bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polymorphic renal transporters and cisplatin’s toxicity in urinary bladder cancer patients: current perspectives and future directions
Authors: Selim Mohamed S. , Kassem Amira B. , El-Bassiouny Noha A. , Salahuddin Ahmad , Abu El-Ela Raghda Y. , Hamza Marwa Samir
Published: January 2023

Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) holds a potentially profound social burden and affects over 573,278 new cases annually. The disease’s primary risk factors include occupational tobacco smoke exposure and inherited genetic susceptibility. Over the past 30 years, a number of treatment modalities have emerged, including cisplatin, a platinum molecule that has demonstrated effectiveness against UBC. Nevertheless, it has severe dose-limiting side effects, such as nephrotoxicity, among others. Since intracellular accumulation of platinum anticancer drugs is necessary for cytotoxicity, decreased uptake or enhanced efflux are the root causes of platinum resistance and response failure. Evidence suggests that genetic variations in any transporter involved in the entry or efflux of platinum drugs alter their kinetics and, to a significant extent, determine patients’ responses to them. This review aims to consolidate and describe the major transporters and their polymorphic variants in relation to cisplatin-induced toxicities and resistance in UBC patients. We concluded that the efflux transporters ABCB1, ABCC2, SLC25A21, ATP7A, and the uptake transporter OCT2, as well as the organic anion uptake transporters OAT1 and OAT2, are linked to cisplatin accumulation, toxicity, and resistance in urinary bladder cancer patients. While suppressing the CTR1 gene’s expression reduced cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity, inhibiting the expression of the MATE1 and MATE2-K genes has been shown to increase cisplatin’s nephrotoxicity and resistance. The roles of ABCC5, ABCA8, ABCC10, ABCB10, ABCG1, ATP7B, ABCG2, and mitochondrial SLC25A10 in platinum-receiving urinary bladder cancer patients should be the subject of further investigation.
Differential expression of m5C RNA methyltransferase genes NSUN6 and NSUN7 in Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury
Authors: PerezGrovas-Saltijeral Adriana , Rajkumar Anto P. , Knight Helen Miranda
Published: January 2023

Epigenetic processes have become increasingly relevant in understanding disease-modifying mechanisms. 5-Methylcytosine methylations of DNA (5mC) and RNA (m5C) have functional transcriptional and RNA translational consequences and are tightly regulated by writer, reader and eraser effector proteins. To investigate the involvement of 5mC/5hmC and m5C effector proteins contributing to the development of dementia neuropathology, RNA sequencing data of 31 effector proteins across four brain regions was examined in 56 aged non-affected and 51 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) individuals obtained from the Aging, Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Study. Gene expression profiles were compared between AD and controls, between neuropathological Braak and CERAD scores and in individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). We found an increase in the DNA methylation writers DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B messenger RNA (mRNA) and a decrease in the reader UHRF1 mRNA in AD samples across three brain regions whilst the DNA erasers GADD45B and AICDA showed changes in mRNA abundance within neuropathological load groupings. RNA methylation writers NSUN6 and NSUN7 showed significant expression differences with AD and, along with the reader ALYREF, differences in expression for neuropathologic ranking. A history of TBI was associated with a significant increase in the DNA readers ZBTB4 and MeCP2 (p < 0.05) and a decrease in NSUN6 (p < 0.001) mRNA. These findings implicate regulation of protein pathways disrupted in AD and TBI via multiple pre- and post-transcriptional mechanisms including potentially acting upon transfer RNAs, enhancer RNAs as well as nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling and cytoplasmic translational control. The targeting of such processes provides new therapeutic avenues for neurodegenerative brain conditions.

Graphical abstract
DLT architectures for trust anchors in 6G
Authors: Krummacker Dennis , Veith Benedikt , Lindenschmitt Daniel , Schotten Hans D.
Published: January 2023

This manuscript investigates viable Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) architecture approaches to be used as basis for the distribution of integrity verification data. We discuss what can be a Trust Anchor and how the property of trust can be enabled as a service for mobile communications infrastructures. This follows up on a preceding publication, in the course of which a service was developed that can be utilized to create trust and traceability in transactions between other services. Crucial for the integrity of such an audit trail is proof for which side was committing, in case a tampering was detected. For such verification in the aftermath, mechanisms for the distribution of meta data are necessary. Where our ultimate goal is to develop a versatile framework for Trust as a Service (TaaS), the work at hand contributes the investigation on header distribution. We put a major focus on providing Trust as a Service (TaaS) especially in the mobile communications domain since a reliable concept for trustworthiness is indispensable for the vision of organic infrastructures beyond 5G, which means that such networks are flexible regarding their composition and open for stakeholders.
The significance of Apis cerana cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) gnawing off the old brood cells
Authors: Meng Qingxin , Yang Shunhua , Huang Rong , Yang Linfu , Xun Lijie , Tian Yakai , Gong Xueyang , Wang Jianming , Kuang Haiou , Zhao Wenzheng , Dong Kun
Published: January 2023

