bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of inter‐vendor variability on evaluation of left ventricular mechanical dispersion
Authors: Appadurai Vinesh , Scalia Gregory M. , Lau Katherine , Chamberlain Robert , Edwards Natalie , Bushell Hannah , Scalia William , Tomlinson Stephen , Hamilton‐Craig Christian , Chan Jonathan
Published: December 2021

Purpose

Left ventricular mechanical dispersion (LVMD) is a novel speckle tracking parameter for prognostic assessment of arrhythmic risk prediction. There is growing evidence to support its use in a variety of cardiomyopathic processes. There is paucity of data addressing any presence of inter‐vendor discrepancies for LVMD. The aim of this study was to assess inter‐vendor variability of LVMD in vendor specific software (VSS) and vendor independent software (VIS) in subjects with preserved and reduced left ventricular function.

Methods

Fifty‐nine subjects (14 normal subjects and 45 subjects with cardiac disease) were recruited and 2D speckle tracking echocardiographic images were acquired on two different ultrasound machines (GE and Philips). LVMD was measured by two different VSS (EchoPac GE and QLAB Philips) and one VIS (TomTec Arena).

Results

There was significant bias and wide limits of agreement (LOA) in the overall cohort observed between two different VSS (17.6 ms; LOA: ‐29.6 to 64.8; r: .47). There was acceptable bias and narrower LOA with good agreement for LVMD between images obtained on different vendors when performed on VIS (‐3.1 ms; LOA: ‐27.6 to 21.4; r: .75). QLAB LVMD was consistently higher than GE LVMD and TomTec LVMD in both preserved and reduced left ventricular function. LVMD measurements have high intra‐vendor reproducibility with excellent inter and intra‐observer agreement.

Conclusions

There was acceptable bias and narrower LOA for LVMD assessment on a VIS. Inter‐vendor variability exists for LVMD assessment between VSS. Serial measurements of LVMD should be performed using a single vendor for consistent and reliable results.
The Mortality/Growth ratio of larval fish and the slope of the zooplankton size‐spectrum
Authors: Suthers Iain M. , White Zoe , Hinchliffe Charles , Falster Daniel S. , Richardson Anthony J. , Everett Jason D.
Published: December 2021

Predicting recruitment remains a fundamental problem in fisheries science. The Mortality/Growth ratio (M/G) of larval fish summarizes the competing rates of M and G in relation to cohort survival and potential recruitment. The larval cohort biomass initially declines after spawning (M > G) until transition (M/G = 1), after which the cohort may grow in biomass (M < G). A major challenge is to obtain routine fine‐scale measurements of M/G and integrate them over broad scales. Here, we propose the M/G size‐spectrum hypothesis, whereby the M/G ratio of larval fish is correlated with the slope (S) of the zooplankton size‐frequency distribution. S represents the tension between faster and more efficient growth (flatter S) and mortality (steeper S) among particles the size of larval fish. S is explicitly driven by the ratio of mortality to growth of zooplankton, and the range of published values of S (−0.4 to −2) is consistent with M/G ratios reported for larval fish. As S can be measured at fine and large spatial scales using towed optical plankton counters, the M/G size‐spectrum hypothesis provides a context to help quantify the recruitment potential of larval fish.
The mother domain: Mediated model of maternal gatekeepers and depressed fathers among newlyweds with children
Authors: Thomas Clare R. , Holmes Erin K. , Shafer Kevin , Yorgason Jeremy
Published: December 2021

Objective

To understand how the marriage relationship is related to paternal depression and maternal gatekeeping perceptions.

Background

Paternal depression is an understudied topic, and research connecting it to maternal gatekeeping is still in its infancy. Research has found that the marriage relationship can be associated with both depression and maternal gatekeeping. This study focuses on how these three areas are related.

Method

A subsample of the the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences project was used including 507 couples, or 1014 married parents. Two separate structural equation modeling mediational models were tested to examine father depression as a predictor of maternal gatekeeping, with marital instability as the mediator in one model and partner connectedness as the mediator in the other. Both parent reports were used for maternal gatekeeping, marital instability, and partner connectedness.

Results

No direct association between father depression and maternal gatekeeping was found, nor did partner connectedness mediate this relationship. However, father depression was associated with maternal reports of marital instability and, in turn, mother reports of maternal gatekeeping.

Conclusion

These mixed findings suggest a need for future longitudinal research to better understand the nature of the relationship between father depression and maternal gatekeeping.

