bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bullous Parametric Response Map for Functional Localization of COPD
Authors: Lor Kuo-Lung , Chang Yeun-Chung , Yu Chong-Jen , Wang Cheng-Yi , Chen Chung-Ming ,   On behalf of the TCORE consortium
Published: January 2022

Advanced bronchoscopic lung volume reduction treatment (BLVR) is now a routine care option for treating patients with severe emphysema. Patterns of low attenuation clusters indicating emphysema and functional small airway disease (fSAD) on paired CT, which may provide additional insights to the target selection of the segmental or subsegmental lobe of the treatments, require further investigation. The low attenuation clusters (LACS) were segmented to identify the scalar and spatial distribution of the lung destructions, in terms of 10 fractions scales of low attenuation density (LAD) located in upper lobes and lower lobes. The LACs of functional small airway disease (fSAD) were delineated by applying the technique of parametric response map (PRM) on the co-registered CT image data. Both emphysematous LACs of inspiratory CT and fSAD LACs on expiratory CT were used to derive the coefficients of the predictive model for estimating the airflow limitation. The voxel-wise severity is then predicted using the regional LACs on the co-registered CT to indicate the functional localization, namely, the bullous parametric response map (BPRM). A total of 100 subjects, 88 patients with mild to very severe COPD and 12 control participants with normal lung functions (FEV1/FVC % > 70%), were evaluated. Pearson’s correlations between FEV1/FVC% and LAV%HU-950 of severe emphysema are − 0.55 comparing to − 0.67 and − 0.62 of LAV%HU-856 of air-trapping and LAV%fSAD respectively. Pearson’s correlation between FEV1/FVC% and FEV1/FVC% predicted by the proposed model using LAD% of HU-950 and fSAD on BPRM is 0.82 (p < 0.01). The result of the Bullous Parametric Response Map (BPRM) is capable of identifying the less functional area of the lung, where the BLVR treatment is aimed at removing from a hyperinflated area of emphysematous regions.
Does ( −)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate protect the neurotoxicity induced by bisphenol A in vivo?
Authors: El Tabaa Manar Mohammed , Sokkar Samia Salem , Ramdan Ehab Sayed , El Salam Inas Zakria Abd , Anis Anis
Published: January 2022

Bisphenol
A (BPA) is one of the chemicals that is firmly accompanied by hippocampal neuronal injury. As oxidative stress appears to be a major contributor to neurotoxicity induced by BPA, antioxidants with remarkable neuroprotective effects can play a valuable protective role. Around the world, ( −)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) was one of the most popular antioxidants that could exert a beneficial neuroprotective role. Here, we examined the potential efficiency of EGCG against neurotoxicity induced by BPA in the hippocampal CA3 region of the rat model. This study revealed that EGCG was unable to abrogate the significant decrease in circulating adiponectin level and hippocampal superoxide dismutase activity as well as an increase in hippocampal levels of nitric oxide and malondialdehyde. Notably, EGCG failed to antagonize the oxidative inhibitory effect of BPA on hippocampal neurotransmission and its associated cognitive deficits. In addition, the histopathological examination with immunohistochemical detection of caspase-3 and NF-kB/p65 emphasized that EGCG failed to protect hippocampal CA3 neurons from apoptotic and necrotic effects induced by BPA. Our study revealed that EGCG showed no protective role against the neurotoxic effect caused by BPA, which may be attributed to its failure to counteract the BPA-induced oxidative stress in vivo. The controversial effect is probably related to EGCG’s ability to impede BPA glucuronidation and thus, its detoxification. That inference requires further additional experimental and clinical studies.

Graphical abstract
8 Å structure of the outer rings of the Xenopus laevis nuclear pore complex obtained by cryo-EM and AI
Authors: Tai Linhua , Zhu Yun , Ren He , Huang Xiaojun , Zhang Chuanmao , Sun Fei
Published: January 2022

The nuclear pore complex (NPC), one of the largest protein complexes in eukaryotes, serves as a physical gate to regulate nucleocytoplasmic transport. Here, we determined the 8 Å resolution cryo-electron microscopic (cryo-EM) structure of the outer rings containing nuclear ring (NR) and cytoplasmic ring (CR) from the Xenopus laevis NPC, with local resolutions reaching 4.9 Å. With the aid of AlphaFold2, we managed to build a pseudoatomic model of the outer rings, including the Y complexes and flanking components. In this most comprehensive and accurate model of outer rings to date, the almost complete Y complex structure exhibits much tighter interaction in the hub region. In addition to two copies of Y complexes, each asymmetric subunit in CR contains five copies of Nup358, two copies of the Nup214 complex, two copies of Nup205 and one copy of newly identified Nup93, while that in NR contains one copy of Nup205, one copy of ELYS and one copy of Nup93. These in-depth structural features represent a great advance in understanding the assembly of NPCs.
3D bioprinted scaffolds for diabetic wound-healing applications
Authors: Glover Katie , Mathew Essyrose , Pitzanti Giulia , Magee Erin , Lamprou Dimitrios A.
Published: January 2022

