bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negative interaction between nitrates and remote ischemic preconditioning in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: the ERIC-GTN and ERICCA studies
Authors: Hamarneh Ashraf , Ho Andrew Fu Wah , Bulluck Heerajnarain , Sivaraman Vivek , Ricciardi Federico , Nicholas Jennifer , Shanahan Hilary , Hardman Elizabeth A. , Wicks Peter , Ramlall Manish , Chung Robin , McGowan John , Cordery Roger , Lawrence David , Clayton Tim , Kyle Bonnie , Xenou Maria , Ariti Cono , Yellon Derek M. , Hausenloy Derek J.
Published: June 2022

Remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) using transient limb ischaemia failed to improve clinical outcomes following cardiac surgery and the reasons for this remain unclear. In the ERIC-GTN study, we evaluated whether concomitant nitrate therapy abrogated RIPC cardioprotection. We also undertook a post-hoc analysis of the ERICCA study, to investigate a potential negative interaction between RIPC and nitrates on clinical outcomes following cardiac surgery. In ERIC-GTN, 185 patients undergoing cardiac surgery were randomized to: (1) Control (no RIPC or nitrates); (2) RIPC alone; (3); Nitrates alone; and (4) RIPC + Nitrates. An intravenous infusion of nitrates (glyceryl trinitrate 1 mg/mL solution) was commenced on arrival at the operating theatre at a rate of 2–5 mL/h to maintain a mean arterial pressure between 60 and 70 mmHg and was stopped when the patient was taken off cardiopulmonary bypass. The primary endpoint was peri-operative myocardial injury (PMI) quantified by a 48-h area-under-the-curve high-sensitivity Troponin-T (48 h-AUC-hs-cTnT). In ERICCA, we analysed data for 1502 patients undergoing cardiac surgery to investigate for a potential negative interaction between RIPC and nitrates on clinical outcomes at 12-months. In ERIC-GTN, RIPC alone reduced 48 h-AUC-hs-cTnT by 37.1%, when compared to control (ratio of AUC 0.629 [95% CI 0.413–0.957], p = 0.031), and this cardioprotective effect was abrogated in the presence of nitrates. Treatment with nitrates alone did not reduce 48 h-AUC-hs-cTnT, when compared to control. In ERICCA there was a negative interaction between nitrate use and RIPC for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 12-months, and for risk of peri-operative myocardial infarction. RIPC alone reduced the risk of peri-operative myocardial infarction, compared to control, but no significant effect of RIPC was demonstrated for the other outcomes. When RIPC and nitrates were used together they had an adverse impact in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with the presence of nitrates abrogating RIPC-induced cardioprotection and increasing the risk of mortality at 12-months post-cardiac surgery in patients receiving RIPC.
Modulations of corticospinal excitability following rapid ankle dorsiflexion in skill- and endurance-trained athletes
Authors: Hu Nijia , Avela Janne , Kidgell Dawson J. , Piirainen Jarmo M. , Walker Simon
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Long-term sports training, such as skill and endurance training, leads to specific neuroplasticity. However, it remains unclear if muscle stretch-induced proprioceptive feedback influences corticospinal facilitation/inhibition differently between skill- and endurance-trained athletes. This study investigated modulation of corticospinal excitability following rapid ankle dorsiflexion between well-trained skill and endurance athletes.

Methods

Ten skill- and ten endurance-trained athletes participated in the study. Corticospinal excitability was tested by single- and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulations (TMS) at three different latencies following passive rapid ankle dorsiflexion. Motor evoked potential (MEP), short-latency intracortical inhibition (SICI), intracortical facilitation (ICF), and long-latency intracortical inhibition (LICI) were recorded by surface electromyography from the soleus muscle.

Results

Compared to immediately before ankle dorsiflexion (Onset), TMS induced significantly greater MEPs during the supraspinal reaction period (~ 120 ms after short-latency reflex, SLR) in the skill group only (from 1.7 ± 1.0 to 2.7 ± 1.8%M-max, P = 0.005) despite both conditions being passive. ICF was significantly greater over all latencies in skill than endurance athletes (F(3, 45) = 4.64, P = 0.007), although no between-group differences for stimulations at specific latencies (e.g., at SLR) were observed.

Conclusion

The skill group showed higher corticospinal excitability during the supraspinal reaction phase, which may indicate a “priming” of corticospinal excitability following rapid ankle dorsiflexion for a supraspinal reaction post-stretch, which appears absent in endurance-trained athletes.
Blood group antigens SLeX, SLeA, and LeY as prognostic markers in endometrial cancer
Authors: Kolben Thomas , Müller Lena , Meister Sarah , Keilmann Lucia , Buschmann Christina , Trillsch Fabian , Burges Alexander , Czogalla Bastian , Mitter Sophie , Schmoeckel Elisa , Corradini Stefanie , Mahner Sven , Jeschke Udo , Kessler Mirjana , Beyer Susanne
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological cancer worldwide. Treatment has been improved in recent years, but, in advanced stages, therapeutical options are still limited. It has been reported that the expression of the blood group antigens Sialyl Lewis X (SLeX), Sialyl Lewis A (SLeA) and Lewis Y (LeY) is associated with prognosis in several tumors. Large studies on endometrial and cervical cancer are still pending.

