bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geomechanical characterisation of organic-rich calcareous shale using AFM and nanoindentation
Authors: Graham S. P. , Rouainia M. , Aplin A. C. , Cubillas P. , Fender T. D. , Armitage P. J.
Published: October 2020

The geomechanical integrity of shale overburden is a highly significant geological risk factor for a range of engineering and energy-related applications including CO$$_2$$

2

storage and unconventional hydrocarbon production. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive set of high-quality nano- and micro-mechanical data on shale samples to better constrain the macroscopic mechanical properties that result from the microstructural constituents of shale. We present the first study of the mechanical responses of a calcareous shale over length scales of 10 nm to 100 $$\upmu$$
μ
m, combining approaches involving atomic force microscopy (AFM), and both low-load and high-load nanoindentation. PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping AFM (PF-QNM) and quantitative imaging (QI-AFM) give similar results for Young’s modulus up to 25 GPa, with both techniques generating values for organic matter of 5–10 GPa. Of the two AFM techniques, only PF-QNM generates robust results at higher moduli, giving similar results to low-load nanoindentation up to 60 GPa. Measured moduli for clay, calcite, and quartz-feldspar are $$22 \pm 2\,\hbox { GPa}$$

22
±
2

GPa

, $$42 \pm 8\,\hbox { GPa}$$

42
±
8

GPa

, and $$55 \pm 10\,\hbox { GPa}$$

55
±
10

GPa

respectively. For calcite and quartz-feldspar, these values are significantly lower than measurements made on highly crystalline phases. High-load nanoindentation generates an unimodal mechanical response in the range of 40–50 GPa for both samples studied here, consistent with calcite being the dominant mineral phase. Voigt and Reuss bounds calculated from low-load nanoindentation results for individual phases generate the expected composite value measured by high-load nanoindentation at length scales of 100–600 $$\upmu$$
μ
m. In contrast, moduli measured on more highly crystalline mineral phases using data from literature do not match the composite value. More emphasis should, therefore, be placed on the use of nano- and micro-scale data as the inputs to effective medium models and homogenisation schemes to predict the bulk shale mechanical response.
Thrombotic Complications in Patients with COVID-19: Pathophysiological Mechanisms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Authors: Gąsecka Aleksandra , Borovac Josip A. , Guerreiro Rui Azevedo , Giustozzi Michela , Parker William , Caldeira Daniel , Chiva-Blanch Gemma
Published: October 2020

Introduction

Emerging evidence points to an association between severe clinical presentation of COVID-19 and increased risk of thromboembolism. One-third of patients hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 develops macrovascular thrombotic complications, including venous thromboembolism, myocardial injury/infarction and stroke. Concurrently, the autopsy series indicate multiorgan damage pattern consistent with microvascular injury.

Prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment

COVID-19 associated coagulopathy has distinct features, including markedly elevated D-dimers concentration with nearly normal activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time and platelet count. The diagnosis may be challenging due to overlapping features between pulmonary embolism and severe COVID-19 disease, such as dyspnoea, high concentration of D-dimers, right ventricle with dysfunction or enlargement, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Both macro- and microvascular complications are associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality. Therefore, early recognition of coagulation abnormalities among hospitalized COVID-19 patients are critical measures to identify patients with poor prognosis, guide antithrombotic prophylaxis or treatment, and improve patients’ clinical outcomes.

Recommendations for clinicians

Most of the guidelines and consensus documents published on behalf of professional societies focused on thrombosis and hemostasis advocate the use of anticoagulants in all patients hospitalized with COVID-19, as well as 2-6 weeks post hospital discharge in the absence of contraindications. However, since there is no guidance for deciding the intensity and duration of anticoagulation, the decision-making process should be made in individual-case basis.

Conclusions

Here, we review the mechanistic relationships between inflammation and thrombosis, discuss the macrovascular and microvascular complications and summarize the prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of thromboembolism in patients affected by COVID-19.
Determinants and predictors for the long-term disease burden of intracranial meningioma patients
Authors: Zamanipoor Najafabadi Amir H. , van der Meer Pim B. , Boele Florien W. , Taphoorn Martin J. B. , Klein Martin , Peerdeman Saskia M. , van Furth Wouter R. , Dirven Linda ,   on behalf of the Dutch Meningioma Consortium, Boele Florien W. , Dirven Linda , van Furth Wouter R. , Klein Martin , Koekkoek Johan , Lagerwaard Frank , van der Meer Pim B. , Peerdeman Saskia M. , Taphoorn Martin J. B. , Zamanipoor Najafabadi Amir H. , Moojen Wouter A. , Reijneveld Jaap C.
Published: October 2020

Introduction

Meningioma is a heterogeneous disease and patients may suffer from long-term tumor- and treatment-related sequelae. To help identify patients at risk for these late effects, we first assessed variables associated with impaired long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and impaired neurocognitive function on group level (i.e. determinants). Next, prediction models were developed to predict the risk for long-term neurocognitive or HRQoL impairment on individual patient-level.