The treatment strategy required for the effective healing of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a complex process that is requiring several combined therapeutic approaches. As a result, there is a significant clinical and economic burden associated in treating DFU. Furthermore, these treatments are often unsuccessful, commonly resulting in lower-limb amputation. The use of drug-loaded scaffolds to treat DFU has previously been investigated using electrospinning and fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing techniques; however, the rapidly evolving field of bioprinting is creating new opportunities for innovation within this research area. In this study, 3D-bioprinted scaffolds with different designs have been fabricated for the delivery of an antibiotic (levoflocixin) to DFU. The scaffolds were fully characterised by a variety of techniques (e.g. SEM, DSC/TGA, FTIR, and mechanical characterisation), demonstrating excellent mechanical properties and providing sustained drug release for 4 weeks. This proof of concept study demonstrates the innovative potential of bioprinting technologies in fabrication of antibiotic scaffolds for the treatment of DFU.

Graphical abstract
A Matter of Conscience: American Women Religious, Feminist Agency, and the Catholic Church
Authors: Murphy Ryan P.
Published: January 2022

Background

In 2012, the long-simmering tension between American women religious sisters and Catholic Church leadership was brought into sharp focus when the largest group of American sisters—the Leadership Conference of Women Religious—was reprimanded by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Doctrinal Assessment and subsequent Apostolic Visitation concluded that American religious sisters embraced a secular and radical feminist spirit that was incompatible with Church doctrine.

Purpose

While American women religious were publicly criticized, this conflict is not a unique American phenomenon. In fact, it is representative of the gendered challenges that women religious and lay women continue to negotiate around the globe. In many respects, religious sisters are the faces of the Church to many faithful—as teachers, social workers, advocates, and ministers—yet their structural position as women prevents them from leadership or decision-making power in the Church they serve.

Methods

In this research, I explore how sisters navigate these gendered boundaries in the Catholic Church in their day to day ministries. Specifically, I analyze in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia.

Results

Sisters in this congregation employ various forms of feminist agency to assert their power within the Church's confining structures. I find that individual sisters in the congregation use resistance and empowerment agency to claim space for their own voices in ministry. These actions do not directly challenge the sisters’ own subordination in the Church, but instead focus their individual and collective agency on satisfying the unmet pastoral needs of the faithful. Through these accumulative actions, other sisters are empowered to contest gendered institutional Church boundaries and individual clergy who reproduce them.

Conclusions and implications

These sites of empowerment and resistance agency are liminal spaces that point toward greater inclusion of women religious in the institutional Catholic Church, especially as they increasingly meet the ministerial needs of the faithful. Religious sisters in this congregation act with socially-just consciences, standing with the marginalized, and are empowered to increase their spheres of influence in the locations where they minister.
Influence of binder systems on sintering characteristics, microstructures, and mechanical properties of PcBN composites fabricated by SPS
Authors: Chen Shuna , Fan Hengzhong , Su Yunfeng , Li Wensheng , Li Jicheng , Yan Bing , Song Junjie , Hu Litian , Zhang Yongsheng
Published: January 2022

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) with high hardness, thermal conductivity, wear resistance, and chemical inertness has become the most promising abrasive and machining material. Due to the difficulty of fabricating pure cBN body, generally, some binders are incorporated among cBN particles to prepare polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN). Hence, the binders play a critical factor to the performances of PcBN composites. In this study, the PcBN composites with three binder systems containing ceramic and metal phases were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) from 1400 to 1700 °C. The sintering behaviors and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. Results show that the effect of binder formulas on mechanical properties mainly related to the compactness, mechanical performances, and thermal expansion coefficient of binder phases, which affect the carrying capacity of the composites and the bonding strength between binder phases and cBN particles. The PcBN composite with SiAlON phase as binder presented optimal flexural strength (465±29 MPa) and fracture toughness (5.62±0.37 MPa·m1/2), attributing to the synergistic effect similar to transgranular and intergranular fractures. Meanwhile, the excellent mechanical properties can be maintained a comparable level when the temperature even rises to 800 °C. Due to the weak bonding strength and high porosity, the PcBN composites with Al2O3-ZrO2(3Y) and Al-Ti binder systems exhibited inferior mechanical properties. The possible mechanisms to explain these results were also analyzed.
Culture shapes preschoolers’ emotion recognition but not emotion comprehension: a cross-cultural study in Germany and Singapore
Authors: Möller Corina , Bull Rebecca , Aschersleben Gisa
Published: January 2022

Contemporary approaches suggest that emotions are shaped by culture. Children growing up in different cultures experience culture-specific emotion socialization practices. As a result, children growing up in Western societies (e.g., US or UK) rely on explicit, semantic information, whereas children from East Asian cultures (e.g., China or Japan) are more sensitive towards implicit, contextual cues when confronted with others’ emotions. The aim of the present study was to investigate two aspects of preschoolers’ emotion understanding (emotion recognition and emotion comprehension) in a cross-cultural setting. To this end, Singaporean and German preschoolers were tested with an emotion recognition task employing European-American and East Asian child’s faces and the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC; Pons et al., 2004). In total, 129 German and Singaporean preschoolers (mean age 5.34 years) participated. Results indicate that preschoolers were able to recognize emotions of child’s faces above chance level. In line with previous findings, Singaporean preschoolers were more accurate in recognizing emotions from facial stimuli compared to German preschoolers. Accordingly, Singaporean preschoolers outperformed German preschoolers in the Recognition component of the TEC. The overall performance in TEC did not differ between the two samples. Findings of this study provide further evidence that emotion understanding is culturally shaped in accordance with culture-specific emotion socialization practices.
Veränderung von Interesse und Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen Grundschullehramtsstudierender im Bereich der politischen Bildung
Authors: Lenzgeiger Barbara
Published: January 2022

