bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FriendlyClearMap: an optimized toolkit for mouse brain mapping and analysis
Authors: Negwer Moritz , Bosch Bram , Bormann Maren , Hesen Rick , Lütje Lukas , Aarts Lynn , Rossing Carleen , Nadif Kasri Nael , Schubert Dirk
Published: May 2023

Background

Tissue clearing is currently revolutionizing neuroanatomy by enabling organ-level imaging with cellular resolution. However, currently available tools for data analysis require a significant time investment for training and adaptation to each laboratory’s use case, which limits productivity. Here, we present FriendlyClearMap, an integrated toolset that makes ClearMap1 and ClearMap2’s CellMap pipeline easier to use, extends its functions, and provides Docker Images from which it can be run with minimal time investment. We also provide detailed tutorials for each step of the pipeline.

Findings

For more precise alignment, we add a landmark-based atlas registration to ClearMap’s functions as well as include young mouse reference atlases for developmental studies. We provide an alternative cell segmentation method besides ClearMap’s threshold-based approach: Ilastik’s Pixel Classification, importing segmentations from commercial image analysis packages and even manual annotations. Finally, we integrate BrainRender, a recently released visualization tool for advanced 3-dimensional visualization of the annotated cells.

Conclusions

As a proof of principle, we use FriendlyClearMap to quantify the distribution of the 3 main GABAergic interneuron subclasses (parvalbumin+ [PV+], somatostatin+, and vasoactive intestinal peptide+) in the mouse forebrain and midbrain. For PV+ neurons, we provide an additional dataset with adolescent vs. adult PV+ neuron density, showcasing the use for developmental studies. When combined with the analysis pipeline outlined above, our toolkit improves on the state-of-the-art packages by extending their function and making them easier to deploy at scale.
Double-source frequency–wavenumber transform for accurate extraction of 2-D media dispersion
Authors: Liu Yuxiang , Wei Xueting , Liu Qi , Chen Xiaofei
Published: May 2023

Extracting the dispersion energy image is one of the key steps of surface wave analysis, which is considered an effective and important way to obtain the vertical velocity structure. The quality of the dispersion energy image directly affects the accuracy of selected dispersion curves and the subsequent inversion. However, if we can theoretically obtain an accurate 2-D dispersion energy diagram, we will skip the step of extracting the dispersion curves. Here, we present the double-source frequency–wavenumber (DSFK) transform to extract theoretical 2-D dispersion energy images from multichannel data. Unlike 1-D dispersion energy images, which are based on the assumption of a horizontally layered medium structure, 2-D dispersion energy images also reflect information about the irregular interfaces of media. We adopt a geometry in which two reciprocal sources are on both ends of a receiver array. Then, the multichannel data obtained by this geometry are transformed into the frequency domain, and a 2-D dispersion energy image that corresponds to the 2-D structure is obtained by the DSFK transform. By producing a variety of synthetic data and processing active source data from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project, we confirm the accuracy and applicability of the DSFK transform. As demonstrated by the results, the DSFK transform can obtain the theoretical 2-D dispersion energy distribution and shows significant potential in the field of seismic tomography.
Deep pre-trained FWI: where supervised learning meets the physics-informed neural networks
Authors: Muller Ana P O , Costa Jessé C , Bom Clecio R , Klatt Matheus , Faria Elisangela L , de Albuquerque Marcelo P , de Albuquerque Marcio P
Published: May 2023

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is the current standard method to determine final and detailed model parameters to be used in the seismic imaging process. However, FWI is an ill-posed problem that easily achieves a local minimum, leading the model solution in the wrong direction. Recently, some works proposed integrating FWI with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). In this case, the CNN weights are updated following the FWI gradient, defining the process as a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN). FWI integrated with CNN has an important advantage. The CNN stabilizes the inversion, acting like a regularizer, avoiding local minima-related problems and sparing an initial velocity model in some cases. However, such a process, especially when not requiring an initial model, is computationally expensive due to the high number of iterations required until the convergence. In this work, we propose an approach which relies on combining supervised learning and physics-informed by using a previously trained CNN to start the DL-FWI inversion. Loading the pre-trained weights configures transfer learning. The pre-trained CNN is obtained using a supervised approach based on training with a reduced and simple data set to capture the main velocity trend at the initial FWI iterations. The proposed training process is different from the initial works on the area which obtained the velocity model from the shots in supervised learning tasks and that required a large amount of labelled data to ensure reasonable model predictions. We investigated in our approach two CNN architectures, obtaining more robust results and a reduced number of parameters when using a modified U-Net. The method was probed over three benchmark models, showing consistently that the pre-training phase reduces the process’s uncertainties and accelerates the model convergence using minimal prior information. Besides, the final scores of the iterative process are better than the examples without transfer learning. Thus, transfer learning solved one main limitation of the previous PINN approaches: the unfeasible number of iterations when not using an initial model. Moreover, we tested the method using data with low-frequency band limitations, since the lack of low frequencies is a common issue within real seismic data. The inversion converges to reasonable results probing the method’s robustness with restricted frequency content.
Rare protective variants and glaucoma-relevant cell stressors modulate Angiopoietin-like 7 expression
Authors: Aboobakar Inas F , Collantes Edward Ryan A , Hauser Michael A , Stamer W Daniel , Wiggs Janey L
Published: May 2023

