bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Haemodynamic collapse immediately after transcatheter aortic valve implantation due to dynamic intraventricular gradient: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Endo Nana , Otsuki Hisao , Domoto Satoru , Yamaguchi Junichi
Published: February 2021

Background

Dynamic intraventricular obstruction after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been previously reported. There is a risk of haemodynamic collapse in the case of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction due to systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the mitral valve.

Case summary

An 83-year-old woman with aortic stenosis (AS) was referred to our hospital for TAVI. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a severely calcified aortic valve with a peak velocity of 6.3 m/s across the valve. Acceleration of blood flow (peak velocity 2.6 m/s) at the LVOT due to a septal bulge was also seen. Transfemoral TAVI was performed, and a 29 mm Evolut PRO was implanted under general anaesthesia. After the implantation, a complete atrioventricular block with junctional rhythm developed, and refractory hypotension occurred immediately. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed LVOT obstruction due to SAM of the mitral valve associated with severe mitral regurgitation (MR), which was not observed preoperatively. Fluid infusion and catecholamine administration were not effective. However, after performing temporary pacing from the right ventricular (RV) apex, the LVOT obstruction and severe MR improved. Her haemodynamics stabilized, and we could complete the procedure. A dual-chamber permanent pacemaker with beta-blocker administration as a longer-term treatment further improved the LVOT obstruction. The patient was finally discharged to a rehabilitation hospital.

Discussion

Alertness and recognition of potential LVOT obstruction after TAVI are important. Pacing from the RV apex, as well as dual-chamber pacing, comprise a less invasive and feasible therapeutic option in such cases.
A comparison of the size at maturity of female American lobsters (Homarus americanus) over three decades and across coastal areas of the Gulf of Maine using ovarian staging
Authors: Waller Jesica D , Reardon Kathleen M , Caron Sarah E , Jenner Blaise P , Summers Erin L , Wilson Carl J
Published: February 2021

The carapace length (CL) at which American lobster (Homarus americanus) females reach maturity can be used to evaluate egg production, growth patterns, and the overall health of lobster stocks. The female maturity datasets used to represent Gulf of Maine (GOM) lobsters in the 2015 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission American Lobster Stock Assessment were collected in the 1990s by the Maine Department of Marine Resources at two coastal sites. Many studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between temperature and the size at maturity in female lobsters, and GOM waters have warmed significantly over this period. To update these GOM maturity datasets, we used ovarian staging to determine the maturity status of over 1200 females from fives sites over 3 years. Broad application of this methodology in tandem with key growth measurements on females 50–120 mm CL allowed us to characterize reproductive development and generate maturity ogives (proportion mature at a given CL). We observed a latitudinal gradient in the size at maturity across this coastal region of the GOM and quantified a decrease in this size over 25 years. These findings have implications for future stock assessment approaches and management measures implemented to sustain this valuable fishery.
Landau–Ginzburg/Calabi–Yau Correspondence for a Complete Intersection via Matrix Factorizations
Authors: Zhao Yizhen
Published: February 2021

By generalizing the Landau–Ginzburg/Calabi–Yau correspondence for hypersurfaces, we can relate a Calabi–Yau complete intersection to a hybrid Landau–Ginzburg model: a family of isolated singularities fibered over a projective line. In recent years Fan, Jarvis, and Ruan have defined quantum invariants for singularities of this type, and Clader and Clader–Ross have provided an equivalence between these invariants and Gromov–Witten invariants of complete intersections, in this way quantum cohomology yields an identification of the cohomology groups of the Calabi–Yau and of the hybrid Landau–Ginzburg model. It is not clear how to relate this to the known isomorphism descending from derived equivalences (due to Segal and Shipman, and Orlov and Isik). We answer this question for Calabi–Yau complete intersections of two cubics.
The police and ‘the balance’—managing the workload within Swedish investigation units
Authors: Liljegren Andreas , Berlin Johan , Szücs Stefan , Höjer Staffan
Published: February 2021

Professionals within street-level organizations are essential for the delivery of public services to citizens. However, among a number of difficult dilemmas, they have to deal with an extensive workload. The police can be seen as a good example of this; they are expected to solve most crimes, including the so-called mass crimes and the more spectacular cases that make it into media headlines, and often on a continually decreasing budget. A key regulating mechanism for investigation departments in the Swedish police is the so-called balance. The balance can be described as a basket in which they put the cases that there is a desire and potential to work on but not in the immediate term. The purpose of this article is to analyse the balance as a way of rationing the workload within the Swedish police. Working with the balance consists of two processes: limiting and buffering the workload. Limiting is the practice of reducing the work in a situation. Buffering is the process of putting some work on hold to deal with later, of which the article identifies five kinds; functional, problematic, quasi, progressive, and symbolic buffering. The exploration of ‘the balance’ contributes to our understanding of how street level organizations attempt to defend their professional jurisdictions, their well-being, and their ability to complete their duties.
Surgical case report—acalculous hemorrhagic cholecystitis
Authors: Leaning Matthew
Published: February 2021

