bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rare presentation of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor on a digit
Authors: West Cameron E. , Workman Ashleigh , Moody Tricia , Hosler Gregory A.
Published: March 2021

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are rare soft tissue neoplasms consisting of a mixture of spindle‐shaped myofibroblasts or fibroblasts and a variable inflammatory infiltrate composed of eosinophils, plasma cells, and lymphocytes. Associations with trauma and infectious agents have been proposed, but the etiology is unknown. While IMT predominantly develops in the lungs of pediatric patients or young adults, extrapulmonary IMT is well documented and may occur anywhere. Cutaneous IMT is rare and few have been reported on the hand in the English language. The mean age of onset is 10 years, with a slight female predilection. IMT demonstrates intermediate malignant potential, with a tendency to recur locally. Metastases are rare. According to a recent review, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positivity on immunohistochemistry is related to local recurrence, but not distant metastases. We report an unusual case of a 36‐year‐old male, with a lesion on the right second digit, displaying classic histopathologic and immunohistochemical features of IMT, including ALK staining, and confirmatory fluorescence in situ hybridization‐proven ALK gene rearrangement.
Impact of sleep, neuroendocrine, and executive function on health‐related quality of life in young people with craniopharyngioma
Authors: Niel Kristin A , Klages Kimberly L , Merchant Thomas E , Wise Merrill S , Hancock Donna , Caples Mary , Mandrell Belinda N , Conklin Heather M , Crabtree Valerie Mclaughlin
Published: March 2021

Aim

To examine the impact of clinical factors, cognitive deficits, and sleepiness on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) among young people with craniopharyngioma.

Method

Seventy‐eight patients (67% White; 41 males, 37 females; mean age 10y 8mo, SD 3y 11mo, range 6–20y) with craniopharyngioma were assessed for tumor extent and diabetes insipidus. All patients underwent overnight polysomnography and multiple sleep latency tests after surgical resection. Executive functioning was assessed using parent‐reported measures. Patients and their parents completed measures of HRQoL. None had a history of previous radiation therapy.

Results

Path analysis was used to test hypothesized relations while controlling for demographic and disease characteristics. Analyses revealed poorer parent‐reported HRQoL among young people with greater executive functioning symptoms (estimate −0.83; p<0.001). Direct and indirect effects were found among diabetes insipidus, executive functioning, and parent‐reported HRQoL. Diabetes insipidus directly predicted greater global executive functioning impairment (estimate 5.15; p=0.04) and indirectly predicted lower HRQoL through executive functioning impairment (estimate −4.25; p=0.049). No significant effects were found between excessive daytime sleepiness, tumor hypothalamic involvement, diabetes insipidus, executive functioning, and patient‐reported HRQoL.

Interpretation

These findings suggest that young people with craniopharyngioma presenting with diabetes insipidus may benefit from targeted neurocognitive and psychosocial screening to inform interventions.

What this paper adds

Children with craniopharyngioma and executive functioning impairment are more likely to have poorer health‐related quality of life (HRQoL).

Diabetes insipidus, a complication associated with surgery, predicted greater executive functioning impairment.

Diabetes insipidus indirectly predicted lower parent‐reported HRQoL through executive functioning impairment.
Misremembering Weimar: Hyperinflation, the Great Depression, and German collective economic memory
Authors: Haffert Lukas , Redeker Nils , Rommel Tobias
Published: March 2021

The well‐known German aversion to inflation has attracted a lot of interest and is often attributed to a specific historical memory: Weimar. Yet we do not know much about why hyperinflation seems to overshadow the Great Depression in German collective economic memory. To answer this question, we study what exactly it is that Germans believe to remember about their past. Using original survey data, we show that many Germans do not distinguish between hyperinflation and the Great Depression, but see them as two dimensions of the same crisis. They conflate Weimar economic history into one big crisis, encompassing both rapidly rising prices and mass unemployment. Additionally, more educated and politically interested Germans are more likely to commit this fallacy. Our finding thus nuances ideational explanations for Germany's economic policy stance in the European Union.
Neuromagnetic evidence of abnormal automatic inhibitory function in subjective memory complaint
Authors: Sun Hua‐Hsuan , Lin Mei‐Yin , Nouchi Rui , Wang Pei‐Ning , Cheng Chia‐Hsiung
Published: March 2021

