bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness of monitoring and liver cancer surveillance among patients with inactive chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Toy Mehlika , Hutton David , Conners Erin E. , Pham Hang , Salomon Joshua A. , So Samuel
Published: January 2025

Patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) have an increased risk for death from liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the United States, only an estimated 37% of adults with chronic hepatitis B diagnosis without cirrhosis receive monitoring with at least an annual alanine transaminase (ALT) and hepatitis B deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and an estimated 59% receive antiviral treatment when they develop active hepatitis or cirrhosis. A Markov model was used to calculate the costs, health impact and cost-effectiveness of increased monitoring of adults with HBeAg negative inactive or HBeAg positive immune tolerant CHB who have no cirrhosis or significant fibrosis and are not recommended by the current American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) clinical practice guidelines to receive antiviral treatment, and to assess whether the addition of HCC surveillance would be cost-effective. For every 100,000 adults with CHB who were initially not recommended for treatment, if the monitoring rate increased from the current 37% to 90% and treatment rate increased from 59% to 80%, 4,600 cases of cirrhosis, 2,450 cases of HCC and 4,700 HBV-related deaths would be averted with a gain of 45,000 QALYs and a savings of $180 million in lifetime health care costs. At a willingness to pay threshold of $100,000/QALY, the addition of HCC surveillance with the standard recommended biannual liver ultrasound and alfa fetoprotein levels is likely cost-effective if the HCC risk ≥ 0.55%/year. Regular monitoring of persons with inactive or immune tolerant CHB who are initially not recommended to receive antiviral treatment in the United States is cost-saving. The addition of HCC surveillance with biannual US and AFP would be cost-effective for individuals with HCC incidence ≥ 0.55%/year.
Modeling of lifetime scenarios with non-monotonic failure rates
Authors: Alahmadi Amani Abdullah , Albalawi Olayan , Khashab Rana H. , Johannssen Arne , Nasiru Suleman , Almarzouki Sanaa Mohammed , Elgarhy Mohammed
Published: January 2025

The Weibull distribution is an important continuous distribution that is cardinal in reliability analysis and lifetime modeling. On the other hand, it has several limitations for practical applications, such as modeling lifetime scenarios with non-monotonic failure rates. However, accurate modeling of non-monotonic failure rates is essential for achieving more accurate predictions, better risk management, and informed decision-making in various domains where reliability and longevity are critical factors. For this reason, we introduce a new three parameter lifetime distribution—the Modified Kies Weibull distribution (MKWD)—that is able to model lifetime scenarios with non-monotonic failure rates. We analyze the statistical features of the MKWD, such as the quantile function, median, moments, mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis, coefficient of variation, index of dispersion, moment generating function, incomplete moments, conditional moments, Bonferroni, Lorenz, and Zenga curves, and order statistics. Various measures of uncertainty for the MKWD such as Rényi entropy, exponential entropy, Havrda and Charvat entropy, Arimoto entropy, Tsallis entropy, extropy, weighted extropy and residual extropy are computed. We discuss eight different parameter estimation methods and conduct a Monte Carlo simulation study to evaluate the performance of these different estimators. The simulation results show that the maximum likelihood method leads to the best results. The effectiveness of the newly suggested model is demonstrated through the examination of two different sets of real data. Regression analysis utilizing survival times data demonstrates that the MKWD model offers a superior match compared to other current distributions and regression models.
Tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics and targeted hormone analysis reveal the response to insect herbivory stress in Ginseng (Panax ginseng, L.)
Authors: Li Haitao , Zhang Lixin , Han Xiang , Zhang Qi , Liu Guangna , Zhang Guofeng , Zhu Yurong , Liu Hongyang , Deng Haowei , Liu Shuangli , Xi Guangsheng
Published: January 2025

Ginsenosides are the most important secondary metabolites of ginseng. Ginseng has developed certain insect resistance properties during the course of evolutionary environmental adaptation. However, the mechanism underlying the insect resistance of ginseng is poorly understood. To elucidate the insect resistance mechanism of ginseng, we performed stress experiments on ginseng inoculated with black chafer larvae. The contents of ginsenosides in the ginseng roots, stems and leaves were determined at 0, 72, 120 and 168 h after the inoculation of insects. The tandem-mass-tag technology was used to determine the protein phosphorylation sites. Plant hormones were analyzed by multiple reaction monitoring targeted metabolomics. The results showed that ginsenosides present in the stems and leaves were more responsive to insect herbivory treatment than those present in the roots. Through proteomics, we found that the expression of most of the differentially expressed proteins, including GAPC1, GAPC2, and CSD1, was downregulated by insect herbivory treatment, HSP81-3 expression was up-regulated under insect herbivory stress. Regarding plant hormones, abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellic acid, Typhasterol (TY), iopentene adenine (IP), Cytokinin Riboside (czR) and Thiamethasone (tZ) levels were increased by herbivory treatment. With the increase in herbivory treatment time, the levels of trans-Zeatin-riboside (tzR), Isopentenyl adenosine riboside (iPR), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) were increased after 168h. The levels of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonates (JA), cis-PODA, and JA-Ile were increased after 120h but decreased thereafter. Under stress conditions, the expression of many antioxidant-related proteins was down-regulated; however, HSP81-3 expression was up-regulated, indicating that the plants exhibited severe oxidative stress. In conclusion, HSP81-3 plays an important role in ABA-dependent regulations involved in response to insect herbivory stress in ginseng. GAPC1 and GAPC2 also participate in the process of anti-herbivory stress response in ginseng.
Protect or prevent? A practicable framework for the dilemmas of COVID-19 vaccine prioritization
Authors: Arghal Raghu , Rubin Harvey , Saeedi Bidokhti Shirin , Sarkar Saswati
Published: January 2025