Apis cerana cerana has the biological characteristic of gnawing off the old brood cells which reared multiple generations of workers. This study investigated the internal structure of newly built, old, and semi-rebuilt brood cells and their effects on the morphological development of workers to understand the significance of Apis cerana cerana gnawing off the old brood cells. The results showed that there was no significant difference among the three diameters (at the top, middle, and bottom positions) of newly built or semi-rebuilt brood cells (P > 0.05), but these changed within the old brood cells (P < 0.05). The top, middle, or bottom diameters of the newly built and semi-rebuilt brood cells were significantly larger than those of the old brood cells (P < 0.05), but were almost the same between the newly built and the semi-rebuilt brood cells (P > 0.05). The weight and base thickness of the cocoon were significantly greater in the old brood cells than those in the semi-rebuilt brood cells (P < 0.05). Importantly, the birth weight, body length, and the tested six external morphological indices did not show a significant difference between the newly built and semi-rebuilt brood cells (P > 0.05) but were significantly larger than those of old brood cells (P < 0.05). The size of the brood cell and the external morphology of the workers showed a positive correlation. This study highlights the significance of Apis cerana cerana gnawing off the old brood cells providing a reference for its scientific rearing.
Transition to legume-supported farming in Europe through redesigning cropping systems
Authors: Notz Inka , Topp Cairistiona F. E. , Schuler Johannes , Alves Sheila , Gallardo Leonardo Amthauer , Dauber Jens , Haase Thorsten , Hargreaves Paul R. , Hennessy Michael , Iantcheva Anelia , Jeanneret Philippe , Kay Sonja , Recknagel Jürgen , Rittler Leopold , Vasiljević Marjana , Watson Christine A. , Reckling Moritz
Published: January 2023

Legume-supported cropping systems affect environmental, production, and economic impacts. In Europe, legume production is still marginal with grain legumes covering less than 3% of arable land. A transition towards legume-supported systems could contribute to a higher level of protein self-sufficiency and lower environmental impacts of agriculture. Suitable approaches for designing legume-supported cropping systems are required that go beyond the production of prescriptive solutions. We applied the DEED framework with scientists and advisors in 17 study areas in nine European countries, enabling us to describe, explain, explore, and redesign cropping systems. The results of 31 rotation comparisons showed that legume integration decreased N fertilizer use and nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) in more than 90% of the comparisons with reductions ranging from 6 to 142 kg N ha−1 and from 1 to 6 kg N2O ha−1, respectively. In over 75% of the 24 arable cropping system comparisons, rotations with legumes had lower nitrate leaching and higher protein yield per hectare. The assessment of above-ground biodiversity showed no considerable difference between crop rotations with and without legumes in most comparisons. Energy yields were lower in legume-supported systems in more than 90% of all comparisons. Feasibility and adaptation needs of legume systems were discussed in joint workshops and economic criteria were highlighted as particularly important, reflecting findings from the rotation comparisons in which 63% of the arable systems with legumes had lower standard gross margins. The DEED framework enabled us to keep close contact with the engaged research-farmer networks. Here, we demonstrate that redesigning legume-supported cropping systems through a process of close stakeholder interactions provides benefits compared to traditional methods and that a large-scale application in diverse study areas is feasible and needed to support the transition to legume-supported farming in Europe.
Assessing the Preliminary Efficacy of a Nonrandomized, Clinic-Based HIV Risk Reduction Pilot Intervention for PrEP-Initiated, Alcohol- and Other Drug-Using Women of Color in Miami, FL
Authors: Ichite Amanda , Jean-Gilles Michèle , Rosenberg Rhonda , Abbamonte John , Dévieux Jessy G.
Published: January 2023

In this paper, we assessed the preliminary efficacy and acceptability of a quasi-experimental, clinic-based sexual risk reduction pilot intervention for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-initiated, alcohol- and other drug-using women of color and explored their self-reported barriers to, and facilitators of, PrEP use. Using a mixed methods design, analyses incorporated pre- and post-intervention study assessment data from 38 women and semi-structured process evaluations using a subsample of 25. The intervention administered over an 8-week period consisted of 4 one-on-one in person educational sessions, a process evaluation, and study assessments conducted at baseline and 3 and 6 months. Post intervention, statistically significant changes in sexual risk scores were not observed; however, we found significant decreases in alcohol use (Z =  − 3.02, p = .003, η2 = .41). Process evaluation data revealed interpersonal relationships as a key motivator for PrEP initiation as well as a prominent barrier to PrEP use; these relationships rarely facilitated adherence. Overall, women found the intervention to be acceptable and reported a wide range of benefits of participation—most notably its therapeutic benefits. Findings from this study provide preliminary evidence of the potential for the Talking PrEP with Women of Color intervention to improve risky behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes related to sexual risk taking. Furthermore, findings suggest that interventions to increase PrEP uptake and adherence in at-risk women may benefit from supporting them in accurately estimating their risk for HIV and increasing their sense of social support.
Exposure risk to carbon monoxide concentrations inside a diesel-based bus rapid transport system: a CFD-Monte Carlo modeling approach
Authors: Guevara-Luna Marco Andrés , Guevara-Luna Fredy Alejandro , Casallas Alejandro , Belalcázar-Cerón Luis Carlos
Published: January 2023

