bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Classics, Medievalism, and Cultural Politics in Myles na gCopaleen’s Cruiskeen Lawn Columns
Authors: O’Hogan Cillian
Published: November 2020

This chapter illustrates how Brian O’Nolan, author of the Cruiskeen Lawn columns in The Irish Times from the 1940s to the 1960s under the pseudonym Myles na gCopaleen, occupied a liminal position between intelligentsia and mob, modern and postmodern, Irish and English, classical and medieval. His columns, with their wide variety of classical allusions and multilingual use of classical language, Irish and English, underline the changing attitudes to classical learning in Ireland during the mid-twentieth century, not least in respect of the ‘nativist’ privileging of the Irish language in Celtic Studies. O’Nolan’s code-switching between Latin and Irish, and his glosses on other portions of the newspaper recall the practice of medieval scribes, implying that the Irish language is historically connected with classical learning.
Trojan Women and Irish Sexual Politics, 1920–2015
Authors: Torrance Isabelle
Published: November 2020

This chapter traces representations of the status of women in Ireland through three twentieth-century productions based on the Trojan Women of Euripides. As a tragedy about the brutalities of colonialism, the play was immediately topical when it was produced by the Dublin Drama League in 1920, with Maud Gonne in the starring role as Hecuba. The play’s reception, however, underlined women’s lack of political agency, as did Brendan Kennelly’s Trojan Women (1993) and Marina Carr’s Hecuba (2015). Kennelly’s Trojan women are inspired by suffering Irish women from rural villages, but his Hecuba represents female collusion in sexist oppression from which men escape responsibility. Carr’s women are sexually liberated but they remain prisoners. Female sexuality continues to be connected with disempowerment at a moment when the absence of women from the Abbey Theatre’s 1916 commemoration programme was generating significant public criticism.
Irish Didos
Authors: McElduff Siobhán
Published: November 2020

This chapter examines the Irish interrogation of empire through various receptions of Dido, queen of Carthage, tracing a continuum from the popular ballads of the 1700s to Frank McGuinness’s Carthaginians. The ballad tradition, with a fluid system of referencing unfettered by scholarly or literary norms, challenged more elite literary identifications of Ireland as Carthage by linking the Irish not with the Carthaginians, but with Roman generals. Just as Dido features in these ballads in roles unrelated to Aeneas, so also McGuinness’s Dido as a gay Northern Irish young man is a fluid and independent character. Set in the context of the Northern Irish conflict, McGuinness’s play reclaims high culture for the working class, whose representatives show how in refusing imperial models a means of survival can be found.
Post-Ceasefire Antigones and Northern Ireland
Authors: Torrance Isabelle
Published: November 2020

This chapter traces the evocation of Antigone in the context of the Northern Irish conflict, from Conor Cruise O’Brien and Tom Paulin to the remarkable number Antigone plays which have appeared post-ceasefire but allude to the conflict and its legacy. The Burial at Thebes by Seamus Heaney (2004) was inspired by the funeral of hunger-striker Francis Hughes in 1981. Ismene by Stacey Gregg (2006) responds to the sisters of Robert McCartney, who was brutally murdered by paramilitaries in 2005. Antigone (2008) by Owen McCafferty alludes to power-sharing and casts Creon as a soldier-turned-politician in ways that have contemporary political resonances. Norah by Gerard Humphreys (2018) portrays the sister of a fictional hunger-striker as an Antigone figure. The proliferation of dead bodies and the contested ownership of those bodies in all these plays show that Ireland is still dealing with the trauma of the conflict.
Epilogue
Authors: Martin Richard P.
Published: November 2020

This epilogue offers a meta-analysis across the book’s twenty chapters on Classics and Irish politics through three unifying and recurrent themes: contiguity, affinity, and chance. Contiguity is witnessed in physical spaces, objects, and monuments, but it also functions beyond the material in finding homologous realms between ancient and modern while at the same time respecting differences and acknowledging the challenges inherent in appropriating or translating from one culture into another. Affinity reveals the personal choices and experiences underlying examples of classical reception in Irish culture. Chance inheres in the serendipitous encounters that often lie at the heart of cultural transmission.
Crisis and Rehearsal in Frederick Douglass
Authors: Zwarg Christina
Published: November 2020

Chapter 1 shows Douglass increasingly sensitive to the way that abolition turned democracy into a traumatic genre for those in power. Seeking the elusive “thing” to be abolished for emancipation to be achieved, Douglass reworks the affiliation of mesmerism with the Haitian revolution through a variety of eclectic influences, as we see in “The Heroic Slave” and in his application of the early brain theory of George Combe. Defusing the hasty association between abolition and race war required careful rehearsals (or in Mesmer’s terms, the generation of a “crisis state”) in order to expose the dangerous power of such fears. With his future taken from him by slavery, Douglass studies the violent behavior of his masters and later audience members interrupting his abolitionist lectures. In the process he exposes the social horizon of temporal disruptions later informing the Freudian notion of afterwardsness.
Interlude
Authors: Zwarg Christina
Published: November 2020