Rare missense and nonsense variants in the Angiopoietin-like 7 (ANGPTL7) gene confer protection from primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), though the functional mechanism remains uncharacterized. Interestingly, a larger variant effect size strongly correlates with in silico predictions of increased protein instability (r = −0.98), suggesting that protective variants lower ANGPTL7 protein levels. Here, we show that missense and nonsense variants cause aggregation of mutant ANGPTL7 protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and decreased levels of secreted protein in human trabecular meshwork (TM) cells; a lower secreted:intracellular protein ratio strongly correlates with variant effects on intraocular pressure (r = 0.81). Importantly, accumulation of mutant protein in the ER does not increase expression of ER stress proteins in TM cells (P > 0.05 for all variants tested). Cyclic mechanical stress, a glaucoma-relevant physiologic stressor, also significantly lowers ANGPTL7 expression in primary cultures of human Schlemm’s canal (SC) cells (−2.4-fold-change, P = 0.01). Collectively, these data suggest that the protective effects of ANGPTL7 variants in POAG stem from lower levels of secreted protein, which may modulate responses to physiologic and pathologic ocular cell stressors. Downregulation of ANGPTL7 expression may therefore serve as a viable preventative and therapeutic strategy for this common, blinding disease.
The Microbiome as a Maternal Effect: A Systematic Review on Vertical Transmission of Microbiota
Authors: Murphy Kaitlyn M , Le Samantha M , Wilson Alan E , Warner Daniel A
Published: May 2023

Synopsis

The microbiome is an interactive and fluctuating community of microbes that colonize and develop across surfaces, including those associated with organismal hosts. A growing number of studies exploring how microbiomes vary in ecologically relevant contexts have recognized the importance of microbiomes in affecting organismal evolution. Thus, identifying the source and mechanism for microbial colonization in a host will provide insight into adaptation and other evolutionary processes. Vertical transmission of microbiota is hypothesized to be a source of variation in offspring phenotypes with important ecological and evolutionary implications. However, the life-history traits that govern vertical transmission are largely unexplored in the ecological literature. To increase research attention to this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic review to address the following questions: (1) How often is vertical transmission assessed as a contributor to offspring microbiome colonization and development? (2) Do studies have the capacity to address how maternal transmission of microbes affects the offspring phenotype? (3) How do studies vary based on taxonomy and life history of the study organism, as well as the experimental, molecular, and statistical methods employed? Extensive literature searches reveal that many studies examining vertical transmission of microbiomes fail to collect whole microbiome samples from both maternal and offspring sources, particularly for oviparous vertebrates. Additionally, studies should sample functional diversity of microbes to provide a better understanding of mechanisms that influence host phenotypes rather than solely taxonomic variation. An ideal microbiome study incorporates host factors, microbe–microbe interactions, and environmental factors. As evolutionary biologists continue to merge microbiome science and ecology, examining vertical transmission of microbes across taxa can provide inferences on causal links between microbiome variation and phenotypic evolution.
Half a century of high-latitude fisheries oceanography research on the “recruitment problem” in Northeast Arctic cod (Gadus morhua)
Authors: Kjesbu O S , Tiedemann I , Alix M , Thorsen A , Sundby S
Published: May 2023

Predicting recruitment in a reliable fashion is a great challenge within operational fisheries advice. Here, we consulted the unique but undercommunicated IMR Cod Larva Project (1975–1990), its spin-offs, placed in an international era of advancements over the last 50 years to glance into the future. Few initiatives of this kind have applied such extensive research approaches, spanning from laboratory, mesocosm, tank, and field studies to process modelling. The “critical period” concept appeared misleading, covering months rather than days of the early life history stages (ELHS) of Northeast Arctic cod. Larval feeding success was strongly modified by improved encounter rates from wind-induced turbulence. In addition, the following maternal effect studies evidenced that the dynamics of stock demography prior to spawning should be upheld to promote recruitment success. Although we now have lower-trophic level models as well as ELHS individual-based models, such models are still insufficiently reflecting the needed spatiotemporal resolution. The same problem applies to climate/circulation models. Nevertheless, this long-lasting research has significantly improved the mechanistic understanding of ELHS dynamics but also of the more predictable adult reproductive parameters. Based on a “to-list list,” we suggest research avenues that should be pursued to further improve our ability predicting recruitment strength in marine fish stocks.
De-black-boxing health AI: demonstrating reproducible machine learning computable phenotypes using the N3C-RECOVER Long COVID model in the All of Us data repository
Authors: Pfaff Emily R , Girvin Andrew T , Crosskey Miles , Gangireddy Srushti , Master Hiral , Wei Wei-Qi , Kerchberger V Eric , Weiner Mark , Harris Paul A , Basford Melissa , Lunt Chris , Chute Christopher G , Moffitt Richard A , Haendel Melissa ,   N3C and RECOVER Consortia
Published: May 2023

