bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Monetary policy and the business cycle
Authors: Rangvid Jesper
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes monetary policy. Monetary policy aims at keeping consumer prices stable and the financial system well-functioning. Monetary policy is conducted by central banks. To achieve their goals, central banks use their monetary policy instruments, the most important of which is the monetary policy rate. By changing the short interest rate, central banks influence financial markets, first via its influence over other interest rates (longer interest rates on government bonds, interest rates on commercial debt, mortgage rates, etc.) and then via spill-overs to other asset prices, such as stock prices, exchange rates, house prices, etc. Changes in monetary policy thereby influence the business cycle and its future path. When monetary policy influences the business cycle, and the business cycle influences the stock market, there are good reasons to believe that monetary policy also influences the stock market.
Judging the stance of the business cycle
Authors: Rangvid Jesper
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes if and how we can detect business-cycle turning points. What variables should we study if we want to say something about the likelihood that the business cycle will change? The chapter discusses business-cycle ‘indicators’. It distinguishes between lagging, coincident, and leading indicators. Lagging indicators refer to economic variables that react to a change in the business cycle, i.e. variables that react after a business-cycle turning point. Coincident indicators tell us something about where we are right now in the business cycle. Leading indicators, which are probably the most important ones, tell us about the near-term outlook for the business cycle, i.e. forecast the business cycle. The chapter emphasizes that business-cycle turning points are hard to predict, but also that some indicators are more informative than others.
Predicting long-horizon returns
Authors: Rangvid Jesper
Published: February 2021

This chapter deals with expectations for stock returns over longer horizons, e.g. over the next decade. The chapter starts out providing an overview of how academics analyse the long-run outlook for stocks. It recalls that stock returns consist of yield, growth, and valuation change. Forecasting stock returns means forecasting these components. The chapter discusses ways to do so. It also discusses the empirical evidence. Finally, it presents a useful specific approach one can use to gauge the outlook for stocks in the long run.
The Chinese Government, the Idea of Security, and Foreign Policy
Authors: Ghiselli Andrea
Published: February 2021

How did the issue of sending the armed forces abroad and the defence of interests overseas enter and evolve in the Chinese foreign policy debate? The analysis in Chapter 1 of the speeches and documents released by the Chinese leaders and government institutions reveals three interconnected and important changes that have happened since the late 1980s. First, from Jiang Zemin’s New Security Concept to Xi Jinping’s Comprehensive National Security, the management of non-traditional security issues has consistently been the main driver behind the expansion of Chinese military activities overseas. Second, non-traditional security issues abroad changed from being seen as diplomatic opportunities to be considered, especially after the evacuation from Libya of almost 36,000 Chinese nationals, as threats to the regime’s legitimacy and China’s national security. Third, as overseas non-traditional security crises started to be perceived as threats, the orders from the civilian leadership to the foreign policy bureaucracy and, especially, the armed forces to prepare to play a larger role in peacetime foreign policy became increasingly urgent and clear.
The Basic Conception of Epistêmê at Work
Authors: Moss Jessica
Published: February 2021

If epistêmê’s defining object is Being, then cognition of Being constitutes Plato’s basic conception of epistêmê: we should be able to appeal to this in order to see why Plato attributes to epistêmê all the various features that he does. In this chapter I aim to show that this expectation is borne out. The Basic Conception can explain the requirement that epistêmê is of truth, that it involves the ability to give explanations, and that it is clear, precise, and stable. Moreover, it can explain and indeed motivate all the evidence that epistêmê is restricted to Forms. What about the objection, however, that the Republic’s philosophers’ epistêmê qualifies them to rule, and hence must apply to perceptibles? I argue that Plato provides a clear solution: since perceptibles are images of Forms, epistêmê of the Forms enhances one’s cognition of perceptibles without directly applying to them.
The Loving Community
Authors: Barclay Katie
Published: February 2021

Caritas was an idea with resonance across early modern Europe, but given shape and form within particular national or religious contexts. This chapter introduces how the Scottish Kirk envisioned caritas as an embodied ethic—an experience of love that was manifested in deportment, thought, feeling, and behaviour—as well as its widespread take-up as a cultural norm. It particularly highlights that the family—the holy household—was imagined as the basis of a social order founded on caritas and introduces how the idea of caritas shaped the practice of the family-household relationships in eighteenth-century Scotland. It explores how the family was located not just as a site of patriarchal discipline, but also of peace and comfort, where fighting and quarrelling (excesses of passion) should be minimized. The family-household was not formed in private, however: its loving behaviours were interpreted and given meaning by a watching community.
Learning to Love
Authors: Barclay Katie
Published: February 2021