Determining COVID-19 vaccination strategies presents many challenges in light of limited vaccination capacity and the heterogeneity of affected communities. Who should be prioritized for early vaccination when different groups manifest different levels of risks and contact rates? Answering such questions often becomes computationally intractable given that network size can exceed millions. We obtain a framework to compute the optimal vaccination strategy within seconds to minutes from among all strategies, including highly dynamic ones that adjust vaccine allocation as often as required, and even with modest computation resources. We then determine the optimal strategy for a large range of parameter values representative of various US states, countries, and case studies including retirement homes and prisons. The optimal is almost always one of a few candidate strategies, and, even when not, the suboptimality of the best among these candidates is minimal. Further, we find that many commonly deployed vaccination strategies, such as vaccinating the high risk group first, or administering second doses without delay, can often incur higher death rates, hospitalizations, and symptomatic infection counts. Our framework can be easily adapted to future variants or pandemics through appropriate choice of the compartments of the disease and parameters.
Non-dominant hand contractions do not facilitate performance under pressure in common desktop tasks
Authors: Eng Yu Fan , Little Daniel R. , Yang Andy , Wensinger Anchalee , Roberts Leo J.
Published: January 2025

Non-dominant hand contractions (NDHCs) have been shown to help expert motor skills in high-pressure scenarios that induce performance anxiety. Most studies of NHDCs under pressure have examined benefits in overlearned specialist movements (e.g., sporting skills), while few have considered if NDHCs can aid common movements with population-wide expertise (e.g., typing). Accordingly, across three experiments, we explored if NDHCs could protect or facilitate performance under time and/or evaluation pressure in a cursor positioning task (Experiments 1 & 2) and a typing task (Experiment 3). Despite varying the nature of the task, pressure manipulation, and design, and successfully manipulating state anxiety in each experiment, we found no evidence that NDHCs assist performance under pressure in these tasks. For the pressure × contraction condition interaction, the largest inclusion Bayes Factor was .40 for task response time and .62 for task error (Experiment 1), indicating evidence in favour of a null result. Our results, along with other recent studies in this area, cast doubt on the benefits of NDHCs under pressure outside sporting tasks and underline the need for a better mechanistic account of the phenomenon.
Reconstructing prehistoric lifeways using multi-Isotope analyses of human enamel, dentine, and bone from Legaire Sur, Spain
Authors: Griffith Jacob I. , James Hannah F. , Ordoño Javier , Fernández-Crespo Teresa , Gerritzen Carina T. , Cheung Christina , Spros Rachèl , Claeys Philippe , Goderis Steven , Veselka Barbara , Snoeck Christophe
Published: January 2025

Megalithism has been repetitively tied to specialised herding economies in Iberia, particularly in the mountainous areas of the Basque Country. Legaire Sur, in the uplands of Álava region, is a recently excavated passage tomb (megalithic monument) that held a minimum number of 25 individuals. This study analysed the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium isotope ratios of 18 individuals, in a multi-tissue sampling study (successional tooth enamel sampling, incremental dentine sampling, and bulk bone collagen sampling). The results provide a high-resolution reconstruction of individual mobility, weaning, and dietary lifeways of those inhumed at the site. Oxygen and strontium isotope analysis suggest all individuals come from a similar, likely local, geological region, aside from one biological female who presents a notably different geographical birthplace, weaning, and dietary life history than the rest of the burial population. Comparisons to other nearby megalithic sites (∼35km as the crow flies), located in a valley area, reveal that, whilst sharing the same mortuary practices, these individuals held notably different lifeways. They highlight notably earlier ages of cessation of nursing (≤2 years at Legaire Sur vs. ≥4 years in other megalithic tombs), and a greater dependence on pastoralism than previously observed in lowland megalithic graves. The results from Legaire Sur reveal the complexity of the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic transition in north-central Iberia, categorising yet another separate socio-economic group with distinctive lifeways inhabiting the region.
Identifying factors that underpin student decisions to pursue the Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Atlantic Canadian Universities: Protocol for a mixed methods study
Authors: Lee Tiffany A. , Sundly Amit , Coombs Stephen D. , Galway Gerald J.
Published: January 2025

