bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Slave Trading Networks in the Spanish Caribbean in the First Half of the 17th Century
Authors: Eagle Marc
Published: August 2024

During the period from 1595 to 1640, major Portuguese investors held a monopoly contract from the Spanish crown to supply enslaved Africans to Spanish America. The actual importation of captives to the circum-Caribbean depended heavily on Portuguese merchants resident in the region, particularly in the two highest-volume ports of Cartagena and Veracruz. Although numerous Portuguese individuals had lived in and circulated through Spanish America long before this point, the 1580–1640 union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns under the Spanish monarch facilitated the incorporation of Portuguese slave merchants with transatlantic connections into Spanish society overseas. Records of royal investigations into unscheduled slave ship arrivals to lower-volume Caribbean ports, such as San Juan in Puerto Rico, show that a wide array of other individuals, including highly mobile shipmasters, Spanish royal officials, and permanent residents of Spanish cities, also played key roles in moving groups of enslaved Africans into and through the region. However, Inquisition tribunals in Lima, Cartagena, and Mexico saw many Portuguese slaving merchants from New Christian families as suspected Judaizers. While records of their arrests and interrogations during the 1630s and 1640s contain valuable insights into personal and commercial connections across the Caribbean, they also provide a distorted sense of slaving networks as separate from Spanish society and primarily defined by religious identity, rather than embedded in the region and built around mutual commercial benefit. The importance of the slave trade networks in operation in the first half of the 17th century is evident in the rapid collapse of slaving voyages to the Caribbean region after 1640, when Portugal successfully rebelled against Spanish control.
Pidgins and Creoles With Germanic Lexifier Languages
Authors: Bakker Peter
Published: August 2024

There are pidgins with Dutch, English, German, and Scandinavian lexifiers, and creoles with Dutch (three), German (one), and English (dozens) lexifiers. Pidgins and creoles have been documented in all parts of the world. They have developed in contact between Europeans and indigenous populations, often as part of the colonial enterprise. Pidgins are often associated with trade and initial phases of contact, and they do not display all design features of natural languages, whereas creoles tend to be mother tongues and complex natural languages. Pidgins that have developed into creoles may maintain the original label “pidgin” (e.g., Tok Pisin < Talk Pidgin), even though they have developed into full-fledged complex languages and hence creoles, or pidgincreoles. Germanic-lexifier pidgins share properties with other pidgins, such as invariant forms for nouns and verbs, personal pronouns, optional tense marking, lack of aspect marking, and a limited lexicon. Germanic creoles likewise share properties with other creoles, such as preverbal marking of aspect, mood, and/or tense, the development of optional plural marking, and the presence of definite and indefinite articles. Germanic pidgins, however, often show articles, whereas other pidgins rarely display them. Creole languages worldwide share a number of properties, in that similar grammatical categories developed independently from one another, after having lost most of the grammatical system of the lexifiers. Most creole languages are associated with forced population displacement (blackbirding, slavery), but the German creole Unserdeutsch of Papua New Guinea is associated with a school. The three Dutch-lexifier creoles came into being in Guyana and the Virgin Islands, and they all developed independently. Berbice Dutch Creole is quite deviant, and several theories have been launched to explain the presence of a significant component from one specific Nigerian language, Eastern Ijo. English-lexifier creoles are conveniently divided into two groups, Pacific creoles and Atlantic creoles. Both groups seem to go back to one source, judged by the quantity of shared lexical and grammatical similarities that are so specific that they cannot be due to independent processes of creolization. There are also mixed languages and other contact phenomena involving Germanic languages, and a full list of these is provided with selected references.
Hill, Octavia
Authors: Payne Malcolm
Published: August 2024

Octavia Hill (1838–1912) was an important 19th century English public figure and social reformer, a social entrepreneur renowned worldwide for her system of housing management, which she transposed into ideas influencing early social casework practice within the London Charity Organisation Society and more widely, especially in the United States. She campaigned for working people and people in poverty to have access to open spaces and the countryside, becoming one of three founders of the National Trust, which preserves valuable historic buildings and landscapes. She opposed government responsibility for housing and social welfare, leading her to espouse centering social work in charitable organizations. This conflicted with influential Fabian thought, which was progressing toward significant state pension and social provision.
Granvold, Donald
Authors: Watson Larry
Published: August 2024

Donald Granvold, PhD (1943–2013) was a social work academic, a practitioner, and a trend setter in social work theory and practice innovations. In 2013, Dr. Granvold retired as a full professor after 40 years on the faculty of the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. He was an innovator in the cognitive treatment methods and a visionary in promoting constructivist psychotherapy in social work settings. His research and practice focused on depression in adults, couples treatment, divorce, and sexual dissatisfaction.
Broad host use and frequent polyandry in the facultative dulotic species Formica aserva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Authors: Scarparo Giulia , West Mari , Brelsford Alan , Purcell Jessica
Published: August 2024

