bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How do healthcare providers respond to multiple funding flows? A conceptual framework and options to align them
Authors: Barasa Edwine , Mathauer Inke , Kabia Evelyn , Ezumah Nkoli , Mbau Rahab , Honda Ayako , Dkhimi Fahdi , Onwujekwe Obinna , Phuong Hoang Thi , Hanson Kara
Published: February 2021

Provider payment methods are a key health policy lever because they influence healthcare provider behaviour and affect health system objectives, such as efficiency, equity, financial protection and quality. Previous research focused on analysing individual provider payment methods in isolation, or on the actions of individual purchasers. However, purchasers typically use a mix of provider payment methods to pay healthcare providers and most health systems are fragmented with multiple purchasers. From a health provider perspective, these different payments are experienced as multiple funding flows which together send a complex set of signals about where they should focus their effort. In this article, we argue that there is a need to expand the analysis of provider payment methods to include an analysis of the interactions of multiple funding flows and the combined effect of their incentives on the provision of healthcare services. The purpose of the article is to highlight the importance of multiple funding flows to health facilities and present a conceptual framework to guide their analysis. The framework hypothesizes that when healthcare providers receive multiple funding flows, they may find certain funding flows more favourable than others based on how these funding flows compare to each other on a range of attributes. This creates a set of incentives, and consequently, healthcare providers may alter their behaviour in three ways: resource shifting, service shifting and cost shifting. We describe these behaviours and how they may affect health system objectives. Our analysis underlines the need to align the incentives generated by multiple funding flows. To achieve this, we propose three policy strategies that relate to the governance of healthcare purchasing: reducing the fragmentation of health financing arrangements to decrease the number of multiple purchaser arrangements and funding flows; harmonizing signals from multiple funding flows; and constraining providers from responding to undesirable incentives.
Developing a new flexible tool for handover
Authors: Magnezi Racheli , Gazit Inbal , Bass Arie , Tal Orna
Published: February 2021

Background

Transferring medical information among professionals and between shifts is a crucial process, allowing continuity of care and safety, especially for complex patients in life-threatening situations. This process, handover, requires focusing on specific, essential medical information while filtering out redundant and unnecessary details.

Objectives

To create and implement a tool for handover that would be flexible enough to meet the unique needs of specific departments.

Methods

We used Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) methodology to prospectively develop, implement, evaluate and reassess a new handover tool in a 900-bed teaching hospital in central Israel. Nurses from 35 departments participated in developing a tool that presents the staff’s viewpoint regarding the most critical information needed for handover.

Results

A total of 78 nurse managers and 15 doctors (63.7%) completed the questionnaire. Based on exploratory factor analysis, 15 items explained 58.9% of the variance. Four key areas for handover were identified, in addition to basic patient identification: (i) updated clinical status, (ii) medical information, (iii) special clinical treatment and (iv) treatments not yet initiated. Subsequently, a Flexible Handover Structured Tool (FAST) was designed that identifies patients’ needs and is flexible for the specific needs of departments. Revisions based on hands-on experience led to high nurse satisfaction with the new tool in most departments. The FAST format was adopted easily during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

Implementing a new handover tool—FAST—was challenging, but rewarding. Using PDSA methodology enabled continuous monitoring, oversight and adaptive corrections for better implementation of this new handover reporting tool.
The Impact of Breast Density Information or Notification on Women’s Cognitive, Psychological, and Behavioral Outcomes: A Systematic Review
Authors: Nickel Brooke , Copp Tessa , Brennan Meagan , Farber Rachel , McCaffery Kirsten , Houssami Nehmat
Published: February 2021

Background

Breast density (BD) is an independent risk factor for breast cancer and reduces the sensitivity of mammography. This systematic review aims to synthesize evidence from existing studies to understand the impact of BD information and/or notification on women’s cognitive, psychological, and behavioral outcomes.

Methods

Studies were identified via relevant database searches up to March 2020. Two authors evaluated the eligibility of studies with verification from the study team, extracted and crosschecked data, and assessed the risk of bias.

Results

Of the 1134 titles identified, 29 studies were included. Twenty-three studies were quantitative, including only 1 randomized controlled trial of women receiving BD information, and 6 were qualitative. Twenty-seven studies were conducted in the United States, with 19 conducted post-BD legislation. The overall results in terms of BD awareness, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and intentions were heterogeneous across included studies, with the strongest consistency demonstrated regarding the importance of communication with and involvement of health-care professionals. Together, the studies did, however, highlight that there is still limited awareness of BD in the community, especially in more socioeconomic disadvantaged communities, and limited knowledge about what BD means and the implications for women. Importantly, BD information in the context of overall breast cancer risk has not yet been studied.

