Pre-existing System Research Articles

Involving stakeholders in the evaluation of the sustainability of a tourist destination: a novel comprehensive approach

Sustainability is a hot topic in our current society, and its effective measurement continues to be a challenge for researchers and practitioners. This issue is especially important, and at the same time delicate, in tourist destinations, where the interests of very diverse stakeholders intersect. In this paper, a novel combination of methodologies is proposed to treat this problem comprehensively. This methodology includes a) the identification of the interest groups, as well as the determination of the relationships between them; b) the collection and treatment of their opinions on the sustainability of the destination; and c) incorporating these opinions into a method for constructing composite sustainability indicators. The method used also incorporates two interesting features. On the one hand, it allows considering limits (or targets) for the different indicators considered. On the other hand, it allows the construction of synthetic indicators with different compensation levels, in accordance with the weak and strong sustainability paradigms. For illustrative purposes, the methodology is applied to the Costa del Sol (Spain), making use of a pre-existing system of indicators.

Different chest CT scoring systems in patients with COVID-19: could baseline CT be a helpful tool in predicting survival in patients with matched ages and co-morbid conditions?

BackgroundComputed tomography (CT) gives an idea about the prognosis in patients with COVID-19 lung infiltration.PurposeTo evaluate the success rates of various scoring methods utilized in order to predict survival periods, on the basis of the imaging findings of COVID-19. Another purpose, on the other hand, was to evaluate the agreements among the evaluating radiologists.Material and MethodsA total of 100 cases of known COVID-19 pneumonia, of which 50 were deceased and 50 were living, were included in the study. Pre-existing scoring systems, which were the Total Severity Score (TSS), Chest Computed Tomography Severity Score (CT-SS), and Total CT Score, were utilized, together with the Early Decision Severity Score (ED-SS), which was developed by our team, to evaluate the initial lung CT scans of the patients obtained at their initial admission to the hospital. The scans were evaluated retrospectively by two radiologists. Area under the curve (AUC) values were acquired for each scoring system, according to their performances in predicting survival times.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 61 ± 14.85 years (age range = 18–87 years). There was no difference in co-morbidities between the living and deceased patients. The survival predicted AUC values of ED-SS, CT-SS, TSS, and Total CT Score systems were 0.876, 0.823, 0.753, and 0.744, respectively.ConclusionAlgorithms based on lung infiltration patterns of COVID-19 may be utilized for both survival prediction and therapy planning.

Overcoming vaccine deployment challenges among the hardest to reach: lessons from polio elimination in India

After more than 30 years of efforts to eliminate polio, India was certified polio free by WHO in 2014. The final years prior to polio elimination were characterised by concentrated...

Phase coalescence in a population of heterogeneous Kuramoto oscillators.

Phase coalescence (PC) is an emerging phenomenon in an ensemble of oscillators that manifests itself as a spontaneous rise in the order parameter. This increment in the order parameter is due to the overlaying of oscillator phases to a pre-existing system state. In the current work, we present a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of phase coalescence observed in a population of Kuramoto phase oscillators. The given population is divided into responsive and non-responsive oscillators depending on the position of the phases of the oscillators. The responsive set of oscillators is then reset by a pulse perturbation. This resetting leads to a temporary rise in a macroscopic observable, namely, order parameter. The provoked rise thus induced in the order parameter is followed by unprovoked increments separated by a constant time τPC. These unprovoked increments in the order parameter are caused due to a temporary gathering of the oscillator phases in a configuration similar to the initial system state, i.e., the state of the network immediately following the perturbation. A theoretical framework corroborating this phenomenon as well as the corresponding simulation results are presented. Dependence of τPC and the magnitude of spontaneous order parameter augmentation on various network parameters such as coupling strength, network size, degree of the network, and frequency distribution are then explored. The size of the phase resetting region would also affect the magnitude of the order parameter at τPC since it directly affects the number of oscillators reset by the perturbation. Therefore, the dependence of order parameter on the size of the phase resetting region is also analyzed.

