bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cushing Syndrome due to a Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Treated With Radiofrequency Ablation
Authors: Gugger Aristea Sideri , Fang Jiali , Visrodia Kavel H , Page-Wilson Gabrielle
Published: March 2023

Delayed diagnosis of Cushing syndrome (CS) results in advanced disease, treatment delays, and poor outcomes. We present a patient with ectopic ACTH syndrome (EAS) from a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) whose care posed diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. A 59-year-old female with classic Cushing stigmata, biochemical evidence of ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism, and a 5-mm pituitary lesion presented for inferior petrosal sinus sampling, which was contraindicated due to non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and acute/subacute strokes. Whole-body computed tomography (CT) scan was unrevealing, but elevations in chromogranin A and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) concentrations suggested EAS. Positron emission tomography-CT with gallium 68-DOTATATE demonstrated a 7-mm pancreatic tail lesion, suspicious for a pancreatic NET. The patient was not a surgical candidate and treatment with ketoconazole was complicated by hepatoxicity. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy and radiofrequency ablation of the lesion was pursued. Pathology confirmed ACTH immunoreactive low-grade pancreatic NET. Post procedure, sustained normalization of ACTH and cortisol was achieved. This case supports the utility of POMC measurements in the differential diagnosis of CS and the use of advanced nuclear imaging for tumor localization. For patients with functional pancreatic NET who are poor surgical candidates or intolerant of pharmacotherapy, novel endoscopic ablation may offer a low-risk therapeutic option and should be further investigated.
Marked Hypoleptinemia Precedes Overt Fat Loss in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-induced Acquired Generalized Lipodystrophy
Authors: Dhanasekaran Maheswaran , Sandooja Rashi , Higgins Alexandra S , Simha Vinaya
Published: March 2023

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting cancer cells that evade immune T-cell regulation have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic carcinomas. Unfortunately, secondary endocrinopathies associated with ICI, including adrenal insufficiency, primary hypothyroidism, autoimmune diabetes, and rarely hypoparathyroidism, are increasing. Lipodystrophy, presumably due to the autoimmune destruction of adipocytes, leading to metabolic complications, is a less recognized adverse effect of ICI therapy. We present a case of a 66-year-old Caucasian woman treated with pembrolizumab, an anti-programmed death 1 inhibitor, for metastatic lung adenocarcinoma. Fifteen months after the treatment initiation, she was found to have hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hepatic steatosis but without any evidence of autoimmune diabetes. She was also noted to have isolated buccal fat pad loss, raising suspicion of acquired lipodystrophy. Despite well-preserved subcutaneous fat over the trunk and limbs, she had undetectable serum leptin levels. Whole-body fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography scan showed diffuse mild FDG activity throughout the subcutaneous tissue, suggesting underlying inflammation. Over the next 3 months, she developed progressive fat loss leading to generalized lipodystrophy. Adipose tissue dysfunction, secondary to ICI-induced subclinical panniculitis, precedes overt fat loss and is characterized by hypoleptinemia and metabolic abnormalities.
“The very palpitation of life!”: “The Leaves Are Stirring” in Context
Authors: Cerecina Ivan
Published: March 2023

This paper describes the history of the writing and the intellectual context for Nicole Vedrès's essay “The Leaves Are Stirring.” It places Vedrès's claims about cinematic realism and montage in dialogue with canonical theorizations of film theory in France at this pivotal postwar moment, including the writing of André Bazin, André Malraux, Roger Leenhardt, and Alexandre Astruc. It draws out the points of contact between Vedrès's text and these better-known studies of film aesthetics, placing the piece in the context of contemporary aesthetic discourse and arguing for its singularity in the landscape of postwar French film writing. Opening out from this historical context, it closes by gesturing toward the modernity of Vedrès's essay in terms of more contemporary archival filmmaking, as well as thinking on the relationship between cinema and history.
Bodies in Water: Disability Cinemas and Creatures of the Sea
Authors: Ben Ayoun Emma
Published: March 2023

Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone (France, 2012) and Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (US, 2017) tell, in very different ways, a familiar story: a disabled, female protagonist is rehabilitated by romance, restored in her role as the object of heterosexual desire. Stephanie, in Audiard's film, has both her legs amputated after an accident at her job training orca whales. The mute Eliza, in del Toro's, falls in love with an amphibian creature held captive in the laboratory where she works as a cleaner. Why these invocations of the sea and its creatures? What makes marine life such a compelling metaphor in disability narrative? Here the author considers the ways that water and aquatic animals trouble the boundary between life and nonlife, gesture toward the always-uninhabitable space of the other, and become points of contact between the visual and the material. In both films, these images, the author argues, reveal cinema's fantasies of weightlessness and containment, ableist fantasies that are always steeped in the desire to preserve the spectator's imagined bodily integrity. But these metaphors also reveal cinema's ability to confound space and visibility, to produce discontinuous and immaterial forms of life, and, in so doing, to challenge dominant notions of embodiment and wholeness. Drawing on contemporary work in disability theory as well as the writings of John Berger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Gilles Deleuze, the author offers a reading of these films that both lays bare the extent of their ableism and locates the moments in which they offer us ways of thinking otherwise.
Carbon and nitrogen uptake through photosynthesis and feeding by photosymbiotic Acantharia
Authors: Mansour Joost Samir , Hansen Per Juel , Leroux Cédrix , Not Fabrice
Published: March 2023

