bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abstract IA39: A family-focused lay health worker approach to promote smoking cessation, healthy eating, and physical activity among Asian Americans
Authors: Tsoh Janice Y.
Published: August 2020

Cigarette use, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity are the leading modifiable risk factors for cancer. These preventable risk factors remain prevalent among some Asian American groups. For example, smoking prevalence remains disproportionately high among Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese immigrant men with limited English proficiency. More than half of Asian American adults do not meet physical activity recommendations (at least 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise weekly) or have a body-mass index (BMI) above the WHO recommended cut-off point for Asian populations (at BMI >23). The Healthy Family Project, a community-based research program to promote healthy living among Asian Americans, was started in 2012 with research support from the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The program developed a family-focused lay health worker intervention to promote smoking cessation by engaging both current smokers and their families together with their peers. Since 2012, the Healthy Family Project has expanded to address multiple risks factors beyond cigarette smoking to include reduction of secondhand smoke exposure and promotion of healthy eating and physical activity among at-risk Asian Americans. The intervention curriculum is available in Chinese, English, Korean, and Vietnamese languages. A new program targeting Korean Americans is being launched in the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the fall of 2018. Since 2012, the Healthy Family Project has delivered the intervention to more than 520 smoker-family dyads (or >1,000 individuals). The program has been able to successfully engage participants who are not ready to quit smoking and have little knowledge of the recommended nutrition or physical activity levels. The program completion rates across different trials have been consistently above 95%, and follow-up rates at 3 to 12 months are above 90%. The presentation will highlight the health risk behavior profile of 680 Asian Americans enrolled in one of the ongoing trials, present the Healthy Family Project intervention model, and discuss current health behavior outcomes and implications. A family-focused lay health worker approach is a promising intervention platform to promote health behavior change and facilitate cancer prevention education in Asian American communities.

Citation Format: Janice Y. Tsoh. A family-focused lay health worker approach to promote smoking cessation, healthy eating, and physical activity among Asian Americans [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr IA39.
Abstract IA46: Medical financial hardship in the United States
Authors: Yabroff K. Robin
Published: August 2020

The prevalence of cancer survivorship is increasing in the United States, reflecting an aging and growing population as well as earlier detection of cancer and improved treatments, resulting in longer survival following diagnosis. The costs associated with cancer survivorship are also expected to increase, based only on these population changes. Recent trends towards increasing costs of cancer treatment are further straining budgets for health care payers, and corresponding trends towards greater patient cost-sharing, with higher deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance rates, are straining budgets for cancer patients and their families. As a result, concerns about the costs of cancer care and medical financial hardship, including problems paying medical bills, financial distress, and delaying or forgoing medical care due to costs, are increasingly common. This presentation will discuss risk factors for medical financial hardship in cancer survivors, including patient sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., poverty, minority race/ethnicity, rural residence), lack of health insurance coverage, and aspects of health insurance benefit design among the insured. It will also identify research gaps at the patient and family, provider and care team, health care system, employer, and state and national policy levels.

Citation Format: K. Robin Yabroff. Medical financial hardship in the United States [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr IA46.
Abstract IA50: Genetic testing, treatment and mortality after diagnosis of breast cancer or ovarian cancer: The SEER-GeneLINK Initiative
Authors: Kurian Allison W.
Published: August 2020

Cancer registries enable research on cancer incidence and outcomes in a real-world setting, with broad relevance for the general population. Since only 3% of adult cancer patients in the United States are treated in clinical trials, cancer registries offer crucial insight into the treatment and survival of the other 97%. While highly informative in terms of patient demographics, cancer incidence, and survival, cancer registries lack key clinical details necessary to assess treatment quality and prognostic factors: notably, genetic testing results, specific therapies and patient-reported outcomes. In recent work, we have developed novel data linkage approaches to augment the information value of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry. These linkages have enhanced our understanding of breast cancer and ovarian cancer from genetic risk assessment through treatment, recurrence, and mortality. I will discuss the SEER-GeneLINK initiative, in which we have collaborated with genetic testing laboratories to link the results of germline genetic testing to SEER registry records of breast cancer and ovarian cancer patients. Furthermore, we have surveyed these patients and their attending physicians about key aspects of genetic testing. We are now extending this work to encompass cascade genetic testing of patients' relatives. Our aim is to identify gaps and disparities in cancer care, in order to inform interventions that will improve care quality. Recent results on the use, correlates, and results of genetic testing on the population level will be presented.