Haemorrhagic cholecystitis is a seldom seen cause of right upper quadrant pain that can result in gallbladder rupture, massive intraperitoneal haemorrhage and death if untreated. Haemorrhagic cholecystitis is usually seen in the presence of cholelithiasis, malignancy, trauma and coagulopathies. Here, we present the unusual case of an elderly man presenting with acalculous haemorrhagic cholecystitis, who was successfully treated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We review the radiological and laparoscopic findings of haemorrhagic acalculous cholecystitis. This case highlights the importance of prudent use of radiological imaging to differentiate haemorrhagic cholecystitis from alternate pathology and early surgical intervention to avoid massive intraperitoneal haemorrhage and the high mortality with which it is associated.
The Bylaws of Frankfurt’s Neo-Orthodox Synagogue: A Developmental History
Authors: Kimche J J
Published: February 2021

This essay seeks to present the history and context of the ‘Synagogenordnungen’, the synagogal bylaws that German-Jewish communities established in the middle and late nineteenth century. Focusing primarily upon the bylaws instituted within the Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft (IRG), the Neo-Orthodox synagogue in Frankfurt am Main, this essay argues that these ordinances reflect the uniquely centrist character of that synagogue, as it concomitantly rejected the encroachment of Reform Judaism and embraced many elements of the surrounding Germanic cultural norms and mores. By examining both the contextual framework and the historical development of the three iterations of these bylaws (written in 1874, 1907, and 1927 respectively) it is possible to gain a large measure of insight into both the ideological priorities of the IRG’s leadership and the practical manner in which these priorities were acted upon.
Sigrid Nunez on the Writer’s Life
Authors: Sun Lu
Published: February 2021

The Friend (2018), the seventh novel of Sigrid Nunez, won the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction. It not only tells a touching story about the human-canine bond between the narrator and a huge Great Dane but also involves much meditation on writing as a profession and the universal concerns of humanity. Looking back at her writing career, Nunez talks about her beliefs as a writer, her observation of the contemporary literary scene, her evaluation of the status of fiction in the current era, her teaching experiences in writing programs, and her personal story as a child of immigrants and a former assistant to Susan Sontag. According to Nunez, a life of solitude is conducive to writing books, and experiences of frustration are normal for a writer. However, she maintains that writing should be seen as a vocation instead of a means of self-advancement. With respect to new trends in literary culture, Nunez believes the house of fiction does have many rooms, and the definition of a novel has become much broader.
Rotational Angiography-Based Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Brain Arteriovenous Malformations: Preliminary Therapeutic Outcomes of the Novel Method
Authors: Shinya Yuki , Hasegawa Hirotaka , Shin Masahiro , Kawashima Mariko , Sugiyama Takehiro , Ishikawa Osamu , Koizumi Satoshi , Suzuki Yuichi , Nakatomi Hirofumi , Saito Nobuhito
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

High-definition vascular imaging is desirable for treatment planning in Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS; Elekta AB) for brain arteriovenous malformations (BAVMs). Currently, rotational angiography (RA) provides the clearest 3-dimensional visualization of niduses with high spatial resolution; however, its efficacy for GKRS has not been clarified. At our institution, RA has been integrated into GKRS (RA-GKRS) for better treatment planning and outcomes since 2015.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate RA-GKRS outcomes of BAVMs and compare them with conventional GKRS (c-GKRS) outcomes.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the radiosurgical outcomes of 50 BAVMs treated with RA-GKRS compared with the 306 BAVMs treated with c-GKRS. Considering possible differences in the baseline characteristics, we also created propensity score-matched cohorts and compared the radiosurgical outcomes between them to ensure comparability.

RESULTS

The obliteration time was shorter in the RA-GKRS group (cumulative rate, 88% vs 65% at 4 yr [P = .001]). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis demonstrated that the RA-GKRS group (hazard ratio 2.38, 95% CI 1.58-3.60; P = .001) had a better obliteration rate. The cumulative 4-yr post-GKRS hemorrhage rates were 4.0% and 2.6% in the RA-GKRS and c-GKRS groups, respectively (P = .558). There was a trend toward early post-GKRS signal change in the RA-GKRS group compared with the c-GKRS group (cumulative rate, 38% vs 29% at 2 yr; P = .118). Those results were also confirmed in the matched cohort analyses.

CONCLUSION

The integration of RA into GKRS is promising and may provide earlier nidus obliteration.
Selumetinib normalizes Ras/MAPK signaling in clinically relevant neurofibromatosis type 1 minipig tissues in vivo
Authors: Osum Sara H , Coutts Alexander W , Duerre Dylan J , Tschida Barbara R , Kirstein Mark N , Fisher James , Bell W Robert , Delpuech Oona , Smith Paul D , Widemann Brigitte C , Moertel Christopher L , Largaespada David A , Watson Adrienne L
Published: February 2021

Background

The MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib was recently approved for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)-associated plexiform neurofibromas, but outcomes could be improved and its pharmacodynamic evaluation in other relevant tissues is limited. The aim of this study was to assess selumetinib tissue pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) using a minipig model of NF1.