Background: Mixotrophy, combining phagotrophy and photoautotrophy in order to acquire nutrients and energy, is a widespread trophic mode in marine protist plankton. Acantharia (Radiolaria) are ubiquitous, but still uncultured oceanic protists. Many of them are mixoplanktic by endosymbiotic relations with microalgae. Here we aimed at quantitatively assessing phototrophy (inorganic nutrients) and phagotrophy (organic nutrients) of photosymbiotic Acantharia, to understand their physiology, and thereby improve integrations of mixotrophy into ecological models of oceanic ecosystems.

Methods: Freshly collected Acantharia were incubated with stable isotopes of inorganic carbon and nitrogen to determine photosynthetic uptake rates. Grazing experiments (prey disappearance) were done with different algal cultures as potential food organisms to measure the contribution of prey ingestion to the acantharian metabolism. Fluorescently (and isotopically) labelled prey was used to verify prey uptake, qualitatively.

Results/Conclusions: Carbon uptake rates were unaffected by the nitrogen source (i.e., nitrate or ammonium). Total carbon inorganic uptake rate was 1112±82 pgC h-1 Acantharia‑1, 22.3±1.6 pgC h-1 symbiont cell-1assuming 50 symbionts per Acantharia, at ~155-μmol photons m−2 s−1 irradiance. The Acantharia studied could use both inorganic ammonium and nitrate, but ammonium was taken up at a ~5 times higher rate. Prey ingestion of the haptophyte, Isochrysis galbana, was detected using labelled algae. Significant grazing by Acantharia could only be established on the dinoflagellate Effrenium voratum, with a grazing rate of 728 prey Acantharia‑1 hour-1 (i.e., ~56.3 ngC h-1, 46% of total holobiont carbon content) at a ratio of 1.06x104 prey predator-1. Daily photosynthetic carbon uptake rates made up ~14.5% of the total holobiont carbon content (0.9% hourly). The extent to which photosynthates are used and assimilated by the acantharian cell and/or if it is used for catabolic processes to obtain energy is still to be studied. Isotopic ratios further suggests seasonal differences in the usage of each trophic mode.
Evil in Human Nature – Bogusław Wolniewicz on the Root of Evil
Authors: Smakulska Joanna
Published: March 2023

The purpose of this article is to reconstruct Boguslaw Wolniewicz’s position on evil and its source. In pointing to the origins of evil, Wolniewicz refers to a very old concept of the devil. Namely, some cosmic force of unknown genesis that acts in man and through man. In philosopher’s opinion, human nature has an inner inclination to do evil. He therefore acknowledges the existence of evil in an anthropological dimension – as an innate and permanent human tendency to behave wrongly in a moral sense.
Archbishop William King’s Critique of Manichaeism in the Treatise "On the Origin of Evil" (1702)
Authors: Spryszak Przemysław
Published: March 2023

This paper examines the Irish philosopher, theologian and divine William King’s (1650–1729) discussion of Manichaeism in the essay De Origine Mali (On the Origin of Evil) (1702). King intended to demonstrate that the Manichaeist solution to the problem of the origin of evil, consisting in assuming the existence of two opposite principles of, respectively, good and evil, leaves the problem untouched and, therefore, cannot compete with the orthodox view, according to which the presence of evil, despite appearances to the contrary, is compatible with the one and perfect principle of all creation. Following preliminary remarks about the text, context, and King’s terminology, this paper argues that his criticism is flawed.
Historiografia filozofii w starożytności
Authors: Kutkiewicz Jacek
Published: March 2023

Zamierzeniem tego artykułu jest naszkicowanie podejścia starożytnych autorów do historiografii filozoficznej (a właściwie do ówczesnych odpowiedników nazywanej tak dziś dyscypliny) oraz omówienie sposobów jej uprawiania. Pierwsza część rozpoczyna się od omówienia kwestii tekstów źródłowych, jakie szczęśliwie zachowały się do czasów obecnych. Największą szansę na przetrwanie miały pisma, które cieszyły się ciągłym zainteresowaniem – w szczególności te, których autorami byli założyciele najważniejszych szkół, jak Platon i Arystoteles. Nie bez znaczenia było również zastępowanie papirusowych zwojów nowym, trwalszym rodzajem nośnika: kodeksem. W dalszej kolejności omówiona zostaje działalność sofistów – w szczególności Gorgiasza z Leontinoj i Hippiasza z Elidy – którzy prawdopodobnie jako pierwsi zaczęli kolekcjonować poglądy różnych myślicieli. Rozpatrywane są przy tym motywy i zasady, wedle których sofiści układali owe dzieła. Artykuł zamyka analiza fragmentów pism Platona, w których być może widać ślady wykorzystania tego rodzaju kompilacji.
All External Reference Prices Are Not the Same: How Magnitude, Source, and Fairness Shape Payment for Digital Goods
Authors: Bassellier Geneviève , Ramaprasad Jui
Published: March 2023