Subjective memory complaint (SMC), a self‐perceived worsening in memory capacity concurrent with normal performance on standardized cognitive assessments, is considered a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Deficient sensory gating (SG), referring to the lack of automatic inhibition of neural responses to the second identical stimulus, has been documented in prodromal and incident AD patients. However, it remains unknown whether the cognitively normal elderly with SMC demonstrate alterations of SG function compared with those without SMC. A total of 19 healthy controls (HC) and 16 SMC subjects were included in the present study. Neural responses to the auditory paired‐stimulus paradigm were recorded by the magnetoencephalography and analyzed by the distributed source imaging method of minimum norm estimate. The SG of M50 and M100 components were measured using the amplitude ratio of the second response over the first response at the cortical level. Compared to HC, subjects with SMC showed significantly increased M50 SG ratios in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Furthermore, M50 SG ratios in the right IPL yielded an acceptable discriminative ability to distinguish SMC from HC. However, we did not find a significant association between SG ratios and cognitive function requiring inhibitory control either in the HC or SMC group. In conclusion, although SMC subjects have intact cognitive functioning revealed by objective neuropsychological tests, their deficits in automatic inhibitory function could be detected through neurophysiological recordings. Our results suggest that altered brain function occurs in SMC prior to the obvious decline of cognitive performance.
Method matters: pitfalls in analysing phenology from occurrence records
Authors: Larsen Elise A. , Shirey Vaughn
Published: March 2021

Large occurrence datasets provide a sizable resource for ecological analyses, but have substantial limitations. Phenological analyses in Fric et al. (2020) were misleading due to inadequate curation and improper statistics. Reanalysing 22 univoltine species with sufficient data for independent analysis, we found substantively different macroscale phenological patterns, including later onset at higher latitude for most species.
Spatial population genetics in heavily managed species: Separating patterns of historical translocation from contemporary gene flow in white‐tailed deer
Authors: Chafin Tyler K. , Zbinden Zachery D. , Douglas Marlis R. , Martin Bradley T. , Middaugh Christopher R. , Gray M. Cory , Ballard Jennifer R. , Douglas Michael E.
Published: March 2021

Approximately 100 years ago, unregulated harvest nearly eliminated white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from eastern North America, which subsequently served to catalyze wildlife management as a national priority. An extensive stock‐replenishment effort soon followed, with deer broadly translocated among states as a means of re‐establishment. However, an unintended consequence was that natural patterns of gene flow became obscured and pretranslocation signatures of population structure were replaced. We applied cutting‐edge molecular and biogeographic tools to disentangle genetic signatures of historical management from those reflecting spatially heterogeneous dispersal by evaluating 35,099 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived via reduced‐representation genomic sequencing from 1143 deer sampled statewide in Arkansas. We then employed Simpson's diversity index to summarize ancestry assignments and visualize spatial genetic transitions. Using sub‐sampled transects across these transitions, we tested clinal patterns across loci against theoretical expectations of their response under scenarios of re‐colonization and restricted dispersal. Two salient results emerged: (A) Genetic signatures from historic translocations are demonstrably apparent; and (B) Geographic filters (major rivers; urban centers; highways) now act as inflection points for the distribution of this contemporary ancestry. These results yielded a statewide assessment of contemporary population structure in deer as driven by historic translocations as well as ongoing processes. In addition, the analytical framework employed herein to effectively decipher extant/historic drivers of deer distribution in Arkansas is also applicable for other biodiversity elements with similarly complex demographic histories.
Risk factors for progression of appendiceal neuroendocrine tumours: low‐stage tumours <5 mm appear to be overwhelmingly indolent and may merit a separate designation
Authors: Noor Mushal , Huber Aaron R , Cates Justin M M , Gonzalez Raul S
Published: March 2021

Aims

Appendiceal well‐differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are usually incidental and clinically benign. Several studies have reported different risk factors for nodal metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate our appendiceal NETs (App‐NETs) to determine the factors associated with malignant behaviour.

Methods and results

For 120 App‐NETs, we reviewed the clinical presentation and follow‐up, including serum chromogranin A (CgA) levels, and compiled several microscopic variables. Pathological factors were compared with nodal status and time to biochemical recurrence (elevated serum CgA level) by the use of Cox regression. We also reviewed similar App‐NET data in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Programme. Among our 120 cases, seven patients had positive lymph nodes, and nine developed subsequent elevation of CgA levels; none developed distant metastases or died of disease. Only three patients had grade 2 NETs; none had nodal disease, and one developed an elevated CgA level. Increasing tumour size was associated with an increased risk of nodal disease [odds ratio (OR) 4.99, P = 0.0055). All seven node‐positive cases were ≥13 mm. Factors associated with elevated CgA levels included age (OR 1.04, P = 0.041), pT4 disease (OR 10.22, P = 0.033), and nodal disease (OR 24.0, P = 0.012), but not size (OR 2.13, P = 0.072). Of the 1492 reported App‐NETs in the SEER database with data on tumour size, 137 (9%) were pN1; only five of these (4%) were coded as being <5 mm.

Conclusions

Small (<5 mm) App‐NETs that do not invade the serosa or mesoappendix appear to be overwhelmingly benign and low‐grade, requiring neither Ki67 staining nor synoptic reporting. Given their indolent behaviour, different nomenclature or staging may be more appropriate for these NETs.
Comparative outcomes of flexible ureteroscopy and mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy for pediatric kidney stones larger than 2 cm
Authors: Zhang Yu , Li Jun , Jiao Jian Wei , Tian Ye
Published: March 2021

Objectives

To compare the outcomes of flexible ureteroscopy and mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy for pediatric kidney stones larger than 2 cm and to show the learning curves for the two procedures.

