bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preferences for end‐of‐life care: A cross‐sectional survey of Chinese frail nursing home residents
Authors: Xu Xinyi , Chau Pui Hing , Cheung Denise Shuk Ting , Ho Mu‐Hsing , Lin Chia‐Chin
Published: August 2022

Aim and Objectives

To assess (1) the experience, knowledge and preferences of end‐of‐life care among frail nursing home residents and (2) the preferences of residents' family caregivers.

Background

Globally, nursing homes are becoming an important place where many older people will receive their end‐of‐life care. Thus, assessing the end‐of‐life care preferences among nursing home residents is crucial.

Design

Cross‐sectional survey.

Methods

Residents aged ≥65 years, with frail or pre‐frail status (n = 286) in 34 nursing homes were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the outcomes and regression analyses were used to evaluate factors related to the outcomes. Kappa statistics were used to examine the agreement between the preferences among 21 residents and their family caregivers. The manuscript was guided by the STROBE checklist.

Results

5.9% and 10.5% of the participants had heard of advance care planning and advance directive respectively. After explanations of the terms by the research team, 42.3% of the participants preferred advance care planning, whereas 22.0% preferred advance directive. The top reason for not preferring advance care planning/advance directive is perceiving them as ‘not necessary’. Nursing homes were the most preferred place to receive end‐of‐life care (41.6%). Whereas hospitals were the most preferred place for death (36.0%). The agreement among resident and family caregiver dyads ranged from none to minimal in most outcomes.

Conclusions

This study revealed the lack of awareness around advance care planning and advance directive among frail nursing home residents. Future research should focus on developing effective educational interventions to enhance the residents' awareness of these topics.

Relevance to clinical practice

To increase awareness among nursing home residents, more educational programs should be implemented. Frail older residents might not see the relevance of advance care planning; interventions need to include both current and future care to increase its relevance.
King, Lévinas, and the Moral Anatomy of Nonviolent Transformation
Authors: Sorgen Jeremy
Published: August 2022

This essay overcomes the division between “principled” and “strategic” approaches to nonviolence studies by demonstrating that ethical analysis is key to understanding movement strategy. I show how the moral phenomenologies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Emmanuel Lévinas, figures usually treated by scholars of principled nonviolence, possess genuine insight for nonviolent strategists. With reference to each thinker and supporting evidence from the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I argue that nonviolent resistance makes a moral appeal through the medium of the body to the conscience of those bearing witness. Analysis of the way King combined moral reflection and strategic action recovers his legacy for the pragmatic tradition of social thought, while Lévinas's theory of the face offers additional considerations for nonviolent practitioners aiming for moral transformation at the local level. Studies that elucidate the complex moral dynamics by which nonviolent movements either succeed or fail will make the field a greater asset to practitioners.
Portfolio liquidation games with self‐exciting order flow
Authors: Fu Guanxing , Horst Ulrich , Xia Xiaonyu
Published: August 2022

We analyze novel portfolio liquidation games with self‐exciting order flow. Both the N‐player game and the mean‐field game (MFG) are considered. We assume that players' trading activities have an impact on the dynamics of future market order arrivals thereby generating an additional transient price impact. Given the strategies of her competitors each player solves a mean‐field control problem. We characterize open‐loop Nash equilibria in both games in terms of a novel mean‐field FBSDE system with unknown terminal condition. Under a weak interaction condition, we prove that the FBSDE systems have unique solutions. Using a novel sufficient maximum principle that does not require convexity of the cost function we finally prove that the solution of the FBSDE systems do indeed provide open‐loop Nash equilibria.
Effect of community‐initiated kangaroo mother care on breastfeeding performance in low birthweight infants: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Sinha Bireshwar , Sommerfelt Halvor , Ashorn Per , Mazumder Sarmila , Taneja Sunita , Bahl Rajiv , Bhandari Nita
Published: August 2022

This individually randomized trial was conducted to estimate the effect of promoting community‐initiated kangaroo mother care (ciKMC) in low birthweight (LBW) infants on infant breastfeeding performance. It was designed as a substudy within a larger primary trial on ciKMC and infant survival. Five hundred fifty stable LBW mother‐infant dyads (1500−2250 g) who provided consent, were consecutively enroled for breastfeeding performance assessment. The ciKMC intervention included promotion and support of continuous skin‐to‐skin contact and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) through home visits during the neonatal period. The primary outcome was effective breastfeeding performance indicated by an infant breastfeeding assessment tool score of ≥10 after the end of the neonatal period. As secondary outcomes, we reported maternal satisfaction related to infant breastfeeding, and EBF after the end of the neonatal period. We completed outcome assessments in 96% of participants. In the ciKMC arm, 92% of the infants showed effective breastfeeding performance against 81% in the control arm [adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.16−1.32]. In the ciKMC arm, 65% of the mothers reported to be very satisfied with their infants' breastfeeding against 51% in the control arm (aPR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.05−1.41). The proportion of infants practicing EBF was 89% in the ciKMC arm against 45% in the control arm (aPR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.45−1.81). Our study findings suggest that promotion of ciKMC can improve effective breastfeeding, EBF and maternal satisfaction related to breastfeeding in LBW infants.
The air mycobiome is decoupled from the soil mycobiome in the California San Joaquin Valley
Authors: Wagner Robert , Montoya Liliam , Gao Cheng , Head Jennifer R. , Remais Justin , Taylor John W.
Published: August 2022