Music, movies, e-books, news: all industries that have been impacted by free distribution of their products. For many individuals, this wide availability of free substitutes drives users’ willingness-to-pay down. In this environment, how can platforms motivate consumers to pay for goods that they may be able to get for free? We demonstrate providing flexibility in payment through allowing users to “pay what you want,” along with providing external reference prices (ERPs) set by different sources, that is, other similar consumers or the platform itself, can influence payment. Importantly, a site-set ERP has more influence increasing payment than a socially-set ERP. An interesting nuance to this is that when the ERP is perceived to be high, the marginal effect of an increase in ERP on payment is smaller than when it is perceived to be fair; in other words, providing a fair ERP is more effective in increasing payment than providing an ERP that is too high. Altogether, platforms can leverage these findings in designing interfaces to provide information that can motivate consumers to pay for digital goods.
Labor Unemployment Risk and CEO Incentive Compensation
Authors: Ellul Andrew , Wang Cong , Zhang Kuo
Published: March 2023

Unemployment risk influences workers’ incentives to invest in firm-specific human capital. This paper investigates the impact of unemployment risk on chief executive officers (CEOs)’ risk-taking incentive compensation. Exploiting state-level changes in unemployment benefits, we find that after unemployment insurance benefits become more generous, boards increase the convex payoff structure of CEO pay to encourage risk taking. The increase in CEOs’ convexity payoff is stronger in firms with more independent and diverse boards, higher ownership of long-term shareholders, and in industries requiring highly skilled labor. Our findings suggest that boards internalize workers’ interests in firms’ risk-taking decisions and executive compensation is one mechanism used.

This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance.

Funding: K. Zhang acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72272099 and 71902115].

Supplemental Material: Data and the online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4714 .
educating selves in a tech addicted age.
Authors: Chen Jason , Gardner Susan T.
Published: March 2023

In this paper we argue that, if it is true that maximum self-development is better both for individuals and society, and if it is true that that self-development is being seriously curtailed by pervasive environmental tech forces, then clearly educational systems, since they are guardians of “developing” young humans, have a moral imperative to push back against forces that diminish the self. On the other hand, if it is not true that “more self is always better,” that perhaps “goodness of fit” between self and society is optimum, then education systems are justified in continuing to pay scant attention to the forces of self-development (or lack thereof). In line with Sherry Turkle’s (2011) argument that tech forces are diminishing the sort of reflective reasoning necessary for self-development, we will argue that since communicative interchange is necessary for self-development, and an ever-developing self is necessary for ever deeper and more meaningful dialogue (hence forming a dialectic), the fact that social media and other forms of tech connection stunts deep and meaningful interchange has serious implications. Specifically, we will argue that, in contemporary high-tech society (what we are calling Society 2.0), the dialectic between self and communication is going the “wrong” way; that genuine dialogue is becoming ever more rare, which in turn is resulting in “diminished-I’s,” which in turn is resulting in ever more complacency in the face of utterly superficial communicative interchange.  We will begin with an overview of what we mean by a “diminished-I,” and then follow by noting how social media, the reading vacuum, roboticism, crowd communication, and decreasing social capital are resulting in diminished-I’s. Since this is resulting in an “I-diminished” society, we will reflect on the question of whether those dialogical educational initiatives that promote self-development are, in fact, making dodos, i.e., making youngsters unfit for the environment in which they find themselves. Ultimately, we will argue that, if educators choose to fight back against the I-diminishing forces of Society 2.0, they need to take selves seriously and actively engage youngsters in dialogue with those with opposing viewpoints. Ultimately, youngsters in Society 2.0 will need all the assistance educators can muster to fight the addictive, literally mind-numbing forces of being “happily” “alone together,” and instead chose the riskier often unhappy-making option of diving into the truth-seeking process with varying coalitions of the willing.
sobre el encuentro de las maestras con/en un ejercicio infantil de la filosofía
Authors: Taramona-trigoso José maría
Published: March 2023

The purpose of this article is to present an ongoing research project that aims to uncover meanings about the figure of the teacher in the community of philosophical inquiry. What is unique about this figure? What constitutes this figure? How is this figure configured and reconfigured in her own practice? and how is she configured and reconfigured in her own practice? The article begins by describing what characterizes, defines or constitutes the figure of the teacher as facilitator outlined in the initial Philosophy for Children program. It also addresses some critical perspectives on the notion of facilitating and seeks to propose an alternative to the figure of the facilitator which, far from attempting to define a taxonomy of teaching philosophy with children or to establish a model of teacher, allows us to think of a figure of schoolmaster who is sensitive to encounters and who, through them, also finds other ways of being and doing. In this sense, a reflection is also proposed on what an educational encounter can mean and what is the place of schoolmasters in these encounters. Finally, some possible conditions of/for the encounter are proposed as starting points that allow us to promote and sustain the encounter, such conditions are: commonality, equality, listening and unpredictability.
Pistas de um blackface para o consumo? Atravessamentos do capital nos processos de subjetivação do povo negro no Brasil
Authors: Castello-Branco Felipe Mathias , Pardo Catalina Revollo , Júnior Frederico Augusto Tavares
Published: March 2023