Citation Format: Allison W. Kurian. Genetic testing, treatment and mortality after diagnosis of breast cancer or ovarian cancer: The SEER-GeneLINK Initiative [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr IA50.
Abstract 13: Clinical trial outcomes for cancer drug combinations can be predicted using cancer cell line monotherapy screens and a model of independent drug action
Authors: Ling Alexander , Huang R. Stephanie
Published: August 2020

Drug combinations are a cornerstone of cancer therapy; however, the vast number of possible drug combinations makes it infeasible to experimentally evaluate all of these possibilities when identifying new therapies. For example, testing all possible 4-drug combinations for 200 compounds in 100 cell lines would require more than 6 billion experiments. To solve this problem, efforts have been made to develop computational models capable of accurately predicting drug combination efficacy without the need to experimentally test all of them. While these models have traditionally aimed to predict drug synergy, recent evidence has emerged suggesting that many cancer drug combinations may derive their efficacy from independent drug action (IDA), where patients only receive benefit from the single most effective drug in a drug combination. In light of these findings, we developed IDACombo, a computational method that uses IDA to predict the efficacy of drug combinations based on monotherapy data from high-throughput cancer cell line drug screens. We have demonstrated that IDACombo predictions closely agree with measured drug combination efficacies both in vitro (Pearson’s correlation = 0.94 when comparing predicted efficacies to measured efficacies for >5,000 combinations) and in a systematically selected set of clinical trials (accuracy >88% for predicting progression-free survival/time to progression or overall survival benefit in 26 first-line therapy trials). This work provides a framework for translating monotherapy cell line screening data into clinically meaningful efficacy predictions for hundreds of thousands of 2-drug combinations and millions of combinations of 3 or more drugs.

Citation Format: Alexander Ling, R. Stephanie Huang. Clinical trial outcomes for cancer drug combinations can be predicted using cancer cell line monotherapy screens and a model of independent drug action [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advancing Precision Medicine Drug Development: Incorporation of Real-World Data and Other Novel Strategies; Jan 9-12, 2020; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(12_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 13.
Abstract 20: Targeting difficult targets with lysine-covalent ligands: Expanding the druggable space for covalent drugs
Authors: Pellecchia Maurizio
Published: August 2020

Oncology drugs osimertinib, ibrutinib, neratinib, and afatinib have all been approved in very recent years by the FDA, and all target a cysteine that is present in proximity to the binding site of their respective targets. More recently, Amgen reported on AMG 510 as a first-in-class investigational drug designed to selectively and irreversibly target the KRAS G12C protein. These drugs rely on acrylamides moieties strategically incorporated in their chemical structures to selectively and efficiently react with binding site cysteine residues. Obviously, the approach is limited to drug targets that present a cysteine residue in proximity to the binding site, which often is not the case. This druggable target space for covalent drugs is called the Cysteinome. My laboratory has been developing and applying novel strategies aimed at deriving potent, selective, cell-permeable, and efficacious covalent therapeutics by designing agents that can selectively react with lysine residues (1,2). The approach relies on introducing stable aryl-fluorosulfates or sulfonyl-fluorides in drug leads to selectively and efficiently react with lysine residues. Because lysines are more ubiquitously found within the binding pocket of the target oncogenes, the approach defines a much larger target space for covalent drugs: the Lysinome. In addition, I will demonstrate that the approach is amenable also to tackle difficult targets such as those involving protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Hence, our work widens the available target space beyond cysteine and also allows the development of novel drug candidates against PPIs, which represent an untapped large class of therapeutic targets in oncology. Examples will include potent and selective Lys-covalent agents targeting antiapoptotic proteins in the IAP and Bcl-2 families of proteins, including particularly exciting, yet to be published results.

References: 1. Gambini L, Baggio C, Udompholkul P, Jossart J, Salem AF, Perry JJP, Pellecchia M. Covalent inhibitors of protein-protein interactions targeting lysine, tyrosine, or histidine residues. J Med Chem 2019;13;62(11):5616-27. 2. Baggio C, Udompholkul P, Gambini L, Salem AF, Jossart J, Perry JJP, Pellecchia M. Aryl-fluorosulfate-based lysine covalent pan-inhibitors of apoptosis protein (IAP) antagonists with cellular efficacy. J Med Chem 2019;Oct. 8. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01108.

Citation Format: Maurizio Pellecchia. Targeting difficult targets with lysine-covalent ligands: Expanding the druggable space for covalent drugs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advancing Precision Medicine Drug Development: Incorporation of Real-World Data and Other Novel Strategies; Jan 9-12, 2020; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(12_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 20.
Abstract 22: Toward automated design of mutant-selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors using dynamic pharmacophore mapping and machine learning
Authors: Brown Benjamin P. , Mendenhall Jeffrey , Lovly Christine , Meiler Jens
Published: August 2020

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) constitute one of the most significant classes of oncologic therapeutic targets. For over a decade, all-atom molecular simulations have been employed to probe the determinants of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) selectivity. Today, we recognize that sequence and dynamical differences in key regions of kinases, such as the glycine-rich loop, DFG-motif, hinge-binding domain, and gatekeeper region, all contribute to the variability in TKI potency and selectivity across the kinome. This knowledge led to the structure-based rational design of the TKI osimertinib, which preferentially binds to the EGFR-T790M resistance mutant over wild-type EGFR. More recently, we demonstrated that a newly-identified EGFR osimertinib resistance mutation, G724S, develops in specific sequence variants of Ex19Del, but not in L858R, and we were able to attribute these differences to detailed changes in EGFR dynamics. Here, we present a strategy that leverages differences in protein dynamics between mutants to guide the design of mutant-selective inhibitors. Our algorithm employs machine learning-guided Monte Carlo-Metropolis (MCM) sampling of medicinal chemistry modifications to small-molecule scaffolds. The molecules are iteratively filtered through a pharmacophore map of the protein-ligand complex, where the softness of the edges scales with a molecular dynamics-derived measure of each residue’s flexibility with respect to the ligand.

