bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conclusions
Authors: Metelits Michael D.
Published: May 2020

Chapter 10 explores some hanging questions. The issue of Crawford’s guilt or innocence is essentially moot today, but a number of points that never arose before the special commission merit consideration. The chapter comments on the practical difficulties that the Indian Penal Code of 1860 imposed on the task of successful prosecution of official corruption back in the colonial past. Beyond comments on the Penal Code of 1860, Chapter 10 also explores the relationship between decision making at various levels of governance, and certain qualities of the British imperial rule in the Bombay Presidency. This discussion stems from the facts that (1) the Crawford Tribunal found Crawford innocent of all counts of corruption, (2) the secretary of state for India concurred with the tribunal’s finding, and (3) even though Crawford was found innocent of bribery, mamlatdars were condemned as guilty. Guilty of what? Guilty of bribery. Bribery of whom? The presumption was that money had been paid for favours, but the tribunal found that Crawford had received none of it, and Crawford was found not to have done the mamlatdars any favours, so had bribery taken place at all?
Capitalism’s Missing Link
Authors: Tagliacozzo Eric
Published: May 2020

Why has Southeast Asia often been left out of histories of how capitalism conquered the world? I answer this question in three parts: the first focuses on the evolution of territory vis-à-vis economic history in this part of the world. I argue that Western notions of territorial control took root slowly in Southeast Asia and in a piecemeal fashion, affecting the ways that capitalism could ultimately form. The second examines the nature of the commercially interested state itself, as state formation took place across the breadth of Southeast Asia. I argue that the nature of state formation also changed during this era vis-à-vis economic history in interesting ways. Finally, the third part has to do with the nature of the economic stimuli causing these processes (including capitalism), its various frequencies, and its provenances. I propose that more of these energies were Asian and local than have previously been supposed.
The View from Early Modern China
Authors: Gerritsen Anne
Published: May 2020

The porcelain production centre of Jingdezhen (southern China) produced fine ceramics both for the emperor and his court and for the market by employing large numbers of skilled and unskilled, free and unfree labour. Conventionally, the imperial kilns of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties have been held up as examples of exploitative systems that prevented the development of capitalism. In this chapter, I explore evidence from the sixteenth-century Chinese centre of ceramics manufacture to suggest the presence of a form of capitalism in early modern China. The chapter covers a brief background of the production system in Jingdezhen and then turns to some specific issues in the central government’s management of labour force, to return to some question of capitalism towards the end of the chapter. Overall, the chapter reveals sophisticated labour-management policies, waged free labour, and production for global markets, pointing to a capitalist environment.
Artisans, Guilds, and Capitalist Development in Cairo, 1600–1800
Authors: Hanna Nelly
Published: May 2020

Studies of capitalism have often been based on the European or, more often, the nineteenth-century English experience. Its sources were taken to be based on the European experience, the trading companies of the sixteenth century, Protestantism, and so on. From there, it was diffused to the rest of the world. To fully understand capitalism, one had to focus on the European experience and the restrictive definitions that were based on its development in Western Europe. The Eurocentric approach to this subject is now being reconsidered. Studies of regions outside Europe are now showing that the emergence of capitalism was a much more complex and diverse trend, and it could have multiple sources. The present article focuses on one of these sources.
Rebellion in the South
Authors: Horn Gerd-Rainer
Published: May 2020

Much attention has been rightfully devoted to the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 and—less so—the Allied landing on the Mediterranean coastline. This chapter focuses on the contribution by antifascist resistance activists to the liberation of France. It is often overlooked that much of Southern France south of the Loire and Lake Geneva was liberated to a significant extent by resistance units. Obviously, without the engagements responsible for the liberation of the Northern half of France by Allied troops, the resistance would not have been able to carry this out. Still, the liberation of roughly half of France by resistance groups had major consequences for the plans of French antifascists for post-liberation society. The most significant acts of defiance of the smooth return to the status quo ante bellum occurred precisely in those areas where the resistance had been largely responsible for the expulsion of German troops.
The Wind from the North
Authors: Horn Gerd-Rainer
Published: May 2020

No Western European country experienced liberation at such a slow pace as Italy. The Allied landing on Sicily occurred twenty months before the final liberation of Northern Italy in late April 1945. As a result, the evolution of antifascist resistance activism underwent a contradictory development unique in Western Europe. The official Roman government administering liberated Italy and Rome-based coordinating bodies of the resistance operating in the North performed the role of a break on the radical dynamic of antifascist activism in Italy’s North. In parts of Central and Northern Italy, the social power and political clout of Liberation Committees became all-important counterpowers to traditional political authorities, far exceeding the radical dynamics which had propelled French Liberation Committees into the limelight of their day. Virtually all of Northern Italy was liberated by antifascist activists in advance of the arrival of Allied troops moving north.
‘Who Is the Government? We Are the Government!’
Authors: Horn Gerd-Rainer
Published: May 2020