Este artigo é um ensaio teórico que versa acerca de práticas mercadológicas num contexto de mercantilização de formas simbólicas da cultura afro-brasileira. Neste, alguns exemplos de produtos e serviços oferecidos no mercado com características alegadas como pertencentes à cultua negra são comparados sob dois aspectos: aqueles que se aproximam e comprometem com tradições culturais afrocentradas e aqueles que sugerem uma captura simbólica da cultura negra para fins comerciais. A análise de conteúdo guia a orientação metodológica do ensaio. Após revisão bibliográfica e apresentação de exemplos os autores realizam uma breve análise dos elementos encontrados e sugerem que o mercado pode estar encenando o que propusemos chamar de um blackface para o consumo: encenações que mimetizam características da cultura negra sobre produtos a serem comercializados, sem que estes remetam a um comprometimento com comunidades, programas ou agendas afrocentradas. Tal percepção nos leva à conclusão que o mercado busca realizar capturas simbólicas sobre aspectos que remetam às culturas de matriz africana, para transformar em produto aquilo que não é produtilizável: a própria negritude.
Teachers’ Performance During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia: Causality and Comparison
Authors: Ngabiyanto Ngabiyanto , Nurkhin Ahmad , Mulyono Kemal Budi , Saputro Iwan Hardi , Pramono Didi , Utomo Asep Purwo Yudi
Published: March 2023

The greatest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indonesian education was the decline in teacher performance. In light of this information, this study analyzes the role of supervision, salary and benefits, school climate, training and development, and perceived organizational support in moderating the impact of competence on teacher performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also compares the relationships between employed government and private teachers. Data were collected through questionnaires to teachers with a sample of 166 government teachers and 175 private teachers in primary and secondary schools through a Google form and analyzed using moderated Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS), multigroup, and multilevel analysis. The results showed that salary and benefits, training, and development did not affect the performance of public school teachers. In contrast, only salary and benefits did not affect teacher performance for private teachers. Moreover, only supervision significantly moderated the effect of competence on the performance of public school teachers. However, supervision, salary, benefits, school climate, training and development, and perceived organizational support did not affect private teachers' performance. The Ministry of Education or the Foundation needs to review and improve the mechanisms of training and development, supervision, and school organizational climate to promote optimal teacher performance during the pandemic.
Recovering density disturbance spectra from FLDI. Part 1
Authors: Lawson Joel M. , Austin Joanna M.
Published: March 2023

Focused laser differential interferometry (FLDI) measures the phase
shift corresponding to localized fluctuations in the refractive index
of a medium. The sensitivity, bandwidth, and spatial filtering
properties of FLDI make it particularly suited to applications in
high-speed gas flows. Such applications often require the quantitative
measurement of density fluctuations, which are related to changes in
the refractive index. In a two-part paper, a method is presented for
the recovery of a spectral representation of density disturbances from
the measured time-dependent phase shift for a particular class of
flows able to be modeled using sinusoidal plane waves. The approach is
based on the ray-tracing model of FLDI due to Schmidt and Shepherd
[Appl.
Opt. 54, 8459
(2015)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.54.008459]. In this first part,
the analytical results for FLDI response to single- and
multiple-frequency plane waves are derived and validated against a
numerical implementation of the instrument. A spectral inversion
method is then developed and validated, including consideration for
the frequency-shifting effects of any underlying convective flows. In
the second part [Appl. Opt. 62, 3054
(2023)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.480354], results from the
present model are compared with previous exact solutions temporally
averaged over a wave cycle and with an approximate method.
Recovering density disturbance spectra from FLDI. Part 2: comparisons with previous methods
Authors: Lawson Joel M. , Austin Joanna M.
Published: March 2023

An exact analytical method for recovering density disturbance spectra
in multi-frequency, multi-dimensional fields from focused laser
differential interferometry (FLDI) measurements, developed in Part 1
[Appl.
Opt. 62, 3042
(2023)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.480352], is compared with
previous methods for quantitative interpretation of FLDI. It is shown
that previous exact analytical solutions can be recovered as special
cases of the more general present method. It is also found that
despite outwards dissimilarity, a previous approximate method that is
becoming widely used can be related to the general model. It is
demonstrated that the previous approach—while a suitable approximation
for spatially restricted disturbance fields such as conical boundary
layers it was originally applied to—does not work well in general
applications. While corrections can be made, informed by results from
the exact method, doing so offers no computational or
analytical advantages.
Effects and elimination of image grating defocusing on a double-Ronchi shearing interference field
Authors: Liu Yang , Tang Feng , Li Sikun , Wang Xiangzhao
Published: March 2023

