bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metaphor in multimodal creativity
Authors: Okonski Lacey , Gibbs Raymond W. , Chen Elaine
Published: May 2020

This chapter describes the role that metaphor plays in multimodal creativity in several creative endeavors, specifically music, art, dance, and advertising. Many creative instances of metaphor performance rely on entrenched metaphorical concepts that get manifested in very specific, concrete ways in different artistic domains. Furthermore, although metaphorical thought and language are typically believed to map information from an embodied source domain into more abstract target domains, we argue that creative multimodal performance emerges from people’s very ordinary, yet still highly metaphorical, conceptualizations of mundane bodily experiences. We explore multimodal creativity not just from seeking metaphors as manifested in different domains (e.g., music, art, dance), but also from the ways people talk about creative expressions and understandings.
What makes an advert go viral?
Authors: Pérez-Sobrino Paula , Littlemore Jeannette
Published: May 2020

This chapter investigates the potential role played by the creative use of figurative operations, such as metaphor, metonymy, irony, hyperbole, and understatement, in the success of Internet videos. Irony and figurative language based on creative contrasts between contrasting scenarios were found to be strong predictors of popularity. This effect increased if the message was conveyed through a combination of words and images, rather than through the use of either mode in isolation. No effect was found for the positioning of figurative operations in the advertisement’s timeline. Our findings contribute to the wider marketing field by establishing figurative operations, in particular irony, as a potential determinant of a video’s success.
Disentangling metaphoric communication
Authors: Domínguez Martí
Published: May 2020

This work addresses the different processes involved in the genesis and evolution of metaphors. Studying mainly cartoons published after dramatic events, I show how, when facing a communication need due to a situation of media stress, metaphors are generated to promote news dissemination and comprehension. I propose that an efficient metaphor quickly transforms into a meme that effectively colonizes the communication ecosystem, thanks to the Internet and social networks platforms. In addition, I explain how metaphors can collaborate and evolve together, in a process I name metaphor symbiogenesis. The way these metaphors approach particularly complex and delicate issues has great communicative potential and can become an independent process in metaphor evolution.
Creative journeys
Authors: Williams Camus Julia T.
Published: May 2020

This chapter draws on the notion of creative recontextualization to explore how metastasis is recontextualized through metaphor in a bilingual English-Spanish corpus of press popularization articles on cancer. The quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed marked cross-cultural differences. Thus, while the English subcorpus presents the process with little metaphorical aid, the Spanish subcorpus displays a wider array of images involving movement. Nevertheless, the use of metaphor in both subcorpora generally involved a creative recontextualization of the source domains found in more specialized scientific genres for metastasis (invasion and colonization, dissemination and migration) through the ‘opening up’ of theory-constitutive metaphors. In addition, a particularly creative strategy was the personification of biological entities, which were vilified and portrayed as participating in delinquent activities.
Multimodal creativity in figurative use
Authors: Naciscione Anita
Published: May 2020

This chapter attempts to provide insights into actual language use in multimodal discourse. Observation and analysis focus on multimodal creative use of stylistic patterns: extended metaphor, metonymy, visual pun, allusion, hyperbole, personification. The study also brings out the role of semiotic elements and the significance of background information comprehension and interpretation of multimodal discourse.

My aim is to explore multimodality as a tool, applicable in creative figurative thought instantiations. Multimodal discourse reveals the capacity of the human brain to express figurative thought in various semiotic modes. As our brain is inherently multimodal, it is able to cognise figurative meaning in both verbal and non-verbal representation: visual, audial, body language, sound, color.
Biographical retrodiction for investigating the evolution of learner
agency and L2 writing development through study abroad experiences
Authors: Nitta Ryo
Published: May 2020

This chapter explores the complex and dynamic
interrelations between L2 writing development and the evolution of learner
agency by using biographical retrodiction. A series of
in-depth interviews was conducted with two expert learners before and after
a study abroad period and narratives of their English learner experiences
were constructed. The findings suggest that both expert learners changed
their attitudes towards L2 writing according to the progress of their
overall L2 proficiency and that learner agency recurrently emerged in the
classroom and study-abroad contexts. The findings also emphasize the
usefulness of biographical retrodiction for analyzing accounts constructed
from learners’ narratives and contribute to understanding how various
components within learners’ agentic systems interact to complement L2
writing development.
A critical appraisal of the CDST approach to investigating linguistic
complexity in L2 writing development
Authors: Bulté Bram , Housen Alex
Published: May 2020

This chapter aims to help the complex dynamic systems
theory (CDST) approach to second language acquisition reach its full
potential by critically appraising its current applications to complexity in
L2 writing development. To further this end, we first review five
representative empirical CDST-inspired studies on complexity in L2 writing.
Second, we contrastively analyze a dataset of beginning L2 writing
productions from both a “traditional” and a CDST perspective. Several issues
central to a CDST approach are discussed, including the link between CDST
concepts and research methods, the emphasis on variation and variability as
a window on and a driver of L2 development, the generalizability of
findings, anti-reductionism, and the treatment of measurement noise as
important information about L2 development. We identify challenges for
applying CDST concepts and methods to L2 (writing) development, illustrate
how researchers try to come to grips with these challenges, and offer
suggestions for addressing them.
Envisioning L2 writing development in CDST under a curricular
optic
Authors: Byrnes Heidi
Published: May 2020