Methods

WT (n = 8) and NF1 (n = 8) minipigs received a single oral dose of 7.3 mg/kg selumetinib. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), cerebral cortex, optic nerve, sciatic nerve, and skin were collected for PK analysis and PD analysis of extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation (p-ERK) inhibition and transcript biomarkers (DUSP6 & FOS).

Results

Key selumetinib PK parameters aligned with those observed in human patients. Selumetinib concentrations were higher in CNS tissues from NF1 compared to WT animals. Inhibition of ERK phosphorylation was achieved in PBMCs (mean 60% reduction), skin (95%), and sciatic nerve (64%) from all minipigs, whereas inhibition of ERK phosphorylation in cerebral cortex was detected only in NF1 animals (71%). Basal p-ERK levels were significantly higher in NF1 minipig optic nerve compared to WT and were reduced to WT levels (60%) with selumetinib. Modulation of transcript biomarkers was observed in all tissues.

Conclusions

Selumetinib reduces MAPK signaling in tissues clinically relevant to NF1, effectively normalizing p-ERK to WT levels in optic nerve but resulting in abnormally low levels of p-ERK in the skin. These results suggest that selumetinib exerts activity in NF1-associated CNS tumors by normalizing Ras/MAPK signaling and may explain common MEK inhibitor-associated dermatologic toxicities.
Selection of Entertainment Media
Authors: Luong Kate T. , Knobloch-Westerwick Silvia
Published: February 2021

The current chapter first reviews the theoretical propositions of and empirical evidence for mood management theory (MMT, Zillmann, 1988a), which proposes that media users select media messages in order to hedonically optimize their mood; namely, to increase the valence and regulate the arousal of their moods, and to avoid content relevant to negative moods. However, media users do sometimes select messages (e.g., tragedy movies or sad music) contrary to the predictions of MMT. Thus, we complement this perspective by reviewing a more recent model, the selective exposure self- and affect-management (SESAM) model (Knobloch-Westerwick, 2015), which shares methodological roots with MMT and focuses on how media users select messages not only to improve their moods but also to manage their self-concepts and fulfill their self-related motivations. Finally, future directions for selective exposure research are discussed.
Media Entertainment as Guilty Pleasure?
Authors: Reinecke Leonard , Meier Adrian
Published: February 2021

Using media, specifically those that offer entertainment, frequently conflicts with other goals and obligations in daily life. Users can manage these conflicts either by applying self-control and upholding their goals, or by giving in to media temptations, which elicits negative emotional appraisals such as guilt that potentially spoil entertainment experiences. Currently, a systematic integration of self-control and entertainment theory is direly needed to guide future work in this area. The goals of the present chapter are thus threefold: (1) It provides a theoretical explication of the central components of self-control and subsequently (2) introduces the appraisal of media use, self-control, and entertainment (AMUSE) model. The AMUSE model systematizes the available empirical evidence on the role of self-control for the selection, processing, and effects of (entertaining) media content and, on this basis, the chapter (3) provides testable propositions for future research.
Advances in Research on the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME)
Authors: Eden Allison , Tamborini Ron , Aley Melinda , Goble Henry
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME), which examines connections between moral judgment and exposure to narrative media. The MIME explicates distinct, a priori–defined domains of moral intuitions that cut across cultural boundaries and identifies underlying processes that shape related social perceptions to describe how media and moral judgment are intertwined. The model’s dual-process perspective suggests some moral judgments are determined by quick gut reflexes and others by reflective deliberation. The MIME’s multistage process contains short-term and long-term components. The short-term component describes how exemplars that prime moral intuitions affect the appraisal of media content, which then prompts selective exposure to media that upholds primed intuitions. The long-term component describes how aggregate patterns of exposure to media that upholds primed intuitions encourages further (mass) production of content featuring those intuitions. This reciprocal process describes how media systems and audiences influence the salience of one another’s moral intuitions.
Player-Avatar Identification, Relationships, and Interaction
Authors: Bowman Nicholas David , Banks Jaime
Published: February 2021

Some argue the entertainment potential of video games lies in interactivity—exercising agency over on-screen content. This potential is perhaps best represented by the avatar, which stands as players’ de facto representative in digital worlds. The player-avatar bond is often studied through the lens of identification: a process by which players recognize and temporarily adopt properties or perspectives of another. However, identification is only one way that players can experience avatars. Evidence suggests that player-avatar relationships are variably social, ranging from completely asocial and functional (avatars as “pieces on a gameboard”) to fully social and richly emotional relationship (avatars as “people in a world”), with identification processes (avatars as “just like me”) situated within that sociality continuum. This chapter outlines conceptual and empirical arguments related to how video game players identify as, relate to, and interact with game avatars in order to better understand entertainment experiences in video games.
Entertainment in Virtual Reality and Beyond
Authors: Hartmann Tilo , Fox Jesse
Published: February 2021