Methods

Secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional multicenter study with intracranial WHO grade I/II meningioma patients, in which HRQoL (Short-Form 36) and neurocognitive functioning (standardized test battery) were assessed. Multivariable regression models were used to assess determinants for these outcomes corrected for confounders, and to build prediction models, evaluated with C-statistics.

Results

Data from 190 patients were analyzed (median 9 years after intervention). Main determinants for poor HRQoL or impaired neurocognitive function were patients’ sociodemographic characteristics, surgical complications, reoperation, radiotherapy, presence of edema, and a larger tumor diameter on last MRI. Prediction models with a moderate/good ability to discriminate between individual patients with and without impaired HRQoL (C-statistic 0.73, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.81) and neurocognitive function (C-statistic 0.78, 95%CI 0.70 to 0.85) were built. Not all predictors (e.g. tumor location) within these models were also determinants.

Conclusions

The identified determinants help clinicians to better understand long-term meningioma disease burden. Prediction models can help early identification of individual patients at risk for long-term neurocognitive or HRQoL impairment, facilitating tailored provision of information and allocation of scarce supportive care services to those most likely to benefit.
Developing inclusive education in Portugal: Evidence and challenges
Authors: Alves Ines , Campos Pinto Paula , Pinto Teresa Janela
Published: October 2020

This article assesses evidence of and challenges to the development of inclusive education in Portugal, which is built on three pillars: access to, participation in, and achievement in education for all children and young people. It presents an overview of the present policy framework, followed by an analysis of available statistical data on Portuguese students with disabilities in mainstream schools. The article also discusses significant achievements at the policy and practice levels, namely the attempt to align curriculum and pedagogy and the presence of almost 100% of students with disabilities in mainstream schools. It also considers challenges, such as the issue of monitoring achievement (both at the student and system level) and investments in the system and in teacher education.
Observations of the Solar Corona from Space
Authors: Antonucci Ester , Harra Louise , Susino Roberto , Telloni Daniele
Published: October 2020

Space observations of the atmosphere of the Sun, obtained in half a century of dedicated space missions, provide a well established picture of the medium and large-scale solar corona, which is highly variable with the level of solar activity through a solar cycle and evolves with the long-term evolution of the magnetic cycles. In this review, we summarize the physical properties and dynamics of the medium and large-scale corona, consisting primarily of active regions, streamers and coronal holes; describe the dependence of coronal patterns on the magnetic field patterns changing through the solar cycle and the properties of the regions of open magnetic flux channeling the solar wind; the ubiquitous presence of fluctuations in the outer corona; the rotational properties of the large-scale corona; and the persistent hemispheric asymmetries in the emergence of magnetic fields and the distribution of the coronal emission.
Precision medicine in acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Pui Ching-Hon
Published: October 2020

The cure rate of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has exceeded 90% in some contemporary clinical trials. However, the dose intensity of conventional chemotherapy has been pushed to its limit. Further improvement in outcome will need to rely more heavily on molecular therapeutic as well as immuno-and cellular-therapy approaches together with precise risk stratification. Children with ETV6-RUNX1 or hyperdiploid > 50 ALL who achieve negative minimal residual disease during early remission induction are suitable candidates for reduction in treatment. Patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive or Ph-like ALL with ABL-class fusion should be treated with dasatinib. BH3 profiling and other preclinical methods have identified several high-risk subtypes, such as hypodiplod, early T-cell precursor, immature T-cell, KMT2A-rearranged, Ph-positive and TCF-HLF-positive ALL, that may respond to BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax. There are other fusions or mutations that may serve as putative targets, but effective targeted therapy has yet to be established. For other high-risk patients or poor early treatment responders who do not have targetable genetic lesions, current approaches that offer hope include blinatumomab, inotuzumab and CAR-T cell therapy for B-ALL, and daratumumab and nelarabine for T-ALL. With the expanding therapeutic armamentarium, we should start focus on rational combinations of targeted therapy with non-overlapping toxicities.
Kann Jungenarbeit queer sein?
Authors: Rieske Thomas Viola
Published: October 2020

Das Konzept queer steht für die Kritik geschlechts- und sexualitätsbezogener Normen, sofern diese gesellschaftliche Marginalisierungen begründen. Für die geschlechterreflektierte Pädagogik mit Jungen – kurz: Jungenarbeit – bietet es eine Reflexionsperspektive, mit der Annahmen über Jungen hinterfragt werden können. Sie stärkt Jungenarbeit darin, sich an den vielfältigen Bedürfnissen und Problemlagen von Jungen zu orientieren und dabei Jungen wie auch Pädagog_innen von unnötigen normativen Erwartungen zu entlasten.
Effect of Amount of DNA on Digital PCR Assessment of Genetically Engineered Canola and Soybean Events
Authors: Demeke Tigst , Eng Monika , Holigroski Michelle , Lee Sung-Jong
Published: October 2020

