bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Malnutrition in older adults: how interprofessional teams see it? A systematic review of the qualitative research
Authors: Mawardi Fitriana , Lestari Ayuningtyas S , Kusnanto Hari , Sasongko Elsa P S , Hilmanto Dany
Published: August 2020

Background

The understanding of health care providers’ experiences involved in malnutrition treatment is a key component that should be explored.

Objective

This systematic review aimed to explore the views and perceptions of community health care providers related to malnutrition and its management for older adults, through synthesizing the qualitative studies.

Methods

Six electronic databases were used to search relevant articles. Qualitative research synthesis using Sandelowski and Barroso’s method and thematic synthesis were used to broaden the range of methodology in this study. Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools for Qualitative Research was used to enable judgement about the strength of qualitative research.

Results

A total of four qualitative studies of health care providers’ views and perceptions related to malnutrition in older adults were analysed. The results showed that there are three main themes that reflect their malnutrition experiences: (i) knowledge and skills about malnutrition, (ii) management of malnutrition and (iii) the need for collaborative teams.

Conclusion

While health care professionals understand about the aetiology of malnutrition, however screening for malnutrition is not routine in their practice. Proper education and training about nutritional care is needed. Dietary changes and public education are preferable over oral nutritional supplements. Some solution and recommendations for management of malnutrition in older adult such as supportive interventions include environmental changes, nutritional counselling, food modification, oral nutrition supplement and pharmacotherapy if needed, routine screening and multidisciplinary approach.
Wide-area seismicity anomalies before the 2011 Tohoku–Oki earthquake
Authors: Kumazawa Takao , Ogata Yosihiko , Toda Shinji
Published: August 2020

This study investigates various types of seismicity changes that occurred in several regions in and around the Tohoku District, prior to the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku–Oki earthquake. In particular, we focus on the seismicity anomalies that were revealed not only in inland local areas but also in a wide area for several years before the 2008 M7.2 earthquake in the inland Tohoku District. We reconsider these seismicity anomalies in nearly identical regions, which persisted in the extended period up until the M9 mega event. This suggests that the stress changes due to transient slow slips on the Pacific Plate boundary are more likely to be the cause of the wider seismicity changes than the slips beneath the inland earthquake. To confirm the significance, we use the two-stage stationary epidemic-type aftershock sequence model and explore the relationship between seismicity changes and stress rate changes due to slow slip by means of global navigation satellite system geodetic observations.
Compaction of the Groningen gas reservoir investigated with train noise
Authors: Zhou Wen , Paulssen Hanneke
Published: August 2020

Induced seismicity in the Groningen gas field in the Netherlands has been related to reservoir compaction caused by gas pressure depletion. In situ measurement of compaction is therefore relevant for seismic hazard assessment. In this study, we investigated the potential of passively recorded deep borehole noise data to detect temporal variations in the Groningen reservoir. Train signals recorded by an array of 10 geophones at reservoir depth were selected from the continuous noise data for two 5-month deployments in 2015. Interferometry by deconvolution was applied to the high-frequency train signals that acted as stable, repetitive noise sources. Direct intergeophone P and S wave traveltimes were then used to construct the P- and S-wave velocity structure along the geophone array. The resulting models agree with independently obtained velocity profiles and have very small errors. Most intergeophone P wave traveltimes showed decreasing traveltimes per deployment period, suggestive of compaction. However, the retrieved traveltime changes are very small, up to tens of microseconds per deployment period, with uncertainties that are of similar size, about 10 microseconds. An unambiguous interpretation in terms of compaction is therefore not warranted, although the 10 μs error per 5-month period is probably smaller than can be achieved from active time-lapse seismic surveys that are commonly used to measure reservoir compaction. The direct P-wave amplitudes of the train-signal deconvolutions were investigated for additional imprints of compaction. Whereas the P-wave amplitudes consistently increased during the second deployment, suggestive of compaction, no such trend was observed for the first deployment, rendering the interpretation of compaction inconclusive. Our results therefore present hints, but no obvious effects of compaction in the Groningen reservoir. Yet, this study demonstrates that the approach of deconvolution interferometry applied to deep borehole data allows monitoring of small temporal changes in the subsurface for stable repetitive noise sources such as trains.
Excitation of the global correlation wavefield by large earthquakes
Authors: Tkalčić Hrvoje , Phạm Thanh-Son
Published: August 2020

Recorded globally, cross-correlated ground-motion time-series of the coda of large earthquakes enable the construction of a 2-D representation of correlation lapse time and inter-receiver distance—a global correlogram. A better understanding of how the features present in a correlogram are generated can revolutionize the characterization of planetary interiors. Here, we investigated correlograms based on individual large earthquakes and identified 12 events from the past decade with a multitude of prominent and some ‘exotic’ features in the first 3 hr following correlation origin. We found that the type of the source mechanism and energy-release dynamics are the key influencers responsible for individual correlograms equal in quality to a stack of hundreds of correlograms. A single event is sufficient in creating a correlogram resembling previous correlograms constructed from a large number of events, which reinforces the notion that the earthquake coda-correlation features are not ‘reconstructed’ body waves. Numerical simulations of the correlation wavefield can thus be based on exceptional-quality events, becoming more computationally affordable. Here, we explain more than 60 features of the global coda-correlogram, which presents the most extensive catalogue to date.
A fast methodology for large-scale focusing inversion of gravity and magnetic data using the structured model matrix and the 2-D fast Fourier transform
Authors: Renaut Rosemary A , Hogue Jarom D , Vatankhah Saeed , Liu Shuang
Published: August 2020

