bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison Theorems for 3D Manifolds With Scalar Curvature Bound
Authors: Munteanu Ovidiu , Wang Jiaping
Published: October 2021

Two sharp comparison results are derived for 3D complete noncompact manifolds with scalar curvature bounded from below. The 1st one concerns the Green’s function. When the scalar curvature is nonnegative, it states that the rate of decay of an energy quantity over the level set is strictly less than that of the Euclidean space unless the manifold itself is isometric to the Euclidean space. The result is in turn converted into a sharp area comparison for the level set of the Green’s function when in addition the Ricci curvature of the manifold is assumed to be asymptotically nonnegative at infinity. The 2nd result provides a sharp upper bound of the bottom spectrum in terms of the scalar curvature lower bound, in contrast to the classical result of Cheng, which involves a Ricci curvature lower bound.
Are clinicians using routinely collected data to drive practice improvement? A cross-sectional survey
Authors: Gawthorne Julie , Fasugba Oyebola , Levi Chris , Mcinnes Elizabeth , Ferguson Caleb , Mcneil John j , Cadilhac Dominique a , Everett Bronwyn , Fernandez Ritin , Fry Margaret , Goldsmith Helen , Hickman Louise , Jackson Deborah , Maguire Jane , Murray Edel , Perry Lin , Middleton Sandy
Published: October 2021

Background

Clinical registry participation is a measure of healthcare quality. Limited knowledge exists on Australian hospitals’ participation in clinical registries and whether this registry data informs quality improvement initiatives.

Objective

To identify participation in clinical registries, determine if registry data inform quality improvement initiatives, and identify registry participation enablers and clinicians’ educational needs to improve use of registry data to drive practice change.

Methods

A self-administered survey was distributed to staff coordinating registries in seven hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. Eligible registries were international-, national- and state-based clinical, condition-/disease-specific and device/product registries.

Results

Response rate was 70% (97/139). Sixty-two (64%) respondents contributed data to 46 eligible registries. Registry reports were most often received by nurses (61%) and infrequently by hospital executives (8.4%). Less than half used registry data ‘always’ or ‘often’ to influence practice improvement (48%) and care pathways (49%). Protected time for data collection (87%) and benchmarking (79%) were ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to promote continued participation. Over half ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that clinical practice improvement training (79%) and evidence–practice gap identification (77%) would optimize use of registry data.

Conclusions

Registry data are generally only visible to local speciality units and not routinely used to inform quality improvement. Centralized on-going registry funding, accessible and transparent integrated information systems combined with data informed improvement science education could be first steps to promote quality data-driven clinical improvement initiatives.
By What Criteria Are Pictorial Styles Individuated?
Authors: Lim Hoyeon
Published: October 2021

In this article, I argue that pictorial styles are individuated in terms of different degrees of determinacy. For example, Morandi’s still-life etchings and Monet’s cathedral paintings embody different styles in that in the former, shape properties are differentiated in a fine-grained manner, and in the latter, coarse grained. I develop this view by critically examining John Kulvicki’s analysis of how we interpret pictures. According to Kulvicki, we rarely interpret pictures as differing in terms of features that belong to the vehicle of representation—that is, the design-content relation. Rather, he thinks that we individuate pictorial styles in terms of the content that each picture represents. Contra Kulvicki, I argue that we interpret the vehicular features of pictures in light of our knowledge of picture production, and that the diversity of pictorial styles involves both content and vehicle.
On the Estimation of POD and LOD of Qualitative Microbiological Assays from a Multi-Laboratory Validation Study
Authors: Wang Shizhen S , Ihrie John
Published: October 2021

Background

Jarvis et al. in 2019 (J. AOAC Int. 102: 1617–1623) estimated the mean laboratory effect (µ), standard deviation of laboratory effects (σ), probability of detection (POD), and level of detection (LOD) from a multi-laboratory validation study of qualitative microbiological assays using a random intercept complementary log–log model. Their approach estimated σ based on a Laplace approximation to the likelihood function of the model, but estimated µ from a fixed effectmodel due to a limitation in the MS Excel spreadsheet which was used by the authors to develop a calculation tool.

Objective

We compared the estimates of µ and σ from three approaches (the Laplace approximation that estimates µ and σ simultaneously from the random intercept model, adaptive Gauss–Hermite quadrature (AGHQ), and the method of Jarvis et al.) and introduced an R Shiny app to implement the AGHQ using the widely used “lme4” R package.

Methods

We conducted a simulation study to compare the accuracy of the estimates of µ and σ from the three approaches and compared the estimates of µ, σ, LOD, etc. between the R Shiny app and the spreadsheet calculation tool developed by Jarvis et al. for an example dataset.

Results

Our simulation study shows that, while the three approaches produce similar estimates of σ, the AGHQ has generally the best performance for estimating µ (and hence mean POD and LOD). The differences in the estimates between the R Shiny app and the spreadsheet were demonstrated using the example dataset.

Conclusion

The AGHQ is the best method for estimating µ, POD, and LOD.

