bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Memory and Human Intelligence
Authors: Greene Robert L.
Published: July 2024

The study of memory has typically been experimental and nomothetic, whereas the study of intelligence has been correlational and idiographic. Nevertheless, they are two closely related abilities. Theories of intelligence, which may be classified as psychometric, social, and biological, vary in their implications for memory theory. Empirically, relationships between memory and intelligence are generally found, although some measures of implicit memory seem uncorrelated with intelligence, whereas measures of working memory capacity are particularly consistent predictors of cognitive ability. In the immediate future, research is likely to focus on model-based measures of memory processes, biological bases, and working memory capacity as ways to understand intelligence. This chapter discusses the need for broader conceptions of both memory and intelligence to understand fully their interaction.
Music and Memory
Authors: Levitin Daniel J. , Fleming Lindsay
Published: July 2024

A strong body of evidence indicates humans remember music far better than other stimuli because of repetition, emotional content, and autobiographical salience, as well as music’s status as a highly structured stimulus. Musical memory functions in many ways like memory for words, pictures, and other experiences, and is consistent with standard models of memory and with schema theory. The musical memories of professional and nonprofessional musicians alike are often more detailed, more accurate, and demonstrate a greater capacity than other memory systems. Musical memory follows psychological laws of general memory, including levels of processing, serial position effects, and preferential processing for emotionally meaningful stimuli. This chapter reviews these memory abilities and their scientific underpinnings. The primary focus is on long-term memory, because much more is known about it, and this is the level at which most people meaningfully engage with music day-to-day via their long-term memory for songs.
Memory of Past Experiences and Economic Decisions
Authors: Malmendier Ulrike , Wachter Jessica A.
Published: July 2024

In traditional economic models, memories of past experiences affect choices only to the extent that they represent information. This chapter reviews recent advances in economic research that have introduced a role for long-lasting effects of personal past experiences and the memory thereof into economics. It first documents the empirical evidence on long-lasting experience effects in finance and economics. The chapter then discusses the main approaches the literature has taken in incorporating psychological theories of long-lasting memories into economics. These results suggest a role for models of memory in accounting not only for micro-level phenomena but also for anomalies within asset pricing and macroeconomics more broadly.
Memory and the Law
Authors: Spellman Barbara A. , Weaver Charles A.
Published: July 2024

Memory issues stemming from criminal trials that involve the reliability of eyewitnesses are well-known. However, the relevance of memory to law extends far beyond that context. This chapter describes the importance of, and concerns with, different facets of memory in a range of legal doctrine and processes. For example, in product liability cases, witness memory provides key evidence, but such civil cases differ in both the content of the memories and the procedures used to elicit them. In intellectual property cases, memory for trademarks and potential cryptomnesia (unconscious plagiarism) may be used in assessing liability. In contracts and negotiations, parties’ memory may be useful, or not, when trying to make sense of the content of an agreement. Prospective memory—that is, remembering to do tasks in the future—is relevant to liability for actions as diverse as injury resulting from not following product warnings to forgetting a child in the back seat of a car. And neurologically impaired memory has consequences for attributions of blame and guilt. The chapter also provides brief reviews of some recent research on memory’s involvement in investigations and in courtrooms (particularly in the United States), including eyewitness testimony, confessions, consequences of pretrial publicity and expert testimony, and the effectiveness of jury instructions for both disregarding evidence and improving juror decision-making. Throughout, the chapter illustrates relationships between the law and different facets of memory described in this handbook.
Emerson and Capitalism
Authors: Pickford Benjamin
Published: July 2024

This chapter undertakes a new appraisal of Emerson’s reflections on capitalism by rereading his most focused work of political economy—the essay “Wealth”—in the context of the volume in which it was first published, The Conduct of Life (1860). By linking Emerson’s explicit reflections on capitalism to the broader themes of The Conduct of Life—namely power, personal agency, and the developing form of personhood amidst the “colossal systems” of the industrializing nineteenth-century world—this chapter illustrates that Emerson exposits a theory of capitalist production that discordantly resonates with the work of his contemporary Karl Marx. Like Marx, Emerson recognizes that only the capitalist mode of production can foster the development of social productive forces that might emancipate humanity from the misery of proletarian labor. However, Emerson differs from the orthodoxies of Marx’s work in Capital and aligns instead with the unorthodox revolutionary theories espoused in the Grundrisse.
Emerson among the Methodists
Authors: Stokes Claudia
Published: July 2024