Recently, virtual reality (VR) has emerged, but a conceptual framework explicating potential foundational pillars of VR entertainment is still missing. The present chapter aims to fill this gap by introducing, based on a review of the related literature, such a conceptual framework. It proposes that the typical VR experience is characterized by the interaction of three core mechanisms or affordances (that, albeit in different constellations and to a different degree, also underlie other media channels), namely a profound sense of embodiment, spatial presence or a sense of physical co-location of other entities and events, and users’ cognitive distancing. It argues that these factors jointly affect the extent users experience VR as immediately self-relevant and consequential. By linking these three foundational pillars of the VR experience to users’ entertainment experience and related research on media entertainment, it derives five propositions about entertainment in VR (and other channels that support these affordances).
The Minor Prophets’ Relation to the Torah and Former Prophets
Authors: Lasine Thelle Rannfrid I.
Published: February 2021

This essay tracks references to Israel’s past in the Minor Prophets as one avenue into exploring their connections to the Torah and Former Prophets, while also observing ways in which shared or similar traditions shape prophetic rhetoric. Key themes emerge, such as God’s character, apostasy and idolatry, covenant and judgment, and critique of power and leadership. Specific remarks, particularly in the last of the Twelve, indicate complex and innovative processes of the reinterpretation of Torah and prophecy. These derive canonical meaning when the Book of the Twelve is read in relation to the Torah and Former Prophets as authoritative collections.
Attributions and Lost and Promised Works
Authors: Kahn Aaron M.
Published: February 2021

When studying an author of the stature of Miguel de Cervantes, we relish the corpus of works that he created in his lifetime with which we are familiar, but within the Cervantine canon appear the titles of numerous works that have not survived to the twenty-first century. Likewise, works have been attributed to Cervantes that have gained the attention of academics to varying degrees. This chapter explores, genre by genre, works attributed to Cervantes, and works that he wrote, or promised to write, that either are lost or were never written at all.
Wakanda Phambili!
Authors: Pereira Laura , Lavery Charne , Moyo Busiso , Selomane Odirilwe , Sitas Nadia , Sitas Rike , Trisos Christopher
Published: February 2021

This chapter develops and articulates an African futurist approach to framing and meeting the challenges of social-ecological futures. It advocates a broader conception of futures as lived practice embedded within specific places (e.g. Africa) and their histories, and explores how such practice can form an alternative model to current (Western) climate and environmental scenarios. It proposes that narratives from non-Western cultures offer more nuanced and diverse approaches to decision-making under conditions of uncertainty than the archetypical scenarios depicted in current models. This chapter uses science fiction from sub-Saharan Africa as a source for more experiential decision-making that emphasizes a decolonial agenda, which could shape and change the way we use quantitative modelling to consider future trajectories for the planet in the age of the Anthropocene.
The Book of Job
Authors: Gorea Maria
Published: February 2021

The Greek version of the book of Job in its primitive form (OG) presents a text that is 389 stichs shorter than that of the Hebrew textus receptus. The pre-Hexaplaric Greek text is attested by scattered quotations from some Latin authors, by the Coptic-Sahidic version, or by the Greek Testament of Job. Origen filled the lacunae with revised material in order to restore the original length of the text. While the literal approach of this asterisked material towards the Hebrew helps in determining the translation technique that the translator followed, the OG text shows less concern for literality. Origen’s Hexaplaric Septuagint is hybrid because the lacunae were not simply the result of mere omissions, but also verses that were summarized or more synthetic. The ecclesiastical version preserved these additions and manuscripts have carefully indicated them, as also modern editions.
The Samaritan Pentateuch in Greek
Authors: Marsh Bradley John
Published: February 2021

It is widely held that the Samaritans produced a Greek version of their distinct recension of the Pentateuch (SP), referred to as the Samareitikon, though the precise historical circumstances of this text are unknown. Aside from an inscription from a Samaritan synagogue in Thessalonica quoting Num. 6:22–7 in Greek, the majority of evidence for the SP in Greek is preserved in Christian sources, dating from the fourth century ce. Moreover, Alfred Rahlfs claimed in 1911 to have discovered fragments of Genesis and Deuteronomy from the original Samareitikon; more recently, Bradley Marsh has made the same claim for fragments of Exodus.
The Syrohexapla
Authors: Liljeström Marketta
Published: February 2021

This chapter gives an overview of the main issues concerning the Syrohexapla. It discusses what is known about its origin and what can be said about its Greek source text(s) based on both the colophons and on textual studies. The chapter looks at the Syrohexapla first as a translation in its own right reflecting the features of ‘mirror translation’ and the translation’s original purpose. However, for LXX scholars the Syrohexapla is particularly interesting for its connection to the Hexapla. Therefore the chapter summarizes the research on the Syrohexapla’s text and on the marginalia’s role and value as text-critical witnesses to the Hexapla and to the Hexaplaric recension.
Publishing The Museum (1746–1747)
Authors: Orr Leah
Published: February 2021