The study of social parasitism faces numerous challenges arising from the intricate and intranidal host–parasite interactions and the rarity of parasites compared to their free-living counterparts. As a result, our understanding of the ecology and evolution of most social parasites remains limited. Using whole-genome and reduced-representation sequence data, we conducted a study to fill knowledge gaps on host use, colony social structure, and population genetics of the facultative dulotic ant Formica aserva Forel. Our study reveals the remarkable ability of F. aserva to exploit at least 20 different host species across its wide geographic distribution. In some cases, one social parasite colony exploits multiple hosts simultaneously, suggesting a high degree of generalization even at a local spatial scale. Approximately 80% of the colonies were monogyne (with a single queen), with many exhibiting higher rates of polyandry compared to most Formica ants. Although we identified a supergene on chromosome 3, its association with colony structure remains uncertain due to the rarity of polygyny in our sample. Population genetic analyses reveal substantial geographic population structure, with the greatest divergence between California populations and those from the rest of the range. Mitochondrial population structure differs from structure inferred from the nuclear genome on a broad geographic scale, suggesting a possible role of adaptive introgression or genetic drift. This study provides valuable insights into the ecology and evolution of F. aserva, underscoring the need for further research to decipher the complexities of host interactions and the genetic mechanisms that regulate social structure.
Presentation, care, coronary intervention and outcomes of patients with NSTEMI according to age: insights from the international prospective ACVC-EAPCI EORP NSTEMI registry
Authors: Nadarajah Ramesh , Ludman Peter , Laroche Cécile , Appelman Yolande , Brugaletta Salvatore , Budaj Andrzej , Bueno Hector , Huber Kurt , Kunadian Vijay , Leonardi Sergio , Lettino Maddalena , Milasinovic Dejan , Clegg Andrew , Gale Chris P
Published: August 2024

Background

Older people less frequently receive invasive coronary angiography (ICA) for NSTEMI than younger patients. We describe care, ICA data, and in-hospital and 30-day outcomes of NSTEMI by age in a contemporary and geographically diverse cohort.

Methods

Prospective cohort study including 2947 patients with NSTEMI from 287 centres in 59 countries, stratified by age (≥75 years, n = 761). Quality of care was evaluated based on 12 guideline-recommended care interventions, and data collected on ICA. Outcomes included in hospital acute heart failure, cardiogenic shock, repeat myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischaemic attack, BARC Type ≥3 bleeding and death, as well as 30-day mortality.

Results

Patients aged ≥75 years, compared with younger patients, at presentation had a higher prevalence of comorbidities and oral anticoagulation prescription (22.4% vs 7.6%, p < 0.001). Older patients less frequently received ICA than younger patients (78.6% vs 90.6%, p < 0.001) with the recorded reason more often being advanced age, comorbidities or frailty. Of those who underwent ICA, older patients more frequently demonstrated 3-vessel, 4-vessel and/or left main stem coronary artery disease compared to younger patients (49.7% vs 34.1%, p < 0.001) but less frequently received revascularisation (63.6% vs 76.9%, p < 0.001). Older patients experienced higher rates of in-hospital acute heart failure (15.0% vs 8.4%, p < 0.001) and bleeding (2.8% vs 1.3%, p = 0.006), as well as in-hospital and 30-day mortality (3.4% vs 1.3%, p < 0.001; 4.8% vs 1.7%, p < 0.001; respectively), than younger patients.

Conclusions

Patients aged ≥75 years with NSTEMI, compared with younger patients, less frequently received ICA and guideline-recommended care, and had worse short-term outcomes.
Fragility and strength
Authors: Călinoiu Teodor-Tiberiu , Garancini Daniele Bruno
Published: August 2024

It is customarily assumed that paracomplete and paraconsistent solutions to liar paradoxes require a logical system weaker than classical logic. That is, if a logic is not fragile to liar paradoxes, it must be logically weaker than classical logic. Defenders of classical logic argue that the losses of weakening it outweigh the gains. Advocates of paracomplete and paraconsistent solutions disagree. We articulate the notion of fragility with respect to the liar paradox and show that it can be disentangled from logical strength. Strength and resilience to paradox do not force a trade-off with respect to liars: there can be logics which are not weaker than classical logic and are solid to the liar.
“Why should care workers be any different from prison workers?” A qualitative study of second-hand smoke exposure during home-care visits and potential measures to eliminate exposure
Authors: O’Donnell Rachel , Dobson Ruaraidh , Semple Sean
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Despite world-leading measures in place to protect employees from second-hand smoke exposure in workplaces in the United Kingdom, workers who deliver health and social care in private homes remain unprotected legally in this setting from second-hand smoke exposure (SHS).

Methods

Fourteen individuals took part in either an in-depth telephone interview (n = 11) or an online focus group discussion (n = 3), including home-care workers (n = 5) and managers (n = 5) based in Lanarkshire (Scotland) and local/national policy makers (n = 4). Participants were asked about the extent to which exposure to SHS is an issue during home visits and possible additional measures that could be put in place to eliminate exposure.

Results

Participants highlighted the difficulties in balancing the provision of care in a person’s own home with the right of workers to be able to breathe clean air and be protected from SHS. Current strategies to reduce staff exposure to SHS during home visits were often reported as inadequate with SHS not a hazard considered by managers beyond protecting pregnant staff or those with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma. Simple respiratory protective equipment (as used during the COVID-19 pandemic) was rightly identified as being ineffective. Methods such as nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes were identified as potential ways to help people who smoke achieve temporary asbstinence prior to a home visit.

