bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intergovernmental Relations
Authors: Gallagher Jim
Published: September 2020

Intergovernmental relations between the Scottish and UK governments are conditioned by path dependence from the pre-devolution arrangements, for example, in finance. They are also conditioned by the UK’s (uncodified) constitutional arrangements, such that the Sewel Convention has played a role, one which its authors might not have contemplated. Models of dual, co-operative, and competitive federalism are used to analyse the changing nature of intergovernmental relations. A dual federalism mode, under which governments get on with their own business, has developed into a mixture of co-operative and competitive relations. Achievements of co-operation include day-to-day official co-operation, but also intergovernmental agreement on major and difficult issues, such as holding an independence referendum, and the implementation of radical devolution of taxation and welfare. Intergovernmental competition includes political competition for votes, and economic competition through different packages of tax and welfare. Constitutional change has been a defining feature of intergovernmental relations over the last ten years. The chapter concludes by identifying some possible future trends—increasing economic and political competition, coupled with increasing demands for detailed co-operation over new powers—and the options for codifying and strengthening intergovernmental relations.
Scotland at Westminster
Authors: Evans Adam
Published: September 2020

Since the Treaty and Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland has returned MPs to Westminster. Whilst dwarfed, at least demographically by its partner in that Union, England, Scotland has, on a number of occasions, punched above its weight at the Centre—most notably at either end of the twentieth century when Liberalism and then Labour dominated Scottish politics. This chapter examines the relationship of Scotland with the UK Parliament. It begins by placing this relationship in its historical context, before then turning to an audit of contemporary Scottish influence and representation at Westminster, post-devolution. This chapter does this by breaking down two of the main and interconnected dimensions of Scottish representation at Westminster: (1) Scottish parliamentarians and the Westminster party system; and (2) institutional representation within Parliament. This latter category includes both Scottish-specific institutional mechanisms, such as the Scottish Affairs Committee and the Scottish Grand Committee, and the broader Westminster apparatus that can be leveraged for influence, such as parliamentary question times.
Geographesis, or the Afterlife of Britain in Chaucer
Authors: Cohen Jeffrey Jerome
Published: September 2020

Through a close reading of several of the Canterbury Tales (but especially the Franklin’s Tale), this chapter maps the glimmers of British (especially Welsh) history within Geoffrey Chaucer’s Anglocentric narrative ambit. The inquiry is framed through the use of postcolonial anthropology and ecomaterialism, and discussion returns repeatedly to how humans compose narratives with and on stone (menhirs, monoliths, Stonehenge), especially because stone’s duration is so vast. A major focus of the chapter is Chaucer’s unspoken debt to the twelfth-century British historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, who stands at the commencement of the Arthur myth that Chaucer so often dismisses as dead or long past. Stone ensures that this history endures.
Lydgate’s Chaucer
Authors: Bale Anthony
Published: September 2020

This chapter explores the ways in which the fifteenth-century poet John Lydgate read and used Chaucer’s writing. Lydgate was crucial to the construction of Chaucer’s reputation, but the terms of Lydgate’s praise are ambiguous. This chapter explores three specific moments and different modes of Lydgatian emulation: in ‘The Mumming at Bishopswood’; the Prologue to The Siege of Thebes; and in poems written for and about Thomas and Alice Chaucer (Geoffrey Chaucer’s son and grand-daughter). I show how closely Lydgate worked with Chaucer’s work, but I also argue that Lydgate’s formal and lexical emulation of Chaucer does not equate to uncritical borrowing: Lydgate repeatedly finds new ways in which to imagine, and reshape, Chaucer’s poetic oeuvre.
Law and Justice in Aristotle
Authors: Bertelli Lucio
Published: September 2020

This chapter provides a comprehensive account of Aristotle’s views on law and justice. It starts off with the differences between Plato’s and Aristotle’s theories. It then discusses in detail Aristotle’s analysis of the various kinds of justice in the Nicomachean Ethics, and moves to the Rhetoric with its conception of legality and ‘fairness’ (epieikeia). It then concludes with an analysis of how different conceptions of justice, as well as a commitment to the supremacy of law, informs Aristotle’s various constitutional taxonomies in the Politics. It discusses in particular the relationship between various notions of proportional justice and particular regimes (politeiai), with a focus on democracy and oligarchy.
Punic
Authors: Baurain Claude
Published: September 2020

