bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Climate change impacts on global potato yields: a review
Authors: Adekanmbi Toyin , Wang Xiuquan , Basheer Sana , Liu Suqi , Yang Aili , Cheng Huiyan
Published: November 2023

Potatoes as a food crop contribute to zero hunger: Sustainable Development Goal 2. Over the years, the global potato supply has increased by more than double consumption. Changing climatic conditions are a significant determinant of crop growth and development due to the impacts of meteorological conditions, such as temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation, on yields, placing nations under the threat of food insecurity. Potatoes are prone to climatic variables such as heat, precipitation, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), droughts, and unexpected frosts. A crop simulation model (CSM) is useful for assessing the effects of climate and various cultivation environments on potato growth and yields. This article aims to review recent literature on known and potential effects of climate change on global potato yields and further highlights tools and methods for assessing those effects. In particular, this review will explore (1) global potato production, growth and varieties; (2) a review of the mechanisms by which changing climates impact potato yields; (3) a review of CSMs as tools for assessing the impacts of climate change on potato yields, and (4) most importantly, this review identifies critical gaps in data availability, modeling tools, and adaptation measures, that lays a foundation for future research toward sustainable potato production under the changing climate.
Snapper: high-sensitive detection of methylation motifs based on Oxford Nanopore reads
Authors: Konanov Dmitry N , Babenko Vladislav V , Belova Aleksandra M , Madan Arina G , Boldyreva Daria I , Glushenko Oksana E , Butenko Ivan O , Fedorov Dmitry E , Manolov Alexander I , Krivonos Danil V , Lazarev Vassilii N , Govorun Vadim M , Ilina Elena N
Published: November 2023

Motivation

The Oxford Nanopore technology has a great potential for the analysis of methylated motifs in genomes, including whole-genome methylome profiling. However, we found that there are no methylation motifs detection algorithms, which would be sensitive enough and return deterministic results. Thus, the MEME suit does not extract all Helicobacter pylori methylation sites de novo even using the iterative approach implemented in the most up-to-date methylation analysis tool Nanodisco.

Results

We present Snapper, a new highly sensitive approach, to extract methylation motif sequences based on a greedy motif selection algorithm. Snapper does not require manual control during the enrichment process and has enrichment sensitivity higher than MEME coupled with Tombo or Nanodisco instruments that was demonstrated on H.pylori strain J99 studied earlier by the PacBio technology and on four external datasets representing different bacterial species. We used Snapper to characterize the total methylome of a new H.pylori strain A45. At least four methylation sites that have not been described for H.pylori earlier were revealed. We experimentally confirmed the presence of a new CCAG-specific methyltransferase and inferred a gene encoding a new CCAAK-specific methyltransferase.

Availability and implementation

Snapper is implemented using Python and is freely available as a pip package named “snapper-ont.” Also, Snapper and the demo dataset are available in Zenodo (10.5281/zenodo.10117651).
Design optimization of a grid-tied microgrid for a residential community in southern Bangladesh
Authors: Hasan Sayeed , Hazari Md. Rifat , Jahan Effat , Mannan Mohammad Abdul
Published: November 2023

Growing energy demand, diminishing fossil fuel reserves and geopolitical tensions are serious concerns for any country’s energy strategy and security. These factors have a greater impact on developing countries, as many of them rely largely on traditional energy resources. Cleaner energy generation is the viable alternative for mitigating these problems, as well as achieving energy independence and tackling climate change. The article discusses planning and design optimization of a residential community microgrid based on multiple renewable resources. In particular, the design and techno-economic assessment of a grid-tied hybrid microgrid for meeting the electricity demand of an alluvial region, Urir Char, located in southern Bangladesh, was addressed. Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources is used for the evaluation and it is supplemented by a fuzzy-logic-based load profile design strategy. In addition to the analysis, a predictive load-shifting-based demand management is also introduced. Several cases were considered for the studies and, after considering several criteria, a grid-tied system comprising a photovoltaic array, wind turbine and energy storage system was found to be the best fit for powering the loads. The suggested system reduces the life-cycle cost by 18.3%, the levelized cost of energy by 61.9% and emissions by 77.2% when compared with the grid-only option. Along with the microgrid design, cooking emissions and energy categorization were also discussed.
High-tech development for “left behind” places: lessons-learnt from the Ruhr cybersecurity ecosystem
Authors: Butzin Anna , Flögel Franz
Published: November 2023

Unlike development strategies for prosperous regions and their prioritisation of high-tech sectors, alternative strategies for left behind places are suggested that shift to foundational economies, community-based social innovation and well-being. While we support this emphasis, we see a tendency to neglect the role of change agents engaged with research and teaching in high-tech domains for initiating new regional growth paths. This study shows how initial funding has promoted change agents and the emergence of today’s cybersecurity ecosystem in the old industrial region of the Ruhr. The ecosystem generates fast-growing high-tech start-ups and contributes to positive regional identification. Our paper suggests combining alternative development strategies and the support of change agency from high-tech domains to develop left behind places.
Lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) displays negative phototaxis and conditional hygrotaxis
Authors: Sammarco Ben C , Crossley Michael S
Published: November 2023

