bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patients’ Values and Desire for Autonomy: An Empirical Study from Poland
Authors: Olchowska-Kotala Agnieszka , Strządała Agata , Barański Jarosław
Published: March 2023

There is a growing body of literature concerning factors that can influence patients’ perception, preferences, or expectations with regard to autonomy in making healthcare decisions. Although many factors responsible for the desire for autonomy in medical decision-making are already recognized, little is known about how the desire for autonomy is related to values, which refer to important goals of human actions. The present study was designed to determine the relationship between the desire for autonomy and basic personal values drawn on Schwartz’s value theory. We conducted survey in two age groups: younger and older adults. In the group of younger adults, the desire for autonomy was associated with the need to be appreciated as a person, motivation to act independently, and the abandonment of traditional order and values, whereas in the group of older adults, with independent thinking and a lack of humility. Our study highlighted that the desire for autonomy may result from slightly different reasons in people of particular age groups. These findings might be helpful for medical professionals in developing accurate communication patterns with different age groups of patients.
Development of a Bariatric Surgery Core Data Set for an International Registry
Authors: Coulman Karen D. , Chalmers Katy , Blazeby Jane , Dixon John , Kow Lilian , Liem Ronald , Pournaras Dimitri J. , Ottosson Johan , Welbourn Richard , Brown Wendy , Avery Kerry
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Bariatric and metabolic surgery is an effective treatment for severe and complex obesity; however, robust long-term data comparing operations is lacking. Clinical registries complement clinical trials in contributing to this evidence base. Agreement on standard data for bariatric registries is needed to facilitate comparisons. This study developed a Core Registry Set (CRS) — core data to include in bariatric surgery registries globally.

Materials and Methods

Relevant items were identified from a bariatric surgery research core outcome set, a registry data dictionary project, systematic literature searches, and a patient advisory group. This comprehensive list informed a questionnaire for a two-round Delphi survey with international health professionals. Participants rated each item’s importance and received anonymized feedback in round 2. Using pre-defined criteria, items were then categorized for voting at a consensus meeting to agree the CRS.

Results

Items identified from all sources were grouped into 97 questionnaire items. Professionals (n = 272) from 56 countries participated in the round 1 survey of which 45% responded to round 2. Twenty-four professionals from 13 countries participated in the consensus meeting. Twelve items were voted into the CRS including demographic and bariatric procedure information, effectiveness, and safety outcomes.

Conclusion

This CRS is the first step towards unifying bariatric surgery registries internationally. We recommend the CRS is included as a minimum dataset in all bariatric registries worldwide. Adoption of the CRS will enable meaningful international comparisons of bariatric operations. Future work will agree definitions and measures for the CRS including incorporating quality-of-life measures defined in a parallel project.

Graphical Abstract
Risk Analysis of the Biogas Project
Authors: Nurgaliev Timur , Koshelev Valery , Müller Joachim
Published: March 2023

The dynamic model of the biogas project was created with changing parameter values over time and compared to the static model of the same project based on constant values of the same parameters. For the dynamic model, the same methods were used to evaluate the biogas project as for the static model to calculate substrate mix volumes, costs, farm production volumes, number of biogas plant equipment, driers, and other numerical characteristics of the farm. Project risks were evaluated by the sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. The study was conducted for four scenarios regarding the substrate mix structure and the possibility of selling electricity on the market. In the scenarios, the scale of the project was determined by the size and structure of agricultural and biogas production. The results have shown that when only wastes are used as substrates, net present values (NPVs) of the project are equal to 29.45 and 56.50 M RUB in dependence on the possibility to sell electricity on the market. At the same time, when the substrate mix is diversified, the project NPVs are equal to 89.17 and 186.68 M RUB depending on the ability to sell all the produced electricity to the common power grid. The results of the sensitivity analysis defined that the values of elasticity coefficients are less than 3.14%. Results of the Monte Carlo simulation have shown a probability distribution of positive NPVs for each scenario. This study was conducted to make recommendations for business and municipalities.
Reduction in productivity of soybean plants infested with Neohyadatothrips variabilis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) with and without soybean vein necrosis virus
Authors: Lagos-Kutz Doris M. , Pawlowski Michelle L. , Han Jaeyeong , Clough Steven J. , Hartman Glen L.
Published: March 2023