Conclusions

There are important gaps in the understanding of the impact of BD information or notification on women and how best to communicate BD information to women. More high-quality evidence to inform both current and future practice related to BD is still needed.
On the environmental civil public interest litigation system for the protection of the climate in China: Comments on two cases from a pragmatism perspective
Authors: Jin Fengliang
Published: February 2021

This article examines and analyses the environmental civil public interest litigation system in the protection of climate change in China through two cases, the All-China Environment Protection Federation v Zhenhua Co, Ltd for air pollution and Friends of Nature v State Grid Gansu Electric Power Corporation for full-purchase of all on-grid power produced by renewable energy.
The wheat Seven in absentia gene is associated with increases in biomass and yield in hot climates
Authors: Thomelin Pauline , Bonneau Julien , Brien Chris , Suchecki Radoslaw , Baumann Ute , Kalambettu Priyanka , Langridge Peter , Tricker Penny , Fleury Delphine
Published: February 2021

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity is severely reduced by high temperatures. Breeding of heat-tolerant cultivars can be achieved by identifying genes controlling physiological and agronomical traits when high temperatures occur and using these to select superior genotypes, but no gene underlying genetic variation for heat tolerance has previously been described. We advanced the positional cloning of qYDH.3BL, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on bread wheat chromosome 3B associated with increased yield in hot and dry climates. The delimited genomic region contained 12 putative genes and a sequence variant in the promoter region of one gene, Seven in absentia, TaSINA. This was associated with the QTL’s effects on early vigour, root growth, plant biomass, and yield components in two distinct wheat populations grown under various growth conditions. Near isogenic lines carrying the positive allele at qYDH.3BL underexpressed TaSINA and had increased vigour and water use efficiency early in development, as well as increased biomass, grain number, and grain weight following heat stress. A survey of worldwide distribution indicated that the positive allele became widespread from the 1950s through the CIMMYT wheat breeding programme but, to date, has been selected only in breeding programmes in Mexico and Australia.
A historical overview of long-distance signalling in plants
Authors: Kondhare Kirtikumar R , Patil Nikita S , Banerjee Anjan K
Published: February 2021

