bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Immunoglobulin M-Shed Acute Phase Antigen (SAPA)-test for the Early Diagnosis of Congenital Chagas Disease in the Time of the Elimination Goal of Mother-to-Child Transmission
Authors: Castro-Sesquen Yagahira E , Tinajeros Freddy , Bern Caryn , Galdos-Cardenas Gerson , Malaga Edith S , Valencia Ayala Edward , Hjerrild Kathryn , Clipman Steven J , Lescano Andrés G , Bayangos Tabitha , Castillo Walter , Menduiña María Carmen , Talaat Kawsar R , Gilman Robert H ,   Chagas Working Group in Bolivia and Peru
Published: July 2020

Background

Diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease (CChD) in most endemic areas is based on low-sensitive microscopy at birth and 9-month immunoglobulin G (IgG), which has poor adherence. We aim to evaluate the accuracy of the Immunoglobulin M (IgM)-Shed Acute Phase Antigen (SAPA) test in the diagnosis of CChD at birth.

Methods

Two cohort studies (training and validation cohorts) were conducted in 3 hospitals in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Pregnant women were screened for Chagas disease, and all infants born to seropositive mothers were followed for up to 9 months to diagnose CChD. A composite reference standard was used to determine congenital infection and was based on the parallel use of microscopy, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and IgM–trypomastigote excreted-secreted antigen (TESA) blot at birth and/or 1 month, and/or the detection of anti–Trypanosoma cruzi IgG at 6 or 9 months. The diagnostic accuracy of the IgM-SAPA test was calculated at birth against the composite reference standard.

Results

Adherence to the 6- or 9-month follow-up ranged from 25.3% to 59.7%. Most cases of CChD (training and validation cohort: 76.5% and 83.7%, respectively) were detected during the first month of life using the combination of microscopy, qPCR, and/or IgM-TESA blot. Results from the validation cohort showed that when only 1 infant sample obtained at birth was evaluated, the qPCR and the IgM-SAPA test have similar accuracy (sensitivity: range, 79.1%–97.1% and 76.7%–94.3%, respectively, and specificity: 99.5% and 92.6%, respectively).

Conclusions

The IgM-SAPA test has the potential to be implemented as an early diagnostic tool in areas that currently rely only on microscopy.
Novel electroanatomical map for permanent his bundle pacing: the Mont Blanc approach - influence of the learning curve and procedural outcome
Authors: Imnadze Guram , Vijayaraman Pugazhendhi , Bante Hendrik , Eitz Thomas , Bergau Leonard , Baridwan Nafilah , El Hamriti Mustapha , Molatta Stephan , Braun Martin , Khalaph Moneeb , Sohns Christian , Sommer Philipp
Published: July 2020

Aims

Pacing the specific conduction system like the Bundle of His (HB) can lead to more physiologic activation patterns compared to traditional right ventricular apical pacing. The aim of this study was to estimate the feasibility and value of electroanatomical mapping (EAM) for HB pacing during the learning curve and its impact on procedural outcome.

Methods and results

Fifteen consecutive patients were treated using EAM of the His bundle region before implantation. Voltage and activation maps of HB potentials were performed. The activation time from His potential to R wave (ECG-reference) was measured and correlated to the HV interval. The atrial and ventricular potentials were blended so the active window could only see the His potential. After completing the activation map, it was transformed into a peak-to-peak voltage map of the HB. With reversed black and white colour scale, the exact point of the maximal His signal amplitude was visualized. Procedural data for the implantation were analysed using this innovative approach. The average total procedural time and fluoroscopy time was 88.2 ± 19.1 min and 10.9 ± 4.5 min, respectively. The 3D mapping time was 18.4 ± 5.1 min. The 13.9 ± 5.1 His potential points were needed in average to complete the map. No periprocedural complications were seen in this cohort. In 86.7% of cases, His bundle pacing was successful. The average threshold for the His bundle stimulation and the R-wave amplitude was 1.62 ± 1 V (@1.0 ms) and 4.8 ± 3.2 mV, respectively. The pacing impedance was 513.5 ± 102.8 Ω. Average paced QRS complex width was 116.9 ± 20.3ms. On average 2.6 ± 1.6 lead positions were targeted to find the optimal pacing site.