Methods

A prospectively managed database containing pediatric patients with kidney stones larger than 2 cm from June 2014 to October 2019 was analyzed. The primary outcomes were the efficacy and safety of flexible ureteroscopy and mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Data on patient demographics, treatment details, stone‐free rate, and complication rate were collected and compared. Learning curves were generated to estimate the effect of the surgeon’s experience on surgical outcomes.

Results

The final analysis included 113 pediatric patients who underwent surgery for kidney stones on a total of 126 sides. The stone‐free rates for mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy were 80.9% (34/42) and 79.7% (67/84), respectively (P = 0.19). The complication rates for mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy were 52.5% (21/40) and 27.4% (27/73), respectively (P = 0.01). When stone mass was considered, the stone‐free rates for mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy for stones with a high mass (>5000 HU*cm2) were 83.3% (20/24) and 55.5% (10/18), respectively (P = 0.04). The learning curves showed that the stone‐free rates for both mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy increased with the accumulation of cases. A higher stone‐free rate could be achieved after approximately 20 mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy cases and after approximately 50 flexible ureteroscopy cases.

Conclusions

Flexible ureteroscopy has an acceptable stone‐free rate and a lower complication rate than mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy when treating pediatric kidney stones larger than 2 cm. Mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy is more applicable to stones with a high mass. The stone‐free rates achieved after both mini‐percutaneous nephrolithotomy and flexible ureteroscopy could be improved with number of cases accumulated.
Determining the association between the type of intervention for ischaemic heart disease and mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic kidney disease
Authors: Jeyaruban Andrew , Hoy Wendy , Cameron Anne L. , Healy Helen G. , Wang Zaimin , Zhang Jenny , Mallett Andrew
Published: March 2021

Background

Association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is well known. Clinically, because of the use of intra‐arterial contrast, coronary angiograms are sometimes not performed to avoid further deterioration in kidney function among CKD patients.

Aims

To identify whether intervention for non‐ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is associated with increased mortality or further renal deterioration.

Methods

A retrospective observational cohort study involving 144 patients with a diagnosis of IHD in the CKD.QLD registry from May 2011 to August 2017, with a minimum of 2‐years follow up, was undertaken. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether they obtained an interventional or medical management for NSTEMI.

Results

Fifty‐nine patients had medically managed and 85 patients had intervention for IHD. Patients in the medically managed group were observed to be significantly older (median: 78 vs 69 years; P < 0.05) with worse baseline renal function (median: 31 vs 36 mL/min/1.73 m2; P <0.05) and higher serum urate level (median: 0.5 vs 0.4 mmol/L; P = 0.2). The interventional group had lower prevalence of diabetes, dyslipidaemia, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease. Although this was not significant, Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed a significant decrease in mean survival of medically managed group compared with the interventional group. Furthermore, post adjustment for age and above comorbidities, the medically managed group and higher age were associated with significantly higher mortality. However, the patients in the medically managed and interventional groups had no significant difference in delta estimated glomerular filtration rate.

Conclusions

In this observational study, intervention for IHD was associated with increased survival with no change in renal disease progression in comparison with medically managed patients.
COVID‐19 end‐of‐life care: symptoms and supportive therapy use in an Australian hospital
Authors: Wong Aaron K. , Demediuk Lucy , Tay Jia Y. , Wawryk Olivia , Collins Anna , Everitt Rachel , Philip Jennifer , Buising Kirsty , Le Brian
Published: March 2021

Background

Descriptions of symptoms and medication use at end of life in COVID‐19 are limited to small cross‐sectional studies, with no Australian longitudinal data.

Aims

To describe end‐of‐life symptoms and care needs of people dying of COVID‐19.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included consecutive admitted patients who died at a Victorian tertiary referral hospital from 1 January to 30 September directly due to COVID‐19. Clinical characteristics, symptoms and use of supportive therapies, including medications and non‐pharmacological interventions in the last 3 days of life were extracted.

Results

The cohort comprised 58 patients (median age 87 years, interquartile range (IQR) 81–90) predominantly admitted from home (n = 30), who died after a median of 11 days (IQR 6–28) in the acute medical (n = 31) or aged care (n = 27) wards of the hospital. The median Charlson Comorbidity Score was 7 (IQR 5–8). Breathlessness (n = 42), agitation (n = 36) and pain (n = 33) were the most frequent clinician‐reported symptoms in the final 3 days of life, with most requiring opioids (n = 52), midazolam (n = 40), with dose escalation commonly being required. While oxygen therapy was commonly used (n = 47), few (n = 13) required an anti‐secretory agent.

