bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health service use and costs associated with fluoroquinolone‐related tendon injuries
Authors: Kuula Laura S. M. , Backman Janne T. , Blom Marja L.
Published: June 2021

The aim of this study was to assess costs and health service use associated with tendon injuries after the use of fluoroquinolone antimicrobials in Finland during 2002–2012. This retrospective observational study included data from the Finnish Pharmaceutical Insurance Pool's pharmaceutical injury claims. In total, 145 compensated claimants aged ≥18 years presenting tendon injuries after the use of fluoroquinolones (FQs) were included in the study. Outcomes of interest were the number of outpatient visits to primary, secondary, tertiary, and private healthcare services, hospital days, rehabilitation and their costs. Regression models were used to analyze the impact of patient characteristics on hospital days, as well as the relationship between patient characteristics and tendon ruptures. Direct costs of a tendon injury averaged 14,800€ and indirect costs were estimated to be 9,077€ for employed claimants. Fifty‐one percent of the claimants were hospitalized, with an average duration of 21 days. Hospitalization was the costliest form of health service use with an average of 9,915€ per hospital episode. Hospital days and direct costs increased with the severity of the injury. Tendon ruptures, in particular bilateral ruptures, required substantially more hospital days and their direct costs were significantly higher than those of uncomplicated tendinitis. Concurrent use of oral corticosteroids and increasing age were associated with a higher likelihood of tendon ruptures. Although rare, FQ‐related tendon injuries can result in considerable costs and health service use. Medical staff should remain vigilant when prescribing FQs, especially in groups at increased risk for tendon injuries.
Strip spraying delays pyrethroid resistance in the redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor: a novel refuge strategy
Authors: Maino James L , Hoffmann Ary A , Binns Matthew , Cheng Xuan , van Rooyen Anthony , Umina Paul A
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Pesticide resistance has seen control options for the redlegged earth mite (RLEM), Halotydeus destructor, dwindle for Australian grain farmers. The recent discovery of high recessiveness for pyrethroid resistance in RLEM provided an opportunity to examine the feasibility of a refuge strategy to slow the evolution of resistance. Unlike lepidopterous pests in Bt crops, where refuge strategies are routinely practiced, RLEM is a slow‐moving pest, which will impact the design of susceptible refuges.

RESULTS

Firstly, we confirmed the pyrethroid resistant allele is recessive to the susceptible (wildtype) allele (in terms of resistance) across spatially separated Australian populations. Secondly, we demonstrated that a small, localized resistant mite population can revert to susceptibility at field relevant scales and conditions. Next, we used a simulation modelling approach to design a practical refuge strategy to maintain susceptibility to pyrethroids in populations with a low incidence of resistance. Certain configurations (e.g. a pesticide strip width of 50 m and refuge spacing of 10 m) maintained low levels of resistance across a 10‐year time horizon, with lower mite abundance and minimal yield loss. A larger refuge proportion did not always delay resistance, and, under certain conditions, increased resistance frequency.

CONCLUSION

Strip spraying to maintain refuges can be readily incorporated into RLEM management programs where sprayer widths in commercial cropping contexts are typically between 20–40 m. A refuge approach to RLEM management that uses strip spraying may enhance long term control options in the absence of new chemical registrations but will now require field validation. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
A population pharmacokinetic‐pharmacodynamic model of YH12852, a highly selective 5‐hydroxytryptamine 4 receptor agonist, in healthy subjects and patients with functional constipation
Authors: Kim Siun , Lee Hyun A. , Jang Seong Bok , Lee Howard
Published: June 2021

YH12852, a novel, highly selective 5‐hydroxytryptamine 4 (5‐HT4) receptor agonist, is currently under development to treat patients with functional constipation. In this study, we aimed to develop a pharmacokinetic (PK)–pharmacodynamic (PD) model that adequately described the time courses of the plasma concentrations of YH12852 and its prokinetic effect as assessed by the Gastric Emptying Breath Test (GEBT) and to predict the prokinetic effect of YH12852 at higher doses through PD simulation. We used the plasma concentrations of YH12852 from patients with functional constipation and healthy subjects and the GEBT results from healthy subjects obtained from a phase I/IIa trial. The PK‐PD modeling and covariate analysis were performed using NONMEM software. The prokinetic effect of YH12852 was described using a semimechanistic multicompartment PD model and an empirical model by Ghoos et al. A two‐compartment model with first‐order absorption adequately described the observed concentration‐time profiles of YH12852. The semimechanistic multicompartment PD model and the revised Ghoos model with two slope parameters adequately described the observed kPCDt (the percent dose of 13C excreted in the exhaled air at minute t after completing the test meal, multiplied by 1000) values. YH12852 accelerated gastric emptying even at low doses of 0.05–0.1 mg, and its prokinetic effect was greater in subjects suffering from more severe functional constipation. The PD simulation experiments revealed that the change from baseline in the half time for gastric emptying induced by YH12852 increased in a dose‐dependent manner at 0.05–5 mg although the results at doses >0.1 mg were extrapolated. We also showed that the empirical Ghoos model is a special case of the general semimechanistic multicompartment PD model for gastric emptying.
Comparison of measured leak rates and calculation values for sealing packages
Authors: Yoshida Hajime , Hirata Mao , Hara Tsutomu , Higuchi Yasuhiko
Published: June 2021

