bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What PIs want when hiring a clinical research coordinator
Authors: Fisher Elaine , Thomas Rebecca , Choi Ikseon , McCauley Linda
Published: April 2024

Introduction:

Clinical research coordinators (CRCs) play a key role in supporting the translational research enterprise, with responsibilities encompassing tasks related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of clinical research trials. While the literature explores CRC competencies, job satisfaction, and retention, little attention has been given to the role of the PI working with Human Resources (HR) in the CRC hiring and onboarding processes. We investigated the priorities, decision-making processes, and satisfaction levels of principal investigators (PIs) and hiring managers in CRC hiring.

Methods:

An online survey consisting of open-ended and fixed-choice questions to gather information on desired CRC qualifications and competencies, factors influencing hiring decisions, and overall satisfaction with selected candidates was administered. The survey utilized a Task/Competency Checklist developed from job descriptions and the literature. Respondents were asked to rank the importance of factors such as CRC skill set, years of experience, educational background, and budget constraints.

Results:

Results indicated that the skill set of the applicant was the most frequently cited factor influencing the hiring decision, followed by years of experience. Education and budget constraints were of lesser importance. Most respondents reported a satisfaction rating of 50% or greater with their new hires, although some participants expressed challenges related to institutional training requirements, the performance of entry-level CRCs, and the qualifications of experienced candidates.

Conclusion:

The hiring cycle involves HR-PI collaboration for a clear job description, effective onboarding processes, and accessible professional development opportunities to enhance PI and employee satisfaction and CRC retention.
AAV-mediated gene therapies for glaucoma and uveitis: are we there yet?
Authors: Castro Brenda , Steel Jason C. , Layton Christopher J.
Published: April 2024

Glaucoma and uveitis are non-vascular ocular diseases which are among the leading causes of blindness and visual loss. These conditions have distinct characteristics and mechanisms but share a multifactorial and complex nature, making their management challenging and burdensome for patients and clinicians. Furthermore, the lack of symptoms in the early stages of glaucoma and the diverse aetiology of uveitis hinder timely and accurate diagnoses, which are a cause of poor visual outcomes under both conditions. Although current treatment is effective in most cases, it is often associated with low patient adherence and adverse events, which directly impact the overall therapeutic success. Therefore, long-lasting alternatives with improved safety and efficacy are needed. Gene therapy, particularly utilising adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, has emerged as a promising approach to address unmet needs in these diseases. Engineered capsids with enhanced tropism and lower immunogenicity have been proposed, along with constructs designed for targeted and controlled expression. Additionally, several pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of these conditions have been targeted with single or multigene expression cassettes, gene editing and silencing approaches. This review discusses strategies employed in AAV-based gene therapies for glaucoma and non-infectious uveitis and provides an overview of current progress and future directions.
Affine Bruhat order and Demazure products
Authors: Schremmer Felix
Published: April 2024

We give new descriptions of the Bruhat order and Demazure products of affine Weyl groups in terms of the weight function of the quantum Bruhat graph. These results can be understood to describe certain closure relations concerning the Iwahori–Bruhat decomposition of an algebraic group. As an application towards affine Deligne–Lusztig varieties, we present a new formula for generic Newton points.
Status and influencing factors of nurses’ burnout: A cross-sectional study during COVID-19 regular prevention and control in Jiangsu Province, China
Authors: Mao Xiaofei , Hou Tianya , Wang Hao , Tang Yun , Ni Chunyan , Zhang Yulin , Zhang Jianguo , Deng Wenxi , Chen Liqing , Wang Xingxing , Li Ziqiang , Jia Yan , Dong Wei , Qian Xing
Published: April 2024

Background

Chinese nurses working with immense stress may have issues with burnout during COVID-19 regular prevention and control. There were a few studies investigating status of burnout and associated factors among Chinese nurses. However, the relationships remained unclear.

Objectives

To investigate status and associated factors of nurses’ burnout during COVID-19 regular prevention and control.

Methods

784 nurses completed questionnaires including demographics, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Insomnia Severity Index, Impact of Event Scale-revised, Perceived Social Support Scale, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, General Self-efficacy Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Results

310 (39.5%), 393 (50.1%) and 576 (73.5%) of respondents were at high risk of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). The risk of EE, DP and reduced PA were moderate, high and high. Nurses with intermediate and senior professional rank and title and worked >40 h every week had lower scores in EE. Those worked in low-risk department reported lower scores in PA. Anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-efficacy and social support were influencing factors of EE and DP, while social support and resilience were associated factors of PA.

