Identification keys on mobile devices: The Dryades experience

Abstract

This article describes the experience of project Dryades, coordinated by the University of Trieste, in developing interactive identification keys in the form of applications for mobile devices (iPhone/iPad/iPodtouch). All of our keys were previously generated from a database of morpho-anatomical characters using software FRIDA. The applications for mobile devices, which were tested Europe-wide during the project KeyToNature, have proved to be useful in education, in the promotion of nature-aware tourism and in projects of citizen science. The first-generation apps were stand-alone packages which consisted into a sequence of stand-alone HTML pages, while those of the second generation do incorporate the digital key as a true database into the mobile device. All of the hitherto published applications are basically in the form of illustrated dichotomous keys. Future developments will also include a multi-entry query interface, and will be extended to devices which use the Android system.     

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Real Options Approach to the Challenge of Financial Sustainability

BackgroundIn contemporary complex societies, social values like ethics, corporate social responsibility, and being respectful with the environment, among others, are becoming social requirements. Corporations are expected to fulfill them and, according to empirical evidence, an overwhelming majority aspires to good social valuation. At the same time, the maximization of market share value in the long run continues to be the central corporate goal. Making environmental and social expenses compatible with value creation is a central challenge for corporations since it implies the financial sustainability of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Methods and Results

The value creation capacity of CSR projects, mainly through innovation, is widely acknowledged in economic literature and corporate practice. This fact arouses the need of having a quantitative framework capable of summarizing the value creation capacity of the variables involved in CSR projects. With this aim we build up a sensitivity analysis of real option ratios that studies and quantifies the value creation capacity of CSR projects connected with innovation. Ratio analysis has the advantage of being scale independent. Hence, it furnishes a homogeneous framework to express the interaction of value creation variables and, thus, supports strategic thinking quantitatively. Often, CSR expenses can be regarded as preliminary projects that create the opportunity to undertake a full future project. For them, we obtain the minimum expectations scenario that makes financially sustainable a preliminary project that can be interpreted as a call option. We propose a classification of CSR projects from the decision analysis perspective following a two-fold approach: Their relationship with value creation and their links with existing corporate activities. This classification of CSR projects aims at contributing to choose the best capital budgeting method to study the financial sustainability of the project and identifying those CSR projects that fulfill the required features to be studied from the real options perspective.     

Immigrant generation,religiosity and civic engagement in Britain

Abstract

Immigrant integration appears to be generational in the USA, and further facilitated by religious involvement. We examine whether similar patterns exist in Britain. We find evidence for secularization across ethnic minority groups, measured by private religious practice and religious salience. Communal religious practice appears robust to generational decline. Ethnic minority members of the second generation exhibit lower social trust; for the 1.5 generation, being more religious is associated with lower trust. However, members of the 1.5 and second generation are more civically involved than the first and religiosity further increases civic involvement. While anecdotal accounts suggest that religiosity has a particularly dissociative effect on the second generation, we find no evidence for this. In sum, successive generations of ethnic minority respondents appear to be secularizing; successive generations are more civically involved than the arriving generation, although less trusting; and immigrant religiosity promotes civic integration.     

Food functionality research as a new national project in special reference to improvement of cognitive and locomotive abilities

Abstract

In Japan, where a super-aging society is realized, we are most concerned about healthy longevity, which would ascertain the wellness of people by improving their quality of life (QOL). In 2014, the Cabinet Office proposed a strategic innovation promotion programme, launching a national project for the development of the agricultural-forestry-fisheries food products with new functionalities for the next generation. In addition to focusing on a conventional prevention of lifestyle-associated metabolic syndromes, the project targets the scientific evidence of the activation of brain cognitive ability and the improvement of bodily locomotive function. The project also involves the analysis of the foods-sports interrelation of chronic importance, and the development of devices for the verification of QOL-associated maintenance of homeostasis. In this review, we provide an overview of these studies, with special reference to cognition as a case of the gut-brain axis which the author is particularly interested in.     