Bus rapid transit (BRT) vehicles are common microenvironments in urban areas. In some cities, these BRT vehicles are diesel-powered, which makes them highly pollutant. Recent studies report high levels and exposure risk to particulate matter in BRT vehicles. Nevertheless, extensive research has yet to be published, including gaseous pollutants (e.g., CO). Nevertheless, extensive research including gaseous pollutants (e.g., CO) has not been published. This research aims to evaluate the self-pollution of BRT buses in terms of exhaust gasses. For this, measurements and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used. Results suggest that pollutant concentrations stay low during most of the trips. However, some areas of the buses have significant swings and peaks due to the transit cycle. Here, we used CFD modeling to evaluate the dispersion of the exhaust CO inside and outside the bus. CFD results show that the bus rear has the highest concentrations, with a mean self-pollution ratio of 12%. Additionally, we developed a method based on the source-receptor relationship to quantify the impact of exhaust emissions reduction on self-pollution, showing that the technological replacement of current diesel buses would reduce self-pollution and, therefore, passenger exposure. Finally, since modeling results may be inaccurate, an uncertainty analysis was developed using the Monte Carlo method to obtain a confidence interval of 90% for the variables linked to the self-pollution.
Large-format additive manufacturing of polymer extrusion-based deposition systems: review and applications
Authors: Vicente Carlos M. S. , Sardinha Manuel , Reis Luís , Ribeiro António , Leite Marco
Published: January 2023

Additive manufacturing (AM) of polymer large parts is a technological research area with great growth potential if the main barriers to its implementation are successfully addressed. In this research, a review of large-format AM (LFAM) processes for polymers is presented, followed by market research concerning the identification of large-format polymer commercial printers. An overview was performed covering the current LFAM systems configurations and their control aspects. The design and modelling approaches related with the fabrication of polymer large parts by AM, and the materials currently being applied and under development, were described. Finally, a summary of LFAM applications with a focus in the Transportation, Academic, Construction and Energy sectors, was presented. The current main advances in the LFAM of polymers are linked with the possibility of producing large parts in a faster, cheaper, and reliable way. The market research analysis concerning results for all AM families involving polymer materials reveals that, currently, the material extrusion AM process family is potentially the most suitable to produce large parts, with a significant number of applications attesting its capability to produce such large-format components.
Fatigue life assessment of wire arc additively manufactured ER100S-1 steel parts
Authors: Ermakova Anna , Razavi Nima , Crescenzo Rocco , Berto Filippo , Mehmanparast Ali
Published: January 2023

The aim of this work was to examine uniaxial, torsion, and multi-axial fatigue characteristics of ER100S-1 low carbon steel specimens fabricated with wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technique, a subcategory of directed energy deposition (DED). Two distinct specimen orientations were tested—vertical and horizontal, extracted perpendicular and parallel to the WAAM deposited layers, respectively. Fracture surfaces of the tested specimens were analysed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) to observe fracture mechanisms corresponding to different specimen orientations, different fatigue loading conditions, and to interpret the fatigue results obtained from the tests. Finally, the obtained stress–life results were compared with the fatigue data available in the literature for a series of wrought and WAAM-built structural steel specimens. Moreover, the S–N curves obtained in this study were evaluated against the fatigue design curve recommended for offshore marine welded structures in DNV standard. Test results have shown advantageous characteristics of WAAM-built ER100S-1 specimens compared with behaviours of other structural steels and conservative prediction of its fatigue life by the design curve available in the DNV standard.
On the Unusual Temperature Dependence of Kaolinite Intercalation Capacity for N-methylformamide
Authors: Andreou Fevronia T. , Siranidi Eirini , Derkowski Arkadiusz , Chryssikos Georgios D.
Published: January 2023