Soybean thrips, Neohyadatothrips variabilis (Beach), a vector of Soybean Vein Necrosis Virus (SVNV), has been recognized as a widespread pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in USA and Canada. Several experiments investigated the effect on soybean when infested with soybean thrips with and without SVNV. Experiment 1 compared soybean infested at V1 and V5 growth stages (GS) with soybean thrips without SVNV and noninfested plants. For plants infested at GS V1, plant height, number of seeds, and seed weights were reduced by 50, 80, and 75%, respectively. When plants were infested at GSs V1 and V5, the counts of soybean thrips peaked at 1,803 and 4,214 per plant 4 weeks after infestation (WAI), respectively. Experiment 2 used SVNV-infected soybean thrips and compared soybean infested versus control at GS V1 and V5. For plants infested at GS V1, plant height was reduced 77.8%, and plants died before setting pods. For plants infested at GS V5, height, number of seeds, and seed weights were reduced 56, 78, and 92%, respectively. When plants were infested at GSs V1 and V5, the counts of soybean thrips peaked at 282 and 883 per plant 2 WAI, respectively. Experiment 3, five soybean genotypes were infested with SVNV-infected thrips at GS V1. Number and weight of seeds per plant were higher and with lower visual disease ratings (progressive chlorosis, necrosis and rugosity) for the more resistant genotypes Merschman Kennedy and plant introduction (PI) 171451 than for the more susceptible genotypes: soybean breeding line LD12-12734a (Rag1/2), cv Williamsfield Illini 3509N, and PI 417136.
Nano-Dimensional Elements in the Structure of Zinc Subjected to KOBO Extrusion
Authors: Korbel Andrzej , Błaż Ludwik , Bochniak Włodzimierz , Pawlyta Mirosława , Ostachowski Paweł , Łagoda Marek
Published: March 2023

In the study of plastic flow and mechanical features of zinc subjected to severe plastic deformation at low temperature through the KOBO extrusion method, three techniques of micro and nanostructure identification have been used (TEM, STEM, HAADF). It was shown that the pattern of long trails—a typical element of microstructure after the KOBO deformation, results from strain fields of densely spaced nano-dimensional clusters of point defects—SIA clusters. The presence of satellite spots on the diffraction pattern was explained by a periodic arrangement of clusters which takes the form of a modulated lattice with a nano-sized wavelength.
A Review on Zeolites and Their Applications in Dentistry
Authors: Deshpande Shantanu , Kheur Supriya , Kheur Mohit , Eyüboğlu Tan Fırat , Özcan Mutlu
Published: March 2023

Purpose of Review

Zeolite is an aluminosilicate compound having a wide spectrum of applications in medicine and dentistry. Several articles were published combining zeolites with various other elements for different applications in dentistry. This review aims to provide a detailed review on the origin of zeolites, their physical and chemical properties and possible applications as dental materials.

Recent Findings

Zeolite-based hybrid films can be used for detection of oral cancers. Silver zeolite can be added in restorative materials and dental liners. In cases of root canal irrigation, chlorhexidine zeolite is used owing to its antibacterial properties. For dental implants, a zeolite coating can improve the osseointegration.

Due to its microporous structure, application-driven zeolitic frameworks can be prepared by sieving in various cations and antibacterial compounds. This review helps improve our understanding regarding the uses of zeolites as a material in different aspects of dentistry along with possible further improvements as a dental material.
Two-Speed Deep-Learning Ensemble for Classification of Incremental Land-Cover Satellite Image Patches
Authors: Horry Michael James , Chakraborty Subrata , Pradhan Biswajeet , Shulka Nagesh , Almazroui Mansour
Published: March 2023

High-velocity data streams present a challenge to deep learning-based computer vision models due to the resources needed to retrain for new incremental data. This study presents a novel staggered training approach using an ensemble model comprising the following: (i) a resource-intensive high-accuracy vision transformer; and (ii) a fast training, but less accurate, low parameter-count convolutional neural network. The vision transformer provides a scalable and accurate base model. A convolutional neural network (CNN) quickly incorporates new data into the ensemble model. Incremental data are simulated by dividing the very large So2Sat LCZ42 satellite image dataset into four intervals. The CNN is trained every interval and the vision transformer trained every half interval. We call this combination of a complementary ensemble with staggered training a “two-speed” network. The novelty of this approach is in the use of a staggered training schedule that allows the ensemble model to efficiently incorporate new data by retraining the high-speed CNN in advance of the resource-intensive vision transformer, thereby allowing for stable continuous improvement of the ensemble. Additionally, the ensemble models for each data increment out-perform each of the component models, with best accuracy of 65% against a holdout test partition of the RGB version of the So2Sat dataset.
Identification of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) protein partners using tandem affinity purification and mass spectrometry
Authors: Fic Ewelina , Cieślik Agata , Figiel Małgorzata , Dziedzicka-Wasylewska Marta
Published: March 2023

Background

According to the World Health Organization Report, depressive disorders affect about 10% of the population. The molecular mechanism of the pathogenesis of depression is still not well understood. The new findings point to phosphatases as potential targets for effective depression therapy. The aim of the present work was the development of a method that would enable the identification of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) protein partners using a proteomic approach.

Methods

The research was carried out using the PC12 cell line, often used as a model for neurobiological research. The use of the procedure for efficient purification of protein complexes—tandem affinity purification (TAP) will facilitate the identification of proteins interacting with MKP-1, a potential goal of effective antidepressant therapy.