Es gibt nur wenige Erkenntnisse zu den Ausprägungen von Lehrkraftinteresse und Lehrkraftselbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen (angehender) Grundschullehrkräfte im Bereich der politischen Bildung. Offen bleibt außerdem, inwieweit sich Interesse und Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen von angehenden Grundschullehrkräften verändern lassen. Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage wurden im Rahmen einer quasi-experimentellen Interventionsstudie Daten von N = 145 Studierenden des Lehramts für die Grundschule erhoben. Die Ergebnisse aus Strukturgleichungsmodellen und Regressionsanalysen zeigen, dass sich die Lehrkraftselbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen im Bereich der politischen Bildung durch eine Interventionsmaßnahme in Form eines Seminars verändern lassen. Jedoch waren keine Veränderungen des Lehrkraftinteresses der angehenden Lehrkräfte im Rahmen der Studie möglich. Gründe für diese Ergebnisse sowie Konsequenzen für die Ausbildung von Grundschullehrkräften werden diskutiert.
The COVID-19 hospitalization metric in the pre- and postvaccination eras as a measure of pandemic severity: A retrospective, nationwide cohort study
Authors: Fillmore Nathanael R. , La Jennifer , Zheng Chunlei , Doron Shira , Do Nhan V. , Monach Paul A. , Branch-Elliman Westyn
Published: January 2022

Background:

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization definitions do not include a disease severity assessment. Thus, we sought to identify a simple and objective mechanism for identifying hospitalized severe cases and to measure the impact of vaccination on trends.

Methods:

All admissions to a Veterans’ Affairs (VA) hospital, where routine inpatient screening is recommended, between March 1, 2020, and November 22, 2021, with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were included. Moderate-to-severe COVID-19 was defined as any oxygen supplementation or any oxygen saturation (SpO2) <94% between 1 day before and 2 weeks after the positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Admissions with moderate-to-severe disease were divided by the total number of admissions, and the proportion of admissions with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 was modelled using a penalized spline in a Poisson regression and stratified by vaccination status. Dexamethasone receipt and its correlation with moderate-to-severe cases was also assessed.

Results:

Among 67,025 admissions with SARS-CoV-2, the proportion with hypoxemia or supplemental oxygen fell from 64% prior to vaccine availability to 56% by November 2021, driven in part by lower rates in vaccinated patients (vaccinated, 52% versus unvaccinated, 58%). The proportion of cases of moderate-to-severe disease identified using SpO2 levels and oxygen supplementation was highly correlated with dexamethasone receipt (correlation coefficient, 0.95), and increased after July 1, 2021, concurrent with δ (delta) variant predominance.

Conclusions:

A simple and objective definition of COVID-19 hospitalizations using SpO2 levels and oxygen supplementation can be used to track pandemic severity. This metric could be used to identify risk factors for severe breakthrough infections, to guide clinical treatment algorithms, and to detect trends in changes in vaccine effectiveness over time and against new variants.
The influence of fluid–structure interaction on cloud cavitation about a rigid and a flexible hydrofoil. Part 3
Authors: Young Yin Lu , Chang Jasmine C. , Smith Samuel M. , Venning James A. , Pearce Bryce W. , Brandner Paul A.
Published: January 2022

Experimental studies of the influence of fluid–structure interaction on cloud cavitation about a stiff stainless steel (SS) and a flexible composite (CF) hydrofoil have been presented in Parts I (Smithet al.,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 896, 2020a, p. A1) and II (Smithet al.,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 897, 2020b, p. A28). This work further analyses the data and complements the measurements with reduced-order model predictions to explain the complex response. A two degrees-of-freedom steady-state model is used to explain why the tip bending and twisting deformations are much higher for the CF hydrofoil, while the hydrodynamic load coefficients are very similar. A one degree-of-freedom dynamic model, which considers the spanwise bending deflection only, is used to capture the dynamic response of both hydrofoils. Peaks in the frequency response spectrum are observed at the re-entrant jet-driven and shock-wave-driven cavity shedding frequencies, system bending frequency and heterodyne frequencies caused by the mixing of the two cavity shedding frequencies. The predictions capture the increase of the mean system bending frequency and wider bandwidth of frequency modulation with decreasing cavitation number. The results show that, in general, the amplitude of the deformation fluctuation is higher, but the amplitude of the load fluctuation is lower for the CF hydrofoil compared with the SS hydrofoil. Significant dynamic load amplification is observed at subharmonic lock-in when the shock-wave-driven cavity shedding frequency matches with the nearest subharmonic of the system bending frequency of the CF hydrofoil. Both measurements and predictions show an absence of dynamic load amplification at primary lock-in because of the low intensity of cavity load fluctuations with high cavitation number.
Experimental validation of inviscid linear stability theory applied to an axisymmetric jet
Authors: Gareev L.R. , Zayko J.S. , Chicherina A.D. , Trifonov V.V. , Reshmin A.I. , Vedeneev V.V.
Published: January 2022