This essay examines new archival evidence relating to the planning, publication, and advertising of The Museum, a fortnightly periodical published in London in 1746–1747 and known now to scholars for its publication of poetry by a number of canonical English poets. This evidence shows that the periodical was not the work of Robert Dodsley alone, as has been claimed, but was in fact a collaboration between Dodsley and fellow booksellers Charles Hitch, Thomas Longman, and John Rivington. It was Rivington, not Dodsley, who carried out the details of arranging advertisements, paying printers and newspapers, and registering The Museum with the Stationers’ Company. This new evidence also clarifies the contributions of Mark Akenside and John Campbell, and suggests that prose essays, reviews, and history were more important features of The Museum than poetry.
Replicating Private Equity with Value Investing, Homemade Leverage, and Hold-to-Maturity Accounting
Authors: Stafford Erik
Published: February 2021

The contributions of asset selection and incremental leverage to buyout investment performance are more important than typically assumed or estimated to be. Buyout funds select small firms with distinct value characteristics. Public equities with these characteristics have high risk-adjusted returns relative to common factors. Adding incremental leverage to a publicly traded stock portfolio increases both risks and mean returns in this sample. Direct investments in private equity funds earn lower mean returns than a replicating strategy designed to mimic these key economic features of their investment process with public equities and brokerage loans.
Relationship Between the Activities of Gloss-Selective Neurons in the Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex and the Gloss Discrimination Behavior of the Monkey
Authors: Baba Mika , Nishio Akiko , Komatsu Hidehiko
Published: February 2021

In the macaque monkey, neurons that selectively respond to specific gloss are present in a restricted region of the central part of the inferior temporal (IT) cortex. Although the population activity of these neurons is known to represent the perceptual gloss space, the involvement of their activity in gloss perception has not been directly tested. In the present study, we examined the causal relationship between the activities of gloss-selective neurons and gloss perception by applying electrical microstimulation or injection of small amounts of muscimol (GABAA agonist) to manipulate neural activities while monkeys performed a gloss discrimination task. We found that microstimulation within or in the vicinity of the region where gloss-selective neurons were recorded induced bias toward higher gloss judgment. With muscimol injection, gloss discrimination performance was degraded in one monkey after the first injection into the region where gloss-selective neurons were recorded. These results suggest that gloss discrimination behavior is mediated by the activities of a gloss-selective network that includes the gloss-selective region in the central IT cortex examined here.
Engaging Frontline Providers Prevents Hypothermia and Improves Communication in the Postoperative Neonate
Authors: Guidash Judith C. , Berman Loren , Panagos Patoula G. , Sullivan Kevin M.
Published: February 2021

Background:

Neonates undergoing surgery are at high risk for perioperative hypothermia. Hypothermia has been associated with increased adverse events. Transfer of care from the operating room (OR) to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) adds another layer of risk for this population introducing the potential for miscommunication leading to preventable adverse events.

Purpose:

The aim of this quality improvement initiative is to decrease mean postoperative hypothermia rate and achieve compliance with use of a standardized postoperative hand-off in neonates transferred to the NICU from the OR.

Methods:

An interdisciplinary team identified opportunities for heat loss during the perioperative period. The lack of standardized perioperative communication between the NICU and the OR and postoperative communication between neonatology, anesthesiology, surgery, and nursing were noted. Guidelines for maintaining euthermia in the perioperative period and a standardized interdisciplinary postoperative hand-off communication tool were created.

Findings/Results:

Mean rate for participation in the hand-off process increased from 78.8% to 98.4% during the study period. The mean hypothermia rate improved from 28.6% to 6.3% (P < .0001) and was sustained.

Implications for Practice:

Creating a hypothermia guideline and standardizing temperature monitoring can significantly decrease the rate of postoperative hypothermia in neonates. Standardization of transfer of care from OR to NICU increases consistent communication between the services.

Implications for Research:

Future research and improvement efforts are needed to optimize the management of surgical neonates through their transfers of care.
Baby STRENGTH
Authors: Miller Patricia A. , Willier Tina
Published: February 2021

Background:

Traditional medication-based management of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) results in long hospitalizations. Nonpharmacologic treatment and using the Eat, Sleep, Console (ESC) model of care have been shown to decrease lengths of stay (LOSs).

Purpose:

To determine whether using the ESC model of care to treat infants with opioid withdrawal resulted in decreased LOSs and number of infants receiving morphine when compared with traditional medication management.

Methods:

Retrospective medical review for all patients admitted for NAS 12 months before and 12 months after implementing the ESC model of care. Data collected from electronic health records included demographic data, maternal history, infant LOS, infants receiving morphine, and birth weight/weight on day of life (DOL) 5. Univariate analysis was used to control for demographic data/risk factors. A 2-samples t test was used to compare average LOSs. Chi-square test was used to detect differences in the number of infants receiving morphine. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4 software.

Results:

LOS decreased from mean of 17.7 days to a mean of 5.9 days (P < .0001). The number of infants receiving morphine decreased from 20 (58.9%) to 1 (2.7%) (P < .0001). No statistically significant difference was noted in the percentage of weight loss on DOL 5. Data showed an increase in breastfeeding rates from 41.18% to 64.86% (P = .0456).

Implications for Practice:

The ESC model of care decreased infant LOS and the number of morphine doses administered for opioid withdrawal symptoms. Maternal breastfeeding rates increased.