Conclusion

Chinese nurses’ burnout during COVID-19 regular prevention and control was serious. Professional rank and title, working unit, weekly working hours, anxiety, PTSD, self-efficacy, social support and resilience were associated factors of burnout.
DISCONTINUOUS HOMOMORPHISMS OF WITH
Authors: DUMAS BOB A.
Published: April 2024

Assume that M is a transitive model of
$ZFC+CH$
containing a simplified
$(\omega _1,2)$
-morass,
$P\in M$
is the poset adding
$\aleph _3$
generic reals and G is P-generic over M. In M we construct a function between sets of terms in the forcing language, that interpreted in
$M[G]$
is an
$\mathbb R$
-linear order-preserving monomorphism from the finite elements of an ultrapower of the reals, over a non-principal ultrafilter on
$\omega $
, into the Esterle algebra of formal power series. Therefore it is consistent that
$2^{\aleph _0}>\aleph _2$
and, for any infinite compact Hausdorff space X, there exists a discontinuous homomorphism of
$C(X)$
, the algebra of continuous real-valued functions on X.
Multiple Large Shareholders, Identity, and Corporate Tax Avoidance
Authors: Huyghebaert Nancy , Kang Shaoqing , Wang Lihong , Wu Wenfeng
Published: April 2024

In recent years, the variation in firms' tax-avoidance behavior has attracted a lot of attention, both theoretically and empirically. This study investigates the governance role of multiple large shareholders in firms' tax-avoidance behavior, using a sample of Chinese state-controlled listed firms over the period 2004–2016. We find that the ownership stake of a firm's largest shareholder is negatively associated with tax avoidance among state-controlled firms. Second, other large non-state shareholders negatively affect tax avoidance of state-controlled firms. The former effect is particularly strong when the local government is the controlling shareholder. Finally, differences in institutional quality influence the largest shareholder's tendency to engage in tax avoidance in state-controlled firms. For state-controlled firms, a better institutional environment elicits more tax avoidance and thus curtails minority-investor expropriation.
Comparisons between dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and bioimpedance devices for appendicular lean mass and muscle quality in Hispanic adults
Authors: Nassar Bassel , Tinsley Grant M. , Park Kyung-Shin , Czerwinski Stefan A. , Nickerson Brett S.
Published: April 2024

The purpose of this study was to compare single- and multi-frequency bioimpedance (BIA) devices against dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for appendicular lean mass (ALM) and muscle quality index (MQI) metrics in Hispanic adults. One hundred thirty-one Hispanic adults (18–55 years) participated in this study. ALM was measured with single-frequency bioimpedance analysis (SFBIA), multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis (MFBIA) and DXA. ALMTOTAL (left arm + right arm + left leg + right leg) and ALMARMS (left arm + right arm) were computed for all three devices. Handgrip strength (HGS) was measured using a dynamometer. The average HGS was used for all MQI models (highest left hand + highest right hand)/2. MQIARMS was defined as the ratio between HGS and ALMARMS. MQITOTAL was established as the ratio between HGS and ALMTOTAL. SFBIA and MFBIA had strong correlations with DXA for all ALM and MQI metrics (Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient values ranged from 0·86 (MQIMFBIA-ARMS) to 0·97 (Arms LMSFBIA); all P < 0·001). Equivalence testing varied between methods (e.g. SFBIA v. DXA) when examining the different metrics (i.e. ALMTOTAL, ALMARMS, MQITOTAL and MQIARMS). MQIARMS was the only metric that did not differ from the line of identity and had no proportional bias when comparing all the devices against each other. The current study findings demonstrate good overall agreement between SFBIA, MFBIA and DXA for ALMTOTAL and ALMARMS in a Hispanic population. However, SFBIA and MFBIA have better agreement with DXA when used to compute MQIARMS than MQITOTAL.
A remark on a conjecture on the symmetric Gaussian problem
Authors: Fusco Nicola , La Manna Domenico Angelo
Published: April 2024

In this paper, we study the functional given by the integral of the mean curvature of a convex set with Gaussian weight with Gaussian volume constraint. It was conjectured that the ball centred at the origin is the only minimizer of such a functional for certain values of the mass. We prove that this is the case in dimension 2 while in higher dimension the situation is different. In fact, for small values of mass, the ball centred at the origin is a local minimizer, while for larger values the ball is a maximizer among convex sets with a uniform bound on the curvature.
Twisted Blanchfield pairings and twisted signatures III: Applications
Authors: Borodzik Maciej , Conway Anthony , Politarczyk Wojciech
Published: April 2024

This paper describes how to compute algorithmically certain twisted signature invariants of a knot
$K$
using twisted Blanchfield forms. An illustration of the algorithm is implemented on
$(2,q)$
-torus knots. Additionally, using satellite formulas for these invariants, we also show how to obstruct the sliceness of certain iterated torus knots.
Nutritional status of schoolchildren before and after confinement by COVID-19 (2019–2021) in Jujuy, Argentina
Authors: Bustamante María José , Solis Juan Manuel , Tabera Celia Margarita , Maraz Natalia , Gutiérrez Gisela Belén del Rosario , Dipierri José Edgardo
Published: April 2024

