bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
1246High-power and short-duration radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation: feasibility, safety and one-year results
Authors: Castrejon Castrejon S , Martinez Cossiani M , Ortega Molina M , Escobar Cervantes C , Batlle M , Gonzalez Davia R , Lopez Sendon J L , Merino J L
Published: June 2020

Funding Acknowledgements

SEC-Bayer research project 2018, Spanish Society of Cardiology. Research project 2018, FIS, Insituto de Salud Carlos III.

OnBehalf

none

Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation (PVI) by point-by-point radiofrequency application (PPRF) results in longer procedures than cryoablation. In addition, it is associated with more oesophageal lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety and 1-year efficacy of PVI by high power short duration (HPSD) PPRF in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

METHODS

PPRF around the PV was performed in 125 patients (P) distributed in two groups. Conventional PPRF with 30W/≤30 s under luminal oesophageal temperature monitoring was performed in the first 47 P (Group 1). 68 P were enrolled in the HPSD (Group 2). Power was set to 50 W and delivered to reach a predefined lesion index value (LSI≥5 or AI≥350) in the first 18 P (Group 2A). 30 P underwent PPRF with 60 W for 7-10 s (Group 2B) and the last 30 P underwent PPRF with 70W for 9 s (Group 2C). Oesophageal endoscopy was performed after ablation in all P.

RESULTS

17 (36%) P in Group 1 and 30 (38%) in Group 2 had persistent AF. PVI of all targeted veins was achieved in 96% and 100% of P in both groups (p = 0,6).  Total RF time was 30 [27-42], 25[ 20-29], 16 [14-20] and 13 [11-16] in Groups 1, 2A, 2B and 2C respectively (p < 0.01). RF duration per target lesions was 12[9-17], 9[8-9] and 9[9-9] s in Groups 2A, 2B and 2C respectively (p < 0.001). First-pass PVI was achieved in 35% 56%, 57% and 85% of left PV circles (p < 0.001) and in 46%, 56%, 60% and 82% of right PV circles (p = 0.04) in groups 30W, 50W, 60W and 70W respectively. Reconnections occurred in 8% of PV circles in Group 1 and in 6.5% of PV circles in Group 2 (p = 0.8).  Dormant conduction was tested with adenosine in Groups 2B and 2C and the incidence was 30% and 25% of PV circles respectively (p = 0.31). The carina was the most frequent location of conduction gaps, reconnections and dormant conduction in all groups. The incidence of oesophageal lesions was 28% in Group 1, 22% in Group 2A and 0% in groups 2B and 2C (p < 0.002). The 1-year efficacy (freedom from any atrial tachycardia recurrences >30 s) was 59% in Group 1, 88% in group 2A, 77% in group 2B and 87% in group 2C (p = 0.019).

CONCLUSIONS

PVI by HPSD PPRF is feasible and results in high 1-year efficacy in P with AF. This approach appears safe and associated with low incidence of oesophageal damage especially when short application time and 60 or 70W are used. However, this latter power setting is associated with slightly better 1-year efficacy than HPSD PPRF using 60W.

Abstract Figure. Recurrences of atrial arrhythmias (>30 s
P1407Efficacy of radiofrequency ablation of paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation in heart failure patients
Authors: Seliutskii S , Savina N , Chapurnykh A
Published: June 2020

Background

radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered to be one of the most preferred treatments for atrial fibrillation (AFib) in patients with heart failure (HF).

Objective

to study the effectiveness of AFib RFA in patients with HF, to compare the effectiveness of the procedure in patients with paroxysmal (PaAFib) and persistent (PeAFib) AFib.

Materials and methods

65 patients with AF and HF with LVEF < 50%, who underwent RFA were included in a prospective study. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography and quality of life assessment using the SF-36 questionnaire before RFA and after 12 months. AFib was recorded in 42 (65%) of patients, AFL in 23 (35%). Thirty (46%) patients had PaAfib (Group 1), and 35 (54%) PeAFib (Group 2).

Results

In 45 (69%) patients sinus rhythm (SR) was restored during RFA, in 15 (23%) SR was restored by electrical cardioversion. In 5 (8%) patients with PaAFib revealed SR at the time of RFA. Twelve month follow-up period revealed 49 (75%) patients who were free from AFib: 23 (77%) patients with PaAFib and 26 (74%) with PeAFib. After 12 month follow-up we revealed the improvement in LVEF (p < 0.001 in both groups), decrease of anteroposterior size of left atrium (LA) (p < 0.001 in both groups) and LA volume (p < 0.001 in both groups), improvement in the mental (p = 0.008 in Group 1; p = 0.006 in Group 2) and physical component of health according to the SF-36 questionnaire (p = 0.036 in Group 1; p = 0.049 in Group 2). There were no significant differences between two groups of follow-up period.