Machine learning (ML)-driven computable phenotypes are among the most challenging to share and reproduce. Despite this difficulty, the urgent public health considerations around Long COVID make it especially important to ensure the rigor and reproducibility of Long COVID phenotyping algorithms such that they can be made available to a broad audience of researchers. As part of the NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, researchers with the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) devised and trained an ML-based phenotype to identify patients highly probable to have Long COVID. Supported by RECOVER, N3C and NIH’s All of Us study partnered to reproduce the output of N3C’s trained model in the All of Us data enclave, demonstrating model extensibility in multiple environments. This case study in ML-based phenotype reuse illustrates how open-source software best practices and cross-site collaboration can de-black-box phenotyping algorithms, prevent unnecessary rework, and promote open science in informatics.
Are interactive and tailored data visualizations effective in promoting flu vaccination among the elderly? Evidence from a randomized experiment
Authors: Cotter Lynne M , Yang Sijia
Published: May 2023

Objective

Although interactive data visualizations are increasingly popular for health communication, it remains to be seen what design features improve psychological and behavioral targets. This study experimentally tested how interactivity and descriptive titles may influence perceived susceptibility to the flu, intention to vaccinate, and information recall, particularly among older adults.

Materials and Methods

We created data visualization dashboards on flu vaccinations, tested in a 2 (explanatory text vs none) × 3 (interactive + tailored, static + tailored, static + nontailored) + questionnaire-only control randomized between-participant online experiment (N   = 1378).

Results

The flu dashboards significantly increased perceived susceptibility to the flu compared to the control: static+nontailored dashboard, b = 0.14, P = .049; static-tailored, b = 0.16, P = .028; and interactive+tailored, b = 0.15, P = .039. Interactive dashboards potentially decreased recall particularly among the elderly (moderation by age: b = −0.03, P = .073). The benefits of descriptive text on recall were larger among the elderly (interaction effects: b = 0.03, P = .025).

Discussion

Interactive dashboards with complex statistics and limited textual information are widely used in health and public health but may be suboptimal for older individuals. We experimentally showed that adding explanatory text on visualizations can increase information recall particularly for older populations.

Conclusion

We did not find evidence to support the effectiveness of interactivity in data visualizations on flu vaccination intentions or on information recall. Future research should examine what types of explanatory text can best support improved health outcomes and intentions in other contexts. Practitioners should consider whether interactivity is optimal in data visualization dashboards for their populations.
The Revised Baux Score as a Predictor of Burn Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Edgar Michael C , Bond Stephanie M , Jiang Sam H , Scharf Isabel M , Bejarano Geronimo , Vrouwe Sebastian Q
Published: May 2023

Mortality following a severe burn is influenced by both patient- and injury-factors, and a number of predictive models have been developed or applied. As there is no consensus on the optimal formula to use, we aimed to investigate the predictive value of the revised Baux score in comparison to other models when determining mortality risk in patients with burn injuries. A systematic review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. The review yielded 21 relevant studies. The Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool quality appraisal checklist was used with many studies classified as “high” quality. All studies assessed the utility of the revised Baux score in comparison to other scoring systems such as the original Baux, Belgian Outcome in Burn Injury, Abbreviated Burn Severity Index, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, Boston Group/Ryan scores, the Fatality by Longevity, APACHE II score, Measured Extent of burn, and Sex model, and the Prognostic Burn Index. There was a range of 48 to 15975 participants per study, with a mean age range of 16 to 52 years old. The area under the curve (AUC) values of the rBaux score ranged from 0.682 to 0.99, with a summary AUC of 0.93 for all included studies (CI 0.91–0.95). This summary value demonstrates that the rBaux equation is a reliable predictor for mortality risk in heterogeneous populations. However, this study also identified that the rBaux equation has a diminished ability to predict mortality risk when applied to patients at both extremes of age, highlighting an important area for future research. Overall, the rBaux equation offers a relatively easy means to quickly assess the mortality risk from burn injury in a broad range of patient populations.
Mechanism of elastic energy storage of honey bee abdominal muscles under stress relaxation
Authors: Deng Zhizhong , Zhang Yuling , Yan Shaoze
Published: May 2023

Energy storage of passive muscles plays an important part in frequent activities of honey bee abdomens due to the muscle distribution and open circulatory system. However, the elastic energy and mechanical properties of structure in passive muscles remain unclear. In this article, stress relaxation tests on passive muscles from the terga of the honey bee abdomens were performed under different concentrations of blebbistatin and motion parameters. In stress relaxation, the load drop with the rapid and slow stages depending on stretching velocity and stretching length reflects the features of myosin–titin series structure and cross-bridge–actin cyclic connections in muscles. Then a model with 2 parallel modules based on the 2 feature structures in muscles was thus developed. The model described the stress relaxation and stretching of passive muscles from honey bee abdomen well for a good fitting in stress relaxation and verification in loading process. In addition, the stiffness change of cross-bridge under different concentrations of blebbistatin is obtained from the model. We derived the elastic deformation of cross-bridge and the partial derivatives of energy expressions on motion parameters from this model, which accorded the experimental results. This model reveals the mechanism of passive muscles from honey bee abdomens suggesting that the temporary energy storage of cross-bridge in terga muscles under abdomen bending provides potential energy for springback during the periodic abdomen bending of honey bee or other arthropod insects. The finding also provides an experimental and theoretical basis for the novel microstructure and material design of bionic muscle.
Multilognormal density structure in Cygnus-X molecular clouds: a fitting for N-PDF without power law
Authors: Murase Takeru , Handa Toshihiro , Matsusaka Ren , Shimajiri Yoshito , Kobayashi Masato I N , Kohno Mikito , Nishi Junya , Takeba Norimi , Shibata Yosuke
Published: May 2023