Be it a small herb or a large tree, intra- and intercellular communication and long-distance signalling between distant organs are crucial for every aspect of plant development. The vascular system, comprising xylem and phloem, acts as a major conduit for the transmission of long-distance signals in plants. In addition to expanding our knowledge of vascular development, numerous reports in the past two decades revealed that selective populations of RNAs, proteins, and phytohormones function as mobile signals. Many of these signals were shown to regulate diverse physiological processes, such as flowering, leaf and root development, nutrient acquisition, crop yield, and biotic/abiotic stress responses. In this review, we summarize the significant discoveries made in the past 25 years, with emphasis on key mobile signalling molecules (mRNAs, proteins including RNA-binding proteins, and small RNAs) that have revolutionized our understanding of how plants integrate various intrinsic and external cues in orchestrating growth and development. Additionally, we provide detailed insights on the emerging molecular mechanisms that might control the selective trafficking and delivery of phloem-mobile RNAs to target tissues. We also highlight the cross-kingdom movement of mobile signals during plant–parasite relationships. Considering the dynamic functions of these signals, their implications in crop improvement are also discussed.
Economics of Overcharges
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter details some basic economics on how a sellers’ cartel sets its prices and volumes, and the losses these generate. In any damage action, the claimant must quantify the prices and volumes in the absence of the cartel. These are referred to as the ‘counterfactual’, ‘but for’, or to use the term in the Damages Directive, the ‘non-infringement’ prices and volumes. Overcharge, volume, and efficiency losses depend on demand and supply conditions, market structure, cost structure, and barriers to entry. The size of the overcharge and volume effect depends on the assumed counterfactual or non-infringement benchmark. If the benchmark is a competitive market, the losses will be largest. However, if the non-infringement situation are prices that would have been charged in a more concentrated market, then the overcharge and volume effects will be smaller.
Basic Elements of a Claim
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter summarizes on the basic elements of a damage claim. To succeed in a competition damage action in a national court, those harmed must first establish a breach of Article 101(1) TFEU or its national equivalent. The claimant must then prove that the alleged harm was causally related to the breach and then quantify their losses. A successful claimant is entitled to full compensation, which means the sum of money which puts the claimant in the same financial position it would have been had the law not been infringed. A successful claimant is also entitled to pre-judgment interest on the damages that are awarded. This is to compensate for the time cost of the money ‘taken’ from the claimant.
Getting and Describing Data
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes the type of data that may be needed, its sources, and the initial descriptive analyses of prices that can guide the quantification of overcharge damages. The amount and type of data needed depends on the method used and the complexity of the facts facing the parties. The data will be of two types: prices and product variables; and control variables. There are several sources of data and information: the infringement decision; the files of the competition authority; the claimants; the defendants; and public and third-party data providers. Wherever the data comes from, great care must be taken to ensure it is reliable and consistent. The first step in any quantification of damages is to describe the data and understand the way prices have moved over time. Indeed, data on prices is the core of any damages claim.
Comparator Approaches
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores the before and after and yardstick approaches, which use simple comparisons of prices and gross margins either over time or across markets, products, and/or regions. The most common method to estimate an overcharge is to use pre- and/or post-cartel prices as the non-cartel price, and to assume that the actual prices which exceed these prices during the cartel period represent the overcharge. This is known as the straight-line before-and-after price approach. The non-infringement price can be further adjusted during the cartel period by changes in costs and other fluctuations such as foreign exchange movements. The prices during price wars may also be used as a proxy for the non-infringement prices, but this requires an understanding of the causes of the price war to decide whether or not it affects the non-infringement prices. Where prices decline during the cartel period, the use of straight-line approaches is not appropriate. The yardstick approach is an alternative method, but requires that there be a comparator market with very similar characteristics to the cartel market so that the presence of the cartel is the only factor that explains its higher price.
Proving Pass-on
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter addresses the difficulty of establishing pass-on. Indeed, estimating pass-on is difficult and often impossible. Even where estimates of the pass-on rate can be generated, estimates of the overcharge are still required to quantify the amount of pass-on. For indirect purchasers, this will add to the difficulty because they may not have the necessary data and knowledge of successive upstream markets. There is also uncertainty to the standard of proof and evidential burden required to establish credible pass-on rates. However, there are a range of approaches that can be used to estimate or quantify the pass-on rate, which are set out in the European Commission’s Pass-on Guidelines. These include documentary evidence on firms’ pricing policies; economic theory/simulations; evidence on the way the direct and indirect purchasers have passed on cost increases in the past, arguing that they would react similarly to an overcharge; third party research on the way the industry has been passed on in the past; and statistical approaches either using multiple regression analysis, time series analysis, or event studies. The volume effect can be estimated using similar approaches although the Pass-on Guidelines suggest multiple regression analysis and the ‘elasticity approach’.
Collective Proceedings
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This chapter studies the requirements for certification of a collective action. As from 2015, new opt-out and opt-in collective proceedings can be brought for the award of aggregate damages. These require certification by a collective proceeding order (CPO) application to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) before they can proceed to trial. The requirements for a CPO are set out in the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015 (CAT Rules) and CAT Guide to Proceedings 2015 (CAT Guide). A collective action must be brought in the name of an appropriate representative, which can be an individual or a body which need not be a member of the proposed class. The CAT will consider the suitability of the representative as part of the certification process. The class representative must show that the action is suitable for the award of aggregate damages and that the members of the class have a sufficient common interest. Lawyers for the class representative will play the major role in managing the claim, making funding arrangements, and communicating with class members.
Costs, Funding, and Settlement
Authors: Veljanovski Cento
Published: February 2021

This concluding chapter examines some aspects of the costs, funding, and settlement of damage claims in the UK. The costs of bringing a claim can be high. The most expensive jurisdiction is England, but other procedural rules counterbalance this expense to make suing in England attractive. In some jurisdictions, reforms have been put in place to reduce litigation costs such as conditional fee arrangements and damage-based agreements that share the risks between claimants and their lawyers. After the event insurance (ATE), third party litigation funding, and lawyers’ contingent fee arrangements all reduce the costs and risks associated with litigation. However, very few civil actions go to trial and most are settled out of court through direct negotiations among the parties or through mediation or arbitration.
Termination for Breach of Contract
Authors: Stannard John E , Capper David
Published: February 2021

The aims of this book are to set out in detail the rules governing termination as a remedy for breach of contract in English law, to distil the very complex body of law on the subject to a clear set of principles, and to apply the law in a practical context. This book is divided into four parts. The first section sets out to analyse what is involved in termination and looks at some of the difficulties surrounding the topic, before going on to explain the evolution of the present law and its main principles. The second section provides a thorough analysis of the two key topics of breach and termination. The third section addresses the question when the right to terminate for breach arises. And the fourth and final section considers the consequences of the promisee's election whether to terminate or not. The final chapter examines the legal consequences of affirmation, once again both with regard to the promisee and the promisor, with particular emphasis on the extent of the promisee's right to enforce the performance of the contract by way of an action for an agreed sum or an action for specific performance.
The Nature of Termination
Authors: Stannard John E , Capper David
Published: February 2021