Low-level detection and quantification of genetically engineered (GE) traits with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is challenging. For unapproved GE events, any level of detection is not acceptable in some countries because of zero tolerance. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) has been successfully used for absolute quantification of GE events. In this study, reliability of low level quantification of GE events with ddPCR was assessed using a total of 50, 100, 200, 400, and 600 ng DNA spiked at 0.01% and 0.1% concentration levels. Genetically engineered canola (GT73 and MON88302 events) and soybean (A2704-12 and DP305423 events) events were used for the study. For samples spiked at 0.1% level, reliable quantification was achieved for the four GE events using 50 or 100 ng DNA. Few target droplets were generated for 0.01% spiked GE samples using 50 and 100 ng DNA. Increasing the amount of DNA for ddPCR generated more number of target droplets. For GE canola events, the use of 400 and 600 ng DNA for ddPCR resulted in saturation. The use of multiple wells of 200 ng DNA (instead of 400 and 600 ng per well) helped to overcome the saturation problem. Overall, the use of high amount of DNA for ddPCR was helpful for the detection and quantification of 0.01% GE samples.
Informed preference consequentialism, contractarianism and libertarian paternalism: on Harsanyi, Rawls and Robert Sugden’s The Community of Advantage
Authors: Qizilbash Mozaffar
Published: October 2020

Robert Sugden abandons certain central tenets of traditional welfare economics and recommends a contractarian alternative. He rejects ‘Libertarian Paternalism’ (LP) and related ‘paternalistic’ proposals. The seeds of ‘paternalism’ inspired by the findings of behavioural economics can be found in informed preference views associated with J.S. Mill and John Harsanyi. Nonetheless, those who endorse a combination of the informed preference view of welfare, consequentialism and welfarism—‘informed preference consequentialists’—have good reasons to resist the agenda of LP. John Rawls adopts a variation of the informed preference view. Contracting parties in his theory accept ‘paternalistic principles’. Sugden’s claim that contractarians cannot be ‘paternalists’ does not generalise to all contractarian theories. Sugden’s and Rawls’ contractarian positions are in important respects different.
Nuclear global spaces of ultradifferentiable functions in the matrix weighted setting
Authors: Boiti Chiara , Jornet David , Oliaro Alessandro , Schindl Gerhard
Published: October 2020

We prove that the Hermite functions are an absolute Schauder basis for many global weighted spaces of ultradifferentiable functions in the matrix weighted setting and we determine also the corresponding coefficient spaces, thus extending the previous work by Langenbruch. As a consequence, we give very general conditions for these spaces to be nuclear. In particular, we obtain the corresponding results for spaces defined by weight functions.
The Athenian Empire
Authors: Kallet Lisa , Kroll John H.
Published: October 2020

Coinage played a central role in the history of the Athenian naval empire of the fifth century BC. It made possible the rise of the empire itself, which was financed through tribute in coinage collected annually from the empire's approximately 200 cities. The empire's downfall was brought about by the wealth in Persian coinage that financed its enemies. This book surveys and illustrates, with nearly 200 examples, the extraordinary variety of silver and gold coinages that were employed in the history of the period, minted by cities within the empire and by those cities and rulers that came into contact with it. It also examines how coins supplement the literary sources and even attest to developments in the monetary history of the period that would otherwise be unknown. This is an accessible introduction to both the history of the Athenian empire and to the use of coins as evidence.
Freerolls and binds: making policy when information is missing
Authors: DUKE ANNIE , SUNSTEIN CASS R.
Published: October 2020

When policymakers focus on costs and benefits, they often find that hard questions become easy – as, for example, when the benefits clearly exceed the costs, or when the costs clearly exceed the benefits. In some cases, however, benefits or costs are difficult to quantify, perhaps because of limitations in scientific knowledge. In extreme cases, policymakers are proceeding in circumstances of uncertainty rather than risk, in the sense that they cannot assign probabilities to various outcomes. We suggest that in difficult cases in which important information is absent, it is useful for policymakers to consider a concept from poker: ‘freerolls.’ A freeroll exists when choosers can lose nothing from selecting an option but stand to gain something (whose magnitude may itself be unknown). In some cases, people display ‘freeroll neglect.’ In terms of social justice, John Rawls’ defense of the difference principle is grounded in the idea that, behind the veil of ignorance, choosers have a freeroll. In terms of regulatory policy, one of the most promising defenses of the Precautionary Principle sees it as a kind of freeroll. Some responses to climate change, pandemics and financial crises can be seen as near-freerolls. Freerolls and near-freerolls must be distinguished from cases involving cumulatively high costs and also from faux freerolls, which can be found when the costs of an option are real and significant, but not visible. ‘Binds’ are the mirror-image of freerolls; they involve options from which people are guaranteed to lose something (of uncertain magnitude). Some regulatory options are binds, and there are faux binds as well.
Cash transfer and professional care for tackling child poverty and neglect in Italy
Authors: Bezze Maria , Canali Cinzia , Geron Devis , Vecchiato Tiziano
Published: October 2020

