bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Non-neutrality of money
Authors: Peneder Michael , Resch Andreas
Published: February 2021

This chapter summarises the key ingredients of Schumpeter's monetary theory. While his writing on monetary matters is spread across multiple sources, one may summarise his endeavour in three integrative steps: First, he elaborated the claim theory into a general vision of money as a purely symbolic system of social accounts. Second, he put the quantity theory into a straightjacket of diminished relevance and refocused it in the income-expenditure approach. Finally, he applied further threads from the heterodox literature, most notably the notions of endogenous credit and forced savings, in order to link money with the real economy. Thus, lifting the veil of money and rebutting the postulate of its neutrality, his main assertion was that the endogenous supply of credit renders changes in the price structure an important driver of economic development.
1837
Authors: Werth Paul W.
Published: February 2021

Historians often think of Russia before the 1860s in terms of conservative stasis, when the ‘gendarme of Europe’ secured order beyond the country’s borders and entrenched the autocratic system at home. This book offers a profoundly different vision of Russia under Nicholas I. Drawing on an extensive array of sources, it reveals that many of modern Russia’s most distinctive and outstanding features can be traced back to an inconspicuous but exceptional year. Russia became what it did, in no small measure, because of 1837. The catalogue of the year’s noteworthy occurrences extends from the realms of culture, religion, and ideas to those of empire, politics, and industry. Exploring these diverse issues and connecting seemingly divergent historical actors, Paul W. Werth reveals that the 1830s in Russia were a period of striking dynamism and consequence, and that 1837 was pivotal for the country’s entry into the modern age. From the romantic death of Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, in January to a colossal fire at the Winter Palace in December, Russia experienced much that was astonishing in 1837: the railway and provincial press appeared, Russian opera made its debut, Orthodoxy pushed westward, the first Romanov visited Siberia—and much else besides. The cumulative effect was profound. The country’s integration accelerated, and a Russian nation began to emerge, embodied in new institutions and practices, within the larger empire. The result was a quiet revolution, after which Russia would never be the same.
Orthodoxy Marches West
Authors: Werth Paul W.
Published: February 2021

On New Year’s Day 1837, what might appear to be an insignificant change in bureaucratic procedure actually signified a major step in effecting one of history’s most striking examples of confessional engineering and in terminating the existence of an entire church within the Russian empire. Formally proclaimed in 1839, the union of the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church with Orthodoxy pushed the boundary between Western and Eastern Christianity substantially westward, and played a key role both in consolidating a single Orthodox Russian nation and in binding territories previously acquired from Poland to Russia’s central provinces. The audacious project had begun a decade or so earlier, but 1837 represented a decisive moment in this process.
Sexperts and Legal Experts
Authors: Ziogas Ioannis
Published: February 2021

This chapter situates the expertise of the praeceptor amoris (‘teacher of love’) in the context of the rise of the Roman jurists in the early Principate. The autonomy of jurisprudence in the schools of law goes hand in hand with the independence of sexuality in Ovid’s school of love. The bulk of the chapter explores the juridico-discursive nature of Ovid’s Ars amatoria and includes a discussion of Ovid’s account of Tiresias (Metamorphoses 3) that highlights the confluence of amatory and juridical expertise. It explores the deep interconnections between the didactic discourses of jurists and love poets. Since both Ovid’s innovative laws of love and Augustus’ legal reforms make female sexuality the centre of attention, the chapter focuses on the ways in which both Ovid and Augustus aim to fashion women in the image of their desires.
Towards the trinity
Authors: Beall Jc
Published: February 2021

This chapter, in anticipation of subsequent work, lightly discusses a simple unified account of contradictions in both the incarnation and The Trinity
The Private Sector in Fragile Situations
Authors: Assaf Nabila , Engman Michael , Ragoussis Alexandros , Agrawal Sarthak
Published: February 2021

Conflict and poverty are interrelated: conflict impoverishes communities, and poor communities are more vulnerable to conflict. Private enterprises are essential to break this cycle. As a source of jobs, livelihoods, taxes, and public goods and services, they support resilience and build the foundations of peaceful societies. This paper looks at the role that the private sector plays in fragile situations and studies the failures that prevent it from realizing its potential. To foster the private sector’s contribution to development in fragile situations, we argue that the development community needs to support the resilience of private enterprise on the one hand and promote growth on the other. A combination of institutional and regulatory reforms risk reducing instruments, and public investments are needed, with an emphasis on those that increase predictability, mitigate risk, and expand opportunities for market entry and growth in difficult contexts.
Macroeconomic Policy Challenges in Conflict and Post-Conflict Countries
Authors: Griffiths Mark , Imus with Phil de , Ismail Kareem , Ramirez Gustavo , Tchaidze Robert , Amine Ramzy Al
Published: February 2021