We discuss the focusing inversion of potential field data for the recovery of sparse subsurface structures from surface measurement data on a uniform grid. For the uniform grid, the model sensitivity matrices have a block Toeplitz Toeplitz block structure for each block of columns related to a fixed depth layer of the subsurface. Then, all forward operations with the sensitivity matrix, or its transpose, are performed using the 2-D fast Fourier transform. Simulations are provided to show that the implementation of the focusing inversion algorithm using the fast Fourier transform is efficient, and that the algorithm can be realized on standard desktop computers with sufficient memory for storage of volumes up to size n ≈ 106. The linear systems of equations arising in the focusing inversion algorithm are solved using either Golub–Kahan bidiagonalization or randomized singular value decomposition algorithms. These two algorithms are contrasted for their efficiency when used to solve large-scale problems with respect to the sizes of the projected subspaces adopted for the solutions of the linear systems. The results confirm earlier studies that the randomized algorithms are to be preferred for the inversion of gravity data, and for data sets of size m it is sufficient to use projected spaces of size approximately m/8. For the inversion of magnetic data sets, we show that it is more efficient to use the Golub–Kahan bidiagonalization, and that it is again sufficient to use projected spaces of size approximately m/8. Simulations support the presented conclusions and are verified for the inversion of a magnetic data set obtained over the Wuskwatim Lake region in Manitoba, Canada.
On time horizons in health economic evaluations
Authors: Haacker Markus , Hallett Timothy B , Atun Rifat
Published: August 2020

The issue of time horizons has received scant attention in discussions pertaining to health economic evaluations unlike discounting or translation of health outcomes into life-cycle measures (e.g. quality-adjusted life years or disability-adjusted life years). The available guidelines do not offer clear and consistent guidance for many problems addressed in health economic evaluations. In practice, variation of time horizons between studies for the same diseases is a matter of concern, as results on cost-effectiveness depend on the time horizon. Our paper contributes to establishing a consistent approach to setting time horizons across common types of health economic evaluations and mitigating potential bias where the choice of a time horizon may affect results of the evaluation. We find that available guidance is clear only for patient-focused interventions, but not in the presence of population-level effects owing to transmission of infections or other linkages. We distinguish between a policy period—over which an intervention is delivered or initiated—and an evaluation period over which the effects are measured. One important challenge in establishing a time horizon for evaluation is that, at least for infectious diseases, the state of the epidemic at the end of the policy period cannot be evaluated precisely and incorporated in the results of an economic evaluation. While longer policy periods partly mitigate this challenge, they are subject to greater uncertainty, and outcomes may not adequately reflect the cost-effectiveness of current policies because outcomes reflect an average over the policy period. Incremental analysis on interventions implemented in sub-periods of the policy period (especially at the beginning) potentially improves accuracy and helps to identify potential for improving cost-effectiveness by varying the path of implementation or the mix of interventions offered over time.
Obesity agenda in Brazil, conflicts of interest and corporate activity
Authors: Burlandy Luciene , Prado Alexandre-Weiss Veruska , Silva Canella Daniela , Feldenheimer da Silva Ana Carolina , Maranha Paes de Carvalho Camila , Rugani Ribeiro de Castro Inês
Published: August 2020

Obesity is a social and health problem of global dimensions that demands coordinated solutions from different sectors as well as intersectoral efforts to overcome it. However, policies to overcome obesity affect the interests of the commercial private sector. In Brazil, the Intersectoral Strategy for Obesity Prevention and Control (EIPCO) is the result of participative public action and integrates a set of policies in the field of food and nutrition security. Based on the premise that EIPCO expresses public interests to be protected, promoted and guaranteed by the federal government, this article aims to analyze corporate political activity (CPA) and conflict of interest (COI) situations involving the private commercial sector in the food and nutrition field in Brazil, using EIPCO as a reference. The methods include document analysis and identification of cases reported by the Brazilian civil society organizations that are part of the National Council on Food and Nutrition Security. The results highlighted the actors, actions, ideas and interests addressed by EIPCO and also indicated that EIPCO does not question the private commercial sector’s practices in regard to obesity and some of its recommended actions reflect disputes about the concept of healthy eating. All cases analyzed involved CPA to promote ultra-processed food consumption, including lobbying and funding researchers. Those practices and goals are in the opposite direction from the objectives of EIPCO to overcome obesity which indicates potential COI once these representatives of the private sector are directly influencing the governmental political process and policies.
Sonations in Migratory and Non-migratory Fork-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus savana)
Authors: Gómez-Bahamón Valentina , Tuero Diego T , Castaño María Isabel , Jahn Alex E , Bates John M , Clark Christopher J
Published: August 2020