“Interlude” aligns Mesmer’s “crisis state” with Freud’s 1909 discussion of the interrupted lecture. Intended to explain psychoanalysis to an America audience, Freud’s analogy also informs the psychological insights Douglass engages when describing the many interruptions he experienced. Two examples—an encounter in Five Points and at a political convention in Philadelphia—show his traumatic theory in action. The public account of such exchanges generates a form of immediacy that Douglass strives to recreate in his telescoping autobiographical narratives. With an assist from Kaja Silverman and Sara Ahmed, “Interlude” follows two analogies in the Douglass archive where he compares people to things (a speeding train, Paganini’s violin) in a vibrant new way. Thinking of his final work as an experiment in new media thickens their archival value and reveals the intersection of media and memory that Douglass enlists to transform the impossible demands of freedom into a “willful ecology” of support.
Introduction
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: November 2020

This more theoretical chapter focuses on the normative role of the government, in democratic countries with a market economy, and how that role has been tied to the prevalent view of the assumed relationship between individual citizens and their government. That view has been different in different countries. The chapter stresses the difference between choices made in and by the free market and those made through the political market. In the former, income distribution and individual liberty are important. In the political market, with one person one vote, the income of the voters should be less important. However, it often is important. Some societies place a lot of importance on individual liberty. Others give more weight to community goals. These attitudes influence government policies.
Hayek, Keynes, and the Economic Role of the State
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: November 2020

The chapter considers how two economic giants of the twentieth century saw the economic role of the market, comparing Hayek’s trust in the market with Keynes’ growing doubts about its role. There are areas where they strongly disagreed but also many areas of convergence. The greatest divergence in their positions was in the role of government in stabilizing policies. It can be said that these two economists actually had less extreme views that many assume they did. Keynes’ views were less socialist than many assume while Hayek’s views were less conservative. Hayek theorized a government role in regulations vis-à-vis the environment and vis-à-vis guaranteeing a low income for the poor; Keynes was against high taxes and was relatively indifferent to welfare policies.
The Design of Social Policy and Welfare Systems
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: November 2020

Most advanced countries over the past eight decades have created various social programs which have become fully-fledged welfare systems. Many countries developed means-tested programs aimed at assisting specific “deserving” individuals and families. Some accompanied these programs with “tax expenditures” designed to reduce the cost of buying particular “meritorious” goods and services. Other countries focused more on providing universal programs aimed at and available to everyone and also tried to avoid the use of tax expenditures, utilizing more broad-based taxes that could finance their higher public spending. The former group (mostly Anglo-Saxon countries) ended up with lower spending and tax levels but with more complicated systems. The other group (Scandinavian and some other European countries) ended up with higher spending and tax levels but with simpler systems. For these latter countries, high taxes and spending programs do not seem to have been the “road to serfdom” or to have led to the economic stagnation predicted.
Complexity in Stabilization Policies
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: November 2020

This chapter briefly revisits the book’s discussions of Keynes, the Great Depresssion, and Stabilization policies. It considers the importance of fiscal policy and the importance of simplicity in its use and the trust in its impact, especially in the 1960s. The chapter then looks at stagflation and growing doubts in the 1970s and the growing importance of rational expectations and of the Ricardian Equivalence Hypothesis and their impact on stabilization policy. Monetary policy also took on increasing importance in light of the growing complexity of the structure of the economy and the consequent growth of many new occupations. Finally, the impact of these changes and of growing globalization on the design of stabilization policies is discussed alongside a possible reduction in the effectiveness of fiscal policy.
Introduction
Authors: Siraganian Lisa
Published: November 2020

The Introduction contextualizes the book’s broader legal and philosophical debates about corporate personhood, collective agency, and modernism. The book’s methodology and structure are explained using accessible modernist poems, political cartoons, and legal case studies to present to non-experts the key ideas and historical background of corporate personhood in the U.S., with its first life not after the U.S. Supreme Court case Citizens United (2010), but after Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886). Beginning with an extended example from Muriel Rukeyser’s long poem, The Book of the Dead, the Introduction canvasses American literature from the nineteenth through the twentieth century to show how the book renders the field of modernist studies radically different, as modernism’s formal speculations emerge as deeply entangled with a range of social and political developments. Asking the question “Has a corporation a soul?” becomes a means to explore the aims of collective social agents, and to think through how collective forms produce meaning by their acts. Not until the postwar era did philosophy synthesize these ideas (on the possibility of corporate intention) being teased out in mostly prewar novels, poetry, and short stories. The third section situates this analysis within modernist literary studies as a field, culminating with a reading of an Archibald MacLeish poem in light of this focus on collective action and literary form and descriptions of each subsequent chapter.
British Legal Strategies and the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Authors: Van Hulle Inge
Published: November 2020

Chapter 2 connects abolitionist efforts to induce the British government to reinvigorate its efforts to suppress the transatlantic slave trade from the 1840s onwards as the catalyst for the creation of new legal tactics. First, within the confines of the Foreign Office, a model standard agreement was devised that was to be concluded with African rulers, which furthered an agenda based on the idea of replacing the slave trade with ‘legitimate commerce’. The model agreement built on an existing tradition of including abolition clauses in treaties since the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Second, the implementation of the model agreement ran parallel to the increase in commercial power and the use of force to suppress the slave trade through the use of naval blockades and the bombardment of the coastline of West Africa.
Introduction
Authors: Uddin Nasir
Published: November 2020