Conclusion

Electroanatomical mapping-guided implantation of His-bundle leads can facilitate the identification of optimal pacing sites and allow to minimize procedure and fluoroscopy times even during the phase of the learning curve.
The impact of a personalized, community-based counselling and referral programme on modern contraceptive use in urban Ghana: a retrospective evaluation
Authors: Henry Elizabeth G , Hackett Kristy M , Bawah Ayaga , Asuming Patrick O , Agula Caesar , Canning David , Shah Iqbal
Published: July 2020

Community-based demand-generation family planning programmes have been associated with increased contraceptive use in rural areas of Ghana. However, rigorous evaluations of such programmes in urban contexts are lacking. We used a retrospective, cross-sectional with comparison group design to estimate the immediate and sustained impact of the Willows intervention on modern contraceptive use in Kumasi, Ghana. The Willows intervention is a home-based counselling and referral programme for women in low-income urban settlements. We analysed data from a cross-sectional representative survey of 1205 women of reproductive age in the intervention area and 1108 women in a matched comparison site. The main outcome was women’s reported contraceptive use at: (1) baseline (January 2013); (2) programme close (December 2016); and (3) follow-up (August to October 2018). We estimated the programme effect at the community level and for women who reported receiving a family planning counselling visit. We used coarsened exact matching to assess the impact of the intervention relative to outcomes for matched comparison women. Comparing those who reported a family planning visit in the intervention area with matched comparison area women who reported no visit, we estimated a 10.5 percentage point increase in use of modern contraceptives from baseline to close (95%CI : 6.2, 14.8; P < 0.001) and a 7.6 percentage point increase from baseline to follow-up (95%CI : 3.3, 11.9; P < 0.001). However, only 20.2% of women in the Willows intervention area reported a visit. The Willows intervention, therefore, did not achieve its aim to reach all reproductive-aged women in the community. At the community level, we found no significant effect of the intervention at either programme close or 2 years later. We recommend that similar community-based interventions strive for greater outreach and simultaneously launch robust prospective impact evaluations.
The trade-off between biodiversity and sustainable fish harvest with area-based management
Authors: Hilborn Ray , Akselrud Caitlin Allen , Peterson Henry , Whitehouse George A
Published: July 2020

While fisheries provide food and employment for hundreds of millions of people, they also can have significant impact on biodiversity. We explore the potential of area-based fisheries management to simultaneously maintain biodiversity and high levels of sustainable food production. We used two illustrative examples of fisheries that have different gear types, areas, and species to evaluate the trade-off between biodiversity and harvest. We calculate the optimal effort by gear and area that maximizes a weighted objective function of biodiversity and harvest, ranging from 100% of the weight on harvest to 100% on biodiversity. We found for both case studies that the trade-off was highly convex, with win–win solutions allowing for high levels of both fishery harvest and conservation. This is achieved by reducing or eliminating fishing effort that negatively impacts high conservation value species while maintaining fishing effort with gears and in areas where there is low conservation impact. We suggest that, in most fisheries, such situations can be found and that effective area-based management can provide for high levels of biodiversity protection and food production.
Symptoms, Infection Duration, and Hemagglutinin Inhibition Antibody Response in Influenza A Infections
Authors: Tricoche Alexandria D , Wagner Abram L , Balmaseda Angel , Sanchez Nery , Patel Mayuri , Lopez Roger , Schiller Amy , Ojeda Sergio , Frutos Aaron M , Kuan Guillermina , Gordon Aubree
Published: July 2020

Background

Many influenza studies assume that symptomatic and asymptomatic cases have equivalent antibody responses.

Methods

This study examines the relationship between influenza symptoms and serological response. Influenza-positive index cases and household members in Managua, Nicaragua, during 2012–2017 were categorized by symptom status.

Results

Antibody response was assessed using hemagglutination inhibition assays (HAI). Among 510 cases, 74.5% had ≥4-fold increase in HAI antibodies, and 75.3% had febrile illness. In a logistic regression model, febrile cases had 2.17 times higher odds of a ≥4-fold titer rise compared to asymptomatic cases (95% confidence interval, 1.02–4.64).

Conclusions

Studies relying on serological assays may not generalize to asymptomatic infections.
Sleep Problems and Posttraumatic Stress: Children Exposed to a Natural Disaster
Authors: Lai Betty S , La Greca Annette M , Colgan Courtney A , Herge Whitney , Chan Sherilynn , Medzhitova Julia , Short Mary , Auslander Beth
Published: July 2020

Objective

Sleep plays a critical role in children’s growth and development. This study examined the frequency and persistence of children’s sleep problems following a natural disaster, risk factors for children’s sleep problems, and the bidirectional relationship between children’s sleep problems and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) over time.

Methods

This study assessed 269 children (53% female, M = 8.70 years, SD = 0.95) exposed to Hurricane Ike at 8 months (Time 1) and 15 months (Time 2) post-disaster. Children completed measures of hurricane exposure and related stressors, stressful life events, sleep problems, and PTSS.

Results

Children’s sleep problems were significantly correlated from Time 1 to Time 2 (r = .28, p < .001). Risk factors for sleep problems at Time 2 were younger age, sleep problems at Time 1, and PTSS, not including sleep items, at Time 1. Examinations of the bidirectional relationship between sleep problems and PTSS indicated that PTSS significantly predicted later sleep problems, but sleep problems did not significantly predict later PTSS.