Implications

These results suggest that therapists and researchers examine father depression through a wholistic family lens, acknowledging potential indirect effects associated with paternal depression, and the importance of assessing partner connectedness.
Untangling senescent and damage‐associated microglia in the aging and diseased brain
Authors: Ng Pei Y. , McNeely Taylor L. , Baker Darren J.
Published: December 2021

Microglial homeostasis has emerged as a critical mediator of health and disease in the central nervous system. In their neuroprotective role as the predominant immune cells of the brain, microglia surveil the microenvironment for debris and pathogens, while also promoting neurogenesis and performing maintenance on synapses. Chronological ageing, disease onset, or traumatic injury promotes irreparable damage or deregulated signaling to reinforce neurotoxic phenotypes in microglia. These insults may include cellular senescence, a stable growth arrest often accompanied by the production of a distinctive pro‐inflammatory secretory phenotype, which may contribute to age‐ or disease‐driven decline in neuronal health and cognition and is a potential novel therapeutic target. Despite this increased scrutiny, unanswered questions remain about what distinguishes senescent microglia and non‐senescent microglia reacting to insults occurring in ageing, disease, and injury, and how central the development of senescence is in their pivot from guardian to assailant. To intelligently design future studies to untangle senescent microglia from other primed and reactionary states, specific criteria must be developed that define this population and allow for comparisons between different model systems. Comparing microglial activity seen in homeostasis, ageing, disease, and injury allows for a more coherent understanding of when and how senescent and other harmful microglial subpopulations should be targeted.
Survival of climate warming through niche shifts: Evidence from frogs on tropical islands
Authors: Labisko Jim , Bunbury Nancy , Griffiths Richard A. , Groombridge Jim J. , Chong‐Seng Lindsay , Bradfield Kay S. , Streicher Jeffrey W.
Published: December 2021

How will organisms cope when forced into warmer‐than‐preferred thermal environments? This is a key question facing our ability to monitor and manage biota as average annual temperatures increase, and is of particular concern for range‐limited terrestrial species unable to track their preferred climatic envelope. Being ectothermic, desiccation prone, and often spatially restricted, island‐inhabiting tropical amphibians exemplify this scenario. Pre‐Anthropocene case studies of how insular amphibian populations responded to the enforced occupation of warmer‐than‐ancestral habitats may add a valuable, but currently lacking, perspective. We studied a population of frogs from the Seychelles endemic family Sooglossidae which, due to historic sea‐level rise, have been forced to occupy a significantly warmer island (Praslin) than their ancestors and close living relatives. Evidence from thermal activity patterns, bioacoustics, body size distributions, and ancestral state estimations suggest that this population shifted its thermal niche in response to restricted opportunities for elevational dispersal. Relative to conspecifics, Praslin sooglossids also have divergent nuclear genotypes and call characters, a finding consistent with adaptation causing speciation in a novel thermal environment. Using an evolutionary perspective, our study reveals that some tropical amphibians have survived episodes of historic warming without the aid of dispersal and therefore may have the capacity to adapt to the currently warming climate. However, two otherwise co‐distributed sooglossid species are absent from Praslin, and the deep evolutionary divergence between the frogs on Praslin and their closest extant relatives (~8 million years) may have allowed for gradual thermal adaptation and speciation. Thus, local extinction is still a likely outcome for tropical frogs experiencing warming climates in the absence of dispersal corridors to thermal refugia.
A comparative assessment of migrant and indigenous entrepreneurs on regional development: A case of Odisha, India
Authors: Sarangi Subrat , Renin Singh R. K. , Kar Brajaballav
Published: December 2021

The paper aims to compare the relative influence of migrant and indigenous entrepreneurs on regional development in the eastern state of Odisha in a developing country like India. The data is based on ownership across 30 districts and ten different sectors for small and medium businesses. It is modeled on economic indicators such as Net District Domestic Product (NDDP) and employment generation at the district level. One‐way ANOVA and multiple linear regression on the data set suggest that ownership pattern influences development indices differently, hence having policy‐level implications based on the goals to be achieved. While migrant entrepreneurs' impact NDDP and employment opportunities positively for main workers, indigenous entrepreneurs from Odisha positively influence employment opportunities at an overall level, and for marginal workers, everything else remains unchanged. Hence, during slowdowns or post‐pandemic recovery situations, when the need of the hour for the local government is immediate employment and livelihood for low‐skill‐based marginal workers, facilitating indigenous owners is more preferred.
One coast, two systems: Regional innovation systems and entrepreneurial discovery in Western Norway
Authors: Deegan Jason , Solheim Marte C. W. , Jakobsen Stig‐Erik , Isaksen Arne
Published: December 2021

This paper introduces an analytical framework for understanding how specialized and diversified regional innovation system (RIS) differ in the way an entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) is likely to unfold. To analytically explore the proposed framework, we deploy a sequential explanatory design approach, using quantitative data to analyze the regional industry structure of the city regions of Bergen and Stavanger in Western Norway, followed by a qualitative analysis of interviews with key stakeholders in both regions. We find that the city regions face unique challenges that align with an understanding of their respective RIS categorization, providing evidence that the framework proposed serves as a useful guide in understanding the development of an EDP.
Performance Analysis ofANNPrediction for Groundwater Level ConsideringRegional‐SpecificInfluence Components
Authors: Kim Incheol , Lee Junhwan
Published: December 2021