“I’m just here to enjoy the Ponies”: My Little Pony, Bronies and the limits of feminist intent

ABSTRACT The unexpected adult, primarily male, audience of the children’s series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, known as Bronies, has been the subject of extensive commentary for their apparent violation of gender norms. Drawing from a qualitative survey of a 2915 Bronies we argue that the fandom is deceptively heterogenous. In particular, we explore the attitudes of members of the Brony Fandom to the feminist messages of the series, the feminism of series’ creator Lauren Faust, and whether these messages are perceived as impactful. Our paper argues that even within distinctive, close-knit fan communities interpretations interpretive and ideological responses to a media text and context vary significantly. Further, we argue that interpretations of fan objects appears primarily determined by preexisting attitudes. Ultimately, we find that fans utilize a number of rhetorical techniques to reframe media text’s messages, producer’s intent, and other audience member’s responses to fit their preexisting belief systems.

Evaluating Degradation Coefficients from Existing System Models

A generalization of the Degradation-Entropy Generation (DEG) theorem to multi-disciplinary multi-physics system-process analysis via a combination with pre-existing system models is presented in this article. Existing models and the DEG methodology are reviewed, and a method for evaluating degradation coefficients Bi is proposed. These coefficients characterize the system’s transformation based on active dissipative mechanisms, including temperature effects. The consistency of entropy generation in characterizing degradation is then inherited by these often-empirical system models, thereby rendering them more robust and applicable to similar systems without the need for numerous tests and measurements for model corrections. The approach applies to all systems and can quickly analyze and predict a system’s performance and degradation, even in the absence of experimental data (using known properties and material constants). Demonstrated applications herein include mechanically loaded systems (frictional wear, grease shearing, fatigue loading), electrochemical energy systems, thermal processes, and others.

Thermal fracture of functionally graded thermal barrier coatings with pre-existing edge cracks and multiple internal cracks imitating a curved interface

This work is devoted to the problem of thermal fracture of a functionally graded coating on a homogeneous substrate (FGC/H) with an emphasis on the analysis of a special system of cracks that simulates a curved interface. The FGC/H structure contains the pre-existing crack system in the FGC, both edge cracks (which are often seen in FGC/H structures) and internal cracks. The stress intensity factors are calculated. (Generally, both Mode I and Mode II are nonzero.) Then, using the appropriate fracture criterion for mixed-mode fracture conditions, the crack propagation direction (so-called fracture angles) and critical loads, when this propagation is initiated, are determined. The application of fracture criteria requires knowledge of the fracture toughness near the crack tips. Thus, it is assumed that the fracture toughness of an FGC, as well as other material properties, continuously varies through the thickness of the coating. For multiple cracks, it is also important to know the weakest crack that starts to propagate first, and the initial direction of this growth. Therefore, the main attention is paid to the evaluation of the fracture angles for the cracks for different parameters of the FGC/H structure. Both cases of a homogeneous semi-infinite medium with a system of cracks imitating a curved interface and FGC/H structures with identical crack systems are studied.

Shared-Task Worklists Improve Clinical Trial Recruitment Workflow in an Academic Emergency Department.

Clinical trials performed in our emergency department at Barnes-Jewish Hospital utilize a centralized infrastructure for alerting, screening, and enrollment with rule-based alerts sent to clinical research coordinators. Previously, all alerts were delivered as text messages via dedicated cellular phones. As the number of ongoing clinical trials increased, the volume of alerts grew to an unmanageable level. Therefore, we have changed our primary notification delivery method to study-specific, shared-task worklists integrated with our pre-existing web-based screening documentation system. To evaluate the effects on screening and recruitment workflow of replacing text-message delivery of clinical trial alerts with study-specific shared-task worklists in a high-volume academic emergency department supporting multiple concurrent clinical trials. We analyzed retrospective data on alerting, screening, and enrollment for 10 active clinical trials pre- and postimplementation of shared-task worklists. Notifications signaling the presence of potentially eligible subjects for clinical trials were more likely to result in a screen (p < 0.001) with the implementation of shared-task worklists compared with notifications delivered as text messages for 8/10 clinical trials. The change in workflow did not alter the likelihood of a notification resulting in an enrollment (p = 0.473). The Director of Research reported a substantial reduction in the amount of time spent redirecting clinical research coordinator screening activities. Shared-task worklists, with the functionalities we have described, offer a viable alternative to delivery of clinical trial alerts via text message directly to clinical research coordinators recruiting for multiple concurrent clinical trials in a high-volume academic emergency department.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) productivity influenced by microbial inocula under nitrogen-limited conditions in aquaponics.