Dispersal is a key force in the assembly of fungal communities and the air is the dominant route of dispersal for most fungi. Understanding the dynamics of airborne fungi is important for determining their source and for helping to prevent fungal disease. This understanding is important in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is home to 4.2 million people and where the airborne fungus Coccidioides is responsible for the most important fungal disease of otherwise healthy humans, coccidioidomycosis. The San Joaquin Valley is the most productive agricultural region in the United States, with the principal crops grown therein susceptible to fungal pathogens. Here, we characterize the fungal community in soil and air on undeveloped and agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley using metabarcoding of the internal transcribed spacer 2 variable region of fungal rDNA. Using 1,002 individual samples, we report one of the most extensive studies of fungi sampled simultaneously from air and soil using modern sequencing techniques. We find that the air mycobiome in the San Joaquin Valley is distinct from the soil mycobiome, and that the assemblages of airborne fungi from sites as far apart as 160 km are far more similar to one another than to the fungal communities in nearby soils. Additionally, we present evidence that airborne fungi in the San Joaquin Valley are subject to dispersal limitation and cyclical intra‐annual patterns of community composition. Our findings are broadly applicable to understanding the dispersal of airborne fungi and the taxonomic structure of airborne fungal assemblages.
Evidence of climate‐driven selection on tree traits and trait plasticity across the climatic range of a riparian foundation species
Authors: Cooper Hillary F. , Best Rebecca J. , Andrews Lela V. , Corbin Jaclyn P. M. , Garthwaite Iris , Grady Kevin C. , Gehring Catherine A. , Hultine Kevin R. , Whitham Thomas G. , Allan Gerard J.
Published: August 2022

Selection on quantitative traits by heterogeneous climatic conditions can lead to substantial trait variation across a species range. In the context of rapidly changing environments, however, it is equally important to understand selection on trait plasticity. To evaluate the role of selection in driving divergences in traits and their associated plasticities within a widespread species, we compared molecular and quantitative trait variation inPopulus fremontii(Fremont cottonwood), a foundation riparian distributed throughout Arizona. Using SNP data and genotypes from 16 populations reciprocally planted in three common gardens, we first performedQST‐FSTanalyses to detect selection on traits and trait plasticity. We then explored the environmental drivers of selection using trait‐climate and plasticity‐climate regressions. Three major findings emerged: (1) There was significant genetic variation in traits expressed in each of the common gardens and in the phenotypic plasticity of traits across gardens, both of which were heritable. (2) Based onQST‐FSTcomparisons, there was evidence of selection in all traits measured; however, this result varied from no effect in one garden to highly significant in another, indicating that detection of past selection is environmentally dependent. We also found strong evidence of divergent selection on plasticity across environments for two traits. (3) Traits and/or their plasticity were often correlated with population source climate (R2up to .77 and .66, respectively). These results suggest that steep climate gradients across the Southwest have played a major role in shaping the evolution of divergent phenotypic responses in populations and genotypes now experiencing climate change.
Nurturing Teachers’ Research Mindset in an Inquiry‐Based Language Teacher Education Course
Authors: NGUYEN MAI XUAN NHAT CHI , DAO PHUNG , IWASHITA NORIKO
Published: August 2022

This study investigates the impact of an inquiry‐based teacher education course in nurturing second language (L2) teachers’ research mindset, defined herein as their cognition and action toward research. One hundred and thirty pre‐ and in‐service L2 teachers of various nationalities participated in a teacher education course on instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) at an Australian university. The course was designed following an inquiry‐based approach, with course activities focused on promoting teacher learners’ curiosity about ISLA issues and their engagement both with and in research. Data were collected before, during, and after course participation, using a precourse survey, written reflections, and focus group interviews. Findings revealed that the inquiry‐based course activities enabled the teacher learners to adopt a stronger research mindset. They were able to articulate the importance of research for teaching practice and gained firsthand experience as well as increased confidence in conducting research. They also showed inclination toward research‐informed teaching and were keen to maintain their newly established favorable relationship with research, despite acknowledging concerns about their future actual research engagement, mostly due to time constraint and lack of institutional support. These findings suggest implications for nurturing language teachers’ research mindset within L2 teacher education courses.
Tight junction formation by a claudin mutant lacking the COOH‐terminal PDZ domain‐binding motif
Authors: Fujiwara Sachiko , Nguyen Thanh Phuong , Furuse Kyoko , Fukazawa Yugo , Otani Tetsuhisa , Furuse Mikio
Published: August 2022

