bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Single Layer Synthetic Dural Substitute Inlay is an Effective Sellar Reconstruction Technique in Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Pituitary Surgery
Authors: Chaskes Mark B. , Khoury Tawfiq , Chitguppi Chandala , Lavergne Pascal , Nyquist Gurston G. , Rabinowitz Mindy R. , Rosen Marc R. , Evans James J.
Published: December 2020

Objectives A variety of endonasal sellar repair techniques have been described; many are complex, multilayered, and carry potential morbidity. We propose an effective, technically simple single-layer repair for select sellar defects, including those with an intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. Our technique utilizes only a synthetic dural substitute inlay and dural sealant glue without packing or lumbar drainage.

Design This is a retrospective review-based study.

Setting This study was conducted at tertiary care center.

Participants Patients who underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenoma and sellar reconstruction with the aforementioned inlay technique. Patients were selected for this technique if they had an identified intraoperative CSF leak, a patulous diaphragm (expanded and thinned diaphragma sella), or a comorbidity excluding them from a simpler onlay only reconstruction.

Outcome Measures Postoperative CSF leak and sinonasal morbidity included in the study.

Results A total of 409 subjects were identified; 368 were initial resections. Gross total resection of the pituitary adenoma was achieved in 356 (87.0%) cases. Average tumor size was 2.6 ± 1.1 cm. Average tumor volume was 10.8 ± 12.1 cm3. There were 135 intraoperative CSF leaks and 196 patulous diaphragms. There were five postoperative CSF leaks (1.2%), all of which occurred in the first half of our series. Pre- and postoperative sino-nasal outcomes test-22 scores were 19.2 ± 18.2 and 18.8 ± 21.3 (p = 0.492), respectively.

Conclusion A synthetic dural substitute inlay and dural sealant glue is an excellent single-layer repair for sellar defects, even those with an intraoperative CSF leak. This technique is highly effective in preventing postoperative CSF leaks and does not utilize packing or lumbar drainage. It also avoids the potential cost and morbidity associated with more complex and multilayered closures.
Effect of gold nanoparticle incorporation into oil-swollen surfactant lamellar membranes
Authors: Nagao Michihiro , Bradbury Robert , Ansar Siyam M. , Kitchens Christopher L.
Published: December 2020

An oil-swollen surfactant membrane is employed to measure the effects of incorporated hydrophobically functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the structure and dynamics of the membranes. While maintaining an average AuNP diameter of approximately 5 nm, the membrane thickness was varied from 5 nm to 7.5 nm by changing the amount of oil in the membrane. The membranes become softer as the proportion of oil is increased, while the thickness fluctuations become slower. We attribute this to an increased fluctuation wavelength. Incorporation of AuNPs in the membrane induces membrane thinning and softening. Oil molecules surround the nanoparticles in the membrane and help their relatively homogeneous distribution. AuNPs significantly alter the membrane's structure and dynamics through thinning of the membrane, increased compressibility, and possible diffusion of AuNPs inside the membrane.
A perspective on electrode engineering in ultrathin ferroelectric heterostructures for enhanced tunneling electroresistance
Authors: Ma Zhijun , Zhang Qi , Valanoor Nagarajan
Published: December 2020

The combination of ferroelectricity and quantum tunneling enables the tantalizing possibility of next-generation nonvolatile memories based on ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs). In the last two decades, significant progress has been achieved in the understanding of FTJs in terms of the role of the critical thickness for ferroelectricity, interface-related factors that yield an enhanced tunneling electroresistance effect, as well exploiting the combination of magnetism and ferroelectricity to realize multiferroic or magnetoelectric tunnel junctions. One key ingredient in the successful design of FTJs is the type and nature of the electrode used—indeed device performance strongly hinges on the ability to precisely tune and modulate the electrostatic boundary conditions. This perspective presents an overview of the experimental state of the art in electrode engineering for FTJs. We discuss related governing factors and methods for various electrode-FTJ combinations, highlighting and comparing the advantages and weaknesses for each system. Finally, we also reveal the challenges and identify the opportunities for the future development of FTJs. In summary, we aim to provide significant insights into electrode engineering of high-quality FTJs with excellent tunneling electroresistance performance.
Depth selective magnetic phase coexistence in FeRh thin films
Authors: Griggs W. , Eggert B. , Liedke M. O. , Butterling M. , Wagner A. , Kentsch U. , Hirschmann E. , Grimes M. , Caruana A. J. , Kinane C. , Wende H. , Bali R. , Thomson T.
Published: December 2020

We demonstrate the manipulation of magnetic phases in FeRh thin films through atomic displacements and the distribution of structural defects. Atomic scale disorder can be controlled via irradiation with light noble gas ions, producing depth-varying nanoscale phase configurations of distinct antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetic, and paramagnetic regions. Here, we perform a spatial characterization of the magnetic phases and the local magnetic environment around the Fe atoms, as well as the variation of the open-volumes around atomic sites. Thus, a direct correspondence between the existence of the three magnetic phases and lattice defects is revealed. By careful selection of the irradiating fluence, we show that it is possible to produce simple and thermally stable magnetic configurations, such as uniform magnetization or a bilayer phase structure. Furthermore, the thin film surface and interfaces are observed as the nucleation sites for the transitions between the phases. These results demonstrate a sensitive nanoscale manipulation of magnetic properties, shedding light on magnetic ordering in alloy lattices and broadening the scope for applications.
Ethylene responses in non-climacteric horticultural crops
Authors: Ayub Ricardo Antonio , Pessenti Isabela Letícia , Pereira André Belmont
Published: December 2020

Ethylene regulates a number of metabolic
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AQ: Please provide P.O.Box if any in affiliations.