Highlights

The user-friendly R Shiny app provides a better alternative to the spreadsheet.
Water and forage intake, diet digestibility, and blood parameters of beef cows and heifers consuming water with varying concentrations of total dissolved salts
Authors: Moehlenpah Alexandra N , Ribeiro Luana P S , Puchala Ryszard , Goetsch Arthur Louis , Beck Paul , Pezeshki Adel , Gross Megan A , Holder Amanda L , Lalman David L
Published: October 2021

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of water quality on water intake (WI), forage intake, diet digestibility, and blood constituents in beef cows and growing beef heifers. This was a replicated 5 × 5 Latin square with five drinking water treatments within each square: 1) fresh water (Control); 2) brackish water (100 BRW treatment) with approximately 6,000 mg/kg total dissolved solids (TDS); 3) same TDS level as 100 BRW achieved by addition of NaCl to fresh water (100 SLW); 4) 50% brackish water and 50% fresh water to achieve approximately 3,000 mg/kg TDS (50 BRW); and 5) same TDS level as 50 BRW achieved by addition of NaCl to fresh water (50 SLW). Each of the five 21-d periods consisted of 14 d of adaptation and 5 d of data collection. Animals were housed individually and fed mixed alfalfa (Medicago sativa) grass hay cubes. Feed and WI were recorded daily. Data were analyzed with animal as the experimental unit. Age, treatment, and age × treatment were fixed effects, and animal ID within age was the random variable for intake, digestibility, and blood parameter data. Water and feed intake were greater than expected, regardless of age or water treatment. No treatment × age interactions were identified for WI (P = 0.71), WI expressed as g/kg body weight (BW; P = 0.70), or dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.21). However, there was an age × treatment tendency for DMI when scaled to BW (P = 0.09) in cows consuming 100 BRW compared with fresh water. No differences were found for the other three treatments. Heifers provided 50 SLW water consumed less (P < 0.05) feed (g/kg BW) compared with heifers provided fresh water and 100 BRW. No differences (P > 0.05) in water, DMI, feed intake, or diet digestibility were found due to water quality treatment. In conclusion, under these conditions, neither absolute WI, absolute DMI, nor diet digestibility was influenced by the natural brackish or saline water used in this experiment. These results suggest that further research is necessary to determine thresholds for TDS or salinity concentration resulting in reduced water and/or feed intake and diet digestibility.
Structural insights into the enhanced thermostability of cysteine substitution mutants of L-histidine decarboxylase from Photobacterium phosphoreum
Authors: Oda Yuki , Nakata Kunio , Miyano Hiroshi , Mizukoshi Toshimi , Yamaguchi Hiroki , Kashiwagi Tatsuki
Published: October 2021

Enzymatic amino acid assays are important in physiological research and clinical diagnostics because abnormal amino acid concentrations in biofluids are associated with various diseases. L-histidine decarboxylase from Photobacterium phosphoreum (PpHDC) is a pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-dependent enzyme and a candidate for use in an L-histidine quantitation assay. Previous cysteine substitution experiments demonstrated that the PpHDC C57S mutant displayed improved long-term storage stability and thermostability when compared with those of the wild-type enzyme. In this study, combinational mutation experiments of single cysteine substitution mutants of PpHDC were performed, revealing that the PpHDC C57S/C101V/C282V mutant possessed the highest thermostability. The stabilizing mechanism of these mutations was elucidated by solving the structures of PpHDC C57S and C57S/C101V/C282V mutants by X-ray crystallography. In the crystal structures, two symmetry-related PpHDC molecules form a domain-swapped homodimer. The side chain of S57 is solvent exposed in the structure, indicating that the C57S mutation eliminates chemical oxidation or disulfide bond formation with a free thiol group, thereby providing greater stability. Residues 101 and 282 form hydrophobic interactions with neighboring hydrophobic residues. Mutations C101V and C282V enhanced thermostability of PpHDC by filling a cavity present in the hydrophobic core (C101V) and increasing hydrophobic interactions.
Social Selection and the Evolution of Maladaptation
Authors: McGlothlin Joel W , Fisher David N
Published: October 2021

Evolution by natural selection is often viewed as a process that inevitably leads to adaptation or an increase in population fitness over time. However, maladaptation, an evolved decrease in fitness, may also occur in response to natural selection under some conditions. Social selection, which arises from the effects of social partners on fitness, has been identified as a potential cause of maladaptation, but we lack a general rule identifying when social selection should lead to a decrease in population mean fitness. Here we use a quantitative genetic model to develop such a rule. We show that maladaptation is most likely to occur when social selection is strong relative to nonsocial selection and acts in an opposing direction. In this scenario, the evolution of traits that impose fitness costs on others may outweigh evolved gains in fitness for the individual, leading to a net decrease in population mean fitness. Furthermore, we find that maladaptation may also sometimes occur when phenotypes of interacting individuals negatively covary. We outline the biological situations where maladaptation in response to social selection can be expected, provide both quantitative genetic and phenotypic versions of our derived result, and suggest what empirical work would be needed to test it. We also consider the effect of social selection on inclusive fitness and support previous work showing that inclusive fitness cannot suffer an evolutionary decrease. Taken together, our results show that social selection may decrease population mean fitness when it opposes individual-level selection, even as inclusive fitness increases.
Outcomes of intensity-modulated radiation therapy for intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer: a single-institutional study
Authors: Sasamura Kazuma , Soyano Takashi , Kozuka Takuyo , Yuasa Takeshi , Yamamoto Shinya , Yonese Junji , Oguchi Masahiko , Yoshimura Ryoichi , Yoshioka Yasuo
Published: October 2021

Background

There are few reports from Japan about the outcomes of intensity-modulated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. This study was aimed at assessing the efficacy and toxicity of intensity-modulated radiation therapy in patients with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer.