This chapter uses case studies from conflict and post-conflict countries in the MENA region to illustrate the economic challenges facing fragile states, as well as policy options. The studies cover two countries currently in conflict (Libya and Yemen), two recovering from conflict (Iraq and Somalia), and a fifth, West Bank and Gaza, with unique characteristics due to its uncertain political status and the impact of occupation. The chapter uses the case studies to describe: the characteristics of economic fragility; the macroeconomic consequences of fragility; and the IMF’s role in providing policy advice and economic assistance. Although the challenges facing fragile and conflict-affected economies are overwhelming, the potential benefits of improved macroeconomic policy (and of overcoming fragility) are immense. Thus, despite the difficulties, understanding and solving the economic problems facing fragile and conflict states is critical, particularly to be ready in case a pivotal moment where economic reforms become feasible is reached.
Direct and Indirect Social Drivers and Impacts of Vector-Borne Diseases
Authors: Ryan Sadie J. , Lippi Catherine A. , Bardosh Kevin L. , Frydenlund Erika F. , Gaff Holly D. , Heydari Naveed , Wilson Anthony J. , Stewart-Ibarra Anna M.
Published: February 2021

Vector borne diseases (VBDs) are often seen by the highly developed nations of the world as an issue of poor tropical countries. While framing the problem this way—through the paradigm of a poverty-trap—may leverage aid and motivate political will toward disease control, it misses a wide range of socio-political contexts both driving, and driven by, vector borne diseases. In this chapter, we present a series of global vignettes, to illustrate different facets of the broad remit of social drivers and interactions with VBDs. We approach the urban social-ecological context in Latin America and the Caribbean, impacts and aftermath of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tropical storms, struggles with trust in intervention implementation in Haiti, and drivers and impacts of ruminant arbovirus emergence events in Europe. We conclude that incorporating an understanding of social context, including political history and cultural perceptions, is a key part of VBD research and intervention practice.
Fighting the Scourge of International Crime
Authors: Petruccelli David
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines initiatives to organize the global fight against international crime, which emerged in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1920s and which by the 1930s posed an alternative to the imperial and liberal internationalist programmes pursued by many Western Europeans and Americans. Police, especially from Austria, sought to internationalize policing through the International Criminal Police Commission (today Interpol). At the same time, jurists from the region sought to unify norms for fighting international crimes as a first step towards a broader project of founding a body of international criminal law. Both programmes responded to the particular social and demographic problems engulfing the region after the collapse of Europe’s great land empires. By the 1930s, these post-imperial and often illiberal programmes increasingly set the agenda at the League of Nations on a range of international offences, notably the drug trade and sex trafficking.
Agathokles’ Life and Times
Authors: de Lisle Christopher
Published: February 2021

This chapter provides a narrative overview of Agathokles’ life and career as a foundation for the analytical chapters which follow. The collapse and revival of Syracusan hegemony in Sicily and the rise of Macedon in mainland Greece were the central features of Agathokles’ youth. His rise to dominance in Syracuse in the years preceding 317 BC highlight the difficulties inherent in our source material for his career. This seizure of power resulted in three interlinked wars: against his exiled Syracusan opponents, against the other poleis of eastern Sicily, and eventually against the Carthaginians. Agathokles invaded Africa in 310. Unable to decisively defeat the Carthaginians, he made peace with them in 306, but destroyed his opponents in Sicily. Around 304 BC he assumed the title of king. Subsequently he engaged in campaigns in southern Italy and the Adriatic. An ill-managed succession resulted in the dissolution of his kingdom at his death in 289.
Telling Tales about the King
Authors: de Lisle Christopher
Published: February 2021

Α‎necdotes about Agathokles in our literary sources were told because they were thought to illuminate his character or a general truth about the world and indicate how he was fitted into the broader dialogue on autocracy and power. There is a clash between the characterization of Agathokles as an effective military leader and as a monstrous tyrant, resulting from the nature of the lost historical narratives and from the way Agathokles was used by subsequent interlocutors: his successors in Sicily, the Romans, and authors looking for exempla. Many of the anecdotes are shared with mythical figures, mainland Greek and Sicilian tyrants, Hellenistic kings, and non-Greek rulers. The distinction between different types of autocrat was less important in ancient Greek and Latin discourse than their common features.
Sicily
Authors: de Lisle Christopher
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on Agathokles’ involvement in eastern and central Sicily, which was the core of his domain throughout his reign. It argues that Agathokles rose to power largely from conflicts particular to the domestic situation in Syracuse after Timoleon and that the driver of Agathokles’ establishment of a large kingdom in Sicily was not primarily the example of the Diadochoi in the East. Rather it was the interlocked nature of civic conflict in Sicily and the model for dealing with this provided by earlier Sicilian history.
Carthage
Authors: de Lisle Christopher
Published: February 2021