Conclusions

Findings demonstrate that PTSS may contribute to the development and course of children’s sleep problems post-disaster.
Multiwavelength analysis of the variability of the blazar 3C 273
Authors: Fernandes S , Patiño-Álvarez V M , Chavushyan V , Schlegel E M , Valdés J R
Published: July 2020

We present multiwavelength light curves and polarimetric data of the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar 3C 273 over 8 yr. The wavelength range of our data set extends from radio to gamma-rays. We found that the optical emission in this source is dominated by the accretion disc during the entire time-frame of study. We additionally find that in contrast with the observed behaviour in other blazars, 3C 273 does not show a correlation between the gamma-ray spectral index and the gamma-ray luminosity. Finally, we identified an anticorrelation between the 15 GHz and V-band light curves for the time-range JD245 = 4860–5760, which we speculate is the consequence of the inner part of the accretion disc falling into the black hole, followed by the ejection of a component into the jet.
Dust size and spatial distributions in debris discs: predictions for exozodiacal dust dragged in from an exo-Kuiper belt
Authors: Rigley Jessica K , Wyatt Mark C
Published: July 2020

The spectral energy distributions of some nearby stars show mid-infrared (IR) excesses from warm habitable zone dust, known as exozodiacal dust. This dust may originate in collisions in a planetesimal belt before being dragged inwards. This paper presents an analytical model for the size distribution of particles at different radial locations in such a scenario, considering evolution due to destructive collisions and Poynting–Robertson (P–R) drag. Results from more accurate but computationally expensive numerical simulations of this process are used to validate the model and fit its free parameters. The model predicts 11 μm excesses (R11) for discs with a range of dust masses and planetesimal belt radii using realistic grain properties. We show that P–R drag should produce exozodiacal dust levels detectable with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) ($R_{11} \gt 0.1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) in systems with known outer belts; non-detection may indicate dust depletion, e.g. by an intervening planet. We also find that LBTI could detect exozodiacal dust dragged in from a belt too faint to detect at far-IR wavelengths, with fractional luminosity f ∼ 10−7 and radius ∼10–80 au. Application to systems observed with LBTI shows that P–R drag can likely explain most (5/9) of the exozodiacal dust detections in systems with known outer belts; two systems (β Uma and η Corvi) with bright exozodi may be due to exocomets. We suggest that the three systems with exozodiacal dust detections but no known belt may have cold planetesimal belts too faint to be detectable in the far-IR. Even systems without outer belt detections could have exozodiacal dust levels $R_{11} \gt 0.04{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ which are problematic for exo-Earth imaging.
Evidence for a high mutual inclination between the cold Jupiter and transiting super Earth orbiting π Men
Authors: Xuan Jerry W , Wyatt Mark C
Published: July 2020

π Men hosts a transiting super Earth (P ≈ 6.27 d, m ≈ 4.82 M⊕, R ≈ 2.04 R⊕) discovered by TESS and a cold Jupiter (P ≈ 2093 d, msin I ≈ 10.02 MJup, e ≈ 0.64) discovered from radial velocity. We use Gaia DR2 and Hipparcos astrometry to derive the star’s velocity caused by the orbiting planets and constrain the cold Jupiter’s sky-projected inclination (Ib = 41°−65°). From this, we derive the mutual inclination (ΔI) between the two planets, and find that 49° < ΔI < 131° (1σ) and 28° < ΔI < 152° (2σ). We examine the dynamics of the system using N-body simulations, and find that potentially large oscillations in the super Earth’s eccentricity and inclination are suppressed by general relativistic precession. However, nodal precession of the inner orbit around the invariable plane causes the super Earth to only transit between 7 and 22 per cent of the time, and to usually be observed as misaligned with the stellar spin axis. We repeat our analysis for HAT-P-11, finding a large ΔI between its close-in Neptune and cold Jupiter and similar dynamics. π Men and HAT-P-11 are prime examples of systems where dynamically hot outer planets excite their inner planets, with the effects of increasing planet eccentricities, planet–star misalignments, and potentially reducing the transit multiplicity. Formation of such systems likely involves scattering between multiple giant planets or misaligned protoplanetary discs. Future imaging of the faint debris disc in π Men and precise constraints on its stellar spin orientation would provide strong tests for these formation scenarios.
Survey of planetesimal belts with ALMA: gas detected around the Sun-like star HD 129590
Authors: Kral Quentin , Matrà Luca , Kennedy Grant M , Marino Sebastian , Wyatt Mark C
Published: July 2020