The chapter presents an integrated proposal for viewing
CDST-inspired inquiry into L2 writing development under a curricular optic.
After establishing the need for an object theory of language that aligns
with the principles of complexity theory, it considers how the educational
setting itself, composing abilities and their development, and the agentive
L2 writer might be imagined within a complexity theory approach. On that
basis it posits that the educational construct of curriculum, interpreted as
a subsystem of the complex system of formal education, can provide an
environment for studying L2 writing development in an educationally
motivated, holistic, and dynamic way that interprets the L2 composer’s
evolving agency toward textual meaning-making in light of the structures,
processes, and affordances that hold in a particular educational setting.
The chapter concludes by considering broader theoretical, research, and
education-oriented implications of such a proposal.
Unpacking ‘simplex systems’
Authors: Fogal Gary G.
Published: May 2020

Following on Byrnes’ call (2018; this volume) to widen the scope of a complex
dynamic systems theory (CDST) view of L2 writing, this chapter explores
writing beyond the level of developmental processes. To do so, this work
operationalizes ‘simplex systems’ (van
Geert & Steenbeek, 2014) through an exploratory case study
that examines how stakeholders in an English-medium actuary science program
in a Thai university interpret the influence of different program-wide
variables on developing L2 writing. Data underscore how structures of the
program (e.g., the soft-assembly of orientations to time across constituent
groups) benefitted all stakeholders. The findings help move L2 writing,
CDST-related research in a new direction and demonstrate how exploring
simplex systems can impact how writing development is envisioned,
researched, and nurtured longitudinally through a curriculum.
Nitrogen and high oxygen-containing metal-free porous carbon nanosheets for supercapacitor and oxygen reduction reaction applications
Authors: Veeramani Vediyappan , Raghavi Govindan , Chen Shen-Ming , Madhu Rajesh , Sivakumar Mani , Tashima Daisuke , Hung Chin-Te , Liu Shang-Bin
Published: May 2020

Herein, the synthesis of heteroatom-containing graphene-like carbon nanosheets (HA-GCNs) by chemical activation of waste biomass, namely peanut shells. As characterized by a variety of analytical and spectroscopy techniques, the as-synthesized HA-GCNs material carbonized at 900 °C was found to possess sheet-like porous nanosheet morphology with high surface areas (>800 m2 g−1) and desirable of heteroatom contents such as nitrogen (N; 0.84 atom%), and oxygen (O) as high as 20.25 atom%, which greatly improved the electronic properties of the carbon substrate for prospective applications as metal-free electrodes and electrocatalytic materials. The HA-GCNs were found to exhibit a superior specific capacitance of 148, 145, 125, and 105 F g−1 corresponding to the KOH, NaOH, LiOH, and H2SO4 electrolyte solutions, respectively. Although, the HA-GCNs electrode exhibited extraordinary electrochemical performances and cyclic charge-discharge stabilities. Moreover, these novel HA-GCNs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activities and cyclic stabilities for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with a desirable current density of 1.17 mA cm−2 in O2-saturated 0.1 M KOH solution, surpassing that of noble metal-incorporated activated carbons. The superior electrochemical and electrocatalytic performances observed for the HA-GCNs were attributed to the unique pseudocapacitive behavior of the oxygen surface functional groups as well as their unique textural properties, rendering practical applications as low-cost electrodes for supercapacitors and metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR.
Corticoperipheral neuromuscular disconnection in obstructive sleep apnoea
Authors: Gouveris Haralampos , Bahr Katharina , Schmitt Elena , Abriani Ali , Boekstegers Tjarko , Fassnacht Sanja , Huppertz Tilman , Groppa Sergiu , Muthuraman Muthuraman
Published: May 2020