Arthropods use a variety of environmental cues to navigate between and locate hosts. In agricultural systems, clarifying the relevant cues and their effects on arthropod behavior can inform management practices to reduce or inhibit the activity of arthropod pests. The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) is a ubiquitous arthropod pest of broiler house chicken production, and while the patterns of movement and behavior of A. diaperinus are well documented, the specific environmental factors that govern these patterns are not known. We conducted behavioral assays testing the response of A. diaperinus adults and larvae to different wavelengths of light and to the presence of water. Alphitobius diaperinus displayed a significant repulsion from white, green, red, and blue light, while larvae consistently sought shelter and displayed no behavioral change in response to light. Dehydrated adult beetles displayed an attraction to water while hydrated beetles displayed a repulsion to water. Regardless of the availability of water, dehydrated beetles displayed a reduced repulsion from light. Taken together, these results indicate that A. diaperinus will hide from sources of light unless they are dehydrated. Knowledge of the environmental cues that influence the behavior of A. diaperinus could be used to improve methods of trapping, monitoring, and controlling populations of A. diaperinus in experimental and commercial settings.
Rapid atrial pacing above the maximum sensor rate: a case report
Authors: Bodziock George M , Kozak Patrick M , Pruitt Carrie , Dillon John F , Bhave Prashant D
Published: November 2023

Background

While ventricular-based timing modes are known to cause elevated atrial pacing above the lower rate when intrinsic atrioventricular (AV) conduction is shorter than programmed AV delay, there is one case report in 2015 by Jafri et al. where rapid atrial pacing was induced in an Abbott device set DDI with a lower rate of 90 by an unsensed premature atrial complex and slow intrinsic AV conduction allowing pacemaker ‘crossover.’

Case summary

We present a very unusual case of rapid atrial pacing at >180 b.p.m. due to a perfect storm of events that we believe has not been previously reported. A patient with a St. Jude Abbott DCPPM set DDDR had an atrial tachyarrhythmia causing a mode switch to DDIR, which uses ventricular-based timing. This was followed by a period of rapid atrial pacing that terminated spontaneously.

Discussion

This phenomenon depended on an initial atrial tachyarrhythmia causing a mode switch to DDIR. In addition, the set lower rate would not have led to a short enough calculated ventriculo-atrial interval (VAI), but because rate responsive pacing was enabled, the calculated VAI was short enough to promote the crossover in setting of slow AV conduction and allow the rapid atrial pacing. Understanding this unique mechanism requires careful attention to pacemaker timing cycles and appreciation of the limitations of device programming. While it appears that a similar phenomenon was reported once in the literature, we believe that this episode of rapid atrial pacing was even more serendipitous due to the unlikely series of events required for its inception.
Risk of arrhythmias following COVID-19: nationwide self-controlled case series and matched cohort study
Authors: Katsoularis Ioannis , Jerndal Hanna , Kalucza Sebastian , Lindmark Krister , Fonseca-Rodríguez Osvaldo , Connolly Anne-Marie Fors
Published: November 2023

Aims

COVID-19 increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially thrombotic complications. There is less knowledge on the risk of arrhythmias after COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to quantify the risk of arrhythmias following COVID-19.

Methods and results

This study was based on national register data on all individuals in Sweden who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 1 February 2020 and 25 May 2021. The outcome was incident cardiac arrhythmias, defined as international classification of diseases (10th revision) codes in the registers as follows: atrial arrhythmias; paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias; bradyarrhythmias; and ventricular arrhythmias. A self-controlled case series study and a matched cohort study, using conditional Poisson regression, were performed to determine the incidence rate ratio and risk ratio, respectively, for an arrhythmia event following COVID-19.A total of 1 057 174 exposed (COVID-19) individuals were included in the study as well as 4 074 844 matched unexposed individuals. The incidence rate ratio of atrial tachycardias, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardias, and bradyarrhythmias was significantly increased up to 60, 180, and 14 days after COVID-19, respectively. In the matched cohort study, the risk ratio during Days 1–30 following COVID-19/index date was 12.28 (10.79–13.96), 5.26 (3.74–7.42), and 3.36 (2.42–4.68), respectively, for the three outcomes. The risks were generally higher in older individuals, in unvaccinated individuals, and in individuals with more severe COVID-19. The risk of ventricular arrhythmias was not increased.

Conclusion

There is an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias following COVID-19, and particularly increased in elderly vulnerable individuals, as well as in individuals with severe COVID-19.
Discrimination of pharmacodynamic components and volatile compounds of Poria cocos cultivated with five different materials based on GC-IMS analysis
Authors: Wang Yinan , Zhou Fei , Wang Hui , Zhang Jinping , Xu Hongxia
Published: November 2023

Objectives

The chemical constituents of Poria cocos grown with different substrates vary significantly; thus, identifying and comparing their biomarkers are important.