Methods

Specimens of 234 patients with EC were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies for SLeX, SLeA and LeY. Expression was correlated to histopathological variables.

Results

High expression of SLeX was correlated to low pT-stage (p = 0.013), low grade (p < 0.001), low FIGO-stage (p = 0.006) and better overall survival rates (OS; p = 0.023). High expression of SLeA was associated with low pT-stage (p = 0.013), low grade (p = 0.001) and better progression-free survival (PFS; p = 0.043). LeY staining was correlated to pN + (p = 0.038), low grade (p = 0.005) and poorer PFS (p = 0.022).

Conclusion

This is the first study examining the expression of SLeX, SLeA and LeY in EC, which can serve as additional future prognostic markers. Further studies are necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms. The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich (reference number 19-249).
Breaking down the silos of artificial intelligence in surgery: glossary of terms
Authors: Moglia Andrea , Georgiou Konstantinos , Morelli Luca , Toutouzas Konstantinos , Satava Richard M. , Cuschieri Alfred
Published: June 2022

Background

The literature on artificial intelligence (AI) in surgery has advanced rapidly during the past few years. However, the published studies on AI are mostly reported by computer scientists using their own jargon which is unfamiliar to surgeons.

Methods

A literature search was conducted in using PubMed following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. The primary outcome of this review is to provide a glossary with definitions of the commonly used AI terms in surgery to improve their understanding by surgeons.

Results

One hundred ninety-five studies were included in this review, and 38 AI terms related to surgery were retrieved. Convolutional neural networks were the most frequently culled term by the search, accounting for 74 studies on AI in surgery, followed by classification task (n = 62), artificial neural networks (n = 53), and regression (n = 49). Then, the most frequent expressions were supervised learning (reported in 24 articles), support vector machine (SVM) in 21, and logistic regression in 16. The rest of the 38 terms was seldom mentioned.

Conclusions

The proposed glossary can be used by several stakeholders. First and foremost, by residents and attending consultant surgeons, both having to understand the fundamentals of AI when reading such articles. Secondly, junior researchers at the start of their career in Surgical Data Science and thirdly experts working in the regulatory sections of companies involved in the AI Business Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) preparing documents for submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other agencies for approval.
Key aspects to enable multi-megawatt fast charging
Authors: Makoschitz Markus
Published: June 2022

At present, the mobility sector in Europe is in the middle of a transition phase. Combustion engine-based vehicles (CV) are meant to be replaced by electric vehicles of the same type in order to fulfill the zero emissions targets within the next decades. This requires a collaborative approach from the industry, research institutes, and national governments in order to prepare both the necessary vehicle technology and infrastructure accordingly. Even though various attractive charging solutions in the hundreds of kilowatt range already exist commercially, heavy-duty vehicle charging in the multi-megawatt range is still a topic to be investigated in more detail in the scientific community. Therefore, this publication discusses different strategies to enable fast charging in the megawatt range and presents a concept that is directly connected to the medium voltage grid while enabling distributed charging and an optimized carbon footprint due to the adoption of renewable energy systems.
What web-based intervention for chronic cancer-related fatigue works best for whom? Explorative moderation analyses of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Schellekens Melanie P. J. , Bruggeman-Everts Fieke Z. , Wolvers Marije D. J. , Vollenbroek-Hutten Miriam M. R. , van der Lee Marije L.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Approximately 25% of cancer patients suffer from chronic cancer-related fatigue (CCRF), which is a complex, multifactorial condition. While there are evidence-based interventions, it remains unclear what treatment works best for the individual patient. This study explored whether baseline characteristics moderated the effect of web-based mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (eMBCT) versus ambulant activity feedback (AAF) and a psycho-education control group (PE) on fatigue in patients suffering from CCRF.

Methods

In a randomized controlled trial, participant suffering from CCRF participated in either eMBCT, AAF, or PE. Complete data of the treatment-adherent sample (≥ 6 sessions) was used to explore whether sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological characteristics at baseline moderated the intervention effect on fatigue severity at 6 months.

Results

A trend showed that baseline fatigue severity and fatigue catastrophizing moderated the intervention effect. That is, at low levels of fatigue severity and catastrophizing, patients benefited more from AAF than from eMBCT and at high levels of fatigue severity and catastrophizing, patients benefited more from eMBCT than from PE.