It is often necessary to calculate a leak rate from the size of leak hole and vice versa for testing of sealing packages such as foods, medicines and dangerous goods. These calculations are actually rather complicated because the characteristics of the gas flow through the leak hole change depending on the pressure, the gas species, the temperature and the diameter d and length l of the leak hole. In this study, the air flow rate through 12 flow channels with the inner diameter of 5–50 μm and the l/d ratio of 0.72–260 were measured by a pressure change method and compared with the predictions of the equations governing laminar, turbulent, compressible and molecular flow, as well as those of a developed combined governing equation (modified Knudsen equation). The modified Knudsen equation provided good agreement within 20% over the entire range of experimental conditions, including the transition region between laminar and compressible flow.
Isomerism in secondary bonded complexes: Do structural rules apply?
Authors: Alikhani M. Esmail , Silvi Bernard
Published: June 2021

The growing importance of secondary bonded complexes in modern coordination chemistry has given rise to an abundant literature in both experimental and theoretical coordination chemistry. We recently proposed an unified chemical model of secondary interaction enabling to understand the structures in terms of simple chemical rules and concepts. For some complexes the stoichiometry of the electrophilic moiety makes isomerism possible. The problems of isomerism and of the interconversion of isomers are addressed in the present. It is shown, that the reaction mechanisms discussed for pentacoordinated phosphorus derivatives are not suitable for complexes bound by a secondary interaction. The possibility of Berry's pseudo rotations is rejected for this class of systems.
Food Applications of Starch Nanomaterials: A Review
Authors: Alves Maria Jaízia dos Santos , Chacon Wilson Daniel Caicedo , Gagliardi Talita Ribeiro , Agudelo Henao Ana C. , Monteiro Alcilene Rodrigues , Ayala Valencia Germán
Published: June 2021

Different architectures at a nanometric scale such as nanocrystals, nanofibers, nanomicelles, nanoparticles, and nanovesicles can be produced from native starches using “top‐down” and “bottom‐up” approaches. These starch nanomaterials (SNMts) have particle size lower than 1000 nm, exhibiting different physicochemical properties than those found in native starches. In recent years several studies have explored the applications of SNMts in the food sector. The production and food application of SNMts have grown mainly in the last 5 years due to the fact that SNMts can be used to stabilize biological and synthetic compounds with antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties. Furthermore, SNMts can be used as a stabilizing agent in food emulsions, or as reinforcing material in food packaging. The current review article focuses on comprehensively analyzing the current state of the art in SNMts for food applications, aiming to encourage other research groups to expand production and application in the food sector.
Modified moment connection between I‐beam and double‐I built‐up column
Authors: Gholipour Masoumeh , Deylami Ardeshir
Published: June 2021

Double‐I sections are widely used as columns in moment‐resisting frames. The conventional welded moment connection between I‐beam and double‐I built‐up column behaves in a partially restrained manner and does not provide the strength and ductility required in special moment frames. In this paper, a modification method is proposed to improve the behavioural characteristics of conventional moment connections. The modification involves replacing the continuous cover plate with two alternative plates having increased width and thickness at the location of the beam flange‐plates. The behaviour of the proposed connection was investigated in detail both experimentally, by means of two full‐scale specimens, and analytically, by means of eight finite element models. Based on the results obtained, in beams with a modified connection most of the plasticity develops remote from the column cover plate, and the panel zone remains in an elastic state. Accordingly, the deformation of the modified connection is reduced significantly and its stiffness is increased to the level required for a fully restrained connection. The hysteresis curves of the modified connection are also stable during large inelastic deformations with no substantial pinching. The modified connection provides the strength and ductility required in special moment frames.
VetGDP 4: the wider impact of the programme
Authors: Russell James
Published: June 2021

At the start of this series of articles, we looked at the background to the RCVS Veterinary Graduate Development Programme (VetGDP) and how it grew out of Vet Futures‐based research that suggested retention of younger vets in particular was an issue. In this final article, BVA president James Russell writes about his hopes for the VetGDP programme and how it fits in with other projects, including those from the BVA, that arose from Vet Futures
May brings new policies and new people to the UK's parliaments
Authors: Ryan Mandy
Published: June 2021

Mandy Ryan, BVA's head of media and public affairs, outlines how BVA has engaged with and responded to the Queen's Speech and recent parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales.
Nominate a colleague for a BVA award
Authors: Cotton Helena
Published: June 2021

Helena Cotton, BVA public affairs manager, explains why you should nominate a peer for a BVA Award.
Animal activities licensing in England – resources to support you
Authors: Atkin Hayley
Published: June 2021

BVA policy officer Hayley Atkin introduces BVA's new suite of resources to help vets understand what's expected of them under the animal activities licensing regulations in England.
Diary of a parliamentary intern
Authors: Prince Catrina
Published: June 2021