This chapter analyses the relationship between Agathokles and the Carthaginians as part of a long-term historical process and a wide-ranging pan-Mediterranean system of interaction. The Carthaginians sought to maintain a dominant situation in Sicily and prevent attacks from the eastern part of the island by keeping the Greek poleis there divided. This approach clashed with Agathokles’ priorities (as outlined in chapter 6) and with the aggressive model of engagement that had been laid down by Agathokles’ predecessors. Agathokles’ invasion of Africa was a novel expansion of earlier Sicilian leaders’ approach to war with Carthage. Various structural features—especially the disparity in the naval power of Carthage and Syracuse—made its failure nearly inevitable, but it provided the template for the conduct of both the Romans and the Carthaginians in the Punic Wars.
Thermodynamics: The Science of Heat and Work
Authors: Myrvold Wayne C.
Published: February 2021

This chapter provides an introduction to thermodynamics, with an emphasis on the distinction that defines the subject, the distinction between energy transfer as heat and as work. The Zeroth, First, and Second Laws of Thermodynamics are introduced, as well as the concept of entropy. The difficulties associated with the reduction of thermodynamics to mechanics are introduced, with reference to the history of their introduction. It is argued that thermodynamics must be reconceived in light of these difficulties.
Normative Disorder on the Internet
Authors: Kettemann Matthias C.
Published: February 2021

This chapter is dedicated to identifying the countervailing forces to the project of establishing a normative order of the internet. Chapter 4 makes the case that internet regulation today is in normative disarray. Due (inter alia) to normative dissonance and politico-economic preferences of rational actors between normative players and the disconnect between regulatory layers, the internet has partially fragmented. Normative froth, normative friction, and normative fractures are exemplified as elements of disorder. The overall fragmentation of the internet is described in more detail as being caused by technical, political, and legal developments. However, the forces at work are truly centrifugal in that they are only “apparent” when experienced from within the system. Observing from the outside, there are actually centripetal forces at work, keeping objects within the rotating system. These “centripetal” forces, including technical elements of the internet, the “internet invariants,” but also shared commitments to internet integrity are key elements of (the self-constitutionalization of) the normative order of the internet.
Psychical Spacings
Authors: Earlie Paul
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores the complex relationship between spatiality and the psyche in psychoanalysis and in deconstruction. For Derrida, Freud’s spatialized models of the mind are a key element in psychoanalysis’s break with the traditional ‘Platonism’ of metaphysics, explored here through the examples of Plato and Edmund Husserl. In attending to the importance of space in Derrida’s work, this chapter provides a detailed account of his well-known neologism ‘différance’. Although différance has sometimes been interpreted as a theory of time, Derrida’s engagement with the phenomenological and psychoanalytic traditions highlights différance’s status as a movement of spacing (espacement), as the structural ‘co-implication’ of time and space. This co-implication is examined here through a reading of Derrida’s early essay, ‘Freud et la scène de l’écriture’ (‘Freud and the Scene of Writing’), a text which surveys the problematic relationship between anatomical (or neurological) space and the virtual space of Freud’s metapsychology. Situating Derrida as a thinker of spatial difference and its aporias provides an important means of engaging his work with the recent ‘materialist’ turn in the humanities, represented here in Catherine Malabou’s neuroscientific challenge to deconstruction.
Due Diligence in the Use of International Watercourses
Authors: Fitzmaurice Malgosia
Published: February 2021

This chapter analyses the concept of due diligence in the law of international watercourses. Both conventions and the case-law give some indications on the constitutive elements of the standard of due diligence in this area. The chapter reveals that due diligence provides a legal tool to balance the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation and the principle of no harm. It also highlights that due diligence is the basis of procedural obligations in this field, such as the duty to exchange information or the duty to conduct an environmental impact assessment. The chapter however argues that the unspecified content of these norms and the lack of uniformity in their application render it impossible to draw consistent and holistic conclusions on due diligence in the field of watercourses law.
Women and books in the seventeenth century
Authors: Pearson David
Published: February 2021

A summary account of women’s book ownership patterns during the seventeenth century. Although much work is now ongoing to understand the extent of female book ownership and reading in the early modern period, the documentary record is unbalanced. This chapter brings together many kinds of evidence—contemporary lists, inscriptions, bookplates, bindings, inscriptions, wills—to provide an overview of women’s book ownership during the seventeenth century. Women interfacing with books was widespread, not restricted to the closets of gentry ladies, and cultural historians keen to see women’s reading as controversial or subversive are overstating the case. Subject coverage of women’s libraries is explored, noting the high proportion of devotional and English language material typically found, alongside a wider range of books which may be also be associated with women.
Reception of Appaya’s Śaiva Works
Authors: Duquette Jonathan
Published: February 2021

This chapter investigates the reception of Appaya’s Śaiva work in early modern India. It begins with a study of its critical reception among Vaiṣṇava scholars of Vedānta, including Vijayīndra (Dvaita Vedānta), Puruṣottama (Śuddhādvaita Vedānta) and Śrīvaiṣṇava theologians such as Mahācārya, Raṅgarāmānuja, and Varadācārya. After a brief excursus on the ambivalent response to Appaya’s work among Advaitins in early modern Banaras, the chapter moves on to discuss the reception of his work among Śaiva scholars, with special reference to the Śaktiviśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta promulgated by early modern Vīraśaiva scholars of Vedānta.
Multi-Level Analyses
Authors: Rouse William B.
Published: February 2021