以资产为纽带的公立医院紧密型托管合作模式探讨

随着医改的不断深入,浙江省开展了城市优质医疗资源下沉和医务人员下基层“双下沉”活动,结合实际建立了以资产为纽带的公立医院紧密型托管合作模式,取得了显著成效。文章重点对5所紧密型托管合作模式的公立医院进行了调研,发现还存在法人治理结构尚不健全、补偿机制与配套政策有待完善、经济运行不容乐观和缺乏长期合作目标与实施规划等问题,需要政府和合作医院进一步完善政策和采取措施加以解决,以实现新医改的最终目标。

     

Practices of change in the education sector: professionals dealing with ethnic school segregation

ABSTRACT

This article looks at second-generation professionals in the education sector in Sweden, France and the Netherlands, whose parents were born in Turkey. In their stories, ethnic school segregation appears as an important topic that coincides with other inequalities in society and signals educational injustice. This so-called wicked problem is used to understand how second-generation professionals assert influence in their quest for educational change. The analysis, based on semi-structured interviews, shows that influence and change are conditional. Second-generation professionals are constrained by the structural boundaries of the sector, which seem particularly fixed because of the way in which the education sector is entangled with state policies. Simultaneously, they are aware of these boundaries, and of the nation-specific change-opportunities existing within them. Using their “in-betweenness” as second-generation social climbers, with their knowledge of the education system, they apply varying practices of change focused on moderating the negative effects of ethnic school segregation.     

Biomechanical comparison of sinus floor elevation and alternative treatment methods for dental implant placement

Objective: In this study, we compared the success of sinus lifting and alternative treatment methods in applying dental implants in cases lacking adequate bone due to pneumatization of the maxillary sinus. Methods: In a computer environment, 3D models were created using computerized tomography data from a patient. Additionally, implants and abutments were scanned at the macroscopic level, and the resulting images were transferred to the 3D models. Five different models were examined: a control model, lateral sinus lifting (LSL), short dental implant placement (SIP), tilted implant placement (TIP) and distal prosthetic cantilever (DC) use. Vertical and oblique forces were applied in each model. The compression, tension and von Mises stresses in each model were analyzed by implementing a finite element analysis method. Results: In our study, the LSL method was observed to be the closest to the control model. The TIP model showed high stress values under conditions of oblique forces but showed successful results under conditions of vertical forces, and the opposite results were observed in the SIP model. The DC model provided the least successful results among all models. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, the LSL method should be the first choice among treatment options. Considering its successful results under conditions of oblique forces, the SIP method may be preferable to the TIP method. In contrast, every effort should be made to avoid the use of DCs.     

Life cycle sustainability analysis applied to an innovative configuration of concentrated solar power

Purpose

Life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) is being developed as a holistic tool to evaluate environmental, economic and social impacts of products or services throughout their life cycle. This study responds to the need expressed by the scientific community to develop and test LCSA methodology, by assessing the sustainability of a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant based on HYSOL technology (an innovative configuration delivering improved efficiency and power dispatchability).

Methods

The methodology proposed consists of three stages: goal and scope definition, modelling and application of tools, and interpretation of results. The goal of the case study was to investigate to what extent may the HYSOL technology improve the sustainability of power generation in the Spanish electricity sector. To this purpose, several sustainability sub-questions were framed and different analysis tools were applied as follows: attributional and consequential life cycle assessment, life cycle cost (LCC) analysis and multiregional input-output analysis (MRIO), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) in combination with social risk assessment (with the Social Hotspots Database). Visual diagrams representing the sustainability of the analysed scenarios were also produced to facilitate the interpretation of results and decision making.

Results and discussion

The results obtained in the three sustainability dimensions were integrated using a “questions and answers” layout, each answer describing a specific element of sustainability. The HYSOL technology was investigated considering two different operation modes: HYSOL BIO with biomethane as hybridization fuel and HYSOL NG with natural gas. The results indicated that the deployment of HYSOL technology would produce a reduction in the climate change impact of the electricity sector for both operation modes. The LCC analysis indicated economic benefits per MWh for a HYSOL NG power plant, but losses for a HYSOL BIO power plant. The MRIO analysis indicated an increase in goods and services generation, and value added for the HYSOL technology affecting primarily Spain and to a lower extent other foreign economies. The social analysis indicated that both alternatives would provide a slight increase of social welfare Spain.

Conclusions

The methodological approach described in this investigation provided flexibility in the selection of objectives and analysis tools, which helped to quantify the sustainability effect of the system at a micro and meso level in the three sustainability dimensions. The results indicated that the innovation of HYSOL power plants is well aimed to improve the sustainability of CSP technology and the Spanish electricity sector.