There has been a general increase in poverty over the last decade in Italy, which has mainly affected the younger generations, with children and youth experiencing the worst economic conditions. This is primarily not due to a lack of available economic resources but to the way in which these resources are allocated: mainly in the form of cash transfers rather than services. The provision of adequate services based on professional work needs to be implemented by overcoming two main obstacles which are highlighted by the results of two studies presented here. The first study concerns the quality of professional care and the systematic use of outcome evaluation, the second concerns the vision of professionals and their ability to integrate the provision of services with economic support aimed at improving children’s growth and parenting skills. The two studies were carried out as part of an international debate on how to effectively fight poverty and social exclusion of children which was promoted by the International Association for Outcome-based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children’s Services (iaOBERfcs).
The Whistleblower Protection Directive (2019/1937): A Satisfactory but Incomplete System
Authors: VAN WAEYENBERGE Arnaud , DAVIES Zachariah
Published: October 2020

On 23 October 2019 the European Union enacted the Whistleblower Protection Directive. The directive introduces important common standards of protection for whistleblowers reporting on breaches of EU law and significantly increases the level of protection afforded to whistleblowers in many EU Member States. Many of the features of the directive go further than pre-existing national whistleblower protection regimes, particularly in relation to the categories of persons who may benefit from the protections under the directive and in terms of the flexibility of the prescribed reporting procedures. Nevertheless, the directive's effectiveness may be limited by certain grey-areas and missed opportunities in the final text of the instrument.
The Entrepreneurial State in Action: The Danish Robotics Cluster and the Role of the Public Sector
Authors: LAMBERTY JULIAN , NEVERS JEPPE
Published: October 2020

The question of the role of the state in the creation of competitive clusters and innovation systems has drawn increased attention in recent years. Drawing on Mariana Mazzucato’s concept of “the entrepreneurial state,” this article investigates the role of the public sector in the development of the Danish robotics cluster, a world-leading cluster for production of industrial robots that has developed after the closing of Maersk’s shipyard in the city of Odense. In what ways did public programs and actors contribute to the development of this cluster? In what ways did public programs facilitate entrepreneurs, and when did they function as agents or perhaps even risk-takers? To answer these questions, this article tracks three layers of public agency: the local, the national, and the European. This article concludes that there were crucial initiatives at all three levels and that these initiatives were not coordinated, but nevertheless connected by a certainzeitgeist—the idea of public institutions taking responsibility for the competitiveness of private companies, an idea that blossomed in the period of high globalization from the late 1980s to the 2000s. In other words, what united the efforts of the public sector was not any master plan but an underlying thought collective that made the workings of “the entrepreneurial state” flexible and fit for the unpredictable nature of innovation. Thus, this article argues that industrial policy did not wither away in the age of neoliberalism but changed its form in an increasing complexity of state-market relations.
Milestones and Directions: Socio-Legal Studies in Germany and the United Kingdom
Authors: Machura Stefan
Published: October 2020

Under the headings of “Rechtssoziologie” in Germany and “sociolegal studies” in the UK, scholarly traditions have developed that relate law to its social environment. This Article identifies key stages in the development the subject took in both countries and the directions of travel. Comparable milestones were passed, and directions were taken in Germany and the UK. This includes the institutionalization of the subject along the lines of programmatic texts; becoming part of university education; and the establishment of research institutes, academic associations, and specialized journals. The development tells us something beyond sociology of law or sociolegal studies, namely about the relation of law and sociology, the parent disciplines themselves, as well as about academic studies and professional and institutional practice. However, in contrast to the UK, there is still more of a distance between the sociology of law and jurisprudence in Germany.
The Left and universal basic income: the role of ideology in individual support
Authors: Schwander Hanna , Vlandas Tim
Published: October 2020

Few studies to date have analysed individual support for universal basic income (UBI). This article theorizes and explores empirically the relationship between different strands of left ideology and support for UBI across European countries. We delineate three types of concerns about capitalism: “Labourist Left” worry aboutexploitation; “Libertarian Left” aboutrepressionand “Social Investment Left” aboutinefficiencies. Contrary to expectations we derive from political theory and welfare state literature, our results based on data from the European Social Survey suggest that having high concerns about exploitation is positively correlated with support for UBI, whereas repression concerns are negatively correlated with support. In line with our hypothesis about social investment ideology, left-leaning individuals with efficiency concerns are more likely to support UBI. Our findings call for more detailed surveys as well as further research on the different ideologies within the Left and how these relate to variation in support for UBI, which crucially shapes the potential political coalition behind the introduction of UBI.
The Role of Disability and Accessibility in Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Authors: Vogelauer Christian , Herold David M. , Fuerst Elmar
Published: October 2020