Methods

We conducted a review of the data, retrieved from our institutional database, of patients who had received intensity-modulated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer at a radiation dose of 78 Gy in 39 fractions. Data of 201 patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer and 311 patients with high-risk prostate cancer were analyzed.

Results

The median follow-up period after the completion of intensity-modulated radiation therapy was 100 months (range, 24–154). The rates of cause-specific survival, overall survival, metastasis-free survival and biochemical recurrence-free survival in the intermediate-risk patients were 99, 95, 95 and 94% at 5 years and 99, 91, 90 and 86% at 8 years, respectively; the corresponding rates in the high-risk patients were 100, 97, 91 and 84% at 5 years and 96, 92, 84 and 76% at 8 years, respectively. The crude incidence of late grade 2–3 genitourinary toxicity was 28.1%, and that of late grade 3 genitourinary toxicity was 2.0%. The crude incidence of late grade 2 gastrointestinal toxicity was 5.1%, and there were no cases of late grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrated that intensity-modulated radiation therapy is effective for patients with localized intermediate-risk or high-risk prostate cancer while having minimal toxicity.
Vancomycin: an overview on current alternative antibiotic therapy to vanquish
Authors: Elnour Asim Ahmed , Ramadan Azza
Published: October 2021

Objectives

For more than 60 years, vancomycin has continued to be in clinical use despite drug resistance. Therefore, finding alternative antibiotics to vancomycin is of great need and urgency. The main objective was to provide robust evidence for the clinical pros and cons of these alternatives.

Methods

A rigorous literature search was conducted for studies involving vancomycin and suitable alternatives such as teicoplanin, linezolid, tedizolid, dalbavancin, telavancin, daptomycin, tigecycline, quinupristin/dalfopristin (streptogramins) and ceftobiprole/ceftaroline (cephalosporins).

Key findings

This review explored the limitations associated with the clinical utility of vancomycin in day-to-day clinical practice. New remedies such as ceftaroline, ceftobiprole, tedizolid, dalbavancin and oritavancin with specific clinical utility are becoming available and offer enhanced tolerability profile, effective cure rate and minimum rates of resistance. However, these alternatives are not without limitations.

Conclusions

We objectively provide suitable alternatives to vancomycin that could be included in hospital formularies and guidelines. However, caution must be undertaken when utilizing these alternatives, given their limitations.
Mass-loading and non-spherical divergence in hot galactic winds: implications for X-ray observations
Authors: Nguyen Dustin D , Thompson Todd A
Published: October 2021

Cool clouds are expected to be destroyed and incorporated into hot supernova-driven galactic winds. The mass-loading of a wind by the cool medium modifies the bulk velocity, temperature, density, entropy, and abundance profiles of the hot phase relative to an unmass-loaded outflow. We provide general equations and limits for this physics that can be used to infer the rate of cool gas entrainment from X-ray observations, accounting for non-spherical expansion. In general, mass-loading flattens the density and temperature profiles, decreases the velocity and increases the entropy if the Mach number is above a critical value. We first apply this model to a recent high-resolution galactic outflow simulation where the mass-loading can be directly inferred. We show that the temperature, entropy, and composition profiles are well matched, providing evidence that this physics sets the bulk hot gas profiles. We then model the diffuse X-ray emission from the local starburst M82. The non-spherical (more cylindrical) outflow geometry is directly taken from the observed X-ray surface brightness profile. These models imply a total mass-loading rate that is about equal to that injected in the starburst ≃ 10 M⊙ yr−1, and they predict an asymptotic hot wind velocity of $\sim 1000\, {\rm km \ s^{-1}}$, which is ∼1.5–2 times smaller than previous predictions. We also show how the observed entropy profile can be used to constrain the outflow velocity, making predictions for future missions like XRISM. We argue that the observed X-ray limb brightening may be explained by mass-loading at the outflow’s edges.
Translational activators and mitoribosomal isoforms cooperate to mediate mRNA-specific translation inSchizosaccharomyces pombemitochondria
Authors: Herbert Christopher J , Labarre-Mariotte Sylvie , Cornu David , Sophie Cyrielle , Panozzo Cristina , Michel Thomas , Dujardin Geneviève , Bonnefoy Nathalie
Published: October 2021