Gas detection around main-sequence stars is becoming more common with around 20 systems showing the presence of CO. However, more detections are needed, especially around later spectral type stars to better understand the origin of this gas and refine our models. To do so, we carried out a survey of 10 stars with predicted high likelihoods of secondary CO detection using ALMA in band 6. We looked for continuum emission of mm-dust as well as gas emission (CO and CN transitions). The continuum emission was detected in 9/10 systems for which we derived the discs’ dust masses and geometrical properties, providing the first mm-wave detection of the disc around HD 106906, the first mm-wave radius for HD 114082, 117214, HD 15745, HD 191089, and the first radius at all for HD 121191. A crucial finding of our paper is that we detect CO for the first time around the young 10–16 Myr old G1V star HD 129590, similar to our early Sun. The gas seems colocated with its planetesimal belt and its total mass is likely in the range of (2–10) × 10−5 M⊕. This first gas detection around a G-type main-sequence star raises questions as to whether gas may have been released in the Solar system as well in its youth, which could potentially have affected planet formation. We also detected CO gas around HD 121191 at a higher signal-to-noise ratio than previously and find that the CO lies much closer-in than the planetesimals in the system, which could be evidence for the previously suspected CO viscous spreading owing to shielding preventing its photodissociation. Finally, we make estimates for the CO content in planetesimals and the HCN/CO outgassing rate (from CN upper limits), which we find are below the level seen in Solar system comets in some systems.
Frequent Retroviral Gene Co-option during the Evolution of Vertebrates
Authors: Wang Jianhua , Han Guan-Zhu
Published: July 2020

Endogenous retroviruses are ubiquitous in the vertebrate genomes. On occasion, hosts recruited retroviral genes to mediate their own biological functions, a process formally known as co-option or exaptation. Much remains unknown about the extent of retroviral gene co-option in vertebrates, although more than ten retroviral gene co-option events have been documented. Here, we use a phylogenomic approach to analyze more than 700 vertebrate genomes to uncover retroviral gene co-option taking place during the evolution of vertebrates. We identify a total of 177 independent retroviral gene co-option events in vertebrates, a majority of which have not been reported previously. Among these retroviral gene co-option events, 93 and 84 involve gag and env genes, respectively. More than 78.0% (138 out of 177) of retroviral gene co-option occurred within mammals. The gag and env co-option events share a generally similar temporal pattern with less frequent retroviral gene co-option identified in the deep branches, suggesting that retroviral gene co-option might have not been maintained for very long time periods. Moreover, we find co-opted retroviral genes are subject to different selection pressure, implying potentially diverse cellular functionality. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of co-opted retroviral genes during the evolution of vertebrates and has implications in understanding the ancient evolution of vertebrate–retrovirus interaction.
Days gained response discriminates treatment response in patients with recurrent glioblastoma receiving bevacizumab-based therapies
Authors: Singleton Kyle W , Porter Alyx B , Hu Leland S , Johnston Sandra K , Bond Kamila M , Rickertsen Cassandra R , De Leon Gustavo , Whitmire Scott A , Clark-Swanson Kamala R , Mrugala Maciej M , Swanson Kristin R
Published: July 2020

Background

Accurate assessments of patient response to therapy are a critical component of personalized medicine. In glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive form of brain cancer, tumor growth dynamics are heterogenous across patients, complicating assessment of treatment response. This study aimed to analyze days gained (DG), a burgeoning model-based dynamic metric, for response assessment in patients with recurrent GBM who received bevacizumab-based therapies.

Methods

DG response scores were calculated using volumetric tumor segmentations for patients receiving bevacizumab with and without concurrent cytotoxic therapy (N = 62). Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were implemented to examine DG prognostic relationship to overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) from the onset of treatment for recurrent GBM.

Results

In patients receiving concurrent bevacizumab and cytotoxic therapy, Kaplan–Meier analysis showed significant differences in OS and PFS at DG cutoffs consistent with previously identified values from newly diagnosed GBM using T1-weighted gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (T1Gd). DG scores for bevacizumab monotherapy patients only approached significance for PFS. Cox regression showed that increases of 25 DG on T1Gd imaging were significantly associated with a 12.5% reduction in OS hazard for concurrent therapy patients and a 4.4% reduction in PFS hazard for bevacizumab monotherapy patients.

Conclusion

DG has significant meaning in recurrent therapy as a metric of treatment response, even in the context of anti-angiogenic therapies. This provides further evidence supporting the use of DG as an adjunct response metric that quantitatively connects treatment response and clinical outcomes.
Truth, Justice, and Commemoration Initiatives in Turkey
Authors: Bakiner Onur
Published: July 2020

This chapter analyzes laws and policies that seek to reveal, publicize, and officially acknowledge facts about human rights violations, procure retributive justice through criminal trials, and attain restorative justice through compensation for victims in Turkey. In addition, it discusses efforts of victims’ groups, human rights associations, opposition political parties, and other concerned civil society groups to generate awareness around those violations. It addresses two main questions: Why has the Turkish state unveiled truth, justice, and commemoration initiatives, i.e., policies and gestures to acknowledge and redress past wrongs? Why have these efforts, mostly initiated in the 2000s and early 2010s, failed? The chapter argues that the combination of civil society activism, memory initiatives by opposition parties, especially the Kurdish political movement, diaspora pressures, and European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings necessitated government efforts to address past wrongs. In some ways, the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) government’s (2002–present) narrative of modern Turkish history facilitated these initiatives, as it sought to solidify its support among minority constituencies and liberal intellectuals by marketing itself as the voice of the “democratic majority” and as an agent of change in a country where the state routinely committed, denied, and justified human rights violations. Yet, the AKP government’s instrumentalism and selective reconstruction of the national past also explain why these truth, justice, and commemoration initiatives failed to satisfy the victims, the broader human rights community, and independent observers. In a political landscape marked by shifting opportunities, threats, and alliances, the AKP government found it politically convenient to sacrifice those initiatives after 2011. The consolidation of AKP rule and the accompanying institutional decline of democracy that started around the same time pushed them further into irrelevance.
Politics of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in TurkeyLimits and Prospects of Populism
Authors: Kılınç Fatih Resul , Toktaş Şule
Published: July 2020