Results

Identified proteins belong to various groups: cytoskeletal, ribosomal, nucleic acid binding, chaperones, and enzymes and may potentially be involved in the molecular mechanism of depression.

Conclusions

The presented protocol for the purification of protein complexes is universal and can be successfully used in different mammalian cell lines. Proteins identified in the present work have been reported in the literature concerning studies on depressive disorders, which speaks in favour of their role in depression.
Remarks by José Alvarez
Authors: Alvarez José
Published: March 2023

The Hudson Medal is given for “outstanding contributions to scholarship and achievement in international law.” For many of us, Lori is the personification of the American Society of International Law. The essential elements of her biography are deceptively simple. She grew up in California, entered Yale College in the fall of 1970, in only the second year of coeducation there, where she majored in Russian and East European studies—streaking through the place in only three years and graduating summa cum laude. She received her JD three years later from Yale Law School and stayed in New Haven to clerk for Judge Jon O. Newman. She served as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of State from September of 1977 through January of 1981 and then worked at Sullivan & Cromwell through 1984. She has been at Columbia Law School ever since.
Closing Plenary: International Law Needs People: Humanitarian arms control and the peace movement
Authors: Pryce Jeffrey , Marauhn Thilo
Published: March 2023

On the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances (Budapest Memorandum), we face a game-changing, challenging moment right now with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which extends beyond the nuclear area. The invasion is, in my view, a challenge to the UN Charter and the entire post-World War system of international law. With respect to the Budapest Memorandum, that is obviously a very topical issue at the moment. I would like to first emphasize the context. The Memorandum was first negotiated in 1994, three years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, during a period that was not quite as settled as we have now. The Memorandum was part of the context in which Ukraine became a non-nuclear party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the undertakings there are serious. The undertakings in the Budapest Memorandum are reaffirmations of the still binding commitments to international law under the UN Charter. Therefore, the non-use of force—the prohibition on the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or independence of Ukraine—is reaffirmed in the Budapest Memorandum, but that is contingent on the UN Charter. The Memorandum consequently remains binding on Russia. Similarly, principles in the Helsinki Final Accords are reaffirmed in the Budapest Memorandum and Russia is violating those, including Ukraine's right to choose its own destiny and choose its own alliances. So, yes, Russia's aggression against Ukraine is a blow against the structure of international security that was created in the wake of the Cold War.
Remarks by Gabriela Eslava Bejarano
Authors: Eslava Bejarano Gabriela
Published: March 2023

Thanks, Dan. First, I want to start by thanking the organizers and all of you for being here and being interested in this subject. Before I start, I must say that I wear two hats in this case. I was one of the plaintiffs in the case, but I was also one of the lawyers who worked on structuring the case. I will be going back and forth with these two roles.
Introductory Remarks by Catherine Amirfar
Authors: Amirfar Catherine
Published: March 2023

Amal Clooney unfortunately could not join us for health reasons but sends her warmest regards to everyone.
Remarks by Jeffrey Marder
Authors: Marder Jeffrey
Published: March 2023

I would be happy to, and thanks, Can. You sketched out the beginnings of what I like to call a “multi-stakeholder thematic coalition” focused on media freedom. It was established three years ago almost, in July of 2019, at the initiative of Canada and the United Kingdom and announced its creation in London at the first Global Conference for Media Freedom.
Remarks by Karen Attiah
Authors: Attiah Karen
Published: March 2023

Thank you so much for having me and the opportunity to have this really important discussion with amazing women from around the world.
Remarks by Salomé Viljoen
Authors: Viljoen Salomé
Published: March 2023

We—people who socialize, shop, and work online—are generating a lot of data. Since the advent of computers to 2017, the sum of all the data produced was about ninety-four zettabytes (ninety-four billion gigabytes). We are expected to produce more than that in just this year alone. This data creates a lot of value, but its collection has also caused growing concerns about how it is being used to surveil people, manipulate their behavior, and expose them to harm.
Business power against redistribution: The case of watered-down tax reform in Poland
Authors: Sawulski Jakub , Szewczyk Nikodem , Rafalska Kinga , Smółko Maciej
Published: March 2023

In 2021 the ruling party in Poland proposed a reform to reverse the regressivity of the Polish tax system. Although the number of potential beneficiaries significantly exceeded the number of sufferers, the media coverage of the reform was strongly negative. This pushed the government to introduce reform adjustments, all of which benefited the high-income self-employed, increasing the cost of the reform and reducing its redistributive effect. To explain this, we analyze articles on the reform published in the three most opinion-forming newspapers. We demonstrate that the negative media coverage stemmed from successful incorporation of business narratives in the public debate by the business lobbying associations. It was supported by the weakness of workers’ organizations and a low level of citizens’ trust in government.
Divergent Richtmyer–Meshkov instability on a heavy gas layer
Authors: Zhang Duo , Ding Juchun , Si Ting , Luo Xisheng
Published: March 2023