We studied the H2 column density probability distribution function (N-PDF) based on molecular emission lines using the Nobeyama 45-m Cygnus X CO survey data. Using the DENDROGRAM and SCIMES algorithms, we identified 124 molecular clouds in the 13CO data. From these identified molecular clouds, an N-PDF was constructed for 11 molecular clouds with an extent of more than 0.4 deg2. From the fitting of the N-PDF, we found that the N-PDF could be well fitted with one or two lognormal distributions. These fitting results provided an alternative density structure for molecular clouds from a conventional picture. We investigated the column density, dense molecular cloud cores, and radio continuum source distributions in each cloud and found that the N-PDF shape was less correlated with the star-forming activity over a whole cloud. Furthermore, we found that the lognormal N-PDF parameters obtained from the fitting showed two impressive features. First, the lognormal distribution at the low-density part had the same mean column density (∼1021.5 cm−2) for almost all the molecular clouds. Second, the width of the lognormal distribution tended to decrease with an increasing mean density of the structures. These correlations suggest that the shape of the N-PDF reflects the relationship between the density and turbulent structure of the whole molecular cloud but is less affected by star-forming activities.
Prospects of detecting soft X-ray emission from typical WHIM filaments around massive clusters and the coma cluster soft excess
Authors: Churazov E , Khabibullin I I , Dolag K , Lyskova N , Sunyaev R A
Published: May 2023

While hot ICM in galaxy clusters makes these objects powerful X-ray sources, the cluster’s outskirts and overdense gaseous filaments might give rise to much fainter sub-keV emission. Cosmological simulations show a prominent ‘focusing’ effect of rich clusters on the space density of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) filaments up to a distance of $\sim 10\, {\rm Mpc}$ (∼ turnaround radius, rta) and beyond. Here, we use Magneticum simulations to characterize their properties in terms of integrated emission measure for a given temperature and overdensity cut and the level of contamination by the more dense gas. We suggest that the annuli $(\sim 0.5-1)\times \, r_{ta}$ around massive clusters might be the most promising sites for the search of the gas with overdensity ≲ 50. We model spectral signatures of the WHIM in the X-ray band and identify two distinct regimes for the gas at temperatures below and above $\sim 10^6\, {\rm K}$. Using this model, we estimate the sensitivity of X-ray telescopes to the WHIM spectral signatures. We found that the WHIM structures are within reach of future high spectral resolution missions, provided that the low-density gas is not extremely metal-poor. We then consider the Coma cluster observed by SRG/eROSITA during the CalPV phase as an example of a nearby massive object. We found that beyond the central r ∼ 40 arcmin ($\sim 1100\, {\rm kpc}$) circle, where calibration uncertainties preclude clean separation of the extremely bright cluster emission from a possible softer component, the conservative upper limits are about an order of magnitude larger than the levels expected from simulations.
Black hole feeding and feedback in a compact galaxy
Authors: Di Yihuan , Li Yuan , Yuan Feng , Shi Fangzheng , Caradonna Mirielle
Published: May 2023

We perform high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations using the framework of MACER to investigate supermassive black hole (SMBH) feeding and feedback in a massive compact galaxy, which has a small effective radius but a large stellar mass, with a simulation duration of 10 Gyr. We compare the results with a reference galaxy with a similar stellar mass but a less concentrated stellar density distribution, as typically found in local elliptical galaxies. We find that about 10 per cent of the time, the compact galaxy develops multiphase gas within a few kpc, but the accretion flow through the inner boundary below the Bondi radius is always a single phase. The inflow rate in the compact galaxy is several times larger than in the reference galaxy, mainly due to the higher gas density caused by the more compact stellar distribution. Such a higher inflow rate results in stronger SMBH feeding and feedback and a larger fountain-like inflow-outflow structure. Compared to the reference galaxy, the star formation rate in the compact galaxy is roughly two orders of magnitude higher but is still low enough to be considered quiescent. Over the whole evolution period, the black hole mass grows by ∼50 per cent in the compact galaxy, much larger than the value of ∼ 3 per cent in the reference galaxy.
Star cluster formation from turbulent clumps – III. Across the mass spectrum
Authors: Farias Juan P , Tan Jonathan C
Published: May 2023