An increase in the prevalence of obesity due to lockdown and confinement linked to COVID-19 is observed. Variations in the nutritional status of schoolchildren from Jujuy are analyzed in relation to confinement due to COVID-19 (2019–2021) and its relationship with socio-demographic variables and the school environment. This is an observational, descriptive study. Data from 56,695 schoolchildren aged 6–18 years old is analyzed based on two temporary cuts (2019 pre-confinement and 2021 post-confinement). The nutritional status of schoolchildren (underweight, overweight, and obese) was established using the IOTF (International Obesity Task Force) criterion. The prevalence of each nutritional phenotype was estimated by sex and age group, considering the following independent variables: setting (rural/urban), school management system (public/private), geographic altitude, and percentage of households with unmet basic needs (UBN) in the place where they attend school. Multiple proportions contrast was performed using Fisher's test, a transition matrix ws produced and a statistical model of proportional odds was fitted. It was observed that between 2019 and 2021, the prevalence of underweight decreased and the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased significantly. In 2021, 67% of schoolchildren maintained the same nutritional category that they had in 2019, 21% gained weight and 12% lost weight. The model explains about 52% of the total variability observed. The factors that are significantly correlated in the model are school cycle, age, geographic altitude, school setting, and % of households with UBN. The results indicate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift to the right in the distribution of the nutritional status categories of the schoolchildren population in Jujuy, with a decrease in the prevalence of underweight and an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity with variations related to age, school location, geographic altitude, and socioeconomic characteristics of the households in the place where the children attended school.
Urban Political Structure and Inequality: Political Economy Lessons from Early Modern German Cities
Authors: Schaff Felix
Published: April 2024

What was the impact of urban political structure on preindustrial wealth inequality? I document that more closed political institutions were associated with higher inequality in a panel of early-modern German cities. To investigate the mechanisms behind that macro-relationship, I construct a unique individual-level panel dataset on personal wealth and political office-holding in the city-state of Nördlingen (1579–1700). I employ a difference-in-differences setting to show that political elites enriched themselves substantially, increasing inequality. To address endogeneity concerns, I exploit the Thirty-Years’ War as a shock to elites’ potential for enrichment from public office. Officials manipulated this crisis to enrich themselves further.
Ultrasonography-guided drainage versus surgical drainage for deep neck space abscesses: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Alzaid Mohammad , Ramadhan Mohammed , Abul Ahmad , Karam Mohammad , Alsaif Abdulmalik , Stapleton Emma
Published: April 2024

Objective

To compare ultrasonography-guided drainage versus conventional surgical incision and drainage in deep neck space abscesses.

Methods

The study was pre-registered on the National Institute of Health Research Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023466809) and adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The Medline, Embase and Central databases were searched. Primary outcomes were length of hospital stay and recurrence. Heterogeneity and bias risk were assessed, and a fixed-effects model was applied.

Results

Of 646 screened articles, 7 studies enrolling 384 participants were included. Ultrasonography-guided drainage was associated with a significantly shorter hospital stay (mean difference = −2.31, p < 0.00001), but no statistically significant difference was noted in recurrence rate compared to incision and drainage (odds ratio = 2.02, p = 0.21). Ultrasonography-guided drainage appeared to be associated with cost savings and better cosmetic outcomes.

Conclusion

Ultrasonography-guided drainage was associated with a shorter hospital stay, making it a viable and perhaps more cost-effective alternative. More randomised trials with adequate outcomes reporting are recommended to optimise the available evidence.
Multiple and frequent trypanosomatid co-infections of insects: the Cuban case study
Authors: Votýpka Jan , Zeman Šimon , Stříbrná Eva , Pajer Petr , Bartoš Oldřich , Kment Petr , Lukeš Julius , Lukeš Julius
Published: April 2024

Trypanosomatids are obligate parasites of animals, predominantly insects and vertebrates, and flowering plants. Monoxenous species, representing the vast majority of trypanosomatid diversity, develop in a single host, whereas dixenous species cycle between two hosts, of which primarily insect serves as a vector. To explore in-depth the diversity of insect trypanosomatids including their co-infections, sequence profiling of their 18S rRNA gene was used for true bugs (Hemiptera; 18% infection rate) and flies (Diptera; 10%) in Cuba. Out of 48 species (molecular operational taxonomic units) belonging to the genera Vickermania (16 spp.), Blastocrithidia (7), Obscuromonas (4), Phytomonas (5), Leptomonas/Crithidia (5), Herpetomonas (5), Wallacemonas (2), Kentomonas (1), Angomonas (1) and two unnamed genera (1 + 1), 38 species have been encountered for the first time. The detected Wallacemonas and Angomonas species constitute the most basal lineages of their respective genera, while Vickermania emerged as the most diverse group. The finding of Leptomonas seymouri, which is known to rarely infect humans, confirms that Dysdercus bugs are its natural hosts. A clear association of Phytomonas with the heteropteran family Pentatomidae hints at its narrow host association with the insect rather than plant hosts. With a focus on multiple infections of a single fly host, using deep Nanopore sequencing of 18S rRNA, we have identified co-infections with up to 8 trypanosomatid species. The fly midgut was usually occupied by several Vickermania species, while Herpetomonas and/or Kentomonas species prevailed in the hindgut. Metabarcoding was instrumental for analysing extensive co-infections and also allowed the identification of trypanosomatid lineages and genera.
PDF-5+: a comprehensive Powder Diffraction File™ for materials characterization
Authors: Kabekkodu Soorya N. , Dosen Anja , Blanton Thomas N.
Published: April 2024