Materials and Methods

Herein, the chemical constituents of Poria cocos obtained with five different substrates were assessed using gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS), high-performance liquid chromatography and multivariate statistical analysis.

Results

The content of moisture, ash, alcohol-soluble matter, and heavy metals, except for those of the miscellaneous wood Poria cocos, conform to the specifications defined in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (Edition 2020), and the polysaccharide contents are all greater than 57%.

Conclusions

Based on GC-IMS and the established fingerprints, 87 compounds were detected, 70 of which were identified in each group. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed seven compounds (two esters, three alcohols, and two aldehydes), which could be considered as potential marker compounds for discrimination.
Patent Dependency under European and European Union Patent Law – A Regulatory Gap
Authors: Ullrich Hanns
Published: November 2023

Technological progress generally is not disruptive but sequential. Innovations build on prior innovations, typically by presenting improvements or complements. Under patent law, such follow-on innovation meets with an obstacle if the use of the invention underlying it infringes a prior patent, and if, for one reason or another, the owner of that prior patent prefers, as it may, to refuse granting a license. It is only in case the follow-on (or ‘second’) invention involves an important technical advance of considerable economic significance in relation to the invention claimed in the prior (or ‘first’) patent that in Europe, in accordance with Art. 31 TRIPS, national patent laws provide for a right of the owner of the second patent to obtain, by way of a decision of the patent office or of a court, a dependency license. By contrast, the EU’s system of unitary patent protection does not provide for a dependency licensing regime. Instead, Regulation 1257/2021 on the European patent with unitary effect refers the matter to national law. This means that despite the importance of its invention the owner of a dependent patent will never obtain a mandatory license covering the Internal Market but only territorially limited national licenses for which it must apply separately in each Member State, go through multiple different procedures and comply with different national requirements. The absurdity of such hindering of follow-on innovation in the Internal Market by regulatory abstention is no less as regards national patents that the European Patent Office grants as a bundle in the form of the European patent and that are now additionally held together by the uniform infringement rules of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. After all, that category of a European patent is supposed to represent an equivalent alternative to the unitary patent and, therefore, ought to meet the same Internal Market requirements. Therefore, this study proposes to harmonize Member States’ dependency licensing regimes and to complement the system of unitary patent protection accordingly. To this end, it presents the common principles of national regimes, analyzes the particular need for and characteristics of modern mandatory licensing rules and discusses the deficits of alternative approaches that might be available under EU competition law. A particular emphasis is put on distinguishing dependency licensing from compulsory licensing in the public interest, and on the functional complementarity existing between incentivizing inventions by patent protection and stimulating follow-on innovation by mandatory licensing regimes.
Proactive Infliximab Monitoring Improves the Rates of Transmural Remission in Crohn’s Disease: A Propensity Score–Matched Analysis
Authors: Fernandes Samuel Raimundo , Bernardo Sónia , Saraiva Sofia , Rita Gonçalves Ana , Moura Santos Paula , Valente Ana , Araújo Correia Luís , Cortez-Pinto Helena , Magro Fernando
Published: November 2023

Background

Few patients can reach transmural remission in Crohn’s disease (CD) with currently available therapies. Proactive optimization of infliximab (IFX) based on trough levels may potentially improve these results.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study including consecutive CD patients starting treatment with IFX. Rates of transmural remission were compared between patients with and without therapeutic drug monitoring (target level: 5-7 µg/mL). A propensity score–matched analysis was performed to adjust for potential confounders.

Results

A total of 195 CD patients were included, 57.9% receiving proactive therapeutic drug monitoring. The rates of transmural remission were higher in patients under proactive therapeutic drug monitoring (37.2% vs 18.3%; P = .004) with similar results in the propensity score–matched analysis (34.2% vs 17.1%; P = .025). In multivariate analysis, proactive therapeutic drug monitoring was independently associated with transmural remission (odds ratio, 2.95; 95% confidence interval, 1.44-6.06; P = .003).

Conclusions

Proactive optimization of IFX based on trough levels increases the rates of transmural remission in CD.
Bayesian interpretation of non-inferiority in transcatheter versus surgical aortic valve replacement trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Heuts Samuel , Kawczynski Michal J , Sardari Nia Peyman , Maessen Jos G , Biondi-Zoccai Giuseppe , Gabrio Andrea
Published: November 2023

OBJECTIVES

The concept of non-inferiority is widely adopted in randomized trials comparing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). However, uncertainty exists regarding the long-term outcomes of TAVR, and non-inferiority may be difficult to assess. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing TAVR and SAVR, with a specific emphasis on the non-inferiority margin for 5-year all-cause mortality.