The demand for food will outpace productivity of conventional agriculture due to projected growth of the human population, concomitant with shrinkage of arable land, increasing scarcity of freshwater, and a rapidly changing climate. While aquaponics has potential to sustainably supplement food production with minimal environmental impact, there is a need to better characterize the complex interplay between the various components (fish, plant, microbiome) of these systems to optimize scale up and productivity. Here, we investigated how the commonly-implemented practice of continued microbial community transfer from pre-existing systems might promote or impede productivity of aquaponics. Specifically, we monitored plant growth phenotypes, water chemistry, and microbiome composition of rhizospheres, biofilters, and fish feces over 61-days of lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. crispa) growth in nitrogen-limited aquaponic systems inoculated with bacteria that were either commercially sourced or originating from a pre-existing aquaponic system. Lettuce above- and below-ground growth were significantly reduced across replicates treated with a pre-existing aquaponic system inoculum when compared to replicates treated with a commercial inoculum. Reduced productivity was associated with enrichment in specific bacterial genera in plant roots, including Pseudomonas, following inoculum transfer from pre-existing systems. Increased productivity was associated with enrichment of nitrogen-fixing Rahnella in roots of plants treated with the commercial inoculum. Thus, we show that inoculation from a pre-existing system, rather than from a commercial inoculum, is associated with lower yields. Further work will be necessary to test the putative mechanisms involved.

The Many Faces (and Names) of Mood Dysregulation.

Explosive outbursts in children and adolescents have been long identified by clinicians and have been described using many different conceptualizations and terms. The topography of explosive outbursts is complex, heterogeneous, and includes the interactions of different emotional and behavioral constructs. Included here are pre-existing central nervous system vulnerabilities including psychiatric and neurologic diagnoses, various contributing emotions that generally carry a negative valence, and aggressive behaviors that are usually overt and reactive. Emotional impulsivity and deficient emotional self-regulatory mechanisms may contribute to episode severity and duration.

Evaluation of an initiative to improve prophylactic antimicrobial prescribing in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) through the application of three antimicrobial-spectrum scores.

Antimicrobial spectrum scoring is a method to quantify the spectrum of antimicrobial utilization. Herein, we applied a locally adapted scoring system, with other pre-existing scoring systems, using a data set of prophylactically administered antibiotics following a 2-stage antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) intervention in a population of patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

New Obligations of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service: Taking Full-fledged Action Against the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to global health systems. The Korea has taken full-fledged actions against this novel infectious disease, swiftly implementing a testing-tracing-treatment strategy. New obligations have therefore been given to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) to devote the utmost effort towards tackling this global health crisis. Thanks to the universal national health insurance and state-of-the-art information communications technology (ICT) of the Korea, HIRA has conducted far-reaching countermeasures to detect and treat cases early, prevent the spread of COVID-19, respond quickly to surging demand for the healthcare services, and translate evidence into policy. Three main factors have enabled HIRA to undertake pandemic control preemptively and systematically: nationwide data aggregated from all healthcare providers and patients, pre-existing ICT network systems, and real-time data exchanges. HIRA has maximized the use of data and pre-existing network systems to conduct rapid and responsive measures in a centralized way, both of which have been the most critical tactics and strategies used by the Korean healthcare system. In the face of new obligations, our promise is to strive for a more responsive and resilient health system during this prolonged crisis.

Lanthanoid Complexes as Molecular Materials: The Redox Approach.

The development of molecular materials with novel functionality offers promise for technological innovation. Switchable molecules that incorporate redox-active components are enticing candidate compounds due to their potential for electronic manipulation. Lanthanoid metals are most prevalent in their trivalent state and usually redox-activity in lanthanoid complexes is restricted to the ligand. The unique electronic and physical properties of lanthanoid ions have been exploited for various applications, including in magnetic and luminescent materials as well as in catalysis. Lanthanoid complexes are also promising for applications reliant on switchability, where the physical properties can be modulated by varying the oxidation state of a coordinated ligand. Lanthanoid-based redox activity is also possible, encompassing both divalent and tetravalent metal oxidation states. Thus, utilization of redox-active lanthanoid metals offers an attractive opportunity to further expand the capabilities of molecular materials. This review surveys both ligand and lanthanoid centered redox-activity in pre-existing molecular systems, including tuning of lanthanoid magnetic and photophysical properties by modulating the redox states of coordinated ligands. Ultimately the combination of redox-activity at both ligands and metal centers in the same molecule can afford novel electronic structures and physical properties, including multiconfigurational electronic states and valence tautomerism. Further targeted exploration of these features is clearly warranted, both to enhance understanding of the underlying fundamental chemistry, and for the generation of a potentially important new class of molecular material.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis, treatment and research in African health systems: a review of current evidence and contextual perspectives.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has immensely disrupted health care services globally. The pandemic has been particularly disruptive for cancer services and more so in low-resource settings. In this narrative review, we highlight the reported impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and research across the African continent. We also explore ways in which identified structural and contextual constraints can be navigated for the re-escalation of oncological activities, while discussing how the pandemic has necessitated the reimagination of how oncology services can be delivered now and in the future. We conducted a literature search of MEDLINE (via PubMed) and Scopus for relevant articles and synthesised the findings thematically. In spite of the dearth of data, available evidence suggests a substantial impact of the pandemic on the various aspects of cancer management in African countries. Aggravating factors include pre-existing health system and cancer management gaps in many countries within the region, which are typically faced with inadequate availability of oncology resources, oncologists and other vital resources; in addition to the acute and lingering consequences of social distancing, movement restrictions and other public health measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus. As the pandemic evolves and movement restrictions are eased, there is a need for the timely and safe return to normal oncological care. This will require a risk-adjusted and multidisciplinary approach, with the aim of mitigating the further impact of the disruption on cancer patients, their families and healthcare providers.