This chapter focuses on the Punic literature of the Roman imperial period. Since Punic works have not survived from either the Punic city or the Roman city, investigations on Punic literature can only be based on indirect testimonies—including Neo-Punic epigraphy, a temporary survival of the Neo-Punic language and writing, and fragments in translation attributed to Mago the agronomist—or on a cautious assessment of the cultural mood in the Punic city and the role the neighbouring Numidian population may have played in the conservation of the Punic literary output. From this viewpoint, the fate meted out in 146 bce, just after the fall of Carthage, by the Roman Senate to the Agronomic Treatise written by Mago in Punic and to the libri Punici most probably written in Greek is worth special attention because these works could have been one of the stimuli for the Graeco-Latin literature that flourished in Roman Africa right up to the late imperial period. As for other writings in Punic, kept in the archives of Carthage in Punic times, they probably served primarily to preserve traditional knowledge. The contents and the long and turbulent history of the handwritten archives assembled much later in Timbuktu and elsewhere in Mali provide a glimpse into the diversity of topics treated in the Punic language and writing by Carthaginians who lived before 146 bce. As for the Roman city, there is nothing tangible that would support the idea of a ‘renaissance’ in Punic literary output.
Time Bombs
Authors: Verhoeven Claudia
Published: September 2020

The chapter argues that terrorism, at least in Russia and Europe during the nineteenth century, may be understood as a political modernism. Terrorism is thus not only modern, but self-consciously so. Predicated on a particularly modern understanding of historical time, terrorism is perpetrated by people who are historically hyperconscious and who seek, via violence, either to move history forward faster; to reroute, derail, or demolish it; or, finally, to break free of it entirely. The chapter proposes this idea as an extension of the argument that terrorism is modern, aims to expose terrorism’s temporal orientation, and establishes links with related phenomena in art and literature.
KIC 9406652: A laboratory for tilted disks in cataclysmic variable stars
Authors: Kimura Mariko , Osaki Yoji , Kato Taichi
Published: September 2020

KIC 9406652 is a cataclysmic variable, sub-classified as an “IW And-type” star, which shows repeated standstills with oscillatory variations terminated by brightening. This system shows negative superhumps, semi-periodic variations having periods slightly shorter than the ∼6 hr orbital period, and super-orbital signals having ∼4 d periods, both of which are believed to originate from a precessing, tilted accretion disk. We have re-examined its Kepler light curve over 1500 d. In accordance with a cycle of IW And-type light variation, the frequency of negative superhumps showed reproducible variation: a rapid drop during the brightening and a gradual increase during the standstill. This is interpreted as a drastic change in the radial mass distribution and the expansion of the tilted disk, which is not expected from the existing models of IW And stars. The constancy in flux amplitudes of the negative superhumps confirms that their light source is the bright spot sweeping across the surface of the tilted disk. The frequencies of the negative superhumps and super-orbital signals varied in unison on long timescales, suggesting their common origin: the tilted disk. The orbital signals at the brightening were dominated by the irradiation of the secondary star and varied with the orientation of the tilted disk; the amplitude was maximized at the minimum of the super-orbital signals, and the light maximum shifted to early orbital phases as the super-orbital phase advanced. This is the first direct evidence that the disk is tilted out of the binary orbital plane and is retrogradely precessing. The tilt angle of the disk inferred from semi-amplitudes of super-orbital signals was lower than 3°. The diversity in light curves of the negative superhumps supports this and suggests that part of the gas stream overflows the disk edge. This study thus offers rich information about the tilted disk in cataclysmic variables.
Choline-Mediated Lipid Reprogramming as a Dominant Salt Tolerance Mechanism in Grass Species Lacking Glycine Betaine
Authors: Zhang Kun , Lyu Weiting , Gao Yanli , Zhang Xiaxiang , Sun Yan , Huang Bingru
Published: September 2020

Choline, as a precursor of glycine betaine (GB) and phospholipids, is known to play roles in plant tolerance to salt stress, but the downstream metabolic pathways regulated by choline conferring salt tolerance are still unclear for non-GB-accumulating species. The objectives were to examine how choline affects salt tolerance in a non-GB-accumulating grass species and to determine major metabolic pathways of choline regulating salt tolerance involving GB or lipid metabolism. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) plants were subjected to salt stress (100 mM NaCl) with or without foliar application of choline chloride (1 mM) in a growth chamber. Choline or GB alone and the combined application increased leaf photochemical efficiency, relative water content and osmotic adjustment and reduced leaf electrolyte leakage. Choline application had no effects on the endogenous GB content and GB synthesis genes did not show responses to choline under nonstress and salt stress conditions. GB was not detected in Kentucky bluegrass leaves. Lipidomic analysis revealed an increase in the content of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine and a decrease in the phosphatidic acid content by choline application in plants exposed to salt stress. Choline-mediated lipid reprogramming could function as a dominant salt tolerance mechanism in non-GB-accumulating grass species.
Stakeholder Engagement in Pragmatic Clinical Trials: Emphasizing Relationships to Improve Pain Management Delivery and Outcomes
Authors: Bastian Lori A , Cohen Steven P , Katsovich Lily , Becker William C , Brummett Bradley R , Burgess Diana J , Crunkhorn Andrea E , Denneson Lauren M , Frank Joseph W , Goertz Christine , Ilfeld Brian , Kanzler Kathryn E , Krishnaswamy Akshaya , LaChappelle Kathryn , Martino Steve , Mattocks Kristin , McGeary Cindy A , Reznik Thomas E , Rhon Daniel I , Salsbury Stacie A , Seal Karen H , Semiatin Alicia M , Shin Marlena H , Simon Corey B , Teyhen Deydre S , Zamora Kara , Kerns, Robert D ,   the NIH-DOD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory
Published: September 2020