Liberation Committees were most frequently local institutions of grassroots counterpower vis-à-vis traditional power brokers wishing to facilitate the smooth return to the status quo ante bellum or ante Mussolini. In factories, large offices, and rural areas characterized by the survival of semi-feudal production relations, the latter still a prominent feature in parts of rural Italy, Liberation Committees constituted prima facie challenges to the reestablishment of the dictatorial powers of proprietors and top-level managers. Nowhere did the competing social visions and political projects clash more thoroughly than in factories, offices, or the circumstances confronting landless labourers vis-à-vis traditional landed elites. Next to no serious attention has been devoted to this contentious feature of the moment of liberation until now. My description and analysis of Liberation Committees at the point of production reinforces the assessment of the moment of liberation as a transnational moment of crisis and opportunity when everything appeared possible.
Market Changes and Market Anomie
Authors: Farrall Stephen , Karstedt Susanne
Published: May 2020

This chapter uses the core concepts of institutional anomie theory, one of the most exciting theoretical developments in criminology of the recent past, to explain why people commit crimes in the marketplace. This theory in particular models neo-liberal changes to markets that affect the relationship between state and markets, consumption patterns, and citizenship. Modelling relies on structural equations and explores these processes and their impact on the three regions.
The Contours of European Moral Economies
Authors: Farrall Stephen , Karstedt Susanne
Published: May 2020

This chapter draws on data from the European Social Survey, which was based on the original survey and explored the economic morality and middle-class crime for twenty-five countries in Europe. Levels of victimization and offending differ widely across Europe and its regions. Importantly, we find that more affluent and equal countries with larger middle classes also have higher levels of offending and victimization, as well as overlap between both. Opportunities combined with greed might be the factors that shape the moral economies at the centre of European societies. Perceptions of unfairness and abuse of power by business are decisive determinants of allegiance to norms and rules, distrust in many institutions which operate in the marketplace and fear of being victimized in European countries. Regulation and oversight of business and empowerment of consumers therefore are identified as reasonable routes to reduce losses from widespread fraud and shady practices by citizens and consumers.
Internal motivations and formal approaches
Authors: Breitbarth Anne , Lucas Christopher , Willis David
Published: May 2020

This chapter argues that, while the creation of indefinites from generic nouns is grammaticalization in the form of upwards reanalysis from N to R, the quantifier and free-choice cycles do not in fact constitute instances of grammaticalization. Indefinites restricted to stronger negative-polarity contexts are not more functional than indefinites licensed in weaker negative-polarity contexts. Rather, it is argued that implicational semantic features requiring roofing by different types of operators situated in the Q head of indefinites, and in particular the way they are acquired in first language acquisition, are responsible for the diachronic developments. Negative concord items arise through an acquisitional mechanism maximizing the number of agreement relations in the acquired grammar consistent with the primary linguistic data.
Introduction
Authors: Pakes Anna
Published: May 2020

This chapter introduces the topic of the book, explaining how the nature of dances presents a number of philosophical puzzles. Connections and distinctions between the concepts invoked by the count nouns “dance,” “dance work,” and “choreographic work” are identified, and Part 1’s argument about the historical emergence of the work-concept in Western theatre dance is outlined. The resistance within some dance discourse and practice to conceptualising dance in terms of work-objects or things is acknowledged, along with recent challenges to the idea of the dance work. The chapter also describes the analytic philosophical resources (on dance, music, and art) on which the book’s approach draws and explains key metaphysical issues raised by dance works. It situates the arguments in relation to current methodological debates about the relation between art ontological enquiry and arts practice, particularly with regard to this book’s concern with dance historical change.
The Problem of Lost Works
Authors: Pakes Anna
Published: May 2020

Chapter 11 considers what it means for a dance work to be lost and under what conditions loss occurs. It argues that (1) lack of performance, (2) lack of documentation, and (3) disintegration of the background practice in whose context the work was initiated all contribute to loss, but that (3) is the most significant. The chapter also examines how dance work loss can and should be understood ontologically, exploring how various ontological positions account for it. The question is addressed of whether, and when, loss implies that a work has ceased to exist or been destroyed. Issues raised in Chapter 6 about the putative eternality of abstracta are taken up again, along with the question of how the norms of action constituting choreographic works are grounded. The discussion is framed by consideration of Katherine Dunham’s (1951) work Southland, discussed at the end of the chapter as vividly illustrating the negative consequences of dance work loss, in contrast to dance discourse that celebrates ephemerality.
Recuperating Loss? Reconstruction, Reenactment, and Work Performance
Authors: Pakes Anna
Published: May 2020