The Veterinary Policy Research Foundation employs a veterinary intern to assist Lord Trees in advancing veterinary thinking in parliament. Here, the current intern Catrina Prince shares an update.
Improving flood resilience through governance strategies: Gauging the state of the art
Authors: Matczak Piotr , Hegger Dries
Published: June 2021

There has been an upsurge in studies of flood risk governance (FRG): steering and decision‐making by public and private actors as a complement to risk assessments and technical management options. The scholarly debate is, however, highly fragmented, complicating the production of cumulative insights. To address this knowledge gap, we used six governance strategies for achieving flood resilience that previously have been put forward as a conceptual framework to review 121 articles published between 2016 and 2019, complemented with insights contained in recent overview articles, to gauge the state‐of‐the‐art in FRG literature: to (a) diversify flood risk management strategies; (b) align the strategies; (c) adequately involve private actors, including citizens; (d) put an adequate rule system in place; (e) cater for sufficient monetary and non‐monetary resources; (f) inspire an open and inclusive normative debate. We found, first, that literature is producing insights on increasingly technically advanced risk assessments and agent‐based models but societal debate on justice in flood risk governance is getting attention. A clearly emerging topic is that of citizen engagement in flood risk governance. Second, the geographical focus of the studies is still skewed toward the Global North. To make progress in understanding flood risk governance for better resilience more systematic and comparative empirical assessments of flood risk governance in order to derive generalizable lessons while better taking into account the context‐specificity of FRG. Testing flood risk governance solutions against comparative cases, by balancing the geographical scope of research efforts, and enhancing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary working is a way to deliver knowledge for more resilience.

This article is categorized under:

Human Water > Water Governance

Engineering Water > Planning Water
Discovering the origin of Yukawa couplings at the LHC with a singlet Higgs and vector-like quarks
Authors: King Simon J. D. , King Stephen F. , Moretti Stefano , Rowley Samuel J.
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Although the 125 GeV Higgs boson discovered at the LHC is often heralded as the origin of mass, it may not in fact be the origin of Yukawa couplings. In alternative models, Yukawa couplings may instead arise from a seesaw type mechanism involving the mixing of Standard Model (SM) chiral fermions with new vector-like fermions, controlled by the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of a new complex Higgs singlet field 〈Φ〉. For example, the largest third family (t, b) quark Yukawa couplings may be forbidden by a U(1)′ gauge or global symmetry, broken by 〈Φ〉, and generated effectively via mixing with a vector-like fourth family quark doublet (T, B). Such theories predict a new physical Higgs singlet ϕ, which we refer to as the Yukon, resulting from 〈Φ〉, in the same way that the Higgs boson h0 results from 〈H〉. In a simplified model we discuss the prospects for discovering the Yukon ϕ in gluon-gluon fusion production, with (t, b) and (T, B) quarks in the loops, and decaying in the channels ϕ → γγ, Zγ and ϕ → tT → tth0, ttZ. The potential for discovery of the Yukon ϕ is studied at present or future hadron colliders such as the LHC (Run 3), HL-LHC, HE-LHC and/or FCC. For example, we find that a 300–350 GeV Yukon ϕ could be accessed at LHC Run 3 in the di-photon channel in the global model, providing a smoking gun signature of the origin of Yukawa couplings. The tth0, ttZ channels are more involved and warrant a more sophisticated analysis.
The invariant space of multi-Higgs doublet models
Authors: Bento M. P.
Published: June 2021

Abstract

In a model with more than one scalar doublet, the parameter space encloses both physical and unphysical information. Invariant theory provides a detailed description of the counting and characterization of the physical parameter space. The Hilbert series for the 3HDM is computed for the first time using partition analysis, in particular Omega calculus, giving rise to the possibility of a full description of its physical parameters. A rigorous counting of the physical parameters is given for the full class of models with N scalar doublets as well as a decomposition of the Lagrangian into irreducible representations of SU(N). For the first time we derive a basis-invariant technique for counting parameters in a Lagrangian with both basis-invariant redundancies and global symmetries.
Gluon scattering in AdS from CFT
Authors: Alday Luis F. , Behan Connor , Ferrero Pietro , Zhou Xinan
Published: June 2021

Abstract

We present a systematic study of holographic correlators in a vast array of SCFTs with non-maximal superconformal symmetry. These theories include 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 2 SCFTs from D3-branes near F-theory singularities, 5d Seiberg exceptional theories and 6d E-string theory, as well as 3d and 4d phenomenological models with probe flavor branes. We consider current multiplets and their generalizations with higher weights, dual to massless and massive super gluons in the bulk. At leading order in the inverse central charge expansion, connected four-point functions of these operators correspond to tree-level gluon scattering amplitudes in AdS. We show that all such tree-level four-point amplitudes in all these theories are fully fixed by symmetries and consistency conditions and explicitly construct them. Our results encode a wealth of SCFT data and exhibit various interesting emergent structures. These include Parisi-Sourlas-like dimensional reductions, hidden conformal symmetry and an AdS version of the color-kinematic duality.
Spectrum of end of the world branes in holographic BCFTs
Authors: Miyaji Masamichi , Takayanagi Tadashi , Ugajin Tomonori
Published: June 2021

