of developing problems with alcohol following bariatric surgery. While there is a paucity of empirical data on predictors of problematic alcohol use after bariatric surgery, being male, a younger age, smoking, regular alcohol consumption, pre-surgical alcohol use disorder, and a lower sense of belonging have predicted alcohol misuse post-operatively. This review synthesizes potential mechanisms including specific bariatric surgical procedures, peptides and reinforcement/reward pathways, pharmacokinetics, and genetic influences. Finally, potential misperceptions regarding mechanisms are explored. Certain bariatric procedures elevate the risk of alcohol misuse post-operatively. Future research should serve to elucidate the complexities of reward signaling, genetically mediated mechanisms, and pharmacokinetics in relation to alcohol use across gender and developmental period by surgery type.

Models of large-scale brain networks that are informed by the underlying anatomical connectivity contribute to our understanding of the mapping between the structure of the brain and its dynamical function. Connectome-based modelling is a promising approach to a more comprehensive understanding of brain function across spatial and temporal scales, but it must be constrained by multi-scale empirical data from animal models. Here we describe the construction of a macaque (Macaca mulatta and Macaca fascicularis) connectome for whole-cortex simulations in TheVirtualBrain, an open-source simulation platform. We take advantage of available axonal tract-tracing datasets and enhance the existing connectome data using diffusion-based tractography in macaques. We illustrate the utility of the connectome as an extension of TheVirtualBrain by simulating resting-state BOLD-fMRI data and fitting it to empirical resting-state data., Design Type(s)data integration objective • source-based data transformation objective • modeling and simulation objectiveMeasurement Type(s)brain measurementTechnology Type(s)functional magnetic resonance imaging • Diffusion Weighted ImagingFactor Type(s)Sample Characteristic(s)Macaca • brain Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

As the quality of university education garners increasingly more interest in both the public and in the literature, and as quality assurance (QA) processes are developed and implemented within universities around the world, it is important to carefully consider what is meant by the term quality. This study attempts to add to the literature empirical data from interviews conducted with senior administrators within Canada’s province of Ontario. A quality assurance framework was developed by the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents in response to international trends in QA and implemented by all 21 Ontario universities in 2011. This phenomenographic study explored the conceptions of quality held by senior university administrators and their strategies for implementing QA processes. Results revealed a range of QA approaches that are employed within Ontario’s universities. Rather than the two categories of retrospective QA and prospective QA that Biggs (High Educ 41:221–238, 2001) postulated, results indicate a more complex spectrum that involves three main approaches to QA: an approach aimed at defending quality, an approach aimed at demonstrating quality, and an approach aimed at enhancing quality. These approaches are considered in relation to Biggs’s (High Educ 41:221–238, 2001) ideas about quality enhancement and a revision to his model is proposed.

Knowledge communication plays a fundamental role in studies of science of science. This paper aims to examine inter-specialty communication patterns within a discipline using author citation networks. Two metrics are designed, including average knowledge flow and average shortest distance. They are used to identify the impact and diffusion characteristics of inter-specialty knowledge communication. We apply these metrics to an empirical data set of Chinese library and information science (CLIS) publications. We find that the two metrics portray different aspects of knowledge communication in CLIS and conclude that indirect paths, the size of specialties, and the communication structure among specialties may lead to the differences.

The executive board of the Academy for Ethics in Medicine (AEM) and two AEM working groups formulated standards and recommendations for clinical ethics consultation in 2010, 2011, and 2013. These guidelines comply with the international standards like those set by the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. There is no empirical data available yet that could indicate whether these standards and recommendations have been implemented in German hospitals. This desideratum is addressed in the present study. We contacted 1.858 German hospitals between September 2013 and January 2014. A follow-up survey was conducted between October 2014 and January 2015. The data of the initial survey and the follow-up survey were merged and evaluated. The statements of the participants were compared with the standards and recommendations. The standards of the AEM concerning the tasks of clinical ethics consultation (including ethics consultation, ethics training and the establishment of policy guidelines) are employed by a majority of participants of the study. Almost all of these participants document their consultation activities by means of protocols or entries in the patient file. There are deviations from the recommendations of the AEM working groups regarding the drafting of statutes, activity reports, and financial support. The activities of clinical ethics consultation predominantly comply with the standards of the AEM and recommendations for the documentation. The recommendations for evaluation should be improved in practice. This applies particularly for activity reports in order to evaluate the activities. Internal evaluation could take place accordingly.

In vehicles that are parked, no ventilation and/or air conditioning takes place. If a vehicle is exposed to direct solar radiation, an immediate temperature rise occurs. The high cabin air temperature can threaten children and animals that are left unattended in vehicles. In the USA, lethal heat strokes cause a mean death rate of 37 children per year. In addition, temperature-sensitive goods (e.g. drugs in ambulances and veterinary vehicles) can be adversely affected by high temperatures. To calculate the rise of the cabin air temperature, a dynamic model was developed that is driven by only three parameters, available at standard meteorological stations: air temperature, global radiation and wind velocity. The transition from the initial temperature to the constant equilibrium temperature depends strongly on the configuration of the vehicle, more specifically on insulation, window area and transmission of the glass, as well as on the meteorological conditions. The comparison of the model with empirical data showed good agreement. The model output can be applied to assess the heat load of children and animals as well as temperature-sensitive goods, which are transported and/or stored in a vehicle.

Innovation has generally been considered essential to the prosperity of firms. The existing innovation literature does not emphasize budgeting as an important contributor to product innovation, even though it recognizes that poor budgeting may weaken the capability to innovate. However, the budgeting literature suggests that budgets can be used in different ways to improve firm performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the frequency of budget preparation and the interactive use of budgets are associated with product innovation and firm performance. The empirical data were collected, through a web-based survey, from CFOs and CEOs in 132 Finnish firms. The results of our partial least squares analysis indicate that the frequency of budget preparation positively affects product innovation through interactive budget use, which supports our hypothesis. Furthermore, the frequency of budget preparation and interactive budget use do have a direct positive relationship with firm performance, but one mediated by product innovation. Therefore, this study contributes to the innovation and budgeting literature by showing the frequency of budget preparation and interactive use of budgets to be two separate and important factors in product innovation. The results also show that the relationship between budgets and product innovation and performance are different in defender and prospector firms.