Experiments on divergent Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instability at a heavy gas layer are performed in a specially designed shock tube. A novel soap-film technique is extended to generate gas layers with controllable thicknesses and shapes. An unperturbed gas layer is first examined and its two interfaces are found to move uniformly at the early stage and be decelerated later. A general one-dimensional theory applicable to an arbitrary-thickness layer is established, which gives a good prediction of the layer motion in divergent geometry. Then, six kinds of perturbed SF

$_6$

layers with various thicknesses and shapes surrounded by air are examined. At the early stage, the amplitude growths of the inner interface for various-thickness layers collapse quite well and also can be predicted by the Bell model for cylindrical RM instability at a single interface, which indicates a negligible interface coupling effect. Later, a rarefaction wave accelerates the inner interface, causing a dramatic rise in the growth rate. It is found that a thicker gas layer will result in a larger extent that the rarefaction wave can promote the instability growth. A modified Bell model accounting for both Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability and interface stretching caused by a rarefaction wave is established, which well reproduces the quick instability growth. At late stages, reverberating waves inside the layer are negligibly weak such that the inner interface growth is dominated by RM instability and RT stability. The major factors driving the outer interface development are a compression wave and interface coupling. A new interface coupling phenomenon existing uniquely in divergent geometry caused by the gradual thinning of the gas layer is observed and also modelled.
Correlates of deforestation in Turkey: evidence from high-resolution satellite data
Authors: Adiguzel Fatih Serkant
Published: March 2023

During the last decade, environmental issues have gained saliency in Turkish politics, especially after the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations. This article is on the relationship between politics and deforestation in Turkey. It combines possible major drivers—political, economic, and climatic—of deforestation in Turkey with high-resolution satellite data on deforestation to conduct a systemic empirical analysis. The results show that districts in which Justice and Development Party mayors are in power have higher deforestation. The effect is around an average combined area of forty-two football fields in a given district. The article also shows that increased mining activities and newly built hydropower plants positively correlate with deforestation.
Bayesian evidence-driven likelihood selection for sky-averaged 21-cm signal extraction
Authors: Scheutwinkel K. H. , Handley W. , de Lera Acedo E.
Published: March 2023

We demonstrate that the Bayesian evidence can be used to find a good approximation of the ground truth likelihood function of a dataset, a goal of the likelihood-free inference (LFI) paradigm. As a concrete example, we use forward modelled sky-averaged 21-cm signal antenna temperature datasets where we artificially inject noise structures of various physically motivated forms. We find that the Gaussian likelihood performs poorly when the noise distribution deviates from the Gaussian case, for example, heteroscedastic radiometric or heavy-tailed noise. For these non-Gaussian noise structures, we show that the generalised normal likelihood is on a similar Bayesian evidence scale with comparable sky-averaged 21-cm signal recovery as the ground truth likelihood function of our injected noise. We therefore propose the generalised normal likelihood function as a good approximation of the true likelihood function if the noise structure is a priori unknown.
NEW FRAGMENTS OF RUFUS OF EPHESUS’ON THE RETENTION OF MENSES
Authors: Arehart Brent , Bocher Joshua
Published: March 2023

Rufus of Ephesus (fl. c.100c.e.) was a prolific medical author and practitioner in the Imperial period whose historical importance has been obscured by the loss of most of his works. One of the largest gaps in our knowledge of Rufus’ corpus is his gynaecological writings, none of which survives in full. This article assembles and comments on several fragments from Rufus’ lost gynaecological workOn the Retention of Menses(perhapsΠερὶ τῶν ἐπεχομένων ἐμμήνων). Comparison of overlapping passages from the authors Ibn al-Jazzār (tenth century) and Aëtius of Amida (sixth century) reveals that more fragments of this work in Arabic and Greek have survived than previously thought. These fragments provide new evidence for the analysis of Rufus’ medical thought, and further our understanding of gynaecology in the Roman empire.
Death by Analogy: Identity Crises on a Roman Sarcophagus
Authors: Clifford Emily
Published: March 2023

This article examines how images on a sarcophagus involved Roman viewers in processes of thinking by analogy and so invited them to engage in meditation on death. This more thanatological slant is sidelined in current approaches that emphasise how exemplary figures on sarcophagi consoled the bereaved and praised the dead. Building on these approaches, together with work on the mediating role played by artefacts in thought, this article proposes that analogies on sarcophagi also invited the living to think about their own death and the possibilities and limitations of analogy for thanatological reflection. It argues, further, that sarcophagi should be read more expansively, allowing for figures and scenes to have more than one identity rather than collapsing them into one: this multiplicity reinforces meditation on death. The article focuses on Roman sarcophagi that feature Adonis, with emphasis on the Rinuccini sarcophagus; this unusual sarcophagus explicitly juxtaposes real-life and mythological scenes.
Dada Masilo's Giselle: A Decolonial Love Story
Authors: Demerson Rainy
Published: March 2023