This essay examines the influence of Methodism on Emerson. During Emerson’s lifetime, Methodism exerted extraordinary influence on American religious life, yet he offered little comment on this important religious movement. In spite of this omission, this essay argues that Methodism shaped Emerson’s ideas about oratory, prayer, and self-determination. This essay examines two Methodist figures whom Emerson repeatedly cited as important influences: famed Methodist minister Edward Thompson Taylor and a less-remembered farm worker named Tarbox, whom Emerson met in his twenties and repeatedly mentioned in his journals. Emerson took inspiration from both men, but seems to have been unaware of the sectarian inflection of their influences; in adapting these men’s ideas in his own writings, Emerson repackaged Methodist theology as denominationally ecumenical and enabled Methodist belief to gain wide circulation among some of its most ardent critics. As a result, Emerson unwittingly became one of Methodism’s most effective champions.
Emerson, Martí, and a Cosmopolitanism for the Americas
Authors: Donahue Timothy
Published: July 2024

Readings of José Martí’s engagement with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writing have long tended to assume that the Cuban writer was drawn to an Emerson of subjective and ontological stability. And yet an engagement with a dynamic Emerson shapes the literary form and political outlook of several of Martí’s major works. In journal entries and notebook fragments, as well as in Martí’s essay “Emerson” (1882), we find a textual enactment of a dynamic Emersonian subjectivity and a means by which Martí claims a cosmopolitan perspective and reconceptualizes world-literary space. Similarly, in “Nuestra América” (1891), Martí casts the boundaries of the eponymous transnational community as ever-shifting, in a way that forestalls an alignment with imperialist discourses of Latinamericanism and remains open to new configurations of hemispheric politics. The chapter thus finds in Martí’s writing an ethically significant mode of cosmopolitanism and pushes against interpretations of Emerson’s thought as a colonizing force.
Emerson’s Muses, Poets, and Persons from The Dial to The Atlantic Monthly
Authors: Richards Eliza
Published: July 2024

Studies of Emerson’s political engagements often slight his poetry, while studies of Emerson’s poetry typically slight his political engagements. This chapter bridges this divide by attending to the poems Emerson published in The Dial—an outlet that explicitly eschewed political or social commentary in favor of more abstruse meditation—and The Atlantic Monthly, which would reach a massive readership and broadcasted political, scientific, and socioeconomic opinion with every issue. In the former publications, Emerson struggles with his own conceptions of the poet who is inadequate to channel the higher truths of the muse. But in his Atlantic poems, Emerson redirects his poetic compositions to address the nation’s struggles concerning sectionalism, racial injustice, and the violence of the Civil War. Even so, Emerson reveals himself unable fully to recognize and thus to verse the agency and heroism of Black people in the United States.
“Fleeing to Fables”
Authors: West Kristina
Published: July 2024

Emerson regularly employs the figure of the child in his essays, poems, and personal writings as he works to define what man is and should be, with childhood frequently in opposition as both the status that man has (or should have) left behind and an ideal state to which man might aspire (or return). While such oppositions have rarely been explored in any sustained depth in Emersonian criticism, writers of children’s literature have returned to Emerson over the last 150 years in ways that call for deeper investigation. This chapter considers portrayals of Emerson in the works of Louisa May Alcott, L. M. Montgomery, and Ransom Riggs, analyzing Emerson’s construction for an assumed child audience; how such constructions reflect, relate to and trouble his works; and how Emersonian philosophies of childhood are both ratified and destabilized to prompt new readings of Emerson’s own question in Nature: “What is a child?”
Child Adaptations to the Phases of EMDR therapy
Authors: Adler-Tapia Robbie , Settle Carolyn
Published: July 2024

The aim of this chapter is to provide a foundation with the references, and resources for implementing EMDR therapy with children in developmentally appropriate and child-friendly ways. The chapter includes a table reviewing the eight phases of EMDR therapy within the context of child development with modifications for the application of treatment. Also discussed is the important of adhering to the eight phases of EMDR therapy while integrating creative and innovative techniques. These techniques may include art, play, sandtray, and other expressive activities that are predictive of successful outcomes with children. Additionally, considerations in determining if a parent should be included in the EMDR sessions are explored. And finally, child resources are incorporated into the chapter including a table listing and describing the core texts of EMDR therapy with children and a table referencing a variety of inventive methods designed to obtain and organize EMDR targets with children. EMDR therapy can be utilized with children of all ages and various symptom presentations. This chapter demonstrates how to adapt the eight phases to meet the child’s needs while being creative and flexible and maintaining fidelity to phases of EMDR therapy.
Commensal Models in Island Archaeology
Authors: Collins Catherine , Gosling Anna L. , Matisoo-Smith Elizabeth
Published: July 2024

Throughout time, humans have moved across landscapes, traveling with plants and animals that were important and even critical for survival. In island environments, where many of these plant co-travelers were not able to self-disperse, the phylogeography and genetic relationships of these species can be used to infer the origins and interactions of the humans carrying them. This is the basis of the “commensal model.” This chapter describes considerations for designing a study using the commensal model, illustrated with examples of its application. Aspects of the settlement of the Pacific and the transported landscapes carried by Pacific peoples are presented as a case study of the commensal approach.
French in North America
Authors: Bullock Barbara E. , Gess Randall
Published: July 2024