We study the development of perturbations in a submerged air jet with a round cross-section and a long laminar region (five jet diameters) at a Reynolds number of 5400 by both inviscid linear stability theory and experiments. The theoretical analysis shows that there are two modes of growing axisymmetric perturbations, which are generated by three generalized inflection points of the jet's velocity profile. To validate the results of linear stability theory, we conduct experiments with controlled axisymmetric perturbations to the jet. The characteristics of growing waves are obtained by visualization, thermoanemometer measurements and correlation analysis. Experimentally measured wavelengths, growth rates and spatial distributions of velocity fluctuations for both growing modes are in good agreement with theoretical calculations. Therefore, it is demonstrated that small perturbations to the laminar jet closely follow the predictions of inviscid linear stability theory.
Linear stability analysis of a time-divergent slamming flow
Authors: van der Meer Devaraj
Published: January 2022

When a liquid slams into a solid, the intermediate gas is squeezed out at a speed that diverges when approaching the moment of impact. Although there is mounting experimental evidence that instabilities form on the liquid interface during such an event, understanding of the nature of these instabilities is limited. This study therefore addresses the stability of a liquid–gas interface with surface tension, subject to a diverging flow in the gas phase, where the liquid and the gas phase are both represented as potential fluids. We perform a Kelvin–Helmholtz-type linear modal stability analysis of the surface to obtain an amplitude equation that is subsequently analysed in detail and applied to two cases of interest for impact problems, namely, the parallel impact of a wave onto a vertical wall, and the impact of a horizontal plate onto a liquid surface. In both cases we find that long wavelengths are stabilised considerably in comparison with what may be expected based upon classical knowledge of the stability of interfaces subject to a constant gas flow. In the former case, this leads to the prediction of a marginally stable wavelength that is completely absent in the classical analysis. For the latter we find much resemblance to the classical case, with the connotation that the instability is suppressed for smaller disk sizes. The study ends with a discussion of the influence of gas viscosity and gas compressibility on the respective stability diagrams.
Predicting evaporation rates of droplet arrays
Authors: Fairhurst David J.
Published: January 2022

The evaporation of multiple sessile droplets is both scientifically interesting and practically important, occurring in many natural and industrial applications. Although there are simple analytic expressions to predict evaporation rates of single droplets, there are no such frameworks for general configurations of droplets of arbitrary size, contact angle or spacing. However, a recent theoretical contribution by Masoud, Howell & Stone (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 927, 2021, R4) shows how considerable insight can be gained into the evaporation of arbitrary configurations of droplets without having either to obtain the solution for the concentration of vapour in the atmosphere or to perform direct numerical simulations of the full problem. The theoretical predictions show excellent agreement with simulations for all configurations, only deviating by 25 % for the most confined droplets.
Environmental Crises at the End of Safavid History: The Collapse of Iran's Early Modern Imperial Ecology, 1666–1722
Authors: Gustafson James , Speer James
Published: January 2022

The 17th century was a period of transition in world history. It was marked globally by social movements emerging in response to widespread drought, famine, disease, warfare, and dislocation linked to climate change. Historians have yet to situate Safavid Iran (1501–1722) within the “General Crisis.” This article, coauthored by an environmental historian and a climate scientist, revisits primary sources and incorporates tree-ring evidence to argue that an ecological crisis beginning in the late 17th century contributed to the collapse of the imperial ecology of the Safavid Empire. A declining resource base and demographic decline conditioned the unraveling of imperial networks and the empire's eventual fall to a small band of Afghan raiders in 1722. Ultimately, this article makes a case for the connectedness of Iran to broader global environmental trends in this period, with local circumstances and human agency shaping a period of acute environmental crisis in Iran.
Focal meato-mastoid fistula closure using bony sigmoid sinus plate
Authors: Indorewala S , Parelkar K , Indorewala A , Mahajan G , Shere D
Published: January 2022

Objective

This study aimed to analyse the effectiveness of using the bony sigmoid sinus plate for repair of meato-mastoid fistulae.

Method

A retrospective study of all cases between January 2013 and December 2019 at our secondary-tertiary centre was conducted. Inclusion criteria for study were: (1) cases with focal meato-mastoid fistulae and (2) focal meato-mastoid fistulae that were repaired by using bony sigmoid sinus plate using the bony sigmoid sinus plate technique. There were 13 cases that fulfilled these criteria.

Results

The outcome of the repair of meato-mastoid fistulae with bony sigmoid sinus plate was very encouraging. All 13 cases did well. Two patients had delayed epithelialisation at 9 and 12 months after surgery.