Conclusions

This study found some preliminary evidence on what treatment works best for the individual suffering from CCRF. These findings emphasize the potential gain in effectiveness of personalizing treatment. An alternative approach that might help us further in answering the question “what treatment works best for whom?” is discussed.
Targeting autophagy as a therapeutic strategy against pancreatic cancer
Authors: Yamamoto Keisuke , Iwadate Dosuke , Kato Hiroyuki , Nakai Yousuke , Tateishi Keisuke , Fujishiro Mitsuhiro
Published: June 2022

Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is a catabolic process through which cytosolic components are captured in the autophagosome and degraded in the lysosome. Autophagy plays two major roles: nutrient recycling under starvation or stress conditions and maintenance of cellular homeostasis by removing the damaged organelles or protein aggregates. In established cancer cells, autophagy-mediated nutrient recycling promotes tumor progression, whereas in normal/premalignant cells, autophagy suppresses tumor initiation by eliminating the oncogenic/harmful molecules. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly disease that is refractory to most currently available treatment modalities, including immune checkpoint blockade and molecular-targeted therapy. One prominent feature of PDAC is its constitutively active and elevated autophagy-lysosome function, which enables PDAC to thrive in its nutrient-scarce tumor microenvironment. In addition to metabolic support, autophagy promotes PDAC progression in a metabolism-independent manner by conferring resistance to therapeutic treatment or facilitating immune evasion. Besides to cell-autonomous autophagy in cancer cells, host autophagy (autophagy in non-cancer cells) supports PDAC progression, further highlighting autophagy as a promising therapeutic target in PDAC. Based on a growing list of compelling preclinical evidence, there are numerous ongoing clinical trials targeting the autophagy-lysosome pathway in PDAC. Given the multifaceted and context-dependent roles of autophagy in both cancer cells and normal host cells, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the tumor-promoting roles of autophagy as well as of the consequences of autophagy inhibition is necessary for the development of autophagy inhibition-based therapies against PDAC.
Clinical efficacy of different monoclonal antibody regimens among non-hospitalised patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at high risk for disease progression: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Savoldi Alessia , Morra Matteo , De Nardo Pasquale , Cattelan Anna Maria , Mirandola Massimo , Manfrin Vinicio , Scotton Piergiorgio , Giordani Maria Teresa , Brollo Lucio , Panese Sandro , Lanzafame Massimiliano , Scroccaro Giovanna , Berkell Matilda , Lippi Giuseppe , Konnova Angelina , Smet Mathias , Malhotra-Kumar Surbhi , Kumar-Singh Samir , Tacconelli Evelina ,   the mAb Working Group, Canova Marco , Rigo Fabio , Coletto Davide , Serino Francesco Saverio , Coledan Ilaria , Danese Elisa , Peserico Denise , Gelati Matteo , Conti Michela , Fasan Daniele , Xavier Basil Britto , Gupta Akshita , Hotterbeekx An , De Ambrosis Paola
Published: June 2022

This study aimed to compare the clinical progression of COVID-19 in high-risk outpatients treated with the monoclonal antibodies (mAb) bamlanivimab, bamlanivimab-etesevimab and casirivimab-imdevimab. This is an observational, multi-centre, prospective study conducted from 18 March to 15 July 2021 in eight Italian tertiary-care hospitals including mild-to-moderate COVID-19 outpatients receiving bamlanivimab (700 mg), bamlanivimab-etesevimab (700–1400 mg) or casirivimab-imdevimab (1200–1200 mg). All patients were at high risk of COVID-19 progression according to Italian Medicines Agency definitions. In a patient subgroup, SARS-CoV-2 variant and anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology were analysed at baseline. Factors associated with 28-day all-cause hospitalisation were identified using multivariable multilevel logistic regression (MMLR) and summarised with adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 635 outpatients received mAb: 161 (25.4%) bamlanivimab, 396 (62.4%) bamlanivimab-etesevimab and 78 (12.2%) casirivimab-imdevimab. Ninety-five (15%) patients received full or partial SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant was detected in 99% of patients. Baseline serology showed no significant differences among the three mAb regimen groups. Twenty-eight-day all-cause hospitalisation was 11.3%, with a significantly higher proportion (p 0.001) in the bamlanivimab group (18.6%), compared to the bamlanivimab-etesevimab (10.1%) and casirivimab-imdevimab (2.6%) groups. On MMLR, aORs for 28-day all-cause hospitalisation were significantly lower in patients receiving bamlanivimab-etesevimab (aOR 0.51, 95% CI 0.30–0.88 p 0.015) and casirivimab-imdevimab (aOR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03–0.61, p 0.009) compared to those receiving bamlanivimab. No patients with a history of vaccination were hospitalised. The study suggests differences in clinical outcomes among the first available mAb regimens for treating high-risk COVID-19 outpatients. Randomised trials are needed to compare efficacy of mAb combination regimens in high-risk populations and according to circulating variants.
Klyachko Diagrams of Monomial Ideals
Authors: Miró-Roig Rosa M. , Salat-Moltó Marti
Published: June 2022

In this paper, we introduce the notion of a Klyachko diagram for a monomial ideal I in a certain multi-graded polynomial ring, namely the Cox ring R of a smooth complete toric variety, with irrelevant maximal ideal B. We present procedures to compute the Klyachko diagram of I from its monomial generators, and to retrieve the B −saturation Isat of I from its Klyachko diagram. We use this description to compute the first local cohomology module ${H}^{1}_{B}(I)$

H

B

1

(
I
)
. As an application, we find a formula for the Hilbert function of Isat, and a characterization of monomial ideals with constant Hilbert polynomial, in terms of their Klyachko diagram.
Incomplete pairwise comparison matrices based on graphs with average degree approximately 3
Authors: Szádoczki Zsombor , Bozóki Sándor , Juhász Patrik , Kadenko Sergii V. , Tsyganok Vitaliy
Published: June 2022