Groundwater level (GWL) varies periodically or non‐periodically with various factors including precipitation, river stage (RS) change, sea level, and dewatering activities. In this study, the effect of influence components on the prediction of GWL using an artificial neural network (ANN) was investigated. Six regions with different hydrologic and geologic conditions were collected and adopted in the investigation using various input combinations. In urban areas with a high surface paved ratio, GWL was mainly affected by RS. In rural areas, the permeability of ground showed a significant impact on GWL. For such cases, the moving average (MA) was a suitable component as it could reflect both time lag and the effect of preceding precipitation. It was shown that site‐specific influence component should be firstly identified and introduced into input for more enhanced and reliable prediction of GWL using ANN. The effect of learning data length (LDL) was less significant. In urban and rural areas, the introduction of RS and MA into ANN input significantly improved the prediction performance, respectively, which was consistent with the correlation analysis of GWL influence components.
Ability of volume measures of hydronephrosis to predict need for surgery and evaluate renal function in children with ureteropelvic junction obstruction
Authors: Bai Kaiping , Hou Yanping , Zhang Zhiyuan , Xing Xiaoyu , Zhu Weiwen , Zou Xiangyu , Sun Jie
Published: December 2021

Objective

To explore the efficacy of quantitative renal volume measures on magnetic resonance urography images in predicting need for surgery among children with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and their ability to evaluate renal function.

Methods

A total of 88 cases of hydronephrosis in 50 patients were collected between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2020, including 30 operated kidney and 58 unoperated kidney cases. Clinical data were collected, and quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance urography was performed. Renal volume, hydronephrosis volume and the volume ratio of hydronephrosis (hydronephrosis volume/renal volume) were measured and calculated. We analyzed the relationships between the above indices in the two groups and compared these with renal function.

Results

Compared with the unoperated kidney group, hydronephrosis volume, renal volume and hydronephrosis volume/renal volume of the operated kidney group increased significantly. Hydronephrosis volume (area under the curve 0.972, 95% confidence interval 0.943–1.000; P < 0.001) and hydronephrosis volume/renal volume (area under the curve 0.968, 95% confidence interval 0.939–0.998; P < 0.001) were superior to ultrasonography and renal function examination in predicting the probability of surgery, and their sensitivity values (hydronephrosis volume/renal volume: 96.67%; hydronephrosis volume: 93.33%) were higher than those of the renal function test (50%). There was a significant difference among different renal function groups in the pairwise comparison of hydronephrosis volume and hydronephrosis volume/renal volume (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Quantitative volume measures of hydronephrosis by magnetic resonance urography had a greater ability to predict need for surgery than ultrasonography and dynamic renal imaging, and it can be used as method by which to evaluate surgery. Hydronephrosis volume and hydronephrosis volume/renal volume have greater predictive ability, and play an important role in the deterioration of renal function.
A metaheuristic for crew scheduling in a pickup‐and‐delivery problem with time windows
Authors: Lucci Mauro , Severín Daniel , Zabala Paula
Published: December 2021

A simultaneous vehicle routing and crew scheduling problem (SVRCSP) consists of planning routes for a fleet of vehicles and scheduling their crews, with the particularity that the vehicle–crew correspondence is not fixed through time. This allows a greater planning flexibility and a more efficient use of the fleet, but in counterpart it requires high synchronization. In this work, an SVRCSP is presented, where long‐distance pickup‐and‐delivery requests must be fulfilled over a multiday planning horizon, subject to several constraints such as multiple time windows, hour of services regulation, among others. Crews can be composed of one or two drivers and any of them can be relieved in a given set of locations. Also, they are allowed to travel between locations with noncompany shuttles. The objective is to minimize the cost of travel in company and noncompany vehicles, which depends on the distance, and the penalization for completing requests with delay. A two‐stage sequential approach is applied: a set of truck routes is computed in the first stage and a set of driver routes consistent with the previous routes is obtained in the second stage. An algorithm based on the GRASP × ILS metaheuristic, embedded with a repair heuristic to facilitate the construction of initial solutions, is proposed and evaluated for the latter stage. High‐quality solutions were found for instances generated with up to 3000 requests and a planning horizon of one to four weeks spread over 15 Argentine cities in less than an hour. Additionally, the possibility of carrying an additional driver reduced the cost of external shuttles by 2.25 times on average compared to individual crews and, in some cases, removed this cost completely.
Experiment and simulation of infrared emissivity properties of doped LaAlO3
Authors: Liu Qingsheng , Cheng Huajin , Tu Tao
Published: December 2021