Many kaolinites are known to exhibit limited intercalation capacity which affects their usage. Some reports have linked this lack of reactivity to particular structural features or to slow kinetics; others recommended increasing intercalation temperature as a remedy. The purpose of the current study was to investigate systematically the N-methylformamide (NMF) intercalation capacity of three kaolinites differing in layer stacking order (KGa-1b, KGa-2, and Imerys Hywite Alum) in the 5–150°C temperature range. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) was employed to record the full kinetics of intercalation in closed systems with excess NMF. Increasing intercalation temperature accelerated the reaction, but the NMF uptake decreased and eventually vanished. Complementary thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed this unexpected trend. All kaolinites exhibited the same behavior, but the amount of inert material was in the order of their stacking-fault concentration at all temperatures: KGa-2 > Hywite > KGa-1b. Subjecting the samples to stepwise temperature changes showed that, once intercalated, the NMF could not deintercalate and was removed from equilibrium with the surrounding fluid. Thus, intercalation capacity was not a unique feature of the material because it depended on thermal history. As stacking order and thermal history had no detectable effect on the NMF-hosting environment, the unusual temperature dependence was attributed tentatively to the adverse effect of temperature on the adsorption of NMF on the edges of the crystallites, which is a prerequisite for intercalation.
Code Generation by Example Using Symbolic Machine Learning
Authors: Lano Kevin , Xue Qiaomu
Published: January 2023

Code generation is a key technique for model-driven engineering (MDE) approaches of software construction. Code generation enables the synthesis of applications in executable programming languages from high-level specifications in UML or in a domain-specific language. Specialised code generation languages and tools have been defined; however, the task of manually constructing a code generator remains a substantial undertaking, requiring a high degree of expertise in both the source and target languages, and in the code generation language. In this paper, we apply novel symbolic machine learning techniques for learning tree-to-tree mappings of software syntax trees, to automate the development of code generators from source–target example pairs. We evaluate the approach on several code generation tasks, and compare the approach to other code generator construction approaches. The results show that the approach can effectively automate the synthesis of code generators from examples, with relatively small manual effort required compared to existing code generation construction approaches. We also identified that it can be adapted to learn software abstraction and translation algorithms. The paper demonstrates that a symbolic machine learning approach can be applied to assist in the development of code generators and other tools manipulating software syntax trees.
MicroRNA-92a-3p Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Invasion by Regulating the Transcription Factor 21/Steroidogenic Factor 1 Axis in Endometriosis
Authors: Zhu Jingwen , Xu Zijin , Wu Peili , Zeng Cheng , Peng Chao , Zhou Yingfang , Xue Qing
Published: January 2023

Endometriosis (EMS) is an estrogen-dependent disease. However, little is known about the regulation of estrogen, a potential therapeutic target, in EMS, which remains very poorly managed in the clinic. We hypothesized that microRNAs (miRNAs) can be exploited therapeutically to regulate transcription factor 21 (TCF21) and steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1) gene expression. In our study, paired eutopic and ectopic endometrial samples were obtained from women with EMS and processed by a standard protocol to obtain human endometrial stromal cells (EMs) for in vitro studies. We found that miR-92a-3p levels were decreased in ectopic endometrium and ectopic stromal cells (ESCs) compared with paired eutopic lesions. miR-92a-3p overexpression significantly suppressed the proliferation and migration of ESCs, whereas a decreased level of miR-92a-3p generated the opposite results. Next, we identified TCF21 as a candidate target gene of miR-92a-3p. In vitro cell experiments showed that miR-92a-3p negatively regulated the expression of TCF21 and its downstream target gene SF-1. Moreover, cell proliferation and invasion ability decreased after the silencing of SF-1 and increased after SF-1 overexpression. We also observed that silencing SF-1 while inhibiting miR-92a-3p partially blocked the increase in cell proliferation and invasion ability caused by miR-92a-3p knockdown while overexpressing both SF-1 and miR-92a-3p mitigated the impairment in cell proliferation and invasion ability caused by miR-92a-3p overexpression. Our results may provide a novel potential therapeutic target for the treatment of EMS.
How digital technologies reshape marketing: evidence from a qualitative investigation
Authors: Pascucci Federica , Savelli Elisabetta , Gistri Giacomo
Published: January 2023

Digital technologies are now imperative for markets and society, and digital transformation is becoming a key area of business innovation. However, digital transformation is complex, and firms still lack the abilities to fully grasp and exploit its opportunities. This study investigates how digital technologies are currently implemented by companies. In particular, since digital transformation can reshape the traditional process of value creation in which marketing is primarily involved, the article analyses the impact of digital transformation on traditional marketing, including its role, organisation, and instruments. The study conducted qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews with managers working for companies operating in different Italian industries. The results show that digital technologies are widely used by firms, although they often belong to the category of traditional tools, and companies are more ‘digitalised’ than ‘digitally transformed’. Digital technologies impact marketing by improving the abilities of market analytics, pricing, and channel management and helping to build relationships with clients to achieve value co-creation. Professional skills are variously augmented, while organisational processes are becoming more effective and flexible through the use of multiple knowledge and cross-functional experiences. Research and managerial implications are discussed in light of the main barriers and risks involved in the implementation of digital transformation.
ESGs and Customer Choice: Some Empirical Evidence
Authors: Boufounou Paraskevi , Moustairas Ιlias , Toudas Kanellos , Malesios Chrisovalantis
Published: January 2023