For more than 80 years, the scientific community has extensively used International Centre for Diffraction Data's (ICDD®) Powder Diffraction File (PDF®) for material characterization, including powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Historically, PDF was made available for two major material types: one for inorganic analysis and the other for organic analysis. In the early years of the PDF, this two-material approach was implemented due to limited computer capabilities. With Release 2024, ICDD provides a comprehensive database consisting of the entire PDF in one database called PDF-5+, comprised of more than one million entries (1,061,898). The PDF-5+ with a relational database (RDB) construct houses extensive chemical, physical, bibliographic, and crystallographic data, including atomic coordinates and raw data, enabling qualitative and quantitative phase analysis. This wealth of information in one database is advantageous for phase identification, materials characterization, and several data mining applications in materials science. A database of this size needs rigorous data curation and structural and chemical classifications to optimize pattern search/match and characterization methods. Each entry in the PDF has an editorially assigned quality mark. An editorial comment will describe the reason if an entry does not meet the top-quality mark. The editorial processes of ICDD's quality management system are unique in that they are ISO 9001:2015 certified. Among several classifications implemented in PDF-5+, subfiles (such as Bioactive, Pharmaceuticals, Minerals, etc.) directly impact the search/match in minimizing false positives. Scientists with specific field expertise continuously review these subfiles to maintain their quality. This paper describes the features of PDF with an emphasis on the newly released PDF-5+.
Severe weather events and cryptosporidiosis in Aotearoa New Zealand: A case series of space–time clusters
Authors: Grout Leah , Hales Simon , Baker Michael G. , French Nigel , Wilson Nick
Published: April 2024

Occurrence of cryptosporidiosis has been associated with weather conditions in many settings internationally. We explored statistical clusters of human cryptosporidiosis and their relationship with severe weather events in New Zealand (NZ). Notified cases of cryptosporidiosis from 1997 to 2015 were obtained from the national surveillance system. Retrospective space–time permutation was used to identify statistical clusters. Cluster data were compared to severe weather events in a national database. SaTScan analysis detected 38 statistically significant cryptosporidiosis clusters. Around a third (34.2%, 13/38) of these clusters showed temporal and spatial alignment with severe weather events. Of these, nearly half (46.2%, 6/13) occurred in the spring. Only five (38%, 5/13) of these clusters corresponded to a previously reported cryptosporidiosis outbreak. This study provides additional evidence that severe weather events may contribute to the development of some cryptosporidiosis clusters. Further research on this association is needed as rainfall intensity is projected to rise in NZ due to climate change. The findings also provide further arguments for upgrading the quality of drinking water sources to minimize contamination with pathogens from runoff from livestock agriculture.
A 2-categorical proof of Frobenius for fibrations defined from a generic point
Authors: Hazratpour Sina , Riehl Emily
Published: April 2024

Consider a locally cartesian closed category with an object
$\mathbb{I}$
and a class of trivial fibrations, which admit sections and are stable under pushforward and retract as arrows. Define the fibrations to be those maps whose Leibniz exponential with the generic point of
$\mathbb{I}$
defines a trivial fibration. Then the fibrations are also closed under pushforward.
Redox imbalance accompanies loss of viability in seeds of two cacti species buried in situ
Authors: Guzmán-Hernández David A. , Barbosa-Martínez Claudia , Villa-Hernández Juan M. , Pérez-Flores Laura J.
Published: April 2024

This work provides insights into the deterioration of cacti seeds of Escontria chiotilla (F.A.C. Weber ex K. Schum) and Stenocereus pruinosus (Otto ex Pfeiff.) Buxbaum stored ex situ at 25 °C, under dry and dark conditions or buried in situ conditions in a xerophytic shrubland. Viability, germination speed, electrolyte leakage and indicators of the redox balance including glutathione content, glutathione half-cell reduction potential (EGSSG/2GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA), oxidized protein content, together with water-soluble antioxidant enzyme activity were assessed. Over a period of two years of storage, viability was maintained when seeds were stored ex situ at 7–9% water content compared to seeds buried in the soil. A second burial experiment showed that seeds of E. chiotilla maintained viability during a year of storage that included a rainy season followed by a dry season. Thereafter, they died rapidly during the second rainy season. In contrast, those of S. pruinosus started to lose viability after 6 months of burial at the end of the rainy season and were mostly dead at the end of the dry season. This difference in persistence between species was related to a difference in the glutathione content and antioxidant enzyme activities. In both storage experiments, the loss of viability of both species was associated to a EGSSG/2GSH shift to a more oxidative state during burial. Yet, contents in MDA and oxidized soluble proteins were not related to redox imbalance and loss of viability, indicating that these compounds are not good markers of oxidative stress in cacti seeds during storage.
Royals in Maharashtrian Writings: A Polyphony of Narratives
Authors: Kumbhojkar Shraddha
Published: April 2024