Synopsis

Sonations are sounds that animals produce with structures other than the vocal apparatus for communication. In birds, many sonations are usually produced with modified flight feathers through diverse kinematic mechanisms. For instance, aeroelastic fluttering of feathers produces tonal sound when airflow exceeds a threshold velocity and induces flight feathers to oscillate at a constant frequency. The Fork-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus savana) is a Neotropical bird with both migratory and year-round resident subspecies that differ in the shape of the outer primary feathers of their wings. By integrating behavioral observations, audio recordings, and high-speed videos, we find that male Fork-tailed flycatchers produce sonations with their outer primary feathers P8-10, and possibly P7. These sounds are produced during different behavioral contexts including: the pre-dawn display, intraspecific territorial disputes, when attacking potential nest predators, and when escaping. By placing feathers in a wind tunnel, we elicited flutter at frequencies that matched the acoustic signature of sounds recorded in the wild, indicating that the kinematic mechanism responsible for sound production is aeroelastic flutter. Video of wild birds indicated that sonations were produced during the downstroke. Finally, the feathers of migratory (T.s.savana) and year-round resident (T.s.monachus) Fork-tailed flycatchers flutter in feather locations that differ in shape between the subspecies, and these shape differences between the subspecies result in sounds produced at different frequencies.
Populist rhetoric, false mirroring, and the courts
Authors: Harel Alon , Kolt Noam
Published: August 2020

The rise of populist political rhetoric signals a departure from accepted models of democratic representation. Nowadays, in Israel and in other democratic countries, many elected officials purport to give effect to the raw convictions of their constituents. We contend that calls for elected officials to mirror popular views undermine democratic representation. In addition to the theoretical challenges it faces, the narrative of mirroring public sentiment has the potential to disguise what might be the underlying intent of populist politicians—to actively manipulate the political agenda and reshape popular preferences, while passing these off as reflecting the public’s authentic convictions. We call this “false mirroring.” Populist rhetoric has also spilled over into the judiciary. Some judges embrace public opinion, incorporate it into their decision-making and, in doing so, generate populist courts. This article examines Israeli case studies in order to expose the unsettling role of populist rhetoric in both political and judicial contexts. Judges, we suggest, must continue developing tools to resist judicial populism and maintain robust and independent courts.
G-computation for policy-relevant effects of interventions on time-to-event outcomes
Authors: Breskin Alexander , Edmonds Andrew , Cole Stephen R , Westreich Daniel , Cocohoba Jennifer , Cohen Mardge H , Kassaye Seble G , Metsch Lisa R , Sharma Anjali , Williams Michelle S , Adimora Adaora A
Published: August 2020

Background

Parametric g-computation is an analytic technique that can be used to estimate the effects of exposures, treatments and interventions; it relies on a different set of assumptions than more commonly used inverse probability weighted estimators. Whereas prior work has demonstrated implementations for binary exposures and continuous outcomes, use of parametric g-computation has been limited due to difficulty in implementation in more typical complex scenarios.

Methods

We provide an easy-to-implement algorithm for parametric g-computation in the setting of a dynamic baseline intervention of a baseline exposure and a time-to-event outcome. To demonstrate the use of our algorithm, we apply it to estimate the effects of interventions to reduce area deprivation on the cumulative incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs: gonorrhea, chlamydia or trichomoniasis) among women living with HIV in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study.

Results

We found that reducing area deprivation by a maximum of 1 tertile for all women would lead to a 2.7% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1%, 4.3%] reduction in 4-year STI incidence, and reducing deprivation by a maximum of 2 tertiles would lead to a 4.3% (95% CI: 1.9%, 6.4%) reduction.

Conclusions

As analytic methods such as parametric g-computation become more accessible, epidemiologists will be able to estimate policy-relevant effects of interventions to better inform clinical and public health practice and policy.
Holomorphic Functions on a Class of Kähler Manifolds With Nonnegative Curvature, I
Authors: Yang Bo
Published: August 2020

In this paper, we consider holomorphic functions of polynomial growth on complete Kähler manifolds with nonnegative curvature. We explain how their growth orders are related to the asymptotic behavior of Kähler–Ricci flow. The main result is to determine minimal orders of holomorphic functions on gradient Kähler–Ricci expanding solitons with nonnegative Ricci curvature.
Azumaya Algebras and Canonical Components
Authors: Chinburg Ted , Reid Alan W , Stover Matthew
Published: August 2020