This article addresses the international movement of asylum seekers and refugees, particularly Syrian immigrants, and their impact on populism in Turkish politics between 2011 and 2018. The article argues that populist politics/rhetoric directed against Syrians in Turkey remained limited during this period, especially from a comparative perspective. At a time when rising Islamophobia, extreme nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiments led to rise of right-wing populism in Europe, populist platforms exploiting specifically migrants, asylum seekers, and the Syrians in Turkey failed to achieve a similar effect. The chapter identifies two reasons for this puzzling development even as the outbreak of the Syrian civil war triggered a mass influx of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants into Turkey. First, the article focuses on Turkey’s refugee deal with the EU in response to “Europe’s refugee crisis,” through which Turkey has extracted political and economic leverage. Next, the article sheds light on Turkey’s foreign policy making instruments that evolved around using the refugee situation as an instrument of soft power pursuant to its foreign policy identity. The article concludes with a discussion of the rise of anti-Syrian sentiments by 2019.
Economic Voting during the AKP Era in Turkey
Authors: Aytaç S. Erdem
Published: July 2020

Economic voting, that is voters’ rewarding or punishing the incumbent according to the state of the economy, is one of the main approaches to voting behavior. This chapter explores economic voting during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) era in Turkey. Drawing on data from five nationally representative surveys fielded between 2007 and 2019, it finds that voters’ evaluations of the economy are a significant predictor of voting for the AKP. Even after accounting for several socio-demographic factors, ideological self-positioning, and partisanship, individuals with more positive economic evaluations are more likely to vote for the AKP. These findings hint at the presence of electoral accountability through economic voting in the Turkish context. At the same time, however, there is a significant and growing divergence in economic evaluations across partisanship—evaluations of AKP partisans are consistently more positive than those of other voters, and the magnitude of this gap in evaluations has been increasing since 2007. Given this increasing influence of partisanship on perceptions of the economy, voters’ subjective economic evaluations may not correspond to objective economic conditions. As the gap between subjective evaluations and objective conditions widens, we can expect weakened electoral accountability for actual economic outcomes.
The Translation of Polder
Authors: Richter Simon
Published: July 2020

Polder is a Dutch word that occurs in many world languages. As sea level rises and coastal cities subside, the polder is a preferred way to protect land from flooding. Because polder combines infrastructure with governance and social resilience, the translation of polder involves more than finding a linguistic equivalent. Successful translation of polder as both a term and an approach to water management depends on the openness of the translation process to adaptations called for by the local language, culture, climate, and terrain. This chapter begins with cultural histories of the polder in The Netherlands and Indonesia and concludes with close analysis of the translation process as it played out in Water as Leverage for Asian Cities, a Dutch urban design initiative that took place in Semarang, Indonesia in 2018–2019.
AI as a Moral Right-Holder
Authors: Basl John , Bowen Joseph
Published: July 2020

This chapter evaluates whether AI systems are or will be rights-holders. It develops a skeptical stance toward the idea that current forms of artificial intelligence are holders of moral rights, beginning with an articulation of one of the most prominent and most plausible theories of moral rights: the Interest Theory of rights. On the Interest Theory, AI systems will be rights-holders only if they have interests or a well-being. Current AI systems are not bearers of well-being, and so fail to meet the necessary condition for being rights-holders. This argument is robust against a range of different objections. However, the chapter also shows why difficulties in assessing whether future AI systems might have interests or be bearers of well-being—and so be rights-holders—raise difficult ethical challenges for certain developments in AI.
Are Sentient AIs Persons?
Authors: Kingwell Mark
Published: July 2020

This chapter looks at the risks to sentient AIs from their human creators. Sentient AIs would represent, by all reasonable accounts, a new form of autonomous life. If that is so, they would presumptively command status as persons. The chapter then outlines four plausible future scenarios in which sentient AIs come into being, and then poses deep questions for traditional philosophical discourses concerning nonhuman or nonstandard entities. These scenarios should give one pause about the personhood of generalized, potentially autonomous AIs. Indeed, the four scenarios bear on the question of rights for generalized autonomous AIs under existing property, torts, and rights law.
Is Human Judgment Necessary?
Authors: Spaulding Norman W.
Published: July 2020