Double-Ronchi shearing interferometry is a promising wavefront
aberration measurement system for advanced lithography projection lens
systems. The image grating defocusing is a key systematic error of the
interferometer. However, the effects and elimination of this error
have not been systematically researched. In this work, the
interference field effects caused by the image grating defocusing are
analyzed based on the theories of scalar diffraction, and a method to
eliminate the effects is proposed. The theoretical analysis has been
verified by a simulation and experiments. The results show that the
error of image grating defocusing is mainly expressed as the Zernike
Z4 term and Z9 term in the reconstructed wavefront,
and the coefficients of Z4 , and Z9 , respectively, are related to
NA2 , NA4 , and the defocus distance
z . When the numerical aperture (NA) of
the under-test projection lens is 0.6, 99.8384% of the errors caused
by the image grating defocusing can be removed. When the NA is reduced
to 0.3, 99.9854% of the errors can be removed. Additionally, when the
NA is less than 0.1, almost all the errors can be eliminated.
Chiral photonic topological states in Penrose quasicrystals
Authors: Zhang Yingfang , Lan Zhihao , Hu Liyazhou , Shu Yiqing , Yuan Xun , Guo Penglai , Peng Xiaoling , Chen Weicheng , Li Jianqing
Published: March 2023

Electromagnetic topological edge states typically are created in photonic systems with crystalline symmetry and these states emerge because of the topological feature of bulk Bloch bands in momentum space according to the bulk-edge correspondence principle. In this work, we demonstrate the existence of chiral topological electromagnetic edge states in Penrose-tiled photonic quasicrystals made of magneto-optical materials, without relying on the concept of bulk Bloch bands in momentum space. Despite the absence of bulk Bloch bands, which naturally defiles the conventional definition of topological invariants in momentum space characterizing these states, such as the Chern number, we show that some bandgaps in these photonic quasicrystals still could host unidirectional topological electromagnetic edge states immune to backscattering in both cylinders-in-air and holes-in-slab configurations. Employing a real-space topological invariant based on the Bott index, our calculations reveal that the bandgaps hosting these chiral topological edge states possess a nontrivial Bott index of ±1, depending on the direction of the external magnetic field. Our work opens the door to the study of topological states in photonic quasicrystals.
Machine learning-aided LiDAR range estimation
Authors: Bastos Daniel , Faria Bruno , Monteiro Paulo P. , Oliveira Arnaldo S. R. , Drummond Miguel V.
Published: March 2023

Automotive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) requires accurate and computationally efficient range estimation methods. At present, such efficiency is achieved at the cost of curtailing the dynamic range of a LiDAR receiver. In this Letter, we propose using decision tree ensemble machine learning models to overcome such a trade-off. Simple and yet powerful models are developed and proven capable of performing accurate measurements across a 45-dB dynamic range.
Ten (not so) simple rules for clinical trial data-sharing
Authors: Pellen Claude , Le Louarn Anne , Spurrier-Bernard Gilliosa , Decullier Evelyne , Chrétien Jean-Marie , Rosenthal Eric , Le Goff Gérard , Moher David , Ioannidis John P. A. , Naudet Florian
Published: March 2023

Clinical trial data-sharing is seen as an imperative for research integrity and is becoming increasingly encouraged or even required by funders, journals, and other stakeholders. However, early experiences with data-sharing have been disappointing because they are not always conducted properly. Health data is indeed sensitive and not always easy to share in a responsible way. We propose 10 rules for researchers wishing to share their data. These rules cover the majority of elements to be considered in order to start the commendable process of clinical trial data-sharing:

Rule 1: Abide by local legal and regulatory data protection requirements

Rule 2: Anticipate the possibility of clinical trial data-sharing before obtaining funding

Rule 3: Declare your intent to share data in the registration step

Rule 4: Involve research participants

Rule 5: Determine the method of data access

Rule 6: Remember there are several other elements to share

Rule 7: Do not proceed alone

Rule 8: Deploy optimal data management to ensure that the data shared is useful

Rule 9: Minimize risks

Rule 10: Strive for excellence.
Breaking free from tunnel vision for climate change and health
Authors: Deivanayagam Thilagawathi Abi , Osborne Rhiannon Elizabeth
Published: March 2023