Background

The NIH-DOD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) supports 11 pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) on nonpharmacological approaches to management of pain and co-occurring conditions in U.S. military and veteran health organizations. The Stakeholder Engagement Work Group is supported by a separately funded Coordinating Center and was formed with the goal of developing respectful and productive partnerships that will maximize the ability to generate trustworthy, internally valid findings directly relevant to veterans and military service members with pain, front-line primary care clinicians and health care teams, and health system leaders. The Stakeholder Engagement Work Group provides a forum to promote success of the PCTs in which principal investigators and/or their designees discuss various stakeholder engagement strategies, address challenges, and share experiences. Herein, we communicate features of meaningful stakeholder engagement in the design and implementation of pain management pragmatic trials, across the PMC.

Design

Our collective experiences suggest that an optimal stakeholder-engaged research project involves understanding the following: i) Who are research stakeholders in PMC trials? ii) How do investigators ensure that stakeholders represent the interests of a study’s target treatment population, including individuals from underrepresented groups?, and iii) How can sustained stakeholder relationships help overcome implementation challenges over the course of a PCT?

Our experiences outline the role of stakeholders in pain research and may inform future pragmatic trial researchers regarding methods to engage stakeholders effectively.
Operational Considerations for Physical Therapy During COVID-19: A Rapid Review
Authors: Wittmeier Kristy , Parsons Joanne , Webber Sandra , Askin Nicole , Salonga Adrian
Published: September 2020

Objective

Physical therapists play an important role in responding to pandemic and physical disaster situations. Existing literature can provide guidance to health care leadership teams to appropriately and safely leverage physical therapy resources and skill sets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to provide a review of the pandemic and physical disaster management literature to summarize physical therapy–specific operational considerations to assist hospital-based leadership teams in planning and response efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A rapid review was conducted over a 4-week time frame (April–May 2020). The review team included 3 physical therapist clinician researchers, a health librarian, and a member of the physical therapy leadership team. The initial search strategy identified 303 articles, 80 of which were retained for full-text screening. Twenty articles were included in the review.

Results

Five main categories of operational considerations for physical therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified: (1) organizational actions, (2) staffing considerations, (3) physical therapist roles, (4) physical resources, and (5) other considerations. Additional relevant information from physical therapists’ experiences in physical disaster situations was also summarized.

Conclusion

The evidence presented within this review can be used to inform facility-based and regional planning efforts during the current COVID-19 pandemic and in general preparedness planning.

Impact

Physical therapists have an important role to play in response efforts related to major events that impact health and wellness, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence-informed, facility-based, and regional planning during the current COVID-19 pandemic will help physical therapists enhance their role in treating patients in physical therapy and rehabilitation settings.
Phylogenomic Data Reveal Widespread Introgression Across the Range of an Alpine and Arctic Specialist
Authors: Funk Erik R , Spellman Garth M , Winker Kevin , Withrow Jack J , Ruegg Kristen C , Zavaleta Erika , Taylor Scott A
Published: September 2020