This article presents a polycentric Africanist reading of Dada Masilo's Giselle, which debuted in South Africa in 2017. Although ballet was used as a tool of colonization in South Africa, establishing cultural and aesthetic norms from a European paradigm, while undermining Indigenous arts and excluding non-white artists, I argue that Dada Masilo's choreographic choices employ the narrative of Giselle to decolonize through ballet. Masilo's choreography indigenizes the ballet, transforming local and global practices through an Indigenous lens. Dada Masilo's Giselle embodies African philosophies such as ancestorism, as well as gender fluidity and complementarity. It mobilizes techniques such as signifyin(g), comedic resistance, code-switching, battling, shouting, and critically reappropriating Tswana and diasporic movements in order to convey a distinctly South African version of the European ballet. This work transcends the romantic love of Giselle in order to convey a decolonial love by centering South African ways of knowing and being in the world.
Contamination in Cuban Modern Dance Histories
Authors: Schwall Elizabeth
Published: March 2023

This article examines how and why Cuban modern dancers and their scholars cite several white US dancers as forebearers in their nationalistic, anti-imperialistic, and anti-racist dance tradition. I use “contamination” to analyze this complicated topic, which threatens to unfairly center US dancers at Cubans’ expense or to romantically caricature Cubans defying US imperialism with a nationalist hybrid. Multidirectional, indeterminate contamination moves us away from narratives about US culture as a homogenizing force or a vanquished one. Contamination also importantly connotes stink, given that it is a product of imperialism and capitalism bringing far-flung people into close encounters. US contamination in Cuban modern dance histories, then, pushes attention to the shadowy reaches of the unseemly and incongruous—stylistic impurity, structural racism, historiographic neglect, revolutionary disaffection, and failure. Seeing the regrettable provides a fuller picture of the past, including the often-overlooked reality of shared damage and destructibility.
Antonia Mercé “La Argentina” in the Philippines: Spanish Dance and Colonial Gesture
Authors: Murga Castro Idoia
Published: March 2023

This article examines Antonia Mercé La Argentina's stay in Manila in 1929 and the creation of her solo La Cariñosa as a case study to analyze the place of Spanish dance as both colonizing and colonized on the basis of the cultural legacies since Romanticism, when Spanish dance was an exoticized and racialized “Other dance” in relation to the canon and hierarchies of Western dance. La Argentina's supposed homage to the Filipino people in the creation of a solo that stylized their national dance performed for Western audiences continued the exercise of colonial power. The result of those processes of appropriation would be the creation of a repertoire of “Hispanic essences” of that constructed postcolonial “community”; a catalogue equivalent to the rock-hard monumentality of a Hispanidad—the commemoration through Columbus statues and colonial architecture—now celebrated from the body, its performativity, its symbolism, and its gesture.
J.S. Mill and market harms: a response to Endörfer
Authors: Saunders Ben
Published: March 2023

Endörfer has recently argued that proponents of the harm principle are wrong to exempt market harms as potential justifications for state interference. I argue that – contrary to suggestions in Endörfer’s article – John Stuart Mill did not exempt market harms from his harm principle. On Mill’s view, the state can (as a matter of principle) legitimately interfere with free markets to prevent market harms where they occur but, on the whole, it is better policy not to interfere. Mill’s general preference for free trade rests on utilitarian considerations and not on his harm principle, which does not exclude market harms.
Introduction: Rethinking the Policing of Homosexuality in Modern America
Authors: Fernandez Angela , Rao Gautham
Published: March 2023

In 2021, Anna Lvovsky published Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle over Urban Gay Life Before Stonewall with the University of Chicago Press. The book studies gay communities’ confrontations with criminal law in the mid-twentieth-century United States. Lvovsky, a professor of law and affiliate professor of history at Harvard University, pays particularly close attention to law enforcement practices that aimed to police homosexuality, as well as “the gay world's confrontations with the law.” What results is a complex story of regulation and contestation that spans several decades, which is poised to not only influence how historians understand the policing of sexual difference, but also push forward understandings of the United States war on crime and the inter-related rise of the carceral state.
Meet Me in Pervert Park: Epistemology, Positionality, and Praxis in the Queer History of Policing and the Law
Authors: Maynard Steven
Published: March 2023

