Large Work Research Articles

Big bees spread disease: body size mediates transmission of a bumble bee pathogen.

Trait variation can have important consequences for the outcomes of species interactions. Even though some traits vary as much within species as across related species, models and empirical studies typically do not consider the role of intraspecific trait variation for processes such as disease transmission. For example, many pollinator species are in decline because of a variety of stressors including pathogens, but the role of intraspecific trait variation in mediating disease dynamics is rarely considered. For example, pollinator body size could affect pathogen transmission via differences in resistance, foraging behavior and physiology. We tested effects of body size on pollinator pathogen transmission using the common eastern bumble bee Bombus impatiens in field tents, introducing an infected "donor" microcolony of large or small workers with an uninfected average-sized "recipient" microcolony and allowing bees to forage for 9-16d. Small donor bees had nearly 50% higher infection intensity (cells/0.02 μL) than large donor bees, but large donor bees were twice as likely to transmit Crithidia bombi to recipient bees. Both behavioral and physiological mechanisms may underlie this apparent paradox. Compared to small bees, large bees foraged more and produced more feces; simulations showed that foraging and defecation rates together had stronger effects on transmission than did donor infection intensity. Thus, effects of bee size on contact rates and pathogen supply may play significant roles in disease transmission, demonstrating the multifaceted impacts of traits on transmission dynamics.

Toward a comparison and an optimization of CT protocols using new metrics of dose and image quality part I: prediction of human observers using a model observer for detection and discrimination tasks in low-dose CT images in various scanning conditions

In the context of reducing the patient dose coming from CT scanner examinations without penalizing the diagnosis, the assessment of both patient dose and image quality (IQ) with relevant metrics is crucial. The present study represents the first stage in a larger work, aiming to compare and optimize CT protocols using dose and IQ new metrics. We proposed here to evaluate the capacity of the Non-PreWhitening matched filter with an eye (NPWE) model observer to be a robust and accurate estimation of IQ. We focused our work on two types of clinical tasks: a low contrast detection task and a discrimination task. We designed a torso-shaped phantom, including Plastic Water® slabs with cylindrical inserts of different diameters, sections and compositions. We led a human observer study with 13 human observers on images acquired in multiple irradiation and reconstruction scanning conditions (voltage, pitch, slice thickness, noise level of the reconstruction algorithm, energy level in dual-energy mode and dose), to evaluate the behavior of the model observer compared to the human responses faced to changing conditions. The model observer presented the same trends as the human observers with generally better results. We rescaled the NPWE model on the human responses by scanning conditions (kVp, pitch, slice thickness) to obtain the best agreement between both observer types, estimated using the Bland-Altman method. The impact of some scanning parameters was estimated using the correct answer rate given by the rescaled NPWE model, for both tasks and each insert size. In particular, the comparison between the dual-energy mode at 74 keV and the single-energy mode at 120 kVp showed that, if the 120 kVp voltage provided better results for the smallest insert at the lower doses for both tasks, their responses were equivalent in many cases.

SocialRecruiter: Dynamic Incentive Mechanism for Mobile Crowdsourcing Worker Recruitment With Social Networks

Worker recruitment is an important problem in mobile crowdsourcing (MCS), which aims to find sufficient and suitable participants to perform tasks. However, existing worker recruitment approaches mainly focus on how to select the most suitable workers for tasks from a large worker pool, while the recruitment problem under insufficient workers (e.g., a new MCS system) has not been well addressed. In this paper, we focus on the insufficient participation problem of MCS systems with limited number of workers, and propose to leverage social network to recruit workers for task completion as well as expanding the worker pool. To this end, we propose a dynamic incentive mechanism, called SocialRecruiter, to encourage workers on the MCS platform to propagate tasks through social networks, so that inviting friends to join in the MCS platform to further propagate and complete tasks. Motivated by the SIR epidemic model, we propose a novel task-specific epidemic model to characterize the status change of users for task propagation and completion through social networks. In order to encourage task completion and propagation, the propagating reward and completing reward are provided according to workers’ actions. In particular, in order to maximize the task completion within the financial budget, the propagating and completing rewards are dynamically updated at each cycle according to real-time worker recruitment progress. The extensive experimental results on two real-world datasets demonstrate that SocialRecruiter outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of worker recruitment and task completion.