Mitochondrial mRNAs encode key subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation complexes that produce energy for the cell. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mitochondrial translation is under the control of translational activators, specific to each mRNA. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which more closely resembles the human system by its mitochondrial DNA structure and physiology, most translational activators appear to be either lacking, or recruited for post-translational functions. By combining bioinformatics, genetic and biochemical approaches we identified two interacting factors, Cbp7 and Cbp8, controlling Cytb production in S. pombe. We show that their absence affects cytb mRNA stability and impairs the detection of the Cytb protein. We further identified two classes of Cbp7/Cbp8 partners and showed that they modulated Cytb or Cox1 synthesis. First, two isoforms of bS1m, a protein of the small mitoribosomal subunit, that appear mutually exclusive and confer translational specificity. Second, a complex of four proteins dedicated to Cox1 synthesis, which includes an RNA helicase that interacts with the mitochondrial ribosome. Our results suggest that S. pombe contains, in addition to complexes of translational activators, a heterogeneous population of mitochondrial ribosomes that could specifically modulate translation depending on the mRNA translated, in order to optimally balance the production of different respiratory complex subunits.
qPTMplants: an integrative database of quantitative post-translational modifications in plants
Authors: Xue Han , Zhang Qingfeng , Wang Panqin , Cao Bijin , Jia Chongchong , Cheng Ben , Shi Yuhua , Guo Wei-Feng , Wang Zhenlong , Liu Ze-Xian , Cheng Han
Published: October 2021

As a crucial molecular mechanism, post-translational modifications (PTMs) play critical roles in a wide range of biological processes in plants. Recent advances in mass spectrometry-based proteomic technologies have greatly accelerated the profiling and quantification of plant PTM events. Although several databases have been constructed to store plant PTM data, a resource including more plant species and more PTM types with quantitative dynamics still remains to be developed. In this paper, we present an integrative database of quantitative PTMs in plants named qPTMplants (http://qptmplants.omicsbio.info), which hosts 1 242 365 experimentally identified PTM events for 429 821 nonredundant sites on 123 551 proteins under 583 conditions for 23 PTM types in 43 plant species from 293 published studies, with 620 509 quantification events for 136 700 PTM sites on 55 361 proteins under 354 conditions. Moreover, the experimental details, such as conditions, samples, instruments and methods, were manually curated, while a variety of annotations, including the sequence and structural characteristics, were integrated into qPTMplants. Then, various search and browse functions were implemented to access the qPTMplants data in a user-friendly manner. Overall, we anticipate that the qPTMplants database will be a valuable resource for further research on PTMs in plants.
Investigating molecular mechanisms of 2A-stimulated ribosomal pausing and frameshifting in Theilovirus
Authors: Hill Chris H , Cook Georgia M , Napthine Sawsan , Kibe Anuja , Brown Katherine , Caliskan Neva , Firth Andrew E , Graham Stephen C , Brierley Ian
Published: October 2021

The 2A protein of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) acts as a switch to stimulate programmed –1 ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) during infection. Here, we present the X-ray crystal structure of TMEV 2A and define how it recognises the stimulatory RNA element. We demonstrate a critical role for bases upstream of the originally predicted stem–loop, providing evidence for a pseudoknot-like conformation and suggesting that the recognition of this pseudoknot by beta-shell proteins is a conserved feature in cardioviruses. Through examination of PRF in TMEV-infected cells by ribosome profiling, we identify a series of ribosomal pauses around the site of PRF induced by the 2A-pseudoknot complex. Careful normalisation of ribosomal profiling data with a 2A knockout virus facilitated the identification, through disome analysis, of ribosome stacking at the TMEV frameshifting signal. These experiments provide unparalleled detail of the molecular mechanisms underpinning Theilovirus protein-stimulated frameshifting.
OncoDB: an interactive online database for analysis of gene expression and viral infection in cancer
Authors: Tang Gongyu , Cho Minsu , Wang Xiaowei
Published: October 2021

Large-scale multi-omics datasets, most prominently from the TCGA consortium, have been made available to the public for systematic characterization of human cancers. However, to date, there is a lack of corresponding online resources to utilize these valuable data to study gene expression dysregulation and viral infection, two major causes for cancer development and progression. To address these unmet needs, we established OncoDB, an online database resource to explore abnormal patterns in gene expression as well as viral infection that are correlated to clinical features in cancer. Specifically, OncoDB integrated RNA-seq, DNA methylation, and related clinical data from over 10 000 cancer patients in the TCGA study as well as from normal tissues in the GTEx study. Another unique aspect of OncoDB is its focus on oncoviruses. By mining TCGA RNA-seq data, we have identified six major oncoviruses across cancer types and further correlated viral infection to changes in host gene expression and clinical outcomes. All the analysis results are integratively presented in OncoDB with a flexible web interface to search for data related to RNA expression, DNA methylation, viral infection, and clinical features of the cancer patients. OncoDB is freely accessible at http://oncodb.org.
mBodyMap: a curated database for microbes across human body and their associations with health and diseases
Authors: Jin Hanbo , Hu Guoru , Sun Chuqing , Duan Yiqian , Zhang Zhenmo , Liu Zhi , Zhao Xing-Ming , Chen Wei-Hua
Published: October 2021