Conclusions

AFib RFA significantly improves the course of heart failure and the quality of life of patients, leads to decrease of left atrium size and increase of LVEF. The effectiveness of RFA does not depend on the type of arrhythmia in  HF patients.
P504VT ablation outcomes and predictors in a UK population- validating existing predictors and novel markers
Authors: Ahluwalia N , Graham A , Orini M , Williams S , Ahsan S , Khan F , Ezzat V , Sporton S , Earley M , Chow A , Lambiase P , Dhinoja M
Published: June 2020

Background

Radiofrequency catheter ablation (CA) can reduce ventricular tachycardia (VT) burden and registry data suggests an improvement in mortality. However, there is significant heterogeneity in patient morbidity and VT phenotype. A risk prediction model derived from observational data has suggested pre-procedural left ventricular (LV) function, age and underlying ischaemic cardiomyopathy are associated with greater post-procedural mortality. Validation of proposed factors in clinical practice is required to facilitate comprehensive pre-procedural risk stratification and inform decision making.

Purpose

To determine whether proposed pre-procedural predictors of mortality after VTCA are valid in a UK population and explore any association with other predictors.

Method

Patients undergoing VTCA at a tertiary electrophysiology centre between 06/07/16 and 31/07/19 were included. Pre-specified characteristics and mortality follow-up data were analysed from electronic health records. Cox regression analysis was undertaken to determine association with mortality.

Results

161 patients with mean age of 63 ±15.9 years underwent VTCA of whom 133 (83%) were male. During the follow-up  period (16 months, 13-24; median, 1st-3rd quartile) 16 patients died. No deaths occured in the 27 (16%) patients with structurally normal hearts. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage III-IV (HR 14.73 [4.9-44.4]), LV ejection fraction <35% (HR 7.13 [1.59-31.88]), underlying ischaemic cardiomyopathy (HR 6.17 [1.37-27.85]), LV internal diameter (LVID) (1.08 [1.02-1.15]) and age (HR 1.08 [1.02-1.14]) were associated with significantly greater mortality risk (Table 1) (Figure 1).

Conclusion

Proposed risk stratifying factors are validated in our UK centre’s experience. Additionally, CKD and baseline LVID appear to be associated with mortality in our population and warrant further study.

Risk factor Hazard ratio Lower confidence interval Upper confidence interval P-value Atrial fibrillation (yes/no) 0.14 0.02 1.11 0.06 Age (years) 1.08 1.02 1.14 <0.01 Diabetes (yes/no) 2.43 0.85 6.92 0.10 Chronic kidney disease (yes/no) 14.73 4.88 44.41 <0.01 Ischaemic cardiomyopathy (yes/no) 6.17 1.37 27.85 0.02 LV EF <35% (yes/no) 7.13 1.59 31.88 <0.01 LV internal diameter (mm) 1.08 1.02 1.15 <0.01 Procedural urgency (urgent/elective) 1.12 0.57 2.20 0.75 Table 1: Association between baseline risk factors and mortality risk after VT catheter ablation

Abstract Figure 1: Kaplan-Meier survival curves
P1358Atrial electromechanical interval in patients with arrhythmias: is everyone the same?
Authors: Parollo M , Zucchelli G , Barletta V , Della Tommasina V , Canu A , Giannotti Santoro M , Ridolfi C , Branchitta G , Carluccio M , Bongiorni M G
Published: June 2020

Background

Atrial electromechanical delay, assessed calculating the PA-TDI interval using tissue Doppler imaging, is a known and promising determinant for atrial fibrillation recurrence prediction after pulmonary vein isolation and electrical cardioversion.

Purpose

To determine the relationship between atrial electromechanical delay and the presence of atrial fibrillation.

Methods

We prospectively enrolled patients presenting at our Unit in sinus rhythm scheduled for an arrhythmogenic substrate ablation (atrial fibrillation -AF-, supraventricular tachycardia -SVT- and premature ventricular contractions -PVC-). Demographic and echocardiographic characteristics were evaluated upon admission. Atrial electromechanical delay was inferred via the PA-TDI interval, obtained by calculating the time difference between the P wave onset and the A" wave peak on TDI recordings.

Results

From October 2018 to August 2019, 200 patients (60% male, mean age 58,21 ± 14,26, mean BSA 1,9 ± 0,21 m2, mean BMI 26,42 ± 6,28 kg/m2, mean EF 60,91% ± 5,43%) were admitted to our unit to undergo AF (group 1: n = 145; 72,50%), SVT or PVC ablation (group 2: n = 55; 27,5%). Compared with the control group (group 2), patients admitted for AF ablation had a larger LA size (group 1 vs group 2: mean LA area 23,21 ± 5,07 vs 16,87 ± 4,01 cm2, p < 0,001; mean indexed LA volume 46,71 ± 20,41 ml vs 32,04 ± 14,7 ml, p < 0,001; mean LAD 41,77 ± 5,66 vs 33,84 ± 6,06, p < 0,001) and a longer PA-TDI interval (lateral 148,55 ± 28,5 vs 128,57 ± 20,9, p < 0,001; medial 125,34 ± 21,02 vs 109,11 ± 21,49, p < 0,001; average 141,43 ± 27,58 vs 119,08 ± 18,63, p < 0,001).

Conclusion

The PA-TDI interval is a non-invasive and easily achievable echocardiographic parameter, which is demonstrated to be prolonged in patients with a history of AF in contrast with patients with other arrhythmias, as expression of atrial conduction heterogeneity.