Understanding how gene flow affects population divergence and speciation remains challenging. Differentiating one evolutionary process from another can be difficult because multiple processes can produce similar patterns, and more than one process can occur simultaneously. Although simple population models produce predictable results, how these processes balance in taxa with patchy distributions and complicated natural histories is less certain. These types of populations might be highly connected through migration (gene flow), but can experience stronger effects of genetic drift and inbreeding, or localized selection. Although different signals can be difficult to separate, the application of high-throughput sequence data can provide the resolution necessary to distinguish many of these processes. We present whole-genome sequence data for an avian species group with an alpine and arctic tundra distribution to examine the role that different population genetic processes have played in their evolutionary history. Rosy-finches inhabit high elevation mountaintop sky islands and high-latitude island and continental tundra. They exhibit extensive plumage variation coupled with low levels of genetic variation. Additionally, the number of species within the complex is debated, making them excellent for studying the forces involved in the process of diversification, as well as an important species group in which to investigate species boundaries. Total genomic variation suggests a broadly continuous pattern of allele frequency changes across the mainland taxa of this group in North America. However, phylogenomic analyses recover multiple distinct, well supported, groups that coincide with previously described morphological variation and current species-level taxonomy. Tests of introgression using D-statistics and approximate Bayesian computation reveal significant levels of introgression between multiple North American taxa. These results provide insight into the balance between divergent and homogenizing population genetic processes and highlight remaining challenges in interpreting conflict between different types of analytical approaches with whole-genome sequence data. [ABBA-BABA; approximate Bayesian computation; gene flow; phylogenomics; speciation; whole-genome sequencing.]
Welcoming PhytoFrontiers™ into Our APS Family of Journals
Authors: Grünwald Niklaus J. , Klosterman Steven J.
Published: September 2020

The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is launching the new journal PhytoFrontiers™. As with many other gold open access (OA) journals, manuscripts will not be judged on novelty but rather solely on quality and scientific rigor. The expectation therefore is that the manuscripts are based on solid experimental design, robust statistical analyses, and quality technical writing. PhytoFrontiers explicitly encourages publication of negative results because it removes a significant and persistent bias from the literature. PhytoFrontiers establishes a new venue for our plant health colleagues in Europe and elsewhere who are required by their institutions or funders to publish in gold OA journals (i.e., journals that allow immediate access to all content). PhytoFrontiers complements our established journals by providing a new place for manuscripts that do not fit the subject areas currently covered in our five existing journals. These papers might cover subjects as broad as robotics, microbial taxonomy, and those that focus primarily on abiotic stress responses, in addition to all of those plant health subjects typically found in our other APS journals, and potentially other subject areas. We are excited to launch this new journal and hope you will consider PhytoFrontiers for your next submission. Follow us on our new journey on Twitter @PhytoFrontiers .

[Formula: see text] The author(s) have dedicated the work to the public domain under the Creative Commons CC0 “No Rights Reserved” license by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. 2021
Addressing Patient Bias and Discrimination Against Clinicians of Diverse Backgrounds
Authors: Chandrashekar Pooja , Jain Sachin H.
Published: September 2020

The duty to care for all patients is central to the health professions, but what happens when clinicians encounter patients who exhibit biased or discriminatory behaviors? While significant attention has focused on addressing clinician bias toward patients, incidents of patient bias toward clinicians also occur and are difficult to navigate.

Clinicians anecdotally describe their experiences with patient bias, prejudice, and discrimination as profoundly painful and degrading. Though this phenomenon has not been rigorously studied, it is not unreasonable to postulate that the moral distress caused by patient bias may ultimately contribute to clinician burnout. Because women and minority clinicians are more likely to be targets of patient bias, this may worsen existing disparities for these groups and increase their risk for burnout. Biased behavior may also affect patient outcomes.

Although some degree of ignoring derogatory comments is necessary to maintain professionalism and workflow, clinicians also have the right to a workplace free of mistreatment and abuse. How should clinicians reconcile the expectation to always “put patients first” with their basic right to be treated with dignity and respect? And how can health care organizations develop policies and training to mitigate the effects of these experiences?

The authors discuss the ethical dilemmas associated with responding to prejudiced patients and then present a framework for clinicians to use when directly facing or witnessing biased behavior from patients. Finally, they describe strategies to address patient bias at the institutional level.
Addressing Bias and Reducing Discrimination: The Professional Responsibility of Health Care Providers
Authors: Mateo Camila M. , Williams David R.
Published: September 2020

The prevalence of harmful bias and discrimination within the health professions is staggering. Moreover, literature consistently demonstrates their persistence and their negative impact on patient care. Several professional codes of conduct for health professionals highlight the importance of addressing these forces in practice. However, despite this, these forces are often discussed as tangential within health professions curricula. This paper examines the prevalence of bias and discrimination, its effects on patient care and health professions trainees, and reviews the historical context of societal bias and discrimination within the health professions institution. The authors argue that addressing harmful bias and discrimination is the professional responsibility of every provider and essential to effective and equitable care.
Beyond Technical Standards: A Competency-Based Framework for Access and Inclusion in Medical Education
Authors: Curry Raymond H. , Meeks Lisa M. , Iezzoni Lisa I.
Published: September 2020

