bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sacral Tarlov cysts: Neurophysiology abnormalities and correlation with pelvic sensory and visceral symptoms
Authors: Hentzen Claire , Cabrilo Ivan , Malladi Prasad , Simeoni Sara , Amarenco Gérard , Zaidman Nathalie , Pakzad Mahreen , Shah Sachit , Casey Adrian T. , Panicker Jalesh N.
Published: May 2023

Background and purpose

Recent studies suggest a possible association between Tarlov cysts (TCs), usually considered as incidental radiological findings, and neurological symptoms such as pain, numbness and urogenital complaints. The aim was to explore the relationship between TCs and sacral nerve root functions using pelvic neurophysiology tests, and to correlate changes with clinical symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.

Methods

Consecutive patients with sacral TCs, referred for pelvic neurophysiology testing and presenting with at least one symptom related to the pelvic area, participated in a cross‐sectional review of symptoms using validated questionnaires. Findings of pelvic neurophysiology (pudendal sensory evoked potentials, sacral dermatomal sensory evoked potentials, external anal sphincter electromyography) and urodynamics testing were collected retrospectively. The relationship between neurophysiology, MRI findings and patients' symptoms was assessed using Fisher and ANOVA tests.

Results

Sixty‐five females were included (mean age 51.2 ± 12.1 years). The commonest symptom was pain (92%). Urinary (91%), bowel (71%) and sexual (80%) symptoms were also frequently reported. Thirty‐seven patients (57%) had abnormal neurophysiology findings reflecting sacral root dysfunction. No association was seen between MRI findings (size, location of the cysts, severity of compression) and neurophysiology. A negative association was observed between neurophysiology abnormalities and occurrence of urgency urinary incontinence (p = 0.03), detrusor overactivity (p < 0.01) and stress urinary incontinence (p = 0.04); however, there was no association with voiding difficulties.

Conclusions

Contrary to current understanding, TCs are associated with injury to the sacral somatic innervation in the majority of patients with presumed symptomatic cysts. However, urinary incontinence is unlikely to be related to TC‐induced nerve damage.
Efficacy of innovative therapies in myasthenia gravis: A systematic review, meta‐analysis and network meta‐analysis
Authors: Saccà Francesco , Pane Chiara , Espinosa Pablo Ezequiel , Sormani Maria Pia , Signori Alessio
Published: May 2023

Background and purpose

Therapy for myasthenia gravis (MG) is undergoing a profound change, with new treatments being tested. These include complement inhibitors and neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) blockers. The aim of this study was to perform a meta‐analysis and network meta‐analysis of randomized and placebo‐controlled trials of innovative therapies in MG with available efficacy data.

Methods

We assessed statistical heterogeneity across trials based on the Cochrane Q test and I2 values, and mean differences were pooled using the random‐effects model. Treatment efficacy was assessed after 26 weeks of eculizumab and ravulizumab, 28 days of efgartigimod, 43 days of rozanolixizumab, 12 weeks of zilucoplan, and 16, 24 or 52 weeks of rituximab treatment.

Results

We observed an overall mean Myasthenia Gravis‐Activities of Daily Living scale (MG‐ADL) score change of −2.17 points (95% confidence interval [CI] −2.67, −1.67; p < 0.001) as compared to placebo. No significant difference emerged between complement inhibitors and anti‐FcRn treatment (p = 0.16). The change in Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis scale (QMG) score was −3.46 (95% CI −4.53, −2.39; p < 0.001), with a higher reduction with FcRns (−4.78 vs. −2.60; p < 0.001). Rituximab did not significantly improve the MG‐ADL (−0.92 [95% CI −2.24, 0.39]; p = 0.17) or QMG scores (−1.9 [95% CI −3.97, 0.18]; p = 0.07). In the network meta‐analysis, efgartigimod had the highest probability of being the best treatment, followed by rozanolixizumab.

Conclusion

Anti‐complement and FcRn treatments both proved to be effective in MG patients, whereas rituximab did not show a significant benefit for patients. Within the limitations of this meta‐analysis, including efficacy time points, FcRn treatments showed a greater effect on QMG score in the short term. Real‐life studies with long‐term measurements are needed to confirm our results.
T2‐Fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) pseudoprogression in patients with anaplastic oligodendrogliomas treated with procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine (PCV) chemotherapy alone
Authors: Esparragosa Vazquez Inés , Ndiaye Mané , Di Stefano Anna Luisa , Younan Nadia , Larrieu‐Ciron Delphine , Seyve Antoine , Picart Thiébaud , Meyronet David , Boutet Claire , Vassal François , Carpentier Catherine , Figarella‐Branger Dominique , Dehais Caroline , Forest Fabien , Rivoirard Romain , Ducray François ,   POLA network
Published: May 2023

Background

Pseudoprogression in gliomas has been extensively described after radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, but not after chemotherapy alone. Here we describe the occurrence of pseudoprogression in patients with anaplastic oligodendrogliomas treated with postoperative procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine (PCV) chemotherapy alone.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical and radiological files of patients with 1p/19q codeleted, IDH‐mutant anaplastic oligodendrogliomas treated with PCV chemotherapy alone who presented magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modifications suggestive of tumour progression and in whom the final diagnosis was a pseudoprogression.