Several international studies have investigated academic decision-making in higher education, but there is limited research on students’ choice to study pharmacy in the Canadian context. While there is some variation across jurisdictions, decisions to enroll in a particular degree program fall into several decision-making domains (e.g., personal, family, institutional, social, and economic). These findings have been theorized in various ways, for example, through social cognitive theory and social reproduction theory. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the personal, family, institutional, social, and economic factors that underpin student decisions to pursue the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree at Atlantic Canadian Universities and to explore barriers to pursuing a pharmacy degree. The proposed study uses an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design consisting of a quantitative survey followed by qualitative interviews. All entry-to-practice PharmD students and graduates in Atlantic Canada are eligible to participate. The survey consists of several Likert scale questions associated with five decision-making domains, as well as several socio-demographic questions. Descriptive statistics and frequency counts will be used to describe the data; differences across decision-making domains, by gender and other demographic groupings, will be analyzed using inferential statistics. Semi-structured interviews with a sample of 12 to 15 participants will be conducted to further understand and explain the quantitative results. We will engage in thematic analysis of qualitative data. The findings of this research will provide insight into the decision-making patterns and socio-demographic characteristics of students who have chosen to pursue a PharmD. Important information will be gathered to inform health professional education and workforce planning, which we believe will contribute to improving healthcare resource capacity and patient outcomes in Atlantic Canada. The results of this project will also inform future recruitment strategies and admission criteria and support educators in the secondary school system in providing evidence-informed career counselling advice for students interested in pursuing a degree in pharmacy. The findings of this study may also be useful to educational leaders and policymakers.
Parental divorce’s long shadow: Elevated stroke risk among older Americans
Authors: Schilke Mary Kate , Baiden Philip , Fuller-Thomson Esme
Published: January 2025

Although studies have investigated the association between adverse childhood experiences and chronic health outcomes including stroke, few studies have investigated the association between parental divorce and stroke among adults with no history of childhood abuse. The objectives of this study were to investigate the association between parental divorce in childhood and stroke in older adulthood among those who did not experience child abuse and to examine whether this association differs between men and women. This study utilized population-based data from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. An analytic sample of 13,205 adults aged 65 and above (56.6% female) who have never experienced childhood physical nor sexual abuse were analyzed using binary logistic regression. The outcome variable investigated was self-report of a physician-diagnosis of stroke, and the main exposure of interest was parental divorce. In this sample of older adults, 7.3% reported having stroke, while 13.9% reported that their parents had divorced before the respondent was 18 years old. Controlling for the effects of other factors, respondents who experienced parental divorce had 1.61 times higher odds of having a stroke when compared to their counterparts who did not experience parental divorce (AOR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.15–2.24). The association between parental divorce and stroke was not dependent on sex; however, compared to females, males had 1.47 times higher odds of having a stroke (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.11–1.93). The findings of this study suggest that individuals in this cohort whose parents divorced as children were at greater risk for stroke later in life. Potentially moderating variables were hypothesized, including childhood poverty, sleep hygiene, and hypertension.
Family support and prayer are invaluable coping strategies for our recovery: Experiences of persons living with cardiovascular diseases
Authors: Tsedze Ivy Selorm , Edwin Frank , Owusu Bennett , Dumahasi Victor Kwasi , Botha Nkosi Nkosi , Ebu Enyan Nancy Innocentia
Published: January 2025

Background

It is estimated that 61% of deaths caused by Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) globally are attributed to lifestyle-related risk factors including tobacco use, alcohol abuse, poor diet, and inadequate physical activity. Meanwhile, inadequate knowledge and misperceptions about CVDs are disproportionately increasing the prevalence of CVDs in Africa. Moreover, pre-diagnosis awareness/knowledge about CVDs among patients is essential in shaping the extent and scope of education to be provided by healthcare workers.

Objective

Explore the experiences of patients living with CVDs (PLwCVDs) and accessing care at the Cardiothoracic Centre, Ho Teaching Hospital, regarding their knowledge of CVD-risk factors and coping strategies that work for them.

Method

We leveraged descriptive phenomenological design to explore the experiences of patients accessing care at the Cardiothoracic Centre at the Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Using the purposive sampling technique, 17 PLwCVDs for 3yrs and above were recruited and included in the study. Thematic analysis was conducted using the qualitative computerised data software, NVivo version 14. Recruitment of participants and general conduct of the study commenced on November 1, 2023 and ended on April 30, 2024.

Findings

We found that PLwCVDs and accessing care at the Cardiothoracic Centre at Ho Teaching Hospital have adequate pre-diagnosis awareness about CVD-risk factors and their knowledge of same was optimal. Moreover, past unhealthy lifestyles (such as poor dieting, abuse of alcohol, smoking, and inadequate physical activity) may have contributed to participants developing the CVDs. Furthermore, prayers and participation in church activities were the main coping strategies employed by the participants in dealing with CVDs.