The goal of this paper is to determine whether a company’s performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators influences customer choice, and if so, which ones are the most important, as well as whether the COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on changing this hierarchy. Additionally, it intends to investigate the influence of regional and demographic factors on its formation. To achieve this goal, primary data were gathered in Greece via a questionnaire survey. According to the findings, a company’s performance on ESGs influences consumer choice, with an emphasis on environmental and social indicators. It was also demonstrated that a company’s social indicator performance is relevant to both urban and suburban customers. Customers in urban areas place a higher value on a company’s performance in governance indicators than those in suburban areas, who place a higher value on a company’s performance in environmental indicators. Finally, no significant COVID-19 effect was evidenced on the findings, although the emphasis on “social indicators” was further reinforced, probably due to the increase in social awareness of citizens during the pandemic.
In Defence of Scholarly Bullshit—a Reflection on Kirchherr
Authors: Marjanović Marjan
Published: January 2023

The recent publication by Kirchherr on bullshit in sustainability and transitions studies has generated much contention. In the intentionally controversial paper, the author uses profanity to provoke and shock the readers. He argues that the metric-driven logic of the academic system has allowed subpar scholarship—recognised as scholarly bullshit, to permeate the field and that up to 50% of the articles (in particular, those on circular economy) published in reputable sustainability and transitions journals can be considered of generally inferior quality. In this reflection on Kirchherr’s piece, I aim to contribute to the debate that the author has instigated by offering an alternative opinion. Namely, I find it necessary to warn against the implications of the negative connotations that the term scholarly bullshit encapsulates since the actual situation in the field may not be as problematic and unfavourable as it sounds. By assessing the arguments presented in the original paper, I explain not only why the existence of subpar scholarship is not a problem but also explicate some positive effects of the phenomenon that make it a potentially desirable element of the scientific publication process. Although I agree with the original paper’s overall argument about the increasing presence of buzzwords in recent scholarly work, I conclude that weeding out presumably “inferior” scholarship may lead to a type of “scholarly eugenics”, resulting in the loss of the interdisciplinary richness and fertility that have been driving the field of sustainability and transitions so far.
In defense of ethical guidelines
Authors: Lundgren Björn
Published: January 2023

Recently, Luke Munn attacked “AI ethics” generally, or guidelines, principles, codes of ethics, ethical frameworks. In particular, he argued that ethical guidelines are useless. Here I respond to this critique, arguing that Munn’s criticism is mostly unfair and misguided, and that his own proposal is already implemented in various guidelines.
Truth-myths of New Zealand
Authors: Stewart Georgina Tuari
Published: January 2023

This article probes the gap between different cultural perspectives in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand, a nation-state founded on a bicultural encounter between indigenous Māori and settler British. One source of misunderstandings is a set of distorted versions of historical and social reality that have been promulgated through schooling and national media. These distortions of truth take the form of certain dubious, denigratory ideas about Māori, accepted as commonsense truth by Pākehā (European New Zealanders) to bolster their feelings of security and superiority in relation to Māori. I refer to these ideologies as the ‘truth-myths of New Zealand’ that operate like thought weapons of Whitepower within the apparently harmonious social context of Aotearoa New Zealand, dubbed with a longstanding reputation for the ‘best race relations in the world’. The purpose of this article is to focus in on the truth-myths themselves, represented by three typical statements of key ideas, presenting and explaining each one, and commenting on their significance and ongoing influence in national education, and society more generally.
The Police and the State
Authors: del Pozo Brandon
Published: January 2023

As we wrestle with the role and limits of policing, a political philosopher who spent over two decades as a New York City police officer and Vermont chief of police presents a normative account of what it means to police a pluralist democracy. Invoking his vast experience, Brandon del Pozo argues that we all have the prerogative to use force to protect others, but police embody the government's unique duty to do so effectively and with restraint. He recasts order maintenance as brokering and enforcing the fair terms of social cooperation in our public spaces, for the protection of minority interests, and for a society where diverse conceptions of the good can flourish. The reasons why we police, he says, must be ones that all citizens can evaluate as equals. His book explains the democratic commitments of policing, and lays the groundwork for meaningful police innovation and reform.
Parking functions: interdisciplinary connections
Authors: Yin Mei
Published: January 2023

Suppose that m drivers each choose a preferred parking space in a linear car park with n spots. In order, each driver goes to their chosen spot and parks there if possible, and otherwise takes the next available spot if it exists. If all drivers park successfully, the sequence of choices is called a parking function. Classical parking functions correspond to the case
$m=n$
.

We investigate various probabilistic properties of a uniform parking function. Through a combinatorial construction termed a parking function multi-shuffle, we give a formula for the law of multiple coordinates in the generic situation
$m \lesssim n$
. We further deduce all possible covariances: between two coordinates, between a coordinate and an unattempted spot, and between two unattempted spots. This asymptotic scenario in the generic situation
$m \lesssim n$
is in sharp contrast with that of the special situation
$m=n$
.