Just a stone's throw from the campus of the university in Kingston, Ontario, where I teach, is a small park. Hugging a rocky stretch of Lake Ontario shoreline, Macdonald Park, named after Canada's first prime minister, is better known by locals as “Pervert Park.” Since at least World War II, Pervert Park has been the primary cruising ground in Kingston for men searching for sex with other men, a meeting place for a mix of mostly working-class men, men stationed at the nearby military base, and the occasional intrepid university student. For women, the park's name references a different kind of pervert and signals the potential danger of walking alone in the park at night. Two of the park's main features are the Newlands Pavilion, a bandstand built in 1896, and the Richardson bathhouse, which is really a public washroom and changing facility, and which, when it first opened in 1919, boasted lockers, hot-water showers, and a list of “rules that would be enforced to maintain decorum in the bathing house.” A paved path, punctuated by park benches, connects the pavilion and bathhouse, which, after dark, conveniently becomes an oval track for men cruising around and sometimes having sex behind the pavilion and bathhouse.
Local Yoneda completions of quasi-metric spaces
Authors: Lu Jing , Zhao Bin
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we study quasi-metric spaces using domain theory. Given a quasi-metric space (X,d), we use
$({\bf B}(X,d),\leq^{d^{+}}\!)$
to denote the poset of formal balls of the associated quasi-metric space (X,d). We introduce the notion of local Yoneda-complete quasi-metric spaces in terms of domain-theoretic properties of
$({\bf B}(X,d),\leq^{d^{+}}\!)$
. The manner in which this definition is obtained is inspired by Romaguera–Valero theorem and Kostanek–Waszkiewicz theorem. Furthermore, we obtain characterizations of local Yoneda-complete quasi-metric spaces via local nets in quasi-metric spaces. More precisely, we prove that a quasi-metric space is local Yoneda-complete if and only if every local net has a d-limit. Finally, we prove that every quasi-metric space has a local Yoneda completion.
A qualitative exploration of goals-of-care discussions with seriously ill patients in Jordan
Authors: Albashayreh Alaa , Gilbertson-White Stephanie , Al Nashash Dalal , Shamieh Omar , Al-Omari Ma’an , Kinser Patricia
Published: March 2023

Objectives

This study aims to explore seriously ill patients’ experiences during goals-of-care discussions and perspectives of end-of-life (EOL) decision-making in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan.

Methods

This is a qualitative descriptive study with semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. Settings were 2 large hospitals in Jordan. Patients were a purposeful sample of 14 Arabic-speaking adults who were seriously ill and hospitalized with palliative care needs.

Results

Conventional content analysis identified 4 main themes: perceived suffering during serious illness, attitudes toward discussing EOL decision-making, goals of care and preferences for EOL, and actions to enhance EOL decision-making. Disease and treatment burdens and concerns about life, family, and death were sources of suffering during serious illness. What matters most to patients at EOL were alleviating suffering and getting support from family, friends, and care providers. Although patients expressed reluctance and inaction toward EOL decision-making due to uncertainties, lacking awareness, and assumptions of fear, their potential goals of care were to live longer, be with their families, and die with dignity.

Significance of results

Jordanians and culturally similar Arabs could benefit from goals-of-care discussions. The proper, culturally sensitive implementation of goals-of-care discussions in Arab populations with similar cultural norms requires raising public awareness and clarifying the legitimacy of goals-of-care discussions, preparing patients and their families for the discussions, and considering individual variations in handling the discussions.
Assessing well-being in pediatric palliative care: A pilot study about views of children, parents and health professionals
Authors: Toro-Pérez Daniel , Camprodon-Rosanas Ester , Navarro Vilarrubí Sergi , Bolancé Catalina , Guillen Montserrat , Limonero Joaquín T.
Published: March 2023

Objectives

Our research aims to compare the perception that children in the pediatric palliative care setting have of their emotional well-being, or that expressed by the parents, with the perception held by the professionals involved in their care.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, the emotional well-being of 30 children with a mean age of 10.8 years (standard deviation [SD] = 6.1) is evaluated. Children, or parents where necessary, evaluate their situation with a question about emotional well-being on a 0–10 visual analog scale. For each child, a health professional also rates the child’s emotional status using the same scale.

Results

The average child’s emotional well-being score provided by children or parents was 7.1 (SD = 1.6), while the average score given by health professionals was 5.6 (SD = 1.2). Children or parents graded the children’s emotional well-being significantly higher than professionals (t-test = 4.6, p-value < .001). Health professionals rated the children’s emotional well-being significantly lower when the disease status was progressive than when the disease was not (t-test = 2.2, p-value = .037).

Significance of results

Children themselves, or their parents, report more positive evaluations of emotional well-being than health professionals. Sociodemographic and disease variables do not seem to have a direct influence on this perception, rather it is more likely that children, parents, and professionals focus on different aspects and that children or parents need to hold on to a more optimistic vision. We must emphasize that when this difference is more pronounced, it can be a warning sign that further analysis is required of the situation.
Morphological and molecular divergence in ornamental variants of cactus which may be useful to generate new variants
Authors: das Neves Andréa Florindo , Mangolin Claudete Aparecida , Fernandes Vanessa Neves de Azevedo , Monteiro Eliane Rodrigues , Machado Maria de Fátima P. S.
Published: March 2023