Citation Format: Benjamin P. Brown, Jeffrey Mendenhall, Christine Lovly, Jens Meiler. Toward automated design of mutant-selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors using dynamic pharmacophore mapping and machine learning [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advancing Precision Medicine Drug Development: Incorporation of Real-World Data and Other Novel Strategies; Jan 9-12, 2020; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(12_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 22.
Abstract 44: Monitoring of ctDNA burden from noncoding DNA
Authors: Yu Guo , Poh Zhong Wee , Zhu Guanhua , Tan Iain , Ng Sarah , Tan Patrick , Skanderup Anders
Published: August 2020

Our understanding of mutations in noncoding DNA is still nascent across most cancer types. Similarly, the potential clinical utility of noncoding DNA in cancer liquid biopsy assays remains mostly unexplored. Here, we identify high-frequency noncoding mutation hotspots in whole genomes from hundreds of gastrointestinal tumors and show that these mutations can be detected in liquid biopsy samples from cancer patients. We demonstrate how profiling of noncoding mutation hotspots can significantly increase the accuracy of ctDNA burden estimation, with minimal impact on sequencing cost, when paired with existing targeted cfDNA assays. Our results suggest that targeted NGS liquid biopsy assays should target both protein-coding and noncoding mutations when estimation and monitoring of ctDNA burden is a key clinical endpoint.

Citation Format: Guo Yu, Zhong Wee Poh, Guanhua Zhu, Iain Tan, Sarah Ng, Patrick Tan, Anders Skanderup. Monitoring of ctDNA burden from noncoding DNA [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advancing Precision Medicine Drug Development: Incorporation of Real-World Data and Other Novel Strategies; Jan 9-12, 2020; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(12_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 44.
Gender Differences in Patients Admitted to a Certified German Chest Pain Unit: Results from the German Chest Pain Unit Registry
Authors: Settelmeier Stephan , Rassaf Tienush , Hochadel Matthias , Voigtländer Thomas , Münzel Thomas , Senges Jochen , Breuckmann Frank , Giannitsis Evangelos
Published: August 2020

Introduction: Gender-specific atypical clinical presentation in acute coronary syndrome and sex-specific outcomes in cardiovascular disease in women are well known. The aim of this study is to analyze possible differences between men and women presenting to certified German chest pain units (CPUs). Methods: Data from 13,900 patients derived from the German CPU registry were analyzed for gender differences in patient characteristics, cardiovascular disease manifestation, critical time intervals, treatment and prognosis. Results: A total of 37.8% of patients were female. Typical chest pain occurred more frequently in men, while atypical symptoms occurred more frequently in women. Female gender was associated with longer pre- and in-hospital time delays. Women were more often diagnosed with a nonischemic origin of pain. In a 3-month follow-up, there was no gender-specific difference in combined major adverse coronary and cerebrovascular events. Discussion/Conclusion: This study points out gender-specific differences in prehospital time intervals and a significantly higher percentage of atypical symptoms in suspected myocardial ischemia as well as more noncoronary diagnoses in women. Symptom awareness and a broader diagnostic workup in women are essential.
Simulation of small-scale waste biomass gasification integrated power production: acomparative performance analysis for timber and wood waste
Authors: Safarian Sahar , Unnthorsson Runar , Richter Christiaan
Published: August 2020

A simulation model for integrated waste biomass gasification with cogeneration heat and power has been developed using Aspen Plus. The model can be used as a predictive tool for optimization of the gasifier performance. The system has been modeled in four stages. Firstly, moisture content of biomass is reduced. Secondly biomass is decomposed into its elements by specifying yield distribution. Then gasification reactions have been modeled using Gibbs free energy minimization approach. Finally, power is generated through the internal combustion engine as well as heat recovery system generator. In simulation study, the operating parameters like temperature, equivalence ratio (ER) and biomass moisture content are varied over wide range and their effect on syngas composition, low heating value (LHV) and electrical efficiency (EE) are investigated. Overally, increasing temperature and decreasing ER and MC lead to improvement of the gasification performance. However, for maximum electrical efficiency, it is important to find the optimal values of operating conditions.