This chapter provides an overview of the diversity of French in North America. Laurentian French is a stable system in Quebec with its own internal, geographic, and sociolinguistic diversity. Most of the diversity found in Acadian French relates to the early, catastrophic upheaval that affected its speakers, patterns of resettlement, and contact with English and other varieties of French. Some distinctive features can be traced back to settler origins. Elsewhere where French is spoken in North America, it is an unstable system that undergoes a number of effects of contact with English and in some cases with other varieties of French, including normative Reference French through education. The chapter looks briefly at Laurentian French west of Quebec, and then at French in the United States, namely in New England and Louisiana.
Morphology and Syntax
Authors: McLaughlin Mairi
Published: July 2024

This chapter offers an overview of French morphology and syntax. Morphology concerns the internal structure of words, and syntax concerns how they are combined to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. The approach adopted is primarily descriptive, focusing on what linguistic scholarship has uncovered about both Standard French and its many different varieties. Particular emphasis is placed on both spoken French and on speakers, varieties, and communicative contexts which have so far been underrepresented in scholarly research. As well as showing what we know about the workings of French morphology and syntax, this chapter underscores where there are gaps and discord as well as how the research fields are changing today. In this way, the chapter points to many future possible directions for scholarly research.
French Language and Literature in the Middle Ages
Authors: Marnette Sophie
Published: July 2024

This chapter examines the language of French literary texts in the Middle Ages. Medieval French literature evolved substantially, from its sparse early texts couched in rare manuscripts alongside Latin to the multitude and diversity of textual production in the late-fifteenth century, as the printing press was taking over. As literary genres developed and evolved, from verse to prose, from being performed or read aloud to being read silently, so did the ways of telling stories and the language they were told in, which reflected diatopic, diastratic, diaphasic, and diamesic variation. This evolution was accompanied by a developing alertness as to what this language should be and how it reflected the different ideologies portrayed in various literary genres by increasingly self-aware authors and intellectuals.
Contemporary French Language and Literature
Authors: Rosier Laurence
Published: July 2024

This chapter examines the language of contemporary literature in French. It explores the literary field from a sociostylistic perspective. The analysis takes into account both social and technological influence on the language of literature, literary style, and the production of works of literature. This involves treating the polysemiotic dimensions of digital writing and its role in the fictional matrix and materialities. The chapter examines a number of specific stylistic forms. It focuses in particular on oral style, the style of reported speech, and the poetic dimension of language. The question of genre is one which cuts across all of the literary examples discussed.

Keywords

Literature; literacy; technology; genre; style; orality; lexis; reported speech; politics; feminism
French Language and Vocal Music
Authors: Lesacher Claire
Published: July 2024

This chapter explores the status and use of the French language in vocal music through a study of Montreal rap. Focusing on a local genre that is often characterized as multilingual, this chapter explores the different ways that rappers draw on their linguistic repertoire in their artistic work. It examines what is at stake in the use of French and its various varieties in rap music. The metalinguistic discourse of female rappers is used to show the extent to which the different choices and ideologies are motivated by aesthetic questions related to rap music, while also being influenced by the socio-historical and political context in Quebec which is, in turn, shaped by the artistic characteristics of the music.
Sustainable Development
Authors: Chowdhury Nupur , Moosa Haaris
Published: July 2024

The chapter explores the inflection points and undercurrents in the evolution of the principle of sustainable development starting from the Brundtland Commission report. The jurisprudential evolution of the principle of sustainable development from the Supreme Court and carried on by the High Courts and the National Green Tribunal is surveyed through the matrices of environment protection, the imperatives of economic and social development and indeterminacy. Also analysed is the impact that natural disasters have on environmental decision making. The interplay of the principle of sustainable development with the reality of social development and the resultant policy formulations are also analysed in the backdrop of the balancing act of environmental protection and economic development.
Rights of Nature
Authors: Jolly Stellina
Published: July 2024

In 2017, through two judgments (Mohammed Salim v State of Uttarakhand and Lalit Miglani v State of Uttarakhand), the High Court of Uttarakhand declared the Rivers Ganga and Yamuna and glaciers, respectively, as legal persons enjoying all the rights and duties of a living entity. The decisions proved impactful in articulating the legal personality of animals and other natural entities in subsequent cases. These decisions can be seen in the background of similar legal initiatives in other jurisdictions granting rights of nature, which constitutes a significant development in environmental law. However, there is a knowledge gap concerning the normative foundation and implementation mechanisms, and implications of recognizing the rights of nature. This chapter considers the main characteristics of the rights of nature with a focus on the rights of rivers and analyses its potential to shape the contemporary narrative and change the way in which environmental protection is envisaged.
International Environmental Law and its Interface with India’s Domestic Law
Authors: Desai Bharat H.
Published: July 2024