Let $M$ be a compact 3-manifold and $\Gamma =\pi _1(M)$. Work by Thurston and Culler–Shalen established the ${\operatorname{\textrm{SL}}}_2({\mathbb{C}})$ character variety $X(\Gamma )$ as fundamental tool in the study of the geometry and topology of $M$. This is particularly the case when $M$ is the exterior of a hyperbolic knot $K$ in $S^3$. The main goals of this paper are to bring to bear tools from algebraic and arithmetic geometry to understand algebraic and number theoretic properties of the so-called canonical component of $X(\Gamma )$, as well as distinguished points on the canonical component, when $\Gamma $ is a knot group. In particular, we study how the theory of quaternion Azumaya algebras can be used to obtain algebraic and arithmetic information about Dehn surgeries, and perhaps of most interest, to construct new knot invariants that lie in the Brauer groups of curves over number fields.
Molecular Evidence for Local Acquisition of Human Alveolar Echinococcosis in Saskatchewan, Canada
Authors: Schurer Janna M , Tsybina Polly , Gesy Karen M , Kolapo Temitope U , Skinner Stuart , Hill Janet E , Jenkins Emily J
Published: August 2020

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a life-threatening parasitic disease caused by the zoonotic cestode Echinococcus multilocularis. Our goals were to confirm infection, identify species, and analyze biogeographical origin of metacestode tissues from a suspected human AE case in Saskatchewan, Canada. We conducted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the nad1 mitochondrial gene for E. multilocularis and the rrnS ribosomal RNA gene for E. granulosus and conducted haplotype analysis at the nad2 locus. Our analysis confirmed AE and indicated that sequences matched infected Saskatchewan coyotes and European E3/E4 haplotypes. The patient had no travel history outside North America. This suggests autochthonous transmission of a European-type strain.
Invasive Candidiasis Species Distribution and Trends, United States, 2009–2017
Authors: Ricotta Emily E , Lai Yi Ling , Babiker Ahmed , Strich Jeffrey R , Kadri Sameer S , Lionakis Michail S , Prevots D Rebecca , Adjemian Jennifer
Published: August 2020

Background

Invasive candidiasis (IC) is a growing concern among US healthcare facilities. A large-scale study evaluating incidence and trends of IC in the United States by species and body site is needed to understand the distribution of infection.

Methods

An electronic medical record database was used to calculate incidence and trends of IC in the United States by species and infection site from 2009 through 2017. Hospital incidence was calculated using total unique inpatient hospitalizations in hospitals reporting at least 1 Candida case as the denominator. IC incidence trends were assessed using generalized estimating equations with exchangeable correlation structure to fit Poisson regression models, controlling for changes in hospital characteristics and case mix over time.

Results

Candida albicans remains the leading cause of IC in the United States, followed by Candida glabrata. The overall incidence of IC was 90/100 000 patients, which did not change significantly over time. There were no changes in incidence among C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, or C. tropicalis; the incidence of other Candida spp. as a whole increased 7.2% annually. While there was no change in candidemia 2009–2017, abdominal and nonabdominal sterile site IC increased significantly.

Conclusions

Nonbloodstream IC is increasing in the United States. Understanding the epidemiology of IC should facilitate improved management of infected patients.
Overcoming immune dysfunction in the elderly: trained immunity as a novel approach
Authors: Bulut Ozlem , Kilic Gizem , Domínguez-Andrés Jorge , Netea Mihai G
Published: August 2020

People with advanced age have a higher susceptibility to infections and exhibit increased mortality and morbidity as the ability of the immune system to combat infections decreases with age. While innate immune cells display functional defects such as decreased phagocytosis, chemotaxis and cytokine production, adaptive immune cells exhibit reduced receptor diversity, defective antibody production and a sharp decline in naive cell populations. Successful responses to vaccination in the elderly are critical to prevent common infections such as influenza and pneumonia, but vaccine efficacy decreases in older individuals compared with young adults. Trained immunity is a newly emerging concept that showed that innate immune cells possess non-specific immunological memory established through epigenetic and metabolic reprogramming upon encountering certain pathogenic stimuli. Clinical studies suggest that trained immunity can be utilized to enhance immune responses against infections and improve the efficiency of vaccinations in adults; however, how trained immunity responses are shaped with advanced age is still an open question. In this review, we provide an overview of the age-related changes in the immune system with a focus on innate immunity, discuss current vaccination strategies for the elderly, present the concept of trained immunity and propose it as a novel approach to enhance responses against infections and vaccinations in the elderly population.
Dimercaptosuccinic acid in combination with carbapenems against isogenic strains of Escherichia coli producing or not producing a metallo-β-lactamase in vitro and in murine peritonitis
Authors: Cheminet G , de Lastours V , Poirel L , Chau F , Peoc’h K , Massias L , Fantin B , Nordmann P
Published: August 2020

Background

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales represent a major therapeutic challenge. MBLs, requiring zinc at their catalytic site, could be inhibited by meso-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), a heavy metal chelator already widely used for treating lead intoxication.

Objectives

To evaluate the activity of carbapenems alone or combined with DMSA against MBL-producing Escherichia coli in a severe murine peritonitis model.

Methods

Isogenic strains of wild-type E. coli CFT073 producing the MBLs NDM-1, VIM-2 and IMP-1, and the control serine carbapenemases OXA-48 and KPC-3 were constructed. MIC determinations and time–kill assays were performed for imipenem, meropenem and ertapenem alone or in combination with DMSA. Infected mice were treated intraperitoneally for 24 h with imipenem, DMSA or their combination. Bacterial counts in peritoneal fluid and spleen were assessed at 24 h.