The optimum temperature, ER and MC of the down draft gasifier for timber and wood waste are 800 ̊C, 0.2- 0.3 and 5%. At such optimum conditions, CO and H

2 reach to the highest production and LHV and EE are around 7.064 MJ Nm-3 and 45%, respectively.
Role of location of household and its socio-economic status on energy consumption dynamics in rural Nepal: a categorical data analysis
Authors: Devkota Jyoti U.
Published: August 2020

This study is based on data collected from two sample surveys. They are namely survey of 300 households of national grid energy users and 400 households of biogas users. It was conducted in three different rural settings of Nepal. The responses to questions were classifie d into multiple choice options. This generated categorical data and reduced ambiguity and confusion between interviewer and interviewee. Such data were classified into ordinal scale and modelled. As the dependent variable had more than two categories, polytomous and not dichotomous models are developed and fitted. Ten different hypotheses assessing and measuring the energy consumption dynamics are tested. Values of parameters of these model and odds ratio are used in quantifying the impact of change with respect to energy consumption. The variables considered were namely time spent in the collection of firewood, type of house, amount of firewood saved, time saved, employer and school located within 15 min distance. Such data based studies are very crucial for country like Nepal which lacks a strong backbone of accurate and regularly updated official records. They can be generalized to other counties of Asia and Africa. Such results provide guidelines to policy makers and planners regarding formulation of realistic energy policies for such countries.
Anticoagulant Therapy in Initially Low‐Risk Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Who Develop Risk Factors
Authors: Choi Sun Young , Kim Moo Hyun , Lee Kwang Min , Cho Young‐Rak , Park Jong Sung , Kim Seong Woo , Kim Jin Kyung , Chung Matthew , Yun Sung‐Cheol , Lip Gregory Y. H.
Published: August 2020

Background

The CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc score has been validated for stroke risk prediction in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Antithrombotic therapy is not recommended for low‐risk patients with AF (CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc 0 [male] or 1 [female]). We studied a cohort of initially low‐risk patients with AF in relation to their development of incident comorbidities and their treatment on oral anticoagulation therapy.

Methods and Results

We assessed data from 14 441 low‐risk patients with AF (CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc score of 0 [male] or 1 [female]) using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, in relation to their development of incident stroke risk factors and adverse outcomes. The clinical end point was the occurrence of ischemic stroke, major bleeding, all‐cause death, or the composite outcome (ischemic stroke + major bleeding + all‐cause death). In our cohort, 2615 (29.1%) male and 1650 (30.3%) female patients acquired at least 1 new stroke risk factor during a mean follow‐up of 2.0 years. Among the patients with an increasing CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc score ≥1, male and female patients treated with oral anticoagulants had a significantly lower risk of ischemic stroke (male: hazard ratio [HR], 0.62 [95% CI, 0.44–0.82;
P
=0.003]; female: HR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.47–0.84;
P
=0.007]), all‐cause death (male: HR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.49–0.88;
P
=0.009]; female: HR, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.63–1.02;
P
=0.185]), and composite outcomes (male: HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.61–0.95;
P
=0.042]; female: HR, 0.79 [95% CI, 0.62–0.96;
P
=0.045]) than patients not treated with oral anticoagulants.

Conclusions

Approximately 30% of patients acquired ≥1 stroke risk factor over a 2‐year follow‐up period. Low‐risk patients with AF should be regularly reassessed to adequately identify those with incident stroke risk factors that would merit thromboprophylaxis for the prevention of stroke and the composite outcome.
Impact of Long‐Term Burden of Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure From Childhood on Adult Left Ventricular Structure and Function
Authors: Liu Yang , Yan Yinkun , Jiang Tingbo , Li Shengxu , Guo Yajun , Fernandez Camilo , Barshop Rupert , Bazzano Lydia , He Jiang , Chen Wei
Published: August 2020

Background

Data are limited regarding the relationship between the life‐course burden of risk factors and adult cardiac function. This study sought to examine the impact of long‐term burden of body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) levels on changes in adult left ventricular (LV) structure and function in a community‐based cohort.

Methods and Results

The longitudinal study cohort consisted of 1108 adult patients (726 White; 41.9% men; mean age, 48.2 years in the last survey) who had been examined 4 to 16 times for BMI and BP and echocardiographic LV structure and function in adulthood, with a mean follow‐up period of 38.8 years. The area under the curve was used as a measure of long‐term burden of BMI and BP. Adult LV mass index was significantly associated with childhood and adulthood BMI and systolic BP (SBP), and their area under the curve values (β=0.07–0.37;
P
<0.05 for all). Adult LV ejection fraction was negatively associated with childhood BMI (β=−0.08), adult BMI (β=−0.07) and BMI area under the curve (β=−0.07) (
P
<0.05 for all); the effects of SBP measures were not significant. Adult E/A ratio was negatively associated with adulthood SBP (β=−0.13;
P
<0.01) and total area under the curve of SBP (β=−0.13;
P
<0.01). E/e′ ratio was positively associated with BMI and SBP measures. The effects of diastolic BP measures were substantially similar to those of SBP measures. Participants with LV hypertrophy, eccentric hypertrophy, and concentric hypertrophy had significantly lower LV ejection fraction and higher E/e′ ratio.