This chapter summarizes the findings from Chapters 3–5 and provides a range of observations on these findings, articulating common elements across the three domains. An amended multi-level framework is discussed. The use of computational models and interactive visualizations is introduced. The resulting integrated perspective provides the basis for addressing failure management in ways that apply to all 18 case studies.
TOM CIPULLO (b. 1956)Long Island Songs (2005)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines Tom Cipullo’s Long Island Songs (2005). Cipullo’s Italian-American heritage, combined with a family background in jazz, makes for a potently individual brand of unabashed romanticism. His intimate understanding of the voice has enabled him to mine a vein of luxuriant lyricism without exceeding bounds of taste. His harmonies are richly sensual and the music flows freely through constantly changing metres, capturing fluctuating moods effortlessly. Arching phrases exploit the voice’s full capacity and highlight the sensuousness of language and timbre. These texts by William Heyen, set with meticulous care, prove to be ideal vehicles for his musical vision. Every nuance is calibrated, yet the effect is entirely spontaneous. One is sometimes reminded of the great French song composers, such as Debussy, in the use of sudden tender, floated pianissimi.
STACE CONSTANTINOU (b. 1971)From the Book of Songs (2014)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter looks at Stace Constantinou’s From the Book of Songs (2014). This is a work of haunting originality and quirky memorability by a composer whose imagination and flair are backed up by technological expertise. Each of the five movements has a distinct character, and delightful surprises abound. Undeniably, patience, stamina, and dedication are needed, but a gifted artist will find it a fascinating and rewarding task. The tape does not run continuously, so a technician needs to be on hand to stop and start each song. The soprano has some gloriously lyrical phrases and catchy refrains, as well as Sprechstimme and onomatopoeic effects. The tape part consists of piano-like figures in microtones and purely electroacoustic sounds. Standard notation is used and timings are given in seconds. In the last movement, the taped accompaniment is given an eight-line stave.
JOAN TOWER (b. 1938)Up High (2010)
Authors: Manning Jane
Published: February 2021

This chapter addresses American composer Joan Tower’s Up High (2010). This is an extended, warmly lyrical song of considerable charm and poignancy. It is couched in an accessible and tuneful musical language and carries an uplifting and idealistic message. The music gradually becomes more complex and modernistic as it progresses, especially in the full and varied piano textures which run continuously throughout. Although the piece was written for the admirable soprano Dawn Upshaw, its range is quite low at times and there is much concentration on the middle register. This means that the singer’s tone must be secure and well controlled, with a quality that can cut through the piano at its busiest.
Travels with Kafka
Authors: Nadel Ira
Published: February 2021

Roth travels to Prague and encounters the dissident writers of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe. He begins his “Writers from the Other Europe” series (1974–89) and creates new contacts with authors like Ivan Klíma, Milan Kundera, and Danilo Kiš. He provides for these disenfranchised writers by establishing a bank account with support from Updike, Styron, and Cheever. Soon the impact of Eastern Europe appears in early drafts of American Pastoral started in 1972, immediately after his first trip to Prague. The impact of of his exposure to Eastern European writers appears in works like “Looking at Kafka,” The Prague Orgy, and The Professor of Desire. He writes a 1973 “Country Report” on Czechoslovakia for PEN, the international organization supporting freedom for writers. And in New York in 1975, he accidentally meets Claire Bloom and begins a lengthy relationship. Discussion follows of Roth’s savior complex and how his male characters respond to passive, vulnerable women.
Look Before You Leap: Interventions Supervised via Telehealth Involving Activities in Weight-Bearing or Standing Positions for People After Stroke—A Scoping Review
Authors: Ramage Emily R , Fini Natalie , Lynch Elizabeth A , Marsden Dianne L , Patterson Amanda J , Said Catherine M , English Coralie
Published: February 2021

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a rapid shift to telehealth-delivered physical therapy services. Common impairments after stroke create unique challenges when providing rehabilitation via telehealth, particularly when it involves activities undertaken in weight-bearing or standing positions, including walking training. Our scoping review maps the evidence regarding safety, efficacy, and feasibility of remotely supervised telehealth interventions involving activities undertaken in weight-bearing or standing positions for people after stroke.

Methods

Searches of relevant databases for primary research studies were conducted using keywords relating to exercise and telehealth. Studies of stroke survivors undertaking interventions involving activities in weight-bearing or standing positions, supervised in real-time via telehealth were included. Two reviewers independently appraised all studies. Data were charted by one reviewer, checked by another, and results synthesized narratively.