A crucial, both from theoretical and practical points of view, problem in preference modelling is the number of questions to ask from the decision maker. We focus on incomplete pairwise comparison matrices based on graphs whose average degree is approximately 3 (or a bit more), i.e., each item is compared to three others in average. In the range of matrix sizes we considered, $$n=5,6,7,8,9,10$$

n
=
5
,
6
,
7
,
8
,
9
,
10

, this requires from 1.4n to 1.8n edges, resulting in completion ratios between 33% ($$n=10$$

n
=
10

) and 80% ($$n=5$$

n
=
5

). We analyze several types of union of two spanning trees (three of them building on additional ordinal information on the ranking), 2-edge-connected random graphs and 3-(quasi-)regular graphs with minimal diameter (the length of the maximal shortest path between any two vertices). The weight vectors are calculated from the natural extensions, to the incomplete case, of the two most popular weighting methods, the eigenvector method and the logarithmic least squares. These weight vectors are compared to the ones calculated from the complete matrix, and their distances (Euclidean, Chebyshev and Manhattan), rank correlations (Kendall and Spearman) and similarity (Garuti, cosine and dice indices) are computed in order to have cardinal, ordinal and proximity views during the comparisons. Surprisingly enough, only the union of two star graphs centered at the best and the second best items perform well among the graphs using additional ordinal information on the ranking. The union of two edge-disjoint spanning trees is almost always the best among the analyzed graphs.
Cross-protection of oilseed rape against Verticillium longisporum by the non-aggressive lineage A1/D2
Authors: Vega-Marin Marta , von Tiedemann Andreas
Published: June 2022

Verticillium longisporum is a soil-borne vascular pathogen of oilseed rape and other Brassica crops. The limited availability of chemical control measures against vascular pathogens calls for the exploration of control alternatives. Cross-protection may be conveyed by the use of non-pathogenic or non-aggressive isolates of potential pathogens as biocontrol agents. V. longisporum consists of three lineages that originated from three independent hybridization events of four haploid Verticillium parents. Previous pathogenicity tests in the greenhouse have shown that lineage A1/D2 is non-pathogenic or non-aggressive on different Brassica and non-Brassica hosts. Thus, the cross-protection potential of the A1/D2 lineage against an aggressive V. longisporum isolate in oilseed rape was tested. With root-dip inoculation, A1/D2 reduced disease symptoms when applied before or at the same time as the aggressive isolate. The induction of salicylic acid, a signal known to play a role in basal and cultivar-related resistance, was not involved in the biocontrol mechanism. The most practical and best feasible method of application as a seed coat failed to confirm the biocontrol effect of A1/D2 observed with root-dip inoculation. Confocal microscopy analysis revealed that seed coating led to insufficient A1/D2 hyphal establishment on the roots compared to root-dip inoculation, which may explain the lack of a biocontrol effect after seed coating and illustrates the importance of the application method for efficacy of a cross-protective biocontrol agent.
Pulmonary granulomatous inflammation after ceritinib treatment in advanced ALK-rearranged pulmonary adenocarcinoma
Authors: Liao Juanyan , Guan Hui , Yu Min , Zhou Ping , Han Yao , Peng Xingchen , Zhang Shuang
Published: June 2022

Ceritinib is a new anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor that has shown greater potency in patients with advanced ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer, including those who had disease progression in crizotinib treatment. Here we reported, after several months of ceritinib treatment, two patients with advanced ALK-rearranged pulmonary adenocarcinoma exhibited a spectrum of respiratory symptoms like cough and dyspnea, with significantly higher inflammatory indicators. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed multiple bilateral and peripheral lesions in lungs. The prior considerations taken into account were disease progression or infection. However, biopsies of the pulmonary nodules revealed features of granulomatous inflammation without definite cancer cells. We documented for the first time that ceritinib might be associated with pulmonary granulomatous inflammation, and clinicians should be alert to the possibility that the rare adverse event emerged during ceritinib treatment.
The intersections of migration, app-based gig work, and career development: implications for career practice and research
Authors: Abkhezr Peyman , McMahon Mary
Published: June 2022

The incidence of app-based gig work is expanding rapidly in developed global north countries. Many app-based gig workers are migrants from developing global south countries searching for a better life in their resettlement countries. App-based gig work, however, is insecure, irregular and potentially precarious. Access to decent work is vital for migrants’ integration after resettlement and also their career development. In the context of the decent work agenda, this article explores the intersections of migration, app-based gig work, and southern migrants’ career development in the global north and considers the implications for career practice and research.
Updated nationally determined contributions collectively raise ambition levels but need strengthening further to keep Paris goals within reach
Authors: den Elzen Michel G. J. , Dafnomilis Ioannis , Forsell Nicklas , Fragkos Panagiotis , Fragkiadakis Kostas , Höhne Niklas , Kuramochi Takeshi , Nascimento Leonardo , Roelfsema Mark , van Soest Heleen , Sperling Frank
Published: June 2022