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routes throughout the crop growing season at different environmental conditions. The most known process dealing with the action of such a hormone turns out to be ripening of climacteric fruits, which as opposed to non-climacteric fruits, reveals that ripening is accompanied by a respiration peak in conjunction with a concomitant outburst of ethylene production. Ethylene has been the target of scientific investigations carried out by researchers linked to fruit and horticulture sciences owing to physiological responsiveness of non-climacteric fruits regarding quality issues, since consumption has been plummeting whereas production costs soar more and more. Molecular techniques have been largely and globally scrutinized in order to provide a better understanding of ripening physiology of fruits and horticultural species. Physiological responses come to being enigmatic and quite complex because variability inherent to different horticultural species, maturation process per se, and cultivar factors impair the possibility of garnering knowledge in light of clear evidence on processes encrusted in ethylene production from non-climacteric fruits.
Identifying Naloxone Administrations in Electronic Health Record Data using a Text-Mining Tool
Authors: Derington Catherine G. , Mueller Shane R. , Glanz Jason M. , Binswanger Ingrid A.
Published: December 2020

Background

Effective and efficient methods are needed to identify naloxone administrations within electronic health record (EHR) data to conduct overdose surveillance and research. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a text-mining tool to identify naloxone administrations in EHR data.

Methods

Clinical notes stored in databases between January 2017 and March 2018 were used to iteratively develop a text-mining tool to identify naloxone administrations. The first iteration of the tool used broad search terms. Then, after reviewing clinical notes of overdose encounters, we developed a list of phrases that described naloxone administrations to inform iteration two. While validating iteration two, additional phrases were found, which were then added to inform the final iteration. The comparator was an administrative code query extracted from the EHR. Medical record review was used to identify true positives. The primary outcome was the positive predictive values (PPV) of the second iteration, final iteration, and administrative code query.

Results

Iteration two, the final iteration, and the administrative code had PPVs of 84.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 78.6–89.0%), 83.8% (95% CI 78.6–88.2%), and 57.1% (95% CI 47.1–66.8%), respectively. Both iterations of the tool had a significantly higher PPV than the administrative code ( p < 0.001).

Conclusions

A text-mining tool improved the identification of naloxone administrations in EHR data from less than 60% with the administrative code to greater than 80% with both versions of the tool. Text-mining tools can inform the use of more sophisticated informatics methods, which often require significant time, resource, and expertise investment.
Predicting toxicity by quantum machine learning
Authors: Suzuki Teppei , Katouda Michio
Published: December 2020

In recent years, parameterized quantum circuits have been regarded as machine learning models within the framework of the hybrid quantum–classical approach. Quantum machine learning (QML) has been applied to binary classification problems and unsupervised learning. However, practical quantum application to nonlinear regression tasks has received considerably less attention. Here, we develop QML models designed for predicting the toxicity of 221 phenols on the basis of quantitative structure activity relationship. The results suggest that our data encoding enhanced by quantum entanglement provided more expressive power than the previous ones, implying that quantum correlation could be beneficial for the feature map representation of classical data. Our QML models performed significantly better than the multiple linear regression method. Furthermore, our simulations indicate that the QML models were comparable to those obtained using radial basis function networks, while improving the generalization performance. The present study implies that QML could be an alternative approach for nonlinear regression tasks such as cheminformatics.
An improved parasitic resistance extraction strategy alongside the effect of Cds at low gate bias voltages for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs
Authors: Kaushik Pragyey Kumar , Singh Sankalp Kumar , Gupta Ankur , Basu Ananjan
Published: December 2020

An improved parasitic resistance extraction from small-signal equivalent-circuit and effect of C

ds
in GaN HEMTs is presented. Parasitic capacitances are evaluated at ‘cold pinch off’ condition. More accurate extraction method of parasitic resistance is presented at low gate bias voltages compared to earlier published work. The impact of drain to source capacitance (C

ds
) at low gate bias voltage is also reported in this manuscript. The validity of proposed parasitic resistance extraction procedure and effect of drain to source capacitance (C

ds
) has been verified through error analysis with the measured S-parameters data of 0.8-μm of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor consisting 2 × 200-μm gate width. Proposed method shows good harmony between simulated and measured data up to 40 GHz frequency.
What makes the cell cycle tick? a celebration of the awesome power of biochemistry and the frog egg
Authors: Kirschner Marc
Published: December 2020