Climate change is widely recognised as the greatest threat to public health this century, but ‘climate change and health’ often refers to a narrow and limited focus on emissions, and the impacts of the climate crisis, rather than a holistic assessment of economic structures and systems of oppression. This tunnel vision misses key aspects of the climate change and health intersection, such as the enforcers of planetary destruction such as the military, police, and trade, and can also lead down dangerous alleyways such as ‘net’ zero, overpopulation arguments and green extractivism. Tunnel vision also limits health to the absence of the disease at the individual level, rather than sickness or health within systems themselves. Conceptualising health as political, ecological, and collective is essential for tackling the root causes of health injustice. Alternative economic paradigms can offer possibilities for fairer ecological futures that prioritise health and wellbeing. Examples such as degrowth, doughnut economics and ecosocialism, and their relationship with health, are described. The importance of reparations in various forms, to repair previous and ongoing harm, are discussed. Breaking free from tunnel vision is not simply an intellectual endeavour, but a practice. Moving towards new paradigms requires movement building and cultivating radical imagination. The review highlights lessons which can be learnt from abolitionist movements and progressive political struggles across the world. This review provides ideas and examples of how to break free from tunnel vision for climate change and health by highlighting and analysing the work of multiple organisations who are working towards social and economic transformation. Key considerations for the health community are provided, including working in solidarity with others, prioritising community-led solutions, and using our voice, skills, and capacity to address the structural diagnosis—colonial capitalism.
Detection of asymptomatic Leishmania infection in blood donors at two blood banks in Ethiopia
Authors: Mohammed Rezika , Melkamu Roma , Pareyn Myrthe , Abdellati Said , Bogale Tadfe , Engidaw Asinakew , Kinfu Abiy , Girma Tibebu , van Griensven Johan
Published: March 2023

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a disease caused by Leishmania parasites. While predominantly transmitted by sandflies, cases of VL transmitted through blood transfusion have been reported, particularly in immunocompromised recipients. Although Leishmania parasites have been found in blood donors in some VL endemic areas, this has never been studied in East-Africa, where HIV prevalence is relatively high. We established the prevalence of asymptomatic Leishmania infection and associated socio-demographic factors among blood donors presenting at two blood bank sites (Metema and Gondar) in northwest Ethiopia between June and December 2020. Metema is located in a VL-endemic area; Gondar has historically been considered VL non-endemic but as an outbreak of VL has occurred around Gondar, it was defined as previously VL non-endemic. Blood samples were tested by the rK39 rapid diagnostic test (RDT), rK39 ELISA, direct agglutination test (DAT) and qPCR targeting kinetoplast DNA (kDNA). Asymptomatic infection was defined as positive by any of these tests in a healthy person. A total of 426 voluntary blood donors were included. The median age was 22 years (IQR, 19–28 years); 59% were male and 81% resided in urban areas. Only one participant had a history of VL and three had a family history of VL. Asymptomatic infection was detected in 15.0% (n = 32/213) in Metema and 4.2% (n = 9/213) in Gondar. The rK39 ELISA was positive in 5.4% (n = 23/426), the rK39 RDT in 2.6% (11/426), PCR in 2.6% (11/420) and DAT in 0.5% (2/426). There were six individuals with two positive tests: one positive on rK39 RDT and PCR and five positive on rK39 RDT and ELISA. The prevalence of asymptomatic infection was higher in Metema (VL-endemic) and males but was not associated with age, a history of VL amongst family members or living in a rural area. Antibodies against Leishmania and parasite DNA was detected in a substantial number of blood donors. Future research should be directed at better defining the risk to recipients, including parasite viability studies and longitudinal studies amongst recipients.
Multi-store collaborative delivery optimization based on Top-K order-split
Authors: Zhang Yanju , Ou Liping , Liu Jiaxu
Published: March 2023

Regarding the fulfillment optimization of online retail orders, many researchers focus more on warehouse optimization and distribution center optimization. However, under the background of new retailing, traditional retailers carry out online services, forming an order fulfillment model with physical stores as front warehouses. Studies that focus on physical stores and consider both order splitting and store delivery are rare, which cannot meet the order optimization needs of traditional retailers. To this end, this study proposes a new problem called the “Multi-Store Collaborative Delivery Optimization (MCDO)”, in which not only make the order-split plans for stores but also design the order-delivery routes for them, such that the order fulfillment cost is minimized. To solve the problem, a Top-K breadth-first search and a local search are integrated to construct a hybrid heuristic algorithm, named “Top-K Recommendation & Improved Local Search (TKILS)”. This study optimizes the search efficiency of the breadth-first search by controlling the number of sub-orders and improving the initial solution of the local search using a greedy cost function. Then achieve the joint optimization of order-split and order-delivery by improving the local optimization operators. Finally, extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets validate the effectiveness and applicability of the algorithm this study proposed.
Association between acculturation and physician trust for internal migrants: A cross-sectional study in China
Authors: Dong Enhong , Xu Ting , Sun Xiaoting , Wang Tao , Wang Yang , Shi Jiahua
Published: March 2023

Background

Physician trust is a critical determinant of the physician–patient relationship and is necessary for an effective health system. Few studies have investigated the association between acculturation and physician trust. Thus, this study analyzed the association between acculturation and physician trust among internal migrants in China by using a cross-sectional research design.

Methods

Of the 2000 adult migrants selected using systematic sampling, 1330 participants were eligible. Among the eligible participants, 45.71% were female, and the mean age was 28.50 years old (standard deviation = 9.03). Multiple logistic regression was employed.