This chapter provides a glimpse into the advent and growth of the body of international environmental law and its role in national law-making in India. It seeks to make sense of the interface between international treaty-making process and the Indian adherence to international environmental obligations, the interaction of international institutions with the domestic institutions, how international environmental law has contributed to the shaping of environmental law in India and how India has contributed to the shaping international environmental law. It examines which lessons can be drawn from the transposition of international environmental law in the Indian domestic law in a context where it has become even more relevant in the context of formal recognition of the Anthropocene epoch on 21 May 2019 based on an ‘unmistakable imprint of human activities’ on planet Earth.
Protecting the Coastal and Marine Environment
Authors: Puthucherril Tony George
Published: July 2024

The coastal and marine environment performs several key functions—regulating the climate, sequestering carbon dioxide, and sustaining essential biological processes. With close to a quarter of the world’s population living in coastal and adjacent areas and millions depending on coastal and marine ecosystems and resources for their livelihood and sustenance, the health of the marine and coastal environment is critical. Despite this, the coastal and marine environment is fast deteriorating, the degradation set to accelerate rapidly with climate change and sea level rise. This chapter provides an understanding of these developments and the current state of the law on the protection of the marine and coastal environment in India evaluating its capacity to respond to these challenges. In this regard, the focus will be on India’s coastal law and the attempts to operationalize integrated coastal zone management which has global recognition as the primary pathway to secure sustainable coastal development.
Forest Management and Conservation Regime
Authors: Lele Sharachchandra
Published: July 2024

Forest conservation involves ensuring sustainability in use-priority areas, preservation in biodiversity-priority areas, and regulation of the conversion of forests to non-forests. But forests provide multiple benefits to multiple stakeholders at multiple scales, and hence trade-offs between these benefits result in tradeoffs between stakeholders. Forest governance therefore requires addressing questions relating to the use, preservation and conversion of forests while incorporating the interests of multiple stakeholders. This chapter describes how these questions were resolved under the statist forest governance regime that prevailed during the colonial and post-colonial epoch, till the passage of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. An overview of the basic legal framework is followed by a description of key variations, nuances, and shifts over time in each. An assessment of this governance regime is then presented in terms of the fairness of priorities chosen for forest management, including attention to customary rights and social justice, effectiveness, sustainability and transparency and accountability in functioning.
Water Quality and Water Pollution
Authors: Sharma Aviram
Published: July 2024

This chapter focuses on regulations, policies, and laws developed in India to deal with water quality and water pollution over the last seven decades. It traces the roots of the historical developments of regulatory and legal measures and chalks out the fundamental systemic challenges, such as weak institutions, ambiguous and conflicting goals, procedural inefficiencies, lack of coordination among institutions, and shifting goals, which create hurdles in the development of an effective regulatory and legal system to deal with water pollution and water quality concerns. In addition, the chapter discusses the emerging regulatory, judicial, and legal responses which are being devised to deal with the existing and emerging issues and challenges relating to water pollution and water quality regulation.
Water Disputes and the Environment
Authors: Chokkakula Srinivas
Published: July 2024

The chapter presents a historical perspective of India’s transboundary relationships to engage with water disputes and environmental risks. This offers a nuanced understanding of India’s engagement with the narratives about its role as a hydrohegemon and its preference for bilateralism. Additionally, despite the uneven responses to the UN Watercourses Convention, 1997, the evolving water disputes case law shows an encouraging trend of accommodating for climate change and other environmental risks. Building on these strands and the emerging context of transboundary environmental risks surrounding India, the chapter posits that India’s development interests and the collective concerns of transboundary environmental risks in South Asia align. This allows for building a case for an incremental evolution of regional institutional architecture, beginning with a pursuit of disaster resilience in South Asia. The new rationalities of transboundary environmental risks may be the basis for addressing the structural deficiencies and rebuilding the existing dormant regional institutions.
National Green Tribunal and the Environment
Authors: Gill Gitanjali Nain
Published: July 2024

The establishment of specialised environmental courts or tribunals as specialist adjudicatory forums is shaping the normative interpretation of environmental law. India stands as an exemplar for developing nations through the establishment of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2010. This was a bold and innovative initiative. Its working practices encompass judges working alongside scientific experts with environmental knowledge as joint decision-makers, participatory mechanisms that express equal opportunity for an aggrieved party, and expansive procedural powers. However, new challenges have arisen that question the effectiveness and efficiency of the Tribunal. These include availability and independence of a specialist range of scientific knowledge, the exercise of its jurisdictional power, and controversial self-expansionist powers. This chapter suggests the need for an evaluation of membership, timeframes, outreach, transparency and outcomes. The awareness and willingness to review, reform, and change are hallmarks of a successful tribunal thereby reinforcing its legitimacy and trust across India.
Environmental Movements and Law
Authors: Chaudhuri Nairita Roy
Published: July 2024