This chapter discusses the nature of termination for breach. Termination for breach can be seen both as a process and as a remedy. Traditionally, the topic has been dealt with under the broader umbrella of ‘discharge’, alongside such topics as performance, frustration, and agreement. Problems arise, however, when the notion of discharge is pressed too far; in particular, the idea of the contract ‘coming to an end’ can be a misleading one, and has given rise to various errors and misconceptions. For this and other reasons, more emphasis is now given to termination in the context of remedies. Termination can be one of the most useful weapons in the armoury for the victim of a breach of contract, not least because, unlike many other remedies, it does not require recourse to the courts. However, this notion of termination as a remedy should not obscure the close relationship between termination and the other modes of discharge, most notably frustration. The chapter then looks at the problems in this area of the law, including problems of terminology, the different ways in which common law and equity have approached the question, and the relationship between discharge and damages. It also considers the most important aspects of the right to terminate, including the right to refuse performance.
Breach of Contract
Authors: Stannard John E , Capper David
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines the significance of breach of contract. A party seeking to exercise the right to terminate for breach of contract must prove that the other party has broken the contract in the first place. Proving that a breach of contract has occurred involves three basic elements: (1) the party in question must have been under a contractual obligation; (2) they must have failed to perform that obligation; and (3) there must be no lawful excuse for that failure. All of these elements involve complex issues of law. Where a breach of contract has occurred, there are various remedies that may be available to the injured party. They will in all cases be entitled as of right to an award of damages, though if the breach has caused no loss these will only be nominal.
Breach of Condition
Authors: Stannard John E , Capper David
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on breach of condition. The first situation in which termination will be available is where the other party has broken a ‘condition’. A condition is a stipulation in a contract, be it a contract of sale or some other contract, the breach of which gives rise to the right to ‘treat the contract as repudiated’. When is a term a ‘condition’? A term can be made a condition either by express stipulation or by implication. The chapter then distinguishes condition from various other concepts with which it may appear to have similarities, but which work in different ways. It also looks at time stipulations and the divergent approaches of the common law and equity to time stipulations.
The Consequences of Affirmation
Authors: Stannard John E , Capper David
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses on the situation where the innocent party with an option to terminate the contract instead decides to affirm it. What are the obligations of the innocent party in that situation and what are its rights? In particular, what remedies may the innocent party be entitled to in the event that it decides in effect to carry on with the contract? Broadly speaking, the innocent party affirming the contract would be required to continue performing its own primary obligations under the contract and would be entitled to sue for damages for losses caused by the other party's breach. However, the remedy of greater significance by far usually concerns the other party's continuing obligations, which the innocent party might be able to seek to enforce through an action for an agreed sum (the price) if they were money obligations or an order for specific performance if they involved non-monetary acts of performance.
From Cravat to Khaki: Gender, Sexuality, and Change in the Immigration of Fritz Wolf to Mandate Palestine
Authors: Alianov-Rautenberg Viola
Published: February 2021

This article offers an in-depth analysis of the relation of gender and change in the migration experience from National Socialist Germany to Mandate Palestine in the 1930s. Choosing a micro-perspective, this article draws on various unpublished writings of Dr. jur. Fritz Wolf (1908–2006). Concentrating on Wolf’s first encounter with Palestine, this article considers the different stages of migration—journey, arrival, and first year in a new homeland—to shed light on the crucial importance of gender in his observations, interactions, and self-perception in this process. While Fritz Wolf is at the centre of this case study, gender will be used in this article as a relational category, relating this case study to experiences of German-Jewish immigrants in general, both male and female. Therefore, this article provides a discussion of changing gender relations, different masculinities and femininities, and altered concepts of marriage and sexuality within the German-Jewish immigrant community in Mandate Palestine in general.
Current and emerging roles of Cockayne syndrome group B (CSB) protein
Authors: Tiwari Vinod , Baptiste Beverly A , Okur Mustafa N , Bohr Vilhelm A
Published: February 2021

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a segmental premature aging syndrome caused primarily by defects in the CSA or CSB genes. In addition to premature aging, CS patients typically exhibit microcephaly, progressive mental and sensorial retardation and cutaneous photosensitivity. Defects in the CSB gene were initially thought to primarily impair transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), predicting a relatively consistent phenotype among CS patients. In contrast, the phenotypes of CS patients are pleiotropic and variable. The latter is consistent with recent work that implicates CSB in multiple cellular systems and pathways, including DNA base excision repair, interstrand cross-link repair, transcription, chromatin remodeling, RNAPII processing, nucleolin regulation, rDNA transcription, redox homeostasis, and mitochondrial function. The discovery of additional functions for CSB could potentially explain the many clinical phenotypes of CSB patients. This review focuses on the diverse roles played by CSB in cellular pathways that enhance genome stability, providing insight into the molecular features of this complex premature aging disease.
Some comments on 6D global gauge anomalies
Authors: Lee Yasunori , Tachikawa Yuji
Published: February 2021