Conclusion

Implementing appropriate and proportionate measures to protect home-care workers from the harms posed by SHS should be a priority to help protect the health of this often overlooked occupational group.
Behavioral plasticity
Authors: Zhang Yun , Iino Yuichi , Schafer William R
Published: August 2024

Behavioral plasticity allows animals to modulate their behavior based on experience and environmental conditions. Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits experience-dependent changes in its behavioral responses to various modalities of sensory cues, including odorants, salts, temperature, and mechanical stimulations. Most of these forms of behavioral plasticity, such as adaptation, habituation, associative learning, and imprinting, are shared with other animals. The C. elegans nervous system is considerably tractable for experimental studies—its function can be characterized and manipulated with molecular genetic methods, its activity can be visualized and analyzed with imaging approaches, and the connectivity of its relatively small number of neurons are well described. Therefore, C. elegans provides an opportunity to study molecular, neuronal, and circuit mechanisms underlying behavioral plasticity that are either conserved in other animals or unique to this species. These findings reveal insights into how the nervous system interacts with the environmental cues to generate behavioral changes with adaptive values.
Marital Status and Advance Care Planning Among Older Adults: Do Gendered Patterns Vary by Age?
Authors: Kalousová Lucie , Carr Deborah
Published: August 2024

Objectives

Advance care planning (ACP), which comprises a living will, durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPAHC), and end-of-life discussions, is an inherently relational process. However, it is unclear how marital status affects men’s and women’s ACP over the life course. Drawing on social control and gender-as-relational frameworks, we examine marital status differences in ACP and how these patterns differ by gender and age.

Methods

Data are from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a representative sample of U.S. older adults (N = 7,074). We estimate logistic regression models to evaluate whether marital status differences in ACP are moderated by age and gender, and multinomial logistic regressions to examine age and gender differences in DPAHC designations among married parents. Analyses are adjusted for sociodemographic and health covariates.

Results

Multivariable analyses revealed significant moderation effects for discussions only. Among married/cohabiting persons, women are more likely than men to have end-of-life discussions, with gender differences diminishing slightly at oldest ages. Among divorced persons in their 60s and 70s, women are much more likely than men to have had discussions, although this gap converges among the oldest-old. Conversely, young-old widowed men and women are equally likely to have discussions, although women are increasingly likely to do so with advancing age. Men are more likely than women to name their spouse as DPAHC, yet this gap diminishes with age.

Discussion

Healthcare providers can better guide end-of-life consultations if they understand how men’s and women’s family relationships change with advancing age.
Developing a Framework for Digital Activities of Daily Living
Authors: Mois George , Rogers Wendy A
Published: August 2024

The emergence of digital technologies has shown a promising potential to enhance access to goods, services, and resources. Digital technologies and interfaces differ from mechanical and analog electronic technologies as they often require internet access and are dependent on a set of activities or actions for the user to successfully implement them in their day-to-day life. We describe this set of activities as digital activities of daily living (DADLs). Much like activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and enhanced activities of living, DADLs are critical to supporting well-being and healthy aging. For example, the digitalization of tasks such as health insurance (e.g., creating a Medicare account) or banking (e.g., making a utility payment via a web portal) are all DADLs. With a growing dependence on digital technologies to participate in day-to-day life, disparities in individuals’ ability to competently complete DADLs present major concerns for independence, quality of life, safety, and well-being. We developed a framework for understanding DADLs and their implication for daily life. Furthermore, we provide a guide for the development of interventions and outline implications for research, practice, and policy.
China in global digital trade governance: towards a development-oriented agenda?
Authors: He Yujia , Zeng Ka
Published: August 2024

Existing literature on the behaviour of rising powers in global trade governance has yielded inconclusive evidence about their role and impact. This article contributes to this literature by examining China's role in global digital trade governance, an issue area which so far has not received sufficient scholarly attention. Specifically, it addresses the following question: as a self-proclaimed leader of the developing world in digital development, to what extent do its preferences and negotiation approach align with the interests of other developing countries? Analysing China's participation in three sets of negotiations using process tracing, the article argues that China's dual identity both as a self-identified developing country and as a rising power has contributed to its strategic ambivalence. In principle China supports a development-oriented approach to digital trade governance, calling attention to issues such as the digital divide and preserving developing countries' policy space on data localization consistent with its domestic regulatory approaches. Yet China's interest in promoting Chinese technology firms' global expansion leads to increasing divergence with other developing countries on issues such as the e-commerce customs duty moratorium and the global taxation of digital firms, paradoxically increasing its interest alignment with developed countries and limiting its support for fundamental reforms.
Discrete hypocoercivity for a nonlinear kinetic reaction model
Authors: Bessemoulin-Chatard Marianne , Laidin Tino , Rey Thomas
Published: August 2024