Results

We identified six patients. All patients underwent a surgical resection and were treated with PCV chemotherapy without radiotherapy. After a median of 11 months following the initiation of chemotherapy (range: 3–49 months), the patients developed asymptomatic white matter MRI modifications around the surgical cavity leading to the suspicion of a tumour progression. These modifications appeared as hyperintense on T2‐fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence, hypointense on T1 sequence, and lacked mass effect (0/6), contrast enhancement (0/6), restriction on diffusion‐weighted imaging (0/4), relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) increase on perfusion MRI (0/4), and hypermetabolism on 18F‐fluoro‐L‐dopa positron emission tomography (18F‐DOPA PET) scan (0/3). One patient underwent a surgical resection demonstrating no tumour recurrence; the five other patients were considered as having post‐therapeutic modifications based on imaging characteristics. After a median follow‐up of 4 years all patients were progression‐free.

Conclusions

Anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients treated with postoperative PCV chemotherapy alone occasionally develop T2/FLAIR hyperintensities around the surgical cavity that can wrongly suggest tumour progression. Multimodal imaging and close follow‐up should be considered in this situation.
Hallmarks and evolutionary drivers of cotranslational protein complex assembly
Authors: Badonyi Mihaly , Marsh Joseph A.
Published: May 2023

Recent discoveries have highlighted the prevalence of cotranslational assembly in proteomes, revealing a range of mechanisms that enables the assembly of protein complex subunits on the ribosome. Structural analyses have uncovered emergent properties that may inherently control whether a subunit undergoes cotranslational assembly. However, the evolutionary paths that have yielded such complexes over an extended timescale remain largely unclear. In this review, we reflect on historical experiments that contributed to the field, including breakthroughs that have made possible the proteome‐wide detection of cotranslational assembly, and the technical challenges yet to be overcome. We introduce a simple framework that encapsulates the hallmarks of cotranslational assembly and discuss how results from new experiments are shaping our view of the mechanistic, structural and evolutionary factors driving the phenomenon.
Associations of interdialytic weight gain in the long intervals with mortality and residual kidney function decline
Authors: Miyasato Yoshikazu , Hanna Ramy M. , Miyagi Tsuyoshi , Narasaki Yoko , Kimura Hiroshi , Morinaga Jun , Mukoyama Masashi , Kalantar‐Zadeh Kamyar
Published: May 2023

Introduction

Interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) is crucial in the association between long interdialytic intervals and mortality in hemodialysis patients. The impact of IDWG on changes in residual kidney function (RKF) has not been evaluated thoroughly. This study examined the associations of IDWG in the long intervals (IDWGL) with mortality and rapid RKF decline.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included patients who initiated hemodialysis in the United States dialysis centers from 2007 to 2011. IDWGL was defined as IDWG in the two‐day break between dialysis sessions. This study examined the associations of seven categories of IDWGL (0% to <1%, 1% to <2%, 2% to <3% [reference], 3% to <4%, 4% to <5%, 5% to <6%, and ≥6%) with mortality using Cox regression models and rapid decline of renal urea clearance (KRU) using logistic regression models. The continuous relationships between IDWGL and study outcomes were investigated using restricted cubic spline analyses.

Findings

Mortality and rapid RKF decline were assessed in 35,225 and 6425 patients, respectively. Higher IDWGL categories were linked to increased risk of adverse outcomes. The multivariate adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of all‐cause mortality for 3% to <4%, 4% to <5%, 5% to <6%, and ≥6% IDWGL were 1.09 (1.02–1.16), 1.14 (1.06–1.22), 1.16 (1.06–1.28), and 1.25 (1.13–1.37), respectively. The multivariate adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of rapid decline of KRU for 3% to <4%, 4% to <5%, 5% to <6%, and ≥6% IDWGL were 1.03 (0.90–1.19), 1.29 (1.08–1.55), 1.17 (0.92–1.49), and 1.48 (1.13–1.95), respectively. When IDWGL exceeded 2%, the hazard ratios of mortality and the odds ratios of rapid KRU decline continuously increased.

Discussion

Higher IDWGL was incrementally associated with higher mortality risk and rapid KRU decline. IDWGL level over 2% was linked to higher risk of adverse outcomes. Therefore, IDWGL may be utilized as a risk parameter for mortality and RKF decline.
Detection of novel therapies using a multi‐national, multi‐institutional registry of cutaneous immune‐related adverse events and management
Authors: Mital Rohan , Otto Tracey S. , Savu Andrei , Baumrin Emily , Cardones Adela R. , Carlesimo Marta , Caro Gemma , Freites‐Martinez Azael , Hirner Jesse P. , Markova Alina , McLellan Beth N. , Rossi Alfredo , Sauder Maxwell B. , Seminario‐Vidal Lucia , Sibaud Vincent , Owen Dwight H. , Dulmage Brittany O. , Chen Steven T. , Kaffenberger Benjamin H.
Published: May 2023

Background

Cutaneous immune‐related adverse events (cirAEs) remain a prevalent and common sequelae of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, often necessitating treatment interruption and prolonged immune suppression. Treatment algorithms are still poorly defined, based on single‐institution case reports without adequate safety assessments, and subject to publication bias.