Chapter 12 explores the extent to which different practices of dance re-doing recuperate lost works, focusing on reconstruction, reworking, and reenactment. It explores what kind of relation obtains between such re-doings and the works they represent. None of these processes seems (simply or straightforwardly) to produce new performances of existing dance works and, in this, they disrupt what David Davies calls the “classical paradigm” of work-performance relations. This paradigm is explicated to highlight its limitations in the dance context. The chapter also explores whether and how reconstructions, reworkings, and reenactments can contribute to knowledge of the choreographic works they remake, and to dance history more generally, given that they are often not motivated by an objective of Werktreue. In this regard, the argument is developed that some reconstructions and reenactments are a species of historical fiction, allowing audiences to entertain while withholding belief about the dance historical representations they offer.
An evaluation of mathematical models for the outbreak of COVID-19
Authors: Wang Ning , Fu Yuting , Zhang Hu , Shi Huipeng
Published: May 2020

Mathematical modelling performs a vital part in estimating and controlling the recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this epidemic, most countries impose severe intervention measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. The policymakers are forced to make difficult decisions to leverage between health and economic development. How and when to make clinical and public health decisions in an epidemic situation is a challenging question. The most appropriate solution is based on scientific evidence, which is mainly dependent on data and models. So one of the most critical problems during this crisis is whether we can develop reliable epidemiological models to forecast the evolution of the virus and estimate the effectiveness of various intervention measures and their impacts on the economy. There are numerous types of mathematical model for epidemiological diseases. In this paper, we present some critical reviews on mathematical models for the outbreak of COVID-19. Some elementary models are presented as an initial formulation for an epidemic. We give some basic concepts, notations, and foundation for epidemiological modelling. More related works are also introduced and evaluated by considering epidemiological features such as disease tendency, latent effects, susceptibility, basic reproduction numbers, asymptomatic infections, herd immunity, and impact of the interventions.
The WOMAC Pain Scale and Crosstalk From Co-occurring Pain Sites in People With Knee Pain: A Causal Modeling Study
Authors: Riddle Daniel L , Perera Robert A
Published: May 2020

Objective

The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) pain scale quantifies knee pain severity with activities of daily living, but the potential impact of pain in other body regions on WOMAC pain scores has not been explored using a causal modeling approach. The purpose of this study was to determine if pain in other areas of the body impact WOMAC pain scores, a phenomenon referred to as “crosstalk.”

Methods

Cross-sectional datasets were built from public use data available from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST). The WOMAC Pain Scale and generic hip, knee, ankle, foot and back pain measures were included. Three nested regression models grounded in causally based classical test theory determined the extent of crosstalk. Improvements in the coefficient of determination across the 3 models were used to determine the presence of crosstalk.

Results

Causal modeling provided evidence of crosstalk in both OAI and MOST datasets. For example, in OAI, multiple statistical models demonstrated significant increases in coefficient of determination values (P < .0001) as additional pain areas were added to the models.

Conclusions

Crosstalk appears to be a clinically important source of error in the WOMAC Pain Scale, particularly for patients with a larger number of painful body regions and when contralateral knee joint pain is more severe.

Impact Statement

This study has important implications for arthritis research. It also should raise clinician awareness of the threat to score interpretation and the need to consider the extent of pain in other body regions when interpreting WOMAC pain scores.
Partisan Federalism and Subnational Governments’ International Engagements: Insights from India
Authors: Sharma Chanchal Kumar , Destradi Sandra , Plagemann Johannes
Published: May 2020

This article situates the international activities of subnational governments in India within the broader political economy of federalism. It argues that the nature and the extent of subnational states’ engagements in international affairs are a function of the partisan political relationship the state incumbents have with the national incumbents. The article takes a mixed methods approach. An analysis of 1,153 episodes of international engagements of India’s states from 1996 to 2017 reveals that shifts in foreign policy engagement of selected state governments primarily reflect alterations in the subnational incumbents’ political affiliation with the Union government. Several qualitative case studies shed light on how the central government’s inclusion of subnational governments’ perspectives and representatives in foreign affairs is highly partisan and profoundly political. Therefore, the Indian case reveals how subnational diplomatic interactions merge domestic and international politics.
Acetaminophen-induced renal toxicity: preventive effect of silver nanoparticles
Authors: Reshi Mohd Salim , Yadav Deepa , Uthra Chhavi , Shrivastava Sadhana , Shukla Sangeeta
Published: May 2020

Present study was planned to investigate the ameliorative effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on acetaminophen-induced nephrotoxicity. Our results demonstrate that therapy of AgNPs at three different doses (50, 100 and 150 μg/kg once only) prevented the acetaminophen (2 g/kg once only) induced acute renal toxicity. AgNPs treated animals also show less intensity in the histological alterations in kidneys and corroborating the results of analysis of serum urea and creatinine. In addition, AgNPs therapy prevented the acetaminophen-induced oxidative stress, which was confirmed by the alleviated lipid peroxidation, enhanced renal reduced glutathione content and restored enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and adenosine triphosphatase in kidney. Thus, our results demonstrate a possible protective potential of AgNPs on renal toxicity induced by acetaminophen. This study will definitely lead to the development of therapeutic drug against nephrotoxicity, after further clinical and preclinical studies.
Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Peripheral Lymph Nodes in Children: Practical Experience in a Tertiary Hospital
Authors: Richardson Chantel , Redfern Andrew , Sher-Locketz Candice L , Schubert Pawel T , Schaaf H Simon
Published: May 2020

Background

Peripheral lymphadenopathy occurs often in children; fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a commonly performed diagnostic procedure. We describe FNAB use and outcome for peripheral lymphadenopathy in children in a routine clinical setting.