In this article we propose a finite-volume discretization of a one-dimensional nonlinear reaction kinetic model proposed in Neumann & Schmeiser (2016), which describes a two-species recombination-generation process. Specifically, we establish the long-time convergence of approximate solutions towards equilibrium, at exponential rate. The study is based on an adaptation for a discretization of the linearized problem of the $L^{2}$ hypocoercivity method introduced in Dolbeault et al. (2015). From this we can deduce a local result for the discrete nonlinear problem, in the sense that small initial perturbations from the steady state are considered. As in the continuous framework this result requires the establishment of a maximum principle, which necessitates the use of monotone numerical fluxes.
Evaluation of several routine methods for fosfomycin and mecillinam susceptibility testing of Enterobacterales urine isolates
Authors: Massip C , Feletti L , Chagneau C V , Dumont Y , Maurin E , Muggeo A , Pichon M , Pompilio M , Buchler F , Halimi D , Dubois D
Published: August 2024

Objectives

Performance evaluation of routine laboratory methods to determine the susceptibility of Enterobacterales urinary isolates to fosfomycin (oral administration) and mecillinam.

Methods

We collected 347 Enterobacterales isolates from monomicrobial midstream urine samples from women with significant bacteriuria and leukocyturia. Mostly non-Escherichia coli isolates (i.e. Klebsiella spp., Citrobacter koseri, Enterobacter cloacae complex and Proteus mirabilis) were included (n = 298). Performance of VITEK®2, ETEST®, and disc diffusion to determine fosfomycin and mecillinam susceptibility was evaluated following International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20776-2:2021 (or 20776-2:2007 for disc diffusion) in comparison with the agar dilution reference method.

Results

For fosfomycin testing, VITEK®2 and ETEST® were close to reaching ISO requirements (essential agreement  ≥ 90%; bias  ±30%) for C. koseri, E. coli and P. mirabilis. Categorical agreement (CA) and major error rates were acceptable for disc diffusion. Fosfomycin displayed lower activity against E. cloacae complex and Klebsiella spp., with MIC50 (minimum inhibitory concentration required to inhibit the growth of 50% of tested isolates) equal to the E. coli EUCAST breakpoint (8 mg/L). For these species, the three alternative techniques overestimated MICs and resistance, and did not meet performance criteria. For mecillinam testing of Enterobacterales isolates, apart from P. mirabilis, ETEST® nearly fulfilled ISO requirements, and CA rates were acceptable for disc diffusion. ISO criteria were reached for C. koseri and E. coli testing with VITEK®2, apart from too high rates of very major errors. For P. mirabilis, performances were unacceptable, whatever the routine method used.

Conclusions

Commercially available tests may serve as alternatives to agar dilution to assess fosfomycin (oral) and mecillinam susceptibility of Enterobacterales urinary isolates, with important interspecies variabilities. Additional studies comprising more fosfomycin- and mecillinam-resistant isolates are needed to strengthen our conclusions.
Use of teicoplanin monotherapy for the treatment of enterococcal infective endocarditis: a retrospective and comparative study at a referral centre
Authors: Villamarín Miguel , Fernández-Hidalgo Nuria , Viñado Belén , González-López Juan José , Rello Pau , Escolà-Vergé Laura
Published: August 2024

Objectives

Clinical experience in the use of teicoplanin for treating enterococcal infective endocarditis (EIE) is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with EIE treated with teicoplanin monotherapy compared to standard therapy with ampicillin plus ceftriaxone.

Methods

All consecutive adult patients diagnosed with EIE between January 2018 and September 2022 at a referral centre were reviewed. Characteristics of individuals treated with teicoplanin for ≥14 days [the treated with teicoplanin (TT) group] were compared with those who received ampicillin plus ceftriaxone (AC group).

Results

Sixty-six patients were included [61 (92%) E. faecalis infective endocarditis (IE) and 5 (8%) E. faecium IE]. Twenty-seven (41%) received teicoplanin: eight as first-line treatment and 19 as continuation therapy.

The median duration of teicoplanin treatment was 30 (25–43) days. Surgery was indicated in 14/27 (52%) in the TT group and in 21/39 (54%) in the AC group, but was finally performed in 11/14 (79%) and 13/21 (62%) (P = 0.46), respectively. In-hospital mortality rate was 3/27 (11%) in the TT group and 12/39 (31%) in the AC group (P = 0.06). Patients treated with teicoplanin were more often discharged on outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy [18/27 (67%) versus 6/39 (15%), P < 0.001] and median hospital stay was shorter [29 days (IQR 20–61) versus 50 days (IQR 43–68), P = 0.006]. One-year cumulative mortality was 8/27 (30%) in the TT group and 13/39 (33%) in the AC group (P = 0.46). There was one relapse in each group.

Conclusion

Teicoplanin seems an effective treatment for selected patients with enterococcal IE, mainly to facilitate discharge.
Development of electronic health record based algorithms to identify individuals with diabetic retinopathy
Authors: Breeyear Joseph H , Mitchell Sabrina L , Nealon Cari L , Hellwege Jacklyn N , Charest Brian , Khakharia Anjali , Halladay Christopher W , Yang Janine , Garriga Gustavo A , Wilson Otis D , Basnet Til B , Hung Adriana M , Reaven Peter D , Meigs James B , Rhee Mary K , Sun Yang , Lynch Mary G , Sobrin Lucia , Brantley Milam A , Sun Yan V , Wilson Peter W , Iyengar Sudha K , Peachey Neal S , Phillips Lawrence S , Edwards Todd L , Giri Ayush
Published: August 2024

Objectives

To develop, validate, and implement algorithms to identify diabetic retinopathy (DR) cases and controls from electronic health care records (EHRs).