Abstract Figure. PA-TDI measurement
MicroRNA microarray analysis to detect biomarkers of aortic dissection from paraffin-embedded tissue samples
Authors: Ji Jun , Xu Qiong , He Xia , Chen Xiao-ling , Yang Jianan
Published: June 2020

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to explore the differential expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in paraffin-embedded acute aortic dissection (AAD) tissues to find potential biomarkers for this disease.

METHODS

A total of 92 paraffin-embedded tissue specimens were collected from 92 patients with AAD who underwent surgical replacement. Among these specimens, 54 had partial normal aortic segments (smooth intima surface, non-atherosclerotic lesions) in proximal crevasse of aorta. Samples of these segments were taken 1 cm away from aortic lesions as the control group, after eliminating the tunica adventitia tissues. miRNA expression profiles were obtained by miRNA microarray analysis. Differentially expressed miRNAs were found by comparing the AAD group with the control group and were verified by fluorescence real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

RESULTS

A total of 71 differentially expressed miRNAs were detected. Twenty-two were up-regulated and 49 were down-regulated. Four up-regulated miRNAs (hsa-miR-636, hsa-miR-142-3p, hsa-miR-425-3p, hsa-miR-191-3p) were selected for validation by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and fluorescence in situ hybridization. In the fluorescence real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, only hsa-miR-636 showed a statistically significant difference in the AAD versus control comparison (3.3-fold, P = 0.012). The fluorescence in situ hybridization validation showed that the expression level of hsa-miR-636 was significantly increased in the AAD versus control comparison (P < 0.001), with average optical densities of 61.29 ± 16.83 in the AAD group and 9.30 ± 3.98 in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Hsa-miR-636 is involved in the pathogenesis of AAD and may be a potential biomarker for this disease.
Epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Across Five Influenza Seasons Among Adults and Children One Year of Age and Older—Washington State, 2011/2012–2015/2016
Authors: Jackson Michael L , Scott Emily , Kuypers Jane , Nalla Arun K , Roychoudury Pavitra , Chu Helen Y
Published: June 2020

Background

Vaccines and novel prophylactics against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are in development. To provide a baseline for evaluating these interventions, we characterized the incidence and molecular epidemiology of RSV in persons aged ≥1 year.

Methods

We identified patients with medically attended acute respiratory illness (MAARI) from the 2011/2012 through 2015/2016 influenza seasons among members of Kaiser Permanente Washington. We estimated the cumulative incidence of MAARI for laboratory-confirmed RSV or influenza infection.

Results

Annual cohorts ranged from 82 266 to 162 633 individuals, 14% of whom were children aged 1 to 17 years. Cumulative incidence of RSV each season ranged from 14 per 1000 population (95% confidence interval [CI], 12–16) to 22 per 1000 (95% CI, 19–25). Incidence of RSV was greater than influenza in children aged 12–23 months and 2–4 years; incidence of influenza was greater in other age groups. Respiratory syncytial virus subtype A dominated in 2011/2012, 2012/2013, and 2015/2016, with ON1 being the most common genotype. Respiratory syncytial virus subtype B dominated in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, primarily of the BA genotype.

Conclusions

The burden of RSV is comparable to that of influenza across the life course. These results provide a baseline for evaluating the impact of new RSV interventions on the epidemiology of RSV.
Estimation of Seasonal Influenza Attack Rates and Antibody Dynamics in Children Using Cross-Sectional Serological Data
Authors: Minter Amanda , Hoschler Katja , Jagne Ya Jankey , Sallah Hadijatou , Armitage Edwin , Lindsey Benjamin , Hay James A , Riley Steven , de Silva Thushan I , Kucharski Adam J
Published: June 2020

Directly measuring evidence of influenza infections is difficult, especially in low-surveillance settings such as sub-Saharan Africa. Using a Bayesian model, we estimated unobserved infection times and underlying antibody responses to influenza A/H3N2, using cross-sectional serum antibody responses to 4 strains in children aged 24–60 months. Among the 242 individuals, we estimated a variable seasonal attack rate and found that most children had ≥1 infection before 2 years of age. Our results are consistent with previously published high attack rates in children. The modeling approach highlights how cross-sectional serological data can be used to estimate epidemiological dynamics.
Accidental Overdose Deaths in Oklahoma, 2002–2017: Opioid and Methamphetamine Trends
Authors: Bonk Rachel , Miller Ross J , Lanter Joshua , Niblo Cheryl , Kemp Jesse , Shelton Jeremy
Published: June 2020

To evaluate trends related to accidental overdose deaths in Oklahoma, with a focus on opioids and methamphetamine. All accidental drug overdose deaths in the state of Oklahoma from 2002 to 2017 were reviewed. Opioids were grouped into the following categories: all opioids, prescription opioids, synthetic opioids and heroin. Age-adjusted death rates for methamphetamine and each opioid category were calculated and analyzed. Accidental overdoses accounted for 9,936 deaths during the study period. Of these, opioids were seen in 62.9%, with prescription opioids comprising 53.8%, synthetic opioids 10.3% and heroin 2.8%. Synthetic opioids, despite a recent upward nationwide trend, showed a slight overall decrease (−6.8%) from 2009 to 2017. In contrast, methamphetamine showed a 402.2% increase from 2009 to 2017 and an overall increase of 1,526.7%. Methamphetamine was involved in the most overdoses (1,963), followed by oxycodone (1,724). Opioid-related deaths were most common among white individuals (90.3%) and showed a slight male predilection (56.9%). With the intent of assessing the opioid epidemic as it relates to accidental overdoses in Oklahoma, this study suggests that opioid-related overdoses have slowed in recent years amidst a sharp increase in methamphetamine deaths.
Portal enlargement in hip arthroscopy preserving the iliofemoral ligament: a novel access technique protecting soft tissue restraints
Authors: Ilizaliturri Victor M , Sánchez Ruben Arriaga , Mora Rafael Zepeda , Suarez-Ahedo Carlos
Published: June 2020