This chapter explores the relationship between rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the exercise of human judgment. Human judgment is unavoidably exercised in designing AI systems, and yet some of the most consequential forms of judgment are submerged in the formal rigor of algorithmic syntax. Moreover, whether or not one can conclude that the machines running AI themselves “make” judgments in a deep sense, human judgment is increasingly displaced by AI as “smart” machines perform functions that previously required the exercise of human judgment. Even promising AI systems designed to enhance human judgment involve subtle forms of displacement. And AI systems being developed in areas such as the law have powerful effects on the epistemological terrain in which human judgment occurs. This chapter describes these effects and then offers ethical, political, and legal justifications for a doctrine of non-delegation to preserve the conditions of human judgment in appropriate domains of social and legal action.
Integrating Ethical Values and Economic Value to Steer Progress in Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Korinek Anton
Published: July 2020

This chapter studies how to balance the economic value created by artificial intelligence (AI) and ethical values. Economics and ethics both offer important perspectives on human society, but they do so from two different viewpoints: the central focus of economics is how the price system in the economy values resources; the central focus of ethics is the moral evaluation of actions in the society. The rise of AI forces humanity to confront new areas in which ethical values and economic value conflict, raising the question of what direction of technological progress is ultimately desirable for society. One crucial area is the effects of AI and related forms of automation on labor markets, which may lead to substantial increases in inequality unless mitigating policy actions are taken or progress is actively steered in a direction that complements human labor. Additional areas of conflict arise when AI systems optimize narrow market value but disregard broader ethical values and thus impose externalities on society, for example, when AI systems engage in bias and discrimination, hack the human brain, and increasingly reduce human autonomy.
Fairness Criteria through the Lens of Directed Acyclic Graphs
Authors: Baer Benjamin R. , Gilbert Daniel E. , Wells Martin T.
Published: July 2020

This chapter provides an alternate source of intuition about fairness criteria using probabilistic directed acyclic graphical models. A substantial portion of the literature on fairness in algorithms proposes, analyzes, and operationalizes simple formulaic criteria for assessing fairness. Two of these criteria—Equalized Odds and Calibration by Group—have gained significant attention not only for their simplicity and intuitive appeal but also for their incompatibility. Graphical models have been used to motivate and expose fairness criteria in other works, especially those which work with explicitly causal criteria for fairness. The chapter then argues that graphical models provide an invaluable source of intuition even in noncausal scenarios and reveal the weakness of Equalized Odds.
The Ethics of AI in Biomedical Research, Patient Care, and Public Health
Authors: Blasimme Alessandro , Vayena Effy
Published: July 2020

This chapter explores ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the domain of biomedical research, healthcare provision, and public health. The litany of ethical challenges that AI in medicine raises cannot be addressed sufficiently by current regulatory and ethical frameworks. The chapter then advances the systemic oversight approach as a governance blueprint, which is based on six principles offering guidance as to the desirable features of oversight structures and processes in the domain of data-intense biomedicine: adaptivity, flexibility, inclusiveness, reflexivity, responsiveness, and monitoring (AFIRRM). In the research domain, ethical review committees will have to incorporate reflexive assessment of the scientific and social merits of AI-driven research and, as a consequence, will have to open their ranks to new professional figures such as social scientists. In the domain of patient care, clinical validation is a crucial issue. Hospitals could equip themselves with “clinical AI oversight bodies” charged with the task of advising clinical administrators. Meanwhile, in the public health sphere, the new level of granularity enabled by AI in disease surveillance or health promotion will have to be negotiated at the level of targeted communities.
Ethics of AI in Law
Authors: Surden Harry
Published: July 2020

This chapter studies some of the most important ethical topics involving the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the legal system itself and examines how central legal values might unintentionally or intentionally change with increased use of AI in law. Ethical issues surrounding AI use in law often share a common theme. As AI becomes increasingly integrated within the legal system, how can society ensure that core legal values are preserved? Among the most important of these legal values are: equal treatment under the law; legal results arising from law, principle, and facts rather than social status or power; procedural fairness and due process; fairness in design and application of the law; transparency in legal substance and process; adequate access to justice for all; integrity and honesty in creation and application of law; and judicial, legislative, and administrative efficiency. The central ethical challenge is to identify the ways in which the use of AI may be shifting core legal values and to ensure that these crucial values are preserved in the technological transition. A more positive view also identifies the ways in which AI technology can not only preserve central values, but rather, can foster and enhance these values to the betterment of the legal system and society overall.
Sexual Disorders among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations
Authors: Armstrong Heather L.
Published: July 2020

Sexual disorders and dysfunction are common among people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. And while definitions and conceptions of sexual health are typically broad, the clinical and research perspectives on sexual function and dysfunction have traditionally relied on the four-phase model of sexual response and disorders are generally classified as “male” or “female.” This chapter reviews the diagnostic criteria for specific sexual dysfunctions and presents a summary of existing research among sexual and gender minority populations. Overall, research on sexual dysfunction among sexual and gender minority people is limited, and this is especially true for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. Understanding these often complex disorders requires that individuals, clinicians, and researchers consider a range of biopsychosocial factors that can affect and be affected by one’s sexual health and sexuality.
History of Sexual Orientation and Mental Health
Authors: Hancock Kristin A. , Haldeman Douglas C.
Published: July 2020