As an emotional ethic, caritas was taught. This chapter explores the education of children and youth in caritas through acts of care and affection by those within their community. It highlights how youth was understood as a period of imperfect knowing, excusing passionate excess in young people as they learned to develop a personal conscience—an independent self—within a society that placed significant emphasis on community relationships. Teenage romance was a particularly important opportunity for teenagers to explore how caritas was to operate as moral feeling, and this chapter notes how the growing significance of romantic love in the cultural imagination provided young people with an occasion to refigure their self in relation to the group. Yet, if some young people used this as an opportunity to contest social boundaries, evidence suggests that many young people learned their lessons in love too well, on occasion failing to notice the nuances that moderated the discipline of caritas.
The Limits of Love
Authors: Barclay Katie
Published: February 2021

If an emotional ethic like caritas was embodied, how did some come to engage in ‘deviant’ behaviours such as premarital sex and why did a society so enculturated in a Christian ethic come to have such a significant illegitimacy rate? This chapter uses a case study of servants and their sex lives to explore how people reconciled their ‘sinful’ behaviour with their commitment to caritas. It first looks at the ways in which individuals justified their romantic feelings that led to sex within the moral framework of the community, as well as those—especially men—who instead made a claim to human frailty as an excuse for misbehaviour. It then attends to how the community responded to such activities, particularly in making life uncomfortable and encouraging those who did not conform to move on. A final section looks at how sinners were restored to the community once they had reformed, especially attending to rituals of reconciliation and peace, including touch, kisses, and sharing food and drink.
What Is Neo-Positivism and How Could We Argue for It?
Authors: Balaguer Mark
Published: February 2021

Chapter 7 explains how the non-factualist views established in the first part of this book fit into a general anti-metaphysical view called neo-positivism. This chapter formulates neo-positivism, explains why neo-positivism isn’t self-refuting, and explains how we could argue for neo-positivism. Neo-positivism is (roughly) the view is that every metaphysical question decomposes into subquestions, and in connection with each of these subquestions, we can endorse one of the following three anti-metaphysical views: non-factualism, scientism, or metaphysically innocent modal-truth-ism. Non-factualism about a question Q is the view that there’s no fact of the matter about the answer to Q. Scientism about Q is (roughly) the view that Q is an ordinary empirical-scientific question about some aspect of physical reality, and Q can’t be settled with an a priori philosophical argument. And metaphysically innocent modal-truth-ism about Q is (roughly) the view that Q asks about the truth value of a modal sentence that’s metaphysically innocent in the sense captured by the Chapter-6 view modal nothingism.
Hume on Causation and Causal Powers
Authors: Millican Peter
Published: February 2021

Peter Millican addresses the issue of how to best interpret Hume’s iconic passages on causation and causal powers and aims to cut through the various interpretations by fixing twelve ‘key points’ and arguing that a reductivist reading makes best sense of them. With these twelve points regarding Hume’s theory fixed, Millican turns toward adjudicating between reductivist, subjectivist, and projectivist interpretations. First, Millican attacks subjectivist interpretations on the grounds that they emphasize melodramatic passages in tension with Hume’s more considered claims, especially the first definition of necessity. Millican backs up the critical comments about subjectivism with a plausibly Humean account of what his ‘impression of power or necessary connexion’ might be. Then he turns to projectivist interpretations. Here, he argues that projectivist readings can be accommodated by the reductivist reading he is defending. After that, he turns to the ‘New Hume’, who allegedly accepted ‘thick’ causal powers, which push beyond the two definitions of cause. However, Millican emphasizes that Hume did accept causal powers in some thinner sense, powers that reduce to causal structures in the world that allow the discovery of laws and enable predictive success.
Causal Powers and Structures
Authors: Ellis Brian
Published: February 2021

Brian Ellis provides a detailed and systemic overview of his version of dispositional essentialism. Ellis is famous for having developed and defended a mixed ontology for scientific realism. This is a robustly Aristotelian ontology that involves a mix of categorical and essentially dispositional properties inhering as universal in individualized entities. In this contribution, Ellis briefly defends this sort of ontology by arguing that it, or something very much like it, is necessary to provide an account of the system of reality discovered through modern science. It is, moreover, entirely adequate for the job of accounting for the ontology of modern science. He then turns to consider three objections to his ontology. The first is what other contributors will call the ‘directedness problem’, which is the idea that powers are directed at their manifestation in a way analogous to the directedness of intentionality. The second is what other contributors call the ‘intrinsicness problem’, which is the idea that causal powers are intrinsic to or inhering in their subject. The third is what other contributors call the ‘necessity problem’, which is the idea that there is something important and distinctive about metaphysical necessity vis-à-vis logical necessity.
The Historical Roots of the Due Diligence Standard
Authors: Bartolini Giulio
Published: February 2021

This chapter analyses the historical roots of the due diligence standard. It looks at early examples of primary obligations with a due diligence component in the law pertaining to the protection of foreigners and representatives of foreign states, in the law of neutrality, and in early international humanitarian law. The chapter identifies a series of criteria for the application of due diligence which are still widely relevant today, such as the means at the disposal of a concerned state, a state’s control over its territory, or the predictability of harm.
Due Diligence in International Climate Change Law
Authors: Rajamani Lavanya
Published: February 2021