Global gauge anomalies in six dimensions associated with non-trivial homotopy groups $\pi_6(G)$ for $G=SU(2)$, $SU(3)$, and $G_2$ have been computed and utilized in the past. From the modern bordism point of view of anomalies, however, they come from the bordism groups $\Omega^\text{spin}_7(BG)$, which are in fact trivial and therefore preclude their existence. Instead, it was noticed that a proper treatment of the 6D Green–Schwarz mechanism reproduces the same anomaly cancellation conditions derived from $\pi_6(G)$. In this paper, we revisit and clarify the relation between these two different approaches.
Concerns with computational protein engineering programmes IPRO and OptMAVEn and metabolic pathway engineering programme optStoic
Authors: Wood Thomas K.
Published: February 2021

It has become customary in engineering to require a modelling component in
research endeavours. In addition, as the code for these models becomes more
byzantine in complexity, it is difficult for reviewers and readers to discern
their value and understand the underlying code. This opinion piece summarizes
the negative experience of the author with the IPRO and OptMAVEn computational
protein engineering models as well as problems with the optStoic metabolic
pathway model. In our hands, these models often fail to predict reliable ways to
engineer proteins and metabolic pathways.
Stable leaders pave the way for cooperation under time-dependent exploration rates
Authors: Pinheiro Flávio L. , Pacheco Jorge M. , Santos Francisco C.
Published: February 2021

The exploration of different behaviours is part of the adaptation repertoire of individuals to new environments. Here, we explore how the evolution of cooperative behaviour is affected by the interplay between exploration dynamics and social learning, in particular when individuals engage on prisoner’s dilemma along the edges of a social network. We show that when the population undergoes a transition from strong to weak exploration rates a decline in the overall levels of cooperation is observed. However, if the rate of decay is lower in highly connected individuals (Leaders) than for the less connected individuals (Followers) then the population is able to achieve higher levels of cooperation. Finally, we show that minor differences in selection intensities (the degree of determinism in social learning) and individual exploration rates, can translate into major differences in the observed collective dynamics.
Population-specific sex and size variation in long-term foraging ecology of belugas and narwhals
Authors: Louis Marie , Skovrind Mikkel , Garde Eva , Heide-Jørgensen Mads Peter , Szpak Paul , Lorenzen Eline D.
Published: February 2021

Intraspecific variation in resource use by individuals of different age, sex or size may reflect differing energetic requirements and physiological constraints. Males and females often show differences in diet owing to sexual size dimorphism, different life histories and/or habitat use. Here, we investigate how sex and size influence the long-term foraging ecology of belugas and narwhals in Greenland, using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen from bone collagen. We show that males have a higher trophic level and a larger ecological niche than females in West Greenland belugas and in East Greenland narwhals. In addition, for these two populations, we find that
δ
15
N increases with size, particularly in males. We hypothesize that sexual size dimorphism together with strong maternal investment drive these differences. By contrast, we find no differences in foraging ecology between sexes in West Greenland narwhals and observe no influence of size on trophic level. This may reflect the influence of interspecific competition in West Greenland, where the distributions of belugas and narwhals overlap, and/or geographical resource partitioning among different summer aggregations of narwhals. Our results suggest that sex and size variations in diet are population dependent, and probably the result of varying ecological interactions.
Schwarzite nets: a wealth of 3-valent examples sharing similar topologies and symmetries
Authors: Hyde Stephen T. , Cramer Pedersen Martin
Published: February 2021

We enumerate trivalent reticulations of two- and three-periodic hyperbolic surfaces by equal-sided
n
-gonal faces, (
n
, 3), where
n
 = 7, 8, 9, 10, 12. These are the simplest hyperbolic generalizations of the planar graphene net, (6, 3) and dodecahedrane, (5, 3). The enumeration proceeds by deleting isometries of regular reticulations of two-dimensional hyperbolic space until the (
n
, 3) nets can be embedded in euclidean three-space via periodic hyperbolic surfaces. Those nets are then symmetrized in euclidean space retaining their net topology, leading to explicit crystallographic net embeddings whose edges are as equal as possible, affording candidtae patterns for graphitic schwarzites. The resulting schwarzites are the most symmetric examples. More than one hundred topologically distinct nets are described, most of which are novel.
Homogenization of an elastic material reinforced by very strong fibres arranged along a periodic lattice
Authors: Abdoul-Anziz Houssam , Jakabčin Lukáš , Seppecher Pierre
Published: February 2021