The roles of central nervous mechanisms and cortical output in obstructive sleep apnoea remain unclear. We addressed corticomuscular coupling between cortical sensorimotor areas and lower facial motor units as a mechanistic pathway and as a possible surrogate marker of corticoperipheral motor control in obstructive sleep apnoea. In this exploratory cross-sectional retrospective study, we analysed EEG (C3 and C4 leads) and chin EMG from polysomnography recordings in 86 participants (22 females; age range: 26–81 years): 27 with mild (respiratory disturbance index = 5–15 events/h), 21 with moderate (15–30 events/h) and 23 with severe obstructive sleep apnoea (>30 events/h) and 15 control subjects (<5 events/h). By computing C3-/C4-EEG–chin EMG coherence of signal dynamics in time and frequency domains, we investigated corticomuscular coupling between cortical sensorimotor areas and lower facial motor units with increasing obstructive sleep apnoea severity during the entire sleeping time, during different sleep stages and during obstructive respiratory events, including 5 s before (stable breathing) and after events (breathing resumption). In addition, we studied a possible influence of body mass index and autonomic nervous system activation. We found that both average and respiratory event-specific corticomuscular coupling between cortical sensorimotor areas and lower facial motor units weakened significantly with increasing obstructive sleep apnoea severity, was strongest during N3 and weakened in N1, N2 and rapid eye movement stages (in decreasing order). Coupling increases significantly during the obstructive respiratory events compared with coupling just before and following them. Results were independent of body mass index or autonomic nervous system activation. We conclude that obstructive respiratory events in obstructive sleep apnoea are very strongly associated both quantitatively and temporally with the degree of disconnection within the cortical sensorimotor areas—lower facial motor units pathway. This quite coordinated activity pattern suggests a cortical sensorimotor area-driven obstructive respiratory event pattern generator and a central motor output disorder in obstructive sleep apnoea.
Prediction of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease using deep survival analysis of MRI images
Authors: Nakagawa Tomonori , Ishida Manabu , Naito Junpei , Nagai Atsushi , Yamaguchi Shuhei , Onoda Keiichi ,   on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Published: May 2020

The prediction of the conversion of healthy individuals and those with mild cognitive impairment to the status of active Alzheimer’s disease is a challenging task. Recently, a survival analysis based upon deep learning was developed to enable predictions regarding the timing of an event in a dataset containing censored data. Here, we investigated whether a deep survival analysis could similarly predict the conversion to Alzheimer’s disease. We selected individuals with mild cognitive impairment and cognitively normal subjects and used the grey matter volumes of brain regions in these subjects as predictive features. We then compared the prediction performances of the traditional standard Cox proportional-hazard model, the DeepHit model and our deep survival model based on a Weibull distribution. Our model achieved a maximum concordance index of 0.835, which was higher than that yielded by the Cox model and comparable to that of the DeepHit model. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to describe the application of a deep survival model to brain magnetic resonance imaging data. Our results demonstrate that this type of analysis could successfully predict the time of an individual’s conversion to Alzheimer’s disease.
Unmasking the Actual COVID-19 Case Count
Authors: Kou Samuel C , Yang Shihao , Chang Chia-Jung , Ho Teck-Hua , Graver Lisa
Published: May 2020

This report presents a novel approach to estimate the total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, including undocumented infections, by combining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza-like illness surveillance data with aggregated prescription data. We estimated that the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the United States by 4 April 2020 was > 2.5 million.
Detection of Fusion Genes to Determine Minimal Residual Disease in Leukemia Using Next-Generation Sequencing
Authors: de Boer Eddy N , Johansson Lennart F , de Lange Kim , Bosga-Brouwer Anneke G , van den Berg Eva , Sikkema-Raddatz Birgit , van Diemen Cleo C
Published: May 2020

Background

Measuring minimal residual disease (MRD), the persistence of leukemic cells after treatment, is important for monitoring leukemia recurrence. The current methods for monitoring MRD are flow cytometry, to assess aberrant immune phenotypes, and digital droplet PCR (ddPCR), to target genetic aberrations such as single-nucleotide variants and gene fusions. We present the performance of an RNA-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) method for MRD gene fusion detection compared with ddPCR. This method may have advantages, including the capacity to analyze different genetic aberrations and patients in 1 experiment. In particular, detection at the RNA level may be highly sensitive if the genetic aberration is highly expressed.

Methods

We designed a probe-based NGS panel targeting the breakpoints of 11 fusion genes previously identified in clinical patients and 2 fusion genes present in cell lines. Blocking probes were added to prevent nonspecific enrichment. Each patient RNA sample was diluted in background RNA, depleted for rRNA and globin mRNA, converted to cDNA, and prepared for sequencing. Unique sequence reads, identified by unique molecular identifiers, were aligned directly to reference transcripts. The same patient and cell-line samples were also analyzed with ddPCR for direct comparison.

Results

Our NGS method reached a maximum sensitivity of 1 aberrant cell in 10 000 cells and was mostly within a factor of 10 compared with ddPCR.

Conclusions

Our detection limit was below the threshold of 1:1000 recommended by European Leukemia Net. Further optimizations are easy to implement and are expected to boost the sensitivity of our method to diagnostically obtained ddPCR thresholds.
Atherosclerotic spontaneous coronary artery dissection (A-SCAD) in a patient with COVID-19: case report and possible mechanisms
Authors: Albiero Remo , Seresini Giuseppe
Published: May 2020

Background

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) may be atherosclerotic (A-SCAD) or non-atherosclerotic (NA-SCAD) in origin. Contemporary usage of the term ‘SCAD’ is typically synonymous with NA-SCAD. COVID-19 could induce a vascular inflammation localized in the coronary adventitia and periadventitial fat and contribute to the development of an A-SCAD of a vulnerable plaque in a susceptible patient.