Efforts to include people with disability as students and practitioners in the health professions have gained momentum in recent years. However, prevailing technical standards at U.S. medical schools have biases that can prevent or impede their admission, promotion, and graduation. These standards derive from an approach first promulgated in 1979 and have since remained largely unaltered. Current technical standards at most medical schools are now at odds with changes occurring since the 1990 enactment of broad civil rights protections for people with disability and current aspirations for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the medical profession. It is time to replace the technical standards construct with an approach more consistent with current medical practices, and with societal imperatives of equity and social justice. Such an approach should assess candidates’ demonstrable skills and merits, rather than relying on a preconceived construct identifying the presence or absence of defined levels of ability. The maturation of competency-based approaches to curricular design and assessment provides an opportunity to reconceptualize the abilities required to practice medicine, foster the appropriate inclusion of physicians with disability, and better align medical education and training with broader societal needs and goals.
Practical Lessons for Teaching About Race and Racism: Successfully Leading Free, Frank, and Fearless Discussions
Authors: Peek Monica E. , Vela Monica B. , Chin Marshall H.
Published: September 2020

Successfully teaching about race and racism requires a careful balance of emotional safety and honest truth-telling. Creating such environments where all learners can thrive and grow together is a challenge, but a consistently doable one. This article describes 12 lessons learned within 4 main themes: ground rules; language and communication; concepts of social constructs, intersectionality, and bidirectional biases; and structural racism, solutions, and advocacy. The authors’ recommendations for how to successfully teach health professions students about race and racism come from their collective experience of over 60 years of instruction, research, and practice. Proficiency in discussing race and addressing racism will become increasingly relevant as health care institutions strive to address the social needs of patients (e.g., food insecurity, housing instability) that contribute to poor health and are largely driven by structural inequities. Having interprofessional team-based care, with teams better able to understand and counteract their own biases, will be critical to addressing the social and structural determinants of health for marginalized patients. Recognizing that implicit biases about race impact both patients and health professions students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds is a critical step toward building robust curricula about race and health equity that will improve the learning environment for trainees and reduce health disparities.
Telemedicine and Medical Education in the Age of COVID-19
Authors: Jumreornvong Oranicha , Yang Emmy , Race Jasmine , Appel Jacob
Published: September 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered medical schools an opportunity to incorporate telemedicine training into the curricula in a timely and practical manner. Telemedicine has grown exponentially in the United States, and the shift toward remote care to align with social distancing guidelines is fueling this growth. Training medical students to deliver high-quality, secure, and personalized health care through telemedicine will prepare the next generation of physicians to conscientiously use these technologies and meet a growing need for telehealth services. Telemedicine-specific educational goals can be incorporated into curricula and integrated with existing clinical experiences to provide students with core telemedicine and clinical skills to prepare them for current and future pandemics. Medical educators could explore 5 major telemedicine domains: (1) access to care, (2) cost, (3) cost-effectiveness, (4) patient experience, and (5) clinician experience. Schools could use the following learning vehicles to help medical students explore these domains: (1) asynchronous lectures covering telehealth history; (2) discussions on applications, ethics, safety, etiquette, and patient considerations; (3) faculty-supervised standardized patient telehealth encounters; and (4) hands-on diagnostic or therapeutic procedures using telehealth equipment. Incorporating telemedicine into the medical school curriculum exposes students to the application of telemedicine across specialties as well as its limitations.
Posters of the 2020 American Association of Neuroscience Nurses Annual Meeting: The Year There Was No Wall on Which to Hang Them
Authors: Fecske Erin
Published: September 2020

The 2020 annual meeting of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a summary of 27 abstracts presented in poster format that were accepted to that meeting.
The impact of autophagy during the development and survival of glioblastoma
Authors: Simpson Joanne E. , Gammoh Noor
Published: September 2020

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive adult brain tumour, with poor median survival and limited treatment options. Following surgical resection and chemotherapy, recurrence of the disease is inevitable. Genomic studies have identified key drivers of glioblastoma development, including amplifications of receptor tyrosine kinases, which drive tumour growth. To improve treatment, it is crucial to understand survival response processes in glioblastoma that fuel cell proliferation and promote resistance to treatment. One such process is autophagy, a catabolic pathway that delivers cellular components sequestered into vesicles for lysosomal degradation. Autophagy plays an important role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and is upregulated during stress conditions, such as limited nutrient and oxygen availability, and in response to anti-cancer therapy. Autophagy can also regulate pro-growth signalling and metabolic rewiring of cancer cells in order to support tumour growth. In this review, we will discuss our current understanding of how autophagy is implicated in glioblastoma development and survival. When appropriate, we will refer to findings derived from the role of autophagy in other cancer models and predict the outcome of manipulating autophagy during glioblastoma treatment.
Neutrophil interactions with the sexually transmitted parasite
Trichomonas vaginalis:
implications for immunity and pathogenesis
Authors: Bhakta Suhani B. , Moran Jose A. , Mercer Frances
Published: September 2020