Conclusion

The PLwCVDs and receiving treatment at the Cardiothoracic Centre at the Ho Teaching Hospital are knowledgeable in the CVD-risk factors and adopting positive coping strategies. The Cardiothoracic Centre and government must explore social media facilities to intensify public education and also correct misconceptions about CVDs.
Constructs across a hierarchical, dimensional model of psychopathology show differential associations with social and general cognitive ability
Authors: Blain Scott D. , Kent Jerillyn S. , Allen Timothy A. , Lasagna Carly A. , Peyromaure de Bord Chloe A. , Udochi Aisha L. , Sponheim Scott R. , DeYoung Colin G. , Tso Ivy F.
Published: January 2025

Many psychiatric disorders and associated psychopathology dimensions are related to social cognitive deficits and reduced general cognitive ability. The current study applied a hierarchical, dimensional approach to better understand associations among psychopathology, social cognition, and general cognitive ability. Data were collected from two samples (n = 653), including psychosis-spectrum patients, their first-degree relatives, and individuals from community sources. Participants completed dimensional psychopathology measures and social cognition tasks (e.g., emotion perception and mentalizing). Data were analyzed using bi-factor exploratory structural equation modeling. Detachment—a psychopathology dimension conceptually linked to social functioning—was associated with worse social cognition, independent of general cognitive ability. Eccentricity and Machiavellianism were associated with better social cognition and general cognitive ability. Findings—and the hierarchical, dimensional approach employed—will be useful in informing future research on and interventions for social dysfunction.
Exploring Glypican-3 targeted CAR-NK treatment and potential therapy resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Yang Lei , Pham Kien , Xi Yibo , Wu Qunfeng , Liu Dongfang , Robertson Keith D. , Liu Chen
Published: January 2025

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent form of primary liver cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally. Despite advancements in current HCC treatment, it remains a malignancy with poor prognosis. Therefore, developing novel treatment options for patients with HCC is urgently needed. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified natural killer (NK) cells have demonstrated potent anti-tumor effects, making them as a promising immunotherapy strategy for cancer treatment. Glypican-3 (GPC3), a cell surface oncofetal glycoprotein, is highly expressed in most HCC tissues, but not in normal tissues, and functions as a key driver of carcinogenesis. Given its high expression level on the cell surface, GPC3 is considered as an attractive immunotherapy target for HCC. In this study, two GPC3-specific CAR-NK cells, NK92MI/HN3 and NK92MI/HS20, were established using NK92MI cells, a modified IL-2-independent NK cell line. These cell lines were engineered with third generation GPC3-specific CARs, and their activities were subsequently evaluated in the treatment of HCC. We found that NK92MI/HN3 cells, rather than NK92MI/HS20 cells, exhibited a significant cytotoxicity effect against GPC3+ HepG2 cells in vitro and efficiently suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft model using NSG mice. In addition, irradiated NK92MI/HN3 cells displayed similar anti-tumor efficacy to unirradiated NK92MI/HN3 cells. Furthermore, we observed that NK92MI/HN3 cells showed higher killing activity against the GPC3 isoform 2 overexpression cell line (Sk-Hep1-v2) than those with GPC3 isoform 1 overexpression cell line (Sk-Hep1-v1). This suggest that the presence of different GPC3 isoforms in HCC may impact the cytotoxicity activity of NK92MI/HN3 cells and potentially influence therapeutic outcomes. These findings highlight the effective anti-HCC effects of NK92MI/HN3 cells and reveal the role of GPC3 isoforms in influencing therapy outcomes, suggesting that isoform analysis should be considered to optimize CAR-NK therapies to improve patient outcomes.
The PSO-IFAH optimization algorithm for transient electromagnetic inversion
Authors: Xu Zhengyu , Zhao Guofeng , Liao Xian , Fu Nengyi
Published: January 2025