Abstract

We study overlaps between two regularized boundary states in conformal field theories. Regularized boundary states are dual to end of the world branes in an AdS black hole via the AdS/BCFT. Thus they can be regarded as microstates of a single sided black hole. Owing to the open-closed duality, such an overlap between two different regularized boundary states is exponentially suppressed as $$ \left\langle \left.{\psi}_a\right|{\psi}_b\right\rangle \sim {e}^{-O\left({h}_{ab}^{\left(\min \right)}\right)} $$

ψ
a

ψ
b

∼

e

−
O

h
ab

min

, where $$ {h}_{ab}^{\left(\min \right)} $$

h
ab

min

is the lowest energy of open strings which connect two different boundaries a and b. Our gravity dual analysis leads to $$ {h}_{ab}^{\left(\min \right)} $$

h
ab

min

= c/24 for a pure AdS3 gravity. This shows that a holographic boundary state is a random vector among all left-right symmetric states, whose number is given by a square root of the number of all black hole microstates. We also perform a similar computation in higher dimensions, and find that $$ {h}_{ab}^{\left(\min \right)} $$

h
ab

min

depends on the tensions of the branes. In our analysis of holographic boundary states, the off diagonal elements of the inner products can be computed directly from on-shell gravity actions, as opposed to earlier calculations of inner products of microstates in two dimensional gravity.
Holographic entanglement negativity and replica symmetry breaking
Authors: Dong Xi , Qi Xiao-Liang , Walter Michael
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Since the work of Ryu and Takayanagi, deep connections between quantum entanglement and spacetime geometry have been revealed. The negative eigenvalues of the partial transpose of a bipartite density operator is a useful diagnostic of entanglement. In this paper, we discuss the properties of the associated entanglement negativity and its Rényi generalizations in holographic duality. We first review the definition of the Rényi negativities, which contain the familiar logarithmic negativity as a special case. We then study these quantities in the random tensor network model and rigorously derive their large bond dimension asymptotics. Finally, we study entanglement negativity in holographic theories with a gravity dual, where we find that Rényi negativities are often dominated by bulk solutions that break the replica symmetry. From these replica symmetry breaking solutions, we derive general expressions for Rényi negativities and their special limits including the logarithmic negativity. In fixed-area states, these general expressions simplify dramatically and agree precisely with our results in the random tensor network model. This provides a concrete setting for further studying the implications of replica symmetry breaking in holography.
Quasi anomalous knowledge: searching for new physics with embedded knowledge
Authors: Park Sang Eon , Rankin Dylan , Udrescu Silviu-Marian , Yunus Mikaeel , Harris Philip
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Discoveries of new phenomena often involve a dedicated search for a hypothetical physics signature. Recently, novel deep learning techniques have emerged for anomaly detection in the absence of a signal prior. However, by ignoring signal priors, the sensitivity of these approaches is significantly reduced. We present a new strategy dubbed Quasi Anomalous Knowledge (QUAK), whereby we introduce alternative signal priors that capture some of the salient features of new physics signatures, allowing for the recovery of sensitivity even when the alternative signal is incorrect. This approach can be applied to a broad range of physics models and neural network architectures. In this paper, we apply QUAK to anomaly detection of new physics events at the CERN Large Hadron Collider utilizing variational autoencoders with normalizing flow.
The vestibular system modulates the contributions of head and torso to egocentric spatial judgements
Authors: Ferrè Elisa R. , Alsmith Adrian J. T. , Haggard Patrick , Longo Matthew R.
Published: June 2021

Egocentric representations allow us to describe the external world as experienced from an individual’s bodily location. We recently developed a novel method of quantifying the weight given to different body parts in egocentric judgments (theMisalignment Paradigm). We found that both head and torso contribute to simple alter-egocentric spatial judgments. We hypothesised that artificial stimulation of the vestibular system would provide a head-related signal, which might affect the weighting given to the head in egocentric spatial judgments. Bipolar Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) was applied during the Misalignment Paradigm. A Sham stimulation condition was also included to control for non-specific effects. Our data show that the weight given to the head was increased during left anodal and right cathodal GVS, compared to the opposite GVS polarity (right anodal and left cathodal GVS) and Sham stimulation. That is, the polarity of GVS, which preferentially activates vestibular areas in the right cerebral hemisphere, influenced the relative weightings of head and torso in egocentric spatial judgments.
A radiomic nomogram based on arterial phase of CT for differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer
Authors: Hu Yumin , Weng Qiaoyou , Xia Haihong , Chen Tao , Kong Chunli , Chen Weiyue , Pang Peipei , Xu Min , Lu Chenying , Ji Jiansong
Published: June 2021

Purpose

To develop and validate a radiomic nomogram based on arterial phase of CT to discriminate the primary ovarian cancers (POCs) and secondary ovarian cancers (SOCs).