The international climate change regime has evolved over time to include a wider spectrum of obligations—substantive and procedural, as well as obligations of conduct and result. The increasing salience of obligations of conduct, privileging greater flexibility and autonomy for all Parties and permitting increased dynamism in the regime, has created greater scope for ‘due diligence’ to play a role in international climate change law. This chapter identifies the central obligations of conduct (fleshing out due diligence requirements of states) and of result in international climate change law. It analyses the nature and extent of due diligence required of states and highlights the numerous factors, such as the expectation of good faith or common but differentiated responsibilities, influencing it. The chapter concludes with reflections on the promise and perils of relying on norms of due diligence to deliver on the ambition of the climate change regime.
Due Diligence, the UN, and Peacekeeping
Authors: White Nigel D.
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on the application, acceptance, and implementation of human rights due diligence obligations in UN peacekeeping operations. It points to growing, but uneven, evidence of the development of standards and measures by the UN that would fit the meaning and purpose of due diligence, although there are very few instances of due diligence being used as a term within the UN. The chapter argues that due diligence obligations are applicable either through customary human rights law, or the internal law of the UN, or both due to the fact that the UN’s principles of peacekeeping are themselves based on general principles of international law. The chapter stresses that the UN should have due diligence obligations especially as there is a gap between the commissioning of peacekeeping operations by the UN and the day-to-day control of peacekeepers by the UN.
Due Diligence and Structural Change in the International Legal Order
Authors: Krieger Heike , Peters Anne
Published: February 2021

This chapter first analyses the legal functions of due diligence, notably risk-management and securing accountability, defining audits and impact assessments, or operationalising obligations of progressive realisation. The chapter interprets the rise of due diligence as a response to, a manifestation of, and a catalyst for structural change in international law. These changes include proceduralisation, pluralisation of legal subjects, de-constitutionalisation, and more proactive risk management. The chapter traces understandings of due diligence throughout the different areas of international law and across different types of legal persons. It concludes that due diligence has quite diverse meanings and functions depending on the legal context, and can therefore hardly be qualified as an overarching principle of international law. While due diligence shapes the international law of a global risk society and helps to secure accountability, it also menaces to mellow firm obligations and thus bears the risk to undermine the international rule of law.
Introduction
Authors: Duquette Jonathan
Published: February 2021

This chapter situates Appaya’s Śaiva works within his broader intellectual oeuvre and career. It introduces Appaya’s central work of Śivādvaita Vedānta, the Śivārkamaṇidīpikā, and explains how its composition established him as a great advocate of Śaiva religion in early modern India. It contextualizes Appaya’s work within the intellectual and religious milieu of the Vijayanagara empire, drawing attention to polemical debates between theologians of Vedānta and the rise in power of Śrīvaiṣṇava religion in Appaya’s time and place. This chapter offers a brief description of the five chapters of the book, and introduces its core argument, namely that Appaya’s Śivādvaita Vedānta work aimed to challenge, for the first time, the interpretation of Vedānta held by tenants of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, the dominant Vaiṣṇava school of philosophical theology in Appaya’s time.
Failures of Complex Systems
Authors: Rouse William B.
Published: February 2021

This chapter addresses failures in the nuclear power industry (Three Mile Island and Chernobyl), NASA space operations (Challenger and Columbia), and the maritime industry (Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon). Multi-level analyses are used to provide comparisons across case studies. It briefly reviews how these industries anticipate and manage failures, and higher-order consequences of these types of failures are discussed. These insights are used to foreshadow later discussions of failure management.
Introduction
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: February 2021

An introduction is provided to neurons; computation by biologically plausible networks of neurons; the representation of information in the brain; the functions of different brain areas; and the structure and connectivity of the cerebral neocortex.
The basal ganglia
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: February 2021

The basal ganglia include the striatum (caudate, putamen, and ventral striatum) which receive from all cortical areas, and which project via the globus pallidus and substantia nigra back to the neocortex. The basal ganglia are implicated in stimulus-response habit learning, which may be provided by a reinforcement learning signal received by dopamine neurons responding to reward prediction error. The dopamine neurons may receive reward-related information from the orbitofrontal cortex, via the ventral striatum and habenula. The network mechanisms in the basal ganglia implement selection of a single output for behaviour, which is highly adaptive, by mutual direct inhibition between neurons.
Computations by different types of brain, and by artificial neural systems
Authors: Rolls Edmund T.
Published: February 2021