A generalization of parking functions called interval parking functions is also studied, in which each driver is willing to park only in a fixed interval of spots. We construct a family of bijections between interval parking functions with n cars and n spots and edge-labeled spanning trees with
$n+1$
vertices and a specified root.
Impact of a Pharmacist-Managed Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) Service on Cost Savings and Clinical Outcomes at an Academic Medical Center
Authors: Epperson Taylor M. , Bennett Kiya K. , Kupiec Katherine K. , Speigel Kathy , Neely Stephen B. , Resman-Targoff Beth H. , Kinney Karen K. , White Bryan P.
Published: January 2023

Background:

Outpatient antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is managed by a variety of teams, but primarily through an infectious disease clinic. At our medical center, OPAT monitoring is performed telephonically by pharmacists through a collaborative practice agreement under the supervision of an infectious disease physician. The effect of telephonic monitoring of OPAT by pharmacists on patient outcomes is unknown.

Methods:

This retrospective cohort study was conducted between July 2017 and July 2018 at a 350-bed academic medical center and included adult patients discharged home on IV antibiotics or oral linezolid. The experimental group comprised patients discharged with a consultation for the OPAT management program, whereas the control group comprised patients discharged home without a consultation. The primary outcome was 30-day readmission.

Results:

In total, 399 patients were included: 243 patients in the OPAT management program group and 156 patients in the control group. The 30-day readmission rates were similar in each cohort (20% vs 19%; P = .8193); however, the 30-day readmission rates were lower in the OPAT management program for patients discharged on vancomycin (19.4% vs 39.1%; P = .004).

Conclusions:

We did not find a difference in 30-day readmissions between patients receiving pharmacy-driven OPAT management services and those who did not. Patients receiving vancomycin via OPAT had lower 30-day readmissions when included in the pharmacist-driven OPAT management program. Institutions with limited resources may consider reserving OPAT management services for patients receiving antimicrobials that require pharmacokinetic dosing and/or close monitoring.
Literary Analysis of a Memory Book by a Schoolteacher with HIV in Rural Uganda: Writing about Living with and Dying of HIV
Authors: Oike Machiko
Published: January 2023

Memory book projects encourage parents living with HIV to write workbooks for their children about their family background and life experiences, to guide the child in the parent’s future absence. In Uganda, site of the first memory book projects in Africa, most writers have been widows with agrarian background and limited schooling. Oike conducts a close literary textual analysis of an exceptionally intensive memory book written by a schoolteacher, examines how the book helped the author to represent her traumatic experiences of living with and dying of HIV, and explores the possibilities of memory books as a tool for grassroots writing.
All Cancers Are not Created Equal: How Do Survival Prospects Affect the Willingness to Pay to Avoid Cancer?
Authors: Alberini Anna , Rheinberger Christoph M. , Ščasný Milan
Published: January 2023

Regulatory impact analyses of proposed environmental, occupational, and consumer product safety regulations often rely on a metric known as the Value per Statistical Case of Cancer (VSCC), that is, the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for reductions in the risk of developing cancer. In this paper, we ask whether the VSCC depends on cancer survival prospects. We develop a simple theoretical model that shows that under standard assumptions the VSCC is decreasing in the chance of surviving cancer. We empirically test this prediction by means of a stated preference survey, where we ask subjects aged 45–60 from the general population in the Czech Republic to report information about their WTP for reductions in the risk of getting cancer. One half of the sample was told that, if they got cancer, the 5-year survival rate was 60 % (corresponding to the average survival chances across all types of cancer), while the other half was told that it was 75 %. Consistent with the theoretical model, we find that the VSCC is larger in the former group. The ratio between the VSCC of the two groups is approximately equal to the ratio between the conditional cancer mortality risks implied by the survey’s survival rates, suggesting that the VSCC is proportional to conditional cancer mortality. Our findings have important policy implications in the context of regulations that focus on pollutants linked to cancers with different chances of survival.
The economics of saignée in winemaking
Authors: Costello Christopher , Deschênes Olivier , Kolstad Charles , Plantinga Andrew J. , Thomas Tyler
Published: January 2023

The winemaking technique of saignée is common for some varietals, and the ensuing flavor profiles have been carefully analyzed by oenologists. However, we argue that saignée is fundamentally about economic tradeoffs between the quantity of primary wine that is ultimately produced, the quality (and thus, price) of that wine, and the amount of rosé wine that is bled off in the process. We develop the first theoretically-grounded economic model of saignée and analyze the model to shed light on the winemaker's optimal choice of saignée, and on the properties of wine and wine markets that should empirically give rise to more, or less, saignée. The model helps to explain several real-world regularities such as the absence of saignée for most Bordeaux wines, the specialization in rosé for many wines in Provence, and the practice of moderate amounts of saignée for varietals such as grenache and pinot noir.
Age matters: health, older people and gerohygiene in the late Soviet Union
Authors: Grant Susan
Published: January 2023