Capsulotomy in different modalities has been used to provide adequate exposure to access both the central and peripheral compartment in hip arthroscopy. Even though the hip joint has inherent bony stability, soft tissue restraints may be important in patients with ligaments hyperlaxity or in some cases with diminished bony stability. Biomechanical studies and clinical outcomes have shown the relevant role of the capsule in hip stability, mainly the role of the iliofemoral ligament. Although is not very common, iatrogenic post-arthroscopy subluxation and dislocation have been reported and many surgeons are concerned about the role aggressive capsulotomy or capsulectomy in this situation, thus capsule repair has become very popular. We present a novel technique to access the hip without cutting the iliofemoral ligament. With this technique we can obtain adequate arthroscopic access to the hip joint in order to treat adequately the central compartment pathologies reducing the risk of iatrogenic post-operative hip instability.
The Role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Monitoring Compliance with Judgments
Authors: Alessandri Pablo Saavedra
Published: June 2020

This practice note considers the role of the Inter-American Court in promoting compliance with its judgments. It shows how creative the Court has been, despite scarcity of resources, in helping states to comply with judgments. It discusses some opportunities and challenges through a detailed analysis of cases and of tools currently in use.
Influence of Temperature on Development of Yersinia pestis Foregut Blockage in Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) and Oropsylla montana (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae)
Authors: Lemon Athena , Cherzan Nathan , Vadyvaloo Viveka
Published: June 2020

Plague, caused by the flea-transmitted bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis, is primarily a disease of wild rodents distributed in temperate and tropical zones worldwide. The ability of Y. pestis to develop a biofilm blockage that obstructs the flea foregut proventriculus facilitates its efficient transmission through regurgitation into the host bite site during flea blood sucking. While it is known that temperature influences transmission, it is not well-known if blockage dynamics are similarly in accord with temperature. Here, we determine the influence of the biologically relevant temperatures, 10 and 21°C, on blockage development in flea species, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) and Oropsylla montana (Baker), respectively, characterized by geographical distribution as cosmopolitan, tropical or endemic, temperate. We find that both species exhibit delayed development of blockage at 10°C. In Y. pestis infected X. cheopis, this is accompanied by significantly lower survival rates and slightly decreased blockage rates, even though these fleas maintain similar rates of persistent infection as at 21°C. Conversely, irrespective of infection status, O. montana withstand 21 and 10°C similarly well and show significant infection rate increases and slightly greater blocking rates at 10 versus 21°C, emphasizing that cooler temperatures are favorable for Y. pestis transmission from this species. These findings assert that temperature is a relevant parameter to consider in assessing flea transmission efficiency in distinct flea species residing in diverse geographical regions that host endemic plague foci. This is important to predict behavioral dynamics of plague regarding epizootic outbreaks and enzootic maintenance and improve timeous implementation of flea control programs.
Rapid ascents of Mt Everest: normobaric hypoxic preacclimatization
Authors: Tannheimer Markus , Lechner Raimund
Published: June 2020

Background

Acclimatization to high altitude is time consuming. An expedition to Mt Everest (8848 m) requires roughly 8 weeks. Therefore it seems very attractive to reach the summit within 3 weeks from home, which is currently promised by some expedition tour operators. These rapid ascent expeditions are based on two main components, normobaric hypoxic training (NHT) prior to the expedition and the use of high flow supplemental oxygen (HFSO2). We attempted to assess the relative importance of these two elements.

Methods

We evaluated the effect of NHT on the basis of the available information of these rapid ascent expeditions and our experiences made during an expedition to Manaslu (8163 m) where we used NHT for preacclimatization. To evaluate the effect of an increased O2 flow rate we calculated its effect at various activity levels at altitudes of 8000 m and above.

Results

So far rapid ascents to Mt Everest have been successful. The participants carried out 8 weeks of NHT, reaching sleeping altitudes = 7100 m and spent at least 300 h in NH. At rest a flow rate of 2 l O2/min is sufficient to keep the partial pressure of inspired oxygen (PIO2) close to 50 mm Hg even at the summit. For ativities of ~80% of the maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max) at the summit 6 l O2/min are required to maintain a PIO2 above 50 mm Hg.

Discussion

NHT for preacclimatization seems to be the decisive element of the offered rapid ascent expeditions. An increased O2 flow rate of 8 l/min is not mandatory for climbing Mt Everest.