Trichomoniasis is the third most common sexually transmitted infection in humans and is caused by the protozoan parasite,
Trichomonas vaginalis
(
Tv
). Pathogenic outcomes are more common in women and generally include mild vaginitis or cervicitis. However, more serious effects associated with trichomoniasis include adverse reproductive outcomes. Like other infectious agents, pathogenesis from
Tv
infection is predicted to be the result of both parasite and host factors. At the site of infection, neutrophils are the most abundant immune cells present and probably play key roles in both parasite clearance and inflammatory pathology. Here, we discuss the evidence that neutrophils home to the site of
Tv
infection, kill the parasite, and that in some circumstances, parasites possibly evade neutrophil-directed killing.
In vitro
, the parasite is killed by neutrophils using a novel antimicrobial mechanism called trogocytosis, which probably involves both innate and adaptive immunity. While mechanisms of evasion are mostly conjecture at present, the persistence of
Tv
infections in patients argues strongly for their existence. Additionally, many strains of
Tv
harbour microbial symbionts
Mycoplasma hominis
or
Trichomonasvirus
, which are both predicted to impact neutrophil responses against the parasite. Novel research tools, especially animal models, will help to reveal the true outcomes of many factors involved in neutrophil-
Tv
interactions during trichomoniasis.
Force reversal and energy dissipation in composite tubes through nonlinear viscoelasticity of component materials
Authors: Sedal Audrey , Wineman Alan
Published: September 2020

Fibre-reinforced, fluid-filled structures are commonly found in nature and emulated in devices. Researchers in the field of soft robotics have used such structures to build lightweight, impact-resistant and safe robots. The polymers and biological materials in many soft actuators have these advantageous characteristics because of viscoelastic energy dissipation. Yet, the gross effects of these underlying viscoelastic properties have not been studied. We explore nonlinear viscoelasticity in soft, pressurized fibre-reinforced tubes, which are a popular type of soft actuation and a common biological architecture. Relative properties of the reinforcement and matrix materials lead to a rich parameter space connecting actuator inputs, loading response and energy dissipation. We solve a mechanical problem in which both the fibre and the matrix are nonlinearly viscoelastic, and the tube deforms into component materials’ nonlinear response regimes. We show that stress relaxation of an actuator can cause the relationship between the working fluid input and the output force to reverse over time compared to the equivalent, non-dissipative case. We further show that differences in design parameter and viscoelastic material properties can affect energy dissipation throughout the use cycle. This approach bridges the gap between viscoelastic behaviour of fibre-reinforced materials and time-dependent soft robot actuation.
ABCB transporters in a leaf beetle respond to sequestered plant toxins
Authors: Kowalski Paulina , Baum Michael , Körten Marcel , Donath Alexander , Dobler Susanne
Published: September 2020

Phytophagous insects can tolerate and detoxify toxic compounds present in their host plants and have evolved intricate adaptations to this end. Some insects even sequester the toxins for their defence. This necessitates specific mechanisms, especially carrier proteins that regulate uptake and transport to specific storage sites or protect sensitive tissues from noxious compounds. We identified three ATP-binding cassette subfamily B (ABCB) transporters from the transcriptome of the cardenolide-sequestering leaf beetleChrysochus auratusand analysed their functional role in the sequestration process. These were heterologously expressed and tested for their ability to interact with various potential substrates: verapamil (standard ABCB substrate), the cardenolides digoxin (commonly used), cymarin (present in the species's host plant) and calotropin (present in the ancestral host plants). Verapamil stimulated all three ABCBs and each was activated by at least one cardenolide, however, they differed as to which they were activated by. While the expression of the most versatile transporter fits with a protective role in the blood–brain barrier, the one specific for cymarin shows an extreme abundance in the elytra, coinciding with the location of the defensive glands. Our data thus suggest a key role of ABCBs in the transport network needed for cardenolide sequestration.
Aphid infestation differently affects the defences of nitrate-fed and nitrogen-fixing
Medicago truncatula
and alters symbiotic nitrogen fixation
Authors: Pandharikar Gaurav , Gatti Jean-Luc , Simon Jean-Christophe , Frendo Pierre , Poirié Marylène
Published: September 2020