The cell cycle, a 19th century discovery of cytologists, only achieved a satisfactory biochemical explanation in the last 20 years of the 20th century. This personal retrospective focuses on how biochemical studies of the frog egg helped identify the cyclin-based mitotic oscillator and how this approach quickly merged with genetic studies in yeast to establish the basic mechanism of the eukaryotic cell division cycle. The key feature that made this a cyclic process was regulated protein degradation, mediated by ubiquitin, catalyzed by a massive enzyme machine, called the Anaphase Promoting Complex.
PROSS 2: a new server for the design of stable and highly expressed protein variants
Authors: Weinstein Jonathan Jacob , Goldenzweig Adi , Hoch ShlomoYakir , Fleishman Sarel Jacob
Published: December 2020

Many natural and designed proteins are only marginally stable limiting their usefulness in research and applications. Recently, we described an automated structure and sequence-based design method, called PROSS, for optimizing protein stability and heterologous expression levels that has since been validated on dozens of proteins. Here, we introduce improvements to the method, workflow and presentation, including more accurate sequence analysis, error handling and automated analysis of the quality of the sequence alignment that is used in design calculations.

Availability and implementation

PROSS2 is freely available for academic use at https://pross.weizmann.ac.il.
Cryptic genetic diversity and cytonuclear discordance characterize contact among Canada jay (Perisoreus canadensis) morphotypes in western North America
Authors: Graham Brendan A , Cicero Carla , Strickland Dan , Woods John G , Coneybeare Howard , Dohms Kimberly M , Szabo Ildiko , Burg Theresa M
Published: December 2020

Three distinct Canada jay (Perisoreus canadensis) morphotypes with easily recognizable plumage traits come into contact in western North America. Recent work demonstrated high genetic structure across the species’ range; however, patterns of genetic variation in these contact zones remain unknown. We categorized 605 individuals into one of three morphotypes (Pacific, Rocky Mountain, and Boreal) based on plumage, and genotyped individuals at the mtDNA control region and 12 microsatellite loci to assess the extent of hybridization between morphotypes. Our data showed cryptic genetic diversity and high cytonuclear discordance among morphotypes within contact zones, which is likely the result of recent and historical admixture. The distributions of the Boreal and Pacific morphotypes each showed a strong association with a single, distinct genetic group, whereas the Rocky Mountain morphotype exhibited higher genetic diversity and was associated with multiple genotypes. Our analyses show the importance of considering both plumage and genetic traits when examining contact zones between closely related taxa. Finally the data presented in this study reaffirm that the Pacific morphotype is distinct from the Boreal and Rocky Mountain morphotypes based on genetic, phenotypic and ecological data, indicating that the Pacific morphotype should be re-elevated to a full species.
Trabecular complexity as an early marker of cardiac involvement in Fabry disease
Authors: Camporeale Antonia , Moroni Francesco , Lazzeroni Davide , Garibaldi Silvia , Pieroni Maurizio , Pieruzzi Federico , Lusardi Paola , Spada Marco , Mignani Renzo , Burlina Alessandro , Carubbi Francesca , Econimo Laura , Battaglia Yuri , Graziani Francesca , Pica Silvia , Chow Kelvin , Camici Paolo G , Lombardi Massimo
Published: December 2020

Aims

Fabry cardiomyopathy is characterized by glycosphingolipid storage and increased myocardial trabeculation has also been demonstrated. This study aimed to explore by cardiac magnetic resonance whether myocardial trabecular complexity, quantified by endocardial border fractal analysis, tracks phenotype evolution in Fabry cardiomyopathy.

Methods and results

Study population included 20 healthy controls (12 males, age 32±9) and 45 Fabry patients divided into three groups: 15 left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)-negative patients with normal T1 (5 males, age 28±13; Group 1); 15 LVH-negative patients with low T1 (9 males, age 33±9.6; Group 2); 15 LVH-positive patients (11 males, age 53.5±9.6; Group 3). Trabecular fractal dimensions (Dfs) (total, basal, mid-ventricular, and apical) were evaluated on cine images. Total Df was higher in all Fabry groups compared to controls, gradually increasing from controls to Group 3 (1.27±0.02 controls vs. 1.29±0.02 Group 1 vs. 1.30±0.02 Group 2 vs. 1.34±0.02 Group 3; P<0.001). Group 3 showed significantly higher values of all Dfs compared to the other Groups. Both basal and total Dfs were significantly higher in Group 1 compared with controls (basal: 1.30±0.03 vs. 1.26±0.04, P =0.010; total: 1.29±0.02 vs. 1.27±0.02, P=0.044). Total Df showed significant correlations with: (i) T1 value (r=−0.569; P<0.001); (ii) LV mass (r=0.664, P<0.001); (iii) trabecular mass (r=0.676; P <0.001); (iv) Mainz Severity Score Index (r=0.638; P<0.001).