Methods

Data in this registry were collected through a standardized REDCap form distributed to dermatologists via email listserv.

Results

Ninety‐seven cirAEs were reported from 13 institutions in this registry. Topical and systemic steroids were the most common treatments used; however, targeted treatment matched to disease morphology was identified at numerous sites. Novel cirAE therapy uses that to our knowledge have not been previously described were captured including tacrolimus for the treatment of follicular, bullous, and eczematous eruptions and phototherapy for eczematous eruptions. Moreover, further evidence of cirAE treatment applications sparsely described in literature were also captured in this study including dupilumab and rituximab for bullous eruptions, phototherapy for lichenoid and psoriasiform eruptions, and acitretin for psoriasiform eruptions, among others. No serious adverse events were reported. Numerous targeted therapeutics including dupilumab, rituximab, and psoriasis biologics, among others, were associated with a cirAE grade improvement of ≥2 grades in every patient treated.

Conclusion

This study suggests that a multi‐institutional registry of cirAEs and management is not only feasible but that the information collected can be used to detect, evaluate, and rigorously assess targeted treatments for cirAEs. Further expansion and modification to include treatment progression may allow for sufficient data for specific treatment recommendations to be made.
Modelling the cost‐effectiveness of subepidermal moisture measurement as part of a process of assessment and intervention to prevent hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers
Authors: Posnett John William , Moss Joe William Edward , Michaelwaite Lewis Ian
Published: May 2023

Skin tissue assessment is traditionally used to identify early signs of pressure damage from changes observed at the skin surface. However, the early onset of tissue damage induced by pressure and shear forces is likely to be on soft tissues beneath the surface of the skin. Subepidermal moisture (SEM) is a biophysical marker for the detection of early and deep pressure‐induced tissue damage. Measurement of SEM can detect early pressure ulcers up to 5 days before visible skin changes occur. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of SEM measurement compared with visual skin assessment (VSA). A decision‐tree model was developed. Outcomes are the incidence of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers, quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs) and costs to the UK National Health Service. Costs are at 2020/21 prices. The effects of parameter uncertainty are tested in univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analysis. In a representative NHS acute hospital, the incremental cost of SEM assessment as an adjunct to VSA is −£8.99 per admission, and SEM assessment is expected to reduce the incidence of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers by 21.1%, reduce NHS costs and lead to a gain of 3.634 QALYs. The probability of cost‐effectiveness at a threshold of £30 000 per quality‐adjusted life year is 61.84%. Pathways that include SEM assessment make it possible to implement early and anatomy‐specific interventions which have the potential to improve the effectiveness of pressure ulcer prevention and reduce healthcare costs.
The effects of tungsten doping on the mechanical properties of Bi2O2Se
Authors: Li Buda , Li Menglu , Qi Hangbo , Zhao Siqin , Feng Shan , Zu Xiaotao , Qiao Liang , Xiao Haiyan
Published: May 2023

In this study, we systemically investigate the effects of tungsten doping on the structural, electronic, and mechanical properties of Bi2O2Se by using the first‐principles method. It is found that tungsten doping significantly influences the electronic structure and mechanical properties of Bi2O2Se. The electrons are distributed on the Fermi level, and the doped Bi2O2Se exhibits metallic‐like character. Meanwhile, tungsten doping improves the ductility and toughness of Bi2O2Se and reduces its lattice thermal conductivity. This study demonstrates that tungsten doping is an effective method to engineer the physical properties of Bi2O2Se.
Damage prediction of sintered α‐SiC using thermo‐mechanical coupled fracture model
Authors: Sun Jason , Chen Yu , Marziale Joseph J. , Walker Eric A. , Salac David , Chen James
Published: May 2023

A three‐way coupled thermo‐mechanical fracture model is presented to predict the damage of brittle ceramics, in particular α‐SiC, over a wide range of temperatures (20–1400°C). Predicting damage over such a range of temperatures is crucial for thermal protection systems for many systems such as spacecraft. The model, which has been implemented in MOOSE, is divided into three modules: elasticity, damage phase field, and heat conduction. Analytical approaches for determining crack lengthscales are presented for both simple tension and simple shear. Validation tests are conducted for both flexural strength and fracture toughness over the specified range of temperatures. Flexural strength simulation results fall within the uncertainty region of the experimental data, and mode I fracture toughness simulation results are also in agreement with the experimental data. Mode II and mixed mode fracture toughness simulations results are presented with the modified G‐criterion. Finally, the parallel computing capabilities of the model are considered in various scalability tests.
Increased risk of periodontitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A nationwide register study in Norway
Authors: Bolstad Anne Isine , Fevang Bjørg‐Tilde Svanes , Lie Stein Atle
Published: May 2023

Aim

To investigate the risk of periodontitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in a nationwide register‐based study.

Materials and Methods

Patients and controls were defined using ICD‐10 codes registered in the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR), from 2011 to 2017. The 324,232 included subjects had at least one registered diagnostic code for RA (33,040 patients) or diagnostic codes for non‐osteoporotic fractures or hip or knee replacement due to osteoarthritis (controls). The outcome was periodontitis, defined by codes for periodontal treatment from the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements Database (KUHR). Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for periodontitis in RA patients compared to controls. Generalized additive model in Cox regressions was estimated to visualize periodontitis occurrences as a function of number of RA visits.