Results

Our findings indicated that acculturation was significantly associated with physician trust among migrants. The length of stay (LOS), the ability of speaking Shanghainese, and the integration into daily life were identified as contributing factors for physician trust when controlling for all the covariates in the model.

Conclusion

We suggest that specific LOS-based targeted policies and culturally sensitive interventions can promote acculturation among Shanghai’s migrants and improve their physician trust.
The impact of visuospatial and executive function on activity performance and outcome after robotic or conventional gait training, long-term after stroke—as part of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Bergqvist Maria , Möller Marika C , Björklund Martin , Borg Jörgen , Palmcrantz Susanne
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Visuospatial and executive impairments have been associated with poor activity performance sub-acute after stroke. Potential associations long-term and in relation to outcome of rehabilitation interventions need further exploration.

Aims

To explore associations between visuospatial and executive function and 1) activity performance (mobility, self-care and domestic life) and 2) outcome after 6 weeks of conventional gait training and/or robotic gait training, long term (1–10 years) after stroke.

Methods

Participants (n = 45), living with stroke affecting walking ability and who could perform the items assessing visuospatial/executive function included in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA Vis/Ex) were included as part of a randomized controlled trial. Executive function was evaluated using ratings by significant others according to the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX); activity performance using 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 10-meter walk test (10MWT), Berg balance scale, Functional Ambulation Categories, Barthel Index and Stroke Impact Scale.

Results

MoCA Vis/Ex was significantly associated with baseline activity performance, long-term after stroke (r= .34-.69,p< .05). In the conventional gait training group, MoCA Vis/Ex explained 34% of the variance in 6MWT after the six-week intervention (p= 0.017) and 31% (p= 0.032) at the 6 month follow up, which indicate that a higher MoCA Vis/Ex score enhanced the improvement. The robotic gait training group presented no significant associations between MoCA Vis/Ex and 6MWT indicating that visuospatial/executive function did not affect outcome. Rated executive function (DEX) presented no significant associations to activity performance or outcome after gait training.

Conclusion

Visuospatial/executive function may significantly affect activity performance and the outcome of rehabilitation interventions for impaired mobility long-term after stroke and should be considered in the planning of such interventions. Patients with severely impaired visuospatial/executive function may benefit from robotic gait training since improvement was seen irrespective of visuospatial/executive function. These results may guide future larger studies on interventions targeting long-term walking ability and activity performance.

Trial registration

clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02545088) August 24, 2015.
The study of the separation and deposition of dredging soil slurry under physical disturbance
Authors: Yuan Yan-zhao
Published: March 2023

Most existing research uses experimental designs for testing, which cannot efficiently analyse the migration and sorting rules of particles in the disturbed slurry. Therefore, based on the fluidized bed flow film theory, a slurry flow film structure system is established according to the disturbance state of the fluid. On this basis, the particle size and distribution law of the disturbing force formed by slurry disturbance are analyzed, and the calculation model of single particle lift in the flowing film is also analyzed. On this basis, using Markov probability model, the probability of particle lifting and sorting between layers is theoretically deduced. Then, according to the particle ratio of the original mud, the settlement gradation of the particles in the disturbance is analyzed. It can also predict the separation degree of particle in natural turbulence, fluidized beds, and sludge mechanical dewatering. Finally, according to the particle flow software PFC (Particle Flow Code), the main influencing parameters (disturbing force and gradation) were verified and analyzed. The results show that the particle flow simulation results are in good agreement with the calculation results. The model of slurry membrane separation proposed in this paper can provide a basis for studying the mechanism of slurry disturbance separation and particle deposition.
Population-level median cycle threshold (Ct) values for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases can predict the trajectory of future cases
Authors: Shoaib Naila , Iqbal Asim , Shah Farhad Ali , Zainab Wajeeha , Qasim Maham , Zerqoon Noore , Naseem Muhammad Omer , Munir Rimsha , Zaidi Nousheen
Published: March 2023

Background

Recent studies indicate that the population-level SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) values can inform the trajectory of the pandemic. The presented study investigates the potential of Ct values in predicting the future of COVID-19 cases. We also determined whether the presence of symptoms could change the correlation between Ct values and future cases.

Methods

We examined the individuals (n = 8660) that consulted different sample collection points of a private diagnostic center in Pakistan for COVID-19 testing between June 2020 and December 2021. The medical assistant collected clinical and demographic information. The nasopharyngeal swab specimens were taken from the study participants and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in these samples.

Results

We observed that median Ct values display significant temporal variations, which show an inverse relationship with future cases. The monthly overall median Ct values negatively correlated with the number of cases occurring one month after specimen collection (r = -0.588, p <0.05). When separately analyzed, Ct values for symptomatic cases displayed a weak negative correlation (r = -0.167, p<0.05), while Ct values from asymptomatic cases displayed a stronger negative correlation (r = -0.598, p<0.05) with the number of cases in the subsequent months. Predictive modeling using these Ct values closely forecasted the increase or decrease in the number of cases of the subsequent month.