Results

Seven studies (2 randomized trials, 1 mixed-methods, and 4 pre-post studies) were included, involving 179 participants. Some studies included stroke survivors with cognitive impairment, and 2 (29%) studies included only participants who walked independently. Adherence (reported in 3 studies) and satisfaction (reported in 4 studies) were good, and no serious adverse events (data from 4 studies) related to interventions were reported. Strategies to overcome technological barriers were used to optimize intervention safety and feasibility, along with physiological monitoring, caregiver assistance, and in-person exercise prescription. However, there is limited high-quality evidence of efficacy.

Conclusions

We identified strategies used in research to date that can support current practice. However, urgent research is needed to ensure that stroke survivors are receiving evidence-based, effective services.

Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a rapid shift to telerehabilitation services for people with stroke, but there is little evidence to guide best practice. Our review provides practical guidance and strategies to overcome barriers and optimize safety and adherence for telehealth interventions involving activities in weight-bearing or standing positions.
Effect of rearing cross-fostered piglets in litters of either uniform or mixed birth weights on preweaning growth and mortality
Authors: Vande Pol Katherine D , Bautista Raphael O , Harper Heath , Shull Caleb M , Brown Catherine B , Ellis Michael
Published: February 2021

Cross-fostering is a practice commonly used in the swine industry to equalize litter sizes, however, there is limited understanding of the optimum cross-fostering methods that will maximize piglet preweaning growth and survival. This study evaluated the effects of within-litter variation in birth weight after cross-fostering on piglet preweaning mortality (PWM) and weaning weight (WW) using litters of 15 piglets. A hierarchical incomplete block design was used (blocking factors: day of farrowing and sow parity, body condition score, and number of functional teats) with a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments: 1) Birth Weight Category (BWC): Light (<1.0 kg), Medium (1.0 to 1.5 kg), or Heavy (1.5 to 2.0 kg); 2) Litter Composition: UNIFORM (all 15 piglets in each litter of the same BWC), or MIXED (five piglets in each litter from each BWC, i.e., five Light, five Medium, and five Heavy piglets). At 24 h after birth, piglets were weighed and randomly allotted to litter composition treatments from within BWC. The experimental unit was five piglets of the same BWC; there were three experimental units within each Litter Composition treatment litter. There were 17 blocks, each of six litters (one UNIFORM litter of each BWC; three MIXED litters) and 51 replicates (three replicates per block of six litters) for a total of 102 cross-fostered litters and 1,530 piglets. Piglets were weaned at 19.7 ± 0.46 d of age; WW and PWM were measured. PROC GLIMMIX and MIXED of SAS were used to analyze PWM and WW, respectively. Models included BWC, Litter Composition, the interaction, and replicate within the block. There were BWC by Litter Composition treatment interactions (P ≤ 0.05) for PWM and WW. Preweaning mortality was greater (P ≤ 0.05) for Light piglets in MIXED than UNIFORM litters. In contrast, for Heavy piglets, PWM was greater (P ≤ 0.05) and WW was lower (P ≤ 0.05) in UNIFORM than MIXED litters. Medium piglets had similar (P > 0.05) PWM and WW in UNIFORM and MIXED litters. The results of this study, which involved large litter sizes typical of current commercial production, suggested that for piglet survival to weaning, using cross-fostering to form litters of piglets of similar birth weight was beneficial for light piglets, detrimental for heavy piglets, and neutral for medium piglets.
Complete Genome Sequence Data of Rare Actinomycetes Strain Saccharothrix texasensis 6-C, a Biological Control Agent for Potato Late Blight
Authors: Feng Shun , Jian Yongfei , Jin Liang , Tang Shicai , Li Zhengguo
Published: February 2021

A rare actinomycetes strain of Saccharothrix texasensis, strain 6-C, has been isolated from the potato rhizosphere and it was shown to act as a biological control agent to potato late blight. It is also the first report on Saccharothrix spp. inhibiting Phytophthora infestans. Here, we present the complete genome data of S. texasensis strain 6-C, assembled by sequencing reads obtained by both PacBio and Illumina technologies with annotation. The final assembled genome length is 9,045,220 bp, without gaps and plasmid, and its GC content is 72.39%. Nine nonribosomal peptides synthetase, five type I polyketide synthase, four terpene, and three lanthipeptide gene clusters were identified in the genome, which would be likely to encode lots of antimicrobial active substances to help host plants against disease. This genome sequence could contribute to investigations of the molecular basis underlying the biocontrol activity of this Saccharothrix strain.