Methods

A total of 110 ovarian cancer patients in our hospital were reviewed from January 2010 to December 2018. Radiomic features based on the arterial phase of CT were extracted by Artificial Intelligence Kit software (A.K. software). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operation regression (LASSO) was employed to select features and construct the radiomics score (Rad-score) for further radiomics signature calculation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop the predicting model. The predictive nomogram model was composed of rad-score and clinical data. Nomogram discrimination and calibration were evaluated.

Results

Two radiomic features were selected to build the radiomics signature. The radiomics nomogram that incorporated 2 radiomics signature and 2 clinical factors (CA125 and CEA) showed good discrimination in training cohort (AUC 0.854), yielding the sensitivity of 78.8% and specificity of 90.7%, which outperformed the prediction model based on radiomics signature or clinical data alone. A visualized differential nomogram based on the radiomic score, CEA, and CA125 level was established. The calibration curve demonstrated the clinical usefulness of the proposed nomogram.

Conclusion

The presented nomogram, which incorporated radiomic features of arterial phase of CT with clinical features, could be useful for differentiating the primary and secondary ovarian cancers.
Feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of online supportive care for individuals living with and beyond lung cancer: a systematic review
Authors: Curry Jordan , Patterson Michael , Greenley Sarah , Pearson Mark , Forbes Cynthia C.
Published: June 2021

Purpose

To examine the evidence of the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of online supportive care interventions for people living with and beyond lung cancer (LWBLC).

Methods

Studies were identified through searches of Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and CINAHL databases using a structured search strategy. The inclusion criteria (1) examined the feasibility, acceptability, and/or efficacy of an online intervention aiming to provide supportive care for people living with and beyond lung cancer; (2) delivered an intervention in a single arm or RCT study pre/post design; (3) if a mixed sample, presented independent lung cancer data.

Results

Eight studies were included; two randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Included studies reported on the following outcomes: feasibility and acceptability of an online, supportive care intervention, and/or changes in quality of life, emotional functioning, physical functioning, and/or symptom distress.

Conclusion

Preliminary evidence suggests that online supportive care among individuals LWBLC is feasible and acceptable, although there is little high-level evidence. Most were small pilot and feasibility studies, suggesting that online supportive care in this group is in its infancy. The integration of online supportive care into the cancer pathway may improve quality of life, physical and emotional functioning, and reduce symptom distress. Online modalities of supportive care can increase reach and accessibility of supportive care platforms, which could provide tailored support. People LWBLC display high symptom burden and unmet supportive care needs. More research is needed to address the dearth of literature in online supportive care for people LWBLC.
A Social Dimension for a New Industrial Strategy for Europe
Authors: Alcidi Cinzia , Baiocco Sara , Corti Francesco
Published: June 2021

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been equal across economic sectors, age groups, education levels and employment status.
Beaver creates early successional hotspots for water beetles
Authors: Nummi Petri , Liao Wenfei , van der Schoor Juliette , Loehr John
Published: June 2021

Beavers (Castorspp.) are ecosystem engineers that induce local disturbance and ecological succession, which turns terrestrial into aquatic ecosystems and creates habitat heterogeneity in a landscape. Beavers have been proposed as a tool for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration. So far, most research has compared biodiversity in beaver wetlands and non-beaver wetlands, but few studies have explored how beaver-created succession affects specific taxa. In this study, we investigated how water beetles responded to different successional stages of wetlands in a beaver-disturbed landscape at Evo in southern Finland. We sampled water beetles with 1-L activity traps in 20 ponds, including: 5 new beaver ponds, 5 old beaver ponds, 5 former beaver ponds, and 5 never engineered ponds. We found that beaver wetlands had higher species richness and abundance than non-beaver wetlands, and that new beaver wetlands could support higher species richness (321%) and abundance (671%) of water beetles compared to old beaver wetlands. We think that higher water beetle diversity in new beaver ponds has resulted from habitat amelioration (available lentic water, shallow shores, aquatic vegetation, and low fish abundance) and food source enhancement (an increase of both dead and live prey) created by beaver dams and floods. We conclude that using beavers as a tool, or imitating their way of flooding, can be beneficial in wetland restoration if beaver population densities are monitored to ensure the availability of newly colonizable sites.
The Non-Relativistic Many-Body Quantum-Mechanical Hamiltonian with Diamagnetic Current-Current Interaction
Authors: Bányai Ladislaus Alexander
Published: June 2021

We extend the standard solid-state quantum mechanical Hamiltonian containing only Coulomb interactions between the charged particles by inclusion of the (transverse) current-current diamagnetic interaction starting from the non-relativistic QED restricted to the states without photons and neglecting the retardation in the photon propagator. This derivation is supplemented with a derivation of an analogous result along the non-rigorous old classical Darwin-Landau-Lifshitz argumentation within the physical Coulomb gauge.
Multivariate Normal Approximation on the Wiener Space: New Bounds in the Convex Distance
Authors: Nourdin Ivan , Peccati Giovanni , Yang Xiaochuan
Published: June 2021