Conclusion

Fabry cardiomyopathy is characterized by a progressive increase in Df of endocardial trabeculae together with shortening of T1 values. Myocardial trabeculation is increased before the presence of detectable sphingolipid storage, thus representing an early sign of cardiac involvement.
Incidental detection of myocardial clefts in a patient with acute inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a very unusual and potentially ominous association—a case-report
Authors: Garau Giovanni , Bataille Yoann , Larose Eric , Hoffer Etienne
Published: December 2020

Background

The crescent availability of high-resolution cardiac imaging allows detection of myocardial structural variations. Differentiate these entities from others with different clinical significance can be challenging. Clinicians should be familiar with myocardial clefts to avoid erroneous diagnosis.

Case summary

A 63-year-old smoker man alerted the emergency medical system for sudden chest pain. The electrocardiogram showed Pardee wave in inferior leads. Coronary angiography evidenced a 100% occlusion of right coronary artery that was treated by angioplasty and drug-eluting stent implantation with optimal angiographic result. At ventriculography, two fissure-like protrusion were observed in the inferior wall. Urgent transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) demonstrated two deep fissures on the mid-inferior wall, contained by a thin sub-epicardial layer, with sub-total obliteration during systole. A diagnosis of myocardial clefts was suspected and after Heart Team discussion, a conservative strategy was proposed. Early cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) confirmed two myocardial crypts on the mid-inferior wall. Stability of myocardial fissures and absence of left ventricular remodelling was confirmed by TTE, in a 2 years of follow-up period.

Discussion

Myocardial cleft should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of myocardial wall defects. In a patient presenting with an acute myocardial infarction, the main differential diagnosis is pseudoaneurysm. In this setting modified TTE views and meticulous analysis of CMR sequences are recommended to confirm the diagnosis and estimate the risk of myocardial rupture.
Investigating the culturable atmospheric fungal and bacterial microbiome in West Texas: implication of dust storms and origins of the air parcels
Authors: Elmassry Moamen M , Ray Nandini , Sorge Sara , Webster Jennifer , Merry Kyle , Caserio Angelica , Vecellio Daniel J , Kruczek Cassandra , Dowd Scot , Ardon-Dryer Karin , Vanos Jennifer , San Francisco Michael J
Published: December 2020

Individuals often experience ailments such as allergies, asthma and respiratory tract infections throughout the year. Weather reports often include estimations of common allergens that can affect these individuals. To describe the local ‘atmospheric microbiome’ in Lubbock, Texas, USA, we examined the culturable fungal and bacterial microbiome present in the air on calm and dust storm days using internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-1 and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, respectively. While some types of airborne fungi were frequently present throughout the year, distinct differences were also observed between calm and dust storm days. We also observed the influence of the origin of air parcels and wind elevation of the air trajectory. The most abundant genera of fungi identified during the study period were Cryptococcus, Aureobasidium, Alternaria, Cladosporium and Filobasidium. This observation was not surprising considering the agricultural intensive environment of West Texas. Interestingly, Cladosporium, a common allergenic mold, was increased during days with dust storm events. The predominant bacterial genera observed were Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Psychrobacter, Massilia and Exiguobacterium. The relative abundance of the psychrophiles, Psychrobacter and Exiguobacterium, was surprising, given the semi-aridity of West Texas. Coupling our observations with back trajectories of the wind (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory models) demonstrated that dust storms, regional anthropogenic activity and origin of air parcels are important influences on the diversity and temporal presence of the atmospheric microbiome.
Comparison of the two up-to-date sequencing technologies for genome assembly: HiFi reads of Pacific Biosciences Sequel II system and ultralong reads of Oxford Nanopore
Authors: Lang Dandan , Zhang Shilai , Ren Pingping , Liang Fan , Sun Zongyi , Meng Guanliang , Tan Yuntao , Li Xiaokang , Lai Qihua , Han Lingling , Wang Depeng , Hu Fengyi , Wang Wen , Liu Shanlin
Published: December 2020

Background

The availability of reference genomes has revolutionized the study of biology. Multiple competing technologies have been developed to improve the quality and robustness of genome assemblies during the past decade. The 2 widely used long-read sequencing providers—Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT)—have recently updated their platforms: PacBio enables high-throughput HiFi reads with base-level resolution of >99%, and ONT generated reads as long as 2 Mb. We applied the 2 up-to-date platforms to a single rice individual and then compared the 2 assemblies to investigate the advantages and limitations of each.

Results

The results showed that ONT ultralong reads delivered higher contiguity, producing a total of 18 contigs of which 10 were assembled into a single chromosome compared to 394 contigs and 3 chromosome-level contigs for the PacBio assembly. The ONT ultralong reads also prevented assembly errors caused by long repetitive regions, for which we observed a total of 44 genes of false redundancies and 10 genes of false losses in the PacBio assembly, leading to over- or underestimation of the gene families in those long repetitive regions. We also noted that the PacBio HiFi reads generated assemblies with considerably fewer errors at the level of single nucleotides and small insertions and deletions than those of the ONT assembly, which generated an average 1.06 errors per kb and finally engendered 1,475 incorrect gene annotations via altered or truncated protein predictions.