Conclusions

This study presents one of the first and largest Australian report of the end of life and symptom experience of people dying of COVID‐19. This information should help clinicians to anticipate palliative care needs of these patients, for example, recognising that higher starting doses of opioids and sedatives may help reduce prevalence and severity of breathlessness and agitation near death.
A call to action: Online learning and distance education in the training of couple and family therapists
Authors: Harrison Kristi L.
Published: March 2021

Distance education in couple and family therapy (CFT) has grown in recent years; however, due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, many CFT educators find themselves delivering emergency online education out of necessity and for the first time. Despite the growth of distance learning over the last decade, there is virtually no CFT scholarship on the topic. Comparable disciplines, including social work and professional counseling, are further along in researching distance learning. Outside of the counseling disciplines, there is also ample scholarship guiding the delivery of distance education. This article builds on the small body of CFT scholarship on technology in training and supervision, reviewing extant research on distance learning in social work and counselor education. Major themes in this research reveal opportunities and challenges associated with distance learning and offer guidance about ways that CFT education can evolve in order to effectively integrate technology and online learning into our educational landscape.
The modernity/coloniality of love: Individualist lifeways and charismatic christianity in Ghanaian worlds
Authors: Osei‐Tutu Annabella , Adams Glenn , Esiaka Darlingtina , Dzokoto Vivian A. , Affram Adjeiwa Akosua
Published: March 2021

A manifestation of coloniality in psychological science concerns the modern individualist lifeways that inform mainstream research. We report results of a multi‐method research project that investigated implications of these ways of being for the experience of love in Ghanaian settings. In particular, we investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCCs)—an important carrier of individualist lifeways in many West African settings—would be associated with a growth orientation to love as a means for mutual self‐expansion and fulfillment. In Study 1 (n = 61), growth themes and a conception of love as feeling were more evident, but sustainability themes and a conception of love as doing less evident, in interview responses of participants who reported engagement with PCCs versus Traditional Western Mission Churches (TWMCs). In Study 2 (n = 1120), family obligation, relationship harmony, and (among participants who reported daily church attendance) perception of a social norm to prioritize mother over spouse were weaker for members of PCCs than TWMCs. Results help to reveal the colonial dark side of the modern individualist lifeways that mainstream research tends to regard as a just‐natural standard.
First detailed insights into the life‐history traits of the alien shrimpAthanas nitescens(Decapoda: Alpheidae) in the western Atlantic
Authors: Pescinelli Régis A. , Mantelatto Fernando L. , Almeida Alexandre O. , Costa Rogerio C.
Published: March 2021

Information on the population biology of alien species in non‐natural areas is essential to understanding their impacts on native species. Here, we investigated the life‐history traits, the propagule pressure and the supply potential ofAthanasnitescensin a non‐native area. Sampling was monthly performed from April 2015 to March 2016 in an inter‐tidal estuary in the south‐eastern Brazilian coast. The population had a female‐biased sex ratio with a predominance of ovigerous females. Sexual dimorphism was evidenced by the mean body size and the positive allometry of chelipeds in males and of the second pleonal pleuron in females, evidencing an energy allocation to weaponry body structures and reproduction, respectively. The estimated size at which 50% of females reach functional sexual maturity was 3.3 mm of carapace length. The mean fecundity, 117 ± 40.03 eggs/female (53–263), had a positive correlation with the carapace length. The egg volume increased (83%) from the initial to the final stage of development. The presence of females carrying eggs in different stages of development indicates thatA. nitescensis completing its life cycle in the studied region and shows a high propagule pressure. We provided the first insights into the biology ofA. nitescensin Brazilian waters after the first record in 2009 in São Paulo coast, contributing to a better understanding of its biology and ecology in non‐natural areas.
Host preferences of coexisting Perkinsea parasitoids during coastal dinoflagellate blooms
Authors: Reñé Albert , Timoneda Natàlia , Sampedro Nagore , Alacid Elisabet , Gallisai Rachele , Gordi Jordina , Fernández‐Valero Alan D. , Pernice Massimo C. , Flo Eva , Garcés Esther
Published: March 2021

Parasites in aquatic systems are highly diverse and ubiquitous. In marine environments, parasite‐host interactions contribute substantially to shaping microbial communities, but their nature and complexity remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the relationship between Perkinsea parasitoids and bloom‐forming dinoflagellate species. Our aim was to determine whether parasite‐host species interactions are specific and whether the diversity and distribution of parasitoids are shaped by their dinoflagellate hosts. Several locations along the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea) were sampled during the blooms of five dinoflagellate species and the diversity of Perkinsea was determined by combining cultivation‐based methods with metabarcoding of the V4 region of 18S rDNA. Most known species of Parviluciferaceae, and others not yet described, were detected, some of them coexisting in the same coastal location, and with a wide distribution. The specific parasite‐host interactions determined for each of the studied blooms demonstrated the host preferences exhibited by parasitoids in nature. The dominance of a species within the parasitoid community is driven by the presence and abundances of its preferred host(s). The absence of parasitoid species, often associated with a low abundance of their preferred hosts, suggested that high infection rates are reached only under conditions that favour parasitoid propagation, especially dinoflagellate blooms.
Loss of the metabolism and sleep regulating neuronal populations expressing orexin and oxytocin in the hypothalamus in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Gabery Sanaz , Ahmed Rebekah M , Caga Jashelle , Kiernan Matthew C , Halliday Glenda M , Petersén Åsa
Published: March 2021

Aims

To determine the underlying cellular changes and clinical correlates associated with pathology of the hypothalamus in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as hypothalamic atrophy occurs in the preclinical phase of the disease.