We provide in this paper homogenization results for the L
2
-topology leading to complete strain-gradient models and generalized continua. Actually, we extend to the L
2
-topology the results obtained in (Abdoul-Anziz & Seppecher, 2018 Homogenization of periodic graph-based elastic structures.
Journal de l’Ecole polytechnique–Mathématiques
5
, 259–288) using a topology adapted to minimization problems set in varying domains. Contrary to (Abdoul-Anziz & Seppecher, 2018 Homogenization of periodic graph-based elastic structures.
Journal de l’Ecole polytechnique–Mathématiques
5
, 259–288) we consider elastic lattices embedded in a soft elastic matrix. Thus our study is placed in the usual framework of homogenization. The contrast between the elastic stiffnesses of the matrix and the reinforcement zone is assumed to be very large. We prove that a suitable choice of the stiffness on the weak part ensures the compactness of minimizing sequences while the energy contained in the matrix disappears at the limit: the Γ-limit energies we obtain are identical to those obtained in (Abdoul-Anziz & Seppecher, 2018 Homogenization of periodic graph-based elastic structures.
Journal de l’Ecole polytechnique–Mathématiques
5
, 259–288).
A scaling investigation of pattern in the spread of COVID-19: universality in real data and a predictive analytical description
Authors: Das Subir K.
Published: February 2021

We analyse the spread of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, in various countries by proposing a model that exploits the scaling and other important concepts of statistical physics. Quite expectedly, for each of the considered countries, we observe that the spread at early times occurs exponentially fast. We show how the countries can be classified into groups, likeuniversality classesin the literature of phase transitions, based on the rates of infections during late times. This method brings a new angle to the understanding of disease spread and is useful in obtaining a country-wise comparative picture of the effectiveness of lockdown-like social measures. Strong similarity, during both natural and lockdown periods, emerges in the spreads within countries having varying geographical locations, climatic conditions, population densities and economic parameters. We derive accurate mathematical forms for the corresponding scaling functions and show how the model can be used as a predictive tool, with instruction even for future waves, and, thus, as a guide for optimizing social measures and medical facilities. The model is expected to be of general relevance in the studies of epidemics.
Pair approximation model for the vaccination game: predicting the dynamic process of epidemic spread and individual actions against contagion
Authors: Kuga Kazuki , Tanaka Masaki , Tanimoto Jun
Published: February 2021

We successfully establish a theoretical framework of pairwise approximation for the vaccination game in which both the dynamic process of epidemic spread and individual actions in helping prevent social behaviours are quantitatively evaluated. In contrast with mean-field approximation, our model captures higher-order effects from neighbours by using an underlying network that shows how the disease spreads and how individual decisions evolve over time. This model considers not only imperfect vaccination but also intermediate protective measures other than vaccines. Our analytical predictions are validated by multi-agent simulation results that estimate random regular graphs at varying degrees.
Cost-free lifespan extension via optimization of gene expression in adulthood aligns with the developmental theory of ageing
Authors: Lind Martin I. , Carlsson Hanne , Duxbury Elizabeth M. L. , Ivimey-Cook Edward , Maklakov Alexei A.
Published: February 2021

Ageing evolves because the force of selection on traits declines with age but the proximate causes of ageing are incompletely understood. The ‘disposable soma’ theory of ageing (DST) upholds that competitive resource allocation between reproduction and somatic maintenance underpins the evolution of ageing and lifespan. In contrast, the developmental theory of ageing (DTA) suggests that organismal senescence is caused by suboptimal gene expression in adulthood. While the DST predicts the trade-off between reproduction and lifespan, the DTA predicts that age-specific optimization of gene expression can increase lifespan without reproduction costs. Here we investigated the consequences for lifespan, reproduction, egg size and individual fitness of early-life, adulthood and post-reproductive onset of RNAi knockdown of five ‘longevity’ genes involved in key biological processes in
Caenorhabditis elegans
. Downregulation of these genes in adulthood and/or during post-reproductive period increases lifespan, while we found limited evidence for a link between impaired reproduction and extended lifespan. Our findings demonstrate that suboptimal gene expression in adulthood often contributes to reduced lifespan directly rather than through competitive resource allocation between reproduction and somatic maintenance. Therefore, age-specific optimization of gene expression in evolutionarily conserved signalling pathways that regulate organismal life histories can increase lifespan without fitness costs.
Were all trilobites fully marine? Trilobite expansion into brackish water during the early Palaeozoic
Authors: Mángano M. Gabriela , Buatois Luis A. , Waisfeld Beatriz G. , Muñoz Diego F. , Vaccari N. Emilio , Astini Ricardo A.
Published: February 2021

Trilobites, key components of early Palaeozoic communities, are considered to have been invariably fully marine. Through the integration of ichnological, palaeobiological, and sedimentological datasets within a sequence-stratigraphical framework, we challenge this assumption. Here, we report uncontroversial trace and body fossil evidence of their presence in brackish-water settings. Our approach allows tracking of some trilobite groups foraying into tide-dominated estuaries. These trilobites were tolerant to salinity stress and able to make use of the ecological advantages offered by marginal-marine environments migrating up-estuary, following salt wedges either reflecting amphidromy or as euryhaline marine wanderers. Our data indicate two attempts of landward exploration via brackish water: phase 1 in which the outer portion of estuaries were colonized by olenids (Furongian–early late Tremadocian) and phase 2 involving exploration of the inner to middle estuarine zones by asaphids (Dapingian–Darriwilian). This study indicates that tolerance to salinity stress arose independently among different trilobite groups.
Antifungals, arthropods and antifungal resistance prevention: lessons from ecological interactions
Authors: Kett Steve , Pathak Ayush , Turillazzi Stefano , Cavalieri Duccio , Marvasi Massimiliano
Published: February 2021