Missouri Experimental Sonic Arts Festival (MOXsonic)

Missouri Experimental Sonic Arts Festival (MOXsonic)

From direct engagement to technical support: a programmatic evolution to improve large community health worker programs in Bihar, India

IntroductionIn 2011, through a multipartner Integrated Family Health Initiative (IFHI), CARE started supporting maternal and neonatal health (MNH) improvement goals in 8 of 38 districts in Bihar, India. The programme...

Risk prediction for new-onset atrial fibrillation using the Minnesota code electrocardiography classification system.

BackgroundFew risk models are available to predict future onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) in workers. We aimed to develop risk prediction models for new-onset AF, using annual health checkup (HC) data with electrocardiogram findings.Methods and ResultsWe retrospectively included 56,288 factory or office workers (mean age = 51.5 years, 33.0% women) who underwent a HC at a medical center and fulfilled the following criteria; age ≥ 40 years, no history of AF, and greater than 1 annual follow-up HC in 2013–2016. Using Cox models with the Akaike information criterion, we developed and compared prediction models for new-onset AF with and without the Minnesota code information. We externally validated the discrimination accuracy of the models in a general Japanese population cohort, the Hisayama cohort. During the median 3.0-year follow-up, 209 (0.37%) workers developed AF. Age, sex, waist circumference, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and γ-GTP were associated with new-onset of AF. Using the Minnesota code information, the AUC significantly improved from 0.82 to 0.84 in the derivation cohort and numerically improved from 0.78 to 0.79 in the validation cohort, and from 0.77 to 0.79 in the Hisayama cohort. The NRI and IDI significantly improved in all and male subjects in both the derivation and validation cohorts, and in female subjects in both the validation and the Hisayama cohorts.ConclusionsWe developed useful risk model with Minnesota code information for predicting new-onset AF from large worker population validated in the original and external cohorts, although study interpretation is limited by small improvement of AUC.

Body Size and Behavioural Plasticity Interact to Influence the Performance of Free-Foraging Bumble Bee Colonies.

Simple SummaryBehavioural specialisation of individuals may improve the performance of groups, but could also limit the ability to switch tasks (behavioural ‘plasticity’) in response to changing group needs. In bumble bee colonies, body size, which is fixed once the bees reach adulthood, influences the tasks that bees perform, meaning that large and small bees often act as specialists. We found that when we experimentally reduced the body-size variation of colonies, some performed less well than normal. Nonetheless, in other colonies, individuals increased task specialisation or effort, which apparently compensated for the absence of large and small workers. These results suggest that both behavioural specialisation and plasticity can be important in collective group performance.Specialisation and plasticity are important for many forms of collective behaviour, but the interplay between these factors is little understood. In insect societies, workers are often developmentally primed to specialise in different tasks, sometimes with morphological or physiological adaptations, facilitating a division of labour. Workers may also plastically switch between tasks or vary their effort. The degree to which developmentally primed specialisation limits plasticity is not clear and has not been systematically tested in ecologically relevant contexts. We addressed this question in 20 free-foraging bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) colonies by continually manipulating colonies to contain either a typically diverse, or a reduced (“homogeneous”), worker body size distribution while keeping the same mean body size, over two trials. Pooling both trials, diverse colonies produced a larger comb mass, an index of colony performance. The link between body size and task was further corroborated by the finding that foragers were larger than nurses even in homogeneous colonies with a very narrow body size range. However, the overall effect of size diversity stemmed mostly from one trial. In the other trial, homogeneous and diverse colonies showed comparable performance. By comparing behavioural profiles based on several thousand observations of individuals, we found evidence that workers in homogeneous colonies in this trial rescued colony performance by plastically increasing behavioural specialisation and/or individual effort, compared to same-sized individuals in diverse colonies. Our results are consistent with a benefit to colonies of large and small specialists under certain conditions, but also suggest that plasticity or effort can compensate for reduced (size-related) specialisation. Thus, we suggest that an intricate interplay between specialisation and plasticity is functionally adaptive in bumble bee colonies.