mBodyMap is a curated database for microbes across the human body and their associations with health and diseases. Its primary aim is to promote the reusability of human-associated metagenomic data and assist with the identification of disease-associated microbes by consistently annotating the microbial contents of collected samples using state-of-the-art toolsets and manually curating the meta-data of corresponding human hosts. mBodyMap organizes collected samples based on their association with human diseases and body sites to enable cross-dataset integration and comparison. To help users find microbes of interest and visualize and compare their distributions and abundances/prevalence within different body sites and various diseases, the mBodyMap database is equipped with an intuitive interface and extensive graphical representations of the collected data. So far, it contains a total of 63 148 runs, including 14 401 metagenomes and 48 747 amplicons related to health and 56 human diseases, from within 22 human body sites across 136 projects. Also available in the database are pre-computed abundances and prevalence of 6247 species (belonging to 1645 genera) stratified by body sites and diseases. mBodyMap can be accessed at: https://mbodymap.microbiome.cloud.
Time-dependent evolution of IgG antibody levels after first and second dose of mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in haemodialysis patients: a multicentre study
Authors: Santos-Araújo Carla , Mota Veiga Pedro , Santos Mário João , Santos Lidia , Romãozinho Catarina , Silva Mónica , Lucas Carlos , Duarte Mary Luz , Haarhaus Mathias , Haase Michael , Macário Fernando
Published: October 2021

Background

Vaccination programs are essential for the containment of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which has hit haemodialysis populations especially hard. Early reports suggest a reduced immunologic response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in dialysis patients, in spite of a high degree of seroconversion. We aimed to identify risk factors for a reduced efficacy of an mRNA vaccine in a cohort of haemodialysis patients.

Method

In a multicentre study, including 294 Portuguese haemodialysis patients who had received two doses of BNT162b2 with a 3-week interval, immunoglobulin G-class antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein were determined 3 weeks after the first dose (M1) and 6 weeks after the second dose (M2). The threshold for seroconversion was 10 UR/mL. Demographic and clinical data were retrieved from a quality registry. Adverse events were registered using a questionnaire.

Results

At M2, seroconversion was 93.1% with a median antibody level of 197.5 U/mL (1.2–3237.0) and a median increase of 180.0 U/mL (−82.9 to 2244.6) from M1. Age [beta −8.9; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) −12.88 to −4.91; P < 0.0001], ferritin >600 ng/mL (beta 183.93; 95% CI 74.75–293.10; P = 0.001) and physical activity (beta 265.79; 95% CI 30.7–500.88; P = 0.03) were independent predictors of SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels after two vaccine doses. Plasma albumin >3.5 g/dL independently predicted the increase of antibody levels between both doses (odds ratio 14.72; 95% CI 1.38 to 157.45; P = 0.03). Only mild adverse reactions were observed in 10.9% of patients.

Conclusions

The SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BNT162b2 is safe and effective in haemodialysis patients. Besides age, iron status and nutrition are possible modifiable modulators of the immunologic response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. These data suggest the need for an early identification of populations at higher risk for diminished antibody production and the potential advantage of the implementation of oriented strategies to maximize the immune response to vaccination in these patients.
Comparison of Smoking Cessation Program Registration, Participation, Smoking Cessation Medication Utilization, and Abstinence Rates Between Smokers With and Without Schizophrenia, Schizo-affective Disorder, or Bipolar Disorder
Authors: Kertes Jennifer , Stein Reisner Orit , Grunhaus Leon , Nezry Ronit , Alcalay Tamar , Azuri Joseph , Neumark Yehuda
Published: October 2021

Introduction

People with serious mental illness (SMI) are three times more likely to smoke and be heavy smokers than smokers without SMI. Counseling combined with smoking cessation medication (SCM) is the recommended treatment. However, until 2017, SCM prescription for SMI smokers was discouraged (FDA black box warning). This study compared use of smoking cessation programs (SCP) and SCM between smokers with and without SMI.

Aims and Methods

Data regarding SCP and SCM use were extracted from the database of a large HMO that offers free Group and telephone SCP. SCP registration, participation, completion, and abstinence rates between July 2013 and December 2019 were compared between smokers with and without SMI, controlling for demographic and health variables.

Results

48 000 smokers registered for a SCP during the study period. Smokers with SMI were 1.8 times more likely to register for a SCP than smokers without SMI. Smokers without SMI were, however, 1.2 times more likely to start the SCP, 1.5 times more likely to complete the SCP, and 1.6 times more likely to have quit by the end of the program. The strongest factors predicting abstinence were SCP completion and SCM use. Smokers with SMI were less likely to purchase SCM, although their purchase rate increased after the black box warning was lifted.

Conclusions

Smoking cessation programs and SCM use should be encouraged in the SMI population. Providing support during the quit attempt and adapting SCP to the needs of smokers with SMI, combined with SCM prescription promotion, should improve abstinence.

Implications

Smokers with serious mental illness (SMI) were more likely to seek professional help to quit smoking than non-SMI smokers, with over 30% achieving abstinence, discrediting healthcare professional beliefs that SMI smokers don’t want to and cannot quit. Smoking cessation program (SCP) completion and smoking cessation medication (SCM) utilization were the strongest predictors of abstinence. SMI smokers were more likely to drop out of SCPs and less likely to use SCMs. Providing support during the quit attempt and adapting SCPs to the needs of smokers with SMI, combined with SCM prescription promotion, should improve abstinence.
Potential risk factors associated with COVID-19 in health care workers
Authors: Spilchuk V , Arrandale V H , Armstrong J
Published: October 2021

Background

Health care workers (HCWs) have been recognized as being at higher risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection; however, relevant factors and magnitude have not been clearly elucidated.