Conclusion

The technique of repairing meato-mastoid fistulae by using bony sigmoid sinus plate is simple, repeatable and provides effective physiological reconstruction of the posterior canal wall. Bony sigmoid sinus plate is easily and locally available in all cases undergoing cortical mastoidectomy. This plate of bone has a curvature, consistency and structure that match well with that of the posterior or superior canal wall. In addition, this technique is cost-effective with good patient compliance.
Negative association between anterior insula activation and resilience during sustained attention: an fMRI twin study
Authors: Montalto Arthur , Park Haeme R. P. , Williams Leanne M. , Korgaonkar Mayuresh S. , Chilver Miranda R. , Jamshidi Javad , Schofield Peter R. , Gatt Justine M.
Published: January 2022

Background

While previous studies have suggested that higher levels of cognitive performance may be related to greater wellbeing and resilience, little is known about the associations between neural circuits engaged by cognitive tasks and wellbeing and resilience, and whether genetics or environment contribute to these associations.

Methods

The current study consisted of 253 monozygotic and dizygotic adult twins, including a subsample of 187 early-life trauma-exposed twins, with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data from the TWIN-E study. Wellbeing was measured using the COMPAS-W Wellbeing Scale while resilience was defined as a higher level of positive adaptation (higher levels of wellbeing) in the presence of trauma exposure. We probed both sustained attention and working memory processes using a Continuous Performance Task in the scanner.

Results

We found significant negative associations between resilience and activation in the bilateral anterior insula engaged during sustained attention. Multivariate twin modelling showed that the association between resilience and the left and right insula activation was mostly driven by common genetic factors, accounting for 71% and 87% of the total phenotypic correlation between these variables, respectively. There were no significant associations between wellbeing/resilience and neural activity engaged during working memory updating.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that greater resilience to trauma is associated with less activation of the anterior insula during a condition requiring sustained attention but not working memory updating. This possibly suggests a pattern of ‘neural efficiency’ (i.e. more efficient and/or attenuated activity) in people who may be more resilient to trauma.
Manualized group cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety in first-episode psychosis: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Lepage Martin , Bowie Christopher R. , Montreuil Tina , Baer Larry , Percie du Sert Olivier , Lecomte Tania , Joober Ridha , Abdel-Baki Amal , Jarvis G. Eric , Margolese Howard C. , De Benedictis Luigi , Schmitz Norbert , Malla Ashok K.
Published: January 2022

Background

Social anxiety (SA), a prevalent comorbid condition in psychotic disorders with a negative impact on functioning, requires adequate intervention relatively early. Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested the efficacy of a group cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention for SA (CBT-SA) that we developed for youth who experienced the first episode of psychosis (FEP). For our primary outcome, we hypothesized that compared to the active control of group cognitive remediation (CR), the CBT-SA group would show a reduction in SA that would be maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. For secondary outcomes, it was hypothesized that the CBT-SA group would show a reduction of positive and negative symptoms and improvements in recovery and functioning.

Method

Ninety-six patients with an FEP and SA, recruited from five different FEP programs in the Montreal area, were randomized to 13 weekly group sessions of either CBT-SA or CR intervention.

Results

Linear mixed models revealed that multiple measures of SA significantly reduced over time, but with no significant group differences. Positive and negative symptoms, as well as functioning improved over time, with negative symptoms and functioning exhibiting a greater reduction in the CBT-SA group.

Conclusions

While SA decreased over time with both interventions, a positive effect of the CBT-SA intervention on measures of negative symptoms, functioning, and self-reported recovery at follow-up suggests that our intervention had a positive effect that extended beyond symptoms specific to SA.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02294409.
Consolidated health economic evaluation reporting standards 2022 (CHEERS 2022) statement: updated reporting guidance for health economic evaluations
Authors: Husereau Don , Drummond Michael , Augustovski Federico , de Bekker-Grob Esther , Briggs Andrew H. , Carswell Chris , Caulley Lisa , Chaiyakunapruk Nathorn , Greenberg Dan , Loder Elizabeth , Mauskopf Josephine , Mullins C. Daniel , Petrou Stavros , Pwu Raoh-Fang , Staniszewska Sophie
Published: January 2022

Health economic evaluations are comparative analyses of alternative courses of action in terms of their costs and consequences. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement, published in 2013, was created to ensure health economic evaluations are identifiable, interpretable, and useful for decision making. It was intended as guidance to help authors report accurately which health interventions were being compared and in what context, how the evaluation was undertaken, what the findings were, and other details that may aid readers and reviewers in interpretation and use of the study. The new CHEERS 2022 statement replaces previous CHEERS reporting guidance. It reflects the need for guidance that can be more easily applied to all types of health economic evaluation, new methods and developments in the field, as well as the increased role of stakeholder involvement including patients and the public. It is also broadly applicable to any form of intervention intended to improve the health of individuals or the population, whether simple or complex, and without regard to context (such as health care, public health, education, social care, etc.). This summary article presents the new CHEERS 2022 28-item checklist and recommendations for each item. The CHEERS 2022 statement is primarily intended for researchers reporting economic evaluations for peer-reviewed journals, as well as the peer reviewers and editors assessing them for publication. However, we anticipate familiarity with reporting requirements will be useful for analysts when planning studies. It may also be useful for health technology assessment bodies seeking guidance on reporting, as there is an increasing emphasis on transparency in decision making.
Extended generator and associated martingales for M/G/1 retrial queue with classical retrial policy and general retrial times
Authors: Meziani S. , Kernane T.
Published: January 2022