Although morphological plasticity has been widely known in various cactus genera, few studies have investigated the origin and molecular relationship between morphological variants from cacti. Morphological variants are relevant specimens because atypical, exotic and generally unique forms are preferred by cactus traders and collectors. The current study investigates the molecular relationship between the tortuosus and monstruosus ornamental variants of Cereus peruvianus used in landscapes. Polymorphisms in loci of simple-sequence repeats in DNA were used as molecular markers. The variants tortuosus and monstruosus, and plants with typically columnar and erect shoots cultivated in southern Brazil were retrieved from public parks and home gardens. High polymorphism, an indicative of vegetative propagation, and a moderate genetic divergence were detected at the molecular level in monstruosus and tortuosus plants. Artificial selection and vegetative propagation of the ornamental variants of Cereus may be inducing a moderate genetic divergence and formation of two heterologous groups with conservative genetic diversity. Polymorphism in Cereus variants revealed groups with contrasting genes among the variants tortuosus and monstruosus which may be useful for breeding to generate new and different new variants.
Nitrogen Fixation in Mesoscale Eddies of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: Patterns and Mechanisms
Authors: Dugenne Mathilde , Gradoville Mary R. , Church Matthew J. , Wilson Samuel T. , Sheyn Uri , Harke Matthew J. , Björkman Karin M. , Hawco Nicholas J. , Hynes Annette M. , Ribalet François , Karl David M. , DeLong Edward F. , Dyhrman Sonya T. , Armbrust E. Virginia , John Seth , Eppley John M. , Harding Katie , Stewart Brittany , Cabello Ana M. , Turk‐Kubo Kendra A. , Caffin Mathieu , White Angelicque E. , Zehr Jonathan P.
Published: March 2023

Mesoscale eddies have been shown to support elevated dinitrogen (N2) fixation rates (NFRs) and abundances of N2‐fixing microorganisms (diazotrophs), but the mechanisms underlying these observations are not well understood. We sampled two pairs of mesoscale cyclones and anticyclones in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre in 2017 and 2018 and compared our observations with seasonal patterns from the Hawaii Ocean Time‐series (HOT) program. Consistent with previous reports, we found that NFRs were anomalously high for this region (up to 3.7‐fold above previous monthly HOT observations) in the centers of both sampled anticyclones. In 2017, these elevated rates coincided with high concentrations of the diazotroph Crocosphaera. We then coupled our field‐based observations, together with transcriptomic analyses of nutrient stress marker genes and ecological models, to evaluate the role of biological (via estimates of growth and grazing rates) and physical controls on populations of Crocosphaera, Trichodesmium, and diatom symbionts at the mesoscale. Our results suggest that increased Crocosphaera abundances in the 2017 anticyclone resulted from the alleviation of phosphate limitation, allowing cells to grow at rates exceeding grazing losses. In contrast, distributions of larger, buoyant taxa (Trichodesmium and diatom symbionts) appeared less affected by eddy‐driven biological controls. Instead, they appeared driven by physical dynamics along frontal boundaries that separate cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. No examined controls were able to explain our 2018 findings of higher NFRs in the anticyclone. A generalized explanation of elevated NFRs in mesoscale eddies remains challenging due to the interplay of eddy‐driven bottom‐up, top‐down, and physical control mechanisms.
Seasonality of the QBO Impact on Equatorial Clouds
Authors: Sweeney Aodhan , Fu Qiang , Pahlavan Hamid A. , Haynes Peter
Published: March 2023

The Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO) dominates the interannual variability in the tropical lower stratosphere and is characterized by the descent of alternating easterly and westerly zonal winds. The QBO impact on tropical clouds and convection has received great attention in recent years due to its implications for weather and climate. In this study, a 15‐year record of high vertical resolution cloud observations from CALIPSO and a 50 hPa zonal wind QBO index from ERA5 are used to document the QBO impact on equatorial (10°S–10°N) clouds. Observations from radio occultations, the CERES instrument, and the ERA5 reanalysis are also used to document the QBO impact on temperature, cloud radiative effect (CRE), and zonal wind, respectively. It is shown that the QBO impact on zonal mean equatorial cloud fraction has a strong seasonality. The strongest cloud fraction response to the QBO occurs in boreal spring and early summer, which extends from above the mean tropopause to ∼12.5 km and results in a significant longwave CRE anomaly of 1 W/m2. The seasonality of the QBO impact on cloud fraction is synchronized with the QBO impacts on temperature and zonal wind in the tropical upper troposphere.
Indirect Effects of Binary Typhoons on an Extreme Rainfall Event in Henan Province, China From 19 to 21 July 2021. 3. Sensitivities to Microphysics Schemes
Authors: Xu Hongxiong , Zhao Dajun , Yin Jinfang , Duan Yihong , Gao Wenhua , Li Ying , Zhou Linli
Published: March 2023