Aim

This study was aimed to describe COVID-19 infections among hospital employees at a large tertiary care hospital located in Ontario, Canada from March to July 2020, towards better understanding potential risk factors.

Methods

Data on all HCWs with either a positive COVID test or a high-risk exposure from March to July 2020 were analyzed. HCWs with positive COVID test results and high-risk exposures were described. Those who developed COVID-19 following high-risk exposure were compared to those who did not. Data were also analyzed to determine trends over time.

Results

Over the period of observation, 193 staff (2% of total working staff) had a positive COVID-19 test. Incidence of HCW infections closely followed community incidence. Overall, 31% of COVID-19 cases were deemed occupationally acquired. Of these, 41% were acquired from a patient, with the remainder (59%) from fellow staff. Over the same period, 204 staff were identified as having a high-risk exposure. The majority of exposures (55%) were patient-associated, with the remaining (45%) resulting from staff-to-staff contact. Overall, 13% went on to develop COVID-19. Of these cases, 58% were patient-associated and 42% were a result of staff-to-staff transmission.

Conclusions

HCWs are at risk for work-related COVID-19. Given the number of infections attributed to staff–staff transmission, greater attention could be paid to implementing prevention measures in non-clinical areas.
Rebels in Parliament: The Effects of Candidate Selection Methods on Legislative Behaviours
Authors: Sozzi Fabio
Published: October 2021

In this article, we concentrate on the question whether candidate selection mechanisms affect the propensity of members of parliament (MPs) to defect from party line. Literature suggests that MPs selected by more inclusive procedures (i.e. party primaries) are more likely to be rebels than legislators nominated directly by party leaders. Despite the increasing attention that scholars devote to candidate selection methods, empirical evidences are still limited and they are inconsistent, especially for as to concern the Italian case. Empirically, we focus our attention on the Democratic Party (Partito Democratico—PD) during the XVII legislature in Italy. The PD is an ideal laboratory to test whether candidate selection affects MPs’ propensity to vote against party line because PD’s legislators are both selected by party primaries and appointed by party leader. Our results suggest, in contrast to previous findings, that candidate selection is a strong predictor in explaining voting defection.
Fluid Fluxing and Accumulation Drive Decadal and Short-Lived Explosive Basaltic Andesite Eruptions Preceded by Limited Volcanic Unrest
Authors: Utami S B , Costa F , Lesage Ph , Allard P , Humaida H
Published: October 2021

Some volcanoes are known for repeatedly producing explosive but short-lived eruptions (< half a day) every decade or so. These eruptions are often preceded by limited unrest signals and short run-up times to eruption (a few hours to months), and thus they are difficult to anticipate. Some well-documented examples are the 1990 and 2014 eruptions of Kelud volcano in Indonesia, or the 2015 Calbuco eruption in Chile. Here we interrogate the rock record and obtain insights into the processes and pre-eruptive conditions that led to the 1990 Kelud eruption, which we integrate with monitoring data (seismicity, lake temperature and hydro-acoustics, sulfur emissions) towards a conceptual model for this type of events. Mineral-melt geothermobarometers indicate that the basaltic andesite magma carried a crystal cargo from as deep as 15–19 km, and reached volatile saturation at 4–9 km with 2–4 wt.% water in the melt. The textures and compositional zoning of orthopyroxene and plagioclase do not support intrusion of more primitive magma as the driver for the eruption, and we instead propose that pre-eruptive fluid accumulation and high-temperature fluid fluxing from depth (likely dominated by CO2) played a major role in priming the eruption to occur. Such pre-eruptive gas accumulation is also supported by mass balance calculation of the emitted excess SO2 gas. Mg-Fe diffusion profiles in reversely zoned pyroxenes constrain timescales of weeks to months before eruption for fluid addition to the reservoir, and such events may be recorded in the monitoring signals, especially in the change of hydroacoustics and water lake temperature, and probably in the seismic swarms. We propose that fluid exsolution and accumulation in the shallow reservoir plays a crucial role in modulating and triggering short-lived explosive eruptions with brief unrest at Kelud and probably other volcanoes worldwide.
Telehealth Increases Access to Brief Behavioral Interventions in an Orofacial Pain Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Sangalli Linda , Fernandez-Vial Diego , Moreno-Hay Isabel , Boggero Ian
Published: October 2021

Objective

The aim of the study was to test whether patients with orofacial pain were more likely to start and complete a brief psychological intervention for managing certain chronic orofacial pain conditions (physical self-regulation [PSR]) via telehealth (during the COVID-19 pandemic) vs. in-person (before the COVID-19 pandemic). The exploratory aim was to describe demographic factors that could influence patients’ likelihood of starting and completing PSR.

Methods

Retrospective medical charts of all patients seen at a university-affiliated tertiary orofacial pain clinic between July–December 2019 (in-person; before the pandemic) and July–December 2020 (telehealth; during the pandemic) were reviewed. Charts were examined for demographic information and to compare the number of patients who started and completed PSR during each study period (chi-squared test).