Conclusions

Decreasing population-level median Ct values for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases appear to be a leading indicator for predicting future COVID-19 cases.
Genome-wide association study of lipase and esterase in wholegrain wheat flour (Triticum aestivum L.)
Authors: Wei Chun Yue , Yates Steven , Zhu Dan , Hund Andreas , Studer Bruno , Nyström Laura
Published: March 2023

Lipase activity is one of the main causes of the lipid rancidity in wholegrain wheat flour, leading to its short shelf life. Genetically diverse wheat germplasm offers potential for the selection of wheat cultivars with low lipase activity for stable wholegrain end use. This study evaluated 300 European wheat cultivars harvested in 2015 and 2016 on the genetic association of lipase and esterase activities in wholegrain wheat flour. Esterase and lipase activities in wholegrain flour were measured photometrically with p-nitrophenyl butyrate and p-nitrophenyl palmitate as substrates, respectively. Both enzyme activities showed wide ranges among all cultivars within each year, with differences up to 2.5-fold. The two years showed low correlations between each other, indicating a large environmental impact on the enzyme activities. Cultivars ‘Julius’ and ‘Bueno’ were suggested to be better suited for stable wholegrain products, as they had consistently low esterase and lipase activities compared to the other cultivars. A genome-wide association study revealed associations with single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes located on the high-quality wheat genome sequence of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium. Eight and four candidate genes were tentatively proposed to be associated to esterase and lipase activity, respectively, in wholegrain flour. Our work shows esterase and lipase activities from a new perspective, that combines reverse genetics to understand the underlying causes. This study outlines the possibilities and limitations to improve lipid stability of wholegrain wheat by genomics-assisted breeding methods, thereby offering new opportunities to optimize the quality of wholegrain wheat flour and wholegrain products.
Corruption, accountability, and discretion of procurement officials: An analysis of selection Preferences for Performance-based Evaluation Criteria (PBEC) in PPP procurement
Authors: Cao Fuguo , Wang Cong
Published: March 2023

Performance-based evaluation criteria (PBEC) are vital for selecting high-quality suppliers and achieving a PPP procurement performance. Through theoretical and institutional analysis, we found that the selection of PBEC centered on operations depends on the discretion of the purchaser. However, in an emerging and transforming PPP market, many factors have affected the scientific exercise of the purchaser’s discretion. This means that PPP projects must focus on construction and neglect operation in a certain period. Furthermore, to explore the influencing factors of the definition of PBEC, based on data of 9082 PPP projects between 2009 and 2021 in China, we adopted Ordinary Least Squares to empirically analyze two factors that influence the level of attention that is paid to the operation plan: corruption and accountability. The results indicate that the attention paid to the operation plan significantly increased with the reduction in corruption and the improvement in accountability. Robustness tests demonstrate the robustness of the results. A further heterogeneity analysis shows that the above factors have a more significant impact on non-state demonstration projects and projects with large investments. The contributions of this study are as follows: (1) Theoretically, this paper supplements the relevant research on evaluation criteria and provides new evidence on the impact of corruption and accountability on the defining PBEC. (2) Institutionally, it provides specific paths to limit the discretion of procurement officials when defining evaluation criteria. (3) In practice, it helps procurement officials to scientifically define PBEC and promote the realization of procurement performance.
Large surface deformation due to thermo-mechanical effects during cryopreservation by vitrification – mathematical model and experimental validation
Authors: Vispute Devarsh M. , Solanki Prem K. , Rabin Yoed
Published: March 2023

This study presents a simplified thermal-fluids (TF) mathematical model to analyze large surface deformations in cryoprotective agents (CPA) during cryopreservation by vitrification. The CPA deforms during vitrification due to material flow caused by the combined effects of thermal gradients within the domain, thermal contraction due to temperature, and exponential increase in the viscosity of the CPA as it is cooled towards glass transition. While it is well understood that vitrification is associated with thermo-mechanical stress, which might lead to structural damage, those large deformations can lead to stress concentration, further intensifying the probability to structural failure. The results of the TF model are experimentally validated by means of cryomacroscopy on a cuvette containing 7.05M dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a representative CPA. The TF model presented in this study is a simplified version of a previously presented thermo-mechanics (TM) model, where the TM model is set to solve the coupled heat transfer, fluid mechanics and solid mechanics problems, while the TF model omits further deformations in the solid state. It is demonstrated in this study that the TF model alone is sufficient to capture large-body deformations during vitrification. However, the TF model alone cannot be used to estimate mechanical stresses, which become significant only when the deformation rates become so small that the deformed body practically behaves as an amorphous solid. This study demonstrates the high sensitivity of deformation predictions to variation in material properties, chief among which are the variations of density and viscosity with temperature. Finally, this study includes a discussion on the possibility of turning on and off the TF and TM models in respective parts of the domain, in order to solve the multiphysics problem in a computationally cost-effective manner.