A retrial queue with classical retrial policy, where each blocked customer in the orbit retries for service, and general retrial times is modeled by a piecewise deterministic Markov process (PDMP). From the extended generator of the PDMP of the retrial queue, we derive the associated martingales. These results are used to derive the conditional expected number of customers in the orbit in the transient regime.
The Act of Singing: Women, Music, and the Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in Indonesia
Authors: WEINTRAUB ANDREW N.
Published: January 2022

Abstract (English/Indonesian)

In this article, I show how the Dialita women’s choir uses music to contest the ongoing denial of state-sponsored violence that followed the Indonesian tragedy of 1965–66, particularly as it impacted women. More specifically, Dialita uses their experiences and positionalities as women to perform an alternative collective memory for younger generations of Indonesians. Composed in prison, Dialita’s musical repertoire memorialises the affects and effects of imprisonment, exile, trauma, and survival. Due to government censure and public condemnation, the songs had been silenced by the Indonesian state and hidden underground from the public since the Indonesian tragedy. In the early 2000s, the women of Dialita formed a musical group and courageously began performing in public, collaborating with young musicians and recording the songs. I contend that women’s collective singing is an act of critical remembrance, opening a new front in struggles for truth and reconciliation, especially when juridical appeals and strategies have been rebuffed.
Pflegerische Tätigkeitsprofile und erweiterte Kompetenzen in der Notfallpflege geriatrischer Patient_innen
Authors: Markgraf Miriam , Telschow Josephine
Published: January 2022

Zusammenfassung. Hintergrund: In den Notaufnahmen deutscher Krankenhäuser werden zunehmend ältere Menschen aufgenommen, deren komplexe Bedürfnisse erweiterte pflegerische Kompetenzen erfordern. Fragestellung / Ziel: Ziel dieses Scoping Reviews war es, die in der Literatur beschriebenen erweiterten Tätigkeiten, die Pflegefachpersonen in Notfallsituationen geriatrischer Patient_innen übernehmen, und die erforderlichen Qualifikationen zu identifizieren und diese mit dem Stand in Deutschland zu vergleichen. Methoden: Die Literaturrecherche erfolgte in den Datenbanken MEDLINE und CINAHL. Außerdem wurde eine vorwärts- / rückwärtsgerichtete Zitationssuche durchgeführt. Um die Situation in Deutschland zu beschreiben, wurde eine Schneeballsuche über Google durchgeführt und Expertinnen kontaktiert. Die Datenextraktion erfolgte über ein hierfür erstelltes Formular. Ergebnisse: Es wurden 13 Studien mit sieben Aufgabenbereichen eingeschlossen: Informationssammlung, Ersteinschätzung, Koordination, medizinisch-pflegerische Versorgung, Behandlungsplan, Nachsorge und Schulung. Befähigende Qualifizierungen waren fachliche und akademische Weiterbildungen, die teils mit Berufserfahrung kombiniert sein mussten. In Deutschland werden Fachweiterbildungen angeboten. Akademische Spezialisierungen stellen die Ausnahme dar. Eine Tätigkeitsbeschreibung für die geriatrische Notfallpflege in Deutschland konnte nicht identifiziert werden. Schlussfolgerungen: International gibt es Tätigkeitsprofile, die häufig sowohl Berufserfahrung als auch eine Akademisierung erfordern. Für Deutschland konnte kein entsprechendes pflegerisches Rollenprofil identifiziert werden. Zudem bestehen keine spezifischen Qualifikationsmaßnahmen.
Comment on “On the Rootless Nature of a Devonian Suture in SW Iberia (Ossa‐Morena Complex, Variscan Orogen): Geometry and Kinematics of the Azuaga Fault” by Díez Fernández et al. (2021)
Authors: Azor Antonio , Simancas Fernando , Poyatos David Martínez , Lodeiro Francisco González
Published: January 2022

The paper recently published by Díez Fernández et al. (2021) in Tectonics focuses on the post‐metamorphic folding and faulting of the suture‐related unit located at the Ossa‐Morena‐Central Iberian Zone boundary, namely the central unit, with the aim of restoring the pre‐folding geometry, alleged to be flat‐lying and belonging to a single rootless nappe covering most of the Iberian Variscan Massif. Nevertheless, the geometrical analysis presented by these authors is difficult to reconcile with field and seismic reflection data. This comment argues that the central unit rocks do not depict a flat‐lying attitude once the late folds are removed, but a NE‐dipping tectonic/lithological layering that extends down to the middle crust. The kinematics of the highly‐dipping Azuaga Fault, which limits to the SW the central unit, is dominantly left‐lateral with a subordinate downthrowing of the NE block. Therefore, this fault did not contribute to uplift the Central Unit rocks during the late Variscan evolution, as assumed in the transpressional model applied by Díez Fernández et al. (2021). Actually, the central unit was almost completely exhumed during a pre‐late folding ductile shearing (S2), which evolved from high‐temperature conditions to low‐grade conditions. The rootless nature of the central unit and its continuation underneath the entire OMZ can be discarded. Consequently, the Ossa‐Morena zone is not part of a large‐scale allochthonous nappe, but a Variscan continental block bounded to the NE by the rooted suture represented by the central unit, and to the SW by the Rheic suture.
The Uncertain Future of Antarctica’s Melting Ice
Authors: Colleoni Florence , Naish Tim , DeConto Robert , De Santis Laura , Whitehouse Pippa
Published: January 2022