Results

DMSA in combination with each carbapenem caused a significant decrease in the MICs for all MBL-producing strains, in a concentration-dependent manner, but did not provide benefit against non-MBL strains. In mice infected with the NDM-1-producing strain, the combination of imipenem and DMSA significantly reduced bacterial counts in peritoneal fluid (P = 0.0006) and spleen (P < 0.0001), as compared with imipenem alone, with no benefit against the KPC-3-producing and CFT073 strains. DMSA concentrations in plasma of mice were comparable to those obtained in humans with a standard oral dose.

Conclusions

DMSA restores the activity of carbapenems against MBL-producing strains, and its combination with carbapenems appears to be a promising strategy for the treatment of NDM-producing E. coli infections.
Quantification of Flualprazolam in Blood by LC–MS-MS: A Case Series of Nine Deaths
Authors: Rice Kathleen , Hikin Laura , Lawson Alexander , Smith Paul R , Morley Stephen
Published: August 2020

The emergence of novel designer benzodiazepines continues to be a public health concern. Flualprazolam is one of these drugs. It was initially identified in 2017. User forums suggest it is slightly more potent than alprazolam and has longer-lasting central nervous system depressant effects. Here we report a simple, sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for flualprazolam and report a series of nine cases in which flualprazolam was quantified. As is typical of forensic toxicology in the twenty-first century, all the cases had more than one drug present. None of the deaths could be directly attributed to flualprazolam alone, but all were likely due to a combination of sedative drugs. However, this paper still adds to the data available to allow interpretation of postmortem flualprazolam concentrations.
The Siege of the Outsiders ALADI: The first Latin American design association and its discourse of resistance
Authors: Buitrago-Trujillo Juan-Camilo
Published: August 2020

This article on Latin American design history aims to contribute to studies in global design histories. The creation of ALADI (the Latin American Design Association), in 1978, involved the creation of a network between countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia and also the establishment of relationships between Latin American designers and international professional institutions such as the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID). The article explains how these institutions boosted the influence of design practitioners in the region, how diverse positions regarding the social role of design within a regional context were debated, and how a certain definition of design was formulated. The asymmetrical relationships, between the periphery and the centre—between Latin America, western Europe and the United States—channelled into a discourse of resistance adopted by Latin American countries that aimed to reaffirm design as a tool for defending Latin American autonomy in the face of hegemonic onslaught, primarily by the Anglo-Saxon world. Based on exhaustive documentation and ethnographic work this article subscribes to the centre-periphery debates in design with a fundamental emphasis on the genealogy of the Latin American perception of the subject, a view so far not taken into account.
Seismic wave simulation of a complex foothill belt
Authors: Zhang Weihua , Yang Li , Si Wenpeng , Liu Houyu
Published: August 2020

Foothill belts ‘dual-complexity’ of the surface and underground structures hinders an accurate seismic imaging of complex geological structures. In this paper, the propagation law of the seismic wavefield in the foothill belt is studied through seismic forward modelling and its influences on the seismic data acquisition and imaging. A foothill belt with typical ‘dual-complexity’ characteristics is investigated. Single-shot records and their imaging effects simulated with different absorption coefficients and different near-surface structure models are analysed. The results suggest that strong surface waves and their scattered noise generated by the complex near surface in the foothill belt are the main reasons for the low signal-to-noise ratio and difficulties in the imaging process of seismic data. The viscoelastic-medium modelling method effectively suppresses the surface waves and their scattered noise, which improves the seismic data quality and imaging in the foothill belt, and thus is a suitable forward modelling method for the foothill belts.
The social life of Bartolomeo della Nave’s art collection in Seicento Venice
Authors: Nalezyty Susan
Published: August 2020

Information on the life of the Venetian merchant Bartolomeo della Nave (1571/79?–1632) is scarce, but what is known is that he exhibited one of the most outstanding art collections in Venice in the early seventeenth century. This essay considers the places from which della Nave acquired some of his works, brings together visitor accounts of the collection, and examines della Nave’s innovative methods of displaying art in his home, which was frequented by visual artists, architects and writers. Itinerary accounts, visual quotations and poetic evocations chart the vivid afterlives of della Nave’s works – not only in Britain, where many of them travelled after his death, as has been well treated in the literature – but in Venice, where most of them originated.
A Wake-Up Call in Our Upside-Down World: Three Starting-Points for Advancing Health Rights and Social Justice in a Post-Pandemic Future
Authors: Yamin Alicia Ely
Published: August 2020