Implications for Research:

More research is needed to determine long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants managed using ESC principles.
Disproportionate Case Reduction After Ban of Elective Surgeries During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
Authors: Laux Christoph J. , Bauer David E. , Kohler Adrian , Uçkay Ilker , Farshad Mazda
Published: February 2021

Study Design:

This is a retrospective case analysis.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to illustrate the numerical effects of regulatory restrictions of elective surgery at an orthopaedic university hospital.

Summary of Background Data:

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic all over the world places extraordinary demands on health care systems which are forced to ensure structural and personnel capacities. Consequently, hospitals may only perform urgent interventions. Spine patients, however, often need urgent surgery and, moreover, bear an above-average perioperative risk frequently requiring postoperative surveillance on intensive care units (ICUs). Facing this dilemma, we want to share our practice and its unexpected numerical effects.

Methods:

We compare case statistics during normal operation, directly before and after implementation of regulatory measures. We also analyzed the differences in ICU utilization, complexity and duration of interventions and the patient population.

Results:

Spine surgical interventions have been reduced by 42.7%. Regulatory restriction of “elective surgeries” in pandemic situations results in reduced ICU utilization, however in a disproportionate manner. Although other specialized surgeries can be reduced by 59%, surgical spine cases are only diminishable by 24%. The spine surgery-related ICU occupancy has been reduced by 35%.

Conclusion:

The disproportionate effect of case reduction needs to be considered while calculating resources released by regulatory limitation of “elective surgeries” on a (inter-)national level.
Evaluating the influence of action- and subject-specific factors on chimpanzee action copying
Authors: Motes-Rodrigo Alba , Mundry Roger , Call Josep , Tennie Claudio
Published: February 2021

The ability to imitate has been deemed crucial for the emergence of human culture. Although non-human animals also possess culture, the acquisition mechanisms underlying behavioural variation between populations in other species is still under debate. It is especially controversial whether great apes can spontaneously imitate. Action- and subject-specific factors have been suggested to influence the likelihood of an action to be imitated. However, few studies have jointly tested these hypotheses. Just one study to date has reported spontaneous imitation in chimpanzees (Persson
et al
. 2017
Primates
59
, 19–29), although important methodological limitations were not accounted for. Here, we present a study in which we (i) replicate the above-mentioned study addressing their limitations in an observational study of human–chimpanzee imitation; and (ii) aim to test the influence of action- and subject-specific factors on action copying in chimpanzees by providing human demonstrations of multiple actions to chimpanzees of varying rearing background. To properly address our second aim, we conducted a preparatory power analysis using simulated data. Contrary to Persson
et al
.'s study, we found extremely low rates of spontaneous chimpanzee imitation and we did not find enough cases of action matching to be able to apply our planned model with sufficient statistical power. We discuss possible factors explaining the lack of observed action matching in our experiments compared with previous studies.
Using strontium isotopes to determine philopatry and dispersal in primates: a case study from Kibale National Park
Authors: Hamilton Marian I. , Fernandez Diego P. , Nelson Sherry V.
Published: February 2021

Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) allow researchers to track changes in mobility throughout an animal's life and could theoretically be used to reconstruct sex-biases in philopatry and dispersal patterns in primates. Dispersal patterns are a life-history variable that correlate with numerous aspects of behaviour and socio-ecology that are elusive in the fossil record. The present study demonstrates that the standard archaeological method used to differentiate between ‘local’ and ‘non-local’ individuals, which involves comparing faunal isotopic ratios with environmental isotopic minima and maxima, is not always reliable; aspects of primate behaviour, local environments, geologic heterogeneity and the availability of detailed geologic maps may compromise its utility in certain situations. This study instead introduces a different methodological approach: calculating offset values to compare87Sr/86Sr of teeth with that of bone or local environments. We demonstrate this method's effectiveness using data from five species of primates, including chimpanzees, from Kibale National Park, Uganda. Tooth-to-bone offsets reliably indicate sex-biases in dispersal for primates with small home ranges while tooth-to-environment offset comparisons are more reliable for primates with larger home ranges. Overall, tooth-to-environment offsets yield the most reliable predictions of species' sex-biases in dispersal.
The significance of long-range correction to the hydroperoxyl radical-scavenging reaction of trans-resveratrol and gnetin C
Authors: Khoirunisa Vera , Rusydi Febdian , Boli Lusia S. P. , Puspitasari Ira , Rachmawati Heni , Dipojono Hermawan K.
Published: February 2021

Density functional theory has been gaining popularity for studying the radical scavenging activity of antioxidants. However, only a few studies investigate the importance of calculation methods on the radical-scavenging reactions. In this study, we examined the significance of (i) the long-range correction on the coulombic interaction and (ii) the London dispersion correction to the hydroperoxyl radical-scavenging reaction of trans-resveratrol and gnetin C. We employed B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, M06-2X exchange-correlation functionals and B3LYP with the D3 version of Grimme’s dispersion in the calculations. The results showed that long-range correction on the coulombic interaction had a significant effect on the increase of reaction and activation energies. The increase was in line with the change of hydroperoxyl radical’s orientation in the transition state structure. Meanwhile, the London dispersion correction only had a minor effect on the transition state structure, reaction energy and activation energy. Overall, long-range correction on the coulombic interaction had a significant impact on the radical-scavenging reaction.
A novel metabarcoding primer pair for environmental DNA analysis of Cephalopoda (Mollusca) targeting the nuclear 18S rRNA region
Authors: de Jonge Daniëlle S. W. , Merten Véronique , Bayer Till , Puebla Oscar , Reusch Thorsten B. H. , Hoving Henk-Jan T.
Published: February 2021