As a non-contact method, the transient electromagnetic (TEM) method has the characteristics of high efficiency, small impact of device, no limitation of site range, and high resolution, and is a hot topic in current research. However, the research on the refined data processing method of TEM is lag, which seriously restricts the application in superficial engineering investigation and is a key problem that needs to be solved urgently. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and firefly algorithm (FA) were successful swarm intelligence algorithms inspired by nature. However, the accuracy and efficiency of the algorithm restrict its further development. In this paper, the particle moving velocity of FA algorithm is defined according to the concept of particle moving velocity in PSO algorithm, so as to improve the local fast convergence ability of FA algorithm. On this basis, the appropriate velocity of particle movement is improved, so that the improved algorithm can overcome the oscillation problem around the optimal solution and improve the computational efficiency. And finally, an improved PSO-IFA hybrid optimization algorithm (PSO-IFAH) was proposed in the paper. The proposed algorithm can exploit the strong points of both PSO and FA algorithm mechanisms. A typical layered model was established, and the PSO algorithm, FA algorithm, and PSO-IFAH algorithm were applied to inversion calculations. The results show that the PSO-IFAH algorithm improves calculation accuracy by more than 80% and efficiency by over 60% compared to the PSO and FA algorithms, respectively. The PSO-IFAH algorithm also exhibits high inversion accuracy and stability, with superior anti-noise properties compared to the other algorithms. When implemented in ground TEM measurement data processing, the PSO-IFAH algorithm enhances the resolution of anomalies and low-resistance details, aligning well with actual excavation results. This highlights the algorithm’s capability to depict underground electrical structures and karst developments accurately, thereby improving the precision of TEM data processing and interpretation.
Interleukin-1β rs16944 and rs1143627 polymorphisms and risk of developing major depressive disorder: A case-control study among Bangladeshi population
Authors: Toma Faria Mehreen , Kalam Khondoker Tashya , Haque Md. Aminul , Reza Sejuti , Akter Raushanara , Islam Mohammad Safiqul , Islam Md. Rabiul , Nahar Zabun
Published: January 2025

Background

Epidemiological research suggests that altered levels of cytokine are associated with pathophysiology and the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). Based on earlier study, IL-1β rs16944 and rs1143627 polymorphisms may increase the risk of depression. Here, we aimed to evaluate the correlation between these polymorphisms and MDD susceptibility among the population in Bangladesh.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 100 MDD patients and 70 matched controls. Study participants were evaluated by DSM-5 criteria and PCR-RFLP method were applied for genotyping.

Results

The IL1β rs1143627 and rs16944 polymorphisms were found to have a significant association with the risk of MDD. In case of rs1143627 CT heterozygous genotype (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.08–4.55, p-value = 0.029) and combined CT+TT (OR = 2.35, 95% CI = 1.15–4.79, p-value = 0.019) genotype was strongly associated with the increased risk of MDD in comparison to CC common genotype. Moreover, the over-dominant model indicated a 2.15-fold higher risk for MDD development (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.05–4.40, p-value = 0.036). On the other hand, the IL1β rs16944 polymorphisms revealed that the TC+CC combined genotype in the dominant model showed a 2.06-fold increased risk for MDD development compared to the TT common homozygote (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.06–3.99, p-value = 0.032).

Conclusion

Studies suggests that IL1β rs16944 and rs1143627 polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of MDD. These findings will provide us with valuable insights into the pathophysiology of MDD.
GsMTx-4 combined with exercise improves skeletal muscle structure and motor function in rats with spinal cord injury
Authors: Zhang Xin , Liu Xinyu , Li Qianxi , Li Chenyu , Li Xinyan , Qian Jinghua , Li Jianjun , Li Xuemei
Published: January 2025

Motor dysfunction and muscle atrophy are typical symptoms of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Exercise training is a conventional physical therapy after SCI, but exercise intervention alone may have limited efficacy in reducing secondary injury and promoting nerve regeneration and functional remodeling. Our previous research found that intramedullary pressure after SCI is one of the key factors affecting functional prognosis. It has been reported that GsMTx-4, a specific blocker of the mechanosensitive ion channels Piezo1, can protect the integrity of the neuromuscular junction and promote nerve regeneration, and thus has the potential as a therapeutic agent for SCI. In this study, we observed the combined and separate therapeutic effect of GsMTx-4 and exercise on the structure of the soleus muscle and motor function in rats with SCI. At 42 days post-injury, compared with SCI rats, the Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan score (P = 0.0007) and Gait Symmetry (P = 0.0002) were significantly improved after combination therapy. On histology of rat soleus muscle, compared with SCI rats, the combined treatment significantly increased the wet weight ratio, muscle fiber cross-sectional area and acetylcholinesterase (all P<0.0001). On histology of rat spinal tissue, compared with SCI rats, the combined treatment significantly increased neuron counts and BDNF levels, and significantly reduced the percentage of TUNEL-positive cells (all P<0.0001). On physiology of rat soleus muscle, compared with SCI rats, the combined treatment increased the succinate dehydrogenase expression (P<0.0001), while the expression of α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (P<0.0001) and GDF8 protein (P = 0.0008) decreased. Results indicate the combination therapy effectively improves histopathology of spinal cord and soleus muscle in SCI rats, enhancing motor function. This study was conducted on animal models, it offers insights for SCI treatment, advancing understanding of lower limb muscle pathology post-SCI. Further research is needed for clinical validation in the future.
Critique of enhanced power claimed for Quasi-ANCOVA and Dual-Centered ANCOVA
Authors: Brorsen B. Wade , Lin Hua , Larzelere Robert E.
Published: January 2025