In this study, LaAlO3 doped with Sr/Co/Mn was prepared by sol‐gel method, with its infrared (IR) radiative properties and variation mechanism investigated by X‐ray powder diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, IR, scanning electron microscopy. Meanwhile, the electronic band structure was simulated by Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package. The conclusions are as follows: the order of emissivity in the near‐IR band is La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Mn0.33O3> La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Co0.33O3> LaAl0.67Mn0.33O3> LaAl0.67Co0.33O3> LaAlO3. In 0–2.5 μm at room temperature, the emissivity of La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Mn0.33O3 can reach 0.9504. The emissivity increase mechanism lies in the further free carrier absorption caused by numerous small polarons formed by the Sr‐Mn co‐doping and increased concentration of electron‐oxygen vacancies. Meanwhile, the Sr‐Mn co‐doping causes lattice distortion and strengthens the lattice vibration absorption. The band gap of La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Mn0.33O3 is 0.910 eV, much smaller than 3.445 eV of LaAlO3, favorable to the valence band electron transition, generating more electron‐oxygen vacancy pairs and promoting free carrier absorption. La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Mn0.33O3 conduction band migrates to the lower energy region, while Mn3d impurity energy level appears. Thanks to the band gap reduction, dielectric function imaginary peaks, and absorption coefficient peaks are red‐shifted. Due to its high emissivity, La0.67Sr0.33Al0.67Mn0.33O3 has a high utilization value and broad potential application.
Conducting theory‐based qualitative interviews with adults with intellectual disabilities and their carers: Adaptations to facilitate participation
Authors: Bains Kiran K. , Turnbull Triece
Published: December 2021

Background

Adults with mild–moderate intellectual disabilities have difficulties in accessing traditional evidence‐based health promotion initiatives despite experiencing health disparities; yet there are few studies with this group and their carers exploring how their needs can be met.

Method

This study adapted a behaviour change theory‐based approach to interview this group and their carers and ascertain if this method was feasible and appropriate to explore how healthier behaviour uptake could be improved amongst adults with intellectual disabilities.

Results

A community‐based, staged recruitment process and iterative approach to data collection and analysis supported successful participation amongst adults with intellectual disabilities in behaviour‐change theory‐based interview research. Methodological adaptations enabled richer data collection amongst adults with mild–moderate intellectual disabilities and carers.

Conclusions

It is feasible and important to include adults with intellectual disabilities in qualitative health research that uses theory‐based complex constructs to inform development of person‐centred health promotion interventions with this underserved cohort.
Lower Bound Uncertainty and Long‐Term Interest Rates
Authors: GRISSE CHRISTIAN
Published: December 2021

Nominal interest rates are constrained by an effective lower bound, but the level of the lower bound is uncertain. This paper uses a simple shadow rate term structure model to study how lower bound uncertainty affects long‐term interest rates. A decline in lower bound uncertainty, in the sense of a mean‐preserving contraction, is associated with a drop in expected short rates. The effect on the variance of short rates, and hence the term premium, is ambiguous. A calibration to Canadian data suggests that a decline in lower bound uncertainty is associated with a modest drop in interest rates.
Caveolin‐1 promotes cancer progression via inhibiting ferroptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Lu Tingwei , Zhang Zhen , Pan Xinhua , Zhang Jianjun , Wang Xu , Wang Miaochen , Li Huasheng , Yan Ming , Chen Wantao
Published: December 2021

Background

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an aggressive disease worldwide. Much progress has been made in exploring mechanisms and improving the therapy of HNSCC, but only a few studies have focused on the role of ferroptosis on HNSCC progression. The current study aimed to reveal the underlining mechanisms that caveolin‐1 (CAV1)‐ROS (reactive oxygen species)‐ferroptosis axis affect the process of HNSCC and discover novo therapeutic targets or strategies.

Methods

The role of CAV1 in ferroptosis was analyzed by FerrDb, and its clinical significance was examined by TCGA dataset of HNSCC. The expressions of caveolin‐1 (CAV1) in HNSCC tissues were measured by immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real‐time PCR assay. Three siRNA sequences were designed to silence CAV1 mRNA in HNSCC cells. Cell proliferation, colony formation, wound‐healing, and transwell assays were used to examine the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cancer cells. ROS evaluation and intracellular Fe2+ content assays were performed to examine the levels of ferroptosis.

Results

Through the analysis with published data, CAV1 was found to overexpress in HNSCC than normal tissues, and was one of the vital suppressors of ferroptosis pathway. Our study showed that CAV1 was over expressed in HNSCC tissues and the high level of CAV1 predicted poorer prognosis. Further experiments indicated that CAV1 could inhibit the ferroptosis of cancer cells and promote the proliferation, migration and invasion.

Conclusions

Overexpression of CAV1 in HNSCC inhibited the process of ferroptosis, leading to aggressive phenotypes, as well as worse prognosis. The regulatory pathway of CAV1 and ferroptosis are potential targets for designing diagnostic and combined therapeutic strategies for HNSCC patients.
Compassion fatigue in mental health nurses: A systematic review
Authors: Marshman Cameron , Hansen Alison , Munro Ian
Published: December 2021

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

Compassion fatigue is the result of the unique stressors inherent in caregiving work, leading to a loss of compassion in clinical practice that may result in negative outcomes for mental healthcare consumers.

Compassion fatigue has clear emotional and physical costs and significant impacts on staff recruitment and retention.