Chapter 1 grounds a foundation to enter into the realm of the Rohingyas with a critical reconsideration of the ethnic, regional, and political history of the Arakan/Rakhine State across time. It lays down the central argument of the book with an extensive literature review on the Rohingyas in particular and the stateless people, refugees, asylum seekers, and transborder mobility in general. It critically discusses the theoretical and scholarly contributions to the field of refugee, stateless, and citizenship studies and finds that there is a theoretical inadequacy and academic vacuum in understanding the critical conditionalities of what the Rohingyas have been living through for decades. In order to fill up this vacuum and meet the scholarly needs, this chapter proposes a new theoretical alternative along with an empirically informed analysis which has been substantiated by rich ethnographic details and solid logical analysis in the following chapters to establish the idea of ‘subhuman’ life.
Of Hurting and Hosting
Authors: Uddin Nasir
Published: November 2020

Chapter 3 discusses the crises of social integration of Rohingya refugees in the host societies of south-eastern Bangladesh. It argues that hosting the refugees is always problematic and troublesome from the perspective of the host society, whereas refugees think of it as hurting. State-level perception and local-level realities are strikingly different when it comes to hosting refugees. Local society always encounters the problems in the periphery more directly and explicitly than the state in the centre. This chapter merely focuses on the dynamics of interaction between the host society and migrated refugees at the grassroot level through the metaphor of ‘hosting’ and ‘hurting’. Though hosting and hurting are perceived from subjective interpretations, the chapter attempts to unveil the objective reality in the context of the quandary of integration between the refugees and the host society in case of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The (Re)production of Vulnerability
Authors: Uddin Nasir
Published: November 2020

Chapter 5 focuses on the vulnerable conditions of stateless people because the state regulates their everyday lives in various forms, committing severe injustices and producing various inequalities by yielding illegibility in the state structure. The modern nation-state has produced the concept of citizenship rendering some stateless. Since the state of statelessness sanctions that some people do not belong to any state, they cannot claim any rights from any state and therefore easily become subject to injustice, inequality, and discrimination and are even subjected to death. The treatment of stateless people as illegal human bodies and as animals can be termed as ‘bare life’, as Agamben would argue. A life is ‘bare’ because it can be taken by anyone without any legal intercession, as this life does not exist ‘before the law’. This chapter depicts a vivid picture of the Rohingyas, where the state intervenes in their everyday lives amid the reproduction of vulnerabilities in order to reconfirm their statelessness.
Theorizing ‘Subhuman’
Authors: Uddin Nasir
Published: November 2020

Chapter 7 discusses people’s critical ‘living conditionality’ created by the state. Besides, rather than looking at such vulnerable conditions as taken for granted for the stateless people, this chapter critically engages with the body of scholarship on citizenship, asylum seekers, stateless people and refugees, arguing whether these theories generated by academics otherwise are legitimizing the dehumanization process perpetrated by the states in various forms. This chapter offers a new perspective to contribute theoretically to the scholarship on the stateless, non-citizens, asylum seekers, and refugees by critical engagement with the idea of ‘bare life’, ‘rejected people’, ‘precarious life’ and so on, introducing a new concept—‘subhuman’. This chapter argues that ‘subhuman’ is a category of people who are born in the human society but have no space in the human community; they are born in the world, but the world doesn’t own them in any state structure, and they always live on the borderline of ‘life’ and ‘death’.
Essence and Nominalism
Authors: Shalkowski Scott
Published: November 2020

After sketching Kit Fine’s deflationary approach to modality, I argue for a similar approach to essentialism. I argue that nominalizing strategies regarding truth, predication, and similarity permit us to give priority to object language formulations of essentialist claims, thus making essentialism safe for nominalists.
Comments on Graeme Forbes’s “Fine’s New Semantics of Vagueness”
Authors: Fine Kit
Published: November 2020

Graeme Forbes is well known for his advocacy of a degree-theoretic approach to vagueness, especially in application to questions of identity; and I am grateful to him for casting his expert and critical eye over my own, very different, approach.

He raises a number of interesting objections in his chapter. But because of lack of space, I wish to focus on what is perhaps his most damning objection, made towards the end of ...
Comments on Gideon Rosen’s “What is Normative Necessity?”
Authors: Fine Kit
Published: November 2020

Gideon Rosen supports the central theses of “Varieties of Necessity” (VN) concerning the distinction between metaphysical and normative necessity and the proper formulation of moral supervenience; and he takes the defense of these theses much further than I did in my own paper and makes the case for them especially vivid and compelling. I was especially impressed by his attempt to find out what might lie ...
Comments on Bob Hale’s “The Problem of de re Modality”
Authors: Fine Kit
Published: November 2020

There is a great deal in Hale’s chapter which I admire and with which I agree. In particular, I would go along with him in drawing a distinction between the syntactic and semantic de re, in finding no reasonable basis for modality de re within a linguistic conception of modality, and in diagnosing where Quines’s argument (or what I would call his “logical” argument) goes wrong. However, in typical philosophical fashion, I shall focus on two points of disagreement, one concerning the problem of accounting for the ...
Comments on Friederike Moltmann’s “Variable Objects and Truth-Making”
Authors: Fine Kit
Published: November 2020