Methods

A retrospective study done at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town of children (<13 years) who had an FNAB for lymphadenopathy from July 2012 to June 2014. Demographic, clinical, treatment and follow-up data were retrieved from patient folders; FNAB and special investigation results were obtained from the laboratory database.

Results

Of the 173 children, the median age was 37 (interquartile range 13–75) months; 20 (11.5%) were HIV positive. Most FNABs were done in the neck (131; 76%) and axillary areas (34; 20%). FNAB provided a result in 165 (95%) cases; in 8 (5%) children FNAB was insufficient for diagnosis. Mycobacterial aetiology was diagnosed in 84 (49%); 49 (58%) were culture-confirmed (37 Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 10 Mycobacterium bovis BCG, 1 both and 1 non-tuberculous mycobacterium). Reactive lymphadenopathy was diagnosed in 56 (32%), neoplastic disease in 6 (3.5%) and other pathology in 19 (11%) cases. Additional special investigations changed FNAB diagnosis or led to an additional diagnosis in 8 (5%) children. Overall, 70/84 (83%) with mycobacterial aetiology and all neoplastic disease cases received the correct treatment. Follow-up appointments were arranged in 144 (83%) patients.

Conclusions

In a high tuberculosis burden area, a single FNAB provided a diagnosis in most cases in a routine referral setting; FNAB remains a safe and useful investigation. Follow-up of children to initiate appropriate treatment could improve.

LAY SUMMARY

Large swollen lymph nodes, especially in the neck, are a common finding in children. Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a commonly used diagnostic procedure and we looked at how well this procedure works in everyday hospital practice. We identified all children <13 years of age over a 2-year period (2012–2014) who had an FNAB done at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, and looked how well this procedure performed and what the doctors did with these children. We found 173 children who had an FNAB done. They were generally young children of around 3 years old. With a single FNAB, we could make a diagnosis in 95% of these children. About half of the children had tuberculosis or complications of a BCG vaccine (both caused by mycobacteria), only 4% had a malignancy of some kind, about a third had reactive lymph nodes (usually other mainly local infectious causes) and the rest had other pathology like abscesses. All malignancies and >80% of the mycobacterial pathology cases were correctly managed; the latter could definitely improve.
Comparison of Administration of 0.02% Atropine and Orthokeratology for Myopia Control
Authors: Lyu Yong , Ji Na , Fu Ai-Cun , Wang Wei-Qun , Wei Li , Qin Jian , Zhao Bing-Xin
Published: May 2020

Objective:

To compare the efficacies of 0.02% atropine eye drops and orthokeratology to control axial length (AL) elongation in children with myopia.

Methods:

In this historical control study, 247 children with myopia whose administration of 0.02% atropine (n=142) or underwent orthokeratology from an earlier study (n=105, control group) were enrolled. Data on AL and other baseline parameters were recorded at baseline and after 1 and 2 years of treatment.

Results:

The mean changes in AL in the first and second years of treatment were 0.30±0.21 and 0.28±0.20 mm, respectively, in the 0.02% atropine group and 0.16±0.20 and 0.20±0.16 mm, respectively, in the orthokeratology group. Axial length elongations after 2 years of treatment were 0.58±0.35 and 0.36±0.30 mm (P=0.007) in the 0.02% atropine and orthokeratology groups, respectively. Multivariate regression analyses showed that the AL elongation was significantly faster in the 0.02% atropine group than in the orthokeratology group (β=0.18, P=0.009). In multivariate regression analyses, younger age and shorter baseline AL were associated with a rapid AL elongation in the 0.02% atropine group (βage=−0.04, P=0.01; βAL=−0.17, P=0.03), while younger age, lower baseline spherical equivalent refractive error (SER), and shorter baseline AL were associated with a greater increase in AL in the orthokeratology group (βage=−0.03, P=0.04; βSER=0.06, P=0.03; βAL=−0.11, P=0.009). Faster AL elongation was found in the 0.02% atropine group compared with the orthokeratology group at higher baseline SER (P=0.04, interaction test).

Conclusion:

Within the limits of this study design, orthokeratology seems to be a better method for controlling AL elongation compared with administration of 0.02% atropine in children with higher myopia over a treatment period of 2 years.
Subconjunctival Aflibercept for the Treatment of Formed Corneal Neovascularization
Authors: Sella Ruti , Ben Ishai Meydan , Livny Eitan , Nahum Yoav , Bahar Irit
Published: May 2020

Purpose:

To evaluate the effect of a single subconjunctival aflibercept injection on formed corneal neovascularization.