What the paper adds to existing knowledge?

This review is the first to evaluate the quantitative literature on compassion fatigue in mental health nurses.

Research on compassion fatigue in mental health nurses does not accurately account for the unique care relationship between nurse and consumer.

Competency‐based education, strong mental health nurse leadership, positive organizational cultures, clinical supervision and reflection alongside individual self‐care strategies may mitigate compassion fatigue.

What are the implications for future practice?

Resources are urgently needed for education and workforce development that addresses compassion fatigue in mental health nurses.

Interventions addressing the physical, cognitive and emotional demands of care work are needed to ensure mental health nurses have the capability to provide sustainable compassionate care to consumers.

Introduction

Although compassionate care is an essential component of mental health nursing, understandings of the impact of compassion fatigue is poorly understood.

Aims/Questions

To examine and synthesize available data on the prevalence of compassion fatigue within mental health nurses and consider what variables impact compassion fatigue.

Method

A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Emcare, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and grey literature for articles published between 1992 and February 2021 was conducted. Data were extracted from articles meeting inclusion criteria and integrated using narrative synthesis.

Results

Twelve articles were included. Prevalence of compassion fatigue ranged from low to high. Variables were identified that may mitigate the risk of compassion fatigue. Strong leadership and positive workplace cultures, clinical supervision, reflection, self‐care and personal well‐being may protect mental health nurses against compassion fatigue.

Discussion

Future research is needed on mental health nurses lived experience of compassion fatigue and their understandings of compassion.

Implications for Practice

Interventions should focus on increasing awareness of compassion fatigue and building individual and organizational resilience. Both organizations and individuals should be aware of the role they play in maintaining the capacity and capability for mental health nurses to provide sustainable and compassionate mental healthcare.
The Process of Thinking During the Care Work of Care Workers1
Authors: Tsukamoto Erika , Ono Michikazu , Oosono Yasufumi
Published: December 2021

Our research aims to clarify the thinking processes involved in care work of care workers who care for the elderly. We conducted interviews with 12 care workers working in an elderly day‐care center and analyzed the data with the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M‐GTA). As a result, 26 concepts were generated. Next, these concepts were divided into eight categories and further summarized into four central categories. The structure of the care worker's thinking was explained according to four central categories: Think about care attitude, Determine care attitude, Care for the users, and Foundation of care. From these results, we confirmed that care workers attach great importance to maintaining their three central categories of thinking processes and foundation of care to provide quality care to the users. We also confirmed that the three central categories are divided into positive and negative concepts that affect the quality of care for the users. Accordingly, to provide high‐quality care for elderly users, it is necessary to consider the organizational mechanisms that support care workers’ three thinking processes and foundation of care.
Historical Fundamentalism? Christian Nationalism and Ignorance About Religion in American Political History
Authors: Perry Samuel L. , Braunstein Ruth , Gorski Philip S. , Grubbs Joshua B.
Published: December 2021

Religious right leaders often promulgate views of Christianity's historical preeminence, privilege, and persecution in the United States that are factually incorrect, suggesting credulity, ignorance, or perhaps, a form of ideologically motivated ignorance on the part of their audience. This study examines whether Christian nationalism predicts explicit misconceptions regarding religion in American political history and explores theories about the connection. Analyzing nationally representative panel data containing true/false statements about religion's place in America's founding documents, policies, and court decisions, Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor that Americans fail to affirm factually correct answers. This association is stronger among whites compared to black Americans and religiosity actually predicts selecting factually correct answers once we account for Christian nationalism. Analyses of “do not know” response patterns find more confident correct answers from Americans who reject Christian nationalism and more confident incorrect answers from Americans who embrace Christian nationalism. We theorize that, much like conservative Christians have been shown to incorrectly answer science questions that are “religiously contested,” Christian nationalism inclines Americans to affirm factually incorrect views about religion in American political history, likely through their exposure to certain disseminators of such misinformation, but also through their allegiance to a particular political‐cultural narrative they wish to privilege.
Making sense of the new: Progress of modernity in colonial Odisha (part II)
Authors: Satpathy Sumanyu
Published: December 2021

The first part of the article examined the cross‐cultural semantics of the term modernity in the vernacular writing of the English‐educated Odia intellectuals. It also threw light on the way the Odia elite, in the process of conceptualizing the new discourse and experience of modernity, came up with new terms such as adhunik/adhunikata as vernacular equivalents of modern/modernity. In this second part, the emphasis is on empirical and everyday manifestations of modernity in Odisha. It examines how the adhunik/modern came to be understood and internalized in vernacular idioms and the way it took a somewhat different trajectory than that in the rest of the Bengal Presidency of which some territories of Odisha were then a significant part. The article argues that the English‐educated Odias periodically questioned aspects of the new, highlighting older values, and deploying the lessons of value modernity/adhunikata in its abstraction primarily to promote Odia language and literature, and to press demands for welfare measures in the Odia speaking tracts.
When do autopolyploids need poly‐sequencing data?
Authors: Jighly Abdulqader
Published: December 2021