What the world and our health systems and societies look like in the future depends on the meaning(s) we take from this pandemic, and in turn how we collectively respond. Before the pandemic, we were living in a scandalously unequal world in which one per cent owned as much wealth as the rest of the globe’s population. Worse yet, as Eduardo Galeano suggested, in our upside-down world, this injustice had come to be accepted as a law of nature. This calamity has ravaged the planet with added suffering—some from the disease itself and more that is the result of structural injustice and policies adopted in response. But the disruption in the lives of tens of millions, as well as in the organization of our societies, provides an opportunity for subverting a number of pillars of the upside-down world, and we in the overlapping fields of health justice and human rights have a responsibility to think and act boldly on transformative political possibilities now. In this essay, I set out three lessons and the implications of those lessons. First, we must hold governments to account for the disparate impacts not only of the virus but of governmental responses to the virus. Secondly, if we hope to emerge from this pandemic with meaningful social contracts, it is imperative that we understand health and health systems as integral to democracy. Thirdly, we need to reimagine the architecture of aid, as well as global health and economic governance.
In its Nature—How Stealth Authoritarianism Keeps Stealing Along During the Pandemic, and How Can it be Stopped?
Authors: Kádár András
Published: August 2020

This essay illustrates, through certain measures taken by the Hungarian government during the COVID19-epidemic, how the very nature of illiberal regimes determines their ways of dealing with national crises. How at times that call for unity, they opt for increasing polarization; how instead of transparency, they choose to restrict freedom of expression; and how they use the crisis to further weaken checks and balances instead of reinforcing public trust in the government by strengthening oversight of the executive. The essay also argues that despite the undeniable difficulties such situations pose to human rights work, they also present a unique opportunity to—more effectively than before—re-explain and re-present human rights as a matter of importance to all members of society—majority and minority alike. The experience that in crisis situations belonging to the mainstream may not protect one from becoming vulnerable and exposed to abuses by those in power, may enable rule of law and human rights advocates to better convey the message that the accountability of the executive branch is crucial to a well-functioning democracy, while an illiberal regime does not provide sufficient protection against such instances of government overreach.
Marrying innovative bride with competitive groom: Delhi High Court accepts jurisdiction of CCI on abuse of dominance
Authors: Raj Yash , Patel Vishwa , Buch Sannidhi
Published: August 2020

Monsanto Holdings Pvt Ltd v Competition Commission of India, WP(C) Nos 1776/2016 and 3556/2017, High Court of Delhi, New Delhi, judgment of 20 May 2020 by Mr Justice Vibhu Bakhru

The Delhi High Court, in the case of Monsanto Holdings Pvt Ltd v Competition Commission of India, held that the Competition Commission of India has jurisdiction to examine and investigate any perceived anti-competitive practice or abuse of dominant position by any undertaking in matters relating to the rights of patentees under the Indian Patent Act 1970.
Assessment of impacts of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on maize production in Ghana
Authors: Koffi Djima , Kyerematen Rosina , Eziah Vincent Y , Osei-Mensah Yaa Oguabi , Afreh-Nuamah Kwame , Aboagye Ebenezer , Osae Michael , Meagher Robert L
Published: August 2020

Spodoptera frugiperda was considered an insect pest only in the Americas until its first report in African countries in 2016. In this study, farmers and agricultural officials in Ghana were interviewed on their perceptions and knowledge of the pest, on infestation and maize yield variations across years, and on management practices. Farms were inspected to determine the infestation level of 100 plants per hectare. Interviews revealed that farmers were familiar with the larval stages of this pest and noticed that the pest occurred throughout the year, but populations of S. frugiperda increased only during cropping seasons. Infestation levels reported by farmers in surveys were much lower in 2018 (30.38%) than in 2017 (80.92%). Farm inspections confirmed that infestation levels were much lower in 2018 (20.90%) than 2017 (73.70%). The belt formed by Guinea Savannah, Transitional Zone, and Semi-Deciduous Forest Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) recorded the highest infestations while the lowest were observed from the Sudan Savannah and Tropical Rain Forest AEZs. Insecticides were the most commonly used tactic to manage populations of this new pest. Maize yields increased across Ghana between 2013 and 2015 from 1.52 to 1.73 t/ha, decreased between 2015 and 2017 to 1.55 t/ha, and increased to 1.69 t/ha in 2018. The impact of fall armyworm injury to maize production is discussed.
Parallel Mechanism Composed of Abdominal Cuticles and Muscles Simulates the Complex and Diverse Movements of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Abdomen
Authors: Liang Youjian , Meng Kuilin , Zhao Jieliang , Ren Jing , Ge Siqin , Yan Shaoze
Published: August 2020

The abdominal intersegmental structures allow insects, such as honey bees, dragonflies, butterflies, and drosophilae, to complete diverse behavioral movements. In order to reveal how the complex abdominal movements of these insects are produced, we use the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) as a typical insect to study the relationship between intersegmental structures and abdominal motions. Microstructure observational experiments are performed by using the stereoscope and the scanning electron microscope. We find that a parallel mechanism, composed of abdominal cuticle and muscles between the adjacent segments, produces the complex and diverse movements of the honey bee abdomen. These properties regulate multiple behavioral activities such as waggle dance and flight attitude adjustment. The experimental results demonstrate that it is the joint efforts of the muscles and membranes that connected the adjacent cuticles together. The honey bee abdomen can be waggled, expanded, contracted, and flexed with the actions of the muscles. From the view point of mechanics, a parallel mechanism is evolved from the intersegmental connection structures of the honey bee abdomen. Here, we conduct a kinematic analysis of the parallel mechanism to simulate the intersegmental abdominal motions.
Factors associated with suicidal ideation in patients with multiple myeloma
Authors: Akechi Tatsuo , Okuyama Toru , Uchida Megumi , Kubota Yosuke , Hasegawa Takaaki , Suzuki Nana , Komatsu Hirokazu , Kusumoto Shigeru , Iida Shinsuke
Published: August 2020