Case summary

In this report we describe a case of a COVID-19 patient with past cardiac history of CAD who was admitted for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Coronary angiography demonstrated the culprit lesion in the proximal LAD that presented with a very complex and unusual morphology, indicative of an A-SCAD. The diagnosis of A-SCAD was supported by the presence of a mild stenosis in the same coronary segment in the last angiogram performed 3 years previously. He was successfully treated by PCI, had a favourable course of the COVID-19 with no symptoms of pneumonia, and was discharged from the hospital after two negative tests for SARS-CoV-2.

Discussion

A higher index of suspicion of A-SCAD is needed in patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 presenting with ACS. The proposed approach with ‘thrombolysis first’ for treating STEMI patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection could be unsafe in the case of underlying A-SCAD.
Sex differences and temporal trends in aortic dissection: a population-based study of incidence, treatment strategies, and outcome in Swedish patients during 15 years
Authors: Smedberg Christian , Steuer Johnny , Leander Karin , Hultgren Rebecka
Published: May 2020

Aims

As large population-based studies of aortic dissection are lacking, the incidence numbers and knowledge about time-trends and sex differences are uncertain. The objective was to describe incidence, temporal trends and outcome of aortic dissection with particular emphasis on sex differences.

Methods and results

During the study period 2002–2016, 8057 patients in Sweden were diagnosed with aortic dissection, identified from the National Patient Register and the Cause of Death Register. A total of 5757 (71%) patients were hospitalized, whereas 2300 (29%) patients were deceased without concurrent hospital stay. The annual incidence was 7.2 per 100 000 (9.1 in men and 5.4 in women), decreasing over time in men (P = 0.005). Mean age in the hospitalized patients was 68 years (SD 13), 2080 (36%) were women. Within the first 14 days after onset, 1807 patients (32%) underwent surgical repair. The proportion of surgically treated increased from the 5-year period 2002–2006 to 2012–2016 [27% vs. 35%, odds ratio (OR) 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39–1.86; P < 0.001]. In hospitalized patients, 30-day mortality decreased between the same periods (26% vs. 21%, OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.59–0.80; P < 0.001). Long-term mortality decreased as well (hazard ratio 0.74, 95% CI 0.67–0.82; P < 0.001). Women had higher 30-day mortality than men after acute repair, a sex difference that remained after age adjustment (17% vs. 12%, OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.04–1.82; P = 0.006).

Conclusion

This population-based study detected a higher incidence of aortic dissection than prior reports, but a decreasing incidence in men. Surgical therapy was increasingly used and with more favourable outcome but was less frequently offered to elderly patients. The sustained sex differences regarding both incidence and outcome require further attention.
Early Metazoan Origin and Multiple Losses of a Novel Clade of RIM Presynaptic Calcium Channel Scaffolding Protein Homologs
Authors: Piekut Thomas , Wong Yuen Yan , Walker Sarah E , Smith Carolyn L , Gauberg Julia , Harracksingh Alicia N , Lowden Christopher , Novogradac Brian B , Cheng Hai-Ying Mary , Spencer Gaynor E , Senatore Adriano
Published: May 2020

The precise localization of CaV2 voltage-gated calcium channels at the synapse active zone requires various interacting proteins, of which, Rab3-interacting molecule or RIM is considered particularly important. In vertebrates, RIM interacts with CaV2 channels in vitro via a PDZ domain that binds to the extreme C-termini of the channels at acidic ligand motifs of D/E-D/E/H-WC-COOH, and knockout of RIM in vertebrates and invertebrates disrupts CaV2 channel synaptic localization and synapse function. Here, we describe a previously uncharacterized clade of RIM proteins bearing domain architectures homologous to those of known RIM homologs, but with some notable differences including key amino acids associated with PDZ domain ligand specificity. This novel RIM emerged near the stem lineage of metazoans and underwent extensive losses, but is retained in select animals including the early-diverging placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens, and molluscs. RNA expression and localization studies in Trichoplax and the mollusc snail Lymnaea stagnalis indicate differential regional/tissue type expression, but overlapping expression in single isolated neurons from Lymnaea. Ctenophores, the most early-diverging animals with synapses, are unique among animals with nervous systems in that they lack the canonical RIM, bearing only the newly identified homolog. Through phylogenetic analysis, we find that CaV2 channel D/E-D/E/H-WC-COOH like PDZ ligand motifs were present in the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians, and delineate some deeply conserved C-terminal structures that distinguish CaV1 from CaV2 channels, and CaV1/CaV2 from CaV3 channels.
Using non-diagonal data covariances in geophysical inversion
Authors: Moorkamp Max , Avdeeva Anna
Published: May 2020