METHODS

A systematic search was applied to 3 electronic databases. Randomized trials comparing TAVR and SAVR were included. Bayesian methods were implemented to evaluate the posterior probability of non-inferiority at different trial non-inferiority margins under either a vague, Cauchy, or a literature-based prior. Primary outcomes were 5-year actuarial all-cause mortality, and the probability of non-inferiority at various transformed trial non-inferiority margins. Secondary outcomes were long-term survival and 1- and 2-year actuarial survival.

RESULTS

Eight trials (n = 8698 patients) were included. Kaplan–Meier-derived 5-year survival was 61.6% (95% CI 59.8–63.5%) for TAVR, and 63.7% (95% CI 61.9–65.6%) for SAVR. Six trials (n = 6370 patients) reported all-cause mortality at 5-year follow-up. Under a vague prior, the posterior median relative risk for all-cause mortality of TAVR was 1.14, compared to SAVR (95% credible interval 1.06–1.22, probability of relative risk <1.00 = 0.01%, I2 = 0%). Similar results in terms of point estimate and uncertainty measures were obtained using frequentist methods. Based on the various trial non-inferiority margins, the results of the analysis suggest that non-inferiority at 5 years is no longer likely.

CONCLUSIONS

It is unlikely that TAVR is still non-inferior to SAVR at 5 years in terms of all-cause mortality.
Monitoring for adverse drug events of high-risk medications with a computerized clinical decision support system: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Nezu Mari , Sakuma Mio , Nakamura Tsukasa , Sonoyama Tomohiro , Matsumoto Chisa , Takeuchi Jiro , Ohta Yoshinori , Kosaka Shinji , Morimoto Takeshi
Published: November 2023

Monitoring is recommended to prevent severe adverse drug events, but such examinations are often missed. To increase the number of monitoring that should be ordered for high-risk medications, we introduced a clinical decision support system (CDSS) that alerts and orders the monitoring for high-risk medications in an outpatient setting. We conducted a 2-year prospective cohort study at a tertiary care teaching hospital before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) the activation of a CDSS. The CDSS automatically provided alerts for liver function tests for vildagliptin, thyroid function tests for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and multikinase inhibitors (MKIs), and a slit-lamp examination of the eyes for oral amiodarone when outpatients were prescribed the medications but not examined for a fixed period. The order of laboratory tests automatically appeared if alert was accepted. The alerts were hidden and did not appear on the display before activation of the CDSS. The outcomes were the number of prescriptions with alerts and examinations. During the study period, 330 patients in phase 1 and 307 patients in phase 2 were prescribed vildagliptin, 20 patients in phase 1 and 19 patients in phase 2 were prescribed ICIs or MKIs, and 72 patients in phase 1 and 66 patients in phase 2 were prescribed oral amiodarone. The baseline characteristics were similar between the phases. In patients prescribed vildagliptin, the proportion of alerts decreased significantly (38% vs 27%, P < 0.0001), and the proportion of examinations increased significantly (0.9% vs 4.0%, P < 0.0001) after activation of the CDSS. In patients prescribed ICIs or MKIs, the proportion of alerts decreased significantly (43% vs 11%, P < 0.0001), and the proportion of examinations increased numerically, but not significantly (2.6% vs 7.0%, P = 0.13). In patients prescribed oral amiodarone, the proportion of alerts decreased (86% vs 81%, P = 0.055), and the proportion of examinations increased (2.2% and 3.0%, P = 0.47); neither was significant. The CDSS has potential to increase the monitoring for high-risk medications. Our study also highlighted the limited acceptance rate of monitoring by CDSS. Further studies are needed to explore the generalizability to other medications and the cause of the limited acceptance rates among physicians.
The role of inbreeding depression on productive performance in the Italian Holstein breed
Authors: Ablondi Michela , Summer Andrea , Stocco Giorgia , Finocchiaro Raffaella , van Kaam Jan-Thijs , Cassandro Martino , Dadousis Christos , Sabbioni Alberto , Cipolat-Gotet Claudio
Published: November 2023