By January 2022, 156 countries had submitted new or updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. This study analyses the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and macroeconomic impacts of the new NDCs. The total impact of the updated unconditional and conditional NDCs of these countries on global emission levels by 2030 is an additional reduction of about 3.8 and 3.9 GtCO2eq, respectively, compared to the previously submitted NDCs as of October 2020. However, this total reduction must be about three times greater to be consistent with keeping global temperature increase to well below 2 °C, and even seven times greater for 1.5 °C. Nine G20 economies have pledged stronger emission reduction targets for 2030 in their updated NDCs, leading to additional aggregated GHG emission reductions of about 3.3 GtCO2eq, compared to those in the previous NDCs. The socio-economic impacts of the updated NDCs are limited in major economies and largely depend on the emission reduction effort included in the NDCs. However, two G20 economies have submitted new targets that will lead to an increase in emissions of about 0.3 GtCO2eq, compared to their previous NDCs. The updated NDCs of non-G20 economies contain further net reductions. We conclude that countries should strongly increase the ambition levels of their updated NDC submissions to keep the climate goals of the Paris Agreement within reach.
Experimental warming increased greenhouse gas emissions of a near-natural peatland and Sphagnum farming sites
Authors: Oestmann Jan , Dettmann Ullrich , Düvel Dominik , Tiemeyer Bärbel
Published: June 2022

Aims

Drained peatlands are a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG). Paludiculture is the production of biomass under wet and peat preserving conditions. Despite the growing recognition as GHG mitigation measure, the potential influence of climate warming on paludiculture is still unknown.

Methods

For two years, we quantified the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) using manual chambers and surveyed the vegetation composition of warmed and control sites at a near-natural bog and two Sphagnum farming areas in North-Western Germany. Passive warming was achieved using Open Top Chambers (OTC).

Results

OTCs significantly increased air and soil temperatures, while soil moisture, humidity and light availability differed only marginally. The latter was considered when calculating gross primary production. Warming tended to increase vascular plant cover, but differences to the control plots were still small after two years. Emissions of CO2 and CH4 increased with warming, dominated by CH4 at the near-natural bog and by CO2 at the paludiculture areas, where vegetation was in a successional stage and topsoils temporarily dried out during summer. N2O emissions were negligible at the near-natural bog and ceased with increasing biomass at the paludiculture sites. Interannual variability was high due to a heatwave in the second measurement year.

Conclusions

Climate warming could increase GHG emissions from near-natural bogs and Sphagnum farming. In the latter case, this puts even more emphasis on water management systems ensuring high water table depths during dry periods. Further, control of vascular plants might both reduce CH4 emissions and improve biomass quality.
Semi-supervised deep learning and low-cost cameras for the semantic segmentation of natural images in viticulture
Authors: Casado-García A. , Heras J. , Milella A. , Marani R.
Published: June 2022

Automatic yield monitoring and in-field robotic harvesting by low-cost cameras require object detection and segmentation solutions to tackle the poor quality of natural images and the lack of exactly-labeled datasets of consistent sizes. This work proposed the application of deep learning for semantic segmentation of natural images acquired by a low-cost RGB-D camera in a commercial vineyard. Several deep architectures were trained and compared on 85 labeled images. Three semi-supervised learning methods (PseudoLabeling, Distillation and Model Distillation) were proposed to take advantage of 320 non-annotated images. In these experiments, the DeepLabV3+ architecture with a ResNext50 backbone, trained with the set of labeled images, achieved the best overall accuracy of 84.78%. In contrast, the Manet architecture combined with the EfficientnetB3 backbone reached the highest accuracy for the bunch class (85.69%). The application of semi-supervised learning methods boosted the segmentation accuracy between 5.62 and 6.01%, on average. Further discussions are presented to show the effects of a fine-grained manual image annotation on the accuracy of the proposed methods and to compare time requirements.
Collaborative Research Activities of the Arase and Van Allen Probes
Authors: Miyoshi Y. , Shinohara I. , Ukhorskiy S. , Claudepierre S. G. , Mitani T. , Takashima T. , Hori T. , Santolik O. , Kolmasova I. , Matsuda S. , Kasahara Y. , Teramoto M. , Katoh Y. , Hikishima M. , Kojima H. , Kurita S. , Imajo S. , Higashio N. , Kasahara S. , Yokota S. , Asamura K. , Kazama Y. , Wang S.-Y. , Jun C.-W. , Kasaba Y. , Kumamoto A. , Tsuchiya F. , Shoji M. , Nakamura S. , Kitahara M. , Matsuoka A. , Shiokawa K. , Seki K. , Nosé M. , Takahashi K. , Martinez-Calderon C. , Hospodarsky G. , Colpitts C. , Kletzing Craig , Wygant J. , Spence H. , Baker D. N. , Reeves G. D. , Blake J. B. , Lanzerotti L.
Published: June 2022