Cephalopods are pivotal components of marine food webs, but biodiversity studies are hampered by challenges to sample these agile marine molluscs. Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) is a potentially powerful technique to study oceanic cephalopod biodiversity and distribution but has not been applied thus far. We present a novel universal primer pair for metabarcoding cephalopods from eDNA,
Ceph18S
(Forward: 5′-CGC GGC GCT ACA TAT TAG AC-3′, Reverse: 5′-GCA CTT AAC CGA CCG TCG AC-3′). The primer pair targets the hypervariable region V2 of the nuclear 18S rRNA gene and amplifies a relatively short target sequence of approximately 200 bp in order to allow the amplification of degraded DNA.
In silico
tests on a reference database and empirical tests on DNA extracts from cephalopod tissue estimate that 44–66% of cephalopod species, corresponding to about 310–460 species, can be amplified and identified with this primer pair. A multi-marker approach with the novel
Ceph18S
and two previously published cephalopod mitochondrial 16S rRNA primer sets targeting the same region (Jarman
et al
. 2006
Mol. Ecol. Notes.
6
, 268–271; Peters
et al
. 2015
Mar. Ecol.
36
, 1428–1439) is estimated to amplify and identify 89% of all cephalopod species, of which an estimated 19% can only be identified by
Ceph18S
. All sequences obtained with
Ceph18S
were submitted to GenBank, resulting in new 18S rRNA sequences for 13 cephalopod taxa.
An improved algorithm for the maximal information coefficient and its application
Authors: Cao Dan , Chen Yuan , Chen Jin , Zhang Hongyan , Yuan Zheming
Published: February 2021

The maximal information coefficient (MIC) captures both linear and nonlinear correlations between variable pairs. In this paper, we proposed the BackMIC algorithm for MIC estimation. The BackMIC algorithm adds a searching back process on the equipartitioned axis to obtain a better grid partition than the original implementation algorithm ApproxMaxMI. And similar to the ChiMIC algorithm, it terminates the grid search process by the
χ
2
-test instead of the maximum number of bins B(
n
,
α
). Results on simulated data show that the BackMIC algorithm maintains the generality of MIC, and gives more reasonable grid partition and MIC values for independent and dependent variable pairs under comparable running times. Moreover, it is robust under different
α
in B(
n
,
α
). MIC calculated by the BackMIC algorithm reveals an improvement in statistical power and equitability. We applied (1-MIC) as the distance measurement in the K-means algorithm to perform a clustering of the cancer/normal samples. The results on four cancer datasets demonstrated that the MIC values calculated by the BackMIC algorithm can obtain better clustering results, indicating the correlations between samples measured by the BackMIC algorithm were more credible than those measured by other algorithms.
Carrier and dilution effects of CO
2
on thoron emissions from a zeolitized tuff exposed to subvolcanic temperatures
Authors: Mollo Silvio , Moschini Piergiorgio , Galli Gianfranco , Tuccimei Paola , Lucchetti Carlo , Iezzi Gianluca , Scarlato Piergiorgio
Published: February 2021

Radon (
222
Rn) and thoron (
220
Rn) are two isotopes belonging to the noble gas radon (
sensu lato
) that is frequently employed for the geochemical surveillance of active volcanoes. Temperature gradients operating at subvolcanic conditions may induce chemical and structural modifications in rock-forming minerals and their related
222
Rn–
220
Rn emissions. Additionally, CO
2
fluxes may also contribute enormously to the transport of radionuclides through the microcracks and pores of subvolcanic rocks. In view of these articulated phenomena, we have experimentally quantified the changes of
220
Rn signal caused by dehydration of a zeolitized tuff exposed to variable CO
2
fluxes. Results indicate that, at low CO
2
fluxes, water molecules and hydroxyl groups adsorbed on the glassy surface of macro- and micropores are physically removed by an intermolecular proton transfer mechanism, leading to an increase of the
220
Rn signal. By contrast, at high CO
2
fluxes,
220
Rn emissions dramatically decrease because of the strong dilution capacity of CO
2
that overprints the advective effect of carrier fluids. We conclude that the sign and magnitude of radon (
sensu lato
) changes observed in volcanic settings depend on the flux rate of carrier fluids and the rival effects between advective transport and radionuclide dilution.
Are publications on zoological taxonomy under attack?
Authors: Pinto Ângelo Parise , Mejdalani Gabriel , Mounce Ross , Silveira Luís Fábio , Marinoni Luciane , Rafael José Albertino
Published: February 2021