We present a new approach that allows for the inversion of quantities derived from the observed data using non-diagonal data covariance matrices. For example, we can invert approximations of apparent resistivity and phase instead of magnetotelluric impedance using this methodology. Compared to the direct inversion of these derived quantities, the proposed methodology has two advantages: (i) If an inversion algorithm allows for the specification of a full data covariance matrix, users can invert for arbitrary derived quantities by specifying the appropriate covariance matrix instead of having to rely on the inversion code to have implemented this feature. (ii) It is fully compatible with the assumptions of least-squares optimization and thus avoids potential issues with bias when inverting quantities that are nonlinear functions of the original data, We discuss the theory of this approach and show an example using magnetotelluric data. However, the same method can be applied to other types of geophysical data, for example gravity gradient measurements.
Semiorthogonal Decompositions on Total Spaces of Tautological Bundles
Authors: Pirozhkov Dmitrii
Published: May 2020

Let $U$ be the tautological subbundle on the Grassmannian $\operatorname{Gr}(k, n)$. There is a natural morphism $\textrm{Tot}(U) \to{\mathbb{A}}^n$. Using it, we give a semiorthogonal decomposition for the bounded derived category $D^b_{\!\textrm{coh}}(\textrm{Tot}(U))$ into several exceptional objects and several copies of $D^b_{\!\textrm{coh}}({\mathbb{A}}^n)$. We also prove a global version of this result: given a vector bundle $E$ with a regular section $s$, consider a subvariety of the relative Grassmannian $\operatorname{Gr}(k, E)$ of those subspaces that contain the value of $s$. The derived category of this subvariety admits a similar decomposition into copies of the base and the zero locus of $s$. This may be viewed as a generalization of the blow-up formula of Orlov, which is the case $k = 1$.
Longitudinal Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG Seropositivity to Detect COVID-19
Authors: Suhandynata Raymond T , Hoffman Melissa A , Kelner Michael J , McLawhon Ronald W , Reed Sharon L , Fitzgerald Robert L
Published: May 2020

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a novel beta-coronavirus that has recently emerged as the cause of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based tests are optimal and recommended for the diagnosis of an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Serology tests for viral antibodies provide an important tool to diagnose previous exposure to the virus. Here we evaluate the analytical performance parameters of the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG serology assays and describe the kinetics of IgM and IgG seroconversion observed in patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to our hospital.

Methods

We validated the performance of the Diazyme assay in 235 presumed SARS-CoV-2 negative subjects to determine specificity. Subsequently, we evaluated the SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG seroconversion of 54 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients and determined sensitivity of the assay at three different timeframes.

Result

Sensitivity and specificity for detecting seropositivity at ≥15 days following a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR result, was 100.0% and 98.7% when assaying for the panel of IgM and IgG. The median time to seropositivity observed for a reactive IgM and IgG result from the date of a positive PCR was 5 days (IQR: 2.75–9 days) and 4 days (IQR: 2.75–6.75 days), respectively.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate that the Diazyme IgM/IgG assays are suited for the purpose of detecting SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM in patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infections. For the first time, we report longitudinal data showing the evolution of seroconversion for both IgG and IgM in a cohort of acutely ill patients in the United States. We also demonstrate a low false positive rate in patients who were presumed to be disease free.
Efficacy of Anti-EGFR in Microsatellite Instability Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Depending on Sporadic or Familial Origin
Authors: Zaanan Aziz , Henriques Julie , Cohen Romain , Sefrioui David , Evrard Camille , de la Fouchardiere Christelle , Lecomte Thierry , Aparicio Thomas , Svrcek Magali , Taieb Julien , André Thierry , Vernerey Dewi , Tougeron David ,   for the Association des Gastro-entérologues Oncologues (AGEO)
Published: May 2020

Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) efficacy in patients with microsatellite instability (MSI) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) according to sporadic vs familial origin is unknown. We retrospectively analyzed 128 patients with MSI mCRC treated with first-line chemotherapy ± anti-EGFR. Among them, 61 and 67 patients were respectively categorized as familial and sporadic based on mismatch repair protein immunostaining, BRAF mutational status, and MLH1 promoter methylation status. We observed that addition of anti-EGFR to chemotherapy was associated with a statistically significant improvement of progression-free survival for familial (median = 5.0 vs 10.2 months, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.23 to 0.94; P = .03) but not for sporadic (median = 4.4 vs 5.4 months, HR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.39 to 1.60; P = .52) MSI mCRC patients. In multivariate analysis, the survival benefit of adding anti-EGFR to chemotherapy remained statistically significant for familial MSI cases (P = .04). These findings deserve to be confirmed in a prospective study and could help decision making in MSI mCRC without access or resistant to immunotherapy.
Health Behaviors of Cancer Survivors and Population Controls From the National Health Interview Survey (2005-2015)
Authors: Boyd Patrick , Lowry Mark , Morris Kasey Lynn , Land Stephanie R , Agurs-Collins Tanya , Hall Kara , Byrd Doratha A , Perna Frank M
Published: May 2020

Background

Population-based data from the National Health Interview Survey were examined to provide estimates of a wide range of health behaviors in cancer survivors (ie, physical activity, sun protection, alcohol use, cigarette and e-cigarette use, sleep, and diet) and trends over time.