Claudin‐based tight junctions (TJs) are formed at the most apical part of cell–cell contacts in epithelial cells. Previous studies suggest that scaffolding proteins ZO‐1 and ZO‐2 (ZO proteins) determine the location of TJs by interacting with claudins, but this idea is not conclusive. To address the role of the ZO proteins binding to claudins at TJs, a COOH‐terminal PDZ domain binding motif‐deleted claudin‐3 mutant, which lacks the ZO protein binding, was stably expressed in claudin‐deficient MDCK cells. The COOH‐terminus‐deleted claudin‐3 was localized at the apicolateral region similar to full‐length claudin‐3. Consistently, freeze‐fracture electron microscopy revealed that the COOH‐terminus‐deleted claudin‐3‐expressing cells reconstituted belts of TJs at the most apical region of the lateral membrane and restored functional epithelial barriers. These results suggest that the interaction of claudins with ZO proteins is not a prerequisite for TJ formation at the most apical part of cell–cell contacts.
Intramedullary Nail Fixation by Suprapatellar and Infrapatellar Approaches for Treatment of Distal Tibial Fractures
Authors: Gao Feng , Wang Xiu‐Hui , Xia Sheng‐Li , Zhou Xiao‐Xiao , Wang Ming‐Hui , Fu Bei‐Gang , Yi Cun‐Guo , Guo Sheng‐Yang
Published: August 2022

Objective

To compare the functional and alignment outcomes of intramedullary nail fixation using suprapatellar and infrapatellar approaches in treating distal tibial fractures.

Methods

In this retrospective study, 132 patients with distal tibial fractures (87 men, 45 women) ranging in age from 20 to 66 years were treated with intramedullary nails using the suprapatellar (69 patients) or infrapatellar (63 patients) approach. The radiographic alignment outcomes and ankle function were compared between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine which variety influenced ankle functional scores and whether the suprapatellar approach intervention demonstrated a protective effect.

Results

The mean follow‐up time was 14.22 ± 2.31 months. The mean sagittal section angle of the fracture in the suprapatellar and infrapatellar approach groups was 3.20° ± 1.20° and 5.31° ± 1.23°, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean coronal section angle was 3.51° ± 0.89° and 5.42° ± 1.05°, respectively (P < 0.001). Three patients (4.3%) in the suprapatellar approach group and 15 patients (23.8%) in the infrapatellar approach group had poor fracture reduction (P < 0.001). The mean hind foot functional score and ankle pain score were 95.91 ± 4.70 and 35.91 ± 4.70 points, respectively, in the suprapatellar approach group and 85.20 ± 5.61 and 25.20 ± 5.61 points, respectively, in the infrapatellar approach group (P < 0.001 for both). In the comparison of ankle function, the multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that the odds ratio in the suprapatellar approach group was about 7 times that in the infrapatellar approach group (odds ratio, 7.574; 95% confidence interval, 2.148–28.740; P = 0.002). Of the variants measured, the statistically significant risk factors for poor ankle function were AO type A3 (P = 0.016) and diabetes mellitus (P = 0.006). Sex and the operation interval were not statistically significant risk factors for poor ankle function.

Conclusion

Intramedullary nailing using the suprapatellar approach facilitates simple fracture reduction, excellent postoperative fracture alignment, and few complications, giving it obvious advantages over the conventional infrapatellar approach. Additionally, the suprapatellar approach is a prognostic factor associated with postoperative ankle joint function.
Transverse Tibial Bone Transport Enhances Distraction Osteogenesis and Vascularization in the Treatment of Diabetic Foot
Authors: Ou Shuanji , Xu Changpeng , Yang Yang , Chen Ya , Li Wenjun , Lu Hanyu , Li Guitao , Sun Hongtao , Qi Yong
Published: August 2022

Objective

To investigate the effect of transverse tibial bone transport on the treatment of Wagner Stage 4 diabetic foot.

Methods

From January 2017 to October 2019, a total of 19 patients with Wagner Stage 4 diabetic foot ulcers were recruited. All patients were treated with transverse tibial bone transport. A detailed follow‐up was carried out at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after surgery. The wound healing rate and the limb salvage rate at 1 year after the surgery were evaluated. Preoperative and 3‐month postoperative digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were obtained. The level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) before surgery and on 1st, 4th, 11th, 18th, 28th, and 35th days after surgery were measured. Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative complications, visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, skin temperature, Semmes‐weinstein monofilament (SWM), and ankle brachial index (ABI) were also assessed.

Results

The wound healing rate and the limb salvage rate were both 94.74% in the patients at 1 year after the surgery. DSA showed the thickening of the calf and foot arteries, clear visualization, and a rich vascular network. The levels of VEGF, bFGF, and PDGF on the 11th, 18th, 28th, and 35th days after surgery were significantly higher than those before surgery (p < 0.05). The EGF level on the 18th, 28th, and 35th days after surgery was significantly higher than that before surgery (p < 0.05). Superficial wound complications occurred in one patient during the hospitalization. There was no movement area infection, skin flap necrosis, tibial fracture, loosening of the external fixator, or rupture in study.