Conclusions

It shows that both PacBio HiFi reads and ONT ultralong reads had their own merits. Further genome reference constructions could leverage both techniques to lessen the impact of assembly errors and subsequent annotation mistakes rooted in each.
Patient Perspectives of IBD Care and Services: An Integral Part of a Pan-Canadian Quality Improvement Initiative
Authors: Vutcovici Maria , Sewitch Maida , Kachan Natasha , Stone Marlene , Morin Isabelle , Bouchard Shelley , Heatherington Joan , Devitt Katharine S , Nguyen Geoffrey C , Bitton Alain
Published: December 2020

Background

As beneficiaries of health service improvement initiatives, patients should have their perspectives of and gaps in care elicited to inform and guide the development of quality indicators to assess health care services. The purpose of this study was to identify patient perspectives amenable for conversion into measurable inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care quality indicators.

Methods

Crohn’s and Colitis Canada’s Promoting Access and Care through Centres of Excellence (PACE) program organized four patient focus groups in three Canadian provinces in 2016 to capture the perspective of patients on IBD care services. The RQDA package in R was used for transcript analysis, theme identification and for building a theme hierarchy based on the number of citations. The main themes were converted into patient-derived quality indicators.

Results

Several perceived unmet needs were elicited from participants that could be converted into measurable quality indicators. These unmet needs addressed the need for information, access to multidisciplinary services and specialized care, and access to psychological support. Patient unmet needs informed the selection of nine quality indicators that were included in the final list of PACE indicators to assess IBD care services across Canada.

Conclusions

Our study provides a detailed description of patient perspectives on IBD care services that were an integral part of the development of measurable indicators of the quality of care in the context of a universal health care system.
Single-Center Experience With Antibiotic Prophylaxis and Infectious Complications in Civilian Cranial Gunshot Wounds
Authors: Johnson Mark D , Carroll Christopher P , Cass Daryn , Andaluz Norberto , Foreman Brandon , Goodman Michael D , Ngwenya Laura B
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

Despite the widespread adoption of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis in civilian cranial gunshot wounds (cGSWs), there remains a lack of consensus on microbial coverage and duration of therapy.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze a 6-yr experience with prophylactic antibiotics in civilian cGSWs with a focus on infectious complications.

METHODS

Records were reviewed for demographic and injury characteristics that could influence the risk of intracranial infection. Patients over 16 yr of age with cGSWs who survived more than 48 h were included. Antimicrobial prophylaxis was initiated at the discretion of the treating neurosurgeon, with eligible patients divided into 3 groups: no prophylaxis, single agent, and multiagent. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to determine variables contributing to the development of intracranial infection.

RESULTS

Of 75 eligible patients, prophylactic antibiotics were utilized in 61 (81.3%) with a 5 d median duration. Injury Severity Score (ISS) was significantly higher and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was significantly lower in those who received prophylaxis. Eight intracranial infections were documented (10.7%) over a range of 1 wk to 3 yr from injury. Antibiotic prophylaxis did not contribute to infection, but the presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak was associated with intracranial infection risk in multivariable regression (odds ratio [OR] = 11.8, P = .013).

CONCLUSION

In a cohort of cGSW patients, those with a more severe injury profile were more likely to receive multiagent antimicrobial prophylaxis. However, we found that multiagent antimicrobial prophylaxis did not confer an advantage, and that the presence of CSF leak may be a more important contributing variable to the development of intracranial infection.
Encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis Averts Stroke in Atherosclerotic Patients With Border-Zone Infarct: Post Hoc Analysis From a Performance Criterion Phase II Trial
Authors: Quintero-Consuegra Miguel D , Toscano Juan F , Babadjouni Robin , Nisson Peyton , Kayyali Mohammad N , Chang Daniel , Almallouhi Eyad , Saver Jeffrey L , Gonzalez Nestor R
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is one of the leading causes of stroke worldwide. Patients with ICAD who initially present with ischemia in border-zone areas and undergo intensive medical management (IMM) have the highest recurrence rates (37% at 1 yr) because of association with hemodynamic failure and poor collaterals.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of encephaloduroarteriosynagiosis (EDAS) on stroke recurrence in patients with ICAD and border-zone stroke (BDZS) at presentation.

METHODS

A phase II clinical trial of EDAS revascularization for symptomatic ICAD failing medical management (EDAS Revascularization for Symptomatic Intracranial Atherosclerosis Steno-occlusive [ERSIAS]) was recently concluded. We analyze the outcomes of the subgroup of patients with BDZS at presentation treated with EDAS vs the previously reported Stenting versus Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS) IMM subgroup with BDZS at presentation.

RESULTS

Of 52 patients included in the ERSIAS trial, 35 presented with strokes at baseline, and 28 had a BDZ pattern, including 15 (54%) with exclusive BDZS and 13 (46%) with mixed patterns (BDZ plus other distribution). Three of the 28 (10.7%) had recurrent strokes up to a median follow-up of 24 months. The rate of recurrent stroke in ICAD patients with BDZS at presentation after EDAS was significantly lower than the rate reported in the SAMMPRIS IMM subgroup with BDZS at presentation (10.7% vs 37% P = .004, 95% CI = 0.037-0.27).