Results

Of 248 new patients seen in the clinic during the 2019 period, 25 started PSR in-person (10.08%). Of 252 new patients seen during the 2020 period, 53 started PSR via telehealth (21.03%). Patients were more likely to start PSR (odds ratio = 6.21, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval = 2.499 to 15.435) and more likely to complete all three sessions of PSR (odds ratio = 5.69, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval = 2.352 to 13.794) when it was offered via telehealth than when it was offered in-person. Among those who started PSR via telehealth, patients from metropolitan areas were more likely to start the intervention than those from non-metropolitan areas (p = 0.045).

Conclusions

Offering brief psychological pain interventions via telehealth in tertiary orofacial pain clinics has demonstrated feasibility and may improve patients’ willingness to participate in psychological treatments. Results need to be replicated with prospective data, as modality was confounded with the pandemic in the present study.
Mapping the Visual Icon
Authors: Clarke Sam
Published: October 2021

It is often claimed that pre-attentive vision has an ‘iconic’ format. This is seen to explain pre-attentive vision's characteristically high processing capacity and to make sense of an overlap in the mechanisms of early vision and mental imagery. But what does the iconicity of pre-attentive vision amount to? This paper considers two prominent ways of characterising pre-attentive visual icons and argues that neither is adequate: one approach renders the claim ‘pre-attentive vision is iconic’ empirically false while the other obscures its ability to do the explanatory work, which motivates positing pre-attentive visual icons in the first place. With this noted, I introduce the (heretofore unarticulated) notion of an ‘Analogue Map’ and argue that it provides a superior characterisation of pre-attentive vision's iconicity. I then argue that this forces a reassessment of debates which have traditionally presupposed the iconicity of pre-attentive vision, emphasising ramifications for the viability of a format-based perception-thought border.
Explaining Defederalization in Ghana
Authors: Penu Dennis Amego Korbla
Published: October 2021

Why do federal arrangements become extinct, and how? In Africa, the conventional expectation is that this would come about through overthrows of the constitution such as through coup d’états. However, using a not-so-well-known federal experiment in Ghana, this study demonstrates gradual “defederalization” through various constitution reviews across sixty-three years. Using evidence from diverse documentary sources and combining gradual change with critical juncture/path-dependence analyses, the study shows that the abolishment of regional autonomies in 1959 was possible, despite constitutional safeguards, because of political developments that weakened veto possibilities for defenders of the constitution’s quasi-federal features. Subsequently, defenders of federalism missed an opportunity in 1968 to reinstate those features, which consequently sealed the fate of Ghana’s federal experiment and has led to defunct regional autonomy. With this insight, the findings call attention to endogenous change mechanisms as key to understanding the path-dependent evolution of federal systems in Africa.
Foreign Banks, Liquidity Shocks, and Credit Stability
Authors: Belton Daniel , Gambacorta Leonardo , Kokas Sotirios , Minetti Raoul
Published: October 2021

This paper investigates whether foreign banks help mitigate the effects of domestic liquidity shocks by exploiting a policy-induced shock to the U.S. wholesale market for liquidity and matched bank-syndicated loan data. We find that, following the 2011 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regulatory change to the cost of wholesale liquidity, foreign banks, which faced a relatively positive liquidity shock, accumulated more reserves by engaging in liquidity hoarding, but did not expand their lending. These responses are more pronounced for foreign banks affiliated with complex global bank holding companies and whose parent banking systems experienced distress at the moment of the shock. (JEL G21, G28, E44)

Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
Disregarding the Shoulders of Giants: Inferences from Innovation Research
Authors: Reeb David M , Zhao Wanli
Published: October 2021

Studies proposing new determinants of corporate innovation include previously identified factors in an ad hoc manner. We find that only a sparse set of recently proposed innovation determinants provide material, independent information about patents and citations. We document that inferences in recent empirical studies often change when we include previously discovered innovation determinants. Commonly used econometric methods, including fixed effects and plausible shocks, do not always mitigate the need to condition on previously identified innovation determinants. Rather than randomly selecting a subset of control variables from prior studies, our analysis offers researchers a framework to consider previously proposed variables. (JEL G30, O30, G32, O34).

Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
RADON AND THORON EXHALATION RATES FROM EARTHEN BUILDING MATERIALS USED IN HIGH BACKGROUND RADIATION AREAS OF HOMA AND RURI, KENYA
Authors: Odongo Willis Otieno Gor , Chege Margaret , Tokonami Shinji , Hashim Nadir , Kranrod Chutima , Nyambura Catherine
Published: October 2021