     

Oral contraceptives and myocardial infarction: results of the MICA case-control study

ObjectivesTo determine the association between myocardial infarction and use of different types of oral contraception in young women.DesignCommunity based case-control study. Data from interviews and general practice records.SettingEngland, Scotland, and Wales.ParticipantsCases (n=448) were recruited from women aged between 16 and 44 who had suffered an incident myocardial infarction between 1 October 1993 and 16 October 1995. Controls (n=1728) were women without a diagnosis of myocardial infarction matched for age and general practice.ResultsThe adjusted odds ratio for myocardial infarction was 1.40 (95% confidence interval 0.78 to 2.52) for all combined oral contraceptive users, 1.10 (0.52 to 2.30) for second generation users, and 1.96 (0.87 to 4.39) for third generation users. Subgroup analysis by progestagen content did not show any significant difference from 1, and there was no effect of duration of use. The adjusted odds ratio for third generation users versus second generation users was 1.78 (0.66 to 4.83). 87% of cases were not exposed to an oral contraceptive, and 88% had clinical cardiovascular risk factors or were smokers, or both. Smoking was strongly associated with myocardial infarction: adjusted odds ratio 12.5 (7.29 to 21.5) for smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day.ConclusionsThere was no significant association between the use of oral contraceptives and myocardial infarction. The modest and non-significant point estimates for this association have wide confidence intervals. There was no significant difference between second and third generation products.

Key message

• There is no evidence of a difference between second and third generation oral contraceptives on risk of myocardial infarction
• There is no significantly increased risk of myocardial infarction in users of oral contraceptives
• Of women aged under 45 years who suffered a myocardial infarction, 87% were not taking any oral contraceptive
• Of women who suffered myocardial infarction, 88% had one or more known cardiovascular risk factors
• Young women who wish to preserve cardiovascular health should be advised to stop smoking, above all else

     

Consistent probabilistic outputs for protein function prediction

Background:

The wide availability of genome-scale data for several organisms has stimulated interest in computational approaches to gene function prediction. Diverse machine learning methods have been applied to unicellular organisms with some success, but few have been extensively tested on higher level, multicellular organisms. A recent mouse function prediction project (MouseFunc) brought together nine bioinformatics teams applying a diverse array of methodologies to mount the first large-scale effort to predict gene function in the laboratory mouse.

Results:

In this paper, we describe our contribution to this project, an ensemble framework based on the support vector machine that integrates diverse datasets in the context of the Gene Ontology hierarchy. We carry out a detailed analysis of the performance of our ensemble and provide insights into which methods work best under a variety of prediction scenarios. In addition, we applied our method to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and have experimentally confirmed functions for a novel mitochondrial protein.

Conclusion:

Our method consistently performs among the top methods in the MouseFunc evaluation. Furthermore, it exhibits good classification performance across a variety of cellular processes and functions in both a multicellular organism and a unicellular organism, indicating its ability to discover novel biology in diverse settings.

     

Strangers no more. Debunking major theoretical assumptions

ABSTRACT

Alba and Foner’s volume is an important contribution to the transatlantic dialog. In the paper I especially focus on the presented labour market outcomes in the first generation and the accomplishments of the second generation in education. What do these outcomes tell us about integration and assimilation patterns across countries? Alba and Foner’s overall conclusion is that neither the theory of national integration models nor the theory of settler versus non-settler societies can explain the differences or similarities in outcomes across the six assessed countries. These theories, according to Alba and Foner, are debunked when empirically tested. I try to formulate what alternative explanations can be formulated based on the empirical data. Differences in historical institutional arrangements in education and the labour market can more accurately predict outcomes. Also differences in the dynamics between the mainstream population and immigrant groups in North America versus Western Europe are important.     