Litürji: Kamu Mallarının/Hizmetlerinin/ Harcamalarının Tarihsel ve Antik Bir Kökeni ve Gelişimi

In the study, the concept and practice of liturgy and the social and economic reasons behind them will be examined. Because the concept of liturgy doesn’t have an exact equivalent, it has to be accepted as a voluntary-obligation or a compulsory-obligation. The concept of liturgy, which means work for the public, service to the society and the state, and a religious and sacred service in terms of its purpose, has its roots in the old centuries. The Ancient Greek liturgy is based on the perception that construction, maintenance and financing of temples be covered through aristocrat families’ budgets. In the Classical Greek city-states, this function became first a voluntary and then an obligatory but honorable task. In the context of voluntary-obligation, liturgy was first performed by managing three-rowed warships, attending religious rituals, organizing festivals and staging dramatic works. B.C. in the 4th century, liturgy became a kind of a property tax, but this was also defined as social honor and provision of public support. Because, the main actors involved in the development of liturgy are the Athenian aristocrats and later the rich non-aristocrats group. B.C. in 594, in the Ancient Greek city-state, citizens were grouped as large farmers, horsemen, peasants and workers, in terms of their liturgical liabilities and according to their assets. The specific feature of the Ancient Greek economic and social structure also appears in the Roman state. Rich citizens in Rome also undertook tasks for the public interest, such as temple construction and organizing festivals. Later, liturgy (munera sordida in Latin) became a fulfilled work, because it constituted a compulsory job/set of jobs for people. These were the tasks that the Romans took part in a more passive mood but ever with less faith, in obedience to state rules. The first liturgical records are found in papyrus in the Byzantine Empire which is a continuation of the Ancient Greek and Roman periods. In Byzantium, liturgical obligation is a normal taxation method, it foresees individual labor, service surveillance or a senatorial-level expenditure. From a historical point of view, even if not in nowadays’ sense it is seen that public goods/services/expenditures, have become widespread in the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations in terms of their improved and diversified aspects, with the participation of the aristocrats first and then the rich non-aristocrats. These goods/services/expenditures have become an element of social obligation and vanity.

Risk of cancer associated with low-dose radiation exposure: comparison of results between the INWORKS nuclear workers study and the A-bomb survivors study

The Life Span Study (LSS) of Japanese atomic bomb survivors has served as the primary basis for estimates of radiation-related disease risks that inform radiation protection standards. The long-term follow-up of radiation-monitored nuclear workers provides estimates of radiation-cancer associations that complement findings from the LSS. Here, a comparison of radiation-cancer mortality risk estimates derived from the LSS and INWORKS, a large international nuclear worker study, is presented. Restrictions were made, so that the two study populations were similar with respect to ages and periods of exposure, leading to selection of 45,625 A-bomb survivors and 259,350 nuclear workers. For solid cancer, excess relative rates (ERR) per gray (Gy) were 0.28 (90% CI 0.18; 0.38) in the LSS, and 0.29 (90% CI 0.07; 0.53) in INWORKS. A joint analysis of the data allowed for a formal assessment of heterogeneity of the ERR per Gy across the two studies (P = 0.909), with minimal evidence of curvature or of a modifying effect of attained age, age at exposure, or sex in either study. There was evidence in both cohorts of modification of the excess absolute risk (EAR) of solid cancer by attained age, with a trend of increasing EAR per Gy with attained age. For leukemia, under a simple linear model, the ERR per Gy was 2.75 (90% CI 1.73; 4.21) in the LSS and 3.15 (90% CI 1.12; 5.72) in INWORKS, with evidence of curvature in the association across the range of dose observed in the LSS but not in INWORKS; the EAR per Gy was 3.54 (90% CI 2.30; 5.05) in the LSS and 2.03 (90% CI 0.36; 4.07) in INWORKS. These findings from different study populations may help understanding of radiation risks, with INWORKS contributing information derived from cohorts of workers with protracted low dose-rate exposures.

Temperature, Workplace Safety, and Labor Market Inequality

Using data covering the universe of injury claims from the nation's largest worker's compensation system (2001-2018), we explore the relationship between temperature and workplace safety and its implications for labor market inequality. Hotter temperature increases workplace injuries significantly, causing approximately 20,000 injuries per year. The effects persist in both outdoor and indoor settings (e.g. manufacturing, warehousing), and for injury types ostensibly unrelated to temperature (e.g. falling from heights), consistent with cognitive or cost-related channels. The risks are substantially larger for men versus women; for younger versus older workers; and for workers at the lower end of the income distribution, suggesting that accounting for workplace heat exposure may exacerbate total compensation inequality. We document a decline in the heat-sensitivity of injuries over the study period, suggesting significant scope for adaptation using existing technologies.