[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .
Experimental and mathematical modelling of magnetically labelled mesenchymal stromal cell delivery
Authors: Yeo E. F. , Markides H. , Schade A. T. , Studd A. J. , Oliver J. M. , Waters S. L. , El Haj A. J.
Published: February 2021

A key challenge for stem cell therapies is the delivery of therapeutic cells to the repair site. Magnetic targeting has been proposed as a platform for defining clinical sites of delivery more effectively. In this paper, we use a combined
in vitro
experimental and mathematical modelling approach to explore the magnetic targeting of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) labelled with magnetic nanoparticles using an external magnet. This study aims to (i) demonstrate the potential of magnetic tagging for MSC delivery, (ii) examine the effect of red blood cells (RBCs) on MSC capture efficacy and (iii) highlight how mathematical models can provide both insight into mechanics of therapy and predictions about cell targeting
in vivo. In vitro
MSCs are cultured with magnetic nanoparticles and circulated with RBCs over an external magnet. Cell capture efficacy is measured for varying magnetic field strengths and RBC percentages. We use a 2D continuum mathematical model to represent the flow of magnetically tagged MSCs with RBCs. Numerical simulations demonstrate qualitative agreement with experimental results showing better capture with stronger magnetic fields and lower levels of RBCs. We additionally exploit the mathematical model to make hypotheses about the role of extravasation and identify future
in vitro
experiments to quantify this effect.
Deep learning for post-processing ensemble weather forecasts
Authors: Grönquist Peter , Yao Chengyuan , Ben-Nun Tal , Dryden Nikoli , Dueben Peter , Li Shigang , Hoefler Torsten
Published: February 2021

Quantifying uncertainty in weather forecasts is critical, especially for predicting extreme weather events. This is typically accomplished with ensemble prediction systems, which consist of many perturbed numerical weather simulations, or trajectories, run in parallel. These systems are associated with a high computational cost and often involve statistical post-processing steps to inexpensively improve their raw prediction qualities. We propose a mixed model that uses only a subset of the original weather trajectories combined with a post-processing step using deep neural networks. These enable the model to account for non-linear relationships that are not captured by current numerical models or post-processing methods. Applied to the global data, our mixed models achieve a relative improvement in ensemble forecast skill (CRPS) of over 14%. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the improvement is larger for extreme weather events on select case studies. We also show that our post-processing can use fewer trajectories to achieve comparable results to the full ensemble. By using fewer trajectories, the computational costs of an ensemble prediction system can be reduced, allowing it to run at higher resolution and produce more accurate forecasts.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Machine learning for weather and climate modelling’.
Time-series forecasting with deep learning: a survey
Authors: Lim Bryan , Zohren Stefan
Published: February 2021

Numerous deep learning architectures have been developed to accommodate the diversity of time-series datasets across different domains. In this article, we survey common encoder and decoder designs used in both one-step-ahead and multi-horizon time-series forecasting—describing how temporal information is incorporated into predictions by each model. Next, we highlight recent developments in hybrid deep learning models, which combine well-studied statistical models with neural network components to improve pure methods in either category. Lastly, we outline some ways in which deep learning can also facilitate decision support with time-series data.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Machine learning for weather and climate modelling’.
Economic evaluation of disease elimination: an extension to the net-benefit framework and application to human African trypanosomiasis
Authors: Antillon Marina , Huang Ching-I , Rock Kat S , Tediosi Fabrizio
Published: February 2021

The global health community has earmarked a number of diseases for elimination or eradication, and these goals have often been praised on the premise of long-run cost-savings. However, decision-makers must contend with a multitude of demands on health budgets in the short- or medium-term, and costs-per-case often rise as the burden of a disease falls, rendering such efforts beyond the cost-effective use of scarce resources. In addition, these decisions must be made in the presence of substantial uncertainty regarding the feasibility and costs of elimination or eradication efforts. Therefore, analytical frameworks are necessary to consider the additional effort for reaching global goals, like elimination or eradication, that are beyond the cost-effective use of country resources. We propose a modification to the net-benefit framework to consider the implications of switching from an optimal strategy, in terms of cost-per-burden-averted, to a strategy with a higher likelihood of meeting the global target of elimination of transmission by a specified date. We illustrate the properties of our framework by considering the economic case of efforts to eliminate transmission ofgambiensehuman African trypanosomiasis (gHAT), a vector-borne parasitic disease in West and Central Africa, by 2030.

Significance Statement

Various diseases are earmarked for elimination by the global health community. While the health economic implications of elimination have been discussed before, the combination of uncertainty, cost-effectiveness in terms of cases averted, and elimination in the face of rising per-case costs has not been tackled before. We propose an approach that considers the tension between the dual objectives of cost-effectiveness and elimination while incorporating uncertainty in these objectives. We apply our method to strategies against human African trypanosomiasis in three settings, but this method could be directly applied to simulation-based studies of the cost-effectiveness of other disease elimination efforts. The method yields common metrics of efficiency when stakeholders have different objectives.
Are there significant correlations between climate factors and the spread of COVID-19 for less densely populated and less polluted regions?
Authors: de Paula Corrêa Marcelo , Letícia Campos Yamamoto Ana , Silva Luiz Felipe , Pereira Bastos Ivana Riêra , Matias Tális Pereira , Gonçalves Pereira Raquel , do Reis Patrícia Martins , Fagundes Flávia Fernanda Azevedo , Ribeiro Alysson Fernando , Moraes Joaquim Augusto Cortez , da Silva Filipe Pereira
Published: February 2021

This study analyzes the correlation between the spread of COVID-19 and meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation) in urban-rural cities located in southeastern Brazil. Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used for the statistical analysis. Results show that air temperature and wind speed were positively correlated with COVID-19 cases, while air relative humidity showed negative correlation. As seen in several recent studies, climate factors and the spread of COVID-19 seem to be related. Our study corroborates this hypothesis for less densely populated and less polluted regions. We hope that our findings help worldwide scientific efforts towards understanding this disease and how it spreads in different regions.