Inbreeding depression has become an urgent issue in cosmopolitan breeds where the massive genetic progress achieved in the latest generations is counterbalanced by a dramatic loss of genetic diversity causing increased health issues. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate inbreeding depression on productive traits in Holstein dairy cattle. More precisely, we aimed to i) determine the level of inbreeding in 27,735 Italian Holstein dairy cows using pedigree and genotype data, ii) quantify the effect of inbreeding on 305-d in milk yield (MY; kg), fat yield (FY; kg), and protein yield (PY; kg) based on different statistical approaches, iii) determine if recent inbreeding has a more harmful impact than ancestral ones, and iv) quantify chromosomal homozygosity effect on productive traits. Quality control was performed on the autosomal chromosomes resulting in a final dataset of 84,443 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Four statistical models were used to evaluate the presence of inbreeding depression, which included linear regression analysis and division of FPED and FROH into percentile classes. Moreover, FROH was partitioned into i) length classes to assess the role of recent and ancestral inbreeding and ii) chromosome-specific contributions (FROH-CHR). Results evidenced that inbreeding negatively impacted the productive performance of Italian Holstein Friesian cows. However, differences between the estimated FPED and FROH coefficients resulted in different estimates of inbreeding depression. For instance, a 1% increase in FPED and FROH was associated with a decrease in MY of about 44 and 61 kg (P < 0.01). Further, when considering the extreme inbreeding percentile classes moving from the 5th lowest to the 95th highest, there was a reduction of −263 kg and −561 kg per lactation for FPED and FROH. Increased inbreeding, estimated by FPED and FROH, had also a negative effect on PY and FY, either fit as a regressor or percentile classes. When evaluating the impact of inbreeding based on runs of homozygosity (ROH) length classes, longer ROH (over 8 Mb) had a negative effect in all traits, indicating that recent inbreeding might be more harmful than the ancestral one. Finally, results within chromosome homozygosity highlighted specific chromosomes with a more deleterious effect on productive traits.
Oral toxicity of an artificial sweetener sucralose on the German cockroach (Blattodea: Ectobiidae) and its impact on water balance and gut microbiome
Authors: Lee Shao-Hung , Choe Dong-Hwan , Rust Michael K , Lee Chow-Yang
Published: November 2023

Artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners are indigestible by most animals. Some sweeteners are orally toxic to insects and have received recent interest as potential safe insecticides due to their low mammalian toxicity. In this study, we investigated the oral toxicity of sucralose on insecticide-susceptible and resistant German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.). In a nonchoice test, we evaluated 5, 10, and 20% sucralose solutions. Depending on the cockroach strains, mean mortality ranged from 62.5 to 92.5%, 15 to 55%, and 2.5 to 27.5% for 20, 10, and 5% sucralose, respectively. Next, we measured the impact of a 20% sucralose treatment on water loss rates in the cockroach strains. All strains lost 23.0–30.29% of body water by 6 d. Dehydrated cockroaches were more prone to be killed by sucralose than nondehydrated ones. Lastly, we evaluated the effect of 20% sucralose treatment on gut bacterial composition and found the diversity of gut bacteria in treated cockroaches was significantly reduced after 3 days, implicating a rapid change in the alimentary environment.
Association Between the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Adverse Outcomes in Children Aged <2 Years with Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Authors: Khanfar Asim N , Amarin Justin Z , Hayek Haya , Qwaider Yasmeen Z , Stopczynski Tess , Spieker Andrew J , Chappell James D , Wrenn Jesse O , Schmitz Jonathan , Halasa Natasha B
Published: November 2023

Background

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of hospitalization in children <2 years old. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a readily available marker of inflammation that has been studied as a prognostic marker in various infectious diseases. However, its utility in children with RSV remains underexplored. We aimed to determine the association between NLR and adverse outcomes in children <2 years old with RSV.

Methods

We retrieved records for all clinician-ordered multiplex respiratory viral panel tests for common respiratory pathogens (including RSV) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 01/01/2018 and 12/01/2022. We identified RSV-positive children <2 years old who had a complete blood count (CBC) performed with absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) ≥2.00×103/μL and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1.70×103/μL. Any child with a medical encounter >14 days following a previous encounter was considered a distinct case. We used logistic regression to assess the association between (log-transformed) NLR and adverse outcomes defined as hospitalization, supplemental oxygen use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and intubation.

Results

Of 2,395 RSV-positive children <2 years old, 446 (18.6%) had a CBC performed. Of those, 349 (78.3%) met the stated thresholds for ALC and ANC. The median age of the cohort was 3.7 months (IQR, 1.6–11.6 months), 178 (51.0%) were male, and 269 (77.1%) were hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, 185 (68.8%) received supplemental oxygen, 113 (42.0%) were admitted to the ICU, and 45 (16.7%) were intubated. The odds ratio associated with a two-fold difference in NLR was significant for hospitalization (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.13–1.91; p=0.005) and ICU admission (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.07–1.78; p=0.013) but not for supplemental oxygen use (OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.87–1.49; p=0.34) or intubation (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.96–1.83; p=0.092; Table 1).

Conclusion

Higher NLR was associated with hospitalization and ICU admission in children <2 years with RSV. These findings suggest that NLR has prognostic value in children with RSV.
The Methodology and Outcomes of Adapting an Antibiotic Selection Decision Pathway (ASDPwy) for the Management of a Child with Cancer and Fever (CCF) in Pediatric Cancer Units in Latin America
Authors: Avilés Martha , de la Garza Eduardo Arias , Esposto Sofia , Martinez Ma Elena , Nava Alejandra , Vaquera Denisse , Caniza Miguela A
Published: November 2023

Background

A care pathway (CPW) is a standardized, evidence-based interdisciplinary care management plan, which identify an appropriate sequence of clinical interventions, timeframes, milestones and expected outcomes for a comparable patient group. We aimed to adapt an ASDPwy for management of CCF in Latin America (LA)