Environmental movements in India are grassroots-based calls for just political conditions for sustaining subsistence living. Such movements have a long history dating back to British rule, including peasant revolts in 1859–63 against indigo plantations and 1893 agitations against the commercialization of forests and Adivasis’ lands; to post-Independence movements against dam-building, seed capitalism, and mining, and the farmers’ movements against agricultural neoliberalization. This chapter takes a socio-legal approach by borrowing heterogeneous concepts and sources from social sciences to critically examine the substantive field of law, development, and environmental movements in the context of India’s post-coloniality. Through a description of some key post-Independence movements, the chapter shows how they engage in confrontational and non-confrontational strategies to resist the colonial legacy and neoliberal ideology of development, the ontological duality that separates nature and culture and the Westphalian state’s legal and political domination over local sovereignty, and their negative ecological and social consequences.
Evaluation of public perceptions on nanotechnology regulation in Costa Rica
Authors: Vega-Baudrit José , Camacho Melissa , Araya Andrea , León Hannia
Published: July 2024

This study investigates the perspectives of individuals, primarily Costa Ricans, on the necessity of implementing regulations for nanotechnology. Through a survey-based methodology, our findings reveal that approximately 98 per cent of respondents consider such regulation essential. The consensus on the need for regulation is significantly influenced by age, occupation, and field of expertise. Participants predominantly identified the health and environmental sectors as those most likely to benefit from advancements in nanotechnology. Despite the widespread agreement on the necessity for regulation, there was a divergence of opinion regarding which institution should oversee these regulations, with the National Nanotechnology Laboratory (LANOTEC) at the High Technology National Center (CENAT) being the most frequently chosen. This study underscores the importance of establishing regulatory frameworks for nanotechnology in Costa Rica. However, it also highlights the need for broader discussions to determine the most effective regulatory practices and the most appropriate institution for their implementation and oversight.
The Impact of Health Status on Health Care Utilization of Children in Foster Care
Authors: McLeigh Jill D. , Singh Gunjan , Huang Rong
Published: July 2024

Objectives:

This study sought to understand the health status of children in foster care; the relationship between their health status and health care utilization; and demographic and placement factors associated with health care utilization.

Methods:

To estimate relationships between health status and health care utilization, this study used electronic health records from 4976 children in foster care seen at a children's hospital in the southwestern United States, 2017 to 2020. An algorithm classified patients' health status as nonchronic, noncomplex chronic, or complex chronic. Descriptive statistics were used to describe patients and utilization. The χ2, Kruskal-Wallis, and pairwise comparison post hoc tests were used to examine relationships between health status and health care utilization. Zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression further estimated relationships between health status and health care utilization while factoring in demographic and placement characteristics.

Results:

Within the sample, 35.6% had complex chronic health status. Significant differences were found among health status groups in age, gender, ethnicity, and maltreatment exposure. Both nonparametric pairwise comparisons and the ZINB regression model showed that having complex chronic health was associated with higher utilization of all hospital resources: emergency, admission, primary and specialty care, and various therapies, relative to having noncomplex chronic and nonchronic health.

Conclusion:

A high percentage of children in foster care had complex chronic health, and these patients used significantly more resources. This study suggests that hospital-based health clinics focused on children in foster care and care coordination may be warranted.
Deep Learning in Predicting Preterm Birth: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Algorithms
Authors: Zhang Fangchao , Tong Lingling , Shi Chen , Zuo Rui , Wang Liwei , Wang Yan
Published: July 2024

Objective

To determine whether deep learning algorithms are suitable for predicting preterm birth.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted at Peking University Third Hospital from January 2018 to June 2023. Birth data were divided into two parts based on the date of delivery: the first part was used for model training and validation, while real world viability was evaluated using the second part. Four machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine, and transformer) were employed to predict preterm birth. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted, and the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated.

Results

This research included data on 30,965 births, where 24,770 comprised the first part, and included 3164 (12.77%) in the preterm birth group, with 6195 in the second part, including 795 (12.83%) in the preterm birth group. Significant differences in various factors were observed between the preterm and full-term birth groups. The transformer model (AUC = 79.20%, sensitivity = 73.67%, specificity = 72.48%, PPV = 28.21%, NPV = 94.95%, and accuracy = 72.61% in the test dataset) demonstrated superior performance relative to logistic regression (AUC = 77.96% in the test dataset), support vector machine (AUC = 71.70% in the test dataset), and random forest (AUC = 75.09% in the test dataset) approaches.