We establish explicit bounds on the convex distance between the distribution of a vector of smooth functionals of a Gaussian field and that of a normal vector with a positive-definite covariance matrix. Our bounds are commensurate to the ones obtained by Nourdin et al. (Ann Inst Henri Poincaré Probab Stat 46(1):45–58, 2010) for the (smoother) 1-Wasserstein distance, and do not involve any additional logarithmic factor. One of the main tools exploited in our work is a recursive estimate on the convex distance recently obtained by Schulte and Yukich (Electron J Probab 24(130):1–42, 2019). We illustrate our abstract results in two different situations: (i) we prove a quantitative multivariate fourth moment theorem for vectors of multiple Wiener–Itô integrals, and (ii) we characterize the rate of convergence for the finite-dimensional distributions in the functional Breuer–Major theorem.
Biophysical interactions between components of the tumor microenvironment promote metastasis
Authors: Vasilaki Dimitra , Bakopoulou Athina , Tsouknidas Alexandros , Johnstone Elaine , Michalakis Konstantinos
Published: June 2021

During metastasis, tumor cells need to adapt to their dynamic microenvironment and modify their mechanical properties in response to both chemical and mechanical stimulation. Physical interactions occur between cancer cells and the surrounding matrix including cell movements and cell shape alterations through the process of mechanotransduction. The latter describes the translation of external mechanical cues into intracellular biochemical signaling. Reorganization of both the cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a critical role in these spreading steps. Migrating tumor cells show increased motility in order to cross the tumor microenvironment, migrate through ECM and reach the bloodstream to the metastatic site. There are specific factors affecting these processes, as well as the survival of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the blood flow until they finally invade the secondary tissue to form metastasis. This review aims to study the mechanisms of metastasis from a biomechanical perspective and investigate cell migration, with a focus on the alterations in the cytoskeleton through this journey and the effect of biologic fluids on metastasis. Understanding of the biophysical mechanisms that promote tumor metastasis may contribute successful therapeutic approaches in the fight against cancer.
Holomorphic connections on holomorphic bundles on Riemann surfaces
Authors: Azad Hassan , Biswas Indranil
Published: June 2021

We investigate aspects of holomorphic connections on holomorphic principal bundles over a Riemann surface.
The Invention of Multilingualism
Authors: Gramling David
Published: June 2021

Multilingualism is a meaningful and capacious idea about human meaning-making practice, one with a promising, tumultuous, and flawed present - and a future worth caring for in research and public life. In this book, David Gramling presents original new insights into the topical subject of multilingualism, describing its powerful social, economic and political discourses. On one hand, it is under acute pressure to bear the demands of new global supply-chains, profit margins, and supranational unions, and on the other it is under pressure to make way for what some consider to be better descriptors of linguistic practice, such as translanguaging. The book shows how multilingualism is usefully able to encompass complex, divergent, and sometimes opposing experiences and ideas, in a wide array of planetary contexts - fictitious and real, political and social, North and South, colonial and decolonial, individual and collective, oppressive and liberatory, embodied and prosthetic, present and past.
Smooth, mixing transformations with loosely Bernoulli Cartesian square
Authors: TRUJILLO FRANK
Published: June 2021

A zero-entropy system is said to be loosely Bernoulli if it can be induced from an irrational rotation of the circle. We provide a criterion for zero-entropy systems to be loosely Bernoulli that is compatible with mixing. Using this criterion, we show the existence of smooth mixing zero-entropy loosely Bernoulli transformations whose Cartesian square is loosely Bernoulli.
Laboratory-identified vancomycin-resistant enterococci bacteremia incidence: A standardized infection ratio prediction model
Authors: Tanwar Sukarma S. S. , Weiner-Lastinger Lindsey M. , Bell Jeneita M. , Allen-Bridson Katherine , Bagchi Suparna , Dudeck Margaret A. , Edwards Jonathan R.
Published: June 2021

Background:

We analyzed 2017 healthcare facility-onset (HO) vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) bacteremia data to identify hospital-level factors that were significant predictors of HO-VRE using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) multidrug-resistant organism and Clostridioides difficile reporting module. A risk-adjusted model that can be used to calculate the number of predicted HO-VRE bacteremia events in a facility was developed, thus enabling the calculation of VRE standardized infection ratios (SIRs).

Methods:

Acute-care hospitals reporting at least 1 month of 2017 VRE bacteremia data were included in the analysis. Various hospital-level characteristics were assessed to develop a best-fit model and subsequently derive the 2018 national and state SIRs.

Results:

In 2017, 470 facilities in 35 states participated in VRE bacteremia surveillance. Inpatient VRE community-onset prevalence rate, average length of patient stay, outpatient VRE community-onset prevalence rate, and presence of an oncology unit were all significantly associated (all 95% likelihood ratio confidence limits excluded the nominal value of zero) with HO-VRE bacteremia. The 2018 national SIR was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.93–1.09) with 577 HO bacteremia events reported.