Conclusions

These observations provide strong evidence that early‐life adiposity and BP levels and their life‐course cumulative burdens are associated with subclinical changes in adult LV structure and function in the general population.
Heritage Somali and Identity in Rural Wisconsin
Authors: Brown Joshua R. , Carpenter Benjamin
Published: August 2020

Wisconsin has a long history of heritage language use, which continues to the present. Latinos, Hmong, and Somalis are groups, which now call Wisconsin home. As new generations of American-born individuals emerge, more removed from immigrant culture, the vitality of the language as a heritage language may weaken. This study examines the vitality of Somali as a heritage language in Barron, Wisconsin. It investigates the negotiation of identities in the context of heritage Somali in the rural Upper Midwest.
Language Mixing in American Norwegian Noun Phrases
Authors: Riksem Brita Ramsevik
Published: August 2020

This article investigates the morphosyntax of American Norwegian noun phrases that show mixing between Norwegian and English and proposes a formal analysis of these. The data show a distinct pattern characterized by English content items occurring together with Norwegian functional material such as determiners and suffixes. In the article, it will be argued that an exoskeletal approach to grammar is ideally suited to capture this empirical pattern. This framework crucially separates the realization of functional and non-functional terminals in an abstract, syntactic structure. Insertion of functional exponents is restricted by feature matching, whereas insertion into non-functional terminals is radically less restrictive. English exponents for noun stems are thus easily inserted into open positions in the structure, whereas functional exponents are typically drawn from Norwegian, as these are better matches to feature bundles comprising definiteness, number, and gender. In addition to the typical mixing pattern, the article addresses an unexpected empirical phenomenon, the occurrence of the English plural -s, and proposes a possible analysis for this using the exoskeletal framework. The formal analysis of American Norwegian noun phrases also exemplifies how an exoskeletal approach complies with the ideal of a Null theory of language mixing.
Reevaluation of species richness in Winnertzia (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae, Winnertziinae), with descriptions of 37 new species from Sweden, Peru and Australia
Authors: JASCHHOF MATHIAS , JASCHHOF CATRIN
Published: August 2020

Tentative studies of Malaise trap samples from different geographic regions and habitats indicate unanimously that Winnertzia, a genus of mycophagous gall midges (Cecidomyiidae), is exceptionally speciose, but hard data in proof of that were previously unavailable. A taxonomic inventory of mycophagous cecidomyiids in Sweden has now revealed that, of 751 species found in total, 93 are Winnertzia. A preliminary census in 2013 had identified only 26 different Winnertzia in Sweden. Two factors are responsible for this increment: the inclusion of large amounts of fresh material to study and the application of a narrower species concept. The latter results from the reevaluation of male morphological characters in the light of COI sequence (DNA barcoding) data. With the inclusion of 37 new Winnertzia described here, the genus now contains 136 extant species. New Winnertzia discovered in Sweden are described here under the following names: W. acutistylus sp. nov., W. angustistylus sp. nov., W. arctostylus sp. nov., W. bicolor sp. nov., W. brachytarsus sp. nov., W. dentata sp. nov., W. egregia sp. nov., W. ekdalensis sp. nov., W. fraxinophila sp. nov., W. grytsjoenensis sp. nov., W. hamatula sp. nov., W. hemisphaerica sp. nov., W. imbecilla sp. nov., W. incisa sp. nov., W. inornata sp. nov., W. lapponica sp. nov., W. lobata sp. nov., W. longicoxa sp. nov., W. normalis sp. nov., W. oelandica sp. nov., W. ombergensis sp. nov., W. parvidens sp. nov., W. pilosistylus sp. nov., W. pratensis sp. nov., W. pustulatula sp. nov., W. quercinophila sp. nov., W. rickebasta sp. nov., W. ruliki sp. nov., W. serri sp. nov., W. setosa sp. nov., W. silvestris sp. nov., W. smalandensis sp. nov., W. sundini sp. nov., W. tumidoides sp. nov., and W. upplandensis sp. nov. Additionally, W. panguana sp. nov. is the first Winnertzia described from the Neotropical region (Peru), and W. warraensis sp. nov. is the first member of the genus described from the Australasian region (Tasmania). Parwinnertzia Felt, 1920 syn. nov. is revealed to be a junior synonym of Winnertzia Rondani, 1860, implying the recombinations of Winnertzia notmani (Felt) comb. nov. and Winnertzia italiana (Mamaev & Zaitzev) comb. nov. The intrageneric classification of Winnertzia is reviewed and developed further, with the W. setosa group introduced for species whose gonostylar claw is conspicuously long and exposed, and whose gonocoxal emargination is bordered by dense, large setae. Winnertzia feralis Mamaev, revived here from synonymy with W. tridens Panelius, and W. fusca Kieffer are new faunistic records in Sweden. Swedish records published in the past of W. brachypalpa Mamaev and W. pravdini Mamaeva & Mamaev rest on misidentifications, and both species are deleted from the Swedish checklist.
100 Robotic Distal Pancreatectomies: The Future at Hand
Authors: Rosemurgy Alexander S. , Luberice Kenneth , Krill Emily , Castro Miguel , Espineira Gabriel Rivera , Sucandy Iswanto , Ross Sharona
Published: August 2020

Introduction

This study was undertaken to examine 100 consecutive robotic distal pancreatectomies with splenectomies, and to compare our outcomes to predicted outcomes as calculated using the American college of surgeons national surgical quality improvement program (ACS NSQIP) Surgical Risk Calculator and to the outcomes contained within NSQIP.