Results

The risk of periodontitis increased with increasing number of RA visits. RA patients having 10 or more visits during the 7‐year period had a 50% increased risk of periodontitis compared to controls (HR = 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39–1.59); also, in patients with assumed new RA, an even higher risk estimate was seen (HR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.53–2.17).

Conclusions

In this register‐based study in which periodontal treatment was used as a surrogate marker for periodontitis, we found an increased risk of periodontitis in RA patients, particularly those with active disease and new RA.
The effect of low‐intensity cold atmospheric plasma jet on photoaging‐induced hyperpigmentation in mouse model
Authors: Ahn Ga Ram , Park Hyung Joon , Koh Young Gue , Kim Ka Ram , Kim Yu Jin , Lee Jung Ok , Seok Joon , Yoo Kwang Ho , Lee Kyu Back , Kim Beom Joon
Published: May 2023

Background

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) produces reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (RONS) in the target and can induce cytoprotective effects by activating hormesis‐related pathways when its intensity is in the low range.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of low‐intensified CAP (LICAP) on skin with photoaging‐induced hyperpigmentation in an animal model.

Methods

Changes in cell viability and RONS production following LICAP treatment were measured. For the in vivo study, 30 hairless mice underwent antecedent photoaging induction followed by the allocated therapy (i.e., LICAP, topical ascorbic acid (AA), or both). During the first 4 weeks of the treatment period (8 weeks), ultraviolet (UV)‐B irradiation was concurrently administered. Visual inspection and measurement of the melanin index (MI) were performed to assess the change in skin pigmentation at Weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Results

RONS production increased linearly until the saturation point. Cell viability was not significantly affected by LICAP treatment. At Week 8, MI was significantly decreased in every treatment group compared with the values at Week 0 and Week 4. The treatment effect of the concurrent therapy group was superior to that of the LICAP and AA groups.

Conclusion

LICAP appears to be a novel modality for photoprotection and pigment reduction in photodamaged skin. LICAP treatment and topical AA application seem to exert a synergistic effect.
A scoping review of institutional policies and recommendations for trans inpatient mental health care
Authors: Britt‐Thomas Jessica Y. , Kridel Matthew , Velez Janina , Kouame Gail , Tharrington Shafer , Barrett Thomas , Casanova Tracy
Published: May 2023

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

International guidelines for trans‐and‐gender‐non‐conforming (TGNC) exists in outpatient settings.

Compared to cisgender and heterosexual people, TGNC individuals are at a higher risk of mental health difficulties and have higher rates of inpatient mental health treatment.

What does this paper add to existing knowledge?

An international scoping review identifying the lack of guidelines existing for TGNC individuals in inpatient mental health settings. Compared to psychiatrists and psychologists, mental health nursing has the most contact with patients admitted for inpatient psychiatric treatment. The study identifies unaddressed needs in gender affirming policies and outlines preliminary policy recommendations to assist mental health staff in improving TGNC patient quality of care within the United States.

What are the implications for practice?

Reforming existing guidelines or creating new guidelines based on the identified themes and gaps to improve the well‐being and treatment outcomes of TGNC individuals in inpatient psychiatric settings within the United States.

Introduction

Access to culturally sensitive care is critical for addressing known mental health disparities among trans‐and gender‐non‐conforming (TGNC) individuals. Although there has been a proliferation of TGNC healthcare guidelines from accrediting bodies, policies have failed to address the needs of TGNC patients in inpatient psychiatric settings.

Aim

To identify unaddressed needs in policies and policy recommendations for the care of TGNC patients to inform recommendations for change.

Method

A scoping review protocol was developed following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses 850 articles were reduced to seven relevant articles with six themes identified via thematic analysis.

Results

Six themes were identified: lack of consistency in preferred and pronoun use, lack of communication among providers, lack of training in TGNC healthcare, personal bias, lack of formal policies, and housing segregation by sex rather than gender.

Discussion

The creation of new guidelines or bolstering of existing guidelines to specifically address identified themes and gaps may improve the well‐being and treatment outcomes of TGNC individuals in inpatient psychiatric settings.

Implications for practice

To provide a foundation for future studies to integrate these identified gaps and inform the future development of comprehensive formal policies that generalize TGNC care in inpatient settings.
Blidingia sp. extracts improve intestinal health and reduce diarrhoea in weanling piglets
Authors: Wang Zongling , Zeng Boxin , Xue Haoran , Liu Chunyan , Song Wei
Published: May 2023