Conclusions

Preacclimatization using normobaric hypoxica (NH) is far more important than the use of HFSO2. We think that NHT will be widely used in the future. The most effective regimen of preacclimatization in NH, the duration of each session and the optimal FIO2 are still unclear and require further study.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells in COVID-19: A Journey from Bench to Bedside
Authors: Sahu Kamal Kant , Siddiqui Ahmad Daniyal , Cerny Jan
Published: June 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major setback in both the health and economic sectors across the globe. The scale of the problem is enormous because we still do not have any specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antiviral agent or vaccine. The human immune system has never been exposed to this novel virus, so the viral interactions with the human immune system are completely naive. New approaches are being studied at various levels, including animal in vitro models and human-based studies, to contain the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible. Many drugs are being tested for repurposing, but so far only remdesivir has shown some positive benefits based on preliminary reports, but these results also need further confirmation via ongoing trials. Otherwise, no other agents have shown an impactful response against COVID-19. Recently, research exploring the therapeutic application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in critically ill patients suffering from COVID-19 has gained momentum. The patients belonging to this subset are most likely beyond the point where they could benefit from an antiviral therapy because most of their illness at this stage of disease is driven by inflammatory (over)response of the immune system. In this review, we discuss the potential of MSCs as a therapeutic option for patients with COVID-19, based on the encouraging results from the preliminary data showing improved outcomes in the progression of COVID-19 disease.
The Diagnostic Performance of lncRNAs from Blood Specimens in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Huang Jing-Yi , Wang Si-Yu , Lin Yong , Yi Huo-Chun , Niu Jian-Jun
Published: June 2020

Objective

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are widely involved in the carcinogenesis and development of cancers. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of lncRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

After the inclusion and exclusion process, relevant information was extracted. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated, and data synthesis was conducted by employing a bivariate random-effects model.

Results

In total, 20 eligible studies were enrolled. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80–0.90) and 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82–0.92), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio, pooled negative likelihood ratio, and pooled diagnostic odds ratio were 7.1 (95% CI, 4.9–10.2), 0.16 (95% CI, 0.11–0.23), and 44 (95% CI, 25–79), respectively. The results of the linear regression method and visual inspection of the Deeks funnel plot did not indicate significant publication bias.

Conclusion

Our meta-analysis suggested that lncRNAs have high diagnostic performance for HCC and have the potential for clinical application.
Open social scholarship in action
Authors: El Khatib Randa , Arbuckle Alyssa , Winter Caroline , Siemens Ray ,   the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab
Published: June 2020

Open social scholarship highlights outreach and partnerships by emphasizing community-driven initiatives in an attempt to bridge the gap between the practices of the university and the goals of the community. Over the last few years, the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab at the University of Victoria has introduced a number of initiatives to this end, including the Open Knowledge Program and Open Scholarship Awards. In describing these initiatives, the article engages the larger framework of community engagement and public-facing scholarship. The guiding questions for this article and our work more broadly are: how can we productively put open social scholarship into practice? What type of scholarship is considered public facing? What is the best practice around co-creating knowledge in the humanities with communities that are academic-aligned or non-academic?
Predictive Power of Dependence Measures for Quitting Smoking. Findings From the 2016 to 2018 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys
Authors: Le Grande Michael , Borland Ron , Yong Hua-Hie , Cummings K Michael , McNeill Ann , Thompson Mary E , Fong Geoffrey T
Published: June 2020

Introduction

To test whether urges to smoke and perceived addiction to smoking have independent predictive value for quit attempts and short-term quit success over and above the Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI).

Aims and Methods

Data were from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Wave 1 (2016) and Wave 2 (2018) surveys. About 3661 daily smokers (daily vapers excluded) provided data in both waves. A series of multivariable logistic regression models assessed the association of each dependence measure on odds of making a quit attempt and at least 1-month smoking abstinence.

Results

Of the 3661 participants, 1594 (43.5%) reported a quit attempt. Of those who reported a quit attempt, 546 (34.9%) reported short-term quit success. Fully adjusted models showed that making quit attempts was associated with lower HSI (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73 to 0.90, p < .001), stronger urges to smoke (aOR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.20, p = .002), and higher perceived addiction to smoking (aOR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.32 to 0.84, p = .008). Lower HSI (aOR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.40 to 0.87, p < .001), weaker urges to smoke (aOR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.76 to 0.95, p = .006), and lower perceived addiction to smoking (aOR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.32 to 0.91, p = .021) were associated with greater odds of short-term quit success. In both cases, overall R2 was around 0.5.

Conclusions

The two additional dependence measures were complementary to HSI adding explanatory power to smoking cessation models, but variance explained remains small.