Although companies increasingly focus on the social dimension in corporate sustainability, there seems to be a lack of understanding how and to what extent disability and accessibility frameworks and activities are integrated in corporate sustainability reports. In this article, we aim to close this gap by (a) analysing the disability and accessibility (D&A) activities from the largest 50 companies in Europe based on their corporate sustainability reports, and (b) advancing a simplified conceptual framework for D&A that can be used in corporate reporting. In particular, we provide an overview about corporate D&A reporting and associated activities according to three identified areas: (a) workforce, (b) workplace, and (c) products and services. Our findings are twofold: First, the majority of the companies address D&A in their corporate sustainability reports mainly under the diversity umbrella, but lack a detailed debate about the three identified areas. Second, we found that existing frameworks for D&A are hardly used because either they are not focused on corporate reporting or seem too difficult or complicated to complete. Thus, our framework not only represents a first opportunity to foster the implementation of a D&A framework within the social dimension of corporate sustainability reports, but also presents a holistic yet flexible management tool that takes into account the most critical elements while shaping implementation, directing evaluation and encouraging future planning of D&A initiatives. As such, this study contributes to and extends the limited amount of research of D&A activities in the social dimension in corporate sustainability reporting.
Measuring the Significance of Policy Outputs with Positive Unlabeled Learning
Authors: ZUBEK RADOSLAW , DASGUPTA ABHISHEK , DOYLE DAVID
Published: October 2020

Identifying important policy outputs has long been of interest to political scientists. In this work, we propose a novel approach to the classification of policies. Instead of obtaining and aggregating expert evaluations of significance for a finite set of policy outputs, we use experts to identify a small set of significant outputs and then employ positive unlabeled (PU) learning to search for other similar examples in a large unlabeled set. We further propose to automate the first step by harvesting “seed” sets of significant outputs from web data. We offer an application of the new approach by classifying over 9,000 government regulations in the United Kingdom. The obtained estimates are successfully validated against human experts, by forecasting web citations, and with a construct validity test.
Malawi's Missing Court Files and the Kafantayeni Resentencing Project
Authors: Carreau Emile
Published: October 2020

Missing court files pose a serious issue regarding access to justice for illiterate and indigent prisoners, especially if the files go missing after the prisoner has been convicted and sentenced. Malawi's High Court recently grappled with the issue of missing court files post-conviction in the course of a large resentencing process, known to the legal community as the Kafantayeni Project. The Kafantayeni Project resentenced over 150 prisoners whose mandatory death sentences for murder were deemed unconstitutional, despite the majority of them missing court files. This article outlines the state of judicial record keeping in sub-Saharan Africa, the origins of the Kafantayeni Project, the extent of the record keeping problem it uncovered, how the judiciary resolved those issues while adding to the jurisprudence on missing court files, and the future implications for Malawi and elsewhere.
Biodiversity narratives: stories of the evolving conservation landscape
Authors: Louder Elena , Wyborn Carina
Published: October 2020

Narratives shape human understanding and underscore policy, practice and action. From individuals to multilateral institutions, humans act based on collective stories. As such, narratives have important implications for revisiting biodiversity. There have been growing calls for a ‘new narrative’ to underpin efforts to address biodiversity decline that, for example, foreground optimism, a more people-centred narrative or technological advances. This review presents some of the main contemporary narratives from within the biodiversity space to reflect on their underpinning categories, myths and causal assumptions. It begins by reviewing various interpretations of narrative, which range from critical views where narrative is a heuristic for understanding structures of domination, to advocacy approaches where it is a tool for reimagining ontologies and transitioning to sustainable futures. The work reveals how the conservation space is flush with narratives. As such, efforts to search for a ‘new narrative’ for conservation can be usefully informed by social science scholarship on narratives and related constructs and should reflect critically on the power of narrative to entrench old ways of thought and practice and, alternatively, make space for new ones. Importantly, the transformative potential of narrative may not lie in superficial changes in messaging, but in using narrative to bring multiple ways of knowing into productive dialogue to revisit biodiversity and foster critical reflection.
Differential associations of parental harshness and parental disengagement with overall cortisol output at 15 years: Implications for adolescent mental health
Authors: Doom Jenalee R. , Peckins Melissa K. , Hein Tyler C. , Dotterer Hailey L. , Mitchell Colter , Lopez-Duran Nestor L. , Brooks-Gunn Jeanne , McLanahan Sara , Hyde Luke W. , Abelson James L. , Monk Christopher S.
Published: October 2020