A Taxonomic Review of the Use of IoT and Blockchain in Healthcare Applications

ObjectivesWith the rapid evolution and technology advancement, the healthcare sector is evolving day by day. It is taking advantage of different technologies such as Internet of things and Blockchain. Several applications related to daily healthcare activities are adopting the use of these technologies. In this paper, we present a review in which we group different healthcare applications that integrate the Internet of things and Blockchain in their systems.Material and methodsA review study about the integration of IoT and Blockchain in healthcare systems was conducted. We searched the databases ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar and ACM Digital Library.ResultsThis review focuses on categorizing the use cases of IoT and Blockchain in the healthcare sector. The study listed 6 applications in medical services, namely, remote patient monitoring, electronic medical records management, disease prediction, patient tracking, drug traceability and fighting infectious disease especially COVID-19. The paper also investigates the challenges associated with the adoption of the Blockchain technology in healthcare IoT-based systems and some of the existing solutions. It also introduces some future research directions.ConclusionThe survey of the use cases of IoT and Blockchain in the healthcare sector will serve as a state of the art for future researches. In addition, the paper gives some directions to new possible researches that could help to revolutionize the healthcare sector by using other technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, fog and cloud computing.     

The multiplier effect: how the accumulation of cultural and social capital explains steep upward social mobility of children of low-educated immigrants

ABSTRACT

We introduce what we have coined the multiplier effect. We explain the steep upward mobility of children of low-educated immigrants by studying how they overcome obstacles on their regular pathway, via alternative routes or through loopholes in the education and labour market system. The idea of the multiplier effect is that they virtually propel themselves forward in their careers. Essential is that each successful step forward offers new possibilities on which they build, thereby accumulating cultural and social capital and multiplying their chances of success. Initial small differences with their less successful co-ethnic peers generate an increasingly wider gap over time. Cultural and social capital theories primarily explain the reproduction of inequalities in society. The multiplier effect explains the breaking of the perpetual cycle of this reproduction, enabling steep upward mobility even when this group does not initially possess the right cultural and social capital to be successful.     

Driving integration: how is it done

ABSTRACT

The present dilemma of immigrant integration in the West is, that for previous generations of immigrants in Europe and the United States, education and politics were strong engines that drove integration. However, these engines have not worked so well for this current wave of immigration, despite emerging progress. In this review, I examine the chapters on education and politics. Two questions emerge: first, with regard to education, how much can the ineffectiveness of the education system be attributed to the cultural challenges of immigration, compared to the challenges of class, with implications for immigrants and natives as well? and second, with regard to politics, is the problem not just the numbers of minority representatives, but how they are organized, and for what purpose – indeed, if they have a purpose?     

Implications of maternal nutrient restriction in transgenerational programming of hypertension and endothelial dysfunction across F1-F3 offspring

AimsAn extensive variety of prenatal insults are associated with an increased incidence of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in adult life. We previously demonstrated that maternal global nutrient restriction during pregnancy leads to increased blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction in the adult offspring. This study aimed to assess whether prenatal exposure to nutritional insult has transgenerational effects in F₂ and F₃ offspring.Main methodsFor this, female Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups on day 1 of pregnancy: a control group fed standard chow ad libitum and a restricted group fed 50% of the ad libitum intake throughout gestation. At delivery, all animals were fed a standard laboratory chow diet. At 11 weeks of age, one female and one male from each restricted litter were randomly selected and mated with rats from another restricted litters in order to generate the F₂ offspring. The same procedure produced F₃ generation. Similarly, the rats in the control group were bred for each generation.Key FindingsOur findings show that the deleterious effects of maternal nutrient restriction to which the F₀ mothers were exposed may not be limited to the male first generation. In fact, we found that elevated blood pressure, an impaired vasodilatory response to acetylcholine and alterations in NO production were all transferred to the subsequent males from F₂ and F₃ generations.SignificanceOur data show that global nutrient restriction during pregnancy results in a specific phenotype that can be passed transgenerationally to a second and third generation.     

Unwanted caesarean sections among public and private patients in Brazil: prospective study

ObjectiveTo assess and compare the preferences of pregnant women in the public and private sector regarding delivery in Brazil.DesignFace to face structured interviews with women who were interviewed early in pregnancy, about one month before the due date, and about one month post partum.SettingFour cities in Brazil.Participants1612 pregnant women: 1093 public patients and 519 private patients.Results1136 women completed all three interviews; 476 women were lost to follow up (376 public patients and 100 private patients). Despite large differences in the rates of caesarean section in the two sectors (222/717 (31%) among public patients and 302/419 (72%) among private patients) there were no significant differences in preferences between the two groups. In both antenatal interviews, 70-80% in both sectors said they would prefer to deliver vaginally. In a large proportion of cases (237/502) caesarean delivery was decided on before admission: 48/207 (23%) in women in the public sector and 189/295 (64%) in women in the private sector.ConclusionsThe large difference in the rates of caesarean sections in women in the public and private sectors is due to more unwanted caesarean sections among private patients rather than to a difference in preferences for delivery. High or rising rates of caesarean sections do not necessarily reflect demand for surgical delivery.