A new multidisciplinary, international research program aims to tackle one of the grand challenges in climate science: resolving the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s contribution to future sea level rise.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is increased in MDD and interacts with body mass index (BMI) to affect depression trajectory
Authors: Mason Brittany L. , Minhajuddin Abu , Czysz Andrew H. , Jha Manish K. , Gadad Bharathi S. , Mayes Taryn L. , Trivedi Madhukar H.
Published: January 2022

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a key regulator of metabolic function and nutrient preference. It also affects biological pathways associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), including corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), leptin, and sympathetic activity. Lower levels of cerebrospinal fluid FGF21 have been associated with higher Beck Depression Inventory scores. FGF21 was examined as a metabolic marker that could be associated with MDD and evaluated as a biomarker of antidepressant treatment response in a large, randomized placebo-controlled trial in chronic, early-onset MDD participants. FGF21 levels at baseline and during treatment were determined for participants in the Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care (EMBARC) study. FGF21 was analyzed by ELISA in individuals with chronic, early-onset MDD (first major depressive episode before 30 years) compared to healthy control participants. Participants with MDD had higher levels of FGF21 compared to healthy controls (HCs), even after controlling for baseline age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, BMI, and site (β-coefficient = 1.20, p < 0.0001, Cohen’s d = 0.60). FGF21 did not change over time nor differ between treatment groups. Interestingly though, those with normal BMI and lower FGF21 levels showed a reduction in depression severity over time compared to all other groups. In conclusion, depression is associated with higher levels of FGF21 compared to healthy controls and those with lower levels of FGF21 (25th percentile of the sample) in the context of normal-weight BMI seem to have improved depression severity over time.
Associations between genetic loci, environment factors and mental disorders: a genome-wide survival analysis using the UK Biobank data
Authors: Meng Peilin , Ye Jing , Chu Xiaomeng , Cheng Bolun , Cheng Shiqiang , Liu Li , Yang Xuena , Liang Chujun , Zhang Feng
Published: January 2022

It is well-accepted that both environment and genetic factors contribute to the development of mental disorders (MD). However, few genetic studies used time-to-event data analysis to identify the susceptibility genetic variants associated with MD and explore the role of environment factors in these associations. In order to detect novel genetic loci associated with MD based on the time-to-event data and identify the role of environmental factors in them, this study recruited 376,806 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. The MD outcomes (including overall MD status, anxiety, depression and substance use disorders (SUD)) were defined based on in-patient hospital, self-reported and death registry data collected in the UK Biobank. SPACOX approach was used to identify the susceptibility loci for MD using the time-to-event data of the UK Biobank cohort. And then we estimated the associations between identified candidate loci, fourteen environment factors and MD through a phenome-wide association study and mediation analysis. SPACOX identified multiple candidate loci for overall MD status, depression and SUD, such as rs139813674 (P value = 8.39 × 10–9, ZNF684) for overall MD status, rs7231178 (DCC, P value = 2.11 × 10–9) for depression, and rs10228494 (FOXP2, P value = 6.58 × 10–10) for SUD. Multiple environment factors could influence the associations between identified loci and MD, such as confide in others and felt hated. Our study identified novel candidate loci for MD, highlighting the strength of time-to-event data based genetic association studies. We also observed that multiple environment factors could influence the association between susceptibility loci and MD.
Heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment is associated with clinical prognosis of non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma: a single-cell genomics study
Authors: Chen Wen-jin , Cao Hao , Cao Jian-wei , Zuo Li , Qu Fa-jun , Xu Da , Zhang Hao , Gong Hai-yi , Chen Jia-xin , Ye Jian-qing , Gan Si-shun , Zhou Wang , Zhu Da-wei , Pan Xiu-Wu , Cui Xin-gang
Published: January 2022

Non-clear renal cell carcinomas (nccRCCs) are less frequent in kidney cancer with histopathological heterogeneity. A better understanding of the tumor biology of nccRCC can provide more effective treatment paradigms for different subtypes. To reveal the heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment (TME) in nccRCC, we performed 10x sing-cell genomics on tumor and normal tissues from patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC), chromophobe RCC (chrRCC), collecting duct carcinoma (CDRCC) and sarcomatoid RCC (sarRCC). 15 tissue samples were finally included. 34561 cells were identified as 16 major cell clusters with 34 cell subtypes. Our study presented the sing-cell landscape for four types of nccRCC, and demonstrated that CD8+ T cells exhaustion, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and sarcomatoid process were the pivotal factors in immunosuppression of nccRCC tissues and were closely correlated with poor prognosis. Abnormal metabolic patterns were present in both cancer cells and tumor-infiltrating stromal cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Combined with CIBERSORTx tool, the expression data of bulk RNA-seq from TCGA were labeled with cell types of our sing-cell data. Calculation of the relative abundance of cell types revealed that greater proportion of exhausted CD8+ T cells, TAMs and sarRCC derived cells were correlated with poor prognosis in the cohort of 274 nccRCC patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides a more comprehensive sight about the heterogeneity and tumor biology of nccRCC, which may potentially facilitate the development of more effective therapies for nccRCC.
Reprogramming cholesterol metabolism in macrophages and its role in host defense against cholesterol-dependent cytolysins
Authors: Lee Min-Sub , Bensinger Steven J.
Published: January 2022