In the late Soviet period, a great deal of research was conducted on older people’s health, with the Institute of Gerontology Academy of Medical Sciences (AMN) USSR in Kyiv spearheading a great deal of this. Of particular interest was older people’s ability to work beyond retirement age, the issue of premature ageing, as well as physical activity, diet and living conditions. Many of these interests came under the concept of ‘gerohygiene’, which also reflected the Soviet Union’s prophylactic approach to eldercare (and healthcare more generally). Discussions about older people and Soviet research on gerohygiene are important for furthering our understanding of ideas around healthy ageing and the Soviet project more generally. The Soviet, and indeed socialist, research on gerohygiene sheds light on ideas around active ageing, premature ageing and work practices for older people. It also shows that the role of old people belonged to the wider Soviet effort of contributing to the communist project and shaping society. In this article, I define and examine the broad concept of ‘gerohygiene’ and then assess how gerohygiene applied to older people’s health in relation to both physical activity and labour.
Finding ruh in the forebrain: Mazhar Osman and the emerging Turkish psychiatric discourse
Authors: Soyubol Kutluğhan
Published: January 2023

This article examines the emergence of modern psychiatric discourse under the culturally Islamic yet radically secular context of the early Turkish republic (1923-1950). To do so, it focuses on the psychiatric publications of Mazhar Osman [Uzman] (1884-1951), the widely acknowledged “father” of modern Turkish psychiatry; and aims to genealogically trace his scientific project of reconceptualizing ruh, an Arabo-Turkish concept that predominantly refers to transcendental soul, rendering it physiologically within the framework of biological-descriptive psychiatry. The article consequently addresses the elusive and multilayered psychiatric language emerged in Turkey as a result of modern psychiatry’s interventions into a field that was previously defined by religion and indigenous traditions. Attempting to contextualize republican psychiatric discourse within the cultural and socio-political circumstances that has produced it, the article sheds light on how the new psychiatric knowledge propagated by Mazhar Osman was formulated in constitutive contradistinction to religious or traditional discourses, explicitly associating them with the Ottoman past and its alleged backwardness, hence reverberating with the Kemalist project of modern Turkish state building. Furthermore, by focusing on the complexities of the Turkish psychiatric language and the contestations it has generated, the article aims to reflect on the ways in which the Turkish psychiatric language was (and presumably still is) haunted by earlier forms of Islamic knowledge and traditions, despite modern psychiatry’s as well as modern secular state’s systematic and authoritative attempts to erase them for good.
In search of lost fleas: reconsidering Paul-Louis Simond’s contribution to the study of the propagation of plague
Authors: Lynteris Christos
Published: January 2023

Paul-Louis Simond’s 1898 experiment demonstrating fleas as the vector of plague is today recognised as one of the breakthrough moments in modern epidemiology, as it established the insect-borne transmission of plague. Providing the first exhaustive examination of primary sources from the Institut Pasteur’s 1897–98 ‘India Mission’, including Simond’s notebooks, experiment carnets and correspondence, and cross-examining this material with colonial medical sources from the first years of the third plague pandemic in British India, the article demonstrates that Simond’s engagement with the question of the propagation of plague was much more complex and ambiguous than the teleological story reproduced in established historical works suggests. On the one hand, the article reveals that the famous 1898 experiment was botched, and that Simond’s misreported its ambiguous findings for the Annales de l’Institut Pasteur. On the other hand, the article shows that, in the course of his ‘India Mission’, Simond framed rats as involved in the propagation of plague irreducibly in their relation to other potential sources of infection and not simply in terms of a parasitological mechanism. The article illuminates Simond’s complex epidemiological reasoning about plague transmission, situating it within its proper colonial and epistemological context, and argues for a new historical gaze on the rat as an ‘epidemiological dividual’, which highlights the relational and contingent nature of epidemiological framings of the animal during the third plague pandemic.
Physicians imprisoned in Franco Spain’s Miranda de Ebro “Campo de Concentración”
Authors: Cuerda-Galindo Esther
Published: January 2023