The sequencing depth required to genotype autopolyploid populations is a very controversial topic. Different studies have adopted variable depth values without a clear guide on the optimal sequencing depth value. Many studies suggest high depth thresholds for different ploidies that may not be practical and substantially increase the overall genotyping cost for different projects. However, such conservative thresholds may not be required to achieve the most common research goals. In fact, some recent reports in the field of quantitative genetics found that much lower sequencing depth thresholds could achieve the same accuracy as high depth thresholds. In this manuscript, I discuss when researchers need to use stringent sequencing depth thresholds and when they can use more relaxed ones. I support my argument by calculating the probabilities of sampling different homologues at a given sequencing depth. I also discuss the uses and the uncertainty in calculating a continuous allelic dosage as the proportion of sequencing reads that hold the alternative allele, which is becoming a common method now in quantitative genetics to replace discrete dosage estimation.
Risk factors of severe blastomycosis and comparison of diagnosis and outcomes between immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients
Authors: Villacorta Cari Evelyn , Leedy Nicole , Ribes Julie A. , Soria Jaime , Myint Thein
Published: December 2021

Background

Blastomycosis is an endemic fungal infection that causes pulmonary and systemic disease. It can occur irrespective of the patient's immune status. The risk factors associated with the severity of the disease are not well studied.

Methods

This is a retrospective study of patients admitted with blastomycosis at the University of Kentucky Hospital from 2004 to 2019. Logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with severe blastomycosis.

Results

A total of 76 patients were identified; 22 (28.9%) had at least one immunosuppressive condition. Pulmonary blastomycosis was reported in 49/76 (65%) of the patients and disseminated infection in 27/76 (35.5%). All diagnostic tests were not significantly different in diagnostic results in immunocompromised vs immunocompetent patients. Cultures and histopathology were positive in 56/61 (91.8%) and 54/63 (85.7%) respectively. Blastomyces or Histoplasma antigen test was positive in 13/17 (76.4%) in immunocompromised patients compared to 26/42 (61.9%) in immunocompetent patients. Immunocompromised patients were more likely to be admitted to the hospital and ICU compared to immunocompetent patients. In the multivariate analysis, pulmonary multilobar disease (RR 5.68; 95% CI 2.13–15.15), obesity (RR 2.39; 95% CI 1.26‐4.51), diabetes mellitus (RR 3.50; 95% CI 1.38‐8.90) and immunosuppression (RR 2.28; 95% CI 1.14‐4.56) were significant independent risk factors for severe blastomycosis. Inpatient mortality proportion was higher in immunocompromised patients but not statistically significant.

Conclusion

Pulmonary multilobar disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus and immunosuppression were risk factors associated with severe blastomycosis. Immunocompromised patients required more frequent hospitalisations compared to immunocompetent patients.
Life in lockdown: impact of COVID‐19 lockdown measures on the lives of visually impaired school‐age children and their families in India
Authors: Gothwal Vijaya K , Kodavati KrishnaPriya , Subramanian Ahalya
Published: December 2021

Purpose

The COVID‐19 outbreak has adversely impacted all societal domains including education. Home confinement, school closures and distance learning impacted children's, teachers' and parents' lives worldwide. In this study, we aimed to examine the impact of the COVID‐19 lockdown on the lives, including education, of school‐age children with vision impairment (VI) and their parents in India.

Methods

Primary and secondary school children with VI were recruited from the Institute for Vision Rehabilitation, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India. A qualitative research methodology, utilising a self‐constructed questionnaire with open and closed questions and stem and leaf design, was employed to explore the experiences of school closure and its impact on education and attending online classes during the COVID‐19 lockdown. Textual data from responses to the questions were analysed using content analysis to identify themes pertinent to the cohort studied.

Results

Forty eight child‐parent dyads were included. The median age of children was 10 years (range, 7–19 years) and 60% were male. Inherited retinal disorders were the major cause of VI (40%). Best spectacle corrected visual acuity (better eye) ranged from 0.30 to 2.09 logMAR (6/12 to 6/750). Six major themes were identified: (1) accessibility of technology (online learning and technology); (2) parental beliefs/concerns (harmful effects of technology, prioritisation of normally sighted children, online classes considered a distraction); (3) support (peers, parents, teachers, private tuition); (4) socialisation and physical activity; (5) socioeconomic status and (6) near vision.