Quantitative analysis of the sequential initiation and simultaneous propagation of multiple fractures in shale gas/oil formations

The excessive reach of new fractures during hydraulic fracturing can interact with the pre-existing fracture system during reservoir stimulation. This phenomenon is known as Frac Driven Interaction (FDI), which can greatly compromise the production performance of the wells. The key to minimizing the impact of FDI is to effectively control the length of fractures through a proper fracturing design. This study provides a computer program that outputs the length and initiation time of each fracture to quantitively analyze the sequential initiation and propagation of multiple fractures. Parametric analysis results show that increasing the injection rate, apparent viscosity, and the dilatancy of the fluid can help shorten fracture length and increase fracture count, which ultimately mitigate fracture interaction. Higher dilatancy mainly contributes to the resultant populated length of fractures, while a higher injection rate mainly contributes to the resultant number of fractures. The results also show that a better estimation of critical fracture width is critical to improving the accuracy of the simulation. The effect of various parameters on the FDI index is analyzed i.e. decreasing the injection time from 2h to 1h has led to a 46% decrease of fracture length while the number of fractures is only reduced from 10 to 8. It is found that factors that lead to a higher energy dissipation rate can result in shorter fractures and higher fracture counts. The methodology and results of this paper can deepen our understanding of the fracture interaction mechanism, which may also be used as a guideline and tool to control fracture length and count to mitigate FDI issues.

Long Legal Transplants

The comparative law concept of legal transplants has long been used as a device to describe or explain major changes in Japanese corporate law. The past twenty years have seen an extended series of major reforms in that field, many of them inspired by outside, and particularly American, models. This era of reform is notable for the fact that it is taking, in simple terms, a really long time. This paper frames the evolution of Japan’s rules on corporate director compensation in this period as a kind of “long” legal transplant. It examines three features of this process which are associated with its. The first of these is that the long attempt to introduce elements of American style executive compensation and legal rules related thereto has resulted in the black letter law on director compensation in Japan becoming significantly different from, rather than similar to, its American counterpart. This is in part owing to functional differences in the rules, but also the result of a long process of legislative tinkering with the rules in Japan that over time have created a vastly more complex system. The second is that normative ideas related to how and why executive pay is regulated have evolved along significantly different paths in Japan and the United States over the course of the long transplant, which has created an odd reversal in the evolution of rules in each relative to each other. Finally it looks at the role of scandal provided by the Carlos Ghosn case which revealed a major problem with how imported norms on pay created incompatibilities with pre-existing systems they were incompatible with. Ironically instead of providing a metaphor for a transplant being run out of town as a result of this incompatibility, the case seems, at least at the firm level, to have further encouraged the adoption of American style mechanisms for regulating pay. To the general literature on transplants this paper offers a case study which suggests that the dynamics of long transplants are quite different from the traditional “one-off” transplant where the act of reception of the rule is treated as conceptually distinct from what follows (how it is accepted in its new context). The features outlined herein certainly do not represent a model in themselves, but rather demonstrate how a long transplant, simply by providing time for actions, reactions and random events like major scandals to occur, can cause the rules to evolve in ways that earlier notions of transplants fail to account for. To the literature on Japanese corporate law the paper suggests that, to the extent that it continues to rely on the transplant concept to explain reform it needs to take into account the prolonged and extended nature of the current reform process which applies not just to the rules on director compensation but to a number of other areas as well.