In this Chapter a comparison is made between computations in the brain and computations performed in computers. This is intended to be helpful to those engineers, computer scientists, AI specialists et al interested in designing new computers that emulate aspects of brain function. In fact, the whole of this book is intended to be useful for this aim, by setting out what is computed by different brain systems, and what we know about how it is computed. It is essential to know this if an emulation of brain function is to be performed, and this is important to enable this group of scientists to bring their expertise to help understand brain function more. The Chapter also considers the levels of investigation, which include the computational, necessary to understand brain function; and some applications of this understanding, to for example how our developing understanding is relevant to understanding disorders, including for example of food intake control leading to obesity. Finally, Section 19.10 makes it clear why the focus of this book is on computations in primate (and that very much includes human) brains, rather than on rodent (rat and mice) brains. It is because the systems-level organization of primate including human brains is quite different from that in rodents, in many fundamental ways that are described.
SALLY BEAMISH (b. 1956)Four Songs from Hafez (2012)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on Four Songs from Hafez (2012) by the professional violist and composer Sally Beamish. This piece stemmed from Beamish’s response to a book of poems by the fourteenth-century Persian Sufi poet Hafez, in which the translator drew the original texts in the shape of the creatures they represent. Three out of the four are birds, and their calls are woven skilfully into the musical settings. Beamish captures the exotically Eastern flavour of the poems, with their strikingly succinct imagery and expressions of yearning. The songs are basically tonal, but frequently modal, and repetitions contribute to the cohesive, well-balanced musical language. Tessitura is well judged, but some low notes may prove difficult for a young tenor to project firmly. Phrasing and breathing should give no problems, but changing rhythmic patterns need to flow easily, and evenness of tone throughout a wide compass is a prerequisite.
BRETT DEAN (b. 1961)Poems and Prayers (2006, revised 2011)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores Australian musician and composer Brett Dean’s Poems and Prayers (2006, revised 2011). These five songs form a highly distinctive showpiece, containing elements reminiscent of cabaret. The style is eclectic, within a ‘friendly atonal’ mode. Intervals will need careful tuning and rhythms are often elliptical. Each song could hardly be more different. The sharp, mordant texts have more than a hint of irony and bitterness, and the range of moods projected requires a singer of considerable artistry and poise as well as excellent diction. The first three songs (‘Literature’, ‘A Child Is a Grub’, and ‘Prayer I’) are brief, but highly concentrated. The vocal range throughout is comfortable and eminently practicable, avoiding extremes. Declamatory speech occurs in the fourth (‘Equality’), and the last movement (‘Prayer’) is almost entirely in Sprechstimme.
ROBIN HOLLOWAY (b. 1943)Go Lovely Rose (2008)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines Robin Holloway’s Go Lovely Rose (2008). In this short work, Holloway responds to a much-loved poem by Edmund Waller in a characteristically uninhibited way, glorying in the voice’s emotional and colouristic aspects, and exploiting its capacity for sweeping, luscious phrases that dip and soar over a wide compass. An unashamedly alluring post-Romantic idiom is further embroidered with heavy chromaticism, in flowing spacious piano textures whose full-blown, sensuous harmonies seem almost orchestral. They often trace the vocal lines, so that the singer, reassured by a clear tonality with no lack of guiding pitch cues, is free to concentrate on producing beautiful sounds. Indeed, this is a lovely vehicle for an accomplished singer. However, the expansive, rhapsodic lines could expose any unevenness of tone, and thus need considerable breath capacity to sustain them and control the piece’s richly varied dynamics.
RODNEY LISTER (b. 1951)Songs to Harvest (2006)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on American composer Rodney Lister’s Songs to Harvest (2006). As shown in this attractive cycle, Lister has a distinctive and fascinating way of writing for voice and piano. The voice projects succinct, shapely phrases, while linear piano parts weave a tapestry of sinuous counterpoint, frequently in two parts only, often with three-against-two rhythms. When the voice stops, the piano continues, its luminous texture ebbing and flowing. Ingeniously, it seems to give a subliminal commentary as well as an irresistible propulsion to the music. The prime test of the songsmith is to set words so that they can be heard easily, and Lister passes this with flying colours. A predominantly medium range guarantees comfortable articulation—the highest note occurs only once, fleetingly. The cohesive musical idiom is discreetly contemporary, disciplined, and carefully modulated. Pitching should be relatively unproblematic—there is a good deal of doubling with the piano, and plenty of time to plot each interval cleanly.
GREGORY ROSE (b. 1948)Avebury Stone Circles (2013)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter studies Gregory Rose’s Avebury Stone Circles (2013). This piece immediately grasps attention, as performer’s music par excellence. The composer’s own colourful texts, full of alliteration and syllabic felicities, indicate a close identification with his awe-inspiring subject: the cluster of ancient monuments which include the famed Avebury Ring in Wiltshire. The music mirrors the ritualistic resonances emanating from pre-Christian history. The vocal writing is often spectacular, brimful of huge leaps and lithe melismas, forthright and uninhibited in expression, with the tessitura judged unerringly to make the most of the voice’s timbral shadings. Well-varied piano parts complement and support the voice in exemplary fashion, never overwhelming its expressive nuances, and often providing reassuring pitch-cues. Plain monodies and echo figures, granitic blocks of chords, and fast repeated motifs all feature regularly. Ultimately, the piece bears a distinctive ceremonial flavour that is consistently compelling.
KATHERINE SAXON (b. 1981)Sea Fever (2008)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter discusses American composer Katherine Saxon’s Sea Fever (2008). In this piece, the musical style is straightforward, uncluttered, and accessible, with elements of neoclassicism, and the four songs are well contrasted. The second has space-time notation, but the others are written conventionally, with key and time signatures. The relationship between voice and piano is well gauged, but there may be a few balance problem for lighter voices, especially when lines are low-lying. Verbal clarity is a crucial requirement. Words and music teem with watery images, and the sonic palette of John Masefield’s resonant poetry, full of alliteration and onomatopoeia, is a gift for composers, to which Saxon responds with empathy and panache. Some very fast articulation is called for, especially in the last song. The composer’s succinct instructions for mood and character are always pertinent.
Indebted Demand
Authors: Mian Atif , Straub Ludwig , Sufi Amir
Published: February 2021