Implications

Strength of urges to smoke and perceived addiction to smoking may significantly improve prediction of cessation attempts and short-term quit success over and above routinely assessed demographic variables and the HSI. Stratification of analyses by age group is recommended because the relationship between dependence measures and outcomes differs significantly for younger (aged 18–39) compared to older (aged older than 40) participants. Even with the addition of these extra measures of dependence, the overall variance explained in predicting smoking cessation outcomes remains very low. These measures can only be thought of as assessing some aspects of dependence. Current understanding of the factors that ultimately determine quit success remains limited.
The role of vitamin A and its pro-vitamin carotenoids in fetal and neonatal programming: gaps in knowledge and metabolic pathways
Authors: de Souza Mesquita Leonardo M , Mennitti Laís V , de Rosso Veridiana V , Pisani Luciana P
Published: June 2020

Vitamin A (VA) and its pro-vitamin carotenoids are naturally occurring lipophilic compounds involved in several cellular processes and metabolic pathways. Despite their broad spectrum of activities in the general population, dietary deficiencies of these compounds can potentially affect pregnancy outcomes. Since maternal nutritional status and diet composition during pregnancy and lactation can have long-lasting effects in offspring until adulthood, this study presents an overview of VA and the role of pro-VA carotenoids during pregnancy and lactation – the nutrition, metabolism, and biological effects in the offspring. The review aimed to discuss the pro-VA carotenoids and VA-associated pathways and summarize the results with reference to gestational disorders, and VA and pro-VA carotenoids as preventive agents. Also, considering that obesity, overweight, and metabolic diseases are major public health concerns worldwide, fetal and neonatal development is discussed, highlighting the physiological role of these molecules in obesity prevention. This review comprehensively summarizes the current data and shows the potential impact of these compounds on nutritional status in pregnancy and lactation.
Setting the Atmosphere
Authors: Jones Alisha Lola
Published: June 2020

Flaming?: The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance intervenes into the crisis narrative of black male participation in historically black Pentecostal churches by examining the striking aural-visual performances of gender expression and sexuality as the Spirit moves upon vocalists’ bodies. By following the discourse surrounding the “flaming” choir director stereotype, I investigate the extent to which men’s unique approaches to music-making are met with spectators’ derision and queries about the extent to which their worship generates queer connotations. Participants are essentially guided by what constitutes a practice of the adage “where there is smoke, there is fire.” If there are rumors about a man’s sexual behavior or if he demonstrates queer potential, than it must be so. This perception is tied to the biblical notion that believers are to stay away from the appearance of activity and affiliations that are regarded as evil.
Church Realness
Authors: Jones Alisha Lola
Published: June 2020

Chapter 7 examines ethnography of formerly gay gospel recording artist and pastor Donnie McClurkin’s sermonizing as a performance of the heteropatriarchal scripts that manage gospel enthusiasts concerns about queer(ed) musicians’ spiritual fitness and protect the social order of church leadership. Since the early 2000s, McClurkin has been regarded as the architect of the deliverance from homosexuality testimony format of communicating queer sexual history in Pentecostal worship. Men’s performance of church realness in historically black Pentecostal churches is the deployment of sung and spoken heteropresentation and gender conformity. The objective of the performance is both to blend in and to assert dominance in gospel music heteropatriarchal forums in a manner that has been socioculturally required of them.
Introduction—Collaborations
Authors: Whitmore Aleysia K.
Published: June 2020

The Introduction provides historical and theoretical background for the book. The chapter offers an historical overview of Cuban music in West Africa, and explains how histories and discourses of globalization, cosmopolitanism, Africa, the black Atlantic, and black internationalism intersect. Musicians, industry personnel, and audiences draw on these histories as they collaborate with each other to create international commodities. The chapter argues that all of these actors see their labor and its products quite differently as they move between and combine local and global markets, African and Afro-diasporic sounds, traditional and hybrid musics, and histories of slavery, colonialism, and independence. Musicians, industry personnel, and audiences work with and push against one another as they continually (re)position themselves in the world music industry.
The Neuroscience and Psychology of Smell II
Authors: Shiner Larry
Published: June 2020

Chapter 3 turns to experimental evidence that suggests our sense of smell may lack sufficient cognitive powers to fund reflective aesthetic judgments. The chapter focuses on psychological theories that claim our olfactory system is (1) purely emotional, (2) only capable of simplistic hedonic judgments, (3) unable to reliably identify and name odors, and (4) incurably unconscious. Although these characterizations could be seen as supporting the negative intellectual tradition on smell, the chapter closes by examining recent neuroscience studies of olfactory experts that suggest the human sense of smell, despite its limitations, may indeed be able to support reflective aesthetic experience and judgments. This argument is corroborated by Andreas Keller’s conclusions on the philosophy of olfactory perception.
Fighting for Steiner
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

By 1938, Steiner was showing the strain of nonstop work. At home, the presence of his demanding father put strains on Max’s marriage. And although he scored many of Warner Bros.’ most prestigious releases—Dark Victory and the epic western Dodge City are among the works analyzed here—Steiner balked whenever he felt “demoted” and forced to score “westerns and prison pictures.” In March 1939, David O. Selznick decided that he wanted Steiner to score Gone with the Wind. In a revealing letter included in this chapter, Steiner begged Jack Warner to permit this loan-out, “to regain the prestige” he felt he had lost. In Warner’s reply—also included—the mogul praised Steiner as “the best musical composer in the industry,” while reminding him that “the public” were their “most important judges.” Indeed, many of the films Steiner disparaged are now considered classics.
The South Is Dead
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

No Steiner project would be more difficult or emotionally draining than Gone with the Wind. This chapter explores how the composer wrote and/or supervised more than three hours of orchestral music in less than two and a half months (while concurrently writing three other film scores), amid constant and often contradictory direction from Selznick. The producer was more combatant than collaborator: “the whole thing had a nightmare quality,” recalled one participant. Due to a near-impossible deadline, Steiner was forced to have members of his team compose several GWTW music cues. These collaborators always worked under Max’s direction, using Steiner-composed leitmotivs. The chapter uses multiple examples of these cues to draw the distinction between the kind of “ghost writing” by uncredited composers that was common in Hollywood, and GWTW, a case in which Steiner remained the primary creative force behind this, his best-loved score.
Breaking Point
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