Methods

The hypothalamus was pathologically examined in nine patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in comparison to eight healthy control subjects. The severity of regional atrophy (paraventricular nucleus: PVN, fornix and total hypothalamus) and peptidergic neuronal loss (oxytocin, vasopressin, cocaine‐ and amphetamine‐regulating transcript: CART, and orexin) was correlated with changes in eating behaviour, sleep function, cognition, behaviour and disease progression.

Results

Tar DNA‐binding protein 43 (TDP‐43) inclusions were present in the hypothalamus of all patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. When compared to controls, there was atrophy of the hypothalamus (average 21% atrophy, p = 0.004), PVN (average 30% atrophy p = 0.014) and a loss of paraventricular oxytocin‐producing neurons (average 49% loss p = 0.02) and lateral hypothalamic orexin‐producing neurons (average 37% loss, significance p = 0.02). Factor analysis identified strong relationships between abnormal eating behaviour, hypothalamic atrophy and loss of orexin‐producing neurons. With increasing disease progression, abnormal sleep behaviour and cognition associated with atrophy of the fornix.

Conclusions

Substantial loss of hypothalamic oxytocin‐producing neurons occurs in ALS, with regional atrophy and the loss of orexin neurons relating to abnormal eating behaviour in ALS. Oxytocin‐ and orexin neurons display TDP43 inclusions. Our study points to significant pathology in the hypothalamus that may play a key role in metabolic and pathogenic changes in ALS.
Molecular and phenotypic evaluation of wheat (Triticum aestivum) containing different combinations of rust resistance genes
Authors: Maré Ansori , Boshoff Willem H. P. , Herselman Liezel
Published: March 2021

Leaf, stem and stripe rust caused by Puccinia triticina, P. graminis f. sp. tritici and P. striiformis f. sp. tritici, respectively, are common wheat diseases. The deployment of complex rust resistance sources is likely to contribute to their durability. In this study, wheat varieties and experimental plants (F2), with different rust resistance gene combinations, were characterised using molecular markers, phenotypic evaluation and quantification of fungal biomass accumulation. The experimental wheat plants were developed from six donor parental varieties that in combination carry seven known rust resistance genes/quantitative trait loci (QTL). A timeline study revealed that quantification of fungal biomass accumulation for the rusts, 10‐day postinoculation (dpi), can successfully distinguish between resistant and susceptible wheat varieties. Phenotypic evaluation included seedling infection types and adult‐plant response types that were determined 15 dpi. Data obtained from the three methods were in support of each other and in combination successfully distinguished between rust‐resistant and susceptible experimental wheat plants. Resistance genes/QTL evaluated in this study, when deployed in combination, may lower the risk of rust outbreaks.
Bone marrow transplant using fludarabine‐based reduced intensity conditioning regimen with in vivo T cell depletion in patients with Fanconi anemia
Authors: Gorfinkel Lev , Demsky Carolyn , Pashankar Farzana , Kupfer Gary , Shah Niketa C.
Published: March 2021

FA is the most common cause of inherited BMF syndromes. The only cure for BMF in FA remains HSCT. Due to DNA instability in FA, RIC has been used to decrease immediate and late complications of HSCT. Most FA conditioning regimens in mismatched and unrelated donor transplants rely on TBI, which increases the risk of secondary malignancies. Most of the non‐TBI conditioning regimens use an ex vivo T‐cell depletion approach, but this is not feasible at all pediatric stem cell transplant programs. To evaluate the success of HSCT in patients with FA using non‐TBI conditioning regimens with in vivo T‐cell depletion approach. HSCT using non‐TBI based conditioning was performed on two siblings with FA. The first sibling underwent matched unrelated donor transplant with a BM graft using fludarabine, alemtuzumab, busulfan, and cyclophosphamide conditioning and cyclosporine and mycophenolate as GVHD prophylaxis. The second sibling underwent MSD transplant with UCB and BM grafts using similar approach, but without busulfan and mycophenolate. Both siblings had engraftment without signs of acute or chronic GVHD. Acute post‐transplant complications included brief viral reactivations. At last follow‐up, both siblings continued to have full immune reconstitution with stable chimerism. Conditioning regimens without radiation and inclusion of alemtuzumab can lead to successful engraftment without development of GVHD and reduce risk of developing secondary neoplasms, even with unrelated donor transplants.
Perceiving properties versus perceiving objects
Authors: Millar Boyd
Published: March 2021