What is already known on this topic

In Brazil, one quarter of all women deliver in the private sectorThe rate of caesarean deliveries in the private sector is extremely high (70%) and more than twice that in the public sector, where rates have recently fallen due to a new policyPrevious studies in which women were interviewed after birth showed that a substantial proportion of private patients who have caesarean sections would have preferred normal delivery

What this study adds

In two antenatal interviews, preferences regarding type of delivery were nearly identical among public and private patients and strongly favoured vaginal birthsContrary to popular belief, middle and upper class women in Brazil do not want to deliver by caesarean section     

巨噬细胞膜伪装纳米颗粒的制备和功能表征

摘要 目的：巨噬细胞具有炎症趋化能力,近年来巨噬细胞膜伪装的纳米递送载体引起研究者的广泛关注。本文提供了一种巨噬细胞膜伪装纳米颗粒的方法,即摄取-挤出法,并对该法制得的纳米颗粒进行表征,考察纳米颗粒在不同细胞中的摄取。方法：利用溶胶-凝胶法制备装载阿霉素的介孔硅（DMSN）纳米颗粒,再利用RAW 264.7巨噬细胞吞噬DMSN,最后将巨噬细胞连续挤出制得巨噬细胞膜伪装的载有阿霉素的介孔硅（DMSN@CM）纳米颗粒。动态光散射激光粒度仪（DLS）测定DMSN@CM颗粒的粒径和表面电位,透射电子显微镜（TEM）观察纳米颗粒形态,聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（SDS-PAGE）验证细胞膜的成功伪装。然后通过激光共聚焦显微镜与流式细胞术共同考察了DMSN@CM在不同细胞中的摄取情况。结果：成功制备了DMSN和DMSN@CM纳米颗粒。DMSN粒径为116.7±3.2 nm,zeta表面电势为 -29.5± 1.3 mV;MSN@CM粒径为128.0±9.3 nm,zeta表面电势为 -26.7 ±1.2 mV。TEM与SDS-PAGE共同验证了DMSN@CM表面细胞膜的成功包覆。细胞摄取试验表明巨噬细胞膜的伪装可以抑制RAW 264.7细胞对DMSN@CM的摄取;促进MDA-MB-231细胞对DMSN@CM的摄取。结论：利用摄取-挤出法成功构建了DMSN@CM纳米颗粒,该法简便高效,为纳米颗粒的细胞膜伪装提供了一种新的手段。     

International opportunities on the way up: alternative career paths of descendants of migrants from Turkey in the field of professional business services

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examines the career paths of descendants of labour migrants from Turkey in the field of professional business services. Through in-depth interviews with upwardly mobile professionals in leading positions, the article presents evidence from four countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden). Respondents reflect on their professional career as a process constituted through personal interactions while displaying their perceptions of restrictive national conditions that affect their professional success in this field. There seem to be three discernible “ideal type” alternative career paths for newcomers. First, the corporate career path consists of building a widely recognized “international” profile. The second alternative is a “niche” path that emerges by making use of one’s individual background in order to climb up the corporate ladder. Finally, there is a path of self-employment for individuals who have experienced blocked opportunities and therefore want to become “independent” of corporate hierarchies.     

Bonding or bridging? Professional network organizations of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and France

ABSTRACT

This article analyses network organizations founded by descendants of Turkish migrants in the Netherlands and France. By surveying members of two such organizations and interviewing several of their board members, we learn how these organizations function, their success in building and extending social networks, and their efficacy at improving labour market prospects for young second-generation professionals of Turkish descent. Our findings reveal a hybrid structure, whereby the organizations gear many of their activities towards mainstream society. In comparison to traditional immigrant organizations, their attitude is more open to other social groups, yet they still have a clear stronghold in the ethnic immigrant community. We conclude that ethnicity is not the main element in the successful second generation’s organizing process. Factors such as educational trajectories, professional ambitions, feelings of responsibility for other members and newly acquired socioeconomic status are the main reasons for this group to organize.