Legumes can meet their nitrogen requirements through root nodule symbiosis, which could also trigger plant systemic resistance against pests. The pea aphid
Acyrthosiphon pisum
, a legume pest, can harbour different facultative symbionts (FS) influencing various traits of their hosts. It is therefore worth determining if and how the symbionts of the plant and the aphid modulate their interaction. We used different pea aphid lines without FS or with a single one (
Hamiltonella defensa
,
Regiella insecticola, Serratia symbiotica
) to infest
Medicago truncatula
plants inoculated with
Sinorhizobium meliloti
(symbiotic nitrogen fixation, SNF) or supplemented with nitrate (non-inoculated, NI). The growth of SNF and NI plants was reduced by aphid infestation, while aphid weight (but not survival) was lowered on SNF compared to NI plants. Aphids strongly affected the plant nitrogen fixation depending on their symbiotic status, suggesting indirect relationships between aphid- and plant-associated microbes. Finally, all aphid lines triggered expression of
Pathogenesis-Related Protein 1
(
PR1
) and
Proteinase Inhibitor (PI)
, respective markers for salicylic and jasmonic pathways, in SNF plants, compared to only
PR1
in NI plants. We demonstrate that the plant symbiotic status influences plant–aphid interactions while that of the aphid can modulate the amplitude of the plant's defence response.
Relation of Doubling Time and Reproduction Number with Testing Rate for Corona Infections in India
Authors: Indrayan Abhaya , Mishra Aman
Published: September 2020

There is a general feeling that increased testing has a salutary effect on the course of the current coronavirus epidemic. We quantify the relationship of testing rate with the doubling time and reproduction number in India, estimate the effect, and use these relationships to make projections for the near future.
Excess cardiovascular deaths in the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak
Authors: Wang Junren , Zhu Jianwei , Yang Huazhen , Hu Yao , Sun Yajing , Ying Zhiye , Qu Yuanyuan , Valdimarsdóttir Unnur A , Fang Fang , Song Huan
Published: September 2020

Importance

The healthcare demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic was far beyond the hospital surge capacity in many countries, resulting in possible negative influence on prognosis of other severe diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Objective

To assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on CVD-related hospitalizations and mortality.

Design

Community-based prospective cohort study.

Setting the UK Biobank population.

Participants

421,717 UK Biobank participants who were registered in England and alive on December 1st 2019.

Main outcomes and measures

The primary outcome of interest was CVD death, as deaths with CVD as a cause of death according to the death registers. We retrieved information on hospitalizations with CVD as the primary diagnosis based on the UK Biobank hospital inpatient data. The study period was between December 1st 2019 and May 30th 2020, and we used the same calendar period of the three preceding years as the reference period. Standardized mortality/incidence ratios (SMRs/SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals were used to estimate the relative risk of CVD outcomes during the study period, compared with the reference period, to control for seasonal variations and aging of the study population.

Results

We observed a distinct increase in CVD-related deaths in March and April 2020 as compared to the corresponding months of the three preceding years. The observed number of CVD death (n=217) was almost doubled in April, compared with the expected number (n=120), corresponding to an SMR of 1.81 (95% CI 1.58-2.06). We observed a sharp decline of CVD hospitalization in March (n=841) and April (n=454), compared with the expected number (n=1208 for March and 1026 for April), leading to an SIR of 0.70 (95% CI 0.65-0.74) for March and 0.44 (95% CI 0.40-0.48) for April. There was also a clear increase of death, but a clear decrease of hospitalization, in March and April for all the five major subtypes of CVD.

Conclusions

We observed a distinct excess in CVD deaths in the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK Biobank population. In addition to CVD complications of SARS-CoV-2 infections, the reduced hospital capacity might have contributed to the observed excess CVD deaths.

Key Points

Question

How did the COVID-19 outbreak affect rates of CVD-related death and hospitalization?

Finding

In this prospective study involving 421,717 UK Biobank participants, we observed excess CVD-related mortality in parallel with decreased CVD-related hospitalization in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, March and April 2020.

Meaning

In addition to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection progressing to CVD-related death, reduced hospital resources might have partially contributed to the excess CVD mortality.
Seroprevalence and immunity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents in schools in Switzerland: design for a longitudinal, school-based prospective cohort study
Authors: Ulyte Agne , Radtke Thomas , Abela Irène , Haile Sarah R , Braun Julia , Jung Ruedi , Berger Christoph , Trkola Alexandra , Fehr Jan , Puhan Milo A. , Kriemler Susi
Published: September 2020

Introduction

Seroprevalence and transmission routes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents, especially in school setting, are not clear. Resulting uncertainty is reflected in very different decisions on school closures and reopenings across countries. The aim of this longitudinal cohort study is to assess the extent and patterns of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in school-attending children repeatedly. It will examine risk factors for infection, relationship between seropositivity and symptoms, and temporal persistence of antibodies. Additionally, it will include testing of school personnel and parents.