The fact that you see some particular object seems to be due to the causal relation between your visual experience and that object, rather than to your experiences’ phenomenal character. On the one hand, whenever some phenomenal element of your experience stands in the right sort of causal relation to some object, your experience presents that object (your experience's phenomenology does not need tomatchthat object). On the other hand, you cannot have a perceptual experience that presents some object unless you stand in the right sort of causal relation to that object (no matter how closely your experience's phenomenology matches some object). According to thecontinuity thesis, property perception is similar to object perception in these two respects. A standard reason to reject the continuity thesis is the assumption that the environmental properties that a perceptual experience presents are determined by its phenomenal properties (which are not determined by the environmental properties that cause the experience). I maintain that the continuity thesis is false but for a different reason: perceptual experiences present both objects and properties via manners of presentation; but, whereas perceptual manners of presentation for objects are purelyrelational, perceptual manners of presentation for properties aresatisfactional.
Evans on intellectual attention and memory demonstratives
Authors: Fortney Mark
Published: March 2021

Intellectual attention, such as perceptual attention, is a special mode of mental engagement with the world. When we attend intellectually, rather than making use of sensory information we make use of the kind of information that shows up in occurrent thought, memory, and the imagination. In this paper, I argue that reflecting on what it is like to comprehend memory demonstratives speaks in favor of the view that intellectual attention is required to understand memory demonstratives. Moreover, I argue that this is a line of thought endorsed by Gareth Evans in his Varieties of Reference. In so doing, I improve on interpretations of Evans that have been offered by Christopher Peacocke and Christoph Hoerl & Theresa McCormack. In so doing, I also improve on McDowell's criticism of Peacocke's interpretation of Evans. Like McDowell, I believe that Peacocke might overemphasize the role that “memory images” play in Evans’ account of comprehending memory demonstratives. But unlike McDowell, I provide a positive characterization of how Evans described the phenomenology of comprehending memory demonstratives.
Circular drought‐hardening confers drought tolerance via modulation of the antioxidant defense system, osmoregulation, and gene expression in tobacco
Authors: Khan Rayyan , Ma Xinghua , Zhang Juan , Wu Xiaoying , Iqbal Anas , Wu Yuanhua , Zhou Lei , Wang Shusheng
Published: March 2021

Drought stress hinders the growth and development of crop plants and ultimately its productivity. It is expected that drought stress will be frequent and intense in the future due to drastic changes in the global climate. It is necessary to make crop plants more resilient to drought stress through various techniques; drought‐hardening is one of them. Defining various metabolic strategies used by tobacco plants to confer drought tolerance will be important for maintaining plant physiological functions, but studies addressing this topic are limited. This study was designed to elucidate the drought tolerance and adaptation strategies used by tobacco plants via the application of different circular drought‐hardening cycles (control: no drought‐hardening, T1: one cycle of drought hardening, T2: two cycles of drought‐hardening, and T3: three cycles of drought‐hardening) to two tobacco varieties namely Honghuadajinyuan (H) and Yun Yan‐100 (Y). The results revealed that drought‐hardening decreased the fresh and dry biomass of the tobacco plants. The decrease was more pronounced in the T3 treatment for both H (23 and 29%, respectively) and Y (26 and 31%, respectively) under drought stress. The MDA contents, especially in T1 and T2 in both varieties, were statistically similar compared with control under drought stress. Similarly, higher POD, APX, and GR activities were observed, especially in T3, and elevated amounts of AsA and GSH were also observed among the different circular drought‐hardening treatments under drought stress. Thus circular drought‐hardening mitigated the oxidative damage by increasing the antioxidant enzyme activities and elevated the content of antioxidant substances, a key metabolic strategy under drought stress. Similarly, another important plant metabolic strategy is the osmotic adjustment. Different circular drought‐hardening treatments improved the accumulation of proline and soluble sugars contents which contributed to osmoregulation. Finally, at the molecular level, circular drought‐hardening improved the transcript levels of antioxidant enzyme‐related genes (CAT, APX1, and GR2), proline and polyamines biosynthesis‐related genes (P5CS1 and ADC2), and ABA signaling (SnRK2), and transcription factors (AREB1 and WRKY6) in response to drought stress. As a result, circular drought‐hardening (T2 and T3 treatments) promoted tolerance to water stress via affecting the anti‐oxidative capacity, osmotic adjustment, and regulation of gene expression in tobacco.
Xylooligosaccharides induce stomatal closure via salicylic acid signaling‐regulated reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide production in Arabidopsis
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Song Zhiqiang , Jin Pinyuan , Zhou Xiuhong , Zhang Huajian
Published: March 2021

Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) are the major coproducts of biofuel production and the most representative functional sugar enhancing animal physiology. However, little is known regarding the biological relevance of XOS to plants. Here, we found XOS triggered stomatal closure in Arabidopsis in a dose‐dependent manner. Pamarcological data showed that XOS‐induced stomatal closure was markedly inhibited by catalase (CAT, a reactive oxygen species [ROS] scavenger), salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM, a peroxidase inhibitor), and 2‐(4‐carboxyphenyl)‐4,4,5,5‐tetramethylimidazoline‐1‐oxyl‐3‐oxide (cPTIO, a nitric oxide [NO] scavenger). Moreover, XOS induced the production of ROS and NO in guard cells of Arabidopsis. ROS production was strongly restricted by CAT and SHAM, but was unaffected by treatment with diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor) or cPTIO. NO production was suppressed by CAT, SHAM, and cPTIO, but not by DPI. The elevation of ROS level mediated by SHAM‐sensitive peroxidases occurred upstream of NO. Additionally, XOS‐triggered stomatal closure and ROS and NO accumulation were significantly impaired in npr1 (salicylic acid signaling) mutant plants, but were not in jar1 (jasmonic acid signaling) or ein2 (ethylene signaling) mutant plants. Furthermore, XOS‐induced stomatal closure was unaffected in both ost1 and atrbohD atrbohF (abscisic acid [ABA] signaling) mutant plants. Therefore, these results indicated that the biotic sugar, XOS, can elicit stomatal closure via salicylic acid signaling‐mediated production of ROS and NO, in a manner independent of ABA signaling.
Effect of financial incentives for participation in dementia prevention and support activities: results of a web survey with persons aged 60 and older
Authors: Takao Makiko , Maki Yohko , Suzuki Takao
Published: March 2021

Background

This study aims to elucidate the impact of financial incentives on the motivation to participate in dementia prevention activities and to provide support to people with dementia.

Methods

An online survey was completed by 1500 men and women, aged 60 or above, from the general community in Japan. When responding to questions regarding motivation for participating in dementia prevention activities and providing support to people with dementia, respondents were randomly assigned different incentive conditions. Two incentive options were used for dementia prevention activities (no incentives, and a small number of reward points). Three incentive options were used for support activities (no incentives, a small cash reward, or an in‐kind time reward that allowed respondents or their family members to use similar services at a later time (time credits)).

Results

Financial incentives decreased motivation for participating in dementia prevention activities, while time credits significantly increased motivation to participate in providing support to people with dementia for going out of their home, when receiving a cash reward was compared with receiving no reward. No significant differences by incentive were found for participating in daily living support for those with dementia or for providing support at a dementia café where people with dementia and their families interact.

Conclusions

The adverse influence of financial incentives on motivation to participate in dementia prevention suggested that financial incentives may reduce intrinsic motivation for dementia prevention activities. The positive effects of time credits in providing support to people with dementia in going out suggested that time credits might be effective for some support activities for people with dementia. Different incentive measures should be considered to raise awareness of dementia prevention and dementia support activities.
Entrepreneurial behavior and firm performance: The mediating role of business model novelty
Authors: Pati Rakesh , Ghobadian Abby , Nandakumar M.K. , Hitt Michael A. , O’Regan Nicholas
Published: March 2021

Bricolage and effectuation have emerged as new theoretical perspectives describing entrepreneurial behavior (EB). Bricolage emphasizes the creative use of available resources, while effectuation uses available means as a starting point and encourages firms to engage in affordable loss, pre‐commitment, flexibility, and experimentation as independent dimensions for entrepreneurial actions. This study examines the influence of each dimension of EB, namely bricolage, affordable loss, pre‐commitment, flexibility, and experimentation on business model novelty (BMN). It further assesses the EB – firm performance relationship and examines the mediating effect of BMN on the relationship between each dimension of EB and firm performance. We surveyed 238 small and medium enterprises in India. Our results indicate that bricolage, pre‐commitment, flexibility, and experimentation positively influence BMN. However, affordable loss behavior had a negative impact on BMN. Moreover, our findings indicate that BMN mediates the EB‐firm performance relationship. Our study enriches the extant literature by demonstrating the impact of each dimension of EB on BMN – an aspect not covered by the extant literature. Furthermore, our study adds to the literature by highlighting BMN as an important mediator explaining EB’s impact on firm performance.
Open Covid‐19: Organizing an extreme crowdsourcing campaign to tackle grand challenges
Authors: Kokshagina Olga
Published: March 2021

This article presents an extreme crowdsourcing case to tackle grand challenges such as Covid‐19. Researchers became more interested in crowds’ involvement to deal with grand challenges and scholars reported the use of crowdsourcing in producing innovative solutions to solve these challenges. Driven by recent calls for more research to examine forms of socially motivated interaction options in order to support crowds in dealing with these ill‐defined problems, this research conducts a qualitative study of how an extreme crowdsourcing program – Open Covid‐19 launched by Just One Giant Lab to develop and test low‐cost solutions to tackle the pandemic – was organized. By examining conditions for coordination and knowledge exchange in the Open Covid‐19 case, we present an open structure where the challenges of predictability and common understanding have to be managed continuously and the participants themselves gradually build accountability; multidisciplinary knowledge integration is achieved by exchanging efforts and skills, and extreme transparency contributes positively in building a collective project memory. These findings are theoretically important because they clarify how extreme crowdsourcing can be organized to deal with grand challenges.
Smoking habits in Mexico: Upward and downward comparisons of economic status
Authors: Esposito Lucio , Dhongde Shatakshee , Millett Christopher
Published: March 2021