Conclusions

This study provides an understanding of the adverse impact of lockdown on the lives of children with VI and their parents, especially related to education in India. The study identified critical factors that affect online learning and the participation of children with VI in these sessions. Policymakers and educators should implement effective measures for supporting online classes.
Refugee Inflow and Labor Market Outcomes in Brazil: Evidence from the Venezuelan Exodus
Authors: Ryu Hanbyul , Paudel Jayash
Published: December 2021

The impact of a large influx of refugees (or migrants) on the local labor market has long been an important topic among economists. In this study, we investigate the economic impact of the Venezuelan migrant inflow on labor market outcomes in Brazil. We employ the synthetic control method to exploit the concentration of a large inflow of Venezuelans in the Brazilian state of Roraima, which shares a land border with Venezuela. Results indicate that the inflow of Venezuelan refugees lowered labor force participation and employment rate but did not have a significant impact on hourly wages in Brazil. Our estimates show that labor force participation among less educated individuals decreased by a larger magnitude, while females lost jobs in informal and self‐employed sectors. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the short‐term economic consequences of hosting refugees in developing countries.
Clinical utility of preoperative pulmonary function testing in pediatrics
Authors: Marpole Rachael , Ohn Mon , O’Dea Christopher A. , von Ungern‐Sternberg Britta S.
Published: December 2021

Perioperative respiratory adverse events pose a significant risk in pediatric anesthesia, and identifying these risks is vital. Traditionally, this is assessed using history and examination. However, the perioperative risk is multifactorial, and children with complex medical backgrounds such as chronic lung disease or obesity may benefit from additional objective preoperative pulmonary function tests. This article summarizes the utility of available pulmonary function assessment tools as preoperative tests in improving post‐anesthetic outcomes. Currently, there is no evidence to support or discourage any pulmonary function assessment as a routine preoperative test for children undergoing anesthesia. In addition, there is uncertainty about which patients with the known or suspected respiratory disease require preoperative pulmonary function tests, what time period prior to surgery these are required, and whether spirometry or more sophisticated tests are indicated. Therefore, the need for any test should be based on information obtained from the history and examination, the child's age, and the complexity of the surgery.
On the core of m$m$‐attribute games
Authors: Özen Ulaş , Slikker Marco , Sošić Greys
Published: December 2021

We study a special class of cooperative games with transferable utility (TU), called [Formula: see text]‐ attribute games. Every player in an [Formula: see text]‐attribute game is endowed with a vector of [Formula: see text] attributes that can be combined in an additive fashion; that is, if players form a coalition, the attribute vector of this coalition is obtained by adding the attributes of its members. Another fundamental feature of [Formula: see text]‐attribute games is that their characteristic function is defined by a continuous attribute function [Formula: see text]—the value of a coalition depends only on evaluation of [Formula: see text] on the attribute vector possessed by the coalition, and not on the identity of coalition members. This class of games encompasses many well‐known examples, such as queueing games and economic lot‐sizing games. We believe that by studying attribute function [Formula: see text] and its properties, instead of specific examples of games, we are able to develop a common platform for studying different situations and obtain more general results with wider applicability. In this paper, we first show the relationship between nonemptiness of the core and identification of attribute prices that can be used to calculate core allocations. We then derive necessary and sufficient conditions under which every [Formula: see text]‐attribute game embedded in attribute function [Formula: see text] has a nonempty core, and a set of necessary and sufficient conditions that [Formula: see text] should satisfy for the embedded game to be convex. We also develop several sufficient conditions for nonemptiness of the core of [Formula: see text]‐attribute games, which are easier to check, and show how to find a core allocation when these conditions hold. Finally, we establish natural connections between TU games and [Formula: see text]‐attribute games.
The regulation of shrimp metabolism by the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)
Authors: Kumar Ramya , Huang Jiun‐Yan , Ng Yen‐Siong , Chen Cong‐Yan , Wang Han‐Ching
Published: December 2021

For more than three decades, infectious diseases have been one of the major causes of economic losses in the global shrimp industry. One of the deadliest of the shrimp pathogens is white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), which causes mass mortality in farmed shrimp. Various aspects of WSSV pathogenicity have been studied, but in this review, we will focus only on one of them, namely metabolic reprogramming. WSSV’s modulation of host metabolism affects glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, glutaminolysis and lipid metabolism. Several signaling pathways are involved in this regulation, including JAK‐STAT, PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR, MAPK and Ras‐Raf‐MEK, with the PI3K‐Akt‐mTOR pathway in particular playing a critical role in activating the WSSV‐induced Warburg effect. Taken together, these changes benefit the virus by facilitating WSSV replication. In this review, we summarize current knowledge regarding the metabolism‐related aspects of WSSV pathogenesis, and discuss the mechanisms by which this virus reprograms its host's metabolic pathways. A deeper understanding of these pathways, key metabolic enzymes and signaling mechanisms is potentially important for the development of effective anti‐WSSV strategies.
Branching time and doomsday
Authors: Andreoletti Giacomo
Published: December 2021

Branching time is a popular theory of time that is intended to account for the openness of the future. Generally, branching time models the openness of the future by positing a multiplicity of concrete alternative futures mirroring all the possible ways the future could unfold. In the literature, a distinction is drawn among branching‐time theories: those that make use of moment‐based structures and those that employ history‐based ones. In this paper, I introduce and discuss a particular kind of openness relative to the possibility that time ends (doomsday). I then show that whereas moment‐based branching structures cannot represent this kind of openness, history‐based structures can account for it. The conclusion is that history‐based structures have an advantage over moment‐based ones.
Pharmaceutical pollution: A weakly regulated global environmental risk
Authors: Miettinen Mirella , Khan Sabaa Ahmad
Published: December 2021

The effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment (PiE) are well evidenced, yet from an environmental perspective, pharmaceuticals remain weakly regulated internationally. Pharmaceutical pollutants are addressed under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a global framework for the management of chemicals and wastes. We provide an overview of the state of knowledge on PiE and identify international efforts targeting the regulation of PiE, as well as gaps in regulation and how SAICM could address them. ‘Environmentally persistent pharmaceutical pollutants’ (EPPP) was adopted under SAICM as an issue of concern 6 years after ‘nanotechnologies and manufactured nanomaterials’. Our analysis draws on this field to inform the development of policy approaches to EPPP. While there is significant cooperation underway on PiE, initiatives are highly fragmented. The post‐2020 SAICM may help bridge the gaps. Further development should be informed by experiences from nanomaterials, particularly with respect to definitions, information gathering and building more integrative approaches.
CPAP telemonitoring can track Cheyne–Stokes respiration and detect serious cardiac events: The AlertApnée Study
Authors: Prigent Arnaud , Pellen Claude , Texereau Joëlle , Bailly Sébastien , Coquerel Nicolas , Gervais Renaud , Liegaux Jean‐Marc , Luraine Régis , Renaud Jean‐Christophe , Serandour Anne‐Laure , Pépin Jean Louis
Published: December 2021

Background and objective

Case reports have suggested that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) telemonitoring can detect the onset of acute cardiac events such as decompensated heart failure (HF) or atrial fibrillation through an increase in the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) and onset of Cheyne–Stokes Respiration (CSR). This study addressed whether long‐term remote CPAP treatment telemonitoring revealing CSR can help detect serious cardiac events (SCEs) in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients.

Methods

This monocentric prospective cohort study included adults receiving CPAP therapy for OSA with daily telemonitoring. Any sudden increase in AHI generated an alert for the home healthcare provider to download CPAP data to identify CSR. A medical consultation was scheduled if CSR was detected.

Results

We included 555 adults (412 men; 57% with known cardiovascular comorbidities). During the 1‐year follow‐up, 78 CSR episodes were detected in 74 patients (CSR+). The main conditions associated with incident CSR were HF (24 patients [30.8%]), ventilatory instability (21, 26.9%), leaks (13, 16.7%), medications inducing central apnoeas (baclofen, ticagrelor, opioids) (7, 9.0%), arrhythmias (6, 7.7%) and renal failure (2, 2.6%). Fifteen (20.3%) CSR+ patients had a confirmed SCE. In univariable analysis, a CSR episode increased the risk of an SCE by 13.8‐fold (5.7–35.6) (p < 0.0001), with an adjusted OR of 5.7 (2.0–16.8) in multivariable analysis.

Conclusion

Long‐term telemonitoring of patients on CPAP treatment can alert CSR episodes and allows early detection of SCEs in patients with or without known cardiac comorbidities.
A Hidden Markov Space–Time Model for Mapping the Dynamics of Global Access to Food
Authors: Bartolucci Francesco , Farcomeni Alessio
Published: December 2021

In order to analyse worldwide data about access to food, coming from a series of Gallup’s world polls, we propose a hidden Markov model with both a spatial and a temporal component. This model is estimated by an augmented data MCMC algorithm in a Bayesian framework. Data are referred to a sample of more than 750 thousand individuals in 166 countries, widespread in more than two thousand areas, and cover the period 2007–2014. The model is based on a discrete latent space, with the latent state corresponding to a certain area and time occasion that depends on the states of neighbouring areas at the same time occasion, and on the previous state for the same area. The latent model also accounts for area-time-specific covariates. Moreover, the binary response variable (access to food, in our case) observed at individual level is modelled on the basis of individual-specific covariates through a logistic model with a vector of parameters depending on the latent state. Model selection, in particular for the number of latent states, is based on the Watanabe–Akaike information criterion. The application shows the potential of the approach in terms of clustering the areas, data smoothing and prediction of prevalence for areas without sample units and over time.
Aspiration of an exfoliated primary molar in a child with cerebral palsy: A case report
Authors: Amini Homa , Boynton James R.
Published: December 2021

Foreign body aspiration is a concern in children which may occur with anything introduced to the oral cavity and can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Food and foreign objects are the most commonly aspirated objects in young children. Aspiration of a normally exfoliated primary tooth is thought to be extremely rare, if not unheard‐of. The purpose of this case report is to describe the events occurring to a 10‐year‐old child with a cerebral palsy presenting with signs and symptoms of respiratory distress due to aspiration of a naturally exfoliated primary molar. Recommendations are provided for delivery of appropriate anticipatory guidance, management of exfoliating primary teeth, and safe clinical practice.