GWTW restored Steiner to the top rank of film composers; and in 1940, Jack Warner assigned him to a series of A-pictures that remain jewels in that studio’s crown. In assessing scores for such movies as The Letter and Sergeant York, this chapter details the instrumental experimentation Steiner used to create fresh sounds (an aspect of his work often neglected). Max also was overjoyed to become a father: son Ronald, he hoped, would continue the Steiner musical dynasty. But years of nonstop work, worsening financial problems, and failing eyesight led the composer to suffer a breakdown in 1941. According to Louise, Steiner—usually a kind and generous man—exploded in a rage, striking his wife with a glass ashtray and hitting her in an apparent mental breakdown. Their subsequent separation initiated years of personal unhappiness, amid one of the most creative periods of Steiner’s life.
Voyage into Fog
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

This chapter juxtaposes Steiner’s intense correspondence with his estranged wife—then living in New York, and hoping to begin a singing career at age 35—with the emotional power of his scores of the time. They include They Died with Their Boots On, starring Errol Flynn (a rare western Steiner loved scoring, thanks to its rich characterizations), and Now, Voyager, the peak of his work with Bette Davis. The latter score earned Steiner a second Oscar, and partially fulfilled one of his unrealized ambitions: authorship of a popular song. After nearly a decade of battles with ASCAP—which still refused to collect royalties for film music—Now, Voyager’s hit song “It Can’t Be Wrong” yielded Steiner much-needed royalties from sheet music sales and recordings. But these earnings could not save him from mounting debt or convince Louise to return to him.
Indian Summer
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

This chapter depicts Steiner at the apex of his powers, just before the collapse of the Hollywood studio system. Between 1947 and 1948 Steiner composed several brilliant scores and at least three of his finest: for John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Jean Negulesco’s Johnny Belinda (which earned Jane Wyman a Best Actress Oscar), and Adventures of Don Juan, starring Errol Flynn in his last big-budget swashbuckler. Don Juan demonstrates the transformative power of film music: during production, the alcoholic Flynn could barely stand. But Steiner’s exuberant, lyrical, and witty score convinced audiences that Flynn remained a larger-than-life hero. In 1947, Steiner married Lee Blair, who would remain a devoted companion to the end of Max’s life. Steiner also lavished son Ronald with expensive gifts—giving the boy everything except what he wanted most: time with his father.
A Jewish Aloha
Authors: Smith Steven C.
Published: June 2020

In 1953, at age 65, Steiner learned that Warner Bros. would not be renewing his contract. After 16 years as a staff composer, he was forced to freelance—an especially daunting challenge given his age and failing eyesight. This chapter focuses on the plight of a proud but increasingly debilitated man forced to reinvent himself, in an industry obsessed with youth and novelty. Still massively in debt, Steiner sought a fresh start in multiple ventures: his own publishing company (a flop) and another attempt at a hit song for a major film (The Caine Mutiny; Oscar nomination for score, but no hit record, alienating its makers). Fortunately, Jack Warner was willing to bring Steiner back to his studio on a per-film basis. The resulting scores belied Steiner’s age, culminating in his final screen masterwork: John Ford’s The Searchers.
Brain Structural Alterations Common to Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Alzheimer’s Dementia
Authors: Lamar Melissa , Boots Elizabeth A. , Arfanakis Konstantinos , Barnes Lisa L. , Schneider Julie A.
Published: June 2020

Over 3,000 publications exist demonstrating that cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVD-RFs) are associated with alterations of brain structure associated with aging and dementia. Using similar neuroimaging techniques, much work has also been done illustrating the specific brain structural changes that are associated with risk for developing dementia, especially Alzheimer’s dementia. This chapter reviews the literature regarding gray matter and subcortical brain structures associated with CVD-RFs and compares it to the literature on gray matter and subcortical brain structural alterations associated with Alzheimer’s dementia. Given the enormous amount of research conducted to date, the authors provide reviews and/or meta-analyses where possible or cite examples, as opposed to providing an exhaustive list of citations when referring to this subject matter. In addition, the authors discuss how such commonalities in brain structural alterations between CVD-RFs and Alzheimer’s dementia may be used to inform brain behavior analyses with a particular focus on the graph theory analytics of tract-based structural connectomics across the spectrum of normal aging to Alzheimer’s dementia.
Black Samson
Authors: Schipper Jeremy , Junior Nyasha
Published: June 2020

The United States has never existed without a Black Samson. Before Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King, Jr. were identified with Moses, African Americans linked those who challenged racial oppression in America with Samson. In Black Samson: The Untold Story of an American Icon, Nyasha Junior and Jeremy Schipper investigate legal documents, narratives by enslaved persons, speeches, sermons, periodicals, poetry, fiction, and visual arts to tell the unlikely story of how a flawed biblical hero became an iconic figure in America’s racial history. Along the way, Schipper and Junior engage the work of African American luminaries, including Fredrick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, and many others. From stories of slave rebellions to the Harlem Renaissance to the civil rights era and the Black Power movement, invoking the biblical character of Samson became a powerful way for African American intellectuals, activists, and artists to voice strategies and opinions about many race-related issues, including slavery, education, patriotism, organized labor, civil rights, and gender equality. As this provocative book reveals, the story of Black Samson became a story of America’s contested racial history.
Times Past Under Fire
Authors: Anderson Samuel Mark
Published: June 2020