Conclusion:

The creation of an SIR enables national-, state-, and facility-level monitoring of VRE bacteremia while controlling for individual hospital-level factors. Hospitals can compare their VRE burden to a national benchmark to help them determine the effectiveness of infection prevention efforts over time.
A Mediterranean lifestyle is associated with favourable cardiometabolic markers in people with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease
Authors: Bowden Katelyn , Gray Nicholas A , Swanepoel Elizabeth , Wright Hattie H
Published: June 2021

Adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle may be a useful primary and secondary prevention strategy for chronic kidney disease (CKD). This cross-sectional study aimed to explore adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle and its association with cardiometabolic markers and kidney function in 99 people aged 73⋅2 ± 10⋅5 years with non-dialysis dependant CKD (stages 3–5) at a single Australian centre. Adherence was assessed using an a priori index, the Mediterranean Lifestyle (MEDLIFE) index. Cardiometabolic markers (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HbA1c and random blood glucose) and kidney function (estimated GFR) were sourced from medical records and blood pressure measured upon recruitment. Overall, adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle was moderate to low with an average MEDLIFE index score of 11⋅33 ± 3⋅31. Adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle was associated with employment (r 0⋅30, P = 0⋅004). Mediterranean dietary habits were associated with cardiometabolic markers, such as limiting sugar in beverages was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure (r 0⋅32, P = 0⋅002), eating in moderation with favourable random blood glucose (r 0⋅21, P = 0⋅043), having more than two snack foods per week with HbA1c (r 0⋅29, P = 0⋅037) and LDL-cholesterol (r 0⋅41, P = 0⋅002). Interestingly, eating in company was associated with a lower frequency of depression (χ2 5⋅975, P = 0⋅015). To conclude, Mediterranean dietary habits were favourably associated with cardiometabolic markers and management of some comorbidities in this group of people with non-dialysis dependent CKD.
Mabruchismo: concubinage and colonial power in Italian Libya (1911–1932)
Authors: Tarchi Andrea
Published: June 2021

This article assesses the Liberal and Fascist administrations’ shifting attitudes towards colonial concubinage during the years of the repression of the anti-colonial resistance in Italian Libya (1911–32). Also known asmabruchismo, concubinage in Libya closely resembled its counterpart in Italian Eastern Africa, as it involved middle- to upper-class Italian officers coercing colonised women into engaging in often exploitative intimate relationships. During the first 20 years of colonisation of the territory, the colony's military administration employed an ambiguous stance regarding the practice, condemning it discursively to ingratiate itself with the local elites while unofficially allowing it to provide safe sex to its officers. When the resistance was defeated in the early 1930s, and the Fascist administration began its demographic colonisation plans, colonial concubinage was prohibited as out of place in a racially segregated settler colony. This article employs an analysis of official archival sources to trace the regulatory framework that shaped the lives of the Libyan women and Italian officers engaged in concubinage in a shifting colonial society. The colonial administrations’’ regulatory efforts toward colonial concubinage testify to the crucial role that Libyan women and racially ‘‘mixed’’ relationships played in shaping categories of race, class, and gender relative to the Italian colonial context.
“Europe is Awakening”: Diffusion of National-Populism in an Eastern Partnership Country – The Case of “Georgian March” in Georgia
Authors: Gozalishvili Nino
Published: June 2021

Deploying a transnational approach, the article follows the explanatory framework of diffusion theories in aiming to provide a new perspective on the rise of national-populist actors across different sociopolitical and national-historical settings, in the context of ever-increasing interdependence and transfers of ideas. Thus, it focuses on reconceiving national-populist units not as evolving detached from one another, but rather influencing and providing discursive frames for each other, even in the context of non-institutionalized, indirect connections. For demonstrating the theoretical claims about diffusing ideas and transnational modes of borrowing in the European context, the article discusses the evolution of national-populist discourses in post-communist Georgia through an example of the emergence and exclusionary agenda of a social movement, “Georgian March.” Locating the case within diffusion models, the analysis scrutinizes discursive strategies and incorporation of “the West” in the movement’s discourse over the process of its collective identity construction. Thus, the article focuses on mediated experiences as providing models for certain behaviors; new roles and uses of social media as direct political platforms and channels for diffusions and borrowings; the factor of mutual references as tools for self-legitimization and mutual identification; and the relevance of borrowings and emulation among national-populist actors.
Iodine nutrition among the adult population of the Faroe Islands: a population-based study
Authors: Johannesen Herborg Líggjasardóttir , Knudsen Gunnar Sjúrðarson , Andersen Stig , Weihe Pál , Veyhe Anna Sofía
Published: June 2021

The WHO recommends monitoring iodine status in all populations with median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) below 100 µg/l suggesting iodine deficiency. There are no data on the iodine intake among the population of the Faroe Islands. This study aimed to provide data on iodine nutrition in a representative sample of the general adult population from the Faroe Islands. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey in 2011–2012 and measured iodine in urine from 491 participants (294/197 men/women) using the ceri/arsen method after alkaline ashing. Participants include about 100 subjects in each of four adult decades and included participants from both the capital city and villages. The median UIC was low within the recommended range 101 µg/l (range 21–1870 µg/l). No samples were in the range suggesting severe iodine deficiency, but half of the samples were in the range of just adequate or mildly insufficient iodine intake with UIC markedly lower in women than in men (86 v. 115 µg/l; P < 0·001). Intake of fish and whale meals affected the UIC. In conclusion, nearly half of the population had an iodine excretion in the range of borderline or mild iodine deficiency. The lowest iodine nutrition level among Faroese women is a concern as it may extend to pregnancy with increased demands on iodine nutrition. In addition, we found that large variations and the intermittently excessive iodine intakes warrant follow-up on thyroid function in the population of the Faroe Islands.
A comparison of the remote food photography method and the automated self-administered 24-h dietary assessment tool for measuring full-day dietary intake among school-age children
Authors: Bekelman Traci A. , Martin Corby K. , Johnson Susan L. , Glueck Deborah H. , Sauder Katherine A. , Harrall Kylie K. , Steinberg Rachel I. , Hsia Daniel S. , Dabelea Dana
Published: June 2021