Conclusion

This study highlights the promise of deep learning algorithms, specifically the transformer algorithm, for predicting preterm birth.
Hybrid Inferior Pedicle Reduction Mammaplasty with Free Nipple Grafts in a Patient with Gigantomastia
Authors: Melancon Devin M. , Schwartzberg Harel G. , Messa Genevieve E. , Boraski Jonathan C.
Published: July 2024

Gigantomastia presents a unique set of challenges for preservation of the nipple–areola complex in patients undergoing reduction mammaplasty. Historically an indication for breast amputation and free nipple graft (FNG), gigantomastia is now commonly treated using pedicle-based reconstruction. We present a case combining these two surgical techniques, using an inferior-pedicle reduction with an FNG in the management of extreme breast hypertrophy with 11,300 g in total resected. This case report shows that such a technique for gigantomastia reductions can combine the aesthetic benefits of a pedicled reduction with the reliability of FNGs. These benefits make the hybrid inferior pedicle reduction a useful option, which should be present in every plastic surgeon’s armamentarium when caring for these patients.
Analyzing Google Search Trends for Migraine Surgery and Nurtec in Response to Public Announcements
Authors: Bishay Anthony E. , Fijany Arman J. , Holan Cole , Mubang Ronnie N. , Montorfano Lisandro , Olsson Sofia E. , Troia Thomas , Bakian Arash , Kassis Salam Al , Tran Bill V.
Published: July 2024

Background:

Nurtec, a versatile migraine medication, has gained popularity. However, the awareness of migraine surgery remains uncertain.

Methods:

Following a descriptive approach, this cross-sectional study used Google Trends data as of December 1, 2023, to analyze internet search patterns. Approval from Vanderbilt University’s institutional review board and adherence to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines were confirmed. Monthly relative search volume (RSV) data for “migraine surgery,” “Nurtec,” and “Rimegepant” were collected from January 1, 2004, to November 11, 2023, within the United States. Statistical analysis involved determining mean monthly RSV values and percentage changes for critical periods.

Results:

For “Nurtec,” a significant surge in RSV occurred from March 2020 to April 2020 (344%). Additional peaks were observed from June 2020 to July 2020 (66%), October 2020 to December 2020 (169%), May 2021 to June 2021 (33%), and May 2023 to June 2023 (14%). “Migraine surgery” exhibited a notable 400% increase in RSV, from March 2005 to May 2005. However, post-2006, RSV for “migraine surgery” consistently remained low without noticeable peaks.

Conclusions:

The analysis of RSV trends for “Nurtec” and “migraine surgery” from 2004 to 2023 reveals the impact of pivotal events and marketing strategies on public interest. The distinct peaks in “Nurtec” RSV align with Food & Drug Administration approvals and marketing campaigns, highlighting the medication’s accessibility. Conversely, the consistently low RSV for “migraine surgery” indicates limited awareness, emphasizing the need for enhanced promotion and education regarding surgical interventions.
Research Letter: Characterizing Lifetime Mild TBI Exposure Among Female and Male Military Service Members and Veterans in the LIMBIC-CENC Study
Authors: Walton Samuel R. , Oldham Jessie R. , Remigio-Baker Rosemay A. , Brett Benjamin L. , Austin Tara A. , Cetin Olivia D. , Wilde Elisabeth A. , Lempke Landon B. , Ou Zhining , Kamineni Sreekanth , Martindale Sarah L. , O’Neil Maya E. , Pugh Mary J. , Swanson Randel L. , Pappadis Monique R. , Cifu David X. , Walker William C.
Published: July 2024

Objective: To (1) characterize lifetime mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) exposures among male and female US military service members and Veterans (SMVs) and (2) evaluate sex-related differences in mild TBI exposures. Setting: Clinical research laboratory. Participants: Participants were enrolled in the ongoing Long-term Impact of Military-relevant Brain Injury Consortium—Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC) Prospective Longitudinal Study. Design: Cross-sectional. Main Measures: Lifetime history of mild TBI was measured via structured interview. All mild TBI characteristics were collected as part of this interview, including total lifetime number; environment (deployment vs. non-deployment); timing of injury (relative to military service and age); and mechanism of injury (blast-related vs. non-blast). Results: Most participants (n = 2323; 87.5% male; 79.6% Veteran) reported ≥1 lifetime mild TBI (n = 1912; 82%), among whom, many reported ≥2 lifetime mild TBIs. Female SMVs reported fewer total lifetime mild TBIs than male participants (P < 0.001), including fewer deployment-related (P < 0.001) and non-deployment (P < 0.001) mild TBIs. There were significant sex differences for total number of mild TBIs sustained before (P = 0.005) and during (P < 0.001) military service but not after separation from military service (P = 0.99). Among participants with a lifetime history of mild TBI, female SMVs were less likely to report ≥2 mTBIs (P = 0.003); however, male SMVs were more likely to report a mild TBI during military service (P = 0.03), including combat-related mild TBI (P < 0.001) and mild TBI involving blast (P < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings inform clinical and research efforts related to mild TBI in US military SMVs. It may not be sufficient to simply measure the total number of mild TBIs when seeking to compare clinical outcomes related to mild TBI between sexes; rather, it is important to measure and account for the timing, environment, and mechanisms associated with mild TBIs sustained by female and male SMVs.
Influence of Opacity Depth on Big Bubble Formation During Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty in Corneal Stromal Scars
Authors: Lucchino Luca , Visioli Giacomo , Scarinci Fabio , Colabelli Gisoldi Rossella Anna Maria , Komaiha Chiara , Giovannetti Francesca , Marenco Marco , Pocobelli Giulio , Lambiase Alessandro , Pocobelli Augusto
Published: July 2024