Methods:

A prospective clinical trial, conducted at a single tertiary medical center. Included were consecutive patients with corneal pathologies complicated by corneal neovascularization, who were candidates for anti–vascular endothelial growth factor treatment at the discretion of a cornea specialist. A single subconjunctival injection of 0.08 mL of Aflibercept (Eylea 25 mg/mL) was administered near the limbus in proximity to the areas of maximal pathological neovascularization. Follow-up visits were scheduled on days 7, 30, 60, and 90 following injection. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, slitlamp examination, digital cornea photography, specular microscopy, and anterior-segment optical coherence tomography were documented at each visit. The images were graded by a masked observer for density, extent, and centricity of corneal vascularization.

Results:

Six eyes of six patients were analyzed. No clinically significant ocular or systemic adverse events were documented. No change was noted in extent, density, or centricity of corneal blood vessels at seven, 30, and 90 days after injection (P>0.1 for all time point comparisons, Friedman test). Best-corrected visual acuity fluctuated insignificantly in 5/6 patients during follow-up time, and objective but not subjective improvement of BCVA was noted in one patient with no concurrent change of neovascularization. The recruitment has therefore halted prematurely.

Conclusions:

A single subconjunctival aflibercept injection seems to be well tolerated. However, it is ineffective for regressing formed corneal neovascularization.
Genome-wide meta-analysis of muscle weakness identifies 15 susceptibility loci in older men and women
Authors: Jones Garan , Trajanoska Katerina , Santanasto Adam J , Stringa Najada , Kuo Chia-Ling , Atkins Janice L , Lewis Joshua R , Duong ThuyVy , Hong Shengjun , Biggs Mary L , Luan Jian'an , Sarnowski Chloe , Lunetta Kathryn L , Tanaka Toshiko , Wojczynski Mary K , Cvejkus Ryan , Nethander Maria , Ghasemi Sahar , Yang Jingyun , Zillikens M. Carola , Walter Stefan , Sicinski Kamil , Kague Erika , Ackert-Bicknell Cheryl L , Arking Dan E , Windham B Gwen , Boerwinkle Eric , Grove Megan L , Graff Misa , Spira Dominik , Demuth Ilja , van der Velde Nathalie , de Groot Lisette C P G M , Psaty Bruce M , Odden Michelle C , Fohner Alison E , Langenberg Claudia , Wareham Nicholas J , Bandinelli Stefania , van Schoor Natasja M , Huisman Martijn , Tan Qihua , Zmuda Joseph , Mellstrom Dan , Karlsson Magnus , Bennett David A , Buchman Aron S , De Jager Philip L , Uitterlinden Andre G , Volker Uwe , Kocher Thomas , Teumer Alexander , Rodriguez-Manas Leocadio , Garcia Garcia Francisco J , Carnicero Jose A , Herd Pamela , Bertram Lars , Ohlsson Claes , Murabito Joanne M , Kuchel George A , Ferrucci Luigi , Melzer David , Karasik David , Rivadeneira Fernando , Kiel Douglas P , Pilling Luke C
Published: May 2020

Low muscle strength is an important heritable indicator of poor health linked to morbidity and mortality in older people. In a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of 256,523 Europeans aged 60 years and over from 22 cohorts we identified 15 loci associated with muscle weakness (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People definition: n=48,596 cases, 18.9% of total), including 12 loci not implicated in previous analyses of continuous measures of grip strength. Loci include genes reportedly involved in autoimmune disease (HLA-DQA1 p=4*10-17), arthritis (GDF5 p=4*10-13), cell cycle control and cancer protection, regulation of transcription, and others involved in the development and maintenance of the musculoskeletal system. Using Mendelian randomization we report possible overlapping causal pathways, including diabetes susceptibility, hematological parameters, and the immune system. We conclude that muscle weakness in older adults has distinct mechanisms from continuous strength, including several pathways considered to be hallmarks of ageing.
The SARS-CoV-2 cytopathic effect is blocked with autophagy modulators
Authors: Gorshkov Kirill , Chen Catherine Z. , Bostwick Robert , Rasmussen Lynn , Xu Miao , Pradhan Manisha , Tran Bruce Nguyen , Zhu Wei , Shamim Khalida , Huang Wenwei , Hu Xin , Shen Min , Klumpp-Thomas Carleen , Itkin Zina , Shinn Paul , Simeonov Anton , Michael Sam , Hall Matthew D. , Lo Donald C. , Zheng Wei
Published: May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 is a new type of coronavirus capable of rapid transmission and causing severe clinical symptoms; much of which has unknown biological etiology. It has prompted researchers to rapidly mobilize their efforts towards identifying and developing anti-viral therapeutics and vaccines. Discovering and understanding the virus’ pathways of infection, host-protein interactions, and cytopathic effects will greatly aid in the design of new therapeutics to treat COVID-19. While it is known that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, extensively explored as clinical agents for COVID-19, have multiple cellular effects including inhibiting autophagy, there are also dose-limiting toxicities in patients that make clearly establishing their potential mechanisms-of-action problematic. Therefore, we evaluated a range of other autophagy modulators to identify an alternative autophagy-based drug repurposing opportunity. In this work, we found that 6 of these compounds blocked the cytopathic effect of SARS-CoV-2 in Vero-E6 cells with EC50values ranging from 2.0 to 13 μM and selectivity indices ranging from 1.5 to >10-fold. Immunofluorescence staining for LC3B and LysoTracker dye staining assays in several cell lines indicated their potency and efficacy for inhibiting autophagy correlated with the measurements in the SARS-CoV-2 cytopathic effect assay. Our data suggest that autophagy pathways could be targeted to combat SARS-CoV-2 infections and become an important component of drug combination therapies to improve the treatment outcomes for COVID-19.
Anagliptin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduces fasting plasma lathosterol level: a single-arm intervention trial
Authors: Ikegami Yuichi , Inoue Ikuo , Takenaka Yasuhiro , Saito Daigo , Noda Mitsuhiko , Shimada Akira
Published: May 2020