Methods

Outcomes were compared with predicted outcomes, calculated using the ACS NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator, and with outcomes documented in NSQIP for distal pancreatectomy. For illustrative purposes, data are presented as median (mean ± SD).

Results

Patients who underwent robotic distal pancreatectomy were of age 67 (63 ± 13.4) years with a BMI of 29 (29 ± 6.3) kg/m2, with 49% being women. Operative duration was 242 (265 ± 112.2) minutes and estimated blood loss was 110 (211 ± 233.9) mL. Predicted outcomes were similar to those reported in NSQIP. Our actual outcomes were significantly superior to the predicted outcomes for serious complication, any complication, surgical site infection, sepsis, and length of stay. Compared to NSQIP outcomes, our actual outcomes for serious complication, any complication, surgical site infection, sepsis, and delayed gastric emptying were significantly superior. Twelve percent of operations were converted to “open.” There were 3 deaths within 30 days, similar to predicted outcomes. Deaths were due to sepsis (2) and respiratory failure (1).

Conclusion

Our patients’ predicted outcomes were the same as national outcomes; our patients were not a select group. However, their actual outcomes were like or significantly superior than those predicted by NSQIP or reported in NSQIP. We believe that the robot has the future of distal pancreatectomy with or without splenectomy.
Effectiveness of Lateral Auditory Collision Warnings: Should Warnings Be Toward Danger or Toward Safety?
Authors: Chen Jing , Šabić Edin , Mishler Scott , Parker Cody , Yamaguchi Motonori
Published: August 2020

Objective

The present study investigated the design of spatially oriented auditory collision-warning signals to facilitate drivers’ responses to potential collisions.

Background

Prior studies on collision warnings have mostly focused on manual driving. It is necessary to examine the design of collision warnings for safe takeover actions in semi-autonomous driving.

Method

In a video-based semi-autonomous driving scenario, participants responded to pedestrians walking across the road, with a warning tone presented in either the avoidance direction or the collision direction. The time interval between the warning tone and the potential collision was also manipulated. In Experiment 1, pedestrians always started walking from one side of the road to the other side. In Experiment 2, pedestrians appeared in the middle of the road and walked toward either side of the road.

Results

In Experiment 1, drivers reacted to the pedestrian faster with collision-direction warnings than with avoidance-direction warnings. In Experiment 2, the difference between the two warning directions became nonsignificant. In both experiments, shorter time intervals to potential collisions resulted in faster reactions but did not influence the effect of warning direction.

Conclusion

The collision-direction warnings were advantageous over the avoidance-direction warnings only when they occurred at the same lateral location as the pedestrian, indicating that this advantage was due to the capture of attention by the auditory warning signals.

Application

The present results indicate that drivers would benefit most when warnings occur at the side of potential collision objects rather than the direction of a desirable action during semi-autonomous driving.
African Indigenous Leadership Philosophy and Democratic Governance System: Gada’s Intersectionality with Ubuntu
Authors: Aliye Abdurahman Abdulahi
Published: August 2020

This paper aims to add to the recent scholarly search for African leadership philosophy to improve leadership effectiveness in Africa. It examines the Oromo Gada system’s democratic governance and leadership principles and argues its relevance to the current and future leadership effectiveness in Oromia, Ethiopia, and Africa. It analyses the literature on the history, culture, and current practices of the Gada system to identify its leadership philosophies. It discusses these principles by comparing with Ubuntu and other indigenous African leadership philosophies on the one hand with UN principles of good governance on the other. Evidences show that in spite of the expansion of modern education and leadership training; there are little or no evidence of leadership effectiveness in Africa. Corruption, poverty, injustice, and lack of legitimacy and accountability have continued to be the images of Africa and its leadership. These leadership failures are attributed to lack of leadership that connects with the societal values and cultures. The adoption of Gada leadership principles of liberty, equality, morality, rule of law, participation and engagement of citizens, decision making by consensus, separation of power and check and balance, decentralized governance, fixed terms office and peaceful transfer of power, accountability, transparency and impeachment of elected leaders, honesty, team leadership and conflict transformation in political, public and private sector organization leadership are discussed. The development and adoption of Gada, Ubuntu, and other indigenous leadership philosophies is recommended as a remedy to Africa’s leadership problems.
Blood Flow Restriction Exercise: Effects of Sex, Cuff Width, and Cuff Pressure on Perceived Lower Body Discomfort
Authors: Spitz Robert W. , Chatakondi Raksha N. , Bell Zachary W. , Wong Vickie , Viana Ricardo B. , Dankel Scott J. , Abe Takashi , Yamada Yujiro , Loenneke Jeremy P.
Published: August 2020