I have long admired Friederike Moltmann’s work at the intersection of linguistics and philosophy; and I have always been especially impressed by the way in which she has attempted to break free of the stranglehold of the possible worlds approach by showing how the diversified ontology of objects commonly associated with traditional metaphysics provides a much better tool for the investigation of natural language than the simple and stylized ontology of Montague semantics. The present paper is a characteristically rich, original and thought-provoking contribution to the subject; and I am afraid that I can do no more than pick my way through one or two of the many interesting issues that she raises. However, any criticisms I make on this score should not be seen to detract from my broad agreement with much of what she says....
White-Collar Work, the Culture Industries, and the Origins of the Creative Class
Authors: Clark Shannan
Published: November 2020

Chapter 1 surveys the growth of the white-collar workforce during the first three decades of the twentieth century, and the related development of the culture industries centered in New York. The fundamental relationships that linked advertisers to the media took shape during these years, as manufacturers’ need to reach potential consumers fueled the expansion of existing newspapers and magazines, quickly dominated the new technology of radio, and pushed firms to become more attentive to the design and appearance of products. Even as the culture industries swelled to meet the imperatives of consumer capitalism, economic inequality constrained consumer demand, contributing to the onset of the Great Depression. Although business interests attempted to defend capitalist principles and to maintain their control over the advertising and media enterprises, the severity and duration of the Depression incited radical critiques of both the working conditions within the culture industries and the content that they produced.
The Cold War in New York’s Culture Industries
Authors: Clark Shannan
Published: November 2020

Chapter 6 examines the impact of the domestic Cold War on white-collar workers in New York’s culture industries. As relations between the United States and the Soviet Union rapidly deteriorated during the late 1940s, anticommunists’ attacks on the Popular Front and its supporters within the culture industries became more intense and more effective. Changes in labor law targeted unions like the United Office and Professional Workers of America that had procommunists among the leadership, while congressional investigations and blacklisting ruined the careers of numerous writers, artists, and other culture workers who had strongly backed the Popular Front. By the 1950s, the unions in the city’s culture industries were weakened or destroyed from the onslaught, diminishing the options for workers in publishing, advertising, broadcasting, and design to fight for improved working conditions and greater creative autonomy.
Effects of bariatric surgery on serum uric acid in people with obesity with or without hyperuricaemia and gout: a retrospective analysis
Authors: Lu Jine , Bai Zhiyao , Chen Yunqing , Li Yingxu , Tang Min , Wang Ning , Zhu Xingcheng , Dai Hongbin , Zhang Weiya
Published: November 2020

Objectives

Weight reduction may reduce serum uric acid (SUA). This study aimed to examine the changes of SUA before and after bariatric surgery in patients with obesity with or without hyperuricaemia and gout.

Methods

This is a retrospective analysis of 147 routinely collected data on hospital patients with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery. The body weight and SUA were measured at baseline and after surgery at 1–7 days, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.

Results

The mean (95% CI) weight reduction of 147 patients was 30.7 (28.7, 32.7) kg 1 year after surgery (P < 0.001). SUA decreased rapidly from 419.0 (400.1, 437.8) µmol/l at baseline to 308.4 (289.6, 327.2) µmol/l at 1–7 days, flared up to 444.8 (423.9, 465.6) µmol/l at 1 month, then decreased again to 383.8 (361.5, 406.1) µmol/l at 3 months, 348.9 (326.3, 371.5) µmol/l at 6 months and 327.9 (305.3, 350.5) µmol/l at 12 months (P < 0.001). Similar trends but more rapid reductions were observed in 55 hyperuricaemia patients and 25 gout patients. All 25 gout patients had an elevated SUA above the therapeutic target (≥360µmmol/l) at baseline, but in 10 patients it was reduced below this target at 12 months. The mean reduction (95% CI) of SUA in all patients and gout patients was 84.3 (63.1–105.4) and 163.6 (103.9, 223.3) µmmol/l, respectively.

Conclusion

Bariatric surgery significantly reduces body weight and SUA for obese patients with hyperuricaemia and gout. Gout may be considered as an indicator for this surgical treatment in people with severe obesity.
Fintech for the Poor: Financial Intermediation Without Discrimination*
Authors: Tantri Prasanna
Published: November 2020

I ask whether machine learning (ML) algorithms improve the efficiency in lending without compromising on equity in a credit environment where soft information dominates. I obtain loan application-level data from an Indian bank. To overcome the problem of the selective labels, I exploit the incentive-driven within officer difference in leniency within a calendar month. I find that the ML algorithm can lend 60% more at loan officers’ delinquency rate or achieve a 33% lower delinquency rate at loan officers’ approval rate. The efficiency is maintained even when the algorithm is explicitly prevented from discriminating against disadvantaged social classes.
Hydroxylated Chalcones as Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Agonists: Structure-Activity Effects
Authors: Park Hyejin , Jin Un-Ho , Karki Keshav , Allred Clinton , Davidson Laurie A , Chapkin Robert S , Orr Asuka A , Nowshad Farrhin , Jayaraman Arul , Tamamis Phanourios , Safe Stephen
Published: November 2020