Conclusion

Transverse tibial bone transport can improve the blood circulation of the affected limbs, promote the healing of diabetic foot wounds, and reduce the amputation rate of the affected limbs. Transverse tibial bone transport can promote the healing of Wagner Stage 4 diabetic foot.
Psychological distress in children and adolescent disaster survivors
Authors: Fujimaki Daisuke , Tanno Kozo , Kuno Junji , Shimoda Haruki , Takusari Eri , Sakata Kiyomi , Kobayashi Seiichiro , Ogawa Akira
Published: August 2022

Background

This study aimed to clarify the association between mental and behavioral changes and subsequent psychological distress among children and adolescents living in areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Methods

We conducted a two‐wave study, with waves 1 and 2 occurring in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Data of 462 respondents aged 9–14 years during wave 1 and who participated in both surveys were used in the present analysis. A factor analysis was performed using the mental and behavioral changes reported by respondents in wave 1. Psychological distress was defined as a score of ≥5 on the six‐item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, as measured in wave 2. With the factors generated in this analysis set as independent variables, the odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals, 95% CIs) for psychological distress were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, house damage, living environment, and loss of family or friends.

Results

Psychological distress was present in 108 (23.4%) of the respondents. The factor analysis yielded three factors describing mental and behavioral changes: interpersonal issues, brain fog, and anxiety and panic. Of these, interpersonal issues were significantly associated with subsequent psychological distress, with an OR of 2.59 (95% CI 1.58–4.25). This association did not change even when stratified by age and sex.

Conclusions

This study suggests that interpersonal issues are a significant predictor of psychological distress in children and adolescents living in areas affected by a large‐scale disaster.
(Un)conditional collection policies on used products with strategic customers
Authors: Dong Chang , Lei Yong , Liu Qian
Published: August 2022

For generation products characterized by frequent releases of new versions, when a new version is introduced to the market, the current version usually still has a remaining useful life. This creates a challenge for a firm to manage used product collection and upgraded product introductions at the same time, especially with the presence of a secondary market. This paper develops an analytical model to study the design and evaluation of two widely adopted collection policies for used products. Specifically, depending on whether a monetary reward for returning used products is associated with further purchases, we examine both unconditional (buyback) and conditional (trade‐in) collection policies that take place in practice. We find that, in the absence of a secondary market, a conditional collection policy can outperform an unconditional one when the base product is durable and the residual value that the manufacturer can obtain after collection is intermediate. However, when an independent secondary market exists, allowing customers to trade used products with each other, any conditional policy cannot outperform the optimal unconditional policy. In particular, the two policies generate the same profit when the residual value is low; otherwise, the unconditional policy dominates as it effectively mitigates the cannibalization of the upgraded product sales by collecting more used products and reducing the supply to the secondary market. We also discuss the environmental impacts of these two collection policies. Our study helps to understand the impact of strategic customer behavior and the secondary market on the choice of used product collection policies, and provides manufacturers with guidance on the design of the optimal collection policy.
Modeling the effects of dated medical supplies donation on recipient countries
Authors: Zhou Quan , Olsen Tava Lennon
Published: August 2022

Most developed countries hold significant quantities of medical supplies in reserve for emergency response. Due to high handling costs and remote storage locations, such stocks are typically not used for day‐to‐day operations. In consequence, the expiry of reserve supplies (without use) is a significant problem. One possible remedy for such wastage is to donate large batches of dated supplies to developing nations, which often do without adequate medical supplies in their health systems. Here, we focus on personal protective equipment (PPE) and similar products, which have low risks associated with aging and safety. However, the international community is cautious about donating dated medical supplies, with the World Health Organization explicitly recommending against it. Issues of safety, while important, are not the primary concern as recent studies have shown expiration dates to be conservative. Instead, most concerns relate to macrolevel effects on the recipient country. Taking safety as given, we carefully model the incentives in the medical supplies donation supply chain, providing insights into the likely effects of corruption and impacts on the local industry. Overall, we find that the impact of donation is not monotone in the quality of donated products. In particular, dated donations whose quality is slightly lower than the quality of products in the local market are likely to be more beneficial than fresh donations; thus, we suggest that the international community reconsiders its stand on banning donations from dated reserves. We provide concrete guidelines for such donations and suggest a possible path for implementation of a donation program.
Online patient feedback as a safety valve: An automated language analysis of unnoticed and unresolved safety incidents
Authors: Gillespie Alex , Reader Tom W.
Published: August 2022

Safety reporting systems are widely used in healthcare to identify risks to patient safety. But, their effectiveness is undermined if staff do not notice or report incidents. Patients, however, might observe and report these overlooked incidents because they experience the consequences, are highly motivated, and independent of the organization. Online patient feedback may be especially valuable because it is a channel of reporting that allows patients to report without fear of consequence (e.g., anonymously). Harnessing this potential is challenging because online feedback is unstructured and lacks demonstrable validity and added value. Accordingly, we developed an automated language analysis method for measuring the likelihood of patient‐reported safety incidents in online patient feedback. Feedback from patients and families (n = 146,685, words = 22,191,427, years = 2013–2019) about acute NHS trusts (hospital conglomerates;n = 134) in England were analyzed. The automated measure had good precision (0.69) and excellent recall (0.98) in identifying incidents; was independent of staff‐reported incidents (r = −0.04 to 0.19); and was associated with hospital‐level mortality rates (z = 3.87;p< 0.001). The identified safety incidents were often reported as unnoticed (89%) or unresolved (21%), suggesting that patients use online platforms to give visibility to safety concerns they believe have been missed or ignored. Online stakeholder feedback is akin to a safety valve; being independent and unconstrained it provides an outlet for reporting safety issues that may have been unnoticed or unresolved within formal channels.
STIpolicy conventions in Uruguay. An analysis of political party platforms 2004–2019
Authors: Bianchi Carlos , Martínez Camilo
Published: August 2022

Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) have been considered as critical tools in development processes, gaining growing importance in the public policy agenda. We assert that an intersubjective agreement about STI policy has emerged in Latin America from the beginning of the twenty‐first century. This operates as a developmental convention which is based on a hybrid theoretical rationale from neoclassical economics and the innovation systems approach. This process has been analyzed from different perspectives of innovation and political economy studies. However, as far as we know, the role of political parties in the construction and reproduction of STI conventions has not been studied. After illustrating the general assertion with stylized facts from the whole Latin American region, we study the platforms that Uruguayan political parties presented in the national elections between 2004 and 2019. Text analysis techniques show that platforms of both left‐ and right‐wing political parties were embedded in the current STI policy convention. However, critical discrepancies emerge in relation to policy implementation—the positive and negative agendas—which show that there has been political competition regarding the role of the state and of markets. This leads us to conclude that even though one can observe a shared set of building blocks on STI policy and development, there is competition within the current convention, suggesting that any agreement is illusory.
UK higher education, neoliberal meritocracy, and the culture of the new capitalism: A computational‐linguistics analysis
Authors: Martini Michele , Robertson Susan L.
Published: August 2022

Drawing on empirical data this paper explores how a new articulation of meritocracy has emerged over time in UK Higher Education. To this end, we analyze the five major HE reports produced in the UK over the past 2 decades (1997–2010). The proposed analytical design combines semantic mapping, natural language processing (NLP), and critical discourse analysis to identify the key actors in the sector, the nature of their agency, and changing roles. Despite more rosy accounts of social mobility and democracy in the UK offered by commentators such as Mandler (2020), we argue that higher educational policies in the UK have progressively shifted towards a neoliberal meritocratic paradigm established through: (a) the construction of a conceptual level playing field in the domain of education; and (b) its mobilization as a legitimizing basis of neoliberal meritocracy that selects “effort” as a discriminating variable. Accordingly, we argue that by assuming ontological equality between actors as a hegemonic truth, neoliberal meritocracy both constitutes and legitimates the culture of the new capitalism, and the role of higher education policies in the UK in this.
Elite polarization and mass policy attitudes: A study of the 2010 senate election
Authors: Zheng Bang Quan
Published: August 2022

Objectives

This study aims to test the extent to which campaigns along with partisanship polarized public attitudes on a series of major policy issues during the 2010 Senate elections.

Methods

Data are drawn from the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data and Campaign Media Analysis Group data, which are provided by Wesleyan Media Project.

Results

The findings of this article are two‐fold: First, the 2010 Senate campaigns did not sweepingly boost mass polarization on policy attitudes in general. Second, polarization effect only demonstrated among low‐information voters on economic policy issues but little on moral and non‐economic issues.

Conclusion

This article argues that elite‐driven mass polarization is based on a matrix of interconnecting varying degrees of information intensity, predispositions, and voters’ awareness level. In the context of low‐intensity campaigns, low‐information citizens are more likely to follow the party communications and thus are more likely to polarize their attitudes on self‐interest issues.
A novel HLA‐DQA1*01 allele, HLA‐DQA1*01:99, identified by next‐generation sequencing
Authors: Shen Manli , Duffy Brian F. , Jennemann Jo‐Ellen , Parikh Bijal A. , Liu Chang
Published: August 2022

DQA1*01:99 differs from DQA1*01:01 by a missense nucleotide substitution in exon 4.
El sueño de la casa propia: entre la ilusión neoliberal y la resistencia colectiva
Authors: Quinteros Urquieta Carolina , Cortés Mancilla Rodrigo Marcelo
Published: August 2022

El problema de acceso a la vivienda en Chile no es un fenómeno nuevo. Si bien la implementación del sistema de subsidio habitacional por parte del Estado, bajo un modelo neoliberal, logró disminuir el déficit habitacional, estas cifras se han revertido y uno de sus efectos ha sido el aumento de tomas de terreno y campamentos. Ejemplo de esto es la ciudad de Viña del Mar, que tiene los dos campamentos más grandes del país y con más familias en estos espacios. A partir del trabajo en co-labor con las y los dirigentes del campamento Felipe Camiroaga, se realiza un análisis del proceso de articulación, así como de las prácticas y trayectoria de sus habitantes en relación a la política habitacional neoliberal chilena y su idea-eslogan del “sueño de la casa propia”. De lo anterior se desprenden los resultados, expresados en estrategias de sus pobladores y pobladoras para resistir a la exigencia neoliberal de lo individual, a través del trabajo colectivo en momentos de la historia del campamento
Dual projection generalized sidelobe canceller based on mixed signal subspace for ultrasound imaging
Authors: Li Xitao , Wang Ping , Du Tingting , Li Qianwen , Luo Ciyong , Wang Chaolong
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we propose a dual projection generalized sidelobe canceller (DPGSC) based on mixed subspace (MS) for ultrasound imaging, which aims to improve the speckle signal-noise-ratio (sSNR) and decrease the dark-region artifacts. A mixed signal subspace based on the correlation between the desired steering vector and the eigenvectors is constructed to further optimize the desired steering vector and the final weight vector. The simulated and experimental results show that the proposed method can greatly improve the speckle uniformity. In the geabr_0 experiment, the standard deviation of background and sSNR of MS-DPGSC can be improved by 48.07% and 58.49% more than those of eigenspace-based generalized sidelobe canceller (ESGSC). Furthermore, for a hyperechoic target, the maximal improvement of contrast ratio is 95.29%. In terms of anechoic cyst, the contrast-to-noise ratio of MS-DPGSC is increased by 123.08% than that of ESGSC. The rat mammary tumor experimental data show that the proposed method has better comprehensive imaging effect than traditional generalized sidelobe cancellers and ESGSCs.
Softening the steps to gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs through the evolution of a pedal pad
Authors: Jannel Andréas , Salisbury Steven W. , Panagiotopoulou Olga
Published: August 2022