Methods

A working group (WG) of the St Jude Global ID network was established in June 2022. For a comprehensive review of the existing literature, the WG collaborated to identify usable care pathways for antibiotic selection during febrile episodes in children with cancer. We reviewed PubMed, Web of Science, Google were searched using the following terms: “Care Pathways, Critical Pathways Care Map, Clinical Paths, Clinical Pathways, Critical Paths” AND “Fever” OR "Anti-Inflammatory Agents" OR "Anti-Inflammatory Agents, “Non-Steroidal" OR "Heat-Shock Proteins" OR "Hyperthermia, Induced" OR "Malignant Hyperthermia" OR Pyrogens AND infections AND neutropenia OR neutrophil* AND cancer OR oncology OR tumor OR tumor OR neoplasm OR malignancy, filtered for the last 10 years, in individuals aged birth-18 years.

To identify suitable care pathways, a rubric using available information was built and used to select the top CPWs.

In a dedicated, virtual meeting, the WG discussed and selected top 3 CPW and the WG assessed how these CPWs could be use in a LA context. This discussion resulted in the selection of a CPW closest to the needs of LA, adapt and contextualize to LA reality. This was done by the following steps, based on Dizon [ref] and Ferver [ref] models.

Results

The WG followed the following timeline of events:

The WG presented the ASDPwy as illustrated below

Conclusion

This is the first adaptation of a ASDPwy in CCF in LA. The next step before applying this ASDPwy is to evaluate the performance of the tool and the satisfaction of the users. The long-term plan is to disseminate the use of this tool in the Latin American region and if applicable share it globally.
RSV Infection and Preliminary Immunodeficiency Scoring Index (ISI) Results Among Pediatric Hematopoietic Cell Recipients (HCT) and Solid Organ Transplant Recipients (SOT): A Multi-Site U.S. Study
Authors: Ross Hailey S , Dallas Ronald H , Pardasani Sapna A , Ferrolino Jose A , Burton Madeline C , Maron Gabriela M , Danziger-Isakov Lara A , Englund Janet A , Ogimi Chikara , Hijano Diego R
Published: November 2023

Background

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is among the most common causes of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in children, with poorer outcomes more likely in immunocompromised hosts. The Immunodeficiency Scoring Index (ISI) to stratify the risk of severe disease has been developed and applied in adults undergoing transplantation with RSV infections. However, such scores are not available for children undergoing transplantation. Using a retrospective multi-site study, we developed an ISI score index for predicting RSV disease progression in pediatric transplant recipients.

Methods

Pediatric (< 18 years old at transplant) HCT and SOT recipients at 22 U.S. transplant centers who underwent transplant (2010-2019) and had RSV detected within 365 days of conditioning or transplant were included. De-identified data were entered by the participating sites in the REDCap database. The ISI score criteria are listed in Table 1. The cases were summarized using the ISI score. Progression to LRTI and death related to RSV were summarized using the ISI score. Fisher’s exact and non-parametric tests were used to compare ISI risk categories with the outcomes of interest (progression to LRTI and RSV-related mortality).

Results

In total, 352 patients were included in this analysis (220 HCT and 132 SOT). The majority were male (55%) and Caucasian/white (58.2%), with a median age of 4 years (range, 0 – 17 years). In total, 27 cases progressed to LRTI, and three deaths were related to RSV. The median ISI score was 1 (range: 0–10). The cases were categorized into low (245, 69.6%), moderate (81, 23%), or high (26, 7.4%) ISI risk categories (Table 1). The ISI score categories did not significantly predict progression to LRTI- or RSV-related deaths.

Conclusion

RSV is associated with poor outcomes in immunocompromised pediatric patients. Development of immunodeficiency scoring index criteria could prove helpful in categorizing the risk for pediatric patients. Additional work is needed to develop a scoring system that effectively predicts pediatric immunocompromised patients at the greatest risk of RSV-related morbidity and mortality. Further investigation of our data from this large multi-site study is needed to assess all potential risk factors and scoring criteria definitions.
The Politics of Interpreting Mughal Monuments
Authors: Juneja Monica
Published: November 2023

The significance of architectural vestiges of the past lies beyond the intentions of the patrons who had first commissioned the buildings. This chapter investigates the changing interpretations of Mughal architecture as its material aspects and its functions shifted in new historical conditions, from the eighteenth century to the present. How do communities of scholars, administrators, or members of the local population relate to historical buildings, now classified as monuments, in the centuries following their construction? Drawing insights from memory studies, the chapter suggests that multiple, often contesting interpretations of Mughal buildings are as concerned with the ways individuals and communities choose to imagine the past as with their projections of the future. While contesting claims over the interpretation of Mughal monuments have acquired a particular virulence in postcolonial India, many of the arguments they deploy build on the assumptions of earlier scholarship about the Mughal architecture, published in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Studying the politics of interpreting Mughal monuments helps us get a deeper sense of the unstable meanings attached to the past and urges us to be self-reflexive when these meanings are mobilized to redress what we imagine to be the wrongs of that past.
Ulster-Scots Song
Authors: Ferguson Frank
Published: November 2023