Translating Luther into Swedish in the Sixteenth Century

This article investigates the production of religious literature published in Swedish from 1520 to 1599, specifically looking for translations of Luther’s texts. Previous research has concluded that Luther was relatively absent from the Swedish book market during the sixteenth Century – apart from translations of the Small Catechism and his Bible. In order to challenge previous research, the article applies a wider understanding of the early modern translation practice and incorporates adaptions and translations of smaller text excerpts compiled into larger works as well as word-for-word translations of complete texts.Luther was present in the Swedish book market through various forms of translations, from faithful literal translations to mere inspirations. These findings have implications for the study of translations of Luther into other vernaculars during the early modern period. The argument in this article, that we must pay more attention to contemporary translation practices in order to understand the volume of translations, implies that there are more hidden translations, also in other vernaculars, and that looking for them may be rewarding. (Less)

Experimental-numerical method for evaluation of energy consumption in percussive drilling of granite

Most geothermal energy is found in hot and dry rock (HDR), and the total resources distributed at depths of 3-10 km are 20.9×106 EJ. Most HDR projects are developed in granite formations and understanding and control of the energy consumption in percussive drilling of granite is essential. Thus, the impact energy is dissipated in various processes including fracture of the granite, kinetic energy of the particles, and heat. This study presents a numerical-experimental method to evaluate the energy consumption in percussive drilling process. The method uses particle flow code (PFC2D) and experiments using a modified Hopkinson pressure bar system. Optical high-speed and infrared cameras were used to record the impact process during the dynamic drilling process. The velocity of fragments was estimated by the high-speed images and the instantaneous temperature change during the impact was observed from infrared images. Preliminary results are given in this study indicating that the proposed numerical and experimental methodologies can be used to investigate the energy consumption during percussive drilling. The preliminary results presented in this paper are part of a larger work in progress, and more work needs be carried out to obtain the energy consumption of the drilling process under different loading and boundary conditions.

Larger firms pay more in the gig economy

We propose a theory of gig economies in which workers participate in a shared labor pool utilized by multiple firms. Since firms share the same pool of workers, they face a trade-off in setting pay rates; high pay rates are necessary to maintain a large worker pool and thus reduce the likelihood of lost demand, but they also lower a firm’s profit margin. We prove that larger firms pay more than smaller firms in the resulting pay equilibrium. These diseconomies of scale are strong too; firms smaller than a critical size pay the minimal rate possible (the workers’ reservation wage), while all firms larger than the critical size earn the same total profit regardless of size. This scale disadvantage in labor costs contradicts the conventional wisdom that gig companies enjoy strong network effects and suggests that small firms have significant incentives to join an existing gig economy, implying gig markets are highly contestable. Yet we also show that the formation of a gig economy requires the existence of a large firm, in the sense that an equilibrium without any firms participating only exists when no single firm has enough demand to form a gig economy on its own. The findings are consistent with stylized facts about the evolution of gig markets such as ridesharing.

Al-Āmidī’s al-Muwāzana and the Size of Knowledge

Abstract This paper first surveys the structure, content and purpose of al-Āmidī’s al-Muwāzana, the largest work of poetic criticism of the fourth/tenth century, then its medieval reception, which grants it quasi-encyclopaedic authority. Modern reception has often dehistoricized it by viewing it only as criticism, but book studies suggest broader contexts of interpretation. Looser than “encyclopaedia,” the notion of the “big book,” like those by al-Āmidī’s contemporaries and neighbours Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī and al-Tanūkhī, fits well with al-Muwāzana. The chronology of al-Āmidī’s life, and the idea of his “big book” as a highly personal work of lifelong scholarship, endorse M.Z. Sallām’s reading of al-Muwāzana as an intellectual ego-document. Finally, the citation practices of fourth/tenth-century “big books” anticipate aspects of the “archival” outlook of Mamluk scholarship and suggest how the “big books” discussed here sought to validate their own versions of cultural memory.

Sutured Stories

Meanings, practices, and memories are re-inscribed in the diaspora, wherein new forms are re-imagined in the transnational exchange between the land of origin and new host country.
 In these works, fragments of my homeland (Philippines) penetrate through ordinary materials and force a disruption in acts of noticing and, thus, in how we might understand the positions of unfamiliar details within the larger work.