Hydroxylated chalcones are phytochemicals which are biosynthetic precursors of flavonoids and their 1,3-diaryl-prop-2-en-1-one structure is used as a scaffold for drug development. In this study, the structure-dependent activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-responsive CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and UGT1A1 genes was investigated in Caco2 colon cancer cells and in non-transformed young adult mouse colonocytes (YAMC) cells. The effects of a series of di- and trihydroxychalcones as AhR agonists was structure dependent with maximal induction of CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and UGT1A1 in Caco2 cells observed for compounds containing 2,2′-dihydroxy substituents and this included 2,2′-dihydroxy-, 2,2′,4′-trihydroxy-, and 2,2′,5′-trihydroxychalcones. In contrast, 2′,4,5′-, 2′3′,4′-, 2′,4,4′-trihydroxy, and 2′,3-, 2′,4-, 2′,4′-, and 2′,5-dihydroxychalcones exhibited low to non-detectable AhR activity in Caco2 cells. In addition, all of the hydroxychalcones exhibited minimal to non-detectable activity in YAMC cells, whereas 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) induced CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and UGT1A1 in Caco2 and YAMC cells. The activity of AhR-active chalcones was confirmed by determining their effects in AhR-deficient Caco2 cells. In addition, 2,2′-dihydroxychalcone induced CYP1A1 protein and formation of an AhR-DNA complex in an in vitro assay. Simulation and modeling studies of hydroxylated chalcones confirmed their interactions with the AhR ligand-binding domain and were consistent with their structure-dependent activity as AhR ligands. Thus, this study identifies hydroxylated chalcones as AhR agonists with potential for these phytochemicals to impact AhR-mediated colonic pathways.
Rural residence remains a risk factor for Toxoplasma infection among pregnant women in a highly urbanized Brazilian area: a robust cross-sectional study
Authors: Antinarelli Luciana Maria Ribeiro , Silva Márcio Roberto , Guimarães Ricardo José de Paula Sousa e , Terror Mariana Sequetto , Lima Patrícia Enham , Ishii Joelma de Souza Coimbra , Muniz Patrícia Fabiano , Coimbra Elaine Soares
Published: November 2020

Background

Despite high seroprevalence of asymptomatic infection in humans, toxoplasmosis can manifest as a severe systemic disease, as occurs in the congenital infection. Here we evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma infection among pregnant women in a highly urbanized area of Brazil.

Methods

A robust seroepidemiological study was conducted using laboratory databases of anti-Toxoplasma gondii serological results together with information on age, month/year of diagnosis and place of residence of pregnant women in the public health system of the city of Juiz de Fora, Brazil.

Results

Of 5895 pregnant women analysed, 54.7% showed seronegativity and 44.4% showed seropositivity for immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii. This seropositivity rate increased to 68.3% when only considering participants from rural areas. Multivariate analysis revealed higher odds of being seropositive associated with age (odds ratio [OR] 1.06 [confidence interval {CI} 1.05 to 1.07]) and with living in rural areas (OR 2.96 [CI 1.64 to 5.36]). The spatial distribution of IgG seropositivity indicated a higher prevalence concentrated in rural and peripheral neighbourhoods.

Conclusions

This is the first report to use spatial analysis to show a cluster of Toxoplasma infection in rural and peripheral neighbourhoods of a highly urbanized municipality, which highlights the need for adequate healthcare actions to be implemented for women living in these areas.
The Effect of Incubation Temperature on the Species Composition ofPhytophthora,Phytopythium, andPythiumCommunities Associated with Soybean
Authors: Navarro-Acevedo Krystel A. , Wijeratne Saranga , Culman Steve W. , Benitez Maria-Soledad , Dorrance Anne E.
Published: November 2020

Multiple species of Phytophthora, Phytopythium, and Pythium cause detrimental effects to soybean and more than one species have often been recovered from symptomatic soybean seedlings or roots, suggesting that these occur as species complexes. Our objective was to assess the species diversity and abundance of Phytophthora, Phytopythium, and Pythium spp. associated with soybean seedlings at two different incubation temperatures from soils collected from the same 81-ha farm but from five fields with a different history of production practices. To determine the effect of incubation temperature on the species detected, soils were baited with soybean seedlings at 15 and 25°C. At each temperature, isolates were directly recovered from seedling roots and the associated rhizosphere soil was assayed via amplicon sequencing with oomycete-specific primers. Regardless of incubation temperature or field site, the species Pythium sylvaticum and Pythium ultimum were isolated through the baiting procedure and these, along with Pythium acrogynum, Pythium attrantheridium, and Pythium heterothallicum, were detected with amplicon sequencing. Some Pythium spp. were more abundant at 15°C while others were favored at 25°C. This study demonstrated that the species diversity of Phytophthora, Phytopythium, and Pythium detected on seedling roots and in the rhizosphere of soybean can be influenced by incubation temperature. This may explain, in part, the differences in the species composition reported from previous surveys and suggests that production practices associated with each of the sampled fields may have influenced the species complexes of Phytophthora, Phytopythium, and Pythium.
Mortality in civilian trauma patients and massive blood transfusion treated with high vs low plasma: red blood cell ratio. Systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Oliveros Rodríguez Henry , Ríos Fernando , Rubio Cristhian , Arsanios Daniel Martin , Herazo Andrés Felipe , Beltrán Luis Mateo , García Paloma , Cifuentes Annie , Muñoz Juliana , Polanía Javier
Published: November 2020

Introduction: Massive bleeding in civilian trauma patients leads to dilutional coagulopathy. Transfusion with high plasma: red blood cell (RBC) ratio has been effective in reducing mortality in war trauma patients. However, in civilian trauma the evidence is controversial.