We study the formation and early evolution of star clusters that have a wide range of masses and background cloud mass surface densities, Σcloud, which help set the initial sizes, densities, and velocity dispersions of the natal gas clumps. Initial clump masses of 300, 3000, and 30 000 M⊙ are considered, from which star clusters are born with an assumed 50  per cent overall star formation efficiency and with 50  per cent primordial binarity. This formation is gradual, i.e. with a range of star formation efficiencies per free-fall time from 1 to 100  per cent, so that the formation time can range from 0.7 Myr for low-mass, high-Σcloud clumps to ∼30 Myr for high-mass, low-Σcloud clumps. Within this framework of the turbulent clump model, for a given Σcloud, clumps of higher mass are of lower initial volume density, but their dynamical evolution leads to higher bound fractions and causes them to form much higher density cluster cores and maintain these densities for longer periods. This results in systematic differences in the evolution of binary properties, degrees of mass segregation, and rates of creation of dynamically ejected runaways. We discuss the implications of these results for observed star clusters and stellar populations.
A small survey for massive stars in the LMC/SMC: binaries and pulsations
Authors: Çakırlı Ömür , Hoyman Barış , Özdarcan Orkun
Published: May 2023

Binarity and pulsations are two notable properties that frequently appear together in massive stars. To place constraints on how binarity affects stellar evolution, the exact parameters of massive stars in binary systems must be known. Their exact and accurate masses and radii, which were calculated from binary dynamics, present model-independent restrictions and challenge existing theories of stellar evolution. In this investigation, our goal is to determine the atmospheric characteristics of nine double-lined spectroscopic binaries that are located in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud. Nine newly discovered double-lined eclipsing binaries with B-type massive components have been studied; these binaries were found using the OGLE variable star catalogues. The absolute physical parameters of each component have been measured with an accuracy of less than or equal to 3 per cent. By analysing through Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data of the systems, we were able to identify five candidates for slowly pulsating B stars in massive binary systems with masses ranging from 2 to 25 M⊙. According to the results of the preliminary research, the orbital periods of these binary systems span anywhere from 1.8 to 6.3 d, whereas the pulsating periods range anywhere from 0.3 to 1.5 d. The achievement in identifying a significant number of pulsating eclipsing systems opens the door to the initial sensible approach of constraining the internal physics of a group of massive stars via asteroseismology of eclipsing binaries including such stars.
Los Angeles
Authors: Felker-Kantor Max
Published: May 2023

Founded in 1781 by a multiracial group of forty-four settlers who had traveled more than one-thousand miles from northern Mexico as part of the Spanish imperial project to colonize Alta California, El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles has, over the course of more than two centuries, became the nation’s second-largest city and a world trading center on the Pacific Rim. Los Angeles’s rise to global city status, its place in the development of new urban theory, and its racial and ethnic diversity make it significant for the field of urban studies. Indeed, Los Angeles has come to be viewed as the prototypical 21st-century city. While Los Angeles is often defined as a metropolitan region encompassing the five counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside, this article focuses on the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. In select places where a work on the broader metropolitan region has implications for the city or county, it has been included. Los Angeles has often been described as a sprawling, decentralized city made up of suburbs. It is also characterized by immense demographic growth, from a population of roughly fifteen thousand inhabitants in 1870 to nearly one million by 1920, Los Angeles County is home to nearly ten million people in 2020. Such demographic growth was the result of internal migration from the Midwest in the 1920s and 1930s, the region’s place in the US-Mexico borderlands and the Pacific Rim, and immigration to the city after the 1965 Immigration Act. Los Angeles has also been characterized by polarization, a place of conflict and extremes. It has a long history of labor and capital conflict stemming from its pro-business orientation through much of the twentieth century and as the site of new forms of unionization in the service sector during the 1990s and 2000s. Urban unrest, violence, and racial conflict—most notably the 1871 Chinese Massacre, 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, the 1965 Watts Uprising, and the 1992 Rebellion—have been central features of the city’s development. Yet, there is also a deep history of multiracial and multiethnic coalition building and solidarity in the city. In other words, Los Angeles is a more complex place than the simplistic views, produced by Hollywood, of the city as a place of either utopia or dystopia. The study of Los Angeles, in short, blends the historical and material story of the city with views of it as a concept for global urban processes and form. Long viewed as an aberration from the “traditional” industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest, Los Angeles is where urban form and development, culture and artistic production, trade and globalization, race and ethnicity, and urban theory all come together. The author thanks Emily McGuire for her research assistance and contributions to annotations and summaries in the Gender and Sexuality section.
HIV in Prisons
Authors: Caudy Michael , Potter Roberto , Lee Narim
Published: May 2023

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a global health problem. While the burden of the disease is widespread, HIV disproportionately affects certain groups and regions. One population disproportionately impacted by HIV is prisoners (i.e., people incarcerated in prisons, jails, or other detention facilities). Global estimates consistently demonstrate a higher prevalence of HIV (and other infectious diseases) among prisoners relative to nonincarcerated persons. The high prevalence of HIV among incarcerated persons has been attributed to several factors, including socioeconomic status, history of injection and other drug use, and high rates of risky sexual behavior. Mass incarceration and the criminalization of drug use have exacerbated this issue in many places around the globe. This has been further complicated by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States. With over 10.5 million people incarcerated worldwide (2.1 million in the United States), HIV in prisons presents a global public health challenge. The high prevalence of HIV in prisons presents both challenges and opportunities for surveillance, prevention, and treatment.
Chaco War
Authors: Shesko Elizabeth
Published: May 2023