Background

Anagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, has been shown to decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in plasma.

Aim of study

The objective of our study is to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for anagliptin-mediated improvements in high LDL-C levels (hyper-LDL-C-emia).

Methods

We prospectively examined the effects of anagliptin monotherapy on fasting plasma lathosterol, sitosterol, and campesterol levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hyper-LDL-C-emia for 6 months. We examined 8 patients who did not use hypoglycemic or lipid-lowering drugs, other than anagliptin, for 4 months before initiating the study. Serum variables related to glucose and lipid metabolism were measured before and after the treatment for 6 months and pre- and post-prandially using the cookie-loading test.

Results

After treatment, anagliptin monotherapy (n = 8) significantly decreased fasting LDL-C (182.8 to 167.8 mg/dL, as mean values of before and after the treatment) and plasma lathosterol levels (3.2 to 2.6 mg/dL); however, no significant changes were observed in fasting sitosterol or campesterol levels. Furthermore, a significant increase (p = 0.0012) in the change in 1-h post-prandial active glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels was observed after anagliptin treatment. For all participants (n = 17), fasting plasma lathosterol levels were negatively correlated with pre-prandial GLP-1 levels.

Conclusion

Anagliptin monotherapy may have a beneficial effect on lipid metabolism, which is mediated by the inhibition of hepatic cholesterol synthesis, and not by the inhibition of intestinal lipid transport.
Asymptomatic COVID-19 Have Longer Treatment Cycle Than Moderate Type of Confirmed Patients
Authors: Zhang Wei , Long Qinying , Huang Yanbiao , Chen Changju , Wu Jinhua , Hong Yang , Zhou Hourong , Wu Weidong
Published: May 2020

Objectives

A kind of pneumonia caused by unknown causes that occurred in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019, was reported as a result of novel coronavirus infection on January 7, 2020, and then WHO named it COVID-19. To compare the difference of epidemiology and clinical characteristics between asymptomatic COVID-19 infections and moderate type of confirmed cases.

Methods

Retrospective, single-center cohort study of COVID-19 involving 52 infections of both 26 asymptomatic and 26 moderate type of confirmed cases in the recovery stage at Guizhou Provincial Staff Hospital in Guiyang, China, from January 29, to March 31, 2020; final date of follow-up was April 22. This study was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Center. Documented the asymptomatic COVID-19 infections and moderate type of confirmed cases. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections and moderate type of confirmed cases were compared.

Results

The median treatment cycle of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections was 16 days (interquartile range, 11-20 days) and longer than 13 days (interquartile range, 10-15 days) of moderate type of confirmed cases (p=0.049). The median incubation period of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections was 10 days (interquartile range, 0-21 days), while the control group was 7 days (interquartile range, 1-15 days) (p=0.27). On the initial chest computerized tomography (CT) check, 18 (69.2%, 18/26) asymptomatic COVID-19 infections were no imaging changes, which was of no significance compared with 12 (46.2%, 12/26) patients with moderate type of confirmed patients (p=0.092).

Conclusions

In this single-center study, we found that asymptomatic COVID-19 infections have longer treatment cycle than those moderate type of confirmed cases.

Key Points

In this single-center case series involving 52 infections with asymptomatic and moderate type of COVID-19 cases, asymptomatic COVID-19 infections have longer treatment cycle than those moderate type of confirmed patients.
Contributions of Latin American researchers in the understanding the novel coronavirus outbreak: A literature review
Authors: Fiesco-Sepulveda Karen Y , Serrano-Bermudez Luis Miguel
Published: May 2020