While experimental and behavioral economics have extensively studied the role of both upward and downward comparisons of economic status, the latter have been largely neglected in secondary data studies. The scarce existing evidence shows mixed results and is essentially limited to analyses of subjective well‐being in high‐income countries. Using nationally representative data from Mexico with almost 45,000 personal records, we disentangle the role of absolute wealth, relative deprivation, and relative affluence as explanatory variables for smoking behavior. We find robust evidence of greater smoking at higher levels of absolute achievement and relative deprivation and lower smoking at higher levels of relative affluence. Results hold for a variety of indicators of smoking habits, reflecting both smoking prevalence and intensity. Compared to men, we find that women tend to have stronger associations between the three facets of economic status and smoking prevalence. Results are robust to the use of alternative functional forms and reference groups for the measurement of relative deprivation and relative affluence.
Health Aid, Governance and Infant Mortality
Authors: Doucouliagos Chris , Hennessy Jack , Mallick Debdulal
Published: March 2021

We investigate the impact of health aid on infant mortality conditional on the quality of governance. Our analysis applies instrumental variable estimation with health aid instrumented by donor government fractionalization interacted with the probability of allocating health aid to a recipient country. Using panel data for 96 recipient countries for the 2002–2015 period, we find that the effectiveness of health aid in reducing infant mortality is conditional on good governance. The results are robust in a variety of ways. Our findings reaffirm the importance of improving the quality of governance in recipient countries.
Modelling Non-Linear Age-Period-Cohort Effects and Covariates, With an Application to English Obesity 2001–2014
Authors: Fannon Zoë , Monden Christiaan , Nielsen Bent
Published: March 2021

We develop an age-period-cohort model for repeated cross-section data with individual covariates, which identifies the non-linear effects of age, period and cohort. This is done for both continuous and binary dependent variables. The age, period and cohort effects in the model are represented by a parametrization with freely varying parameters that separates the identified non-linear effects and the unidentifiable linear effects. We develop a test of the parametrization against a more general ‘time-saturated’ model. The method is applied to analyse the obesity epidemic in England using survey data. The main non-linear effects we find in English obesity data are age-related among women and cohort-related among men.
How Much Room for Discourse in Imperative? The Lens of Interface on English, Italian and Spanish*
Authors: Frascarelli Mara , Jiménez‐Fernández Ángel L.
Published: March 2021

This paper discusses root phenomena in imperative clauses, assuming as diagnostics conversational dynamics and the type of discourse categories that are admitted in their C‐domain, through a systematic comparative interface investigation in three languages (English, Italian and Spanish) based on an original experimental work. This novel perspective sheds new light on the syntax‐semantics mapping and the interface (syntax‐prosody) properties of imperative clauses, embedding the relevant proposal in a cartographic framework of analysis. Based on a twofold distinction of root phenomena – those which are widely allowed in Common Ground‐active (Type I) contexts and those which can occur in non‐Common Ground‐active contexts (Type II) – it is proposed that imperatives are non‐Common Ground‐active propositions with no update potential, thus allowing only Type II root phenomena. Syntactically, imperative clauses are dominated by a super‐ordinate Speech Act Phrase, including theSpeakerand theAddresseeas co‐arguments, which explains the blocking effects identified in imperatives.
Recognition of the HLA‐B*15:86 allele and its associated HLA haplotype in a Taiwanese individual
Authors: Yang Kuo‐Liang , Li Chi‐Cheng , Lin Py‐Yu
Published: March 2021

Recombination between HLA‐B*15:01:01:01 and HLA‐B*54:01:01:01, HLA‐B*55:02:01:01 or HLA‐B*59:01:01:01 resulted the novel allele of HLA‐B*15:86.
A Mobile Bennett Network Constructed With Identical Square Panels
Authors: Yang Fufu , Gao Yuan , Lu Shuailong , Chen Kunjing
Published: March 2021

Mobile networks, constructed with simple linkages by tessellation, have great application potential in engineering as they could change their shapes according to the need of working state by one degree-of-freedom (DOF). However, the existing one-DOF networks are always composed of bar-like links, and cooperated membranes should be designed and fabricated additionally, which makes the design and the realization more complicated. This paper is to construct a one-DOF network of Bennett linkages with identical square panels. Geometric conditions to construct the network are derived by investigating the kinematic compatibility, kinematics is carried out to show the relationships among all Bennett linkages, and the discussion on the design parameter shows the extensibility and the deploying performance, which is validated by two physical prototypes. This work initials the construction of mobile networks with identical polygon-like links, which will simplify the fabrication and realization of deployable structures.