Patients with multiple myeloma are at risk of suicide. The study objective was to investigate the clinical risk factors of suicidal ideation among multiple myeloma patients. Consecutive inpatients with a new primary diagnosis of multiple myeloma were recruited. Patients were asked to complete the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to measure suicidal ideation and depression. Patient demographic and biomedical characteristics (age, gender, education, marital status, employment, performance status and cancer stage) and pain and depression scores were analyzed as potential factors associated with suicidal ideation. Of the 79 patients, 10 [12.6% (95% confidence interval: 7–22)] had suicidal ideation. The results of a logistic regression analysis showed that being unmarried, less advanced cancer stage and depression were significantly associated with the presence of suicidal ideation. These findings suggest that a non-negligible proportion of patients with multiple myeloma experience suicidal ideation and that several multidimensional factors are significantly associated.
Displaced Syrian Mental Health Workers: An Investigation of Professional Quality of Life
Authors: Hamid Aseel , Scior Katrina , Abdul-Hamid Walid , Williams Amanda C de C
Published: August 2020

This study investigates levels of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction in Syrian mental health workers (MHWs) in a low-resource post-conflict environment. Sixty-one Syrian MHWs completed a cross-sectional questionnaire, in Arabic, incorporating the professional quality of life (ProQOL) scale. Our Arabic-translated ProQOL scale showed acceptable internal consistency estimates of reliability for all subscales. Relative to population norms and other samples of MHWs, the Syrian MHWs showed similar levels of burnout and higher levels of secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction. Those with no psychology-related educational background showed significantly higher secondary traumatic stress and burnout scores and significantly lower compassion satisfaction scores relative to those with a relevant educational background. Our findings indicate acceptable levels of ProQOL in Syrian MHWs, with the exception of those with no educational background in psychology. Training Syrian MHWs, with an emphasis on increasing the availability of educational training and adequate supervision and support, provides a sustainable solution to the provision of culturally and language-specific care in low-resource conflict settings.
Big progress for small subunits: new Rubisco mutants in Arabidopsis
Authors: Cavanagh Amanda P
Published: August 2020

This article comments on:

Khumsupan P, Kozlowska MA, Orr DJ, Andreou AI, Nakayama N, Patron N, Carmo-Silva E, McCormick AJ. 2020. Generating and characterizing single- and multigene mutants of the Rubisco small subunit family in Arabidopsis. Journal of Experimental Botany 71, 5963–5975.
How Reliable Is Automated Urinalysis in Acute Kidney Injury?
Authors: Chandrashekar Vani , Tarigopula Anil , Prabhakar Vikram
Published: August 2020

Objective

Examination of urine sediment is crucial in acute kidney injury (AKI). In such renal injury, tubular epithelial cells, epithelial cell casts, and dysmorphic red cells may provide clues to etiology. The aim of this study was to compare automated urinalysis findings with manual microscopic analysis in AKI.

Methods

Samples from patients diagnosed with AKI and control patients were included in the study. Red blood cells, white blood cells, renal tubular epithelial cells/small round cells, casts, and pathologic (path) cast counts obtained microscopically and by a UF1000i cytometer were compared by Spearman test. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the ability to predict AKI from parameters obtained from the UF1000i.

Results

There was poor correlation between manual and automated analysis in AKI. None of the parameters could predict AKI using logistic regression analysis. However, the increment in the automated path cast count increased the odds of AKI 93 times.

Conclusion

Automated urinalysis parameters are poor predictors of AKI, and there is no agreement with manual microscopy.
Spaces of Gendered Jewish and Non-Jewish Encounters: Bed Lodgers, Domestic Workers, and Sex Workers in Vienna, 1900–1930*
Authors: Korbel Susanne
Published: August 2020

This article presents findings on encounters between Jews and non-Jews in the context of daily life in Vienna between 1900 and 1930. In the early twentieth century, the Habsburg capital underwent tremendous population growth, which increased the opportunities among its inhabitants of interreligious and cultural interactions, but also confronted them with a housing shortage. Up to twenty per cent of the population had to share housing or even beds with their fellow citizens. Those who could afford more comfortable living conditions, such as private apartments, also shared them with non-family members. The middle and upper classes employed domestics who lived with the families they worked for and had rooms within the family apartments. Homes thus provided spaces in which Jewish and non-Jewish relations thrived. This article sheds light on the range of encounters that took place in homes, how Jewishness and gender were negotiated in such encounters, whether relations were formed as a consequence, and, if so, what they looked like. Based on a close examination of memoirs, novels, and court records, I argue that the range of Jewish and non-Jewish relations was much broader than historiography has hitherto suggested, due to the shared experiences triggered by the urban making of Vienna.
Essence, Potentiality, and Modality
Authors: Vetter Barbara
Published: August 2020