Arthropods can produce a wide range of antifungal compounds, including specialist proteins, cuticular products, venoms and haemolymphs. In spite of this, many arthropod taxa, particularly eusocial insects, make use of additional antifungal compounds derived from their mutualistic association with microbes. Because multiple taxa have evolved such mutualisms, it must be assumed that, under certain ecological circumstances, natural selection has favoured them over those relying upon endogenous antifungal compound production. Further, such associations have been shown to persist versus specific pathogenic fungal antagonists for more than 50 million years, suggesting that compounds employed have retained efficacy in spite of the pathogens' capacity to develop resistance. We provide a brief overview of antifungal compounds in the arthropods’ armoury, proposing a conceptual model to suggest why their use remains so successful. Fundamental concepts embedded within such a model may suggest strategies by which to reduce the rise of antifungal resistance within the clinical milieu.
Three-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of the skull of
Protoceratops andrewsi
supports a socio-sexual signalling role for the ceratopsian frill
Authors: Knapp A. , Knell R. J. , Hone D. W. E.
Published: February 2021

Socio-sexual selection is predicted to be an important driver of evolution, influencing speciation, extinction and adaptation. The fossil record provides a means of testing these predictions, but detecting its signature from morphological data alone is difficult. There are, nonetheless, some specific patterns of growth and variation which are expected of traits under socio-sexual selection. The distinctive parietal-squamosal frill of ceratopsian dinosaurs has previously been suggested as a socio-sexual display trait, but evidence for this has been limited. Here, we perform a whole-skull shape analysis of an unprecedentedly large sample of specimens of
Protoceratops andrewsi
using a high-density landmark-based geometric morphometric approach to test four predictions regarding a potential socio-sexual signalling role for the frill. Three predictions—low integration with the rest of the skull, significantly higher rate of change in size and shape during ontogeny, and higher morphological variance than other skull regions—are supported. One prediction, sexual dimorphism in shape, is not supported, suggesting that sexual differences in
P. andrewsi
are likely to be small. Together, these findings are consistent with mutual mate choice or selection for signalling quality in more general social interactions, and support the hypothesis that the frill functioned as a socio-sexual signal in ceratopsian dinosaurs.
Advanced Cambrian hydroid fossils (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) extend the medusozoan evolutionary history
Authors: Song Xikun , Ruthensteiner Bernhard , Lyu Mingxin , Liu Xi , Wang Jian , Han Jian
Published: February 2021

Primitive cnidarians are crucial for elucidating the early evolution of metazoan body plans and life histories in the late Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic. The highest complexity of both evolutionary aspects within cnidarians is found in extant hydrozoans. Many colonial hydrozoans coated with chitinous exoskeletons have the potential to form fossils; however, only a few fossils possibly representing hydroids have been reported, which still require scrutiny. Here, we present an exceptionally well-preserved hydroid found in the Upper Cambrian Fengshan Formation in northern China. It was originally interpreted as a problematic graptolite with an uncertain systematic position. Based on three characteristic morphological traits shared with extant hydroids (with paired hydrothecae, regular hydrocaulus internodes and special intrathecal origin pattern of hydrocladium), we propose this fossil hydroid as a new genus,
Palaeodiphasia
gen. nov., affiliated with the advanced monophyletic hydrozoan clade Macrocolonia typically showing loss of the medusa stage. More Macrocolonia fossils reviewed here indicate that this life strategy of medusa loss has been achieved already as early as the Middle Devonian. The early stratigraphical appearance of such advanced hydroid contrasts with previous molecular hypotheses regarding the timing of medusozoan evolution, and may be indicative for understanding the Ediacaran cnidarian radiation.
Clarifying the relationship between body size and extinction risk in amphibians by complete mapping of model space
Authors: Cardillo Marcel
Published: February 2021