For twenty-seven months between 1932 and 1935, Bolivia and Paraguay fought an active war over the Chaco Boreal. Sparsely populated by Indigenous groups, the disputed area lay north of the Pilcomayo River, where the two countries share borders with one another, Argentina, and Brazil. It was a punishing landscape for war, with few water sources except during the rainy season, when scrubland turned to mud and made the region virtually impassable. The conflict’s origins lay in boundaries that had been poorly defined during the formation of these nation-states in the nineteenth century, but the proximate cause was nationalist efforts to develop the region and improve export routes. Fought in the interwar period with the tools of modern warfare, the Chaco War holds important lessons for military historians. Airpower played a role, but it was primarily an infantry war because the terrain made cavalry and tanks of little use. The Chaco War was the deadliest interstate conflict in 20th-century Latin America. The belligerents depleted their coffers, mobilized between 10 and 15 percent of their populations, and suffered at least 25 percent casualty rates. Bolivia’s forces had three commanders during the war, including German General Hans Kundt (b. 1869–d. 1939), while Paraguay was capably led by Mariscal José Félix Estigarribia (b. 1888–d. 1940). Paraguay was the clear victor, gaining more territory than it claimed prior to the war but less than it held at the end of the conflict. In both countries, the war had profound effects and led to the end of the liberal period. In Paraguay, Colonel Rafael Franco (b. 1896–d. 1973) overthrew President Eusebio Ayala (b. 1875–d. 1942) in February 1936, in what is known as the Febrerista Revolution, and established a populist administration emphasizing veterans’ needs. Bolivia’s postwar period was characterized by instability until the 1952 Revolution by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), which emphasized wartime sacrifice. The literature on the Chaco War is extensive, but most publications are Spanish-language firsthand accounts and partisan histories. This bibliographic guide contains most of the English-language scholarship available along with some of the more important and widely available titles in Spanish. Much work remains to understand this conflict and the impact of veterans on these societies, but scholars have begun to mine military archives to offer less nationalistic accounts and have made significant headway in revealing the impact on the region’s Indigenous inhabitants.
Robert Pinsky
Authors: Mirarchi Stephen
Published: May 2023

Robert Pinsky (b. 1940) is widely considered one of the most important late-20th- and early-21st-century American poets, critics, and translators. Though he apprenticed with Yvor Winters, Pinsky is often compared in his overall aesthetic approach to Robert Lowell and Randall Jarrell. Pinsky is still active, and his career can be divided into four stages: the early years, 1968–1984; the intense working years, 1985–1996; the Poet Laureate and after years, 1997–2006; and the dark turn years, 2007–present. Pinsky’s first book, Landor’s Poetry (1968), opened the way for his position as a literary critic, and scholars have often pointed to it as evidence of Pinsky’s foundational interest in Romanticism. To this day, however, scholars recognize An Explanation of America (1979) as the author’s seminal work of the period, which continues to be studied. The publication of History of My Heart (1984) earned Pinsky a national reputation, and his output over the next decade or so was remarkable, culminating in his translation of Dante’s Inferno (1994), hailed by many for its sonic brilliance but criticized by others for its theological shortcomings. Pinsky was named United States Poet Laureate in 1997 and reappointed twice, the first to be so honored. Out of his Laureate came the Favorite Poem Project—everyday people reading and explaining their favorite poems—which produced three increasingly immersive anthologies. The success of the project cemented Pinsky’s reputation as the preeminent civic poet of his time. With the publication of Gulf Music (2007), Pinsky’s verse took on darker themes, such as bald-faced examinations of human cruelty. His following book of poetry, At the Foundling Hospital (2016), uses abandoned children for its central motif, and his most recent anthology of poetry is aptly subtitled Poems at the Extremes of Feeling (2019), with critics acknowledging its “challenging” subject matter. Pinsky once defined poetry as “the art that arranges the sounds of language, a physical reality, to imitate expressively an emotional and intellectual reality.” Scholars seem to have intuited the same, as studies have appeared examining Pinsky’s linguistic structures, Jewish heritage, historical method, and formal aesthetics. In terms of peers, Pinsky is often studied with or compared to Frank Bidart, Louise Glück, Philip Levine, and Robert Hass. Pinsky himself has written or spoken frequently about Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Moore, Thomas Gunn, John Clare, Elizabeth Bishop, Philip Freneau, Seamus Heaney, Walter Savage Landor, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, and Williams Carlos Williams.
Spin-Outs
Authors: Echambadi Raj , John-Mariadoss Babu
Published: May 2023