Materials and Methods

We developed and validated electronic health record (EHR)-based algorithms to identify DR cases and individuals with type I or II diabetes without DR (controls) in 3 independent EHR systems: Vanderbilt University Medical Center Synthetic Derivative (VUMC), the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System (VANEOHS), and Massachusetts General Brigham (MGB). Cases were required to meet 1 of the following 3 criteria: (1) 2 or more dates with any DR ICD-9/10 code documented in the EHR, (2) at least one affirmative health-factor or EPIC code for DR along with an ICD9/10 code for DR on a different day, or (3) at least one ICD-9/10 code for any DR occurring within 24 hours of an ophthalmology examination. Criteria for controls included affirmative evidence for diabetes as well as an ophthalmology examination.

Results

The algorithms, developed and evaluated in VUMC through manual chart review, resulted in a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.93 for cases and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.91 for controls. Implementation of algorithms yielded similar metrics in VANEOHS (PPV = 0.94; NPV = 0.86) and lower in MGB (PPV = 0.84; NPV = 0.76). In comparison, the algorithm for DR implemented in Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) in VUMC yielded similar PPV (0.92) but substantially reduced NPV (0.48). Implementation of the algorithms to the Million Veteran Program identified over 62 000 DR cases with genetic data including 14 549 African Americans and 6209 Hispanics with DR.

Conclusions/Discussion

We demonstrate the robustness of the algorithms at 3 separate healthcare centers, with a minimum PPV of 0.84 and substantially improved NPV than existing automated methods. We strongly encourage independent validation and incorporation of features unique to each EHR to enhance algorithm performance for DR cases and controls.
Rousseau, American Laicite, and the Future of Religious Liberty in America
Authors: Gibson M Troy
Published: August 2024

There is a growing cultural tension between religious orthodoxy and the prevailing form of progressivism which centers the modern self in such a way that would please the eighteenth-century Romantic Jean-Jacques Rousseau. But Rousseau’s priority of the self led him to embrace a particular view of church and state as well as religious liberty, which, if implemented, would be a new experiment in the American context. What are the implications of this ascendant version of progressivism for religious liberty as it has been understood in the American context, vacillating as it has in the past between strict separation or accommodation? What would the emerging progressivism do with religious liberty given its philosophical commitments to a this-worldly immanent frame and rise of the psychologized self (expressive individualism)? I argue that religious liberty, in its robust paradigmatic American form, cannot survive any of these outcomes without undergoing radical redefinition, and instead a new paradigm of religious liberty, which I call American Laïcité, must replace the older version. With American Laïcité, as Rousseau would have it, though religion is a rather fixed aspect of human nature, only religion that sacralizes the immanent, one centered on self-expression and never practices or teaches any form of exclusivism or inequality can expect to be either accommodated or tolerated within society.
Relative contribution of biotic and abiotic factors to population fluctuations of Auchenorrhyncha community that could play a role in the Cape Saint Paul Wilt Disease (CSPWD) (lethal yellowing) pathosystem in Ghana
Authors: Tettey Elizabeth , Aidoo Owusu F , Ativor Isaac N , Yankey Egya N
Published: August 2024

As a major setback to the global coconut industry, lethal yellowing disease (LYD), caused by phytoplasmas, continues to threaten coconut palms in the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania. Despite its economic impacts, limited information exists on LYD vectors, which impedes the prevention and management of the disease. Using double-sided yellow sticky traps, we investigate the factors that influence the seasonal abundance and population dynamics of three sap-sucking insects of LYD, i.e., Diostrombus (Hemiptera: Derbidae) sp. and Patara sp. (Hemiptera: Derbidae), and Nedoptepa curta Dmitriev (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), on five coconut genotypes (Sri Lanka Green Dwarf (SGD), Vanuatu Tall (VTT), SGD × VTT, Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD) × VTT, and West African Tall (WAT)) in the Western Region, and one (SGD) in the Central Region of Ghana from April 2019 to May 2021. The results showed that N. curta and Patara sp. were the most abundant species in the Western and Central Regions, respectively. There was a significant difference between the coconut cultivars and sap-sucking insects. The peak population development of the sap-sucking insects was recorded during the dry season on all the coconut genotypes at all sampling locations. A significant positive correlation was detected between temperature and the population of N. curta and Patara sp. In the Agona Nkwanta, VTT had the highest population of N. curta, whereas WAT had the highest population of Patara sp. and Diostrombus sp. These findings provide useful information for assessing the role of factors that could affect the Cape Saint Paul Wilt disease pathosystem.
High-cost treatments for advanced lung cancer in Japan (Lung Cancer Study Group of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group)
Authors: Watanabe Kageaki , Sasaki Keita , Machida Ryunosuke , Shimizu Junichi , Yamane Yuki , Tamiya Motohiro , Saito Shin , Takada Yuji , Yoh Kiyotaka , Yoshioka Hiroshige , Murakami Haruyasu , Kitazono Satoru , Goto Yasuhiro , Horinouchi Hidehito , Ohe Yuichiro
Published: August 2024

Background

The treatment of lung cancer has made dramatic progress in the past decade, but due to the high cost of drugs, the total pharmaceutical cost has been rising explosively. There are currently no data available in Japan on which regimens are used, to what extent they are used, and what their total cost is.