We propose a theory of indebted demand, capturing the idea that large debt burdens lower aggregate demand, and thus the natural rate of interest. At the core of the theory is the simple yet underappreciated observation that borrowers and savers differ in their marginal propensities to save out of permanent income. Embedding this insight in a two-agent perpetual-youth model, we find that recent trends in income inequality and financial deregulation lead to indebted household demand, pushing down the natural rate of interest. Moreover, popular expansionary policies—such as accommodative monetary policy—generate a debt-financed short-run boom at the expense of indebted demand in the future. When demand is sufficiently indebted, the economy gets stuck in a debt-driven liquidity trap, or debt trap. Escaping a debt trap requires consideration of less conventional macroeconomic policies, such as those focused on redistribution or those reducing the structural sources of high inequality.
On Sums Of Coefficients Of Maass Forms For SL(3, ℤ)
Authors: Zhai Wenguang
Published: February 2021

Let f be a Maass form for $SL(3,{\mathbb{Z}})$ with coefficients Af(m, n). The aim of this paper is to study the asymptotic behaviour of the sum $\sum_{m\leqslant x,n\leqslant y}|A_f(m,n)|^2$ and some other related sums.
Ultrasonography in the diagnosis and follow-up of giant cell arteritis
Authors: Coath Fiona L , Mukhtyar Chetan
Published: February 2021

Colour Doppler ultrasonography is the first measure to allow objective bedside assessment of GCA. This article discusses the evidence using the OMERACT filter. Consensus definitions for ultrasonographic changes were agreed upon by a Delphi process, with the ‘halo’ and ‘compression’ signs being characteristic. The halo is sensitive to change, disappearing within 2–4 weeks of starting glucocorticoids. Ultrasonography has moderate convergent validity with temporal artery biopsy in a pooled analysis of 12 studies including 965 participants [κ = 0.44 (95% CI 0.38, 0.50)]. The interobserver and intra-observer reliabilities are good (κ = 0.6 and κ = 0.76–0.78, respectively) in live exercises and excellent when assessing acquired images and videos (κ = 0.83–0.87 and κ = 0.88, respectively). Discriminant validity has been tested against stroke and diabetes mellitus (κ=−0.16 for diabetes). Machine familiarity and adequate examination time improves performance. Ultrasonography in follow-up is not yet adequately defined. Some patients have persistent changes in the larger arteries but these do not necessarily imply treatment failure or predict relapses.
Becoming the King in the North: identification with fictional characters is associated with greater self–other neural overlap
Authors: Broom Timothy W , Chavez Robert S , Wagner Dylan D
Published: February 2021

During narrative experiences, identification with a fictional character can alter one’s attitudes and self-beliefs to be more similar to those of the character. The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is a brain region that shows increased activity when introspecting about the self but also when thinking of close friends. Here, we test whether identification with fictional characters is associated with increased neural overlap between self and fictional others. Nineteen fans of the HBO series Game of Thrones performed trait evaluations for the self, 9 real-world friends and 9 fictional characters during functional neuroimaging. Overall, the participants showed a larger response in the vMPFC for self compared to friends and fictional others. However, among the participants higher in trait identification, we observed a greater neural overlap in the vMPFC between self and fictional characters. Moreover, the magnitude of this association was greater for the character that participants reported feeling closest to/liked the most as compared to those they felt least close to/liked the least. These results suggest that identification with fictional characters leads people to incorporate these characters into their self-concept: the greater the immersion into experiences of ‘becoming’ characters, the more accessing knowledge about characters resembles accessing knowledge about the self.
Varying combinations of Lactobacillus species: impact on laying hens’ performance, nitrogenous compounds in manure, serum profile, and uric acid in the liver
Authors: Naseem Sadia , Willits Neil , King Annie J
Published: February 2021