Psychosocial stress in childhood and adolescence is linked to stress system dysregulation, although few studies have examined the relative impacts of parental harshness and parental disengagement. This study prospectively tested whether parental harshness and disengagement show differential associations with overall cortisol output in adolescence. Associations between overall cortisol output and adolescent mental health problems were tested concurrently. Adolescents from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) provided hair samples for cortisol assay at 15 years (N= 171). Caregivers reported on parental harshness and disengagement experiences at 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15 years, and adolescents reported at 15 years. Both parent and adolescent reported depressive and anxiety symptoms and antisocial behaviors at 15. Greater parental harshness from 1–15 years, and harshness reported at 15 years in particular, was associated with higher overall cortisol output at 15. Greater parental disengagement from 1–15 years, and disengagement at 1 year specifically, was associated with lower cortisol output. There were no significant associations between cortisol output and depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or antisocial behaviors. These results suggest that the unique variances of parental harshness and disengagement may have opposing associations with cortisol output at 15 years, with unclear implications for adolescent mental health.
Atrial fibrillation in a child with COVID-19 infection
Authors: Santi Aura Daniella , Aquino Paolo , Dorfman Molly
Published: October 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged our initial predictions of its ramifications, both short and long term. Cardiovascular manifestations of COVID-19 in children remain a topic of investigation as literature is lacking. We describe new onset atrial fibrillation in a child with a history of COVID-19 infection. Understanding of cardiogenic effects of COVID-19 can help minimise the delay in diagnosis.
Targeting affect leads to reduced paranoia in people with psychosis: a single case series
Authors: Silva Daniel , Maguire Tess , McSherry Pamela , Newman-Taylor Katherine
Published: October 2020

Background:

Current psychological interventions for psychosis focus primarily on cognitive and behavioural management of delusions and hallucinations, with modest outcomes. Emotions are not usually targeted directly, despite evidence that people with psychosis have difficulty identifying, accepting and modifying affective states.

Aims:

This study assessed the impact of emotion regulation skills practice on affect and paranoia in seven people who met criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Method:

The study utilised a single case ABA design and measured emotion regulation skills, affect and paranoia over baseline, intervention and withdrawal of intervention phases. We predicted that eight sessions of skills rehearsal would lead to improved emotion regulation, reduced negative affect, increased positive affect, and reduced paranoia.

Results:

Most participants were able to learn to regulate their emotions, and reported reduced negative affect and paranoia. There was no clear pattern of change for positive affect.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that emotion can be targeted in psychosis, and is associated with reduced paranoia. Emotion regulation may constitute a key treatment target in cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis.
Political but incontestable: A review of ‘political constitutionalism’ in China
Authors: BIAN SU
Published: October 2020

Although all constitutional issues are political in essence, ‘political constitutionalism’ as a school is specifically critical of court-centred understandings. Such a school of political constitutionalism has emerged in Chinese constitutional debates since 2008. Its rapid development has both enriched and challenged Chinese constitutional studies, but it has also left certain impacts on the political reality of China. Is this school comparable to the Western political constitutionalism tradition and how is ‘the political’ defined? By discerning three political registers from the school’s main arguments as the ‘constitutional moment’, ‘polity’ and ‘governance’, this article aims to critically examine the aims and functions of political constitutionalism in China and to argue that while constitutional reflexivity requires contestability, the political registers of this wide-ranging school in fact deny it.
Impact of maternal mental health interventions on child-related outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Tol W. A. , Greene M. C. , Lasater M. E. , Le Roch K. , Bizouerne C. , Purgato M. , Tomlinson M. , Barbui C.
Published: October 2020

Aims

Observational studies have shown a relationship between maternal mental health (MMH) and child development, but few studies have evaluated whether MMH interventions improve child-related outcomes, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this review is to synthesise findings on the effectiveness of MMH interventions to improve child-related outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods

We searched for randomised controlled trials conducted in LMICs evaluating interventions with a MMH component and reporting children's outcomes. Meta-analysis was performed on outcomes included in at least two trials.

Results

We identified 21 trials with 28 284 mother–child dyads. Most trials were conducted in middle-income countries, evaluating home visiting interventions delivered by general health workers, starting in the third trimester of pregnancy. Only ten trials described acceptable methods for blinding outcome assessors. Four trials showed high risk of bias in at least two of the seven domains assessed in this review. Narrative synthesis showed promising but inconclusive findings for child-related outcomes. Meta-analysis identified a sizeable impact of interventions on exclusive breastfeeding (risk ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13–1.71, ten trials,N= 4749 mother–child dyads,I2= 61%) and a small effect on child height-for-age at 6-months (std. mean difference = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.02–0.24, three trials,N= 1388,I2= 0%). Meta-analyses did not identify intervention benefits for child cognitive and other growth outcomes; however, few trials measured these outcomes.