Miranda de Ebro was created in 1937 to imprison Republicans and foreigners who fought with the International Brigades in Spanish Civil War. From 1940, the camp was used only to concentrate detained foreign refugees with no proper documents. More than 15 000 people, most of them from France and Poland, were kept there until the camp was closed in January 1947. Playing both sides of the international divide, fascist Spain at various points in time allowed passage and was a country of refuge both for those escaping Nazism and for Nazis and collaborators who, at the end of World War II (WWII), sought to escape justice. Treatment of each of these groups passing through Miranda was very different: real repression was meted out to the members of the International Brigades (IB), tolerance shown towards those escaping Nazism, and protection and active cooperation given to former Nazis and their collaborators. For the first time, data about foreign physicians imprisoned in Miranda de Ebro were consulted in the Guadalajara Military Archive (Spain). From 1937 to 1947, 151 doctors were imprisoned, most of them in 1942 and 1943, which represents around 1% of the prisoners. Fifty-two of the doctors were released thanks to diplomatic efforts, thirty-two by the Red Cross, and ten were sent to other prisons, directly released or managed to escape. All of them survived. After consulting private and public archives, it was possible to reconstruct some biographies and fill the previous existing gap in the history of migration and exile of doctors during the Second World War.
Transfer learning as a method to reproduce high-fidelity non-local thermodynamic equilibrium opacities in simulations
Authors: Vander Wal Michael D. , McClarren Ryan G. , Humbird Kelli D.
Published: January 2023

Simulations of high-energy density physics often need non-local thermodynamic equilibrium opacity data. These data, however, are expensive to produce at relatively low fidelity. It is even more so at high fidelity such that the opacity calculations can contribute 95 % of the total computation time. This proportion can even reach large proportions. Neural networks can be used to replace the standard calculations of low-fidelity data, and the neural networks can be trained to reproduce artificial, high-fidelity opacity spectra. In this work, it is demonstrated that a novel neural network architecture trained to reproduce high-fidelity krypton spectra through transfer learning can be used in simulations. Further, it is demonstrated that this can be done while achieving a relative per cent error of the peak radiative temperature of the hohlraum of approximately 1 % to 4 % while achieving a 19.4

$\times$

speed up.
Scale quality in second-language anxiety and WTC: A methodological synthesis
Authors: Sudina Ekaterina
Published: January 2023

As survey research in second language acquisition grows in popularity, the adherence to best practices associated with questionnaire quality is critical for a better understanding of factors that influence second language (L2) development. To ensure that a self-report scale targets the construct of interest and does it consistently and accurately, authors of primary research should demonstrate that their instrument possesses acceptable evidence of validity and reliability. To this end, this methodological synthesis focused on the state of scale quality in L2 anxiety and willingness to communicate (WTC) research by examining key methodological issues of quantitative survey research and offering empirically grounded suggestions for future studies. A close examination of 232 peer-reviewed articles that used 385 L2 anxiety and WTC scales demonstrated, among other findings, the lack of evidence for scale content and construct validity. The implications of this study contribute to concurrent attempts at methodological reform in applied linguistics.
Out of Ruins: Contextualizing an Ancient Egyptian Spectacle of Architectural Reuse
Authors: Osorio G. Silva Luiza
Published: January 2023

Architectural reuse was common in ancient Egypt. Modern interpretations of this practice, particularly in royal contexts, usually ascribe it either a practical or ideological function, only rarely considering it possible that different motivations were involved. This type of approach is particularly true for the reuse of Old Kingdom blocks by the Middle Kingdom king Amenemhat I in his pyramid at Lisht, a case often classified as solely utilitarian. However, an approach that prioritizes not only the ancient Egyptian worldview and royal ideology, but also how this case of reuse fits into cross-cultural considerations of monumentality, demonstrates the necessity to look at this practice more holistically. This study focuses in particular on the possibility that the transportation of reused materials by Amenemhat I was a spectacle of construction used to showcase the king's legitimacy and authority at the start of a new dynasty.
Photography and the Art of Memory Creation: Portraits of a Provincial Jewish Community in the Late 1930s
Authors: Wobick-Segev Sarah
Published: January 2023

Using visual-historical methods, this article seeks to offer insights into the experiences of two historiographically underrepresented – but in this specific case overlapping – groups during the National Socialist era: elderly and provincial Jews. The article centres on a fascinating set of images: namely, a selection of portraits of individuals and photos of the Jewish community inside and outside of the local synagogue on a Saturday morning. The photographer, a young man by the name of Heinz Bähr, was preparing for his imminent immigration to the United States when he returned to his hometown of Breisach am Rhein in 1937 and photographed his extended family and members of the small rural Jewish community. As the article shows, photography was not simply a means to represent the elderly through the eyes of younger Jews but was an intergenerational practice of constituting communal memory. The photos reveal the self-perceptions of those who stood in front of and behind the camera and how these actors chose to represent historical processes on film.
Intra-abdominal haemorrhaging after cardiac catheterisation: the importance of recognising vascular anomalies in heterotaxy syndrome
Authors: Yamada Yuya , Ishikawa Yuichi , Sagawa Koichi
Published: January 2023

A 2-month-old boy with a single ventricle underwent cardiac catheterisation. Inferior vena cava angiography at the end of the examination revealed local stenosis, flexion, and connection to the right hepatic vein. Six hours after catheterisation, he went into haemorrhagic shock. CT revealed contrast extravasation into the liver with ascites. A precise diagnosis of vascular anomalies is mandatory, especially in patients with heterotaxy syndrome.