Methods

Sixty Japanese centers belonging to the Lung Cancer Study Group of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group were surveyed for information about the first-line treatment for advanced lung cancer in practice from July 2021 to June 2022. Three types of cancer were included: driver gene mutation-negative NSCLC, EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC, and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).

Results

Recent treatment costs for ICIs or ICI plus chemotherapy were about 20–55 times higher than those for conventional chemotherapy. Of the 3738 patients with driver gene aberration-negative NSCLC, 2573 (68.8%) received treatments with monthly cost of 500 000 Japanese yen (JPY) or more; 2555 (68.4%) received ICI therapy. Of the 1486 patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC, 1290 (86.8%) received treatments with a monthly cost of 500 000 JPY or more; 1207 (81.2%) received osimertinib. ICI treatments with a monthly cost of 500 000 JPY or more were administered to 607 (56.3%) of 1079 patients with ES-SCLC. Elderly NSCLC patients received slightly more high-cost treatment than younger patients.

Conclusion

Recent treatments cost many times more than conventional chemotherapy. This study revealed that high-cost treatments were widely used in advanced lung cancer and some of high-cost treatments were used despite the lack of clear evidence. Physicians should pay attention to the cost of treatments they use.
A Bayesian spatial–temporal varying coefficients model for estimating excess deaths associated with respiratory infections
Authors: Zhang Yuzi , Chang Howard H , Iuliano Angela D , Reed Carrie
Published: August 2024

Disease surveillance data are used for monitoring and understanding disease burden, which provides valuable information in allocating health programme resources. Statistical methods play an important role in estimating disease burden since disease surveillance systems are prone to undercounting. This paper is motivated by the challenge of estimating mortality associated with respiratory infections (e.g. influenza and COVID-19) that are not ascertained from death certificates. We propose a Bayesian spatial–temporal model incorporating measures of infection activity to estimate excess deaths. Particularly, the inclusion of time-varying coefficients allows us to better characterize associations between infection activity and mortality counts time series. Software to implement this method is available in the R package NBRegAD. Applying our modelling framework to weekly state-wide COVID-19 data in the US from 8 March 2020 to 3 July 2022, we identified temporal and spatial differences in excess deaths between different age groups. We estimated the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the US to be 1,168,481 (95% CI: 1,148,953 1,187,187) compared to the 1,022,147 from using only death certificate information. The analysis also suggests that the most severe undercounting was in the 18–49 years age group with an estimated underascertainment rate of 0.21 (95% CI: 0.16, 0.25).
Health disparities among incarcerated populations: a crucial laboratory and pathology review
Authors: Price Banks Diane , McGuire Morgane , Samedi Von , Whitehead Stephanie , Upton Melissa P , Jackson Nicole R
Published: August 2024

Background

The United States notoriously has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, yet scant attention to the health care needs of those incarcerated exists within laboratory medicine and pathology training and education. This article explores health disparities among incarcerated and released individuals regarding diagnostic laboratory testing and pathology services.

Methods

A literature search was conducted for articles published between 2002 and 2023 using keywords including “healthcare,” “incarcerated,” “laboratory services,” “pathology services,” and “health insurance for prisoners.” Central themes were extracted and discussed to reveal the realities of health care during and after release from incarceration. Excluded from the analysis were articles about the immediate or extended family of incarcerated persons.

Results

Incarcerated individuals have an increased risk for the development and exacerbation of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and mental health disorders, which results in exceedingly high morbidity and mortality rates.

Conclusion

Policy changes are needed to mitigate disparities and improve health outcomes for incarcerated and released persons. Central to these disparities is decreased access to laboratory and pathology services, impeded by inadequate health care funding for these carceral institutions. Providing additional funding to the carceral system’s health care budget is necessary to improve access to pathology and laboratory services.
Introduction
Authors: Risvas Michail
Published: August 2024

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the importance and complexity of non-discrimination clauses in international economic law. It starts with the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) handling cases involved with discrimination. Discrimination cases are difficult cases, partly because legal clauses prohibiting discrimination are conceptually linked with the idea of equality. The chapter explains that certain aspects of the principle of non-discrimination in international economic law may reflect obligations under customary law or form part of international public policy. It then looks into the argument that non-discrimination obligations in investment treaty arbitration fall within the ‘disparate treatment’ discrimination paradigm.
Conclusions
Authors: Risvas Michail
Published: August 2024