In vertebrates, large body size is often a key diagnostic feature of species threatened with extinction. However, in amphibians the link between body size and extinction risk is highly uncertain, with previous studies suggesting positive, negative, u-shaped, or no relationship. Part of the reason for this uncertainty is ‘researcher degrees of freedom’: the subjectivity and selectivity in choices associated with specifying and fitting models. Here, I clarify the size–threat association in amphibians using Specification Curve Analysis, an analytical approach from the social sciences that attempts to minimize this problem by complete mapping of model space. I find strong support for prevailing negative associations between body size and threat status, the opposite of patterns typical in other vertebrates. This pattern is largely explained by smaller species having smaller geographic ranges, but smaller amphibian species also appear to lack some of the life-history advantages (e.g. higher reproductive output) that are often assumed to ‘protect’ small species in other taxa. These results highlight the need for a renewed conservation focus on the smallest species of the world's most threatened class of vertebrates, as aquatic habitats become increasingly degraded by human activity.
The patterns and modes of the evolution of disparity in Mesozoic birds
Authors: Wang Min , Lloyd Graeme T. , Zhang Chi , Zhou Zhonghe
Published: February 2021

The origin of birds from non-avian theropod dinosaurs is one of the greatest transitions in evolution. Shortly after diverging from other theropods in the Late Jurassic, Mesozoic birds diversified into two major clades—the Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha—acquiring many features previously considered unique to the crown group along the way. Here, we present a comparative phylogenetic study of the patterns and modes of Mesozoic bird skeletal morphology and limb proportions. Our results show that the major Mesozoic avian groups are distinctive in discrete character space, but constrained in a morphospace defined by limb proportions. The Enantiornithines, despite being the most speciose group of Mesozoic birds, are much less morphologically disparate than their sister clade, the Ornithuromorpha—the clade that gave rise to living birds, showing disparity and diversity were decoupled in avian history. This relatively low disparity suggests that diversification of enantiornithines was characterized in exhausting fine morphologies, whereas ornithuromorphs continuously explored a broader array of morphologies and ecological opportunities. We suggest this clade-specific evolutionary versatility contributed to their sole survival of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
The prevalence of dermatophytoses in Brazil: a systematic review
Authors: de Oliveira Pereira Fillipe , Gomes Sávio Marcelino , Lima da Silva Shellygton , Paula de Castro Teixeira Anna , Lima Igara Oliveira
Published: February 2021

Dermatophytosis is a common cutaneous mycosis worldwide whose prevalence in Brazil is still unknown. This systematic review has estimated the burden of dermatophytoses from updated literature data reported in the general Brazilian population. We used the following databases: Web of Science, Medline/PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library and Scopus for studies published between 2011 and 2020. Original articles with an emphasis on prevalence data for dermatophytosis in the Brazilian population, and diagnosed by culture exam or molecular biology were eligible. We also assessed the methodological quality of the studies. A total of 24 articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The occurrence of dermatophytoses found in the studies ranged from 4–88.50 %. The pooled prevalence of dermatophytosis for the population studies was 25 % (95 % CI: 24.7–25.3 %). The size of the samples used in the studies ranged from 45 to 36 446 participants, and ages ranged up to 98 years old. The populations studied involved mostly women. The presence of tinea unguium (toenail and fingernail) and tinea pedis were the most frequent dermatophytosis, and we observed a predominance of Trichophyton rubrum, T. interdigitale and T. mentagrophytes. The studies were primarily conducted in patient groups with suspected mycoses and were not entirely representative of the general population. Yet we believe that in the future, more collaborative strategies would improve both diagnostic capacity and epidemiological methodologies, associating the prevalence of dermatophytosis with social and environmental risk factors. This review helps to better understand future epidemiological trends in Brazil and the world.
Sustainable targeted interventions to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic: A big data-driven modeling study in Hong Kong
Authors: Zhou Hanchu , Zhang Qingpeng , Cao Zhidong , Huang Helai , Zeng Daniel Dajun
Published: February 2021

Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for contact suppression have been widely used worldwide, which impose harmful burdens on the population and the local economy. The evaluation of alternative NPIs is needed to confront the pandemic with less disruption. By harnessing human mobility data, we develop an agent-based model that can evaluate the efficacies of NPIs with individualized mobility simulations. Based on the model, we propose data-driven targeted interventions to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong without city-wide NPIs. We develop a data-driven agent-based model for 7.55 million Hong Kong residents to evaluate the efficacies of various NPIs in the first 80 days of the initial outbreak. The entire territory of Hong Kong is split into 4,905 500m × 500m grids. The model can simulate detailed agent interactions based on the demographics data, public facilities and functional buildings, transportation systems, and travel patterns. The general daily human mobility patterns are adopted from Google’s Community Mobility Report. The scenario without any NPIs is set as the baseline. By simulating the epidemic progression and human movement at the individual level, we proposed model-driven targeted interventions, which focus on the surgical testing and quarantine of only a small portion of regions instead of enforcing NPIs in the whole city. The efficacious of common NPIs and the proposed targeted interventions are evaluated by extensive 100 simulations. The proposed model can inform targeted interventions, which are able to effectively contain the COVID-19 outbreak with much lower disruption of the city. It represents a promising approach to sustainable NPIs to help us revive the economy of the city and the world.