Two related methods, Quasi-ANCOVA and Dual-Centered ANCOVA, have recently been suggested as a way to get greater power when analyzing data from a before and after study. Both methods use group-mean centering where the groups are the treatment and comparison groups. Group-mean centering creates a generated regressor problem. When the estimated standard errors are corrected for the generated regressor problem, there is no longer any gain in power. The corrected Quasi-ANCOVA estimates are identical to those from ANOVA and the corrected Dual-Centered ANCOVA estimates are identical to those from the differences model. These conclusions are derived analytically and also verified using a Monte Carlo simulation.
Seasonal and periodic patterns in US COVID-19 mortality using the Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap
Authors: Valachovic Edward L. , Shishova Ekaterina
Published: January 2025

Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, research into the existence, extent, and pattern of seasonality has been of the highest importance for public health preparation. This study uses a novel bandpass bootstrap approach called the Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap to investigate the periodically correlated components including seasonality within US COVID-19 mortality. Bootstrapping to produce confidence intervals for periodic characteristics such as the seasonal mean requires preservation of the periodically correlated component’s correlation structure during resampling. While other existing bootstrap methods can preserve the periodically correlated component correlation structure, filtration of that periodically correlated component’s frequency from interference is critical to bootstrap the periodically correlated component’s characteristics accurately and efficiently. The Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap filters the periodically correlated time series to reduce interference from other components such as noise. This greatly reduces bootstrapped confidence interval size and outperforms the statistical power and accuracy of other methods when estimating the periodic mean sampling distribution. Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap analysis of US COVID-19 mortality periodically correlated components is provided and compared against alternative bootstrapping methods. Results show that both methods find a significant seasonal component, but the Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap produces smaller confidence intervals and only the Variable Bandpass Periodic Block Bootstrap found significant components at the second through the fifth harmonics of the seasonal component, as well as weekly component. This crucial evidence supporting the presence of a seasonal pattern and existence of additional periodically correlated components, their timing, and confidence intervals for their effect which will aid prediction and preparation for future COVID-19 responses.
Gaps in disability inclusion across universities in the United States
Authors: Cerilli Caroline , Zhu Jiafeng , Varadaraj Varshini , Campanile Jessica , Sweeney Fiona , Smith Jared , Yenokyan Gayane , Swenor Bonnielin
Published: January 2025

Disabled people face social and environmental barriers to higher education, yet there is a dearth of clear, publicly available information on university websites related to accessibility and disability inclusion. Our team previously developed disability inclusion scores for the top 50 universities offering undergraduate programs based on funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and found low scores overall. Building on that, this study examines the relationship between disability inclusion (as scores ranging from 0 to 100 points) and six university characteristics for these 50 universities. The six university characteristics examined were U.S. News National Universities 2021 rankings, geographic region, year of institution founding, total number of undergraduates, public or private status of the university, and presence of an undergraduate disability studies program. Results indicate that university characteristics were not significantly associated with disability inclusion scores (p>0.05 for all university characteristics). The average scores across all categories of each characteristic fell below 72 points. These results indicate a gap in disability inclusion across all types of universities examined. Highly funded universities should evaluate their campuses for disability inclusion.
‘All you got to do is aim and pull the trigger’: Cinematic adaptations of the Punisher
Authors: Martins Ana Rita , Duarte José
Published: January 2025

This article examines the complex cultural and political representations and adaptations of Frank Castle, Marvel’s the Punisher, who first appeared in 1974 and again will appear in 2025. While his early visual representations were as a secondary character to Spider-Man, by the 1980s the Punisher became an exemplar of the decline of American urban society, the trauma of the Vietnam War, the growing distrust of law and the rise of Reagan masculine individualism. Charting the shifting cultural and political contexts of the Punisher’s earlier comic book representations grounds discussions of representations of the Punisher’s cinematic representations from the 1980s onwards.
Hammer of the gods: The heavy metal reception and reforging of Thor
Authors: Hawkins Shane , Pettipiece Timothy
Published: January 2025

This article explores metal music’s lyrical and aesthetic reception of the Norse mythological hero Thor, both as a tragi-comic figure evoking humour and pathos and as a mythological figure that lends itself to poses that incorporate outsider tropes. The anti-establishment and anti-conformist attitudes of metal music are freely adopted by Viking metal but surface in a unique stance against the Christianization of space deemed Pagan along with the resulting infringement of social, political and cultural boundaries, which in turn raise questions about the status of difference, diversity and plurality in Viking metal. Thor is also an ideological marker for reconstructionist notions of ethnic and religious identity. The god’s mythological narrative gives a particular shape to the memory of a past world, real or imagined, and an apocalyptic dream of a future one. We discuss examples of both serious and ironic or theatrical appropriations of the figure of Thor in metal music, drawing attention to how these stances relate to deep and surface appropriations of the Viking ethos and to spatial (local vs. global) and temporal variations. The final section of this article discusses Viking metal’s relation to reconstructionist neo-Paganism, its nostalgia for lost pre-Christian traditions and its problematic connections to German romanticism and the Völkisch movement of the late nineteenth century.
Religion and ambiguity in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and its metal music afterlives
Authors: Mora-Rioja Arturo
Published: January 2025