A Continuing Quest for an Acceptable Alternative Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) Severity Scoring System in a Resource-Constrained Setting

Background: Sickle cell Anaemia (SCA) severity scoring has remained challenging. Scoring systems based on clinical and certain laboratory parameters are limited in simplicity and wide applicability. This is further worsened by dearth of exhaustive and accurate patient history. This study compared a simple, laboratory parameter-based severity scoring system to a pre-existing scoring system. Methodology: Derivation group (n = 45) and validation group (n = 300) were enrolled during steady state. Complications, haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and white blood cell counts (WBC) were documented. Severity scores were computed for each participant based on number of complications, Hb and WBC counts using a preexisting scoring system. Proposed scoring system

Dinamika Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Air

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis eksistensi otoritas pemimpin lokal pada pengelolaan sumber daya air, terutama di Danau Kemuning, Cimanggis, Bogor, Jawa Barat. Prinsip-prinsip dasar desain sistem atau dikenal dengan istilah The Design Principle of Pre-Existing System (PES) dalam Co-Management. Prinsip dari sistem tersebut menampilkan enam variabel: aturan, hak, wewenang atau kepemimpinan, sanksi dan pemantauan, akuntabilitas, dan penegakan hukum, yang digunakan sebagai perspektif utama dalam penelitian ini. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa pengelolaan air di Danau Kemuning dipengaruhi oleh pemimpin kekuasaan lokal (orang atau organisasi) meskipun ada beberapa peraturan hukum yang mengatur. Peran pemimpin lokal masih tetap menempati posisi utama utama, terutama pada tingkat praktis. Beberapa peran utama pemimpin lokal antara lain adalah mengarahkan warga agar tetap menjaga kebersihan, dengan memberikan aturan antara lain berupa larangan membuang sampah di danau dan memancing dengan menggunakan jala serta tidak boleh membuang kotoran dan melakukan kegaduhan melalui musik dangdut di sekitar Danau Kemuning.

Managing in a war zone: Somalian managers in the banking and mobile telecommunications sectors

Orientation: Management studies too often concentrate on supposedly normal market conditions in stable, developed countries. In reality, most forms of management are conducted in more trying circumstances, and this article seeks to expand knowledge of how it takes place under difficult conditions.Research purpose: This study explored management techniques under wartime conditions exhibited by managers in the banking and mobile telecommunications sectors in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.Motivation for the study: Somalia is a fragile state that risks failing its people in many ways, including security, food security and basic public services. One means of compensating for these failures is the private sector’s ability to organise not just business but essential public services when the government is unable to do so. This article studied whether that was taking place.Research approach/design and method: The research was qualitative in nature and featured in-depth, personal interviews with managers and executives in the identified sectors of interest. Respondents were identified through convenience and then purposive snowball sampling techniques.Main findings: It was found that adaptations to managing in wartime could be divided into three main themes: practical aspects of managing in adversity, coping mechanisms and the ethical issues involved in managing without a government. In general, in the absence of a legitimate ruling power or a form of market regulation, managers reverted to the pre-existing tribal system as a means not just of managing transactions but also to instil trust in those transactions.Practical/managerial implications: A model is provided for managing under wartime or similarly difficult situations, which might be adapted to other contexts.Contribution/value-add: This article extends knowledge of how management is conducted in wartime and how managers adapt to adverse conditions.

Recent progress and outlook of solar adsorption refrigeration systems

Solar adsorption refrigeration systems are indispensable in the areas of cooling such as air conditioning, ice making, food preservation, medicine and vaccine storage etc in remote areas. It is cheaper than other devices and lack in noise and corrosion. It is completely an eco-friendly system which could be driven by low grade waste heat. Consumption of electricity is very less in this system as compared to other fields due to the elimination of compression process in adsorption refrigeration. Most of the adsorption system delivers a COP between 0.1 and 0.2 and exceptions are also there. Because of the technical, economic and environmental problems, researches are going on in these areas. Nowadays it is incorporated with vapour compression system to make hybrid system in order to achieve a greater COP and efficiency. This paper presents the basic and advanced aspects of adsorption refrigeration cycle and its hybrid arrangements with pre-existing system. This paper described the different types of conventional and novel adsorbent – adsorbate working pairs and provides detailed review about the past and present state of art research in this field.