CONCLUSION

ICAD patients with BDZS at presentation have lower rates of recurrent stroke after EDAS surgery than those reported with medical management in the SAMMPRIS trial. These results support further investigation of EDAS in a randomized clinical trial.
Prediction Models in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Forecasting Clinical Outcome With Artificial Intelligence
Authors: de Jong Guido , Aquarius René , Sanaan Barof , Bartels Ronald H M A , Grotenhuis J André , Henssen Dylan J H A , Boogaarts Hieronymus D
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND

Predicting outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is known to be challenging and complex. Machine learning approaches, of which feedforward artificial neural networks (ffANNs) are the most widely used, could contribute to the patient-specific outcome prediction.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prediction capacity of an ffANN for the patient-specific clinical outcome and the occurrence of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and compare those results with the predictions of 2 internationally used scoring systems.

METHODS

A prospective database was used to predict (1) death during hospitalization (ie, mortality) (n = 451), (2) unfavorable modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 6 mo (n = 413), and (3) the occurrence of DCI (n = 362). Additionally, the predictive capacities of the ffANN were compared to those of Subarachnoid Haemorrhage International Trialists (SAHIT) and VASOGRADE to predict clinical outcome and occurrence of DCI.

RESULTS

The area under the curve (AUC) of the ffANN showed to be 88%, 85%, and 72% for predicting mortality, an unfavorable mRS, and the occurrence of DCI, respectively. Sensitivity/specificity rates of the ffANN for mortality, unfavorable mRS, and the occurrence of DCI were 82%/80%, 94%/80%, and 74%/68%. The ffANN and SAHIT calculator showed similar AUCs for predicting personalized outcome. The presented ffANN and VASOGRADE were found to perform equally with regard to personalized prediction of occurrence of DCI.

CONCLUSION

The presented ffANN showed equal performance when compared with VASOGRADE and SAHIT scoring systems while using less individual cases. The web interface launched simultaneously with the publication of this manuscript allows for usage of the ffANN-based prediction tool for individual data (https://nutshell-tool.com/).
In situgrowth of large-area and self-aligned graphene nanoribbon arrays on liquid metal
Authors: Cai Le , He Wanzhen , Xue Xudong , Huang Jianyao , Zhou Ke , Zhou Xiahong , Xu Zhiping , Yu Gui
Published: December 2020

Intrinsic graphene features semi-metallic characteristics that limit its applications in electronic devices, whereas graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are promising semiconductors because of their bandgap-opening feature. However, the controllable mass-fabrication of high-quality GNR arrays remains a major challenge. In particular, the in situ growth of GNR arrays through template-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has not been realized. Herein, we report a template-free CVD strategy to grow large-area, high-quality and self-aligned GNR arrays on liquid copper surface. The width of as-grown GNR could be optimized to sub-10 nm with aspect ratio up to 387, which is higher than those of reported CVD-GNRs. The study of the growth mechanism indicates that a unique comb-like etching-regulated growth process caused by a trace hydrogen flow guides the formation of the mass-produced self-aligned GNR arrays. Our approach is operationally simple and efficient, offering an assurance for the use of GNR arrays in integrated circuits.
Real-World Inpatient Use of Medications Repurposed for Coronavirus Disease 2019 in United States Hospitals, March–May 2020
Authors: Kadri Sameer S , Demirkale Cumhur Y , Sun Junfeng , Busch Lindsay M , Strich Jeffrey R , Rosenthal Ning , Warner Sarah
Published: December 2020

We report off-label use patterns for medications repurposed for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at 318 US hospitals. Inpatient hydroxychloroquine use declined by 80%, whereas corticosteroids and tocilizumab were initiated 2 days earlier in May versus March 2020. Two thirds of ventilated COVID-19 patients were already receiving corticosteroids during March–May 2020, resembling pre-COVID use in mechanically ventilated influenza patients.
Candida aurisColonization After Discharge to a Community Setting: New York City, 2017–2019
Authors: Bergeron Genevieve , Bloch Danielle , Murray Kenya , Kratz Molly , Parton Hilary , Ackelsberg Joel , Antwi Mike , Del Rosso Paula , Dorsinville Marie , Kubinson Hannah , Lash Maura , Rand Sophie , Adams Eleanor , Zhu Yanchun , Erazo Richard , Chaturvedi Sudha , Weiss Don
Published: December 2020

Background

Patients colonized with multidrug-resistant Candida auris and discharged to a community setting can subsequently seek care in a different healthcare facility and might be a source of nosocomial transmission of C auris.

Methods

We designed a case management pilot program for a cohort of New York City residents who had a history of positive C auris culture identified during clinical or screening activities in healthcare settings and discharged to a community setting during 2017–2019. Approximately every 3 months, case managers coordinated C auris colonization assessments, which included swabs of groin, axilla, and body sites yielding C auris previously. Patients eligible to become serially negative were those with ≥2 C auris colonization assessments after initial C auris identification. Clinical characteristics of serially negative and positive patients were compared.