Objective: To assess the impact on mortality of high vs low plasma: RBC ratio transfusion, in civilian trauma patients with massive bleeding.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis, including observational studies and clinical trials, was conducted. Databases were systemically searched for relevant studies between January 2007 and June 2019. The main outcome was early (24-hours) and late (30-day) mortality. Fixed and random effects models were used.

Results: Out of 1295 studies identified, 33 were selected: 2 clinical trials and 31 observational studies. The analysis of observational trials showed both decreased early mortality (odds ratio [OR] 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60–0.75) and late mortality (OR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71–0.87) with the use of high plasma:RBC ratio transfusion, but there were no differences when clinical trials were evaluated (OR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.64–1.26). The exclusion of patients who died within the first 24hours was a source of heterogeneity. The Injury Severity Score (ISS) altered the association between high plasma: RBC ratio and mortality, with a reduced protective effect when the ISS was high.

Conclusion: The use of high vs low plasma: RBC ratio transfusion, in patients with massive bleeding due to civil trauma, has a protective effect on early and late mortality in observational studies. The exclusion of patients who died within the first 24 hours was a source of heterogeneity.
Eye Bank Management of Irregular Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty Lenticules
Authors: Ruzza Alessandro , Galeone Alessandra , Baruzzo Mattia , Favaro Elisa , Parekh Mohit , Ferrari Stefano , Ponzin Diego
Published: November 2020

Purpose:

To report the management of precut Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) lenticules unsuitable for transplantation because of irregular anterior profile after microkeratome cutting.

Methods:

After preparation for DSAEK, 20 tissues were considered unsuitable for transplantation because of nonhomogeneous posterior stromal thickness. To convert them into suitable tissues for surgery, manual stromal delamination was performed by removing the excess stromal layers after the indications obtained through optical coherence tomography. These tissues were further transplanted as ultrathin DSAEK.

Results:

Nineteen tissues were delaminated successfully. The average reduction in thickness in the center (63 ± 69 μm; P = 0.0101) and periphery (129 ± 39 μm; P < 0.0001) before and after delamination was significantly different. One tissue showed signs of perforation during manual dissection and therefore considered unsuitable for transplantation. Primary graft failure was reported in one case, but it was not correlated with the tissue preparation. No other clinical complications were observed after surgery.

Conclusions:

Manual delamination of the stroma because of irregular microkeratome cutting is a viable option to obtain a uniform graft thickness required for DSAEK surgeries. This technique can further reduce tissue wastage that is observed after microkeratome cutting errors.
Treatment of Dry Eye from Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis With Recombinant Human Nerve Growth Factor (Cenegermin)
Authors: Habibi Roya N. , Lee Michele D.
Published: November 2020

Purpose:

To describe 2 patients with neurotrophic keratitis after laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis surgery who were treated with recombinant human nerve growth factor (cenegermin) and the treatment course.

Methods:

Case series.

Results:

After an 8 week course of cenegermin, there was an improvement in visual acuity, corneal sensitivity, and ocular surface staining. However, these effects were short lived, and the disease regressed at subsequent follow-up visits.

Conclusions:

Although recombinant human nerve growth factor seems to be effective in short term for neurotrophic keratitis secondary to laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis surgery, alternative dosing for patients with this patient population should be considered to achieve long-lasting resolution.
An Unexpected Incidence of Ocular Surface Neoplasia on Pterygium Surgery. A Retrospective Clinical and Histopathological Report
Authors: Mejía Luis F. , Zapata Melissa , Gil Juan C.
Published: November 2020

Purpose:

To report the unexpected finding of ocular surface neoplasia (OSSN) on conjunctival tissue removed during pterygium surgery and subjected to histopathology analysis.

Methods:

This is an observational, descriptive retrospective study in which all the samples removed during surgery between 1997 and 2020 with a clinical diagnosis of pterygium were sent for histopathology analysis in which an unexpected OSSN was found.

Results:

There were 461 cases with a preoperative diagnosis of pterygium, with a mean age of 30.14 ± 10.6 years. In this group, there was an unexpected finding of OSSN in 69 cases (14.96%) of the surgical samples, with a mean age of 46 ± 8.2 years (31.86 ± 12.13).

Conclusions:

The unexpected coincidence of pterygium and OSSN is frequent, although varies depending on the geographical location. We recommend performing a histopathology analysis on every pterygium removed.
Clinical and Histological Characterization of Toxic Keratopathy From Depatuxizumab Mafodotin (ABT-414), an Antibody-Drug Conjugate
Authors: Lee Brian A. , Lee Michael S. , Maltry Amanda C. , Hou Joshua H.
Published: November 2020

Purpose:

To report the histological findings and clinical course of 2 patients with microcyst-like epithelial keratopathy (MEK) associated with antibody-drug conjugate, depatuxizumab mafodotin.