This article examines a range of texts produced by authors from different caste-class backgrounds in the Bombay Presidency in Western India between the 1850s and the 1920s. They were composed for commemorating special occasions such as the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne (1897) or the visits to India of the Prince of Wales (1876, 1922) and King George V (1911). These texts offer an opportunity for us to understand the various points of view about the British royalty as manifested in the world of Marathi speakers ranging from the harshly critical to the unabashedly loyalist, with many shades in between. The yardstick of modern nationalism has a fixed and negative image of what royalism represented for the colonial subjects. This article seeks to redress the balance.
Epilogue: The Postscripts of Vernacular Victoria
Authors: Dubey Mandakini
Published: April 2024

“Aajkal Agra ka mausam kaisa hai?” Queen Victoria asks herself, alone in her sumptuous quarters at Osborne House.1 How is the weather in Agra these days? Polite small talk, the loose change of a British monarch's verbal currency, recasts itself in unfamiliar phonemes as the empress of India practices her Hindustani. Soon, Agra will retreat from the imperial consciousness; it will be time to go to the durbar room, or work on her Urdu writing under the munshi's tutelage, perhaps before lunching on chicken curry.2
Mourning the Mother: Death and Feminine Authority in Odia Commemorations of Queen Victoria
Authors: Mishra Pritipuspa
Published: April 2024

The death of Queen Victoria occasioned the publication of commemorative narratives in early twentieth-century Odisha. They serve as site for understanding how feminine authority was imagined as the Odia literati engaged in a fraught movement for the formation of a separate province of Odisha. They imagined an Odia motherland in relation to figures of maternal authority such as mother India and mother Victoria. This article explores this vernacular representation of the queen as mother in the work of the poet Madhusudan Rao. By drawing on traditions of lament and maternal authority, the article illustrates how Rao used lament to carve out a palimpsest of multiple identities, from imperial subjecthood to regional belonging.
Introduction: Monarchism, Print Culture, and Language in Colonial India
Authors: Satpathy Siddharth
Published: April 2024

The collected essays in this “Vernacular Victoria” issue explore representations of Queen Victoria in Indian languages. They study how complex practices of loyalty to monarchical forms of authority enabled Indians to create and inhabit their diverse lifeworlds. They analyze how the uneven socialization of print and the complex cultures of literary production in colonial India shaped articulations of loyalty. “Vernacular Victoria” is about histories of Indian aspirations and negotiations, celebrations and disappointments. Victoria enables this special issue to contribute to a more global understanding of the field known as Victorian studies.
Rajabhakti: Languages of Political Belonging in Colonial Odisha
Authors: Satpathy Siddharth
Published: April 2024

This essay studies the formation of a political language of rajabhakti or monarchical loyalty in the Odia-language print sphere in the second half of the nineteenth century. This language revolved around the key terms of Providence, market rationalism, and character. The article traces the provincial careers of these crucial Victorian terms and explores their entanglement with local histories and discourses in the colony. It shows how the language of monarchical loyalty enabled provincial Victorians to construct and inhabit their everyday lifeworlds in the empire.
“Subjects,” “Liberty,” and “Equity”: Queen Victoria's Proclamations and Bengali Writers
Authors: Chakravorty Swapan
Published: April 2024

Starting with Queen Victoria's address to the Proclamation Durbar in 1877, this article surveys how Bengali writers critiqued British colonialism in India through their stories, songs, poetry, journalism, and lectures, sometimes directly about the queen herself, more often when discussing governance, social reform, and the desire for political liberty.
Preface
Authors: Satpathy Siddharth , Dubey Mandakini , Taylor Miles , Youssef Sharif
Published: April 2024

Vernacular Victoria: The Queen in the Languages of South Asia began life as an international online colloquium hosted by the Department of English at Ashoka University, Haryana, in collaboration with the Department of English at the University of Hyderabad (India). Participants were invited to give papers based on an archive of vernacular eulogies, addresses, memorials, and biographies collected by Miles Taylor during the course of research for his book Empress: Queen Victoria and India (Yale University Press, 2018). Following the colloquium of April 26–27, 2021, further commissions were undertaken as the editors broadened the scope of the project.
SPHERICAL REPRESENTATIONS FOR
$\boldsymbol C^{\boldsymbol {*}}$
-FLOWS III: WEIGHT-EXTENDED BRANCHING GRAPHS
Authors: UEDA YOSHIMICHI
Published: April 2024

We apply Takesaki’s and Connes’s ideas on structure analysis for type III factors to the study of links (a short term of Markov kernels) appearing in asymptotic representation theory.
Integration of the geriatric palliative care in oncological care of elderly patient with cancer
Authors: Sánchez-Dávila Josafat Napoleón , Verástegui Emma L. , Peña-Nieves Adriana , Allende-Pérez Silvia Rosa
Published: April 2024

Objectives

The objective of this article is to describe the profile of the population attended to by the palliative geriatrics clinic and to evaluate the symptomatic control derived from the care provided.

Methods

During 2017 a model based on a holistic approach was implemented, in this model the team geriatric palliative care plays a fundamental role by being part of the palliative care team and functioning as a liaison with the oncology team and other required services. We outlined the profile of 100 patients aged 70 and older seen between 2017 and 2019 at our geriatric palliative care clinic. Descriptive statistics were used. In addition, the symptoms and the care clinic model effect on the symptomatic control were analyzed, as well as the complexity of patients in palliative care with IDC-Pal.