Blidingia sp. is a prominent fouling green macroalga and we previously found that extracts from Blidingia sp. alleviated intestinal inflammation in mice challenged with lipopolysaccharides. However, whether these extracts are effective in weanling piglets remains unknown. In the present study, Blidingia sp. extracts were supplemented in the diet and their effects on growth performance, incidence of diarrhoea and intestinal function in weanling piglets were explored. The results showed that diets supplemented with 0.1% or 0.5% Blidingia sp. extract significantly increased average daily body weight gain and feed intake in weanling piglets. Meanwhile, piglets supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extract showed decreased incidence of diarrhoea as well as reduced fecal water and Na+ content. Furthermore, the diet supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extracts improved intestinal morphology, as indicated by the results of hematoxylin and eosin staining. Diet supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extracts also improved tight junction function, as indicated by increased expression of Occludin, Claudin‐1 and Zonula occludens‐1, and alleviated the inflammatory response, as indicated by decreased tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐6 (IL6) contents and increased IL10 levels. Taken together, our results showed that Blidingia sp. extracts had beneficial effects in weanling piglets and we suggest that Blidingia sp. extracts could be potentially used as an additive for piglets.
Progressive angiomatosis, resembling human skeletal–extraskeletal angiomatosis, arising in multiple digits in two dogs
Authors: Fosse V. , Holtet L. , Dobromylskyj M. , Woodger N. , Skagseth P. A. , Herrtage M. E.
Published: May 2023

Two dogs presented with progressive, expansile and invasive lesions on a hind paw. Case 1, a 10‐year‐old female Shetland sheepdog had diffusive and aggressive‐looking lesions on the middle digits of the left hind paw. Radiographic examination showed invasion into and destruction of the underlying bone. A malignant tumour was suspected initially; however, histological features of atypical vascular proliferations without mitotic activity were consistent with progressive angiomatosis. Case 2, an 11‐year‐old female English springer spaniel presented with similar lesions in the same toes, also involving bone. Progressive angiomatosis was suspected clinically, as tumour cells were not detected by cytology and screening did not detect metastatic disease. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis. Progressive angiomatosis is an uncommon non‐malignant condition which should be considered as a differential diagnosis for radiographically lytic digital lesions.
Development of semidwarf breeding line with shattering resistance and preharvest‐sprouting resistant in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Authors: Suzuki Tatsuro , Tsujimoto Kazuki , Maruo Gakuto , Hara Takahiro , Katsu Kenjiro , Matsuura Asana , Morishita Toshikazu , Hara Takashi , Ishiguro Koji , Otsuka Shiori
Published: May 2023

An important breeding issue in buckwheat is to increase its resistance to lodging, which can result in the loss of yield and quality of buckwheat foods. We developed the semidwarf buckwheat ‘Kyukei 50’, which has a short plant height and a strong lodging resistance. The internode length of ‘Kyukei 50’ was shorter than that of the summer‐sown standard variety ‘HITACHIAKISOBA’. Progeny analysis revealed that the semidwarf trait was dominated by at least one recessive gene. Compared with ‘HITACHIAKISOBA’, in ‘Kyukei 50’, the time of maturation was earlier, and the pre‐harvest sprouting resistance was the same, indicating that ‘Kyukei 50’ is suitable for sowing in both spring and summer. ‘Kyukei 50’ exhibits the ‘green flower type’ shattering resistance trait and, therefore, has a thick pedicel; breaking tensile strength is approximately two‐fold stronger than that of ‘HITACHIAKISOBA’. The yield of ‘Kyukei 50’ is the same as that of ‘HITACHIAKISOBA’. In addition, the lowest seed height of ‘Kyukei 50’ was >17 cm. These results indicate that the ‘Kyukei 50’ is a promising breeding line for lodging resistance and loss of harvesting machinery.
Testing for jumps with robust spot volatility estimators
Authors: Sun Yucheng
Published: May 2023

Jumps in the paths of efficient asset prices have important economic implications. Motivated by the issue of testing for jumps based on noisy high‐frequency data, we develop a novel spot volatility estimator, which is obtained by minimizing the sum of some Huber loss functions, and use it as an ingredient for jump detection. This type of estimators is uniformly consistent in estimating the spot volatilities of the efficient price at numerous time points. We further demonstrate the consistency of the proposed jump test based on the property of the novel spot volatility estimator. We show that in finite samples, the proposed volatility estimator and the test perform favorably compared to some competitors through Monte Carlo simulations. We also illustrate our methodology with the stock prices of Apple and Microsoft.
A spatial contextual immune genetic algorithm to building cartographic displacement
Authors: Liu Yuangang , Zhang Min , Li Shaohua , Yang Shuai , Dong Fang
Published: May 2023

In map generalization, displacement is the most frequently used operator to reduce the proximity conflicts caused by reducing scales or other generalization operations. Building displacement can be formalized as a combinatorial optimization problem, and a heuristic or intelligent search algorithm can be borrowed to obtain the solution. In this way, we can explicitly resolve minimum distance conflicts and control positional accuracy during the displacement. However, maintaining spatial relations and patterns of buildings can be challenging. To address spatial conflicts as well as preserve the significant spatial relations and patterns of buildings, we propose a new spatial contextual displacement algorithm based on an immune genetic algorithm. To preserve important spatial relations and global patterns of map objects and avoid topology errors, displacement safety zones are constructed by overlapping the Voronoi tessellation and buffer areas of the buildings. Additionally, a strategy to shift the buildings in a building group synchronously is used to maintain local building patterns. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm, two data sets with different building densities were tested. The results indicate that the new algorithm has obvious advantages in preventing topology errors and preserving spatial relations and patterns.
Conspiracy Theory as Individual and Group Behavior: Observations from the Flat Earth International Conference
Authors: Fernbach Philip M. , Bogard Jonathan E.
Published: May 2023