This chapter explores the significance of Ulster-Scots song in the long eighteenth century. The period after the signing of the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement saw many statements about the existence or otherwise of an Ulster-Scots musical tradition. This chapter will draw upon the work of a number of songwriters in the eighteenth century as well as interventions by archivists, collectors, and critics in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries to gather, preserve, and disseminate knowledge about Ulster-Scots song and musical traditions. It contends that significant interplay took place between Scottish and Irish song, balladry, and tunes in the long eighteenth century, and it traces in particular the impact of Scottish song within both the culture of various communities and the print industry in Ireland. In the early eighteenth century, poetry and song in the Scots language proved an important constituent of the Irish literary arena and acted as a means to focus not merely upon Scotland’s politics, history, and culture within Great Britain and Ireland, but also to examine the politics, history, culture, and religion of northerners in Ireland whose Scottishness began to take on an increased significance in their self-representation.
Hospitality and the Shaping of the Tourist(ic) in Modern Japan, 1890–1940
Authors: Elliott Andrew
Published: November 2023

This chapter provides an overview of the notion of hospitality shaping tourism in modern Japan. It defines the problem of the Westerner as the default tourist subject. From the 1890s to the late 1930s, tourism operators and policy-makers struggled to negotiate the meaning of tourism, and the position and place of Japan in the tourism world, from within a global system dominated by Western imperial states and Europe-based international institutions. The chapter explains how tourism was a tool that allowed comparisons between Japan and other states and evaluates the process of self-fashioning. It cites how hospitality worked as a means to demarcate the shifting and ambiguous boundaries between modern Japan and foreign others while also claiming the imaginary and material space within Japan and its empire.
The Intangible Heritage of Children’s Musical Cultures
Authors: Barrett Margaret S.
Published: November 2023

In 2003 UNESCO established the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in response to concerns that a range of global cultural expressions were at risk. ICH encompasses skills, knowledge, performances, and representations recognized in and passed on through communities. Consideration of music as ICH is a relatively recent phenomenon with early publications focusing on the preservation of “world musics.” While children are recognized as the next generation of musical culture-bearers, there has been little explicit focus on children’s musical cultures. Children’s contributions to ICH, including their invented song-making, dances, and games, constitute an emerging research domain. This chapter provides (1) a brief historical overview of key contributions to the collection and analysis of children’s musical culture; (2) an argument for recognizing children’s musical cultures as contribution to the store of ICH; and (3) consideration of policy and practice implications for ongoing conservation and sustainability of children’s musical cultures.
Malayalam and Core Dravidian Phonology
Authors: Krishnan Gayathri G. , Raghunathan Arathi , Sarma Vaijayanthi M.
Published: November 2023

Children’s productions, whether they are identical to or deviate from target adult productions, are revelatory of both the grammatical processes that govern early grammars and those that underlie the target grammars. Malayalam is a Dravidian language, but its vocabulary has many loanwords, especially from Sanskrit. This makes phonological and lexical learning potentially challenging to young learners but also offers a way to uncover the relationships between child and adult phonologies. This chapter discusses the salient segmental and syllable-structure properties of the core phonology of Malayalam and provides a detailed analysis of the spontaneous productions at similar ages of monolingual, Malayalam acquiring children, and bilingual, Malayalam and English acquiring children, with the two-fold aims of discovering the target properties that are manifested in the developing phonology, and recovering what the child phonologies reveal in turn about the core phonology.
Illiberal Memory Politics
Authors: Mälksoo Maria
Published: November 2023

This chapter conceptualizes the parameters of illiberal memory politics against the backdrop of its mirror notion—liberal memory politics—and its respective ethics. If memory politics is an unavoidable aspect of political life, its illiberal version has been pronounced a negative example of liberal memory. Commonly associated with the nationalization and centralization of historical research, restrictions on educational freedom and the advancement of “patriotic” history, and the delegitimization of competing mnemonical narratives—including the securitization of desirable perspectives on the past and the criminalization of undesirable ones—illiberal memory politics places restrictions on freedom of speech and historical research. The present conceptual work delineating the features, goals, and implications of illiberal memory politics is illustrated with examples from militant memory laws and policies in Eastern Europe, as well as contestations around the commemoration of settler colonialism and racist legacies in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Justice of Reparations
Authors: Torpey John
Published: November 2023