Psychology’s understanding of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people has evolved, become more refined, and impacted the lives of LGB people in profound ways. This chapter traces the history of LGB psychology from the nineteenth century to the present and focuses on major events and the intersections of theory, psychological science, politics, and activism in the history of this field. It explores various facets of cultural and psychological history that include the pathologizing of homosexuality, the rise of psychological science and the political movements in the mid-twentieth century, and the major shifts in policy that ensued. The toll of the AIDS epidemic on the field is discussed as is the impact of psychological research on national and international policy and legislation.
Biracial and Bi-Ethnic Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health
Authors: Reid Lauren E. , Stay Vanessa S.
Published: July 2020

Biracial and bi-ethnic sexual and gender minorities represent a diverse population, and limited research has been conducted on these identities. Since this population does not fit neatly into racial, gender, and sexual orientation categories, it is often excluded from larger studies of health. This chapter examines these identities in context, recognizes sociocultural influences, and couches the research in the current socio-political climate. Because this population is fluid in terms of racial, gender, and sexual identities, this chapter is limited by methodological approaches. The election of Barack Obama as U.S. president in 2009 ignited a boom in biracial/multiracial research in the United States, and today an increasing amount of research is being done that reflects the lived experience of people with multiple identities.
Bisexual Mental Health
Authors: Bostwick Wendy B. , Harrison Elizabeth A.
Published: July 2020

Bisexual people, or those who identify as having sexual and romantic attractions to more than one sex or gender, have emerged as a sexual minority group with unique mental health concerns and inequities. This chapter provides an overview of the extant literature related to a host of mental health disorders, highlighting findings among bisexual women and men in comparison to both lesbian/gay and heterosexual counterparts. The authors briefly note potential methodological issues that have not been previously discussed. The chapter then turns to relevant explanatory frameworks, and how these may be used to inform an understanding of mental health inequities among bisexual groups. Finally, suggestions are offered for areas of future research.
The Intersections of Physical and Mental Health among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations
Authors: Eliason Michele J.
Published: July 2020

There is considerable evidence of health disparities among sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations in the areas of physical health and disability, mental health and suicidality, substance use and abuse, and access to care. However, little research has considered the possibility that disorders might concentrate in subgroups of SGMs with the greatest levels of minority stress over time or those who have experienced the greatest number of adverse childhood events. This chapter examines the scant evidence that physical and mental health disorders coexist in some SGM individuals and offers some critique of the existing research. Future directions for research are proposed.
Cross-Cultural Career Psychology from a Critical Psychology Perspective
Authors: Stead Graham B. , Poklar Ashley E.
Published: July 2020

In this chapter, cross-cultural career psychology’s assumptions, methodologies, terminologies, and constructs are examined from a critical psychology perspective. The purpose of this chapter is to utilise critical psychology to challenge cross-cultural career psychology’s implicit and explicit assumptions and its approaches and methodologies to conducting research. Some of cross-cultural career psychology’s terminologies and constructs are examined through a critical psychology lens. Cross-cultural career psychology is also contrasted with cultural psychology. Four critiques of critical psychology toward cross-cultural career psychology are addressed: the serviceable other, epistemology, universality, and individualism/collectivism. Each critique focuses on problems that are found in cross-cultural career psychology. Topics current to cross-cultural career psychology research are reflected on, such as work/family, immigrants, refugees, and their intersections. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future directions of the field.
Labour Market Information for Career Development: Pivotal or Peripheral?
Authors: Bimrose Jenny
Published: July 2020

Labour market information (LMI) represents a core component of the knowledge required for career development interventions. It distinguishes the work of career development practitioners from other kinds of helping. Yet practitioners often find it challenging to keep this knowledge current and mediate it effectively to different audiences. Career theory helps identify a variety of possible assumptions that might underpin the use of LMI in practice. Although information and communications technology plays an increasingly important role in accessing and disseminating reliable and robust LMI, research indicates that face-to-face interventions with career professionals continue to have the greatest impact with clients. Consequently, referring clients to LMI online seems unlikely to maximize positive outcomes because expert mediation by professionals of the meaning of the information for their own particular situation is frequently necessary. Indeed, professionalism, a concept with which most career development practitioners identify, demands that minimum standards are maintained, including practice based on expert, current LMI. In this chapter, ways of enhancing the effectiveness of LMI as an integral part of overall career interventions are discussed.
The Economic Outcomes of Career Development Programmes
Authors: Percy Christian , Dodd Vanessa
Published: July 2020