Results

The patients median age was 83.5 years. Patients were classified by type of management: 47% within the supportive care group and 53% with palliative care only; 58% had metastatic disease and 84% presented at least 1 comorbidity. Frailty was observed in 78% and a Karnofsky scale of 60 or less was observed in 59% of the overall population.

Significance of results

Elderly cancer patients have a complex profile and may have multiple needs. Integrating geriatric palliative care can help to provide better and personalized care along with symptomatic control. Further studies are required to establish the ideal care model for these patients. Importantly, a personalized treatment with a geriatric palliative care specialist is a key element.
Rowan Williams’ Theology of Revelation
Authors: Vines Lachlan
Published: April 2024

In this essay, I explore two main areas of Rowan Williams’ theology of revelation. The former is his reflections on the silence of God – God’s reticence to clarify himself to us amid our theological and spiritual confusion. I argue that he is not denying that God has genuinely revealed himself to us, but rather Williams is grappling with – and exhorting us to grapple with – the limits of that revelation. The second area I explore is his theory of revelation as generative phenomena, and how his theory underwrites his understanding of church tradition and, mainly, scripture. Williams argues that there is a division within scripture between the parts containing true divine revelation and the parts containing humanity’s broken response to that revelation. I argue that this view, while it is very well formulated and has some merits, cannot surmount the epistemological obstacle of how biased and interested humans can adequately differentiate between these parts within scripture.
Recurrent depression and relational trauma: a single case of memory processing
Authors: Barton Stephen B. , Armstrong Peter V. , Meares Kevin , Bromley Elizabeth H.C. , Whitton David
Published: April 2024

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression, but a significant minority of clients are difficult to treat, including those with histories of relational trauma. The model of Beck et al. (1979) proposes that adverse childhood experiences lead to negative core beliefs, and these create a susceptibility to depression. However, Beck’s model does not identify trauma as a subset of adverse experiences. An alternative view is that traumatised clients internalise conflicting representations of self and it is conflict, interacting with trauma memories, that creates a vulnerability for depression. In this formulation, methods from the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could be incorporated into the treatment of depression, to emotionally process trauma memories and resolve self-identity conflicts. The aims of this study were to: (1) report the treatment of a 67-year-old man with recurrent depression and a history of prolonged relational trauma, and (2) to explore how memory processing from the treatment of PTSD can be incorporated into the treatment of recurrent depression. A single case observational design was used in the long-term treatment of a depressed traumatised client. The client received 47 individual sessions over 19 months in routine clinical practice in a tertiary CBT service. He completed repeated measures of mood, memory intrusions and sleep disruption. The client responded well to treatment with clinically significant improvements across measures of mood, memory and sleep. The effects were sustained over an 18-month follow-up. Memory processing was successfully integrated into a high-intensity treatment for recurrent depression. This is a promising approach for depressed clients with histories of relational trauma.

Key learning aims

(1)

To consider how imaginal reliving can be incorporated into CBT for recurrent depression, when relational trauma is present.

(2)

To consider the cognitive processing mode of depressed traumatised clients when appraising beliefs about self and others.

(3)

To consider vulnerability to depression based on intrusive memories and conflicting self-representations, not only core beliefs.
A spiritual call: the courses of action taken by individuals influenced by religious soft power
Authors: Ziv Tom
Published: April 2024

The study of religion and international relations has achieved renewed attention in the last two decades. This study investigates a specific aspect of this field: religious soft power. It focuses on individuals who were affected by religious soft power and develop a typology of courses of action these individuals can take vis-à-vis their home state. I argue that individuals can take three different types of actions: disruptive, reformative, and transnational. Using the cases of the Catholic Church and its followers, ISIS and Sunni believers, and the relations between Israel and the Evangelicals, I assess how these alternative actions are being manifested by different groups of individuals. Lastly, I offer an answer to the question of when individuals would use disruptive action and when will they use reformative one.
Refining Reflexive Environmental Law by Nature and Nurture: Autonomy, Accountability, and Adjustability
Authors: Ross Violet , de Almeida Lucila
Published: April 2024

Reflexive environmental law (REL) enables an understanding of how law builds potential for private company reflexivity. Reflexivity helps to avoid lock-in, and enhances learning and self-organization to resolve complex sustainability challenges. Thus far, REL theory has excluded traditional command-and-control regulation as a form of REL. This limits the potential of REL to understand how legislation can drive reflexivity and create more effective governance. Our framework expands the definition of REL and sets out six types of regulatory instrument found in legislation that may, or may not, constitute forms of REL. The framework comprises three reflexive drivers – autonomy, accountability, and adjustability – and, under these, eleven REL techniques. Through examples taken from European environmental legislation, we explain the drivers’ relationship with different regulatory instruments. This taxonomy empowers regulators and scholars to understand both the reflexive potential of regulatory instruments and the possibility to make instruments more reflexive in specific contexts.
Metabolism of halauxifen acid is regulated by genes located on wheat chromosome 5A
Authors: Landau Olivia A. , Concepcion Jeanaflor Crystal T. , Riechers Dean E.
Published: April 2024

Allohexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is tolerant to halauxifen-methyl (HM) via rapid detoxification of the phytotoxic form of HM, halauxifen acid (HA), to non-phytotoxic metabolites. Previous research utilizing ‘Chinese Spring’ (CS) wheat, alien substitution (i.e., endogenous chromosome pair substituted with a homoeologous pair from diploid Sears’ goatgrass (Aegilops searsii M. Feldman & M. Kislev) (AS), or nullisomic-tetrasomic (NT) lines indicated plants lacking chromosome 5A are more sensitive than CS to HM. We hypothesized the increased HM sensitivity of these plants results from losing gene(s) on chromosome 5A associated with HA metabolism, which leads to a reduced HA detoxification rate relative to CS. To compare HA abundance among AS, CS, alien substitution, and NT lines during a time course, two excised-leaf studies using unlabeled HM and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses were performed. Aegilops searsii accumulated more HA than CS did, and each substitution line at 8, 12, and 24 h after treatment (HAT). Furthermore, only the wheat substitution line lacking chromosome 5A displayed greater abundance of HA relative to CS (2.4- to 3.8-fold, depending on the time point). In contrast, HA abundances in lines possessing chromosome 5A were not different than HA abundances in CS at all time points. When NT lines were compared with CS, the nullisomic 5D-tetrasomic 5A (N5D-T5A) line displayed similar HA abundance, whereas the nullisomic 5A-tetrasomic 5D (N5A-T5D) accumulated approximately 3-fold more HA at 12 and 24 HAT. These results biochemically support the hypothesis that genes encoding HA-detoxifying enzyme(s) are located on wheat chromosome 5A and corroborate findings from previous greenhouse phenotypic experiments. Future experimentation is needed to identify and characterize genes and enzymes on wheat chromosome 5A involved with HA detoxification, which may include cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, unknown oxidases, UDP-dependent glucosyltransferases, or, potentially, transcription factors that regulate expression of these genes associated with HA detoxification.
Assessing Global and Regional Trends in Spatially Co‐Occurring Hot or Wet Annual Maxima Under Climate Change
Authors: Biess B. , Gudmundsson L. , Seneviratne S. I.
Published: April 2024

Recent years were characterized by spatially co‐occurring hot and wet extremes around the globe, raising questions about the contribution of human‐induced global warming to the changing likelihoods of such extreme years. To characterize spatially co‐occurring extremes we investigate recent trends in global and regional land area that is concurrently affected by hot or wet annual maxima taking observational uncertainty into account. Observed trends in the land area affected by extreme events are assessed in the context of Earth System Model (ESM) simulations for present‐day and early‐industrial climate conditions in a detection and attribution setting. We compare different reanalysis and station‐based observational products to account for observational data uncertainty. At the global scale, trends of spatially co‐occurring hot or wet annual maxima in all observational products can be explained by ESM simulations driven by historical radiative forcing that accounts for human‐induced changes in the composition of the atmosphere but cannot be explained by ESM simulations that account for an early‐industrial radiative forcing. At the regional scale, trends in spatially co‐occurring hot annual maxima are in general coherent among observational products and can in most cases be attributed to human influence on the climate system. Trends in spatially co‐occurring wet annual maxima show differences in some regions, highlighting the importance of a multi‐dataset approach to overcome observational product dependencies. Despite observational uncertainty, we find robust detection and attribution results for many regions. These results can complement previous assessments on regional exposure to hot and wet events from the new IPCC AR6 report.
Salient Changes of Earth's Magnetic Field Toward the End of Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS)
Authors: Liu Xinyu , Li Yong‐Xiang , Richter Carl
Published: April 2024

Changes in Earth's magnetic field during the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS) spanning ∼121 Ma to ∼84 Ma hold important clues about the geodynamo evolution. Canonical models predict a persistently strong geomagnetic field with low variability during CNS, which, however, has not been observed in the available absolute paleointensity data and seafloor marine magnetic anomaly (MMA) records. The lack of relative paleointensity (RPI) data across CNS further impedes tests of model predictions. Here, we present a ∼9‐Myr (∼94–∼85 Ma) RPI record from a Turonian to Santonian hemipelagic succession from IODP Site U1512 offshore southern Australia. Detailed paleomagnetic and rock magnetic analyses demonstrate that the ratio of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) demagnetized at 20 mT over magnetic susceptibility (MS), that is, NRM20mT/MS, as a reliable proxy for the RPI of the Upper Cretaceous succession. The new RPI record shows marked changes in both intensity and variability at ∼90.8 Ma. Also, the 6 Myr‐long (∼94–∼88 Ma), near‐continuous, ∼1.2 kyr‐resolution RPI record exhibits a strong positive correlation between field intensity and variability. Assuming this correlation holds for the entire CNS, an extrapolated RPI curve for the entire CNS is obtained by integrating the positive correlation with field variability estimates from the MMA data. The extrapolated RPI curve shows a strong and highly variable field in the middle CNS but a weak and stable field at its beginning and ending. These features imply a much more dynamic geodynamo than previously thought, and provide crucial benchmarks for unraveling the geodynamo evolution during CNS.
Vegetation Loss Following Vertical Drowning of Mississippi River Deltaic Wetlands Leads to Faster Microbial Decomposition and Decreases in Soil Carbon
Authors: Creamer C. A. , Waldrop M. P. , Stagg C. L. , Manies K. L. , Baustian M. M. , Laurenzano C. , Aw T. G. , Haw M. , Merino S. L. , Schoolmaster D. R. , Sevilgen S. , Villani R. K. , Ward E. J.
Published: April 2024