Narrow cuffs cause less discomfort than wide cuffs immediately following elbow flexion exercise in combination with blood flow restriction, possibly due to a balling up effect of the bicep underneath the cuff. In this study, we sought to examine the impact of cuff width, sex, and pressure on perceived discomfort in the quadriceps, following knee extensions. One hundred participants completed three separate experiments. In Experiment 1, we compared participants’ discomfort at rest after using a 5 and a 12 cm cuff. In Experiment 2, we compared the discomfort from these two cuffs after four sets of exercise. In Experiment 3, we used the same exercise protocol as in Experiment 2, but we compared the discomfort between a 12 cm cuff inflated to an inappropriate pressure and a 12 cm cuff inflated to the recommended pressure. We found no sex differences in Experiments 1 and 3. In Experiment 1, the narrow cuff had higher discomfort (16 vs 12 AU). In Experiment 2, men reported higher discomfort than women, with no discomfort differences related to cuff width, though narrow cuffs were most preferred. In Experiment 3, cuffs inflated to a pressure intended for narrow cuffs were associated with higher discomfort, and participants preferred to use it less. In summary, we found no strong evidence for discomfort differences due to cuff width. There was some indication that participants preferred narrow cuffs with pressures inflated to the recommended relative pressure. Muscle shape may influence how cuff width affects discomfort.
Effects of Motor and Verbal Practice on the Stroop Task
Authors: Roe William T. , Wilsoncroft W. E. , Griffiths Roy S.
Published: August 2020

Motor responses to the Stroop task have been largely ignored despite almost a century of active research on verbal responses to the test. The Stroop task maximizes verbal interference by asking subjects to ignore the stimulus word, e.g., red, and respond to the color of the ink in which the word is printed, e.g., blue. A few recent studies have suggested that motor responses (pressing color-coded buttons) might minimize this interference phenomenon presumably via bypassing the usual verbal processing mechanisms. This study compared motor and verbal responses and provided extensive practice. There were no over-all significant differences between motor and verbal responding although motor responses were faster. Significant practice effects and a significant interaction of response mode by practice suggest that motor responding reacts more rapidly to practice effects.
Common Cause? Policymaking Discourse and the Prison/Welfare Trade-Off
Authors: Guetzkow Josh
Published: August 2020

This article advances our understanding of the well-documented trade-off between welfare and prisons by analyzing US congressional hearings on welfare and criminal justice policies in two periods: the “Great Society” of 1961–67 and the “neoliberal” era of 1981–96. Comparing policymakers’ conceptions about the causes of poverty and crime, about poor and criminal populations, and about the proper role of government, the findings show that conceptions across policy domains are similar in each period and have changed in similar ways over time. These changes correspond to markedly different policy responses to poverty and crime in the two periods, favoring welfare over prisons in the earlier period and prisons over welfare in the later period. The article discusses the implications for an understanding of the punitive turn in public policies, for theories of social control, and for research on the role of ideas in policymaking.
Politics, Social and Economic Change, and Crime: Exploring the Impact of Contextual Effects on Offending Trajectories
Authors: Farrall Stephen , Gray Emily , Mike Jones Phil
Published: August 2020

Do government policies increase the likelihood that some citizens will become persistent criminals? Using criminological concepts such as the idea of a “criminal career” and sociological concepts such as the life course, this article assesses the outcome of macro-level economic policies on individuals’ engagement in crime. Few studies in political science, sociology, or criminology directly link macroeconomic policies to individual offending. Employing individual-level longitudinal data, this article tracks a sample of Britons born in 1970 from childhood to adulthood and examines their offending trajectories through the early 1980s to see the effects of economic policies on individuals’ repeated offending. A model is developed with data from the British 1970 Birth Cohort Study that incorporates individuals, families, and schools and takes account of national-level economic policies (driven by New Right political ideas). Findings suggest that economic restructuring was a key causal factor in offending during the period. Criminologists are encouraged to draw on ideas from political science to help explain offending careers and show how political choices in the management of the economy encourage individual-level responses.
Roles for Pharmacists in the “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America” Initiative
Authors: McCree Donna Hubbard , Byrd Kathy K. , Johnston Marie , Gaines Malendie , Weidle Paul J.
Published: August 2020

In 2019, President Trump announced a new initiative, Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE). EHE will use 3 key strategies—diagnose, treat, and prevent—to reduce new HIV infections at least 90% by 2030, as well as new laboratory methods and epidemiological techniques to respond quickly to potential outbreaks. Partnerships are an important component in the initiative’s success. Pharmacists and pharmacies can play important roles in EHE, including dispensing antiretroviral therapy and providing HIV screening, adherence counseling, medication therapy management, preexposure prophylaxis, and nonprescription syringe sales. The objective of this report is to discuss potential roles that pharmacists and pharmacies can play under the key strategies of EHE.
Saliency-dependent adaptive remeshing for cloth simulation
Authors: Shi Min , Ming Hou , Liu Yaning , Mao Tianlu , Zhu Dengming , Wang Zhaoqi , Zhang Fan
Published: August 2020