William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) exemplifies his Romantic view of religion as a personal spiritual expression while sarcastically critiquing extreme religious stances like those of his contemporary Emanuel Swedenborg. This article examines three metal music transformations of Blake’s work: A Plea for Purging’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (2010), Virgin Steele’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell – Part I and Part II (1994, 1995) and Ulver’s Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998). The analysis finds parallelisms between Blake’s take on religion and rebellion in the Romantic era and metal music’s treatment of the same topics, particularly in terms of opposites: heaven and hell, good and evil, authority and freedom. Since both Blake and the albums under scrutiny challenge institutionalized religion and embrace creative liberty as a means of resistance, metal music preserves Blake’s vision of art as a vehicle for raising awareness and driving societal change. Moreover, this study not only highlights the enduring relevance of Blake’s work to contemporary audiences and its profound resonance within the metal genre, but it also illustrates how metal music, often seen as radical, can produce nuanced reflections on individualism and social dynamics, much like Blake’s own balancing of opposites.
Re-Creation, Re-Membrance, and Resurgence: Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse
Authors: Cores Antepazo Celia
Published: January 2025

This article examines the novel Indian Horse (2012), written by Ojibwe Wabaseemoong Independent Nations member Richard Wagamese (1955-2017) at the height of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission era. Wagamese finds inspiration in the testimonies and experiences of hundreds of victims of Canada’s residential school system, including those of his own family members. The article contextualizes the novel in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission era and explores Saul’s narrative journey to recover his suppressed memories of personal and collective abuse at St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School through the lens of Indigenous resurgence and grounded normativity. Thus, the paper draws on Michi Saagiig scholar Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s writings on Indigenous radical resurgence to explore the retrieval of Indigenous ways of existing in the world as the way towards decolonization and Indigenous sovereignty. The paper argues that Saul is able to overcome his trauma-induced amnesia, born from the necessity to endure and adapt, and to escape the spiral of shame, isolation, and self-destruction in which he engages only after he embraces discursive Indigenous ways of healing. Wagamese therefore constructs a narrative in which the protagonist’s development mirrors the ideal that the author sets for Canada, in which reconciliation with Indigenous truth will not take place unless the whole story is acknowledged.
Influencing Outcomes in a Changing Environment at the WTO: A Commonwealth Developing Country Perspective
Authors: Pigman Geoffrey
Published: January 2025

The worsening of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020 triggered a sudden shift from in-person to virtual and hybrid forms of diplomatic communication and negotiation, including at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This paper identifies the challenges and opportunities that this shift presents to least developed countries (LDCs), small states and sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries in the Commonwealth. These include technical issues, negotiating design and format issues, and geopolitical questions. The paper draws on interviews with officials, diplomats, and other experts and stakeholders located in Geneva and in Commonwealth capitals. After identifying and analysing the major issues and problems raised by virtual and hybrid modes of diplomacy, the paper makes recommendations for improving the immediate practicalities of virtual and hybrid negotiating, the need to survey and prepare to adopt new technologies to facilitate online and hybrid negotiating, and how to upgrade training and capacity building for a future in which virtual and hybrid negotiating will play an ongoing part.
WTO Negotiations on Domestic Regulation: Considerations for Commonwealth Small States in the Context of COVID-19
Authors: Kampel Kim , Anuradha R
Published: January 2025

This paper evaluates the historical evolution of the DR discussions and explores relevant considerations for Commonwealth small states. It also considers the potential for services DR disciplines to support governments’ recovery and resilience-building efforts, in the wake of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Implications of a Slowdown in the Indian Economy for Commonwealth Countries: The Turning Point
Authors: Vickers Brendan , Ali Salamat , Singh Harsha , Narayanan Badri
Published: January 2025

This issue of Trade Hot Topics assesses the trade and investment implications of the slowdown of the Indian economy for Commonwealth countries, with a particular focus on developing countries that are most adversely affected by the downturn.
Everything That Rises
Authors: Streight Irwin H.
Published: January 2025

This lengthy chapter is a collection of short commentaries on songwriters and bands across musical genres, and at all levels of commercial recognition, who have referenced O’Connor’s stories, novels, or person in individual songs or who have acknowledged to some extent her shaping influence on their song art. J.D. Wilkes of the Legendary Shack Shakers appears cut from the same cloth as O’Connor and describes his songs of “the southern surreal” by channelling her phrase: “Large, startling figures—that’s what I’m trying to draw.” Of particular interest are analyses O’Connor-influenced songs by R.E.M., U2, and Tom Waits that directly draw on identifiable short stories. This chapter also discusses at some length a Canadian duo influenced by O’Connor who gained some pop music success in the mid-1990s. Wild Strawberries translate two of O’Connor’s racially charged stories into songs that address Canada’s own emerging recognition of its historical racist policies and practices.
Hot Equations
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