Methods

Data were collected from 92 257 participants across 3 waves of the National Health Interview Survey. A total of 8050 participants reported having had cancer (2428 in 2005, 2333 in 2010, 3289 in 2015). Weighted and adjusted odds ratios (OR) between cancer survivors and controls were calculated using logistic and multivariable regressions in SPSS, and trend analyses from 2005 to 2015 were conducted. All statistical tests are 2-sided.

Results

After adjusting for demographics (2005-2015), cancer survivors, compared with controls, were more likely to wear sunscreen (OR = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32 to 1.51) and protect their skin (P < .001) and were less likely to tan indoors (OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.69 to 0.95), but reported less sleep (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.85 to 0.98). In adjusted models, no differences were found for physical activity, sunburns, alcohol use, smoking, e-cigarette use, and diet. Smoking rates for cancer survivors decreased from 2005 to 2015 (P < .001) and physical activity increased (P = .02), but physical activity was not statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. All other health behavior rates for cancer survivors were unchanged from 2005 to 2015 (P > .14).

Conclusion

After adjusting for covariates, cancer survivors exhibited healthier sun protection, but not sleep behaviors, compared with controls. Cancer survivors (and controls) exhibited decreased smoking rates over time. These results may inform interventions focused on improving cancer control and prevention of other chronic conditions among cancer survivors.
Anaphylaxis to MMR Vaccine Mediated by IgE Sensitivity to Gelatin
Authors: Miller Charles Kent , Mendoza Jun C , Coop Christopher A
Published: May 2020

The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is generally well tolerated, and reports of anaphylaxis to the vaccine are rare. IgE-mediated reactions to vaccines are often caused by additives or residual vaccine components. An inability to obtain proper immunizations can be a disqualifying component to military service. We report a case of anaphylaxis to the MMR vaccine in a new military recruit sensitized to gelatin IgE.
No significant correlation between radial velocity planet presence and debris disc properties
Authors: Yelverton Ben , Kennedy Grant M , Su Kate Y L
Published: May 2020

We investigate whether the tentative correlation between planets and debris discs which has been previously identified can be confirmed at high significance. We compile a sample of 201 stars with known planets and existing far-infrared observations. The sample is larger than those studied previously since we include targets from an unpublished Herschel survey of planet hosts. We use spectral energy distribution modelling to characterize Kuiper belt analogue debris discs within the sample, then compare the properties of the discs against a control sample of 294 stars without known planets. Survival analysis suggests that there is a significant (p ∼ 0.002) difference between the disc fractional luminosity distributions of the two samples. However, this is largely a result of the fact that the control sample contains a higher proportion of close binaries and of later-type stars; both of these factors are known to reduce disc detection rates. Considering only Sun-like stars without close binary companions in each sample greatly reduces the significance of the difference (p ∼ 0.3). We also find no evidence for a difference in the disc fractional luminosities of stars hosting planets more or less massive than Saturn (p ∼ 0.9). Finally, we find that the planet hosts have cooler discs than the control stars, but this is likely a detection bias, since the warmest discs in the control sample are also the faintest, and would thus be undetectable around the more distant planet hosts. Considering only discs in each sample that could have been detected around a typical planet host, we find p ∼ 0.07 for the temperatures.
Constraining Alfvénic turbulence with helicity invariants
Authors: Mahajan Swadesh M , Lingam Manasvi
Published: May 2020

In this paper, we study the constraints imposed by the invariants (generalized helicities and energy) of extended magnetohydrodynamics on some global characteristics of turbulence. We show that the global turbulent kinetic and magnetic energies will approach equipartition only under certain circumstances that depend on the ratio of the generalized helicities. In systems with minimal thermal energy, we demonstrate that the three invariants collectively determine the characteristic length-scale associated with Alfvénic turbulence.
Minimum size of 21-cm simulations
Authors: Kaur Harman Deep , Gillet Nicolas , Mesinger Andrei
Published: May 2020

Cosmic 21cm interferometry is set to revolutionize our understanding of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and the Cosmic Dawn (CD). However, the signal has structure on a huge range of scales, requiring large simulation boxes to statistically capture the relevant fields. In this work, we quantify the minimum box size for simulating the power spectrum (PS) of the 21cm signal. We perform multiple realizations of the initial conditions, for a range of box sizes. We quantify convergence with respect to a simulation that is 1.1 Gpc on a side, with thermal noise computed for a 1000 h integration with SKA1-low. We find that simulations of box lengths 200–300 Mpc underestimate the large-scale power during the CD by ∼7–9 per cent on average. We conclude that box lengths of L ≳ 250 Mpc are needed to converge at the level of ≲1σ of the total noise.
Angular momentum transport, layering, and zonal jet formation by the GSF instability: non-linear simulations at a general latitude
Authors: Barker A J , Jones C A , Tobias S M
Published: May 2020