This paper presents the highlights of joint observations of the inner magnetosphere by the Arase spacecraft, the Van Allen Probes spacecraft, and ground-based experiments integrated into spacecraft programs. The concurrent operation of the two missions in 2017–2019 facilitated the separation of the spatial and temporal structures of dynamic phenomena occurring in the inner magnetosphere. Because the orbital inclination angle of Arase is larger than that of Van Allen Probes, Arase collected observations at higher $L$
L
-shells up to $L \sim 10$
L
∼
10
. After March 2017, similar variations in plasma and waves were detected by Van Allen Probes and Arase. We describe plasma wave observations at longitudinally separated locations in space and geomagnetically-conjugate locations in space and on the ground. The results of instrument intercalibrations between the two missions are also presented. Arase continued its normal operation after the scientific operation of Van Allen Probes completed in October 2019. The combined Van Allen Probes (2012-2019) and Arase (2017-present) observations will cover a full solar cycle. This will be the first comprehensive long-term observation of the inner magnetosphere and radiation belts.
Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine in Pain Management
Authors: Gu Xingjian , Carroll Turpin Michelle A. , Romero-Ortega Mario I.
Published: June 2022

Purpose of Review

Pain presents a unique challenge due to the complexity of the biological pathways involved in the pain perception, the growing concern regarding the use of opioid analgesics, and the limited availability of optimal treatment options. The use of biomaterials and regenerative medicine in pain management is being actively explored and showing exciting progress in improving the efficacy of conventional pharmacotherapy and as novel non-pharmacological therapy for chronic pain caused by degenerative diseases. In this paper we review current clinical applications, and promising research in the use of biomaterials and regenerative medicine in pain management.

Recent Findings

Regenerative therapies have been developed to repair damaged tissues in back, joint, and shoulder that lead to chronic and inflammatory pain. Novel regenerative biomaterials have been designed to incorporate biochemical and physical pro-regenerative cues that augment the efficacy of regenerative therapies. New biomaterials improve target localization with improved tunability for controlled drug delivery, and injectable scaffolds enhance the efficacy of regenerative therapies through improving cellular migration. Advanced biomaterial carrier systems have been developed for sustained and targeted delivery of analgesic agents to specific tissues and organs, showing improved treatment efficacy, extended duration of action, and reduced dosage. Targeting endosomal receptors by nanoparticles has shown promising anti-nociception effects. Biomaterial scavengers are designed to remove proinflammatory reactive oxygen species that trigger nociceptors and cause pain hypersensitivity, providing a proactive approach for pain management.

Pharmacotherapy remains the method of choice for pain management; however, conventional analgesic agents are associated with adverse effects. The relatively short duration of action when applied as free drug limited their efficacy in postoperative and chronic pain treatment. The application of biomaterials in pain management is a promising strategy to improve the efficacy of current pharmacotherapy through sustained and targeted delivery of analgesic agents. Regenerative medicine strategies target the damaged tissue and provide non-pharmacological alternatives to manage chronic and inflammatory pain. In the future, the successful development of regenerative therapies that completely repair damaged tissues will provide a more optimal alternative for the treatment of chronic pain caused. Future studies will leverage on the increasing understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing pain perception and transmission, injury response and tissue regeneration, and the development of new biomaterials and tissue regenerative methods.
Gamma knife radiosurgery versus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus: a propensity score matching study
Authors: Su Ke , Gu Tao , Xu Ke , Wang Jing , Liao Hongfei , Li Xueting , Wen Lianbin , Song Yanqiong , Zhong Jiaqi , He Bingsheng , Liu Xin , He Jie , Liu Yanlin , Li Qi , Feng Xunjie , Chen Siyu , Yang Binbin , Huang Weihong , Jin Hongping , Luo Xiaotong , Hu Teng , Chen Jiali , Wu Zhenying , Lu Simin , Zhang Jianwen , Rao Mingyue , Xie Yunchuan , Wang Jing , Zhu Xiaoning , Chen Lan , Li Bo , Su Song , Yang Xiaoli , Wang Juan , Zeng Hao , Wang Pan , Yan Min , Chen Xiaojing , He Kun , Han Yunwei
Published: June 2022

Background

The optimal locoregional treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) versus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in HCC patients with PVTT.

Methods

This retrospective study included 544 HCC patients with PVTT (GKR, 202; TACE, 342). Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis identified 171 matched pairs of patients. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).

Results

Before PSM, the GKR group exhibited longer median OS (mOS) than the TACE group (17.2 vs. 8.0 months, p < 0.001). We followed the Cheng’s classification for PVTT. In the subgroup analysis, GKR was associated with significantly longer mOS for patients with PVTT II-IV (17.5 vs. 8.7 months, p < 0.001; 17.2 vs. 7.8 months, p = 0.001; 14.5 vs. 6.5 months, p = 0.001, respectively) and comparable OS for patients with PVTT I. After PSM, the GKR group had also a longer mOS than the TACE group (15.8 vs. 10.4 months, p < 0.001). In the subgroup analysis, the GKR group demonstrated superior mOS for patients with PVTT II-IV (all p < 0.05) and comparable OS for patients with PVTT I.

Conclusions

GKR was associated better OS than TACE in HCC patients with PVTT, especially for patients with PVTT II-IV.