Taxonomy is essential to biological sciences and the priority field in face of the biodiversity crisis. The industry of scientific publications has made extensive promotion and display of bibliometric indexes, resulting in side effects such as the Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF) mania. Inadequacies of the widely used indexes to assess taxonomic publications are among the impediments for the progress of this field. Based on an unusually high proportion of self-citations, the mega-journal
Zootaxa
, focused on zoological taxonomy, was suppressed from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR, Clarivate™). A prompt reaction from the scientific community against this decision took place exposing myths and misuses of bibliometrics. Our goal is to shed light on the impact of misuse of bibliometrics to the production in taxonomy. We explored JCR's metrics for 2010–2018 of 123 zoological journals publishing taxonomic studies.
Zootaxa
, with around 15 000 citations, received 311% more citations than the second most cited journal, and shows higher levels of self-citations than similar journals. We consider
Zootaxa
's scope and the fact that it is a mega-journal are insufficient to explain its high level of self-citation. Instead, this result is related to the ‘
Zootaxa
phenomenon', a sociological bias that includes visibility and potentially harmful misconceptions that portray the journal as the only one that publishes taxonomic studies. Menaces to taxonomy come from many sources and the low bibliometric indexes, including JIF, are only one factor among a range of threats. Instead of being focused on statistically illiterate journal metrics endorsing the villainy of policies imposed by profit-motivated companies, taxonomists should be engaged with renewed strength in actions directly connected to the promotion and practice of this science without regard for citation analysis.
Understanding spatial patterns in rape reporting delays
Authors: Klemmer Konstantin , Neill Daniel B. , Jarvis Stephen A.
Published: February 2021

Under-reporting and delayed reporting of rape crime are severe issues that can complicate the prosecution of perpetrators and prevent rape survivors from receiving needed support. Building on a massive database of publicly available criminal reports from two US cities, we develop a machine learning framework to predict delayed reporting of rape to help tackle this issue. Motivated by large and unexplained spatial variation in reporting delays, we build predictive models to analyse spatial, temporal and socio-economic factors that might explain this variation. Our findings suggest that we can explain a substantial proportion of the variation in rape reporting delays using only openly available data. The insights from this study can be used to motivate targeted, data-driven policies to assist vulnerable communities. For example, we find that younger rape survivors and crimes committed during holiday seasons exhibit longer delays. Our insights can thus help organizations focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence to provide their services at the right place and time. Due to the non-confidential nature of the data used in our models, even community organizations lacking access to sensitive police data can use these findings to optimize their operations.
Dragondrop: a novel passive mechanism for aerial righting in the dragonfly
Authors: Fabian Samuel T. , Zhou Rui , Lin Huai-Ti
Published: February 2021

Dragonflies perform dramatic aerial manoeuvres when chasing targets but glide for periods during cruising flights. This makes dragonflies a great system to explore the role of passive stabilizing mechanisms that do not compromise manoeuvrability. We challenged dragonflies by dropping them from selected inverted attitudes and collected 6-degrees-of-freedom aerial recovery kinematics via custom motion capture techniques. From these kinematic data, we performed rigid-body inverse dynamics to reconstruct the forces and torques involved in righting behaviour. We found that inverted dragonflies typically recover themselves with the shortest rotation from the initial body inclination. Additionally, they exhibited a strong tendency to pitch-up with their head leading out of the manoeuvre, despite the lower moment of inertia in the roll axis. Surprisingly, anaesthetized dragonflies could also complete aerial righting reliably. Such passive righting disappeared in recently dead dragonflies but could be partially recovered by waxing their wings to the anaesthetised posture. Our kinematics data, inverse dynamics model and wind-tunnel experiments suggest that the dragonfly's long abdomen and wing posture generate a rotational tendency and passive attitude recovery mechanism during falling. This work demonstrates an aerodynamically stable body configuration in a flying insect and raises new questions in sensorimotor control for small flying systems.
Early events in hepatitis B infection: the role of inoculum dose
Authors: Ciupe Stanca M. , Vaidya Naveen K. , Forde Jonathan E.
Published: February 2021

The relationship between the inoculum dose and the ability of the pathogen to invade the host is poorly understood. Experimental studies in non-human primates infected with different inoculum doses of hepatitis B virus have shown a non-monotonic relationship between dose magnitude and infection outcome, with high and low doses leading to 100% liver infection and intermediate doses leading to less than 0.1% liver infection, corresponding to CD4 T-cell priming. Since hepatitis B clearance is CD8 T-cell mediated, the question of whether the inoculum dose influences CD8 T-cell dynamics arises. To help answer this question, we developed a mathematical model of virus–host interaction following hepatitis B virus infection. Our model explains the experimental data well, and predicts that the inoculum dose affects both the timing of the CD8 T-cell expansion and the quality of its response, especially the non-cytotoxic function. We find that a low-dose challenge leads to slow CD8 T-cell expansion, weak non-cytotoxic functions, and virus persistence; high- and medium-dose challenges lead to fast CD8 T-cell expansion, strong cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic function, and virus clearance; while a super-low-dose challenge leads to delayed CD8 T-cell expansion, strong cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic function, and virus clearance. These results are useful for designing immune cell-based interventions.