Spin-outs are brand new entrepreneurial ventures founded within the same industry by ex-employees of established firms. Spin-outs are widely considered to be significant diffusers of innovation within an industry. While extant literature has used the terms spin-out and spin-off interchangeably, spin-offs typically include different categories of start-up firms, including ventures that result from corporate restructuring (corporate spin-offs) and those originating from universities (academic spin-offs). Hence, we use spin-outs to refer only to ventures that result from employee entrepreneurship, and these spin-outs do not have any connection, financial or otherwise, to the incumbent parents. An example involving Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, Fairchild, and Intel will help illustrate the concept of spin-outs. In 1957, eight researchers from Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory left to launch Fairchild Semiconductor, a spin-out. In 1968, two senior employees from Fairchild Semiconductor, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, founded Intel, considered a spin-out because it competed in the semiconductor industry.
Specialty Differences in Medical Aid in Dying Experiences: Results of a Survey of Physicians in Colorado
Authors: Kessler Elizabeth R , Ressalam Julie , DeCamp Matthew , Lum Hillary D , Kini Vinay , Campbell Eric G
Published: May 2023

In Colorado, medical aid in dying (MAiD) is legal, allowing a terminally ill person to request a prescription and self-administer a medication to end their life. Such requests are granted under certain circumstances, including a malignant neoplasm diagnosis, with a goal of peaceful death. This study examined differences in attitudes and actual participation in MAiD between oncologists and non-oncologists, using data from a recent survey of physicians regarding MAiD.
HEN1 SUPPRESSOR1 stabilizes polymerase IV RNAs via uridylation in Arabidopsis
Authors: Ren Yongbing , Ma Xuan , Song Bo , Yang Xiaolan , Chen You , Yu Yu , Chen Xuemei , Mo Beixin , Wang Xiaoyan
Published: May 2023

3′-end uridylation of P4RNA directed by HEN1 SUPPRESSOR1 is critical for its stabilization.
Collating Piers Plowman in Archbishop Parker’s Household
Authors: Warner Lawrence
Published: May 2023

This essay brings to light the most substantial episodes of textual scholarship on Piers Plowman to have occurred over the space of 300-odd years, of which one certainly, the other likely, took place in the household of Archbishop Matthew Parker. The former consists of a series of red numbers inscribed next to lines in two passus of the C-version copy Cambridge, Corpus Christi MS 293, which are shown to refer to the pages on which the equivalent lines appear in a sixteenth-century printed edition of Piers B, reflecting careful comparison of their respective texts. The latter is manifested in the ‘correction’ of a portion of the C-text manuscript London, British Library, MS Royal 18 B xvii so as to bring it into line with its equivalent in a printed edition of B. The placement of the lines is suggestive of access by the corrector to unbound printed matter. This episode, so it is argued, is most intelligible in the context of such episodes of correction as that in which John Joscelyn, Parker’s secretary, engaged. A sub-theme of the essay is that Stephan Batman’s putative centrality to the topic of the Parkerian Piers is not supported by any evidence.
SURVEY OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY PRACTICE IN UKRAINE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL DIAGNOSTIC REFERENCE LEVELS FOR MOST COMMON CT EXAMINATIONS OF ADULTS
Authors: Stadnyk Larysa , Nosyk Olga , Tonkopi Elena , Boguslavska Alexandra , Vassileva Jenia
Published: May 2023

This study reports results of the first nationwide survey of computed tomography (CT) practice in Ukraine and proposed national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for common CT examinations. The collected data included characteristics of CT scanners, frequency of CT exams per anatomical region, dose indices CTDIvol and dose-length product (DLP). National DRLs were proposed at the 75th percentile of median dose indices distributions for four common CT protocols: head without contrast (brain examinations for stroke and trauma), routine chest without contrast, single-phase contrast-enhanced CT of abdomen and pelvis and oncology protocol (chest–abdomen–pelvis). The results showed 4- to 9-fold variations of median dose indices between CT scanners for the same type of examination. The following values of the CTDIvol and DLP were proposed as national DRLs: 59 mGy and 1130 mGy•cm for head, 14 mGy and 492 mGy•cm for chest, 22 mGy and 845 mGy•cm for abdomen/pelvis and 2120 mGy•cm for oncological protocol.
Impact of Selective Immunosuppressive Therapy on Subsequent Immune-Related Adverse Events After Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Colitis Treatment
Authors: Pizuorno Machado Antonio , Shatila Malek , Glitza Oliva Isabella C. , Altan Mehmet , Siddiqui Bilal , Zhou Yan , Varatharajalu Krishnavathana , Zhang Hao Chi , Thomas Anusha , Wang Yinghong
Published: May 2023

Objectives:

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) can cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs) such as colitis. irAEs can be managed by selective immunosuppressive therapy (SIT) agents such as infliximab and vedolizumab. We aimed to elucidate the incidence of subsequent new irAEs after exposure to SIT by describing patients’ clinical course.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective chart review of adult patients at a tertiary cancer center diagnosed with ICI-mediated colitis (IMC) treated with SIT from February 2013 through October 2021. Patients’ clinical courses, treatments, and outcomes of new irAEs after SIT were collected and analyzed.