We continue our investigation into the non-linear evolution of the Goldreich–Schubert–Fricke (GSF) instability in differentially rotating radiation zones. This instability may be a key player in transporting angular momentum in stars and giant planets, but its non-linear evolution remains mostly unexplored. In a previous paper we considered the equatorial instability, whereas here we simulate the instability at a general latitude for the first time. We adopt a local Cartesian Boussinesq model in a modified shearing box for most of our simulations, but we also perform some simulations with stress-free, impenetrable, radial boundaries. We first revisit the linear instability and derive some new results, before studying its non-linear evolution. The instability is found to behave very differently compared with its behaviour at the equator. In particular, here we observe the development of strong zonal jets (‘layering’ in the angular momentum), which can considerably enhance angular momentum transport, particularly in axisymmetric simulations. The jets are, in general, tilted with respect to the local gravity by an angle that corresponds initially with that of the linear modes, but which evolves with time and depends on the strength of the flow. The instability transports angular momentum much more efficiently (by several orders of magnitude) than it does at the equator, and we estimate that the GSF instability could contribute to the missing angular momentum transport required in both red giant and subgiant stars. It could also play a role in the long-term evolution of the solar tachocline and the atmospheric dynamics of hot Jupiters.
AcrFinder: genome mining anti-CRISPR operons in prokaryotes and their viruses
Authors: Yi Haidong , Huang Le , Yang Bowen , Gomez Javi , Zhang Han , Yin Yanbin
Published: May 2020

Anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins encoded by (pro)phages/(pro)viruses have a great potential to enable a more controllable genome editing. However, genome mining new Acr proteins is challenging due to the lack of a conserved functional domain and the low sequence similarity among experimentally characterized Acr proteins. We introduce here AcrFinder, a web server (http://bcb.unl.edu/AcrFinder) that combines three well-accepted ideas used by previous experimental studies to pre-screen genomic data for Acr candidates. These ideas include homology search, guilt-by-association (GBA), and CRISPR-Cas self-targeting spacers. Compared to existing bioinformatics tools, AcrFinder has the following unique functions: (i) it is the first online server specifically mining genomes for Acr-Aca operons; (ii) it provides a most comprehensive Acr and Aca (Acr-associated regulator) database (populated by GBA-based Acr and Aca datasets); (iii) it combines homology-based, GBA-based, and self-targeting approaches in one software package; and (iv) it provides a user-friendly web interface to take both nucleotide and protein sequence files as inputs, and output a result page with graphic representation of the genomic contexts of Acr-Aca operons. The leave-one-out cross-validation on experimentally characterized Acr-Aca operons showed that AcrFinder had a 100% recall. AcrFinder will be a valuable web resource to help experimental microbiologists discover new Anti-CRISPRs.
Conserved unique peptide patterns (CUPP) online platform: peptide-based functional annotation of carbohydrate active enzymes
Authors: Barrett Kristian , Hunt Cameron J , Lange Lene , Meyer Anne S
Published: May 2020

The CUPP platform includes a web server for functional annotation and sub-grouping of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) based on a novel peptide-based similarity assessment algorithm, i.e. protein grouping according to Conserved Unique Peptide Patterns (CUPP). This online platform is open to all users and there is no login requirement. The web server allows the user to perform genome-based annotation of carbohydrate active enzymes to CAZy families, CAZy subfamilies, CUPP groups and EC numbers (function) via assessment of peptide-motifs by CUPP. The web server is intended for functional annotation assessment of the CAZy inventory of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms from genomic DNA (up to 30MB compressed) or directly from amino acid sequences (up to 10MB compressed). The custom query sequences are assessed using the CUPP annotation algorithm, and the outcome is displayed in interactive summary result pages of CAZymes. The results displayed allow for inspection of members of the individual CUPP groups and include information about experimentally characterized members. The web server and the other resources on the CUPP platform can be accessed from https://cupp.info.
E-cigarettes: The Long-Term Liberal Perspective
Authors: Grill Kalle
Published: May 2020

The debate for and against making e-cigarettes available to smokers is to a large extent empirical. We do not know the long-term health effects of vaping and we do not know how smokers will respond to e-cigarettes over time. In addition to these empirical uncertainties, however, there are difficult moral issues to consider. One such issue is that many smokers in some sense choose to smoke. Though smoking is addictive and though many start young, it does not seem impossible to plan for and implement cessation. Yet many choose not to do so and we arguably have some reason to respect this choice. I propose that liberal opposition to strict tobacco control, based on respect for choice, is mitigated when e-cigarettes are available, since they are such a close substitute. Making e-cigarettes available to smokers might therefore not only enable switching in practice, but may make tougher tobacco control more justified. Another moral issue is that making e-cigarettes widely available might induce many people to vape, who would otherwise have neither vaped nor smoked. If this is so, the price of using e-cigarettes to accelerate smoking cessation may be a long-term vaping epidemic. Since vaping is less harmful than smoking, both individuals and society will have less reason to end this epidemic and so it may endure longer than the smoking epidemic would otherwise have done. This raises further questions around the weighing of reduced harm to current smokers against increased harm to future vapers.