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of various combinations of Lactobacillus species (L. rhamnosus, L. paracasei, and L. plantarum) on closely associated variables of production of laying hens, nitrogenous compounds in manure, the serum concentration of specific chemicals, and liver uric acid (UA) concentrations at peak lay. White Leghorns W-36 (32-week-old) were randomly assigned to five treatments for 8 weeks. Treatments were T1, the Control, a commercial feed; T2, the Control + L. paracasei + L. plantarum; T3, the Control + L. paracasei + L. rhamnosus; T4, the Control + L. plantarum + L. rhamnosus and T5, the Control + L. paracasei + L. plantarum + L. rhamnosus. Each bacterial species was included at 3.33 × 1011cfu/kg feed for a total of 6.66 x 1011 cfu/kg feed for T2–T4 and a total of 1.0 × 1012 cfu/kg feed for T5. Major effects among combinations of probiotics on production were not noted. The interaction of Probiotics by Week (Probiotics*Time) affected feed intake (P = 0.0007) and feed conversion ratio (FCR, P = 0.0049) due to fluctuation by week. Significant effects of time were also recorded for a gradual increase in body weight (BW, P = 0.0007); lowest and greatest feed intake at weeks 2 and 7, respectively (P < 0.0001); an increase in egg production (P = 0.0007) and maximum FCR at week 7 (P < 0.0001). Ammonia (NH3) concentration, ammonium nitrogen (NH4–N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), and total nitrogen remained unaffected at P < 0.05. Although there were fluctuations, a trend emerged for the reduction of TKN. Combinations of probiotics did not affect NH3, UA, total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), creatine kinase (CK), and UA in the liver. Temporal (Time as a fixed effect) effects were noted for all nitrogenous compounds present in manure. For ammonia, temporal effects were significant due to fluctuation over time. Week 0 had the lowest value followed by weeks 4 and 8. Week 6 had the greatest value. For ammonium nitrogen, week 8 had the lowest value followed by week 0 and 4 with the next highest value. Week 6 had the greatest value. For TKN, week 4 had the lowest value followed by weeks 6 and 8. Week 0 had the greatest value. For TN, weeks 4, 6, and 8 had similar and lowest values followed by week 0 having the greatest value. However, an overall reduction in NH4-N, TKN, and TN was noted. Fluctuations in NH3 (P = 0.0033) and CK (P = 0.0085) were noted for Time. There was also a trend (P = 0.0706) for the increase of UA in serum. Two or more species of probiotics with yeast should be investigated. If the combination is applicable for increasing production measurements and reducing nitrogenous and serum compounds, the most appropriate time to feed the probiotics from day 1 to the end of production should be investigated.
Development of an evidence-informed recommendation guide to facilitate physical activity counseling between oncology care providers and patients in Canada
Authors: Fong Angela J , Sabiston Catherine M , Nadler Michelle B , Sussman Jonathan , Langley Hugh , Holden Rachel , Stokes-Noonan Michaela , Tomasone Jennifer R
Published: February 2021

Decision support aids help reduce decision conflict and are reported as acceptable by patients. Currently, an aid from the American College of Sports Medicine exists to help oncology care providers advise, assess, and refer patients to physical activity (PA). However, some limitations include the lack of specific resources and programs for referral, detailed PA, and physical function assessments and not being designed following an international gold standard (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation [AGREE] II). This study aimed to develop a recommendation guide to facilitate PA counseling by assessing the risk for PA-related adverse events and offering a referral to an appropriate recommendation. Recommendation guide development followed AGREE II, and an AGREE methodologist was consulted. Specifically, a stakeholder group of oncology care providers and cancer survivors were engaged to develop the assessment criteria for comorbidities, PA levels, and physical function. Assessment criteria were developed from published PA interventions, consultations with content experts, and targeted web-based searches for cancer-specific PA programs. Feedback on the recommendation guide was solicited from stakeholders and external reviewers with relevant knowledge and clinical experience. Independent AGREE methodologists appraised the development process. The recommendation guide is a five-page document, including a preamble, assessment criteria for absolute contraindications to PA, comorbidities, and PA/functional capacity with a list of appropriate resources. Independent AGREE methodologists rated the development process as strong and recommended the guide for use. The recommendation guide has the potential to facilitate PA counseling between oncology care providers and cancer survivors, thus, potentially impacting PA behavior.
Biocontrol Efficacy ofBacillus cereusStrain Bc-cm103 AgainstMeloidogyne incognita
Authors: Yin Nan , Zhao Jian-Long , Liu Rui , Li Yan , Ling Jian , Yang Yu-Hong , Xie Bing-Yan , Mao Zhen-Chuan
Published: February 2021