Results:

The study included 156 patients. Most were male (67.3%), 44.8% had melanoma, and 43.5% received anti-PD1/L1 ICIs. For IMC treatment, 51.9% received infliximab and 37.8% received vedolizumab. Twenty-six patients (16.6%) resumed ICI treatment after their colitis event. Twenty-five patients (16%) developed a new irAE after receiving SIT. The most common new irAE involved skin (44%), and most (60%) were treated with steroids. Higher diarrhea grade and ≥2 doses of SIT were associated with lower incidence of post-SIT irAEs (P=0.038, P=0.050). However, the type of SIT or individual dosage of infliximab did not affect the occurrence of subsequent irAEs.

Conclusions:

New irAEs usually occur more than 6 months after SIT completion for initial colitis event. Severe diarrhea grade and higher number of SIT infusions appeared to have protective effect to lower the occurrence of new irAEs. Otherwise, the type of SIT or individual dosage of infliximab did not affect the occurrence of subsequent irAEs.
Postoperative recovery after breast cancer surgery
Authors: Zhang Qingfen , Wu Yaqing , An Haiyan , Feng Yi
Published: May 2023

BACKGROUND

Perioperative use of opioids has revealed significant adverse effects associated with poor postoperative outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether opioid-free anaesthesia based on thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) could improve postoperative recovery after breast cancer surgery.

DESIGN

A randomised controlled trial.

SETTING

A tertiary teaching hospital.

PATIENTS

Eighty adult women undergoing breast cancer surgery were enrolled. Key exclusion criteria included remote metastasis (but not to axillary lymph nodes of the surgical side), contraindication to interventions or drugs and a history of chronic pain or chronic opioid use.

INTERVENTIONS

Eligible patients were randomised at a 1 : 1 ratio to receive either TPVB-based opioid-free anaesthesia (OFA group) or opioid-based anaesthesia (control group).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcome was the global score of the 15-item Quality of Recovery (QoR-15) questionnaire at 24 h after surgery. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain and health-related quality of life.

RESULTS

The QoR-15 global score was 140.3 ± 5.2 in the OFA group and 132.0 ± 12.0 in the control group (P < 0.001). The percentage of patients with good recovery (QoR-15 global score ≥118) was 100% (40/40) in the OFA group and 82.5% (33/40) in the control group (P = 0.012). Improved QoR in the OFA group was also evident in sensitivity analysis that rated QoR as excellent for a score of 136 to 150, as good at 122 to 135, as moderate at 90 to 121 and as poor at 0 to 89. The OFA group had higher scores in the domains of physical comfort (45.7 ± 3.0 versus 41.8 ± 5.7, P < 0.001) and physical independence (18.3 ± 2.2 versus 16.3 ± 4.5, P = 0.014). The two groups did not differ in pain outcomes or health-related quality of life.

CONCLUSION

TPVB-based opioid-free anaesthesia improved early postoperative quality of recovery without compromising pain control in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT04390698.
Impact of HEART Score Decision Aid on Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Utilization and Diagnostic Yield in the Emergency Department
Authors: McMahon Brian J. , Shrestha Pragati , Thode Henry C. , Morley Eric J. , Rao Ballakur , Tawfik George-Abraam , Adhiyaman Akshitha , Devitt Catherine , Godbole Nisha , Pizzuti Joseph , Shah Kunal , Willems Bernardus , McKenna Peter , Singer Adam J.
Published: May 2023

Objective:

Emergency physicians are challenged to efficiently and reliably risk stratify patients presenting with chest pain (CP) to optimize diagnostic testing and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of a HEART score-based decision aid (HSDA) integrated in the electronic health record on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) utilization and diagnostic yield in adult emergency department (ED) CP patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome.

Methods:

We conducted a before and after study to determine whether implementation of a mandatory computerized HSDA would reduce CCTA utilization in ED CP patients and improve the diagnostic yield of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) (≥50%). We included all adult ED CP patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome during the first 6 months of 2018 (before) and 2020 (after) at a large academic center. CCTA utilization and obstructive CAD yield were compared in patients before and after implementing the HSDA using χ2 tests. Secondarily, we assessed the association of HEART scores and CCTA results.

Results:

Of the 3095 CP patients during the before study period, 733 underwent CCTA. Of the 2692 CP patients during the after study period, 339 underwent CCTA. CCTA utilization before and after HSDA was 23.4% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 22.2-25.2] and 12.6% (95% CI, 11.4-13.0), respectively; mean difference was 11.1% (95% CI, 0.9-13.0). Among 1072 patients undergoing CCTA, mean (SD) age and percent females before versus after HSDA were 54 (11) versus 56 (11) years and 50% versus 49%, respectively. We included 1014 patients (686 before and 328 after) for the yield analysis. Obstructive CAD was present in 15% (95% CI, 12.7-17.9) and 20.1% (95% CI, 16.1-24.7) before and after HSDA, respectively; mean difference was 4.9% (95% CI, 0.1-10.1).

Conclusions:

Implementation of a mandatory electronic health record HSDA aid reduced ED CCTA utilization by half and improved the diagnostic yield.