This chapter covers the importance of the work on non-discrimination in international investment treaty arbitration. It explains that case law of investment treaty arbitral tribunals on non-discrimination obligations contained in investment treaties demonstrated that there is no jurisprudence constante about key legal questions. Moreover, non-discrimination obligations in international investment treaty arbitration fall within the ‘disparate treatment’ paradigm. Thus, disparate treatment and disparate impact are considered as main paradigms of discrimination demonstrated by non-discrimination legislation and case law in the US, EU, and international human rights law. The chapter looks into a comprehensive and systematic analytical and normative framework of the most complex areas of international investment law.
Generalization of filter theory of EQ-algebras based on lattices
Authors: Nazifi Mohadese , Asghari Larimi Mohsen , Bakhshi Mahmood
Published: August 2024

In this article, considering the notion of a lattice-valued set (${\mathcal{L}}$-set, for short) we introduce the notions of ${\mathcal{L}}$-prefilter and ${\mathcal{L}}$-filter in EQ-algebras. We provide several characterizations and equivalent conditions for these concepts and also characterize the ${\mathcal{L}}$-prefilter and ${\mathcal{L}}$-filter generated by an ${\mathcal{L}}$-set. Subsequently, we study the lattice structure of these filters and prove that in an $\ell $EQ-algebra, the lattice of ${\mathcal{L}}$-prefilters is a complete Brouwerian lattice, and hence it forms a Heyting lattice. In a residuated $\ell $EQ-algebra, we show that the lattice of ${\mathcal{L}}$-filters is also a Heyting lattice. They also form a semi-De Morgan algebra. Moreover, we demonstrate that the skeleton of an $\ell $EQ-algebra under appropriate operations forms a Boolean algebra. Furthermore, we introduce (relative) ${\mathcal{L}}$-congruences in EQ-algebras and investigate their properties. We also explore the relationships between ${\mathcal{L}}$-prefilters/${\mathcal{L}}$-filters and ${\mathcal{L}}$-congruences. We prove that ${\mathcal{L}}$-prefilters induce a relative ${\mathcal{L}}$-equivalence relation and ${\mathcal{L}}$-filters correspond to relative ${\mathcal{L}}$-congruences, and state and prove some isomorphism theorems.
Dattātreya
Authors: Rigopoulos Antonio
Published: August 2024

Dattātreya is a Purāṇic deity, in origin a Tantric antinomian yogin later sanitized and adapted to the devotional milieu of the Purāṇas. The mythical ̣ accounts present him as the son of the rṣị Atri and of his wife Anasūyā. Thanks to the help offered by Anasūyā to the trimūrti of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, she and her husband are bestowed the grace that the trimūrti would be born as their sons: thus are born Soma, Datta/Dattātreya (“The Given One,” “The One Belonging to Atri’s Lineage”) and Durvāsas, who are avatāras of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, respectively. Significant Purāṇic loci are Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.11, 11.7.24–11.9.33, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa chapters 17–19, 37–43. The vaiṣṇava character of the deity is intertwined with antinomian traits, and from its inception Dattātreya’s theology appears as an inextricable mixture of vaiṣṇava and śaiva elements. Although Dattātreya’s presence is traceable even in Nepal, his heartland is the Marāṭhī cultural area. The oldest testimony of his presence is in the literature of the Mahānubhāvs, a monastic community conceived as heterodox by Brahmanical authorities. Apparently, the Mahānubhāvs received Dattātreya through the medium of the yogic sect of the Nāths. In Maharashtra, the advent of the Dattasampradāya (“The Tradition of Datta [Followers]”) dates to the mid-sixteenth century when the Marāṭhī Gurucaritra (“Life of the Master”) was written by Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhar. This hagiography presents the lives of Śrīpād Śrīvallabh (b. c. 1323–d. 1353) and Nṛsiṃha Sarasvatī (b. c. 1378–d. 1458), regarded as the first historical avatāras of Dattātreya. The Gurucaritra emphasizes Brahmanical ritual orthodoxy, in an effort to counter Islamic dominance and Tantric excesses. In fact, quite a number of Tantric works centered upon ritual practice are attributed to Dattātreya, among which is a Dattātreyatantra, possibly dating to the twelfth century. Noteworthy is the circa 13th-century Dattātreyayogaśāstra, reputed to be the earliest work to teach both the eightfold system of Patañjali’s classical aṣṭāṅgayoga and the methods of haṭhayoga. The most popular texts ascribed to the deity are the Jīvanmuktagītā (“The Song of the Liberated-in-Life”), the Avadhūtagītā (“The Song of the Free”), and the jñānakhaṇḍa (“Section on Knowledge”) of the Tripurārahasya (“The Secret of [the Goddess] Tripurā”), which are all late compositions. On the whole, the Dattātreya movement exhibits ambivalent traits. On the one hand it expresses an integrative spirituality that accommodates even Islamic tenets, while on the other it is the catalyst of Brahmanical pride and of an assertive ritual orthodoxy.
Altered interactions between cis-regulatory elements partially resolve BLADE-ON-PETIOLE genetic redundancy in Capsella rubella
Authors: Tran Thi Chi , Mähl Karoline , Kappel Christian , Dakhiya Yuri , Sampathkumar Arun , Sicard Adrien , Lenhard Michael
Published: August 2024