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are soilborne pathogens that infect vegetable crops and cause major economic losses worldwide annually. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel nematicides or biological control agents to reduce the damage caused by root-knot nematodes. In this study, we tested efficacy of the Bacillus cereus strain Bc-cm103, isolated from the rhizoplane of Cucumis metuliferus, against Meloidogyne incognita. Strain Bc-cm103 fermentation broth caused 100% mortality of the nematode second-stage juveniles within 12 h and decreased the egg hatching rate by 40.06% within 72 h compared with sterile water. Confocal laser-scanning microscopy revealed that strain Bc-cm103 formed a biofilm on cucumber (C. sativus) roots, which protected the roots from the infection of M. incognita. Additionally, strain Bc-cm103 activated the defense-responsive genes PR1, PR2, LOX1, and CTR1 in cucumber. Furthermore, strain Bc-cm103 significantly reduced the appearance of root galls in pot, split-root, and field tests. These results indicated that B. cereus strain Bc-cm103 had a strong suppressive effect on M. incognita and therefore could be used as a potential biocontrol agent against this pathogen.
Kincore: a web resource for structural classification of protein kinases and their inhibitors
Authors: Modi Vivek , Dunbrack Roland L.
Published: February 2021

The active form of kinases is shared across different family members, as are several commonly observed inactive forms. We previously performed a clustering of the conformation of the activation loop of all protein kinase structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) into 8 classes based on the dihedral angles that place the Phe side chain of the DFG motif at the N-terminus of the activation loop. Our clusters are strongly associated with the placement of the activation loop, the C-helix, and other structural elements of kinases. We present Kincore, a web resource providing access to our conformational assignments for kinase structures in the PDB. While other available databases provide conformational states or drug type but not both, KinCore includes the conformational state and the inhibitor type (Type 1, 1.5, 2, 3, allosteric) for each kinase chain. The user can query and browse the database using these attributes or determine the conformational labels of a kinase structure using the web server or a standalone program. The database and labeled structure files can be downloaded from the server. Kincore will help in understanding conformational dynamics of these proteins and guide development of inhibitors targeting specific states. Kincore is available athttp://dunbrack.fccc.edu/kincore.
Multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants escape neutralization by vaccine-induced humoral immunity
Authors: Garcia-Beltran Wilfredo F. , Lam Evan C. , Denis Kerri St. , Nitido Adam D. , Garcia Zeidy H. , Hauser Blake M. , Feldman Jared , Pavlovic Maia N. , Gregory David J. , Poznansky Mark C. , Sigal Alex , Schmidt Aaron G. , Iafrate A. John , Naranbhai Vivek , Balazs Alejandro B.
Published: February 2021

Vaccination elicits immune responses capable of potently neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. However, ongoing surveillance has revealed the emergence of variants harboring mutations in spike, the main target of neutralizing antibodies. To understand the impact of these variants, we evaluated the neutralization potency of 99 individuals that received one or two doses of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccines against pseudoviruses representing 10 globally circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. Five of the 10 pseudoviruses, harboring receptor-binding domain mutations, including K417N/T, E484K, and N501Y, were highly resistant to neutralization. Cross-neutralization of B.1.351 variants was comparable to SARS-CoV and bat-derived WIV1-CoV, suggesting that a relatively small number of mutations can mediate potent escape from vaccine responses. While the clinical impact of neutralization resistance remains uncertain, these results highlight the potential for variants to escape from neutralizing humoral immunity and emphasize the need to develop broadly protective interventions against the evolving pandemic.
COVID-19 Associated Stroke—A Single Centre Experience
Authors: Sundar Uma , Karnik Niteen D , Mukhopadhyay Amita , Darole Pramod , Kolte Shaonak , Bansal Ashank , Gokhale Yojana A , Asole Dnaneshwar , Joshi Anagha , Pednekar Sangeeta , Chavan Swati , Trivedi Trupti , Padwal Namita , Kalekar Lalana , Londhe Charulata , Padhiyar Rupal , Pandey Dharmendra , Yadav Dhirendra , Honrao Sonal U , Bhavsar Prerana , Shah Priyanshu , Gosavi Satish , Wadal Aniket , Shingare Awesh P , Trivedi Mayuri , Oak Gauri Pathak
Published: February 2021

Background and Purpose

Various neurological complications have been reported in association with COVID-19. We report our experience of COVID-19 with stroke at a single center over a period of eight months spanning 1 March to 31 October 2020.

Methods

We recruited all patients admitted to Internal Medicine with an acute stroke, who also tested positive for COVID-19 on RTPCR. We included all stroke cases in our analysis for prediction of in-hospital mortality, and separately analyzed arterial infarcts for vascular territory of ischemic strokes.