Implications: Because they are a close substitute, e-cigarettes makes tougher tobacco control more morally and politically feasible. Because e-cigarettes are less harmful than combustibles, making them available may accelerate smoking cessation but also lead to a long-term vaping epidemic, as we have less reason to combat vaping, once established. Moral evaluation of this possible scenario requires considering at least three things: (1) the cost of addiction to autonomy, in addition to health effects, (2) possible distributional effects due to differences between current smokers and future vapers, and (3) the fact that a possible vaping epidemic affects mainly future people and future society.
Rejecting rejections—seeking acceptance of experimental economics in economics journals
Authors: Svorenčík Andrej
Published: May 2020

This paper addresses a central question of the experimental turn in economics: how a relatively small group of experimental economists in the 1970s and 1980s managed to convince editors and referees of leading economics journals of the merits of the experimental method. The consequence of this was that, by the early 1990s, experimental economics research became a standard feature of economics journals and of the economics mainstream. I draw on a unique—and, to this date, never utilized—corpus of referee reports (and related correspondence) by Charles Plott, one of the leading pioneers of experimental economics. His publication corpus is used as a case study of how experimental economists sought acceptance in economics journals. I describe a set of nine strategies that he and other early experimental economists used to convince journal editors and referees who had no direct experience with conducting economic experiments of the merits of the experimental method.
Parallel Evolution of Bower-Building Behavior in Two Groups of Bowerbirds Suggested by Phylogenomics
Authors: Ericson Per G P , Irestedt Martin , Nylander Johan A A , Christidis Les , Joseph Leo , Qu Yanhua
Published: May 2020

The bowerbirds in New Guinea and Australia include species that build the largest and perhaps most elaborately decorated constructions outside of humans. The males use these courtship bowers, along with their displays, to attract females. In these species, the mating system is polygynous and the females alone incubate and feed the nestlings. The bowerbirds also include 10 species of the socially monogamous catbirds in which the male participates in most aspects of raising the young. How the bower-building behavior evolved has remained poorly understood, as no comprehensive phylogeny exists for the family. It has been assumed that the monogamous catbird clade is sister to all polygynous species. We here test this hypothesis using a newly developed pipeline for obtaining homologous alignments of thousands of exonic and intronic regions from genomic data to build a phylogeny. Our well-supported species tree shows that the polygynous, bower-building species are not monophyletic. The result suggests either that bower-building behavior is an ancestral condition in the family that was secondarily lost in the catbirds, or that it has arisen in parallel in two lineages of bowerbirds. We favor the latter hypothesis based on an ancestral character reconstruction showing that polygyny but not bower-building is ancestral in bowerbirds, and on the observation that Scenopoeetes dentirostris, the sister species to one of the bower-building clades, does not build a proper bower but constructs a court for male display. This species is also sexually monomorphic in plumage despite having a polygynous mating system. We argue that the relatively stable tropical and subtropical forest environment in combination with low predator pressure and rich food access (mostly fruit) facilitated the evolution of these unique life-history traits. [Adaptive radiation; bowerbirds; mating system, sexual selection; whole genome sequencing.]
Quo vadis trust business, or why regulation blurs the view
Authors: of Liechtenstein H S H Prince Michael
Published: May 2020

The financial services industry, and in particular the trust business industry, has been severely affected by regulations in recent years. The worrying thing about it is that the industry’s focus is being shifted away from the clients and their needs. This article aims at bringing back into focus what the trust business is all about and what the core competencies of trustees are.
Multimodality treatment for localized gastric cancer: state of the art and new insights
Authors: Petrillo Angelica , Smyth Elizabeth C.
Published: May 2020

Purpose of review

Surgery represents the only curative approach for resectable gastric cancer. However, rates of recurrence remain high. This review summarizes the state of the art and future perspectives regarding perioperative, neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy for localized gastric cancer with insights regarding precision medicine.

Recent findings

Perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT has significantly improved outcomes for non-Asian patients with resectable gastric cancer, removing the role for anthracyclines. Preliminary results demonstrate that the perioperative approach is an option for Asian patients; however, long-term outcomes are awaited. For adjuvant treatment in Asian gastric cancer patients, S-1 as well as docetaxel may be a new treatment option. In this context, the right selection of patients is crucial. Among several biomarkers, microsatellite instability/mismatch repair deficiency has been linked with a lack of benefit from chemotherapy as well as better prognosis.

Multimodality treatment represents the standard of care for resectable gastric cancer. Perioperative chemotherapy with FLOT is the standard treatment in western countries; in patients who are not suitable for triplet, a platinum-fluoropyrimidine doublet can be considered. In Asian countries, adjuvant chemotherapy based on fluoropyrimidine monotherapy or in association with oxaliplatin/docetaxel are options. Validation of prognostic and predictive biomarkers is needed in order to improve patient selection.