This chapter sets out a conceptual model of the economic outcomes of career development work. It is centred on the financial metrics that are most important to stakeholders at three different tiers of the economy. These tiers include individuals, organizations/employers, and the state. Empirical examples from the literature are provided to show that financial impacts can be identified at each tier. The limitations of the model and the evidence base are discussed. In addition, a critical examination of a narrow focus on economic outcomes in public policy is presented in order to convey the limitations of an economistic rationale for career development.
Narratives of Queer Migration
Authors: Gray John , Baynham Mike
Published: July 2020

This chapter considers the phenomenon of queer migration from a linguistic perspective, paying particular attention to the constitutive role of spatial mobility in narrative and its role in the construction of queer migrant identities. The chapter begins by looking at the way in which queer migration has been discussed in the literature and then moves on to address three different types of queer migration in greater depth: migration within national borders from the village/countryside to the city; migration between cities in member states within the context of the European Union; and finally, asylum-seeking within the context of migration from the Global South to the Global North. The chapter concludes by suggesting that queer migration is a complex phenomenon in which the intersection of sexuality, gender identity, desire, affect, abjection, economic necessity, class, politics, and fear for one’s life combine in ways that are unique in the lives of individual migrants.
The Riverside Situational Q-sort
Authors: Sauerberger Kyle S. , Funder David C.
Published: July 2020

Social psychology studies the impact of situational variables on behavior but has developed few methods to describe these variables. The Riverside Situational Q-Sort (RSQ; Funder, 2016; Wagerman & Funder, 2009) is the first validated tool developed to assess the psychological characteristics of situations. The RSQ allows for the quantification and comparison of a broad range of situations and has as such been used to examine laboratory situations, situations experienced in daily life, situational similarity, and the experience of situations across cultures. Situational descriptions can be provided by self-report (i.e., construal) or detached observers, and these situational ratings can be associated with aspects of personality or used to predict behavioral outcomes. Theoretically derived RSQ templates can also be used to describe idealized types of situations to which experienced or reported situations can be compared. The RSQ continues to undergo development and refinement as its use is extended into ever-broader applications.
Excitable Membrane Properties of Neurons
Authors: Kaczmarek Leonard K.
Published: July 2020

The intrinsic electrical properties of neurons are extremely varied. For example, the width of action potentials in different neurons varies by more than an order of magnitude. In response to prolonged stimulation, some neurons generate repeated action potential hundreds of times a second, while others fire only a single action potential or adapt very rapidly. These differences result from the expression of different types of ion channels in the plasma membrane. The dominant channels that shape neuronal firing patterns are those that are selective for sodium, calcium, and potassium ions. This chapter provides a brief overview of the biophysical properties of each of these classes of channel, their role in shaping the electrical personality of a neuron, and how interactions of these channels with cytoplasmic factors shape the overall cell biology of a neuron.
Convective Storms and the Insurance Industry: Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Orwig Kirsten D.
Published: July 2020

Convective storms affect countries worldwide, with billions in losses and dozens of fatalities every year. They are now the key insured loss driver in the United States, even after considering the losses sustained by tropical cyclones in 2017. Since 2008, total insured losses from convective storms have exceeded $10 billion per year. Additionally, these losses continue to increase year over year. Key loss drivers include increased population, buildings, vehicles, and property values. However, other loss drivers relate to construction materials and practices, as well as building code adoption and enforcement. The increasing loss trends pose a number of challenges for the insurance industry and broader society. These challenges are discussed, and some recommendations are presented.
Dysregulated Translation in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Santini Emanuela , Borgkvist Anders
Published: July 2020

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with complex genetic architecture and heterogeneous symptomatology. Increasing evidence indicates that dysregulated brain protein synthesis is a common pathogenic pathway involved in ASD. Understanding how genetic variants converge on a common molecular signaling pathway in neurons and brain circuits, resulting in ASD-relevant synaptic and behavioral phenotypes, is of great interest in the autism research community. This article focuses on ASD-risk genes and the molecular aspects leading to dysregulated protein synthesis.
Regulation of Professionals and Facilities in Europe
Authors: Madden Deirdre
Published: July 2020

This chapter is an overview of the regulation of healthcare in Europe. It demonstrates that regulatory mechanisms in Europe are not straightforward given the complexity of healthcare systems, the balancing of interests involved, the need to avoid political agendas taking priority over the public interest, and the financial and bureaucratic cost of compliance. Right-touch regulation in all sectors tries to strike an appropriate and proportionate balance between liberty and safety, between freedom to innovate and public protection, but the stakes are perhaps higher in healthcare than in other areas due to the potential consequences involved. However, the chapter shows how the increasing level of participation of public interest or lay representatives on regulatory boards and statutory authorities may go some way to providing the public with assurance of the independence of these bodies and their prioritisation of patient safety above all else, but much also depends on the statutory framework underpinning the work of these bodies and the extent to which they are mandated to be rigorous, independent, effective champions of the public interest. Much work has been done in this context, but, as the chapter shows, there remains much more to do.