Results

There were 62 stroke cases among 3923 COVID-19 admissions (incidence 1.6%). Data was available for 58 patients {mean age 52.6 years; age range 17–91; F/M=20/38; 24% (14/58) aged ≤40; 51% (30/58) hypertensive; 36% (21/58) diabetic; 41% (24/58) with O2 saturation <95% at admission; 32/58 (55.17 %) in-hospital mortality}. Among 58 strokes, there were 44 arterial infarcts, seven bleeds, three arterial infarcts with associated cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, two combined infarct and bleed, and two of indeterminate type. Among the total 49 infarcts, Carotid territory was the commonest affected (36/49; 73.5%), followed by vertebrobasilar (7/49; 14.3%) and both (6/49; 12.2%). Concordant arterial block was seen in 61% (19 of 31 infarcts with angiography done). ‘Early stroke’ (within 48 hours of respiratory symptoms) was seen in 82.7% (48/58) patients. Patients with poor saturation at admission were older (58 vs 49 years) and had more comorbidities and higher mortality (79% vs 38%). Mortality was similar in young strokes and older patients, although the latter required more intense respiratory support. Logistic regression analysis showed that low GCS and requirement for increasing intensity of respiratory support predicted in-hospital mortality.

Conclusions

We had a 1.6% incidence of COVID-19 related stroke of which the majority were carotid territory infarcts. In-hospital mortality was 55.17%, predicted by low GCS at admission.
Chronic acid-suppressant use and risk of Oesophageal cancer: protocol for a longitudinal study using a large population based cohort
Authors: Hippisley-Cox Julia , Mei Xue W , Tan Pui San , Fitzgerald Rebecca , Coupland Carol , Panday-Ghimire Bhagabati , Offman Judith , Sasieni Peter
Published: February 2021

Introduction

Oesophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause for cancer related deaths with over 450,000 new cases and 400,000 resulting deaths per year globally. Most cases in the UK are adenocarcinoma with some of the poorest outcomes from this cancer type in Europe -- mainly due to late diagnosis. The main risk factor for oesophageal adenocarcinoma is chronic reflux disease and due to the high prevalence and non-specific nature of these symptoms most patients are often managed with acid-reflux medications (e.g. Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)) without referral for endoscopy. For those patients that are referred the endoscopy is normal in over 70% of cases, and there is not enough capacity within the NHS for endoscopy especially considering colon cancer screening.

The primary aim of this project is to improve early identification of individuals at risk of oesophageal cancer and reduce over-use of prescription antacids.

Methods and analysis

We will conduct a longitudinal cohort study consisted of adults 40 years and over who are free of oesophageal cancer at study entry, using the QResearch database for data gathered between 2000 and 2020. The main exposure is the use of prescription antacids which includes PPI, H2RA, and other aluminium and magnesium containing antacids. The exposure will be categorised based on active ingredients, dose, and duration of use and will be modelled as a time-varying covariate.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval for this project was obtained from the QResearch Scientific Committee [Ref: OX39, project title “DELTA - integrated Diagnostic solution for Early detection of Oesophageal cAncer”]. This project has been supported by patient and public involvement panels. We intend to submit the findings for peer-reviewed publication in an academic journal and disseminate them to the public.

Strength and limitations of this study

This is an open cohort study comprising a nationally representative sample of English population.

The cohort consists of GP clinic data linked to hospital records, the English national cancer registry and English national death registry.

This study has access to detailed information on acid-suppressant prescriptions, allowing analysis with consideration of the specific compound, dose, and duration of exposure.

This study is limited by high rates of missing data for cancer grade and stage, although completeness has improved in recent years, this will be accounted for using appropriate multiple imputation techniques.
In depth analysis of patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan Africa demonstrates distinct clinical and immunological profiles
Authors: Morton B , Barnes KG , Anscombe C , Jere K , Kamng’ona R , Brown C , Nyirenda J , Phiri T , Banda N , Van Der Veer C , Mndolo KS , Mponda K , Rylance J , Phiri C , Mallewa J , Nyirenda M , Katha G , Kambiya P , Jafali J , Mwandumba HC , Gordon SB , Cornick J , Jambo KC
Published: February 2021

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has left no country untouched there has been limited research to understand clinical and immunological responses in African populations. Here we comprehensively characterise patients hospitalised with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, and healthy community controls. PCR-confirmed COVID-19 participants were more likely to receive dexamethasone and a beta-lactam antibiotic, and survive to hospital discharge than PCR-/IgG+ and PCR-/IgG-participants. PCR-/IgG+ participants exhibited a nasal and systemic cytokine signature analogous to PCR-confirmed COVID-19 participants, but increased propensity for Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae colonisation. We did not find evidence that HIV co-infection in COVID-19 participants was associated with mortality or altered cytokine responses. The nasal immune signature in PCR-/IgG+ and PCR-confirmed COVID-19 participants was distinct and predominated by chemokines and neutrophils. In addition, PCR-/IgG+ individuals with high COVID-19 clinical suspicion had inflammatory profiles analogous to PCR-confirmed disease and potentially represent a target population for COVID-19 treatment strategies.