Work From Home: Experiences and Future Challenges - Indian Perspectives from Pandemic Coronavirus and Consequent Lockdown

Purpose- The Pandemic Coronavirus and consequent lockdown outbreak has called for "the largest Work - From - Home (WFH) experiment worldwide". Receiving huge numbers of personnel to Work-From-Home has not ever been crucial. WFH is recommended and implemented by approximately half (46%) of organizations because of the COVID-19 . Design - This research paper did an in-depth study of WFH policies and explored experiences and challenges faced by employees. 260 executives working in 37 industries/sectors were approached through an online structured questionnaire. Findings -Service Industries such as IT, Analytics, KPO, and Market Research are ready to implement Work from home. Research limitations - The research study is limited to selected cities of Gujarat and Maharashtra states of India. The survey can be extended to other cities / states / countries. Practical implications - COVID - 19 has changed the experiences of being an employee or an HR. The results generated from the research, can be useful to provide inputs to the organizations, HR managers and strategic thinkers to take decisions about implementation, continuation and challenges of WFH arrangements as a long-term HR strategy in the coming future (in selected sectors/industries). Social implications - Coronavirus, prompted major changes in life as Work from home (WFH) became the new normal. Employees embraced new routines and rules. The world saw its influence on all facets of life and has changed the way people work. Originality- The distinctiveness of this article is that it provides evidences on how Indian workforce shifted to remote work in the months after the pandemic outbreak.

Remote monitoring of marginalised populations affected by COVID-19: a retrospective review

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore has largely centred around migrant worker dormitories, comprising over 90% of all cases in the country. Dormitories are home to a culturally and linguistically distinct,...

Demographic shift in COVID-19 patients in Singapore from an aged, at-risk population to young migrant workers with reduced risk of severe disease

ObjectivesThe vast majority of COVID-19 cases in Singapore have occurred amongst migrant workers. This paper examined trends in the hospitalised cases and tested the assumption that the low severity of disease was related to the relatively young affected population. MethodsAll patients with PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 admitted from February to April 2020 were divided into: (i) imported cases, (ii) locally-transmitted cases outside migrant worker dormitories and (iii) migrant worker dormitory cases. They were examined for underlying comorbidities, clinical progress and outcomes. ResultsImported cases (n = 29) peaked in mid-March 2020, followed by local cases (n = 100) in mid-April 2020; migrant worker cases (n = 425) continued to increase in late April 2020. Migrant worker cases were younger, had few medical comorbidities and less severe disease. As the migrant worker cases increased, the proportion of patients with pneumonia decreased, whilst patients presenting earlier in their illness and asymptomatic disease became more common. ConclusionSingapore experienced a substantial shift in the population at risk of severe COVID-19. Successful control in the community protected an aging population. Large migrant worker dormitory outbreaks occurred, but the disease incurred was less severe, resulting in Singapore having one of the lowest case fatality rates in the world.

Book and Other Media Review

A recent trend in academic emergency medicine residencies is to encourage education and experience in “global” medicine. While “global” could include medicine in London or Vienna, it usually refers to resource-limited areas of the world that were previously called developing countries. Having spent some time in these areas, I can attest that there is a paucity of good reference material and WiFi can be spotty or nonexistent. Paul S. Auerbach, arguably the father of wilderness medicine, has written a 2-volume textbook that is the perfect reference for practicing in “resource-limited” or “wilderness” settings. This text is huge and weighs about 20 pounds—not conducive to a rucksack or duffel bag. However, Dr. Auerbach, being an astute writer and educator, realized this and produced an accompanying text that contains much of what is in the larger work but can fit into a cargo pants pocket.

Are Translators Really Subservient? Empirical Evidence from Lexical Transfer and Language Prestige in Curaçao

This paper examines whether translator subservience is generalisable among translators. Taking professional Curaçaoan Papiamentu translators as a case study built on a much larger work, the research looks at issues of subservience from the perspective of agency in the English-to-Papiamentu lexical transfer process and at the influence of language prestige. The results show instances in which the translators reported more lexical transfers than did the non-translators. The results also reveal an overlooked translator agency in the process rather than translator subservience, in view of the fact that in this process they are on the “frontline”, pre-empting whatever decisions the official language planners make.