Methods:

Case series.

Results:

Two patients with glioblastoma multiforme participating in a phase 3 clinical trial of the antibody-drug conjugate, depatuxizumab mafodotin, presented with bilateral MEK. Confocal imaging showed multiple large, round, hyperreflective lesions in the epithelium. Epithelial debridement was performed for symptomatic relief in both patients. Along with aggressive lubrication, bandage contact lenses, and reduction in the chemotherapeutic dose to maintenance levels, both patients experienced symptomatic improvement. However, MEK lesions recurred after re-epithelialization. Immunohistochemistry of the diseased epithelium showed immunoglobulin (Ig)G-positive granular cytoplasmic inclusions and increased cell apoptosis.

Conclusions:

Depatuxizumab mafodotin accumulates in the basal corneal epithelium resulting in MEK because of increased apoptosis. Frequent lubrication and bandage contact lenses can provide symptom relief.
Pediatric Use of Recombinant Human Nerve Growth Factor 20 μg/mL Eye Drops (Cenegermin) for Bilateral Neurotrophic Keratopathy in Congenital Corneal Anesthesia
Authors: Leto Marco G. , Toro Maria E. , Indemini Patricia E. , Fruttero Claudia , Denina Marco , Dalmazzo Cristina , Sannia Andrea , Vaiano Agostino S.
Published: November 2020

Purpose:

This study aimed to present the efficacy and safety of cenegermin eye drop (Oxervate; Dompè Farmaceutici, Milan, Italy) treatment in a pediatric patient affected by neurotrophic keratopathy (NK) with Goldenhar syndrome.

Methods:

This case reports an infant presenting ulceration and a small central opacity in the cornea of the right and left eyes, respectively. The NK bilaterally worsened despite the use of therapeutic contact lenses and temporary partial tarsorrhaphy. Magnetic resonance imaging showed absence and hypoplasia of the right and left trigeminal nerves, respectively. Cenegermin eye drops were administered 1 drop/each eye, 6 times daily for 8 weeks to promote corneal healing.

Results:

Complete healing was achieved in both eyes after treatment. During the 16-month follow-up period, no epithelial defect, recurrence, or complications were noticed, whereas corneal opacities progressively became clearer, although insignificant improvements in corneal sensitivity or in the reflex tearing were observed.

Conclusions:

Cenegermin was effective in treating NK in an infant with Goldenhar syndrome.
Lacrimal Gland Ductal Cyst Infection Presenting as Acute Orbital Cellulitis With Abscess
Authors: Park Hyung Jun , Park Su Jin , Chi Mijung
Published: November 2020

Herein, the authors report a case of lacrimal gland ductal cyst infection presenting as acute orbital cellulitis with an abscess. A 45-year-old man without any history of trauma and a specific medical history presented with progressive painful periorbital swelling in the left eye and diplopia. At the first visit, the patient showed a best-corrected visual acuity of 0.2; erythematous swelling of the upper eyelid; superficial punctate keratitis, severe conjunctival chemosis in the left eye; and pus in the lateral canthal area. The patient had binocular diplopia and left eyeball movement limitation. Orbital computed tomography showed a peripherally enhanced periorbital soft tissue mass along the superotemporal aspect of the left globe, which was suggestive of an abscess. The authors diagnosed the patient with acute orbital cellulitis with an abscess. Intravenous antibiotics and steroids and topical antibiotics and steroids were administered. On the 4th day of the treatment, visual acuity and eyeball movement limitation had improved, and a small opening of the lacrimal gland duct was observed in the left upper conjunctival fornix. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was identified on culture. Finally, the patient was diagnosed with lacrimal gland ductal cyst infection presenting as acute orbital cellulitis. Lacrimal duct cyst infection should be considered as a cause of orbital cellulitis.
Hyperbaric CO2 Cryotherapy for Managing Swelling After Mandibular Angle Ostectomy
Authors: Chen Xiaojun , Ma Liping , Aung Zin Mar , Sun Mengzhe , Yang Xianxian , Zhang Yan , Xu Haisong , Chai Gang
Published: November 2020

Postoperative facial swelling after mandibular angle ostectomy is a concern for patients as it affects their quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric CO2 cryotherapy in relieving postoperative swelling. Thirty-seven patients (mean age: 22.95 ± 3.49 years) who underwent bilateral mandibular angle ostectomy from April to October 2019, were included in this study. A split-mouth design was adopted and through a random sequence, either side of the face was designated as the experimental side. Both received routine nursing care, while the experimental side underwent an additional hyperbaric CO2 cryotherapy treatment. The facial structure was recorded by a 3-dimensional laser scanner pre- and postoperatively. Geomagic Studio was used for alignment, visualization, and quantification of the swelling. The largest deviation value on each side was adopted to assess the overall swelling. Parameters were compared using the paired t-test, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. No necrosis of the skin and adjacent structures or other complications occurred in these patients. After the first day of cryotherapy, the deviation in the experimental and the control groups was (8.40 ± 1.95) mm and (10.42 ± 2.03) mm, respectively. The next day, after cryotherapy, the value further reduced to (5.42 ± 1.36) mm and (8.24 ± 2.22) mm for the experimental and control groups, respectively. And the effect remained till the seventh day. No difference was observed in terms of volume of drainage. Hyperbaric CO2 cryotherapy is safe and effective in relieving postoperative swelling and seems to be more effective than the traditional cold-pack treatment after mandibular angle ostectomy.
Artificial Intelligence for Surgical Safety
Authors: Mascagni Pietro , Vardazaryan Armine , Alapatt Deepak , Urade Takeshi , Emre Taha , Fiorillo Claudio , Pessaux Patrick , Mutter Didier , Marescaux Jacques , Costamagna Guido , Dallemagne Bernard , Padoy Nicolas
Published: November 2020

Objective:

To develop a deep learning model to automatically segment hepatocystic anatomy and assess the criteria defining the critical view of safety (CVS) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC).