Clinical Trials Registration

The study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry under the registration number ChiCTR2100051057.
Updated Incidence, Treatment and Survival of a Nationwide Cohort of Patients with Peritoneal Metastases of Unknown Origin
Authors: Rijken Anouk , Loef Caroline , van de Wouw Yes A. J. , van Erning Felice N. , de Hingh Ignace H. J. T.
Published: June 2022

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, treatment and survival of patients with peritoneal metastases (PM) of unknown origin. All Dutch patients diagnosed in 2017 and 2018 with PM of unknown origin (PM-CUP) were evaluated. Data were extracted from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). Patients with PM-CUP were categorized into the following histological subtypes: 1) adenocarcinoma, 2) mucinous adenocarcinoma, 3) carcinoid, 4) unspecified carcinoma and 5) other. Treatments were compared between the different histological subtypes in patients with PM-CUP. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method for all patients with cancer of unknown origin and between histological subtypes in patients with PM-CUP. Significant differences in OS were assessed by using the log-rank test. In total, 3026 patients were diagnosed with cancer of unknown origin, 513 (17%) among them were diagnosed with PM-CUP. Most PM-CUP patients received best supportive care only (76%), whereas 22% received systemic treatment and 4% underwent metastasectomy. Median OS was 1.1 months for all patients with PM-CUP but varied from 0.6 months to 30.5 months depending on the underlying histology. In this study, PM-CUP were diagnosed in 17% of all patients with cancer of unknown primary and the reported survival in this cohort was extremely poor. Since survival differed among histological subtypes and recently more treatment options became available for a selected group of patients with peritoneal malignancies, it is of great importance to identify the histology of the metastases and whenever possible the primary tumor.
Joining the meta-research movement: A bibliometric case study of the journal Perspectives on Medical Education
Authors: Maggio Lauren A. , Haustein Stefanie , Costello Joseph A. , Driessen Erik W. Driessen , Artino Anthony R.
Published: June 2022

Purpose To conduct a bibliometric case study of the journal Perspectives on Medical Education (PME) to provide insights into the journal’s inner workings and to “take stock” of where PME is today, where it has been, and where it might go.

Methods Data, including bibliographic metadata, reviewer and author details, and downloads, were collected for manuscripts submitted to and published in PME from the journal’s Editorial Manager and Web of Science. Gender of authors and reviewers was predicted using Genderize.io. To visualize and analyze collaboration patterns, citation relationships and term co-occurrence social network analyses (SNA) were conducted. VOSviewer was used to visualize the social network maps.

Results Between 2012–2019 PME received, on average, 260 manuscripts annually (range = 73–402). Submissions were received from authors in 81 countries with the majority in the United States (US), United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. PME published 518 manuscripts with authors based in 31 countries, the majority being in the Netherlands, US, and Canada. PME articles were downloaded 717,613 times (mean per document: 1388). In total 1201 (55% women) unique peer reviewers were invited and 649 (57% women) completed reviews; 1227 (49% women) unique authors published in PME. SNA revealed that PME authors were quite collaborative, with most authoring articles with others and only a minority (n = 57) acting as single authors.

Discussion This case study provides a glimpse into PME and offers evidence for PME’s next steps.
Investigations for vibration and friction torque behaviors of thrust ball bearing with self-driven textured guiding surface
Authors: Wu Can , Yang Kai , Ni Jing , Lu Shuigen , Yao Lidan , Li Xinglin
Published: June 2022

In order to improve the starved lubrication condition of rolling bearings, three kinds of textures, namely dimple, groove texture, and gradient groove texture, were developed on the guiding surface of thrust ball bearings in this study. The results show that gradient groove texture has the one-way self-driving function of liquid droplets. The root mean square (RMS) value of vibration acceleration of gradient groove textured bearing (GGB) decreased by 49.1% and the kurtosis decreased by 24.6% compared with non-textured bearing (NB) due to the directional spreading effect of gradient groove textures on oil. The frequency domain analysis showed that the textures mainly suppressed the medium and high-frequency energy of bearing vibration, and the GGB was reduced the most with 65.3% and 48%, respectively. In addition, whether the grease is sufficiently sheared has a large impact on the oil guiding effect, and the friction torque of GGB could decrease by 10.5% compared with NB in the sufficiently sheared condition. Therefore, the gradient groove texture with oil self-driven effect on the guiding surface of rolling bearing can effectively improve the lubrication condition of the bearing and thus reduce the bearing vibration and friction torque, which has a promising application prospect.
A passionate partnership: understanding the origins and significance of John Sinclair’s connection with K’gari (Fraser Island)
Authors: Bissett Susan Zela
Published: June 2022

The paper explores the transformation of environmental activist John Sinclair, OA, from a conservative member of the Country Party, through a position of cautious conservationism, to preeminence as a leading environmentalist with some very significant achievements. This paper aims to show some correlations between his work and ideas and major strands of environmental education research. His allegiance to K’gari (Fraser Island) and the way in which he was able to learn from the traditional custodians, the Butchulla people, and other leading environmentalists is described in this paper through his own memoir writing and the viewpoints of informants interviewed by the author. John Sinclair’s profound connection with K’gari, how it was formed and sustained, and its historical and environmental consequences make a remarkable story of a modern citizen turned activist. The development of John Sinclair’s ideas and practice show interesting parallels with the development of both environmental activism and environmental education in Australia. The story has importance in a range of areas connected with environmental stewardship and environmental education.
Disarming Design from Palestine: An interview with Annelys Devet
Authors: Devet Annelys
Published: June 2022