Highlights

Climate and COVID-19’s spread were also correlated in less-densely populated regions.

Both maximum and minimum temperatures are strongly correlated with cases of covid-19.

One hypothesis for the strong association could be the high minimum temperatures in the subtropical region.

Wind speed is also positively correlated with COVID-19, while air humidity is negatively related.

Mitigation policies against the spread of COVID-19 should be based on local climate profiles.
Efficacy of Wang Nam Yen herbal tea on human milk production: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Saejueng Koollachart , Nopsopon Tanawin , Wuttikonsammakit Piyawadee , Khumbun Wattanaporn , Pongpirul Krit
Published: February 2021

Background

Insufficient milk production is a common problem affecting breastfeeding women, in particular following Cesarean delivery. Wang Nam Yen herbal tea is a promising traditional Thai medicine used by postpartum women to stimulate milk production, as an alternative to pharmaceutical galactagogues. We aimed to compare the efficacy of Wang Nam Yen herbal tea, domperidone, and placebo, in increasing milk production in mothers who underwent Cesarean delivery.

Methods

Women who underwent uncomplicated cesarean delivery at Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital were randomized into three groups. The participants received the treatments daily for three consecutive days. The primary outcome was breast milk volume at 72 hours after delivery. Secondary outcomes were pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, adverse events, and participant satisfaction.

Results

Of the 1,450 pregnant women that underwent cesarean delivery, 120 women were enrolled. Their mean age and gestational ages were 28.7 years and 38.4 weeks, respectively. Breast milk volume at 72 hours postpartum was significantly different among the three groups (p = 0.030). The posthoc Bonferroni correction indicated a significant difference in breast milk volume between Wang Nam Yen herbal tea group and placebo control group (p = 0.007) while there was no difference between Wang Nam Yen herbal tea group and domperidone group (p = 0.806) and between domperidone group and placebo control group (p = 0.018). There was no difference in pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, adverse events, and participant satisfaction among the three groups.

Conclusion

Wang Nam Yen herbal tea was effective in augmenting breast milk production at 72 hours postpartum in mothers following cesarean delivery, and there was no evidence that herbal tea and domperidone differed in terms of augmenting breast milk production.

Trial registration

The study was approved by the institutional review board of Sunpasithiprasong Hospital (No.061/2559) and was registered TCTR20170811003 with the Thai Clinical Trial Registry.
SARS-CoV-2 N501Y introductions and transmissions in Switzerland from beginning of October 2020 to February 2021 – implementation of Swiss-wide diagnostic screening and whole genome sequencing
Authors: Cabecinhas Ana Rita Goncalves , Roloff Tim , Stange Madlen , Bertelli Claire , Huber Michael , Ramette Alban , Chen Chaoran , Nadeau Sarah , Gerth Yannick , Yerly Sabine , Opota Onya , Pillonel Trestan , Schuster Tobias , Metzger Cesar M.J.A. , Sieber Jonas , Bel Michael , Wohlwend Nadia , Baumann Christian , Koch Michel C. , Bittel Pascal , Leuzinger Karoline , Brunner Myrta , Suter-Riniker Franziska , Berlinger Livia , Søgaard Kirstine K. , Beckmann Christiane , Noppen Christoph , Redondo Maurice , Steffen Ingrid , Seth-Smith Helena M.B. , Mari Alfredo , Lienhard Reto , Risch Martin , Nolte Oliver , Eckerle Isabella , Lucchini Gladys Martinetti , Hodcroft Emma B. , Neher Richard A. , Stadler Tanja , Hirsch Hans H. , Leib Stephen L. , Risch Lorenz , Kaiser Laurent , Trkola Alexandra , Greub Gilbert , Egli Adrian
Published: February 2021

The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 lineages B.1.1.7 (N501Y.V1) throughout the UK, B.1.351 (N501Y.V2) in South Africa, and P.1 (B.1.1.28.1; N501Y.V3) in Brazil has led to the definition of variants of concern (VoCs) and recommendations by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) for lineage specific surveillance. In Switzerland, during the last weeks of December 2020, we established a nationwide screening protocol across multiple laboratories, focusing first on epidemiological definitions based on travel history and the S gene dropout in certain diagnostic systems. In January 2021, we validated and implemented an N501Y-specific PCR to rapidly screen for VoCs, which are then confirmed using amplicon sequencing or whole genome sequencing (WGS). A total of 3492 VoCs have been identified since the detection of the first Swiss case in October 2020, with 1370 being B1.1.7, 61 B.1.351, and none P.1. The remaining 2061 cases of VoCs have been described without further lineage specification. In this paper, we describe the nationwide coordination and implementation process across laboratories, public health institutions, and researchers, the first results of our N501Y-specific variant screening, and the phylogenetic analysis of all available WGS data in Switzerland, that together identified the early introduction events and subsequent community spreading of the VoCs.
Learning Where to Look for COVID-19 Growth: Multivariate Analysis of COVID-19 Cases Over Time using Explainable Convolution-LSTM
Authors: Yudistira Novanto , Sumitro Sutiman Bambang , Nahas Alberth , Riama Nelly Florida
Published: February 2021