We propose a method for simulating cloth with meshes dynamically refined according to visual saliency. It is a common belief that it is preferable for the regions of an image being viewed to have more details than others. For a certain scene, a low-resolution cloth mesh is first simulated and rendered into images in the preview stage. Pixel saliency values of these images are predicted according to a pre-trained saliency prediction model. These pixel saliencies are then translated to a vertex saliency of the corresponding meshes. Vertex saliency, together with camera positions and a number of geometric features of surfaces, guides the dynamic remeshing for simulation in the production stage. To build the saliency prediction model, images extracted from various videos of clothing scenes were used as training data. Participants were asked to watch these videos and their eye motion was tracked. A saliency map is generated from the eye motion data for each extracted video frame image. Image feature vectors and map labels are sent to a Support Vector Machine for training to obtain a saliency prediction model. Our method greatly reduces the number of vertices and faces in the clothing model, and generates a speed-up of more than 3 × for scenes with single dressed character, while for multi-character scenes the speed-up is increased to more than 5×. The proposed technique can work together with view-dependency for offline simulation.
Large wooden orbital foreign body: case report and literature review
Authors: Singh Pallavi , Desai Arjun , Das Deepsekhar , Bajaj Mandeep Singh
Published: August 2020

Orbital trauma is often associated with foreign bodies. Wooden foreign bodies pose an urgent need for removal owing to their reactive nature and the high risk for infection. Though visual prognosis depends on associated ocular trauma, in selected cases, excellent visual and cosmetic outcomes are possible. An 18-year-old woman presented to our trauma facility with a history of fall directly onto a wooden stick from a height. On examination, there was a large wooden foreign body in the left medial orbit, extending into the ethmoidal sinus as visualised on imaging. After administration of perioperative antibiotics, the foreign body was removed in toto using careful tissue dissection and the soft tissue was closed in layers. Postoperatively at six months, the vision in the left eye was 20/20 with mild ptosis. Early surgery, careful dissection of soft tissues and adequate infection prophylaxis can lead to good outcomes in such cases.
(Un)democratic Epicene Pronouns in Asian Englishes: A Register Approach
Authors: Loureiro-Porto Lucía
Published: August 2020

The search for gender equality in language use is one of the most frequently cited cases of linguistic democratization (e.g., Farrelly & Seoane 2012:394). At the grammatical level, this process implies, for example, that pronouns such as generic he used with epicene antecedents are being replaced by singular they or by combined he or she, at least in inner-circle varieties of English. However, outer-circle varieties remain underexplored in this regard. For this reason, this paper analyzes three Asian English varieties, namely Hong Kong English (HKE), Indian English (IndE), and Singapore English (SgE), based on the relevant ICE corpora. More than 58,000 examples were retrieved from the corpora and manually filtered, resulting in 2120 tokens of epicene pronouns. The results show a very different picture for each variety. While overall HKE shows a high preference for the more democratic options they and he or she, IndE and SgE exhibit different patterns. IndE shows singular they in speech, but it is almost non-existent in writing, while in SgE there is a sharp contrast between the most spontaneous spoken register and all other registers. After testing different hypotheses, the findings are explained in socio-cultural terms, as a result of democratization possibly related to women’s movements in those territories.
Divergent Thinking: The Performance of Students with Visual Impairments on Abstract and Scenario-Based Tasks and Their Correlates
Authors: Zebehazy Kim T. , Weber Rachel C. , Murphy Meagan , Ghani Aisha
Published: August 2020

Introduction:

Divergent thinking is a crucial component of effective problem-solving. This study investigated the divergent thinking of students with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision) in three countries and explored the correlates of their performance on two tasks.

Methods:

A sample of 52 students with visual impairments completed two divergent thinking tasks, one traditional Alternate Uses task, and one scenario-based task created for this study. Each student’s teacher of students with visual impairments completed a questionnaire containing demographic, curriculum, and student characteristics.

Results:

Of the correlates examined, teacher-rated academic independence, working on grade level, number of expanded core curriculum (ECC) areas of instruction currently received, and ongoing receipt of assistive technology instruction were significantly related to task performance.

Discussion:

Findings demonstrate the strong relationship between real-life problem-solving, divergent thinking, and academic functioning in students with visual impairments. Further investigation is needed about the relationship between aspects of problem-solving instruction and student outcomes as they relate to divergent thinking.

Implications for practitioners:

Given the connection of divergent thinking to overall problem-solving ability, teachers should assess these skills in students. Using similar scenario-based real-life tasks, they can also incorporate practice opportunities for divergent thinking within ECC instruction.