How sauropod dinosaurs were able to withstand the forces associated with their immense size represents one of the most challenging biomechanical scenarios in the evolution of terrestrial tetrapods, but also one lacking robust biomechanical testing. Here, we use finite element analyses to quantify the biomechanical effects of foot skeletal postures with and without the presence of a soft tissue pad in sauropodomorphs. We find that none of the models can maintain bone stresses that fall within optimal bone safety factors in the absence of a soft tissue pad. Our findings suggest that a soft tissue pad in sauropods would have reduced bone stresses by combining the mechanical advantages of a functionally plantigrade foot with the plesiomorphic skeletally digitigrade saurischian condition. The acquisition of a developed soft tissue pad by the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic may represent one of the key adaptations for the evolution of gigantism that has become emblematic of these dinosaurs.
Surface-modified, dye-sensitized niobate nanosheets enabling an efficient solar-driven Z-scheme for overall water splitting
Authors: Nishioka Shunta , Hojo Koya , Xiao Langqiu , Gao Tianyue , Miseki Yugo , Yasuda Shuhei , Yokoi Toshiyuki , Sayama Kazuhiro , Mallouk Thomas E. , Maeda Kazuhiko
Published: August 2022

While dye-sensitized metal oxides are good candidates as H
2
evolution photocatalysts for solar-driven Z-scheme water splitting, their solar-to-hydrogen (STH) energy conversion efficiencies remain low because of uncontrolled charge recombination reactions. Here, we show that modification of Ru dye–sensitized, Pt-intercalated HCa
2
Nb
3
O
10
nanosheets (
Ru
/Pt/HCa
2
Nb
3
O
10
) with both amorphous Al
2
O
3
and poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) improves the STH efficiency of Z-scheme overall water splitting by a factor of ~100, when the nanosheets are used in combination with a WO
3
-based O
2
evolution photocatalyst and an I
3
−
/I
−
redox mediator, relative to an analogous system that uses unmodified
Ru
/Pt/HCa
2
Nb
3
O
10
. By using the optimized photocatalyst, PSS/
Ru
/Al
2
O
3
/Pt/HCa
2
Nb
3
O
10
, a maximum STH of 0.12% and an apparent quantum yield of 4.1% at 420 nm were obtained, by far the highest among dye-sensitized water splitting systems and comparable to conventional semiconductor-based suspended particulate photocatalyst systems.
Adenoviral-based vaccine promotes neoantigen-specific CD8
+
T cell stemness and tumor rejection
Authors: D’Alise Anna Morena , Brasu Nadia , De Intinis Carlo , Leoni Guido , Russo Valentina , Langone Francesca , Baev Denis , Micarelli Elisa , Petiti Luca , Picelli Simone , Fakih Marwan , Le Dung T. , Overman Michael J. , Shields Anthony F. , Pedersen Katrina S. , Shah Manish A. , Mukherjee Sarbajit , Faivre Thea , Delaite Patricia , Scarselli Elisa , Pace Luigia
Published: August 2022