Recent decades have seen the rise of new voices in science fiction, fantasy, and horror—notably Black and Indigenous voices. The backlash against them was a true bellwether of the rise of global fascism, for their imagination represents the possibility of entirely different ways of life: a challenge to the very foundations of colonial modernity. Placing them in conversation with an unlikely constellation of scientists, writers, and radicals, this book shows how their work points a way beyond the deep crises besetting modern civilization.
Introduction
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

This chapter presents a road map to Hot Equations. As ordinary life comes to seem more and more fantastical, a “New Black Fantastic” has emerged, posing a direct challenge not only to the boundaries demarcating genres but to the distinctions founding the modern world: human versus nonhuman, nature versus culture. Their dissent from what Bruno Latour calls the “Modern Constitution” recalls other challenges to political and scientific realism, thus converging with the New Materialisms and certain strains of anarchism—imaginative resources for a radically different future.
Notes toward a Rhetoric of the Fantastic
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

Once we abandon the notion that fantastic genres can be distinguished by their relation to an ostensibly universally recognized reality, we need instead to think of their varying uses of rhetoric. This chapter proposes a glossary of the techniques by which science fiction, fantasy, and horror persuade us to accept as possible the strange, wonderful, and terrifying. Such a glossary may help us in turn to better understand the ways in which political reality is constructed and reconstructed.
Rhetorics of the Impossible
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the role of the “impossible” in works of the fantastic: how do science fiction, fantasy, and horror set and reset the bounds of the possible? Particular attention is paid to the ways in which “capitalist realism” (Mark Fisher) and “statist realism” (Chantelle Gray) rely on what Kathryn Hume called “subtractive realism”: the selective suppression of certain aspects of reality, using the same rhetorical tricks that science fiction, fantasy, and horror use to propel us into other worlds and back again.
Rhetorical Sovereignty
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

In the space cleared by the New Black Fantastic, Indigenous imaginings are proliferating. Drawing on the rhetoric of the fantastic described in chapter 5, this chapter looks at the ways and means by which Indigenous writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror pursue “rhetorical sovereignty” (Scott Lyons), the exercise of control over the parameters of the discourses in which they are involved. These include both rhetorics of incredulity (which sidestep questions of truth and reality altogether by means of satire and irony) and rhetorics of believing (reinvesting Indigenous accounts with authority).
Unicorn Rhetoric
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

Science fiction, fantasy, and horror scholarship has had much to say about the ways in which politics enter into the fantastic; it has generally been less curious about the ways in which the fantastic enters the political realm. How is the imagery of the fantastic deployed in everyday political discourse? This chapter traces the polyvalent imagery of unicorns proliferating through contemporary culture, from the neoliberal ecstasy of the “unicorn economy” and conservative denunciation of the Green New Deal as “free unicorn rides for all” to left-wing invocations of the “unicorn magic” of solidarity.
The Fantastic from Counterpublic to Public Imaginary
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

This chapter argues that as the fantastic has gone from subculture to mass culture, it has moved from its customary counterpublic sphere into the public sphere, forcing us to rethink its political role. In “post-normal times,” the structuring role that the fantastic has come to play in the public sphere means that we need to pay attention to its rhetorical uses—the ways in which it sets and transgresses political boundaries.
“I’ve Done Told You, These Backhoes Ain’t Loyal!”: Atlanta and the State of Black Satire after Obama
Authors: Maus Derek C.
Published: January 2025

This introductory essay provides a clarification of each of the conceptual elements that appear in the collection’s title, from defining when and how the cultural moment of “after Obama” begins, to elaborating the distinct characteristics of satire produced by Black artists in that period, and ultimately the rationale behind centering the book on the television show Atlanta. It also includes a brief summary of each of the essays within the collection that places them within a metaphorical geography of the city of Atlanta that emphasizes the ways in which both the show and the city for which it is named serve as a thematic microcosm for both the effects of anti-Black racism in contemporary American culture and a representative sampling of satire by Black creators that comments upon these effects.
SAtirizing Satire Itself
Authors: Brooks John
Published: January 2025

At first glance, satire seems well-equipped to critique and to mitigate the structures of white supremacy that Atlanta chronicles. The “normative” view of satire articulated by Northrop Frye, however, sees satirists as instruments of liberalism’s optimistic teleology, meaning they can influence Western civilization’s social contract only by defending its liberal ideals; ergo, they cannot critique the racial contract that upholds that selfsame social contract. Atlanta instead subverts the status quo by satirically troubling naturalized ideas about equality, progress, and civilization. It attacks – and deconstructs – institutionalized knowledge by parodying received ideas, particularly mainstream audiences’ assumptions about satire’s intentions and purposes. The series does not aspire to rectify any particular social problem or to shift the direction in which civilization unfolds, as viewers might conventionally expect a satire to do, but rather exposes the constituent anti-Blackness of liberal thought and deconstructs conventional satire’s meliorative ambitions and faith in incremental reform.