Annelys Devet is the co-founder of Disarming Design from Palestine, a non-profit organization with a mission to contribute through design to international solidary and social justice surrounding the Palestinian cause. Although the organization performs as a design label that promotes Palestinian voices, it also functions as a network that collects and archives “the traces of exchange.” The organization opened a physical “relational library” when it was operated a facility, Hosh Jalsa, in the Old City of Birzeit. The space had to close due to Covid, but the organization and the (now digital) library have continued the overall mission. The organization's website can be found at www.disarmingdesign.com.
Does local matter? Evaluating susceptibility variations between hospital-wide and hematology-oncology unit antibiograms
Authors: Bartash Rachel , Orner Erika , Cowman Kelsie , Szymczak Wendy , Nori Priya , Kornblum Noah , McCort Margaret
Published: June 2022

Antibiograms are important for guiding empiric antibiotics for febrile neutropenia. However, hospital-wide antibiograms may not capture complexities of patients with hematologic malignancies. We created a hematology-oncology unit-specific antibiogram and found higher resistance among Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Enterococcus isolates compared to hospital-wide data.
Corporate Law and Governance Pluralism
Authors: Anidjar Leon
Published: June 2022

For the past several decades, jurists have invested significant efforts in developing the law in general—and private law in particular—in terms of pluralism. However, the conceptualization of corporate law and governance according to pluralist principles rarely exists. This Essay is the first in the legal literature to address this deficiency by providing a unique pluralist theory of corporate governance regimes. It distinguishes between the plurality of corporate law’s sources, values, and principles, and discusses the implications for governance. Moreover, based on the social systems’ thinking and the framework of complexity, this Essay provides theoretical grounds for skepticism about any policies or structures applicable to all times and contexts. Therefore, rather than perceiving corporate governance as being identically applicable to all corporations, the law must meet the challenge of complexity by designing governance arrangements following a firm-specific perspective. Furthermore, I argue that in conditions of complexity, corporate governance eco-systems should be designed with a firm-specific view that incorporates the effect of the corporation participants’ heterogeneity, the heterogeneity of its internal power relations, and the heterogeneity of industries and markets. These novel arguments have profound implications for redesigning fundamental legal doctrines—such as fiduciary duties of controlling shareholders, regulation of related party transactions, the officers’ duty of care, and the company purpose.
An uncountable Furstenberg–Zimmer structure theory
Authors: JAMNESHAN ASGAR
Published: June 2022

Furstenberg–Zimmer structure theory refers to the extension of the dichotomy between the compact and weakly mixing parts of a measure-preserving dynamical system and the algebraic and geometric descriptions of such parts to a conditional setting, where such dichotomy is established relative to a factor and conditional analogs of those algebraic and geometric descriptions are sought. Although the unconditional dichotomy and the characterizations are known for arbitrary systems, the relative situation is understood under certain countability and separability hypotheses on the underlying groups and spaces. The aim of this article is to remove these restrictions in the relative situation and establish a Furstenberg–Zimmer structure theory in full generality. As an independent byproduct, we establish a connection between the relative analysis of systems in ergodic theory and the internal logic in certain Boolean topoi.
Semiautomated surveillance of deep surgical site infections after colorectal surgeries: A multicenter external validation of two surveillance algorithms
Authors: Verberk Janneke D.M. , van der Kooi Tjallie I.I. , Hetem David J. , Oostdam Nicolette E.W.M. , Noordergraaf Mieke , de Greeff Sabine C. , Bonten Marc J.M. , van Mourik Maaike S.M.
Published: June 2022

Objective:

Automated surveillance methods increasingly replace or support conventional (manual) surveillance; the latter is labor intensive and vulnerable to subjective interpretation. We sought to validate 2 previously developed semiautomated surveillance algorithms to identify deep surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing colorectal surgeries in Dutch hospitals.

Design:

Multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Methods:

From 4 hospitals, we selected colorectal surgery patients between 2018 and 2019 based on procedure codes, and we extracted routine care data from electronic health records. Per hospital, a classification model and a regression model were applied independently to classify patients into low- or high probability of having developed deep SSI. High-probability patients need manual SSI confirmation; low-probability records are classified as no deep SSI. Sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and workload reduction were calculated compared to conventional surveillance.

Results:

In total, 672 colorectal surgery patients were included, of whom 28 (4.1%) developed deep SSI. Both surveillance models achieved good performance. After adaptation to clinical practice, the classification model had 100% sensitivity and PPV ranged from 11.1% to 45.8% between hospitals. The regression model had 100% sensitivity and 9.0%–14.9% PPV. With both models, <25% of records needed review to confirm SSI. The regression model requires more complex data management skills, partly due to incomplete data.

Conclusions:

In this independent external validation, both surveillance models performed well. The classification model is preferred above the regression model because of source-data availability and less complex data-management requirements. The next step is implementation in infection prevention practices and workflow processes.