Cholesterol is a critical lipid for all mammalian cells, ensuring proper membrane integrity, fluidity, and biochemical function. Accumulating evidence indicates that macrophages rapidly and profoundly reprogram their cholesterol metabolism in response to activation signals to support host defense processes. However, our understanding of the molecular details underlying how and why cholesterol homeostasis is specifically reshaped during immune responses remains less well understood. This review discusses our current knowledge of cellular cholesterol homeostatic machinery and introduces emerging concepts regarding how plasma membrane cholesterol is partitioned into distinct pools. We then discuss how proinflammatory signals can markedly reshape the cholesterol metabolism of macrophages, with a focus on the differences between MyD88-dependent pattern recognition receptors and the interferon signaling pathway. We also discuss recent work investigating the capacity of these proinflammatory signals to selectively reshape plasma membrane cholesterol homeostasis. We examine how these changes in plasma membrane cholesterol metabolism influence sensitivity to a set of microbial pore-forming toxins known as cholesterol-dependent cytolysins that specifically target cholesterol for their effector functions. We also discuss whether lipid metabolic reprogramming can be leveraged for therapy to mitigate tissue damage mediated by cholesterol-dependent cytolysins in necrotizing fasciitis and other related infections. We expect that advancing our understanding of the crosstalk between metabolism and innate immunity will help explain how inflammation underlies metabolic diseases and highlight pathways that could be targeted to normalize metabolic homeostasis in disease states.
Patterned crystal growth and heat wave generation in hydrogels
Authors: Schroeder Thomas B. H. , Aizenberg Joanna
Published: January 2022

The crystallization of metastable liquid phase change materials releases stored energy as latent heat upon nucleation and may therefore provide a triggerable means of activating downstream processes that respond to changes in temperature. In this work, we describe a strategy for controlling the fast, exothermic crystallization of sodium acetate from a metastable aqueous solution into trihydrate crystals within a polyacrylamide hydrogel whose polymerization state has been patterned using photomasks. A comprehensive experimental study of crystal shapes, crystal growth front velocities and evolving thermal profiles showed that rapid growth of long needle-like crystals through unpolymerized solutions produced peak temperatures of up to 45˚C, while slower-crystallizing polymerized solutions produced polycrystalline composites and peaked at 30˚C due to lower rates of heat release relative to dissipation in these regions. This temperature difference in the propagating heat waves, which we describe using a proposed analytical model, enables the use of this strategy to selectively activate thermoresponsive processes in predefined areas.
molBV reveals immune landscape of bacterial vaginosis and predicts human papillomavirus infection natural history
Authors: Usyk Mykhaylo , Schlecht Nicolas F. , Pickering Sarah , Williams LaShanda , Sollecito Christopher C. , Gradissimo Ana , Porras Carolina , Safaeian Mahboobeh , Pinto Ligia , Herrero Rolando , Strickler Howard D. , Viswanathan Shankar , Nucci-Sack Anne , Diaz Angela ,   Costa Rica HPV Vaccine Trial (CVT) Group, Cortés Bernal , González Paula , Jiménez Silvia E. , Rodríguez Ana Cecilia , Hildesheim Allan , Kreimer Aimée R. , Lowy Douglas R. , Schiffman Mark , Schiller John T. , Sherman Mark , Wacholder Sholom , Kemp Troy J. , Sidawy Mary K. , Quint Wim , van Doorn Leen-Jan , Struijk Linda , Palefsky Joel M. , Darragh Teresa M. , Stoler Mark H. , Burk Robert D.
Published: January 2022

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a highly prevalent condition that is associated with adverse health outcomes. It has been proposed that BV’s role as a pathogenic condition is mediated via bacteria-induced inflammation. However, the complex interplay between vaginal microbes and host immune factors has yet to be clearly elucidated. Here, we develop molBV, a 16 S rRNA gene amplicon-based classification pipeline that generates a molecular score and diagnoses BV with the same accuracy as the current gold standard method (i.e., Nugent score). Using 3 confirmatory cohorts we show that molBV is independent of the 16 S rRNA region and generalizable across populations. We use the score in a cohort without clinical BV states, but with measures of HPV infection history and immune markers, to reveal that BV-associated increases in the IL-1β/IP-10 cytokine ratio directly predicts clearance of incident high-risk HPV infection (HR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.19-2.9). Furthermore, we identify an alternate inflammatory BV signature characterized by elevated TNF-α/MIP-1β ratio that is prospectively associated with progression of incident infections to CIN2 + (OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.62-5.42). Thus, BV is a heterogeneous condition that activates different arms of the immune response, which in turn are independent risk factors for HR-HPV clearance and progression. Clinical Trial registration number: The CVT trial has been registered under: NCT00128661.