222Rn and 220Rn surface exhalation rates from earthen building materials used in high background radiation areas of Homa and Ruri, Kenya have been measured using an accumulation chamber coupled with RAD7 detector. Activity concentrations of 226Ra and 232Th in the building materials were determined by γ-ray spectroscopy. In Homa the average 222Rn surface exhalation was 1 ± 0.1 mBqm−2 s−1, while that of 220Rn was 18 ± 2 Bqm−2 s−1; in Ruri 222Rn was 0.9 ± 0.1 mBqm−2 s−1 and 220Rn was 25 ± 3 Bqm−2 s−1. 222Rn was 26 times lower than world average and 220Rn was higher by a factor of 21. Average 232Th in Ruri was 1094 ± 55 Bq/kg, three times that in Homa; 226Ra was 129 ± 10 and 111 ± 6 Bq/kg in Homa and Ruri, respectively. There was a strong correlation between exhalation rate of 222Rn and concentration of 226Ra, as well as between 232Th and 220Rn. Thus, 220Rn was the major contributor to the inhaled dose in earthen dwellings of the two regions.
PATIENT-SPECIFIC ORGAN DOSE EVALUATION BASED ON MONTE CARLO SIMULATION AND DOSE METRICS IN PAEDIATRIC CHEST–ABDOMEN–PELVIS CT EXAMINATIONS
Authors: Fujii Keisuke , Nomura Keiichi , Muramatsu Yoshihisa , Ota Hiroyuki
Published: October 2021

This study aimed to determine organ doses based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for individual paediatric patients undergoing chest–abdomen–pelvis computed tomography (CT) examinations and to evaluate correlations of organ doses with dose metrics. MC simulations were performed by inputting detailed descriptions of a CT scanner, scanning parameters and CT images of 51 paediatric patients aged from 0 to 10 years into the simulation software. Organ doses for six radiosensitive organs were determined from dose distribution images obtained as the simulation results. The correlations of organ doses with dose metrics such as volume CT dose index, size-specific dose estimates (SSDEs), and organ-specific SSDEs were evaluated from the corresponding coefficients of determination. Organ doses for ages of 0–1 and 1–5 years were 22%–32% lower than those for ages of 5–10 years. Organ doses exhibited higher linear correlations with SSDEs and organ-specific SSDEs, and can be easily estimated using the linear regression.
O001 Reboxetine reduces obstructive sleep apnea severity: a randomized trial
Authors: Altree T , Aishah A , Loffler K , Grunstein R , Eckert D
Published: October 2021

Introduction

Noradrenergic and muscarinic processes are crucial for pharyngeal muscle control during sleep. Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as reboxetine combined with an antimuscarinic reduce obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity. The effects of reboxetine alone on OSA severity are unknown.

Methods

Double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-way crossover trial in 16 people with OSA. Each participant completed three overnight polysomnograms (~1-week washout). Single doses of reboxetine 4mg, placebo, or reboxetine+oxybutynin 5mg were administered before sleep (randomized order). The primary outcome was apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Secondary outcomes included other polysomnography parameters, next day sleepiness and alertness. Endotyping analysis was performed to determine the medications’ effects on OSA pathophysiological mechanisms.

Results

Reboxetine reduced the AHI by 5.4 [95% CI -10.4 to -0.3] events/h, P=0.03 (men: -24±27%; women: -0.7±32%). The addition of oxybutynin did not further reduce AHI. Reboxetine alone and reboxetine+oxybutynin reduced overnight hypoxemia versus placebo (e.g. 4% oxygen desaturation index 10.4±12.8 vs. 10.6±12.8 vs. 15.7±14.7 events/h, P=0.02). Mechanistically, reboxetine and reboxetine+oxybutynin improved pharyngeal collapsibility and respiratory control stability. Men had higher baseline loop gain. Larger reductions in AHI with reboxetine occurred in those with high loop gain. Neither drug intervention changed next day sleepiness or alertness.

Discussion

A single 4mg dose of reboxetine modestly reduces OSA severity without further improvement with the addition of an antimuscarinic. Reboxetine increases breathing stability via improvements in pharyngeal collapsibility and respiratory control. These findings provide new insight into the role of SNRIs on upper airway stability during sleep and have important implications for pharmacotherapy development for OSA.
O007 Sleep health promotion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: untapped potential of Indigenous youth workers as sleep coaches
Authors: Jabran S , Smith S , Fatima Y , King S
Published: October 2021

Purpose

The lack of culturally appropriate sleep health programs and community-led support services are significant barriers to sleep health promotion in Indigenous communities. This project offers Australia’s first-ever training and upskilling program for Indigenous youth workers (IYWs) to work as “Sleep Coaches” in Indigenous communities.

Methods

Key stakeholders, i.e., community elders, service providers, Indigenous youth and sleep scientists, were consulted to develop a training program for IYWs. Stakeholder consultations ensured community ownership of the program, facilitated co-design of educational and training activities, and integrated traditional and scientific sleep health knowledge for developing sleep health resources.

Results

Consultations with the advisory group (n=48) identified the need for a multipronged approach for IYWs capacity building. The education and training activities are centred around sleep and include cultural training to cover Indigenous Australians’ understanding and interpretation of sleep health, youth mental health first aid training, and participation in youth alcohol and drug education workshops. For sleep education, two blocks of activities, i.e., foundation and advanced level, are offered to cover triaging, sleep education/support and monitoring. An interactive tool for diabetes education in Indigenous communities (FeltMan/FeltMum) has been adapted to offer culturally appropriate sleep education.

Conclusion

IYWs’ capacity building as sleep coaches is an innovative way to empower Indigenous communities to embrace sleep health. Going forward, the program will engage with youth mental health services to evaluate the program effectiveness and transferability to other Indigenous communities. There is a need to define the scope of practice and certification to ensure compliance with industry standards.