Conclusions

These findings support the importance of MMH to improve child-related outcomes in LMICs, particularly exclusive breastfeeding. Given, the small number of trials and methodological limitations, more rigorous trials should be conducted.
Magnetic Properties of Late Holocene Dead Sea Sediments as a Monitor of Regional Hydroclimate
Authors: Ebert Y. , Shaar R. , Levy E. J. , Zhao X. , Roberts A. P. , Stein M.
Published: October 2020

Diagenetic processes in anoxic sedimentary environments influence sediment magnetic properties mainly through dissolution of detrital magnetite and precipitation of authigenic greigite. Recently exposed late Holocene Dead Sea sediments provide an opportunity to study the processes governing greigite formation and preservation, and their relation to different hydrological settings. Magnetic data and pore‐fluid compositions were obtained from three Holocene sections along a N‐S transect on the western Dead Sea shore: Og, Ein‐Feshkha (EF), and Ein‐Gedi. The northern sections are closer to the major freshwater source to the Dead Sea‐the Jordan River. Detrital titanomagnetite is present at all sections, but greigite is the dominant magnetic phase at Og and EF. Bulk rock magnetic data vary between and within the sections by over 3 orders of magnitude, where higher values indicate higher greigite concentrations. At the three sites, pore fluids have similar or lower salinity than the modern and Holocene Dead Sea brine, with variable and dissolved iron (Fe2+) and sulfate (SO42−). Magnetic property changes are reflected by iron and/or sulfate microbial reduction that controlled sedimentary greigite formation. We propose that the N‐S greigite decrease suggests that anoxic microbial activity was controlled by labile organic matter and/or reactive iron brought by, or formed as a result of, freshwater influx from the Jordan River. Hence, greigite concentration changes depended on past freshwater input to the hypersaline lake and proximity to the freshwater source. The apparent relationship between hydrological conditions and magnetic properties provides a new method to trace past hydrological changes in the Dead Sea.
Gridded Versus Station Temperatures: Time Evolution of Relationships With Atmospheric Circulation
Authors: Hynčica Martin , Huth Radan
Published: October 2020

Interpolated data sets are often considered to be a reliable source of information on a variety of meteorological variables, such as temperature and precipitation. Users expect the interpolated data to be rather similar to those directly observed at stations, which is not always true: well documented is the influence of interpolation on, e.g., extremes. Here another kind of discrepancy between gridpoints and station observations is presented: the time evolution of relationships between temperature and atmospheric circulation. One of the most widely utilized gridded temperature data sets, CRU TS (Climatic Research Unit gridded Time Series), is compared with 634 station time series from GHCN (Global Historical Climatology Network) in the Northern Extratropics. We analyze running correlations (calculated for 15‐year windows) of monthly values between modes of atmospheric circulation variability (identified in the ERA‐40 reanalysis) and temperature anomalies in winter from 1957 to 2002. The smallest differences in the running correlations are found in Europe and North America due to a dense station network. On the other hand, the sites with considerable differences are located mainly in mountainous regions or in isolated locations. In order to uncover causes of these differences, we analyze two sites in more detail. Mike (the North Sea) is an isolated site where the gridpoint temperature is affected by rather distant Scandinavian stations. At Songpan (central China; 2,852 m a.s.l), the terrain configuration in mountainous region influences the gridpoint value, in which the effect of stations with much lower altitude and different climate conditions is dominant.
Donor-derived CD19 CAR-T cell therapy of relapse of CD19-positive B-ALL post allotransplant
Authors: Zhang Cheng , Wang Xiao-Qi , Zhang Rong-Li , Liu Fang , Wang Yi , Yan Zhi-Ling , Song Yong-Ping , Yang Ting , Li Ping , Wang Zhen , Ma Ying-Ying , Gao Lei , Liu Yao , Gao Li , Kong Pei-Yan , Liu Jun , Tan Xu , Zhong Jiang F. , Chen Yu-Qing , Liang Ai-Bin , Ren Jin-Hua , Li Zhen-Yu , Cao Jiang , Gao Quan-Li , Zhou Jian , Gao Ying , Zhang Ding , Fan Fang-Yi , Han Ming-Zhe , Gale Robert Peter , Zhang Xi
Published: October 2020

Safety and efficacy of allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) in persons with CD19-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) relapsing after an allotransplant remain unclear. Forty-three subjects with B-ALL relapsing post allotransplant received CAR-T cells were analyzed. 34 (79%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 66, 92%) achieved complete histological remission (CR). Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 38 (88%; 78, 98%) and was ≥grade-3 in 7. Two subjects died from multiorgan failure and CRS. Nine subjects (21%; 8, 34%) developed ≤grade-2 immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Two subjects developed ≤grade-2 acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). 1-year event-free survival (EFS) and survival was 43% (25, 62%). In 32 subjects with a complete histological remission without a second transplant, 1-year cumulative incidence of relapse was 41% (25, 62%) and 1-year EFS and survival, 59% (37, 81%). Therapy of B-ALL subjects relapsing post transplant with donor-derived CAR-T cells is safe and effective but associated with a high rate of CRS. Outcomes seem comparable to those achieved with alternative therapies but data from a randomized trial are lacking.
Microbial competition reduces metabolic interaction distances to the low µm-range
Authors: van Tatenhove-Pel Rinke J , Rijavec Tomaž , Lapanje Aleš , van Swam Iris , Zwering Emile , Hernandez-Valdes Jhonatan A , Kuipers Oscar P , Picioreanu Cristian , Teusink Bas , Bachmann Herwig
Published: October 2020