Purpose:

To identify the key preoperative predictors of big bubble (BB) formation during deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty in patients with corneal stromal scars (CSS).

Methods:

This retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients with CSS after infective keratitis who underwent BB-deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty between January 2021 and July 2023 at a tertiary referral center. Topographic and tomographic data were collected to compare the rates and types of BB formations. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) was employed to assess the maximum depth of opacity by dividing the stroma into 3 zones of equal thickness: anterior (stage A), mid (stage B), and posterior stroma (stage C). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the potential preoperative predictors of bubble formation.

Results:

Pneumatic dissection was achieved in 13 of 33 eyes (39.4%), with 11 BB type 1 eyes (33.3%) and 2 BB type 2 eyes (6.1%). According to AS-OCT grading, bubble formation was more frequent with CSS involving more superficial stromal layers (P <0.032). In the eyes with stage C, bubble formation failed 12 out of 14 times (85.7%, P <0.026). Spearman correlation showed that bubble formation was inversely associated with the AS-OCT grading (rho = −0.443, P = 0.001). After logistic regression analysis, AS-OCT grading was found to be the sole factor that predicted bubble formation (coeff. −1.58, confidence interval 95% −3.03 to −0.12, P = 0.034).

Conclusions:

Depth of opacity in CSS was the key determinant for predicting the success of pneumatic dissection, as advanced AS-OCT stages are strongly associated with BB failure.
Pancreatic Stone Protein in the Diagnosis of Sepsis in Children Admitted to High-Dependency Care: A Single-Center Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Bottari Gabriella , Paionni Emanuel , Fegatelli Danilo Alunni , Murciano Manuel , Rosati Francesco , Ferrigno Federica , Pisani Mara , Cristaldi Sebastian , Musolino Annamaria , Borrelli Giorgia , Bochicchio Chiara , Romani Lorenza , De Luca Maia , Agosta Marilena , Lancella Laura , Villani Alberto , Vestri Annarita , Atti Marta Ciofi Degli , Perno Carlo F. , Porzio Ottavia , Raponi Massimiliano , Cecchetti Corrado
Published: July 2024

OBJECTIVES:

Blood level of pancreatic stone protein (PSP) is a promising biomarker of sepsis both in adults and children. The aim of our study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of PSP in children with suspected sepsis and to compare diagnostic performance with other sepsis biomarkers approved for clinical use, that is, procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

DESIGN:

Prospective study.

SETTING:

PICU and pediatric emergency department.

INTERVENTION:

Blood levels of PSP were measured using a nanofluidic point-of-care immunoassay (abioSCOPE, Abionic SA, Switzerland) within 24 hours of admission.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:

We studied 99 children aged between older than 1 month and younger than 18 years with signs and symptoms of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (irrespective of associated organ dysfunction). The prevalence of sepsis was 35 of 99 (35.4%). Patients with sepsis had higher PSP levels (p < 0.001) than patients with systemic inflammation of noninfectious cause. In this analysis, the optimal cutoff for the diagnosis of sepsis using PSP was 123 ng/mL, which resulted in a sensitivity of 0.63 (95% CI, 0.43–0.80), specificity of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.77–0.95). The PSP test area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.73–0.91) and, by comparison, procalcitonin and CRP AUROC were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.58–0.82) and 0.72 (95% CI, 0.60–0.84), respectively. Overall, the pretest to posttest probability of sepsis with a positive test changed from 0.35 to 0.73.

CONCLUSIONS:

In this single-center prospective pediatric cohort, admitted to the high intensive care and to the PICU, our findings suggested the potential use of PSP as a sepsis biomarker. However, because of the clinical diagnostic uncertainty with a positive result, further investigation is needed particularly in combination with other biomarkers.
Harnessing Mobility: A Medically Complex Child’s Home Program Utilizing an In-Home Body Weight Support System
Authors: Sabet Andrina , Galloway James Cole
Published: July 2024

Purpose:

To describe a home program for a child with medical complexity using an over-ground body weight support (BWS) system.