Conspiratorial thinking has been with humanity for a long time but has recently grown as a source of societal concern and as a subject of research in the cognitive and social sciences. We propose a three‐tiered framework for the study of conspiracy theories: (1) cognitive processes, (2) the individual, and (3) social processes and communities of knowledge. At the level of cognitive processes, we identify explanatory coherence and faulty belief updating as critical ideas. At the level of the community of knowledge, we explore how conspiracy communities facilitate false belief by promoting a contagious sense of understanding, and how community norms catalyze the biased assimilation of evidence. We review recent research on conspiracy theories and explain how conspiratorial thinking emerges from the interaction of individual and group processes. As a case study, we describe observations the first author made while attending the Flat Earth International Conference, a meeting of conspiracy theorists who believe the Earth is flat. Rather than treating conspiracy belief as pathological, we take the perspective that is an extreme outcome of common cognitive processes.
What the Acute Stress Response Suggests about Memory
Authors: Thomas Ayanna K. , Wulff Alia N.
Published: May 2023

Research suggests that stress has immediate and long‐term effects on attention and memory. Rather than disrupting memory formation and consolidation, acute stress has been shown to shift attention processes resulting in a tradeoff between prioritized and nonprioritized information. Both arousal and stress result in cognitive and neurobiological shifts that often support memory formation. When an acute stressor occurs, it can distort immediate attentional focus, increasing processing for high‐priority features while reducing processing for extraneous features. The downstream cognitive consequences for this shift in attention are better memory for some features and poorer memory for others when compared to conditions of low stress. However, individual differences (e.g., sex, age, basal stress response, and stress reactivity) all impact the relationship between the acute stress response and memory. Although acute stress generally benefits memory formation, we suggest that forgetting and later recovery of stressful memories can better be understood by examining factors that influence the subjective experience of stress and stress reactivity.
Constraints on currency market movements – Implications for the RMB exchange rate regime
Authors: Liu Zhiyuan , Wang Peijie
Published: May 2023

This paper reveals the inherent characteristics behind the statistical phenomena of exchange rate interactions and co‐movements, corroborated empirically by exploring a range of currencies with varied degrees of flexibility. It then studies purposely the historical evolution and development prospects of the RMB exchange rate regime. The RMB exchange rate behaviour and statistical patterns are contrasted with the freely floating currencies in this context. Taking up alternative policy positions, the expected developments in RMB characteristics are deliberated, projecting a trajectory for further RMB regime reforms. How the RMB would fulfil the significant role on the global currency market as signified by its position in the SDR basket is contemplated, beyond a conventional policy shift and under the paradigm that the global currency market tends to be tri‐polar.
Where Is Time Going?
Authors: Goldberg Sylvie Anne
Published: May 2023

This chapter discusses the cliché stating that the Jews were concerned only by the future and the world to come. Thus, it presents an inquiry into the thought of the Jewish philosophers (Maimonides, Crescas, Gersonides, Albo) who dealt with the notion of time during the middles ages. The chapter asks the question what is temporality by using the contemporary approaches (Levinas and taking into account the fact that almost the entire western thinking about time is based mainly on Heidegger and Augustine.
Networks Are the Problem
Authors: Davis Jason
Published: May 2023

This chapter introduces network agency theory and outlines the book. The central idea is that individual and organizational interests about networking can come out of alignment such that the network ties that individuals form are organizationally suboptimal, thereby reducing the organization’s capacity to respond to disruptions, to innovate, and to change. The theory explains how network agency problems emerge, the role of digital technology adoption by organizations in amplifying this misalignment, and the capacity of managers and the function of the executive to resolve agency problems and mitigate their impact.
Disappeared
Authors: Mintz Alan
Published: May 2023

One of the most hated measures imposed by the Austrians was conscription into the imperial army for long periods of service. To meet the quotas, Jewish communities offered inducements to the vagrant poor and forcibly recruited youth who were insufficiently religious. The story “Disappeared” concerns a blameless apprentice tailor named Dan, who is delivered to the army by the Buczacz community to protect its better-born youth. The story focuses on the community’s apathy to the suffering of Dan’s mother and his secret fiancée, as well as the role of literacy and letter writing in this changing society. On his way back to Buczacz after years of service, Dan falls into the hands of a Polish noblewoman who keeps him captive for several years. The story’s sensational conclusion, in the form of this woman’s diary, describes her sexual attraction to the ex-soldier and her victimization of him.
Introduction
Authors: Ellermann Greg
Published: May 2023

Like many romantics, Percy Shelley was drawn to wilderness. The language of wild nature recurs in his poetry in often surprising ways. For Shelley, wilderness is not a tangled wood or a craggy mountain face. It is nature in flight from consciousness: a manifold of evanescent forms. In ...
Romanticism and Real Abstraction
Authors: Ellermann Greg
Published: May 2023