Determinant factors which contribute to the prediction should take into account multivariate analysis for capturing coarse-to-fine contextual information. From the preliminary descriptive analysis, it shows that environmental factor such as UV (ultraviolet) is one of the essential factors that should be considered to observe the COVID-19 epidemic drivers, During summer, UV can inactivate viruses that live in the air and on the surface of the objects especially at noon in tropical or subtropical countries. However, it may not be significant in closed spaces like workspace and areas with the intensive human-to-human transmission, especially in densely populated areas. Different COVID-19 pandemic growth patterns in northern subtropical, southern subtropical and tropical countries occur over time. Moreover, there are education, government, morphological, health, economic, and behavioral factors contributing to the growth of COVID-19. Multivariate analysis via visual attribution of explainable Convolution-LSTM is utilized to see high contributing factors responsible for the growth of daily COVID-19 cases. For future works, data to be analyzed should be more detailed in terms of the region and the period where the time-series sample is acquired. The explainable Convolution-LSTM code is available here:https://github.com/cbasemaster/time-series-attribution
AIBx, artificial intelligence model to risk stratify thyroid nodules
Authors: Thomas Johnson , Haertling Tracy
Published: February 2021

Background

Current classification systems for thyroid nodules are very subjective. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have been used to decrease subjectivity in medical image interpretation. 1 out of 2 women over the age of 50 may have a thyroid nodule and at present the only way to exclude malignancy is through invasive procedures. Hence, there exists a need for noninvasive objective classification of thyroid nodules. Some cancers have benign appearance on ultrasonogram. Hence, we decided to create an image similarity algorithm rather than image classification algorithm.

Methods

Ultrasound images of thyroid nodules from patients who underwent either biopsy or thyroid surgery from February of 2012 through February of 2017 in our institution were used to create AI models. Nodules were excluded if there was no definitive diagnosis of benignity or malignancy. 482 nodules met the inclusion criteria and all available images from these nodules were used to create the AI models. Later, these AI models were used to test 103 thyroid nodules which underwent biopsy or surgery from March of 2017 through July of 2018.

Results

Negative predictive value of the image similarity model was 93.2%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and accuracy of the model was 87.8%, 78.5%, 65.9% and 81.5% respectively.

Conclusion

When compared to published results of ACR TIRADS and ATA classification system, our image similarity model had comparable negative predictive value with better sensitivity specificity and positive predictive value. By using image similarity AI models, we can eliminate subjectivity and decrease the number of unnecessary biopsies. Using image similarity AI model, we were able to create an explainable AI model which increases physician’s confidence in the predictions.
Risk-taking behavior and sustained attention after a night shift: an observational study in healthcare professionals
Authors: Bruno S. , Cruz-Sanabria F. , Bazzani A. , Frumento P. , Faraguna U.
Published: February 2021

Study Objectives

Night work plays an irreplaceable role in healthcare systems. However, sleep loss due to night shifts can negatively affect healthcare workers’ cognition. Identifying individual variables predicting night shift tolerance may help to mitigate the negative consequences of sleep loss on workers’ and patients’ safety. This study aims to explore, in a healthcare workers’ sample, which variables predict the possible impairment in sustained attention and increase in risk-taking behavior after a night shift.

Methods

22 healthcare workers (avg. age 39.4 ± 11.5 y, 63% females) participated in the experiment. Participants wore a wrist actigraph during a night shift and the preceding 6 days. At the beginning (t0) and at the end (t1) of the night shift, they underwent an assessment of sustained attention (Psychomotor Vigilance Task, PVT) and risk-taking behavior (Balloon Analogue Risk Task, BART). Questionnaires on risk propensity (Domain-Specific Risk Taking, DOSPERT) and on demographics were also administered. Linear regression models were estimated to disentangle the effect of age, risk propensity and actigraphically-defined sleep metrics on cognitive variables.

Results

Wake after sleep onset (WASO) significantly predicted t1-t0 PVT metric “major lapses” (β=-0.11, p=0.0007) while age and DOSPERT significantly predicted t1-t0 BART score (β=-0.26, p=0.023 and β=-0.097, p=0.043, respectively).

Conclusions

Sleep parameters predict the impairment in sustained attention, while the combination of age and risk propensity predicts an increase in risk-taking behavior. The implementation of measures to prevent cognitive decline during night shifts should be designed according to the type of tasks workers must accomplish.