Results

The cohort included 75 patients. Overall, 45 patients were eligible to become serially negative and had 552 person-months of follow-up. Of these 45 patients, 28 patients were serially negative (62%; rate 5.1/100 person-months), 8 were serially positive, and 9 could not be classified as either. There were no clinical characteristics that were significantly different between serially negative and positive patients. The median time from initial C auris identification to being serially negative at assessments was 8.6 months (interquartile range, 5.7–10.8 months).

Conclusions

A majority of patients, assessed at least twice after C auris identification, no longer had C auris detectable on serial colonization assessments.
Artificial Intelligence in the Supply Chain
Authors: Brintrup Alexandra
Published: December 2020

While artificial intelligence (AI) in supply chains (SC) has become a popular topic, there is a distinct lack of conceptual frameworks with which to categorize and review how various subtopics of AI can help in subfields of supply chain management. To address this gap, this chapter conceptualizes the new topic of SC AI through a human-mimicking intelligent agent that exhibits “smart” SC behavior. It then develops several SC AI capability blocks for the intelligent agent and reviews and synthesizes studies to date within these capability blocks. The chapter concludes by highlighting several industrial use cases and extant challenges reported in the literature that need to be tackled to move this exciting new field forward.
Supplier Development at LG Electronics
Authors: Kim Hyojin , Hur Daesik , Schoenherr Tobias
Published: December 2020

Supplier development has been a critical supply management practice since the 1990s. In many instances, it has even become imperative for buyer firms to support and prepare their supply bases for uncertain economic and market environments, socially and environmentally conscious customers, advances in digital technologies, and increasing competition. Yet, research that approaches supplier development with the objective to advance all these dimensions in an integrated fashion is scarce. This study fills this void by exploring how a buyer firm may address these emerging challenges in its supply base. Specifically, an in-depth case study of LG Electronics explores how the firm designs and operates multidimensional supplier development activities to foster the stability and sustainability of its supply base while enhancing its core suppliers’ competitive capabilities. This chapter illustrates how supplier development can be taken to the next level, presents implications for managerial practice, and outlines promising future research avenues.
Three Perspectives on Centrality
Authors: Borgatti Stephen P. , Everett Martin G.
Published: December 2020

This chapter presents three different perspectives on centrality. In part, the motivation is definitional: what counts as a centrality measure and what doesn’t? But the primary purpose is to lay out ways that centrality measures are similar and dissimilar and point to appropriate ways of interpreting different measures. The first perspective the chapter considers is the “walk structure participation” perspective. In this perspective, centrality measures indicate the extent and manner in which a node participates in the walk structure of a graph. A typology is presented that distinguishes measures based on dimensions such as (1) what kinds of walks are considered (e.g., geodesics, paths, trails, or unrestricted walks) and (2) whether the number of walks is counted or the length of walks is assessed, or both. The second perspective the chapter presents is the “induced centrality” perspective, which views a node’s centrality as its contribution to a specific graph invariant—typically some measure of the cohesiveness of the network. Induced centralities are computed by calculating the graph invariant, removing the node in question, and recalculating the graph invariant. The difference is the node’s centrality. The third perspective is the “flow outcomes” perspective. Here the chapter views centralities as estimators of node outcomes in some kind of propagation process. Generic node outcomes include how often a bit of something propagating passes through a node and the time until first arrival of something flowing. The latter perspective leads us to consider the merits of developing custom measures for different research settings versus using off-the-shelf measures that were not necessarily designed for the current purpose.
Natural Language Processing for Innovating Behavioral Political Science Research
Authors: Li Quan
Published: December 2020

Since the invention of Word2Vec by a Google team in 2013, natural language processing (NLP) techniques have been increasingly applied in the private sector, by government agencies across countries, and in the social sciences. This chapter explains NLP’s basic analytical procedure from preprocessing of raw text data to statistical modeling, reviews the most recent advances in NLP applications in political science, and proposes a new scaling approach for measuring political actors’ spatial preferences along with potential application in decision-making research. It argues that with a greater focus on explaining behavioral mechanisms and processes, which is a goal shared by artificial intelligence/computational modeling and cognitive science, NLP can help improve behavioral political science by its ability to integrate micro-, meso-, and macro-level analyses. Critical and reflexive use of NLP techniques, combined with big data, will lead to obtain better insights on political behavior in general.
From Transition Through Old Age: Caring for Adults With Down Syndrome
Authors: Hodapp Robert M. , Sanderson Kelli A. , Mello Maria
Published: December 2020

As adults with Down syndrome live longer lives, increased attention is being paid to their health, work, and living situations. In this chapter, we divide the adult years in Down syndrome into young adulthood—roughly from 20 through the late 40s—and older adulthood, from the late 40s until death in the late 50s or 60s. Many adults with Down syndrome are doing well during early adulthood, although concerns persist about their finding meaningful jobs, connecting to others in the community, and (sometimes) showing increased levels of depression. During later adulthood, changes emerge for many, including the onset of chronic “old-age” health problems during the 50s, as well as moving away from their parental homes (often occurring as late as the 40s). Despite 160 years of research on the syndrome, major gaps remain in our understanding of adulthood, especially concerning connections among the health, functioning, and work and residential status of the aging adult with Down syndrome, as well as the aging of their parents and their relationships with adult siblings.
Healthcare Fraud and Abuse in Europe
Authors: Elliott Tracey A.
Published: December 2020