Metabolic interactions between cells affect microbial community compositions and hence their function in ecosystems. It is well-known that under competition for the exchanged metabolite, concentration gradients constrain the distances over which interactions can occur. However, interaction distances are typically quantified in two-dimensional systems or without accounting for competition or other metabolite-removal, conditions which may not very often match natural ecosystems. We here analyze the impact of cell-to-cell distance on unidirectional cross-feeding in a three-dimensional aqueous system with competition for the exchanged metabolite. Effective interaction distances were computed with a reaction-diffusion model and experimentally verified by growing a synthetic consortium of 1 µm-sized metabolite producer, receiver, and competitor cells in different spatial structures. We show that receivers cannot interact with producers located on average 15 µm away from them, as product concentration gradients flatten close to producer cells. We developed an aggregation protocol and varied the receiver cells’ product affinity, to show that within producer–receiver aggregates even low-affinity receiver cells could interact with producers. These results show that competition or other metabolite-removal of a public good in a three-dimensional system reduces metabolic interaction distances to the low µm-range, highlighting the importance of concentration gradients as physical constraint for cellular interactions.
Mining zebrafish microbiota reveals key community-level resistance against fish pathogen infection
Authors: Stressmann Franziska A , Bernal-Bayard Joaquín , Perez-Pascual David , Audrain Bianca , Rendueles Olaya , Briolat Valérie , Bruchmann Sebastian , Volant Stevenn , Ghozlane Amine , Häussler Susanne , Duchaud Eric , Levraud Jean-Pierre , Ghigo Jean-Marc
Published: October 2020

The long-known resistance to pathogens provided by host-associated microbiota fostered the notion that adding protective bacteria could prevent or attenuate infection. However, the identification of endogenous or exogenous bacteria conferring such protection is often hindered by the complexity of host microbial communities. Here, we used zebrafish and the fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare as a model system to study the determinants of microbiota-associated colonization resistance. We compared infection susceptibility in germ-free, conventional and reconventionalized larvae and showed that a consortium of 10 culturable bacterial species are sufficient to protect zebrafish. Whereas survival to F. columnare infection does not rely on host innate immunity, we used antibiotic dysbiosis to alter zebrafish microbiota composition, leading to the identification of two different protection strategies. We first identified that the bacterium Chryseobacterium massiliae individually protects both larvae and adult zebrafish. We also showed that an assembly of 9 endogenous zebrafish species that do not otherwise protect individually confer a community-level resistance to infection. Our study therefore provides a rational approach to identify key endogenous protecting bacteria and promising candidates to engineer resilient microbial communities. It also shows how direct experimental analysis of colonization resistance in low-complexity in vivo models can reveal unsuspected ecological strategies at play in microbiota-based protection against pathogens.
Author Correction: A cluster-randomized trial of the effectiveness of a triple-faceted intervention promoting adherence to primary care physician visits by diabetes patients: J-DOIT2 large-scale trial (J-DOIT2-LT)
Authors: Noda Mitsuhiko , Hayashino Yasuaki , Yamazaki Katsuya , Suzuki Hikari , Goto Atsushi , Kato Masayuki , Izumi Kazuo , Kobayashi Masashi
Published: October 2020

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
3D histopathology of human tumours by fast clearing and ultramicroscopy
Authors: Sabdyusheva Litschauer Inna , Becker Klaus , Saghafi Saiedeh , Ballke Simone , Bollwein Christine , Foroughipour Meraaj , Gaugeler Julia , Foroughipour Massih , Schavelová Viktória , László Viktória , Döme Balazs , Brostjan Christine , Weichert Wilko , Dodt Hans-Ulrich
Published: October 2020

Here, we describe a novel approach that allows pathologists to three-dimensionally analyse malignant tissues, including the tumour-host tissue interface. Our visualization technique utilizes a combination of ultrafast chemical tissue clearing and light-sheet microscopy to obtain virtual slices and 3D reconstructions of up to multiple centimetre sized tumour resectates. For the clearing of tumours we propose a preparation technique comprising three steps: (a) Fixation and enhancement of tissue autofluorescence with formalin/5-sulfosalicylic acid. (b) Ultrafast active chemical dehydration with 2,2-dimethoxypropane and (c) refractive index matching with dibenzyl ether at up to 56 °C. After clearing, the tumour resectates are imaged. The images are computationally post-processed for contrast enhancement and artefact removal and then 3D reconstructed. Importantly, the sequence a–c is fully reversible, allowing the morphological correlation of one and the same histological structures, once visualized with our novel technique and once visualized by standard H&E- and IHC-staining. After reverting the clearing procedure followed by standard H&E processing, the hallmarks of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) found in the cleared samples could be successfully correlated with the corresponding structures present in H&E and IHC staining. Since the imaging of several thousands of optical sections is a fast process, it is possible to analyse a larger part of the tumour than by mechanical slicing. As this also adds further information about the 3D structure of malignancies, we expect that our technology will become a valuable addition for histological diagnosis in clinical pathology.