This chapter examines the connections between romanticism and Marxist critical theory. Reading the canonical romantic criticism of Abrams, de Man, and Hartman alongside contemporaneous work by Horkheimer, Sohn-Rethel, and Adorno, it brings out the crucial, and often overlooked, political-economic dimension of those mid-twentieth-century narratives about romanticism that still inform literary studies. It proposes that the well-known scholarly debate about the apocalyptic imagination intersects with the critical theorists’ investigation of capitalist abstraction and the domination of nature. Both the romanticists and the critical theorists rely on a notion of apprehensive consciousness. This chapter establishes the methodological coordinates for the book, outlining an interpretation of romanticism responsive to the reality of conceptual and economic abstraction.
Accidental Revelation in Wordsworth
Authors: Ellermann Greg
Published: May 2023

This chapter argues that in “There was a Boy” and related verses from The Prelude and elsewhere Wordsworth reconceives the apprehension of nature as an “accidental revelation.” The phrase is De Quincey’s, and it speaks to the inconsequentiality of experience central to Wordsworth’s poetry. Neither sublime nor traumatic, accidental revelation concerns nature as it simply appears, or reveals itself, in all its ordinariness—which is not to say in its “fittedness” to the human mind. Rather, by redirecting or suspending its own apprehensive power, Wordsworth’s poetry feels its way toward a familiar though genuinely nonhuman nature. What Wordsworth calls the “gentle shock of mild surprize”—a feeling as inconsequential as potentially destabilizing—is the feeling of nature in its difference from, or nonidentity to, consciousness. In this gentlest of shock experiences, nature appears, and consciousness finds itself free from the compulsion to grasp.
The Disappointment Aesthetic
Authors: Mathes Carmen Faye
Published: May 2023

This chapter situates William Wordsworth’s disappointment aesthetic in light of Romantic critical attitudes towards literary letdowns and aesthetic philosophy. Focusing on “Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman” (1798), it connects Wordsworth’s rebuke of sympathy for its failure to produce social harmony to the untold tale that the poem’s disruptive formal and generic structures of animate. While Wordsworth aims to transform readers’ struggles to find pleasure while anticipating disappointment into the moral and ethical work of the poems, this is an approach that Mary Robinson’s Lyrical Tales (1800) both troubles and exploits. Through a comparison that demonstrates, for the first time, that Robinson models her poem, “The Shepherd’s Dog,” on “Simon Lee,” this chapter shows how Robinson’s own critique of sympathy personifies the dog in order to resist the critique of sympathy that Wordsworth, who rejects personification, promotes.
Reciprocal Keats
Authors: Mathes Carmen Faye
Published: May 2023

In this chapter, John Keats refuses the drawn-out negotiations with proximity to discomfort that typifies first-generation Romantic experiments in aesthetic disappointment. In two poems that offer neither pedantry nor opportunities for conventional self-fashioning, “This Living Hand” (1820) and Ode on Indolence (1819), I argue that Keats posits the aesthetic efficacy of instantaneity, or, as Keats says of the actor Edmund Kean’s innovative stage-craft, the immediate and reciprocal bond with an audience that can occur when one gives oneself up to “instant feeling, without the shadow of a thought about any thing else.” Through sudden arrests and abrupt endings, Keats’s poems enact attitudes of dynamic passivity that seek to compel readerly interest, and which just might (re)animate the poet in turn.
Charles Baudelaire and Feminine Singularity
Authors: Chatterjee Ronjaunee
Published: May 2023

This chapter develops a wider account of lyric singularity untethered to aloneness or singleness. It focuses on the work of Charles Baudelaire, suggesting that a form of feminine singularity crystallizes in his work that refuses classification under the broader tenets of urban capital and political liberalism. I examine the scant evidence around Baudelaire’s mixed-race partner, Jeanne Duval, reading her through fin-de-siècle visual culture, critical race theory, and Vancouver poet Lisa Robertson’s experimental novel, The Baudelaire Fractal (2020). Robertson’s narrative enacts femininity through description and, in doing so, begins to dislodge gendered and racialized ideas of the aesthetic.
Voices of the Ground
Authors: Wolff Tristram
Published: May 2023

Chapter 3 turns to the political force of William Blake’s exemplary poetic investment in radically expansive temporalities and mixed durations. In the context of his mediation of Britain’s possessiveness over the literary “property” of its colonies, the chapter recovers Blake’s desire to rewrite how we think about history and historical agency against the background of long eighteenth-century European philosophic discourses concerning geologic agency (in Spinoza, Diderot, Hutton, and Goethe), extending in the process a reading of Blake’s “The Clod and the Pebble” into several illuminated books from the 1790s (The Book of Thel and The Book of Urizen). It shows how the geological strata in Blake’s poetry give language deep time and an ongoing actualism resonant with his anti-imperial politics.
Travelling abroad and geopolitical preferences – case of Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mariupol, Ukraine
Authors: Gnatiuk Oleksiy , Mezentsev Kostyantyn , Pidgrushnyi Grygorii
Published: May 2023