The limitations of self-report measures of dietary intake are well-known. Novel, technology-based measures of dietary intake may provide a more accurate, less burdensome alternative to existing tools. The first objective of this study was to compare participant burden for two technology-based measures of dietary intake among school-age children: the Automated-Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool-2018 (ASA24-2018) and the Remote Food Photography Method (RFPM). The second objective was to compare reported energy intake for each method to the Estimated Energy Requirement for each child, as a benchmark for actual intake. Forty parent–child dyads participated in two, 3-d dietary assessments: a parent proxy-reported version of the ASA24 and the RFPM. A parent survey was subsequently administered to compare satisfaction, ease of use and burden with each method. A linear mixed model examined differences in total daily energy intake between assessments, and between each assessment method and the Estimated Energy Requirement (EER). Reported energy intake was 379 kcal higher with the ASA24 than the RFPM (P = 0·0002). Reported energy intake with the ASA24 was 231 kcal higher than the EER (P = 0·008). Reported energy intake with the RFPM did not differ significantly from the EER (difference in predicted means = −148 kcal, P = 0·09). Median satisfaction and ease of use scores were five out of six for both methods. A higher proportion of parents reported that the ASA24 was more time-consuming than the RFPM (74·4 % v. 25·6 %, P = 0·002). Utilisation of both methods is warranted given their high satisfaction among parents.
Diversités sexuelles et construction nationale : Une exploration des frontières de l'homonationalisme au Québec
Authors: Lapointe Valérie , Turgeon Luc
Published: June 2021

Cet article fait l'analyse des discours homonationalistes dans un contexte qui a été peu exploré à ce jour, soit celui d'une nation minoritaire (le Québec) à l'intérieur d'un État multinational (le Canada). Dans la mesure où le nationalisme se construit souvent en opposition avec un « Autre », nous tentons de cerner qui est cet « Autre » dans l'homonationalisme québécois. En particulier, nous explorons si cet « Autre » peut également prendre la forme de la nation majoritaire par l'entremise d'une analyse d'articles publiés entre 1990 et 2017 dans différents journaux québécois (La Presse, Le Devoir et le Journal de Montréal). Nos résultats démontrent que si c'est le « Canada anglais » qui était plus susceptible dans la première moitié des années 2000 d’être « l'Autre » du nationalisme sexuel québécois, depuis la fin des années 2000, ce sont davantage les musulman/es (ici et ailleurs) et les immigrant/es qui font l'objet d'une altérisation dans les discours homonationalistes au Québec.
A UNIFORM BOUND ON THE OPERATOR NORM OF SUB-GAUSSIAN RANDOM MATRICES AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Authors: Franguridi Grigory , Moon Hyungsik Roger
Published: June 2021

For an $N \times T$ random matrix

$X(\beta )$
with weakly dependent uniformly sub-Gaussian entries

$x_{it}(\beta )$
that may depend on a possibly infinite-dimensional parameter

$\beta \in \mathbf {B}$
, we obtain a uniform bound on its operator norm of the form

$\mathbb {E} \sup _{\beta \in \mathbf {B}} ||X(\beta )|| \leq CK \left (\sqrt {\max (N,T)} + \gamma _2(\mathbf {B},d_{\mathbf {B}})\right )$
, where C is an absolute constant, K controls the tail behavior of (the increments of)

$x_{it}(\cdot )$
, and

$\gamma _2(\mathbf {B},d_{\mathbf {B}})$
is Talagrand’s functional, a measure of multiscale complexity of the metric space

$(\mathbf {B},d_{\mathbf {B}})$
. We illustrate how this result may be used for estimation that seeks to minimize the operator norm of moment conditions as well as for estimation of the maximal number of factors with functional data.
CONSTRAINT QUALIFICATIONS IN PARTIAL IDENTIFICATION
Authors: Kaido Hiroaki , Molinari Francesca , Stoye Jörg
Published: June 2021

The literature on stochastic programming typically restricts attention to problems that fulfill constraint qualifications. The literature on estimation and inference under partial identification frequently restricts the geometry of identified sets with diverse high-level assumptions. These superficially appear to be different approaches to closely related problems. We extensively analyze their relation. Among other things, we show that for partial identification through pure moment inequalities, numerous assumptions from the literature essentially coincide with the Mangasarian–Fromowitz constraint qualification. This clarifies the relation between well-known contributions, including within econometrics, and elucidates stringency, as well as ease of verification, of some high-level assumptions in seminal papers.