The chapter argues that the term “reparations” is something of a misnomer that may distract from the successful pursuit of justice. The distraction arises from the ways in which the stress on the “pastness” of wrongs makes it more difficult to address them in the present. Reparations politics stresses “past” or “historical” injustices to distinguish its field of activity from that of those fighting “contemporary” injustices such as income inequality, environmental racism, gender discrimination, invasions of electronic privacy, and the like. The emphasis on the historical dimension of the wrongs on which attention is focused is thus a crucial part of the self-understanding of those pursuing reparations. The emphasis in reparations politics on “past” injustices as the distinctive feature of the wrong to be dealt with is somewhat misleading, however. After all, virtually all of life is “the past”; we may live it out now but in an instant it is over and becomes part of “the past.” Ultimately, past and present flow into one another in a way that obliterates the distinction between them and makes both subject to the requirements of justice. The invocation of “reparations” as the goal of the pursuit of justice may thus be a sort of illusion—useful in certain respects for concentrating awareness of the ways in which we are the heirs of wrongs from the past, but sometimes an unhelpful distraction from the obligation to overcome those injustices as they are perpetuated in the present.
The International Entrepreneurs of Transitional Justice
Authors: Subotic Jelena
Published: November 2023

What are the consequences of transitional justice embeddedness in global liberalism? This chapter deals with a small subset of this larger question to offer a critical analysis of the assumptions, premises, instruments, and incentives of international entrepreneurs of transitional justice. The chapter’s principal argument is that because international transitional justice entrepreneurship is embedded in ideology and practices of global liberalism, it is constrained by its technocratic focus on legalization, professionalization, and specialization. As transitional justice steadily expands into broader issues, such as post-conflict peace accords and development projects, and embraces even longer-term goals, such as instituting democracy, rule of law, and a culture of human rights, this can create a tension between the liberal practice of international transitional justice entrepreneurs and the needs and experiences of their subjects.
Pierre Bourdieu,Outline of a Theory of Practice
Authors: Topper Keith
Published: November 2023

Originally published in French in 1972 as Esquisse d’une théorie de la pratique and appearing five years later in a substantially revised and restructured English translation, Outline of a Theory of Practice (OTP) is the book that first brought Pierre Bourdieu fame among Anglophone readers. It remains today one of Bourdieu’s two most influential works and is arguably the most well-known statement of his epistemological and methodological views. This chapter explores the evolution and structure of the book, its central ideas and arguments, its place in the trajectory of Bourdieu’s thought, and its reception, impact, and legacy within the field of political theory. While OTP is not the most fully developed statement of Bourdieu’s views or his key concepts, the book provides much more than mere intellectual scaffolding. It offers a fascinating and often riveting glimpse at Bourdieu’s thought during a pivotal moment of transition from structuralism to post-structuralism.
Sexual Injustice
Authors: Gore Ellie , Smith Nicola J.
Published: November 2023

Sexuality—broadly defined to include sexual practices, behaviors, desires, and identities—remains a key site of political struggle around the world. While mainstream (and some critical) International Political Economy (IPE) has tended to overlook the importance of sexuality, there is a rich tradition of feminist and queer scholarship that locates sexual subjectivities, labor, and oppression firmly within the boundaries of the global capitalist economy. This chapter explores some of the material bases of sexual injustice and explains what a queer approach to IPE tells us about the relationship between capitalism and sexuality. It examines the relationship between sexuality and IPE across three primary dimensions: hetero- (and homo-)normativity and the nation-state; hetero- (and homo-)normativity and global governance; and the everyday political economies of queer lives and resistance. The chapter argues that it is impossible to understand the social relations of global (re)production and the types of exploitation and oppression they entail without paying attention to the social construction of sexuality (and therefore to the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ people). Moreover, since capitalism constitutes, and is constituted by, sexuality across multiple scales and modes of governance, sexual injustices are fundamentally globalized in character. This means that scholars of IPE must not only interrogate the sexual politics of neoliberalism and how this plays out in different parts of the world, but also examine how the legacies of slavery and colonialism continue to shape global terrains of sexual struggle and injustice.
European Neighbourhood Policy and EU Enlargement
Authors: Majkowska-Szulc Sylwia , Wierczyńska Karolina
Published: November 2023

The chapter focuses on the European Neighbourhood Policy, placing it not only within the framework of the policies of the European Union (EU), but also within the framework of public international law, on the one hand, pointing to the differences in the approach of organizations, and on the other hand, focusing on their common values and interests. Additionally, policies related to the enlargement of the Union and the withdrawal of its permanent members from it are discussed. The analysis indicates the achievements and challenges of neighbourhood policy of the EU taking into account the values promoted by the EU underlying the respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights and sharing common universal values and friendly relations within the borders of the concrete States.
The OSCE
Authors: Mihr Anja
Published: November 2023

Established in 1995, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) inherited several politically binding commitments from the 1975 Helsinki Accord: first, to respond to political and military security concerns among its member States; second, to tackle environmental and economic matters; and third, to strengthen democratic institutions, upholding human rights and the rule of law and, subsequently, international human rights law (IHRL). The office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the key agency to uphold IHRL among its fifty-seven participating States across Eurasia and North America. Over the years, the ‘Human Dimension Meetings’ turned into the main monitoring body to report on breaches and improvements of IHRL. But the fact that the OSCE-ODIHR does not have a legal human rights framework or treaty, let alone an accountability mechanism to hold its members States accountable for any misconduct, remains its weakness.