This chapter explores the significant problem of healthcare fraud in Europe, which in the UK alone is estimated at £1.27 billion a year or more than 30% of the European Union healthcare budgets. It emphasizes the difficulties of identifying the predominant “European approach” on the ethical, definitional, and operational challenges that make healthcare fraud difficult to define, identify, police, and prevent. It also describes different healthcare fraud problems in European countries that vary in historical, cultural, and political circumstances. This chapter discusses the significance of how European states manage the financing of their healthcare systems and payment of healthcare professionals as it affects the forms of abusive conduct that might occur. It also mentions the UK, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Nordic Countries as states vulnerable to procurement corruption as stated by Transparency International.
Fluid Multilingual Practices among Youth in Cameroon and Mozambique
Authors: Reite Torun , Oloko Francis Badiang , Guissemo Manuel Armando
Published: December 2020

Inspired by recent epistemological and ontological debates aimed at unsettling and reshaping conceptions of language, this essay discusses how mainstream sociolinguistics offers notions meaningful for studying contexts of the South. Based on empirical studies of youth in two African cities, Yaoundé in Cameroon and Maputo in Mozambique, the essay engages with “fluid modernity” and “enregisterment” to unravel the role that fluid multilingual practices play in the social lives of urban youth. The empirically grounded theoretical discussion shows how recent epistemologies and ontologies offer inroads to more pluriversal knowledge production. The essay foregrounds: i) the role of language in the sociopolitical battles of control over resources, and ii) speakers’ reflexivity and metapragmatic awareness of register formations of fluid multilingual practices. Moreover, it shows how bundles of localized meanings construct belongings and counterhegemonic discourses, as well as demonstrating speakers’ differential valuations and perceptions of boundaries and transgressions across social space.
Research on Emerging Biotechnologies
Authors: King Nancy M. P. , Coughlin Christine Nero
Published: December 2020

This chapter explores ethical and policy issues common to research on emerging biotechnologies, focusing in particular on two broad categories: gene addition and gene editing research and stem cell–based intervention and regenerative medicine research. The issues addressed include the relationship between science and ethics in trial design, informed consent, and the therapeutic misconception in early-stage research with patient-subjects; treatment versus enhancement; questions of cost, access, and justice; and governance challenges. The chapter considers some ethical questions that only novel biotechnologies may raise, such as germline effects and enhancement, but the primary focus is on key research ethics issues common to most contemporary human research and how these issues manifest in all the novel biotechnologies considered herein. The chapter concludes with observations calculated to assist researchers, clinicians, and the public in understanding and discussing both the potential and the realities involved in rapidly developing areas of biotechnology research, in order to achieve a reasonable balance between fostering research progress and ensuring the safety and effectiveness of new biotechnological treatments.
FranceThe Vicissitudes of a Tradition
Authors: Mestre Jean-Louis
Published: December 2020

This chapter considers the history of French administrative law. Three main periods may be discerned. The first of these ran from the Restauration, immediately after the first Napoleonic Empire, until the end of the Second Empire in 1870. This period of political instability is characterized by the great diversity of the first expressions of interest in foreign administrative law: educational prospects, journal articles, as well as political and nationalistic controversies. Knowledge of these laws increased considerably with the creation of the Société de Législation comparée. During the Third Republic, many of the comparisons carried out repeatedly sparked debates with political and nationalistic overtones. After the Second World War, the teaching of comparative administrative law made significant headway. The development of research and the increase in publications stimulated reflections on the methods and the ‘scientific field’ of comparative administrative law.
Separation of Powers in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Strauss Peter L.
Published: December 2020

This chapter discusses the separation of powers. The point about traditions, or shared social norms, is a central one for this chapter. At a time of growing pessimism about the fate of democracy worldwide, adherence to norms of political behaviour may have an importance transcending formal provisions for the allocation of governmental power. As such, this chapter first presents a brief account of ‘separation of powers’ under American presidentialism; then the contrasting system of Westminster parliamentarianism; third, the increasingly prevalent mixed regimes, often semi-presidential, that can be described as ‘constrained parliamentarism’; and, finally, international institutions. As the chapter shows, in this most real of all possible worlds, the words of constitutions, written or implicit, matter considerably less than the actual distribution of effective power within a polity.
A Comparative Approach to Administrative Adjudication
Authors: Asimow Michael
Published: December 2020

This chapter concerns administrative adjudication. The term ‘administrative adjudication’ means the entire system for individualized agency decision-making arising out of disputes between private parties and government agencies. The adjudicatory process begins with an administrative investigation of a claim or a violation and the agency’s preliminary or ‘front line’ determination, continuing through the process of an agency’s initial decision, reconsideration of that decision, and concluding with judicial review. The systems in place for resolving such disputes differ sharply around the world and are difficult to compare. This chapter highlights five models in use by various countries that should facilitate such comparisons.