Methods and analysis

The study (Ciao Corona) will enroll a regionally representative, random sample of schools in the canton of Zurich, where 18% of the Swiss population live. Children aged 5 to 16 years, attending classes in primary and secondary schools are invited. Venous blood and saliva samples are collected for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing after the first wave of infections (June/July 2020), in fall (October/November 2020), and after winter (March/April 2021). Venous blood is also collected for serological testing of parents and school personnel. Bi-monthly questionnaires to children, parents and school personnel cover SARS-CoV-2 symptoms and tests, health, preventive behavior, lifestyle and quality of life information. Total seroprevalence and cumulative incidence will be calculated. Hierarchical Bayesian logistic regression models will account for sensitivity and specificity of the serological test in the analyses and for the complex sampling structure, i.e., clustering within classes and schools.

Ethics and dissemination

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (2020-01336). The results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and will be made available to study participants and participating schools, the Federal Office of Public Health, and the Educational Department of the canton of Zurich. Trial registration numberNCT04448717.

Ciao Corona is a large, prospective school-based cohort study and will provide robust data on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence, transmission routes and immunity over time in a representative sample of school children.

The longitudinal design will allow describing temporal trends of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection and to evaluate effects of school structure and preventive measures.

This study will inform goal-oriented policy decisions in school management during subsequent outbreaks.

Participation bias, missing questionnaires, desirability bias, and loss of follow up may occur. The validity of serological tests may also hamper results.
Fully automated detection and differentiation of pandemic and endemic coronaviruses (NL63, 229E, HKU1, OC43 and SARS-CoV-2) on the Hologic Panther Fusion
Authors: Cordes Anne Katrin , Rehrauer William M. , Accola Molly A. , Wölk Benno , Hilfrich Birgitta , Heim Albert
Published: September 2020

The Hologic Panther Fusion (PF) platform provides fully automated CE marked diagnostics for respiratory viruses, including recently SARS-coronavirus 2 by a transcription mediated amplification (TMA) assay, but not for the endemic human coronaviruses (hCoV). Therefore, a laboratory developed multiplexed RT-PCR protocol (LDT) that detects and differentiates the four hCoV NL63, 229E, HKU1 and OC43 was adapted on the PF.

The novel CE marked Aptima SARS-CoV-2 TMA and the LDT for hCoV were validated with 321 diagnostic specimens from the upper and lower respiratory tract in comparison to two SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCRs (PF E-gene LDT and genesig RT-PCR, 157 specimens) or the R-GENE hCoV / hParaFlu RT-PCR (164 specimens), respectively.

For the endemic hCoV, results were 96.3% concordant with two specimens discordantly positive in the PF and four specimens discordantly positive in the R-GENE assay. All discordantly positive samples had Ct values between 33 and 39. The PF hCoV LDT identified 23 hCoV positive specimens as NL63, 15 as 229E, 15 as HKU1 and 25 as OC43. The Aptima SARS-CoV-2 TMA gave 99.4 % concordant results compared to the consensus results with a single specimen discordantly positive. Moreover, 36 samples from proficiency testing panels were detected and typed correctly by both novel methods.

In conclusion, the SARS-CoV-2 TMA and the LDT for hCoV enhanced the diagnostic spectrum of the PF for all coronaviruses circulating globally for a multitude of diagnostic materials from the upper and lower respiratory tract.
Governor partisanship explains the adoption of statewide mask mandates in response to COVID-19
Authors: Adolph Christopher , Amano Kenya , Bang-Jensen Bree , Fullman Nancy , Magistro Beatrice , Reinke Grace , Wilkerson John
Published: September 2020

Public mask use has emerged as a key tool in response to COVID-19. We develop and document a classification of statewide mask mandates that reveals variation in their scope and timing. Some U.S. states quickly mandated the wearing of face coverings in most public spaces, whereas others issued narrow mandates or no man-date at all. We consider how differences in COVID-19 epidemiological indicators and partisan politics affect when states adopted broad mask mandates, starting with the earliest broad public mask mandates in April 2020 and continuing though the end of 2020. The most important predictor is whether a state is led by a Republican governor. These states adopt statewide indoor mask mandates an estimated 98.0 days slower (95% CI: 88.8 to 107.3), if they did so at all (hazard ratio=7.54, 95% CI: 2.87 to 16.19). COVID-19 indicators such as confirmed cases or deaths per million are much less important predictors of statewide mask mandates. This finding highlights a key challenge to public efforts to increase mask-wearing, one of the most effective tools for preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 while restoring economic activity.