The paper investigates the relationship between travel abroad experience and individual geopolitical preferences in three geopolitical fault-line cities in the eastern part of Ukraine. Employing binary logistic regression as a principal research method, we show that travel experience to European countries positively correlates with pro-European attitudes and corresponds to weaker pro-Soviet sentiments. On the contrary, travel experience to Russia is associated with somewhat weaker support for European geopolitical and cultural integration but stronger pro-Soviet sentiments. Travel experience to Russia is less important predictor of geopolitical preferences than visiting European countries. Pro-European attitudes, compared with pro-Soviet sentiments, are much more interlinked with international travel experience. The data on bilateral travellers evidences that possible effect of visiting European countries basically neutralises the effect of visiting Russia in terms of impact on geopolitical preferences. Although the relationship between travel abroad experience and geopolitical preferences is similar in all three cities under investigation, certain variations between them may be explained by different economic, socio-cultural and institutional background. The revealed correlations seem to cover both direct causal effect of travel abroad on geopolitical preferences and a reverse causality, namely self-selection of destination country according to personal pre-existing geopolitical views. The importance of discovered relationships for the integration of Ukrainian society into European civilization project is apparent not only considering visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union (EU), but also in view of the Russian military invasion in 2022 as a cause of flows of refugees from Ukraine to Europe.
“In Soccer, We Have the Opportunity to Call Attention to Certain Things”: An Examination of Media Framing of Activism for Human Rights in German Sport
Authors: Kluch Yannick , Frederick Evan L. , Siegfried Nina
Published: May 2023

The goal of this study was to extend the contemporary athlete activism literature by (a) exploring athlete activism beyond a strictly North American context and (b) examining how athlete activism at an organizational/institutional level (i.e., sport organization) may be framed differently than activist efforts at an individual level (i.e., athlete). By examining two examples of activism in German soccer, we show that the framing of both athlete-enacted and organization-enacted examples of activism highlighted the importance of speaking up when human rights are violated, called for the display of solidarity, and discussed the broader political implications for such protests. Additionally, framing of both examples of activism included voices of criticism regarding the sport organizations governing global sport. As calls for accountability of sport organizations suppressing athlete expression are becoming increasingly common in global sport, this study adds to a shifting focus of activism research targeting the sport institutions that often perpetuate the various injustices individual athletes call attention to.
Nociceptor activity induces nonionotropic NMDA receptor signaling to enable spinal reconsolidation and reverse pathological pain
Authors: Zhang Hantao , Rodriguez-Hernandez Luis D. , D’Souza Abigail J. , He David , Zain Maham , Fung Samuel W. , Bennett Laura A. , Bonin Robert P.
Published: May 2023

Chronic, pathological pain is a highly debilitating condition that can arise and be maintained through central sensitization. Central sensitization shares mechanistic and phenotypic parallels with memory formation. In a sensory model of memory reconsolidation, plastic changes underlying pain hypersensitivity can be dynamically regulated and reversed following the reactivation of sensitized sensory pathways. However, the mechanisms by which synaptic reactivation induces destabilization of the spinal “pain engram” are unclear. We identified nonionotropic
N
-methyl-
d
-aspartate receptor (NI-NMDAR) signaling as necessary and sufficient for the reactive destabilization of dorsal horn long-term potentiation and the reversal of mechanical sensitization associated with central sensitization. NI-NMDAR signaling engaged directly or through the reactivation of sensitized sensory networks was associated with the degradation of excitatory postsynaptic proteins. Our findings identify NI-NMDAR signaling as a putative synaptic mechanism by which engrams are destabilized in reconsolidation and as a potential means of treating underlying causes of chronic pain.
PD-L1 checkpoint blockade promotes regulatory T cell activity that underlies therapy resistance
Authors: van Gulijk Mandy , van Krimpen Anneloes , Schetters Sjoerd , Eterman Mike , van Elsas Marit , Mankor Joanne , Klaase Larissa , de Bruijn Marjolein , van Nimwegen Menno , van Tienhoven Tim , van Ijcken Wilfred , Boon Louis , van der Schoot Johan , Verdoes Martijn , Scheeren Ferenc , van der Burg Sjoerd H. , Lambrecht Bart N. , Stadhouders Ralph , Dammeijer Floris , Aerts Joachim , van Hall Thorbald
Published: May 2023

Despite the clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), in certain cancer types, most patients with cancer do not respond well. Furthermore, in patients for whom ICB is initially successful, this is often short-lived because of the development of resistance to ICB. The mechanisms underlying primary or secondary ICB resistance are incompletely understood. Here, we identified preferential activation and enhanced suppressive capacity of regulatory T cells (T
reg
cells) in αPD-L1 therapy–resistant solid tumor–bearing mice. T
reg
cell depletion reversed resistance to αPD-L1 with concomitant expansion of effector T cells. Moreover, we found that tumor-infiltrating T
reg
cells in human patients with skin cancer, and in patients with non–small cell lung cancer, up-regulated a suppressive transcriptional gene program after ICB treatment, which correlated with lack of treatment response. αPD-1/PD-L1–induced PD-1
+
T
reg
cell activation was also seen in peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer and mesothelioma, especially in nonresponders. Together, these data reveal that treatment with αPD-1 and αPD-L1 unleashes the immunosuppressive role of T
reg
cells, resulting in therapy resistance, suggesting that T
reg
cell targeting is an important adjunct strategy to enhance therapeutic efficacy.