Duplicated genes are thought to follow one of three evolutionary trajectories that resolve their redundancy: neofunctionalization, subfunctionalization, or pseudogenization. Differences in expression patterns have been documented for many duplicated gene pairs and interpreted as evidence of subfunctionalization and a loss of redundancy. However, little is known about the functional impact of such differences and about their molecular basis. Here, we investigate the genetic and molecular basis for the partial loss of redundancy between the two BLADE-ON-PETIOLE genes BOP1 and BOP2 in red shepherd's purse (Capsella rubella) compared to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). While both genes remain almost fully redundant in A. thaliana, BOP1 in C. rubella can no longer ensure wild-type floral organ numbers and suppress bract formation, due to an altered expression pattern in the region of the cryptic bract primordium. We use two complementary approaches, transgenic rescue of A. thaliana atbop1 atbop2 double mutants and deletions in the endogenous AtBOP1 promoter, to demonstrate that several BOP1 promoter regions containing conserved noncoding sequences interact in a nonadditive manner to control BOP1 expression in the bract primordium and that changes in these interactions underlie the evolutionary divergence between C. rubella and A. thaliana BOP1 expression and activity. Similarly, altered interactions between cis-regulatory regions underlie the divergence in functional promoter architecture related to the control of floral organ abscission by BOP1. These findings highlight the complexity of promoter architecture in plants and suggest that changes in the interactions between cis-regulatory elements are key drivers for evolutionary divergence in gene expression and the loss of redundancy.
Upregulation of PECTATE LYASE5 by a NAC transcription factor promotes fruit softening in apple
Authors: Su Qiufang , Yang Huijuan , Li Xianglu , Zhong Yuanwen , Feng Yifeng , Li Hongfei , Tahir Muhammad Mobeen , Zhao Zhengyang
Published: August 2024

Flesh firmness is a critical breeding trait that determines consumer selection, shelf life, and transportation. The genetic basis controlling firmness in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) remains to be fully elucidated. We aimed to decipher genetic variance for firmness at harvest and develop potential molecular markers for marker-assisted breeding. Maturity firmness for 439 F1 hybrids from a cross of “Cripps Pink” and “Fuji” was determined in 2016 and 2017. The phenotype segregated extensively, with a Gaussian distribution. In a combined bulked segregant analysis (BSA) and RNA-sequencing analysis, 84 differentially expressed genes were screened from the 10 quantitative trait loci regions. Interestingly, next-generation re-sequencing analysis revealed a Harbinger-like transposon element insertion upstream of the candidate gene PECTATE LYASE5 (MdPL5); the genotype was associated with flesh firmness at harvest. The presence of this transposon repressed MdPL5 expression and was closely linked to the extra-hard phenotype. MdPL5 was demonstrated to promote softening in apples and tomatoes. Subsequently, using the MdPL5 promoter as bait, MdNAC1-L was identified as a transcription activator that positively regulates ripening and softening in the developing fruit. We also demonstrated that MdNAC1-L could induce the up-regulation of MdPL5, MdPG1, and the ethylene-related genes MdACS1 and MdACO1. Our findings provide insight into TE-related genetic variation and the PL-mediated regulatory network for the firmness of apple fruit.
Phylogenomics and Pervasive Genome-Wide Phylogenetic Discordance Among Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus)
Authors: Furni Fabricio , Secchi Eduardo R , Speller Camilla , DenDanto Daniel , Ramp Christian , Larsen Finn , Mizroch Sally , Robbins Jooke , Sears Richard , Urbán R Jorge , Bérubé Martine , Palsbøll Per J
Published: August 2024

Phylogenomics has the power to uncover complex phylogenetic scenarios across the genome. In most cases, no single topology is reflected across the entire genome as the phylogenetic signal differs among genomic regions due to processes, such as introgression and incomplete lineage sorting. Baleen whales are among the largest vertebrates on Earth with a high dispersal potential in a relatively unrestricted habitat, the oceans. The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is one of the most enigmatic baleen whale species, currently divided into four subspecies. It has been a matter of debate whether phylogeographic patterns explain taxonomic variation in fin whales. Here we present a chromosome-level whole genome analysis of the phylogenetic relationships among fin whales from multiple ocean basins. First, we estimated concatenated and consensus phylogenies for both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. The consensus phylogenies based upon the autosomal genome uncovered monophyletic clades associated with each ocean basin, aligning with the current understanding of subspecies division. Nevertheless, discordances were detected in the phylogenies based on the Y chromosome, mitochondrial genome, autosomal genome and X chromosome. Furthermore, we detected signs of introgression and pervasive phylogenetic discordance across the autosomal genome. This complex phylogenetic scenario could be explained by a puzzle of introgressive events, not yet documented in fin whales. Similarly, incomplete lineage sorting and low phylogenetic signal could lead to such phylogenetic discordances. Our study reinforces the pitfalls of relying on concatenated or single locus phylogenies to determine taxonomic relationships below the species level by illustrating the underlying nuances that some phylogenetic approaches may fail to capture. We emphasize the significance of accurate taxonomic delineation in fin whales by exploring crucial information revealed through genome-wide assessments.