Previous numerical studies have focused on the direct impact of microphysics schemes on multiscale atmospheric systems that produce rainfall. However, the indirect impact of microphysics schemes on the key large‐scale circulation around areas of extreme rainfall has not yet been examined systematically. We used the ARW‐WRF (Advanced Research WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) Model) to simulate the extreme rainfall event in Henan province, China from 19 to 21 July 2021. Experiments were conducted to investigate the sensitivity of the simulation to the three popular double‐moment microphysics parameterizations: the Thompson, Morrison and WDM6 (WRF Double‐Moment 6‐Class Microphysics Schemes). We found significant sensitivity to the microphysics parameterization, with the maximum precipitation varying by up to 400 mm and the area‐averaged precipitation by 33 mm. The Thompson and Morrison microphysics schemes produced the largest amount of precipitation, whereas the WDM6 scheme produced the smallest amount of precipitation. The simulated southerly flow varied substantially between the different microphysics schemes. This is due to the ability of the microphysics schemes to produce latent heat, which enhances the southerly flow, leading to more intense precipitation. The higher the parameterized latent heat, the stronger and more obvious the southerly flow over southern Henan province, with the WDM6 scheme simulating a much weaker southerly flow and the Thompson scheme producing the strongest southerly flow. These results indicate that the indirect effects on the key circulation patterns can be just as sensitive to the formulation of the microphysics scheme as the direct effects on extreme rainfall. These results may help to improve the prediction of extreme rainfall events.
Regional Variations in the Spreading‐Rate Dependence of Abyssal Hill Roughness as Indicators of Mantle Heterogeneity
Authors: Goff John A.
Published: March 2023

Abyssal hills are potential proxy records of mid‐ocean ridge faulting and volcanism, as well as the spreading rates and mantle properties that influence these processes. Satellite gravity‐based global prediction of abyssal hill root‐mean‐square (RMS) heights could provide such a proxy, but are broadly influenced off‐axis by pelagic sediment cover, which can lower their values by preferentially filling lows. Here I formulate a sediment‐corrected RMS height prediction by estimating an empirical relationship between mean RMS and sediment thickness as a function of spreading rate. I utilize these values to investigate regional variations in the spreading‐rate dependence of mean RMS across eight regions world‐wide, focusing on half spreading rates <40 mm/yr where spreading rate dependence is strongest. I find that regional variations in this relationship are significant, likely indicating heterogeneity in mantle properties between the different regions.
Pathogenesis of allergic diseases and implications for therapeutic interventions
Authors: Wang Ji , Zhou Yumei , Zhang Honglei , Hu Linhan , Liu Juntong , Wang Lei , Wang Tianyi , Zhang Haiyun , Cong Linpeng , Wang Qi
Published: March 2023

Allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (AR), allergic asthma (AAS), atopic dermatitis (AD), food allergy (FA), and eczema are systemic diseases caused by an impaired immune system. Accompanied by high recurrence rates, the steadily rising incidence rates of these diseases are attracting increasing attention. The pathogenesis of allergic diseases is complex and involves many factors, including maternal-fetal environment, living environment, genetics, epigenetics, and the body’s immune status. The pathogenesis of allergic diseases exhibits a marked heterogeneity, with phenotype and endotype defining visible features and associated molecular mechanisms, respectively. With the rapid development of immunology, molecular biology, and biotechnology, many new biological drugs have been designed for the treatment of allergic diseases, including anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE), anti-interleukin (IL)-5, and anti-thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)/IL-4, to control symptoms. For doctors and scientists, it is becoming more and more important to understand the influencing factors, pathogenesis, and treatment progress of allergic diseases. This review aimed to assess the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic interventions of allergic diseases, including AR, AAS, AD, and FA. We hope to help doctors and scientists understand allergic diseases systematically.
Mechanisms of obesity- and diabetes mellitus-related pancreatic carcinogenesis: a comprehensive and systematic review
Authors: Ruze Rexiati , Song Jianlu , Yin Xinpeng , Chen Yuan , Xu Ruiyuan , Wang Chengcheng , Zhao Yupei
Published: March 2023

Research on obesity- and diabetes mellitus (DM)-related carcinogenesis has expanded exponentially since these two diseases were recognized as important risk factors for cancers. The growing interest in this area is prominently actuated by the increasing obesity and DM prevalence, which is partially responsible for the slight but constant increase in pancreatic cancer (PC) occurrence. PC is a highly lethal malignancy characterized by its insidious symptoms, delayed diagnosis, and devastating prognosis. The intricate process of obesity and DM promoting pancreatic carcinogenesis involves their local impact on the pancreas and concurrent whole-body systemic changes that are suitable for cancer initiation. The main mechanisms involved in this process include the excessive accumulation of various nutrients and metabolites promoting carcinogenesis directly while also aggravating mutagenic and carcinogenic metabolic disorders by affecting multiple pathways. Detrimental alterations in gastrointestinal and sex hormone levels and microbiome dysfunction further compromise immunometabolic regulation and contribute to the establishment of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) for carcinogenesis, which can be exacerbated by several crucial pathophysiological processes and TME components, such as autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative stress, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and exosome secretion. This review provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of the immunometabolic mechanisms of obesity- and DM-related pancreatic carcinogenesis and dissects how metabolic disorders impair anticancer immunity and influence pathophysiological processes to favor cancer initiation.