This paper aimed to give the visibility of Latin American researchers' contributions to the comprehension of COVID-19; our method was a literature review. Currently, the world is facing a health and socioeconomic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and its disease COVID-19. Therefore, in less than four months, researchers have published a significant number of articles related to this novel virus. For instance, a search focused on the Scopus database on April 10, 2020, showed 1224 documents published by authors with 1797 affiliations from 80 countries. 25.4%, 24.0%, and 12.6% of these national affiliations were from China, Europe, and the USA, respectively, making these regions leaders in COVID-19 research. In the case of Latin America, on April 10, 2020, we searched different databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, finding that the contribution of this region was 2.7% of the total publications found. In other words, we found 153 publications related to COVID-19 with at least one Latin American researcher. We summarized and processed the information from these 153 publications, finding active participation in topics like medical, social, and environmental considerations, bioinformatics, and epidemiology.
Factors Contributing to Healthcare Professional Burnout During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Turnaround Global Survey
Authors: Morgantini Luca Alfredo , Naha Ushasi , Wang Heng , Francavilla Simone , Acar Omer , Flores Jose M , Crivellaro Simone , Moreira Daniel , Abern Michael , Eklund Martin , Vigneswaran Hari , Weine Stevan M
Published: May 2020

Background: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) on the front lines against COVID-19 may face increased workload, and stress. Understanding HCPs risk for burnout is critical to supporting HCPs and maintaining the quality of healthcare during the pandemic.
Methods: To assess exposure, perceptions, workload, and possible burnout of HCPs during the COVID-19 pandemic we conducted a cross-sectional survey. The main outcomes and measures were HCPs self-assessment of burnout and other experiences and attitudes associated with working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings: A total of 2,707 HCPs from 60 countries participated in this study. Fifty-one percent of HCPs reported burnout. Burnout was associated with work impacting household activities (RR=1.57, 95% CI=1.39-1.78, P<0.001), feeling pushed beyond training (RR=1.32, 95% CI=1.20-1.47, P<0.001), exposure to COVID-19 patients (RR=1.18, 95% CI=1.05-1.32, P=0.005), making life prioritizing decisions (RR=1.16, 95% CI=1.02-1.31, P=0.03). Adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) was protective against burnout (RR=0.88, 95% CI=0.79-0.97, P=0.01). Burnout was higher in high-income countries (HICs) compared to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (RR=1.18; 95% CI=1.02-1.36, P=0.018).
Interpretation: Burnout is prevalent at higher than previously reported rates among HCPs working during the COVID-19 pandemic and is related to high workload, job stress, and time pressure, and limited organizational support. Current and future burnout among HCPs could be mitigated by actions from healthcare institutions and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders aimed at potentially modifiable factors, including providing additional training, organizational support, support for family, PPE, and mental health resources.
Funding: N/A
Meteorological Conditions and Covid-19 in Large U.S. Cities
Authors: Takagi Hisato , Kuno Toshiki , v Yujiro , Ueyama Hiroki , Matsushiro Takuya , Hari Yosuke , Ando Tomo
Published: May 2020

To determine whether prevalence of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is modulated by meteorological conditions, we herein conducted meta-regression of data in large U.S. cities. We selected 33 large U.S. cities with a population of >500,000. The integrated numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country to which the city belongs on 14 May 2020, the estimated population in 2019 in the country, and monthly meteorological conditions at the city for 4 months (from January to April 2020) were obtained. Meteorological conditions consisted of mean temperature (F), total precipitation (inch), mean wind speed (MPH), mean sky cover, and mean relative humidity (%). Monthly data for 4 months were averaged or integrated. The Covid-19 prevalence was defined as the integrated number of Covid-19 cases divided by the population. Random-effects meta-regression was performed by means of OpenMetaAnalyst. In a meta-regression graph, Covid-19 prevalence (plotted as the logarithm transformed prevalence on the y-axis) was depicted as a function of a given factor (plotted as a meteorological datum on the x-axis). A slope of the meta-regression line was significantly negative (coefficient, -0.069; P < 0.001) for the mean temperature and significantly positive for the mean wind speed (coefficient, 0.174; P = 0.027) and the sky cover (coefficient, 2.220; P = 0.023). In conclusion, lower temperature and higher wind speed/sky cover may be associated with higher Covid-19 prevalence, which should be confirmed by further epidemiological researches adjusting for various risk and protective factors (in addition to meteorological conditions) of Covid-19.
Characterization of Patients Who Return to Hospital Following Discharge from Hospitalization For COVID-19
Authors: Somani Sulaiman , Richter Felix , Fuster Valentin , De Freitas Jessica , Naik Nidhi , Sigel Keith ,   Mount Sinai Covid Informatics Center (MSCIC), Boettinger Erwin P. , Levin Matthew A. , Fayad Zahi , Just Allan C. , Charney Alexander , Zhao Shan , Glicksberg Benjamin S. , Lala Anuradha , Nadkarni Girish
Published: May 2020

Background: Data on patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who return to hospital after discharge are scarce. Characterization of these patients may inform post-hospitalization care.