Summary of Key Points:

Children with medical complexity often use home programs due to challenges with regular therapy attendance. In this case, effective home program components including child centered design, family leadership, and best practice principles were prioritized around the PUMA (portable mobility aid for children). This BWS system was to be used for 1 hour per day to support mobility and active play.

Statement of Conclusions:

The CMC and family demonstrated high adherence, using over-ground BWS 87% of the 135 days it was accessible with an average daily usage of 59 min spread across 1-3 bouts per day. The average daily fun index during usage was 7/10.

Recommendations for Clinical Practice:

This home program demonstrated over-ground BWS technology as a feasible, fun platform for functional mobility and socialization in a child with significant medical and physical limitations.
Risk Factors for Step-Off Deformity of the Donor Site following Abdominal Flap–Based Breast Reconstruction
Authors: Kim Jisu , Son Sumin , Mun Goo-Hyun
Published: July 2024

Background:

Step-off deformity is a suboptimal aesthetic outcome at the donor site following abdominal flap harvesting for breast reconstruction. This study assessed the prevalence of step-off deformities after autologous breast reconstruction and explored the associated risk factors.

Methods:

This retrospective study evaluated step-off deformities among consecutive patients who had undergone autologous abdominal flap–based breast reconstruction between January of 2019 and December of 2022. The postoperative evaluation used medical records and photographs, defining step-off deformity as a thickness discrepancy in the upper and lower abdominal tissue with reference to the scar line and angles less than 165 degrees. Moreover, the study explored potential risk factors, including abdominal subcutaneous tissue thickness based on computed tomography.

Results:

In total, 187 patients underwent abdominal flap-based breast reconstruction; 38 exhibited step-off deformity. The case group exhibited significantly higher body mass index (BMI) and greater subcutaneous layer thickness in both the upper and lower abdomen compared with those of the control group. The groups did not differ significantly in postoperative complications, including abdominal bulging or hernia. Multivariable analysis revealed notable risk factors for step-off deformity development: BMI (P = 0.026), presence of preoperative abdominal fold (P = 0.028), and thickness differences between the upper and lower abdomen (P = 0.011). The cut-off values were 26.1 kg/m2 for BMI and 9.5 mm for thickness differences.

Conclusions:

Higher BMI, presence of abdominal fold, and significant upper-lower abdomen tissue thickness differences may be associated with an increased risk of donor step-off deformity after abdominal flap harvest. These findings may inform patient counseling and warrant attention when closing donor wounds in high-risk individuals.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Risk, III.
Normothermic Machine Perfusion and Normothermic Regional Perfusion of DCD Kidneys Before Transplantation: A Systematic Review
Authors: Klein Nulend Rowan , Hameed Ahmer , Singla Animesh , Yuen Lawrence , Lee Taina , Yoon Peter , Nahm Chris , Wong Germaine , Laurence Jerome , Lim Wai H. , Hawthorne Wayne J. , Pleass Henry
Published: July 2024

Background.

To overcome organ shortages, donation after circulatory death (DCD) kidneys are being increasingly used for transplantation. Prior research suggests that DCD kidneys have inferior outcomes compared with kidneys donated after brain death. Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) and normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) may enhance the preservation of DCD kidneys and improve transplant outcomes. This study aimed to review the evidence surrounding NMP and NRP in DCD kidney transplantation.

Methods.

Two independent reviewers conducted searches for all publications reporting outcomes for NMP and NRP-controlled DCD kidneys, focusing on delayed graft function, primary nonfunction, graft function, graft survival, and graft utilization. Weighted means were calculated for all relevant outcomes and controls. Formal meta-analyses could not be conducted because of significant heterogeneity.

Results.

Twenty studies were included for review (6 NMP studies and 14 NRP studies). Delayed graft function rates seemed to be lower for NRP kidneys (24.6%) compared with NMP kidneys (54.3%). Both modalities yielded similar outcomes with respect to primary nonfunction (NMP 3.3% and NRP 5.6%), graft function (12-mo creatinine 149.3 μmol/L for NMP and 129.9 μmol/L for NRP), and graft utilization (NMP 83.3% and NRP 89%). Although no direct comparisons exist, our evidence suggests that both modalities have good short- and medium-term graft outcomes and high graft survival rates.

Conclusions.

Current literature demonstrates that both NMP and NRP are feasible strategies that may increase donor organ utilization while maintaining acceptable transplant outcomes and likely improved outcomes compared with cold-stored DCD kidneys. Further research is needed to directly compare NRP and NMP outcomes.