In the wake of Sierra Leone’s civil war, Fambul Tok, a locally run internationally funded NGO, promotes community ownership of the peace process by invoking the efficacy of “local traditions.” Its programs take the form of spectacular bonfire ceremonies that host acts of public testimony, witnessing, and forgiveness. Attending to the aesthetic dimensions of one Fambul Tok bonfire reveals disconnections between Fambul Tok’s self-image and villagers’ own perceptions of and aspirations for the occasion. These disjunctures testify to the bonfires’ nature as an “invented tradition” constituted as much by Western psychoanalysis, internationalist bureaucracy, and an imagined primordial Africa as by lived experience. Justifications for such ritualistic processes call upon overlapping yet often contradictory narratives about the source of their efficacy. Moreover, adherence to international technocratic norms leads participants to prioritize metrics legible to foreign audiences, indicating the limits of so-called local models within current systems of post-conflict intervention.
Straighten Up and Fly Right
Authors: Friedwald Will
Published: June 2020

This book is the first true critical biography of Nat King Cole, the seminal 20th-century jazz pianist, popular singer, and African American cultural icon. It draws on many decades of research, extensive interviews, and the music itself to present an in-depth exploration of how Cole achieved his unique twin peaks: as both a pioneering, innovative instrumentalist, a key player in the transition from swing to modern jazz, with dozens of prominent disciples; and as the most popular male singer of his generation. This is the first new book on Cole in more than twenty years and the only one to take a close look at his musical accomplishments. Although the music is the primary issue, the book also takes into account the context of the time and offers much new information about Cole’s personal life as well as his position as the first true black musical superstar and his role in the civil rights movement. Like Cole’s career, the book is divided into two “acts,” each lasting a very symmetrical fifteen years, plus a prelude and an afterword. Act One covers Nat’s career from 1937 to 1951, the years of the King Cole Trio, and Act Two covers the final fourteen years of his life, during which time he was billed as “Nat King Cole.”
Empire of Letters
Authors: Frampton Stephanie Ann
Published: June 2020

Empire of Letters studies representations of texts and media in Roman authors from Lucretius to Ovid (c. 55 BCE–15 CE) in order to demonstrate how ancient writers conceived of the world, their work, and their own identities through material forms of writing. Drawing together methods of interpretation from a wide variety of fields (including Greek and Latin philology, epigraphy, papyrology, manuscript studies, literary criticism, media theory, and book history) and uniting close readings of major authors with the careful analysis of the physical forms inhabited by ancient texts (papyrus bookrolls, waxed tablets, and monumental inscriptions in stone and bronze), Empire of Letters provides a new model for understanding the history of the book in antiquity. Putting the written word back at the center of Roman literary culture, this book redefines our understanding of the role of writing in the intellectual life of Rome at the moment of epochal transition from Republic to Empire.
The racism analogy is misleading
Authors: Koppelman Andrew
Published: June 2020

Even if the racism analogy is morally sound, that conclusion cannot support the withholding of all accommodation. It is actually several different analogies. One might be comparing their effects, their moral errors, the evil intentions of those who hold them, or their status as views that are appropriately stigmatized. There are important differences. Religious heterosexism is generally nonviolent. And unlike in 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was passed, religious claims can be accommodated without defeating the point of the law. Establishing a legitimate place for dissenters, in a gay-friendly legal regime, would actually be helpful in addressing some of the most pressing contemporary gay rights issues, notably youth homelessness.
Amadis in English
Authors: Moore Helen
Published: June 2020

This is a book about readers: readers reading, and readers writing. They are readers of all ages and from all ages: young and old, male and female, from Europe and the Americas. The book they are reading is the Spanish chivalric romance known in English as Amadis de Gaule. Famous throughout the sixteenth century as the pinnacle of its fictional genre, the cultural functions of Amadis were further elaborated by the publication of Cervantes’s Don Quixote in 1605, in which Amadis features as Quixote’s favourite book. Amadis thereby becomes, as the philosopher Ortega y Gasset terms it, ‘enclosed’ within the modern novel and part of the imaginative landscape of reader-authors such Smollett, Mary Shelley, Keats, Southey, Scott, and Thackeray.Amadis in English ranges from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, demonstrating through this ‘biography’ of a book the deep cultural, intellectual, and political connections of English, French, and Spanish literature across five centuries. At once an ambitious work of transnational literary history and a new intervention in the history of reading, this study argues that romance is historically located, culturally responsive, and uniquely flexible in the recreative possibilities it offers readers. By revealing this hitherto unexamined reading experience connecting readers of all backgrounds, Amadis in English also offers many new insights into the politicization of literary history; the construction and misconstruction of literary relations between England, France, and Spain; the practice and pleasures of reading fiction; and the enduring power of imagination.