Upon chronic antigen exposure, CD8
+
T cells become exhausted, acquiring a dysfunctional state correlated with the inability to control infection or tumor progression. In contrast, stem-like CD8
+
T progenitors maintain the ability to promote and sustain effective immunity. Adenovirus (Ad)–vectored vaccines encoding tumor neoantigens have been shown to eradicate large tumors when combined with anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (αPD-1) in murine models; however, the mechanisms and translational potential have not yet been elucidated. Here, we show that gorilla Ad vaccine targeting tumor neoepitopes enhances responses to αPD-1 therapy by improving immunogenicity and antitumor efficacy. Single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrated that the combination of Ad vaccine and αPD-1 increased the number of murine polyfunctional neoantigen-specific CD8
+
T cells over αPD-1 monotherapy, with an accumulation of Tcf1
+
stem-like progenitors in draining lymph nodes and effector CD8
+
T cells in tumors. Combined T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing analysis highlighted a broader spectrum of neoantigen-specific CD8
+
T cells upon vaccination compared to αPD-1 monotherapy. The translational relevance of these data is supported by results obtained in the first 12 patients with metastatic deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) tumors vaccinated with an Ad vaccine encoding shared neoantigens. Expansion and diversification of TCRs were observed in post-treatment biopsies of patients with clinical response, as well as an increase in tumor-infiltrating T cells with an effector memory signature. These findings indicate a promising mechanism to overcome resistance to PD-1 blockade by promoting immunogenicity and broadening the spectrum and magnitude of neoantigen-specific T cells infiltrating tumors.
A Booster Dose of CoronaVac Increases Neutralizing Antibodies and T Cells that Recognize Delta and Omicron Variants of Concern
Authors: Schultz Bárbara M. , Melo-González Felipe , Duarte Luisa F. , Gálvez Nicolás M. S. , Pacheco Gaspar A. , Soto Jorge A. , Berríos-Rojas Roslye V. , González Liliana A. , Moreno-Tapia Daniela , Rivera-Pérez Daniela , Ríos Mariana , Vázquez Yaneisi , Hoppe-Elsholz Guillermo , Andrade-Parra Catalina A. , Vallejos Omar P. , Piña-Iturbe Alejandro , Iturriaga Carolina , Urzua Marcela , Navarrete María S. , Rojas Álvaro , Fasce Rodrigo , Fernández Jorge , Mora Judith , Ramírez Eugenio , Gaete-Argel Aracelly , Acevedo Mónica L. , Valiente-Echeverría Fernando , Soto-Rifo Ricardo , Weiskopf Daniela , Grifoni Alba , Sette Alessandro , Zeng Gang , Meng Weining ,   CoronaVac03CL Study Group, González-Aramundiz José V. , González Pablo A. , Abarca Katia , Kalergis Alexis M. , Bueno Susan M.
Published: August 2022

CoronaVac is an inactivated vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that has been approved by WHO for emergency use. Phase III clinical trials are in progress in several countries, including China, Brazil, Turkey, and Chile, and have shown safety and immunogenicity after two doses of the vaccine.
Enhancing Social-Emotional Health and Wellbeing in the Early Years (E-SEE): a study protocol of a community-based randomised controlled trial with process and economic evaluations of the incredible years infant and toddler parenting programmes, delivered in a proportionate universal model
Authors: Bywater Tracey , Berry Vashti , Blower Sarah Louise , Cohen Judith , Gridley Nicole , Kiernan Kathleen , Mandefield Laura , Mason-Jones Amanda , McGilloway Sinead , McKendrick Kirsty , Pickett Kate , Richardson Gerry , Teare M Dawn , Tracey Louise , Walker Simon , Whittaker Karen , Wright Jessica
Published: August 2022

Introduction

Behavioural and mental disorders have become a public health crisis and by 2020 may surpass physical illness as a major cause of disability. Early prevention is key. Two Incredible Years (IY) parent programmes that aim to enhance child well-being and development, IY Infant and IY Toddler, will be delivered and evaluated in a proportionate universal intervention model called Enhancing Social-Emotional Health and Wellbeing in the Early Years (E-SEE) Steps. The main research question is: Does E-SEE Steps enhance child social emotional well-being at 20 months when compared with services as usual?

Methods and analysis

E-SEE Steps will be delivered in community settings by Early Years Children’s Services and/or Public Health staff across local authorities. Parents of children aged 8 weeks or less, identified by health visitors, children’s centre staff or self-referral, are eligible for participation in the trial. The randomisation allocation ratio is 5:1 (intervention to control). All intervention parents will receive an Incredible Years Infant book (universal level), and may be offered the Infant and/or Toddler group-based programme/s—based on parent depression scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire or child social emotional well-being scores on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2). Control group parents will receive services as usual. A process and economic evaluation are included. The primary outcome for the study is social emotional well-being, assessed at 20 months, using the ASQ:SE-2. Intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses will be conducted. Clustering and hierarchical effects will be accounted for using linear mixed models.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approvals have been obtained from the University of York Education Ethics Committee (ref: FC15/03, 10 August 2015) and UK NHS REC 5 (ref: 15/WA/0178, 22 May 2015. The current protocol is Version 9, 26 February 2018. The sponsor of the trial is the University of York. Dissemination of findings will be via peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and public events.

Trial registration number

NCT11079129; Pre-results.
Diagnostic yield of screening for SARS-CoV-2 among patients admitted to hospital for alternate diagnoses: an observational cohort study
Authors: Davis Philip , Rosychuk Rhonda , Hau Jeffrey P , Cheng Ivy , McRae Andrew D , Daoust Raoul , Lang Eddy , Turner Joel , Khangura Jaspreet , Fok Patrick T , Stachura Maja , Brar Baljeet , Hohl Corinne M
Published: August 2022

Objectives

To determine the diagnostic yield of screening patients for SARS-CoV-2 who were admitted with a diagnosis unrelated to COVID-19 and to identify risk factors for positive tests.

Design

Cohort from the Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network registry.

Setting

30 acute care hospitals across Canada.

Participants

Patients hospitalised for non-COVID-19-related diagnoses who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 between 1 March and 29 December 2020.

Main outcome

Positive nucleic acid amplification test for SARS-CoV-2.

Outcome measure

Diagnostic yield.