According to essentialism, metaphysical modality is founded in the essences of things, where the essence of a thing is roughly akin to its real definition. According to potentialism (also known as dispositionalism), metaphysical modality is founded in the potentialities of things, where a potentiality is roughly the generalized notion of a disposition. Essentialism and potentialism have much in common, but little has been written about their relation to each other. The aim of this paper is to understand better the relations between essence and potentiality, on the one hand, and between essentialism and potentialism, on the other. It is argued, first, that essence and potentiality are not duals but interestingly linked by a weaker relation dubbed ‘semi-duality’; second, that given this weaker relation, essentialism and potentialism are not natural allies but rather natural competitors; and third, that the semi-duality of essence and potentiality allows the potentialist to respond to an important explanatory challenge by using essentialist resources without thereby committing to essentialism.
A tale of two populations: surviving and destroyed dwarf galaxies and the build-up of the Milky Way’s stellar halo
Authors: Fattahi Azadeh , Deason Alis J , Frenk Carlos S , Simpson Christine M , Gómez Facundo A , Grand Robert J J , Monachesi Antonela , Marinacci Federico , Pakmor Rüdiger
Published: August 2020

We use magnetohydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-mass haloes from the Auriga project to investigate the properties of surviving and destroyed dwarf galaxies that are accreted by these haloes over cosmic time. We show that the combined luminosity function of surviving and destroyed dwarfs at infall is similar in the various Auriga haloes, and is dominated by the destroyed dwarfs. There is, however, a strong dependence on infall time: destroyed dwarfs typically have early infall times of less than 6 Gyr (since the big bang), whereas the majority of dwarfs accreted after 10 Gyr have survived to the present day. Because of their late infall, the surviving satellites have higher metallicities at infall than their destroyed counterparts of similar mass at infall; the difference is even more pronounced for the present-day metallicities of satellites, many of which continue to form stars after infall, in particular for $M_{\rm star}\gt 10^7 \, {\rm M}_\odot$. In agreement with previous work, we find that a small number of relatively massive destroyed dwarf galaxies dominate the mass of stellar haloes. However, there is a significant radial dependence: while 90 per cent of the mass in the inner regions (${\lt}20\,$ kpc) is contributed, on average, by only three massive progenitors, the outer regions (${\gt}100\,$ kpc) typically have ∼8 main progenitors of relatively lower mass. Finally, we show that a few massive progenitors dominate the metallicity distribution of accreted stars, even at the metal-poor end. Contrary to common assumptions in the literature, stars from dwarf galaxies of mass $M_{\rm star}\lt 10^7 \, {\rm M}_\odot$ make up less than 10 per cent of the accreted, metal poor stars ([Fe/H] ${\lt}-3$) in the inner $50\,$ kpc.
The impact of AGN wind feedback in simulations of isolated galaxies with a multiphase ISM
Authors: Torrey Paul , Hopkins Philip F , Faucher-Giguère Claude-André , Anglés-Alcázar Daniel , Quataert Eliot , Ma Xiangcheng , Feldmann Robert , Keres Dusan , Murray Norm
Published: August 2020

Accreting black holes can drive fast and energetic nuclear winds that may be an important feedback mechanism associated with active galactic nuclei (AGN). In this paper, we implement a scheme for capturing feedback from these fast nuclear winds and examine their impact in simulations of isolated disc galaxies. Stellar feedback is modelled using the Feedback In Realistic Environments (fire) physics and produces a realistic multiphase interstellar medium (ISM). We find that AGN winds drive the formation of a low-density, high-temperature central gas cavity that is broadly consistent with analytic model expectations. The effects of AGN feedback on the host galaxy are a strong function of the wind kinetic power and momentum. Low- and moderate-luminosity AGN do not have a significant effect on their host galaxy: the AGN winds inefficiently couple to the ambient ISM and instead a significant fraction of their energy vents in the polar direction. For such massive black holes, accretion near the Eddington limit can have a dramatic impact on the host galaxy ISM: if AGN wind feedback acts for ≳20–30 Myr, the inner ∼1–10 kpc of the ISM is disrupted and the global galaxy star formation rate is significantly reduced. We quantify the properties of the resulting galaxy-scale outflows and find that the radial momentum in the outflow is boosted by a factor of ∼2–3 relative to that initially supplied in the AGN wind for strong feedback scenarios, decreasing below unity for less energetic winds. In contrast to observations, however, the outflows are primarily hot, with very little atomic or molecular gas. We conjecture that merging galaxies and high-redshift galaxies, which have more turbulent and thicker discs and very different nuclear gas geometries, may be even more disrupted by AGN winds than found in our simulations.