Wetland ecosystems hold nearly a third of the global soil carbon pool, but as wetlands rapidly disappear the fate of this stored soil carbon is unclear. The aim of this study was to quantify and then link potential rates of microbial decomposition after vertical drowning of vegetated tidal marshes in coastal Louisiana to known drivers of anaerobic decomposition altered by vegetation loss. Profiles of potential CH4 and CO2 production (surface to 60 cm deep) were measured during anaerobic incubations, organic matter chemistry was assessed with infrared spectroscopy, and soil porewater nutrients and redox potentials were measured in the field along a chronosequence of wetland loss. After vertical drowning, pond soils had lower redox potentials, higher pH values, lower soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations, lower lignin: polysaccharide ratios, more NH4+ and PO43−, and higher rates of potential CO2 release than vegetated marsh soils. Potential CH4 production was similar in vegetated marshes and open water ponds, with depth‐dependent decreases in CH4 production as soil carbon concentrations increased. In these anoxic soils, vegetation loss exerts a primary control on decomposition rates because flooding drives sustained increases in porewater nutrient availability (NH4+ and PO43, dissolved organic carbon) and decreases in redox potential (from −150 to −500 mV) that lead to higher potential CO2 fluxes within a few years. Without new carbon inputs following wetland loss, the sustained decomposition in open water ponds may lead to losses of stored soil carbon and could influence global carbon budgets.
Observational Verification of High‐Order Solar Tidal Harmonics in the Earth's Atmosphere
Authors: He Maosheng , Forbes Jeffrey M. , Jacobi Christoph , Li Guozhu , Liu Libo , Stober Gunter , Wang Chi
Published: April 2024

This study combines 8 years of middle atmospheric wind data observed at 52°N latitude from two radars in different longitudinal sectors to investigate solar tides. The power spectral density of horizontal winds exhibits a −3 power law within the frequency range 2.0 < f < 7.0 cpd (equivalent to periods 3.6 − 12.0 hr). Particularly noteworthy are the 4.8‐ and 4‐hr tides, exhibiting signal‐to‐noise ratios ranging between 13 and 16 dB, surpassing the 0.01 significance level. This challenges their previous oversight in literature, possibly due to inadequacies in prevailing noise models. Cross‐spectra between longitudinal sectors emphasize the dominance of sun‐synchronous components in the six lowest‐frequency tides. Composite spectra indicate that tidal enhancements during SSWs resemble regular seasonal variations. Intriguingly, year‐to‐year spectral variations suggest that these enhancements are more influenced by seasonal dynamics than by SSW, contrasting with established literature. These findings underscore the need to reevaluate tidal harmonics and consider appropriate noise models in future studies.
On the Importance of the Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability on Magnetospheric and Solar Wind Dynamics During High Magnetic Shear
Authors: Nykyri Katariina
Published: April 2024

The secondary processes driven by the velocity shear driven Kelvin‐Helmholtz Instability (KHI) in the magnetized plasmas have been shown to be important in producing plasma transport and heating from the shocked solar wind into the Earth's magnetosphere (MSP). The plasma transport into the MSP due to KHI has been shown to be strongest during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) via KHI driven low‐ and mid‐latitude reconnection process. In a recent article, Li et al. (2023), https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl105539 show Magnetosphere Multi‐Scale (MMS) spacecraft observations of multiple, Alfvénic reconnection jets during southward IMF at the dawn‐side MSP flank. The quasi‐periodic oscillations in plasma parameters and compressed, ion‐scale current sheets were strongly indicative of the MMS crossing regions of MSP‐like and magnetosheath‐like plasma within Kelvin‐Helmholtz waves. In this brief commentary, the importance of this new discovery for magnetospheric and solar wind dynamics is discussed.
NOON-state interference in the frequency domain
Authors: Lee Dongjin , Shin Woncheol , Park Sebae , Kim Junyeop , Shin Heedeuk
Published: April 2024

The examination of entanglement across various degrees of freedom has been pivotal in augmenting our understanding of fundamental physics, extending to high dimensional quantum states, and promising the scalability of quantum technologies. In this paper, we demonstrate the photon number path entanglement in the frequency domain by implementing a frequency beam splitter that converts the single-photon frequency to another with 50% probability using Bragg scattering four-wave mixing. The two-photon NOON state in a single-mode fiber is generated in the frequency domain, manifesting the two-photon interference with two-fold enhanced resolution compared to that of single-photon interference, showing the outstanding stability of the interferometer. This successful translation of quantum states in the frequency domain will pave the way toward the discovery of fascinating quantum phenomena and scalable quantum information processing.