Results

We enrolled 15 690 consecutive eligible adults who were admitted to hospital without clinically suspected COVID-19. Among these patients, 122 tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in a diagnostic yield of 0.8% (95% CI 0.64% to 0.92%). Factors associated with a positive test included presence of fever, being a healthcare worker, having a positive household contact or institutional exposure, and living in an area with higher 7-day average incident COVID-19 cases.

Conclusions

Universal screening of hospitalised patients for COVID-19 across two pandemic waves had a low diagnostic yield and should be informed by individual-level risk assessment in addition to regional COVID-19 prevalence.

Trial registration number

NCT04702945.
Time-sensitive prognostic performance of an afterload-integrated diastolic index in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: a prospective multicentre observational study
Authors: Hoshida Shiro , Hikoso Shungo , Shinoda Yukinori , Tachibana Koichi , Minamisaka Tomoko , Tamaki Shunsuke , Yano Masamichi , Hayashi Takaharu , Nakagawa Akito , Nakagawa Yusuke , Yamada Takahisa , Yasumura Yoshio , Nakatani Daisaku , Sakata Yasushi
Published: August 2022

Objectives

The prognostic significance of an afterload-integrated diastolic index, the ratio of diastolic elastance (Ed) to arterial elastance (Ea) (Ed/Ea=[E/e′]/[0.9×systolic blood pressure]), is valid for 1 year after discharge in older patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). We aimed to clarify the association with changes in Ed/Ea from enrolment to 1 year and prognosis thereafter in patients with HFpEF.

Setting

A prospective, multicentre observational registry of collaborating hospitals in Osaka, Japan.

Participants

We enrolled 659 patients with HFpEF hospitalised for acute decompensated heart failure (men/women: 296/363). Blood tests and transthoracic echocardiography were performed before discharge and at 1 year after.

Primary outcome measures

All-cause mortality and/or re-admission for heart failure were evaluated after discharge.

Results

High Ed/Ea assessed before discharge was a significant prognostic factor during the first, but not the second, year after discharge in all-cause mortality or all-cause mortality and/or re-admission for heart failure. When re-analysis was performed using the value of Ed/Ea at 1 year after discharge, high Ed/Ea was significant for the prognosis during the second year for both end points (p=0.012 and p=0.033, respectively). The poorest mortality during 1‒2 years after enrolment was observed in those who showed a worsening Ed/Ea during the first year associated with larger left ventricular mass index and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. In all-cause mortality and/or re-admission for heart failure, the event rate during 1‒2 years was highest in those with persistently high Ed/Ea even after 1 year.

Conclusions

Time-sensitive prognostic performance of Ed/Ea, an afterload-integrated diastolic index, was observed in older patients with HFpEF.

Trial registration number

UMIN000021831.
Financial interventions for family caregivers of individuals with chronic illness: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Thomas Hebdon Megan C , Phan Cuong Thi Thanh , Phillips Carolyn , Wan Shaowei , Doyon Katherine , Gray Tamryn , Johnson Lee Ann , Pottepalli Vyshnavi , Fischer Stacy
Published: August 2022

Introduction

There are 53 million caregivers in the USA providing informal care for individuals with chronic illnesses. These caregivers contribute significantly to the healthcare system, yet they may experience adverse consequences due to caregiving, including financial burden. The purpose of this scoping review is to fill a research gap on understanding the nature and effect of financial interventions for family caregivers.

Methods and analysis

This study will use the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review framework to systematically search for articles in MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Dissertations & Theses Global, and Web of Science during April 2022. Articles published from 1997 to the present will be included for the review. Data from articles will be extracted and summarised for financial intervention nature, scope, measurement, effect and health system context.

Ethics and dissemination

This study does not include human subjects; therefore, no ethical review will be undertaken. Findings will be disseminated in scholarly journals and at caregiving and ageing conferences, such as the Gerontological Society of America.
Einstein–Cartan–Holst–Proca dynamos massive photons as dark matter and GWs
Authors: de Andrade L.C. Garcia
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we extend Shaposhnikov et al.'s parity violating the Einstein–Cartan–Holst action by adding to Holst term H, a Proca photon–torsion coupling χpt = 10−24 as computed by De Sabbata, Garcia de Andrade, and Sivaram. The strength of Holst term is obtained, in the case of early universe torsion as, T ∼ 1 MeV. The gravity part is the Planck mass product with the Holst term. The photon mass in this case yields m2 γ H ∼ 10−69 GeV4. Therefore, in this case, the photon interacts very weakly with spin-torsion matter in Einstein–Cartan (EC) gravity and the strength of the Maxwell–Proca–Holst interaction is much weaker than in the pure gravity sector. For dark photons, this situation changes drastically since a dark photon mass reaches 1.5 GeV, and from this mass and T = 10−3 GeV, one obtains a Maxwell–Proca–Holst strength of 10−6 GeV4, which is now comparable with the gravity sector. Dynamo mechanism competes with the chirality and dissipation by the handness of the magnetic field with respect to the torsion trace vector to regenerate the magnetic field decay. Bombacigno and Mantovani recently found a sign of the Immirzi parameter in the Holst–Nieh–Yan extension of EC gravity. Here, we also find torsion waves for the Immirzi inverse parameter in the sense that this divergence of torsion trace is porportional to the Immirzi field.