Background:

Poor implementation and subjective interpretation of CVS contributes to the stable rates of bile duct injuries in LC. As CVS is assessed visually, this task can be automated by using computer vision, an area of artificial intelligence aimed at interpreting images.

Methods:

Still images from LC videos were annotated with CVS criteria and hepatocystic anatomy segmentation. A deep neural network comprising a segmentation model to highlight hepatocystic anatomy and a classification model to predict CVS criteria achievement was trained and tested using 5-fold cross validation. Intersection over union, average precision, and balanced accuracy were computed to evaluate the model performance versus the annotated ground truth.

Results:

A total of 2854 images from 201 LC videos were annotated and 402 images were further segmented. Mean intersection over union for segmentation was 66.6%. The model assessed the achievement of CVS criteria with a mean average precision and balanced accuracy of 71.9% and 71.4%, respectively.

Conclusions:

Deep learning algorithms can be trained to reliably segment hepatocystic anatomy and assess CVS criteria in still laparoscopic images. Surgical-technical partnerships should be encouraged to develop and evaluate deep learning models to improve surgical safety.
An Implementation Assessment of the Virtual Acute Care for Elders Program From the Perspective of Key Stakeholders
Authors: Balentine Courtney J. , Morris Melanie , Knight Sara J. , Turan Janet M. , Flood Kellie L. , Gutierrez-Meza Diana , Macdonald Cameron L. , Bhatia Smita , Brown Cynthia J.
Published: November 2020

Objective:

The aim of this study was to obtain feedback from key stakeholders and end users to identify program strengths and weaknesses to plan for wider dissemination and implementation of the Virtual Acute Care for Elders (Virtual ACE) program, a novel intervention that improves outcomes for older surgical patients.

Background:

Virtual ACE was developed to deliver evidence-based geriatric care without requiring daily presence of a geriatrician. Previous work demonstrated that Virtual ACE increased mobility and decreased delirium rates for surgical patients.

Methods:

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 key stakeholders (physicians, nurses, hospital leadership, nurse managers, information technology staff, and physical/occupational therapists) involved in the implementation and use of the program.

Results:

Our stakeholders indicated that Virtual ACE was extremely empowering for bedside nurses. The program helped nurses identify older patients who were at risk for a difficult postoperative recovery. Virtual ACE also gave them skills to manage complex older patients and more effectively communicate their needs to surgeons and other providers. Nurse managers felt that Virtual ACE helped them allocate limited resources and plan their unit staffing assignments to better manage the needs of older patients. The main criticism was that the Virtual ACE Tracker that displayed patient status was difficult to interpret and could be improved by a better design interface. Stakeholders also felt that program training needed to be improved to accommodate staff turnover.

Conclusions:

Although respondents identified areas for improvement, our stakeholders felt that Virtual ACE empowered them and provided effective tools to improve outcomes for older surgical patients.
Characterization of hot water extract from Korean deer velvet
antler (Cervus canadensis Erxleben)
Authors: Kim Su-Hyeon , Ameer Kashif , Oh Jun-Hyun , Park Mi-Kyung
Published: November 2020

Velvet antlers (VA) sourced from red (Cervus elaphus), sika
(C. nippon), and elk (C. canadensis) deer
have become increasingly popular in Chinese, Korean and Japanese traditional and
oriental medicines as supplements for disease prevention. Therefore, this study
aimed to determine the chemical components (proximate composition, amino,
uronic, and sialic acids) and to characterize the bacterial profile of VA
extract. The yield and contents of uronic and sialic acids extracted from VA at
98-100°C for 29-36 sec were determined to be 40.71%, 28.06 mg/g
and 0.73 mg/g, respectively. Overall, proximate parameters were higher in
extracts recovered at 100°C compared with 90°C, and these
parameters were: moisture (4.66%), crude protein (86.63%), crude
fat (3.23%), crude ash (4.1%), and carbohydrate content
(5.43%). Alanine was the most abundant among the identified amino acids.
Analysis of 16S rRNA sequence identified 12 bacterial species, including seven
gram-positive and five gram-negative bacteria. Among all bacteria,
Chryseobacterium indologenes, Shigella
flexneri ATCC 29903, Staphylococcus equorum, Staphylococcus
xylosus, Staphylococcus succinus, and Vagococcus
fluvialis had 100% identity in the VA extract. The
morphology of C. indologene, S. flexneri ATCC 29903, and
V. fluvialis was bacilli, whereas S.
equorum,
S. succinus, and S. xylosus were cocci.