Methods and Findings: Retrospective cohort study of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 discharged alive from five hospitals in New York City with index hospitalization between February 27th-April 12th, 2020, with follow-up of ≥14 days. Significance was defined as P<0.05 after multiplying P by 125 study-wide comparisons. Of 2,864 discharged patients, 103 (3.6%) returned for emergency care after a median of 4.5 days, with 56 requiring inpatient readmission. The most common reason for return was respiratory distress (50%). Compared to patients who did not return, among those who returned there was a higher proportion of COPD (6.8% vs 2.9%) and hypertension (36% vs 22.1%). Patients who returned also had a shorter median length of stay (LOS) during index hospitalization (4.5 [2.9,9.1] vs. 6.7 [3.5, 11.5] days; Padjusted=0.006), and were less likely to have required intensive care on index hospitalization (5.8% vs 19%; Padjusted=0.001). A trend towards association between absence of in-hospital anticoagulation on index admission and return to hospital was also observed (20.9% vs 30.9%, Padjusted=0.064). On readmission, rates of intensive care and death were 5.8% and 3.6%, respectively.

Conclusions: Return to hospital after admission for COVID-19 was infrequent within 14 days of discharge. The most common cause for return was respiratory distress. Patients who returned had higher proportion of COPD and hypertension with shorter LOS on index hospitalization, and a trend towards lower rates of in-hospital treatment-dose anticoagulation. Future studies should focus on whether these comorbid conditions, longer LOS and anticoagulation are associated with reduced readmissions.
Identifying Explosive Epidemiological Cases with Unsupervised Machine Learning
Authors: Dolgikh Serge
Published: May 2020

An analysis of a combined dataset of epidemiological statistics of national and subnational jurisdictions, aligned at approximately two months after the first local exposure to Covid-19 with unsupervised machine learning methods such as PCA and deep autoencoder dimensionality reduction allows to clearly separate milder background cases from those with more rapid and aggressive onset of the epidemics. The analysis and findings of this study can be used in evaluation of possible epidemiological scenarios and as an effective modeling tool to design corrective and preventative measures to avoid developments with potentially heavy impact
Consensus study of risk factors and symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) using biomedical literature and social media data
Authors: Jeon Jouhyun , Baruah Gaurav , Sarabadani Sarah , Palanica Adam
Published: May 2020

Background
In December 2019, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak started in China and rapidly spread around the world. Lack of any vaccine or optimized intervention raised the importance of characterizing risk factors and symptoms for the early identification and successful treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Methods
We systematically integrated and analyzed published biomedical literature and public social media data to expand our landscape of clinical and demographic variables of COVID-19. Through semantic analysis, 45 retrospective cohort studies, which evaluated 303 clinical and demographic variables across 13 different outcomes of COVID-19, and 84,140 tweet posts from 1,036 COVID-19 positive users were collected. In total, 59 symptoms were identified across both datasets.

Findings
Approximately 90% of clinical and demographic variables showed inconsistency across outcomes of COVID-19. From the consensus analysis, we identified clinical and demographic variables that were specific for individual outcomes of COVID-19. Also, 25 novel symptoms that have been not previously well characterized, but were mentioned in social media. Furthermore, we observed that there were certain combinations of symptoms that were frequently mentioned together among COVID-19 patients.

Interpretation
Identified outcome-specific clinical and demographic variables, symptoms, and combinations of symptoms may serve as surrogate indicators to identify COVID-19 patients and predict their clinical outcomes providing appropriate treatments.
Automatic Breast Cancer Survivor Detection from Social Media for Studying Latent Factors Affecting Treatment Success
Authors: Sarker Abeed , Al-Garadi Mohammed Ali , Yang Yuan-Chi , Lakamana Sahithi , Lin Jie , Li Sabrina , Xie Angel , Hogg-Bremer Whitney , Torres Mylin , Banerjee Imon , Sarker Abeed
Published: May 2020

Breast cancer patients often discontinue their long-term treatments, such as hormone therapy, increasing the risk of cancer recurrence. These discontinuations are often caused by adverse patient-centered outcomes (PCOs) due to hormonal drug side effects or other factors. PCOs are not detectable through laboratory tests and are sparsely documented in electronic health records. Thus, there is a need to explore other sources of information for PCOs associated with breast cancer treatments. Social media is a promising resource, but extracting true PCOs from it first requires the accurate detection of breast cancer patients. We describe a natural language processing (NLP) architecture for automatically detecting breast cancer patients from Twitter based on their self-reports. The architecture employs breast cancer-related keywords to collect streaming data from Twitter, applies NLP patterns to pre-filter noisy posts, and then employs a machine learning classifier trained using manually-annotated data (n=5019) for distinguishing firsthand self-reports of breast cancer from other tweets. A classifier based on bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) showed human-like performance and achieved F1-score of 0.857 (inter-annotator agreement: 0.845; Cohen's kappa) for the positive class, considerably outperforming the next best classifier--a deep neural network (F1-score: 0.665). Qualitative analyses of posts from automatically-detected users revealed discussions about side effects, non-adherence, and mental health conditions, illustrating the feasibility of our social media-based approach for studying breast cancer-related PCOs from a large population.