bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Randomized Controlled Study Assessing Convalescent Immunoglobulins vs Convalescent Plasma for Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus 2019
Authors: Maor Yasmin , Shinar Eilat , Izak Marina , Rahav Galia , Brosh-Nissimov Tal , Kessler Asa , Rahimi-Levene Naomi , Benin-Goren Odeda , Cohen Dani , Zohar Iris , Alagem Noga , Castro Sharon , Zimhony Oren
Published: May 2023

Background

It is unknown whether convalescent immunoglobulins (cIgGs) are better than convalescent plasma (CP) for patients with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods

In this randomized controlled trial, we assigned high risk COVID-19 patients with ≤10 days of symptoms, to receive cIgGs or CP. The primary endpoint was improvement on day 14 according to the World Health Organization scale. Secondary endpoints were survival on day 14, and improvement, survival, and percent of ventilated patients on day 28, and treatment response in unvaccinated and vaccinated patients.

Results

A total of 319 patients were included: 166 received cIgGs and 153 CP. Median age was 64 to 66 years. A total of 112 patients (67.5%) in the cIgG group and 103 patients (67.3%) in the CP group reached the primary endpoint. Difference between groups was 0.1 (95% confidence interval, −10.1 to 10.4; P = .026), failing to reach noninferiority. More patients receiving cIgG improved by day 28 (136 patients [81.9%] and 108 patients [70.6%], respectively; 95% confidence interval, 1.9–20.7; P < .001; for superiority P = .018). Seventeen patients in the cIgG group (10.2%) and 25 patients (16.3%) in the CP group required mechanical ventilation (P = .136). Sixteen (9.6%) and 23 (15%) patients, respectively, died (P = .172). More unvaccinated patients improved by day 28 in the cIgG group (84.1% vs 66.1%; P = .024), and survival was better in the cIgG group (89.9% vs 77.4%; P = .066).

Conclusions

cIgGs failed to reach the primary noninferiority endpoint on day 14 but was superior to CP on day 28. Survival and improvement by day 28 in unvaccinated patients treated with cIgGs were better. In the face of new variants, cIgGs are a viable option for treating COVID-19.

Trial registration number

My Trials MOH_2021-01-14_009667.
From dissident to recognized belligerent? The Free French and the Red Cross Movement, 1940–1943
Authors: Desgrandchamps Marie-Luce , Humbert Laure
Published: May 2023

This article explores how the Free French, who were obsessed with establishing legitimacy and obtaining resources on the international scene, sought to create links with the Red Cross Movement. First, it highlights the significance attached to affiliation with the Red Cross by a political committee-in-exile operating outside the traditional diplomatic framework. Although de Gaulle was relatively successful in this quest and obtained a partial diplomatic recognition within the Red Cross apparatus in 1943, this only extended to the transmission of information about prisoners of war. Secondly, it expands and deepens the history of the Red Cross Movement by illustrating the complexity of Red Cross philanthropy and the plurality of its transnational networks on the ground. In the Free French ‘archipelago’, local Red Cross structures, often led by women, were complicated by their own unique dynamics, entangled both in the geopolitics of the time and the local politics of their respective spaces.
Unsupervised Deep Learning Can Identify Protein Functional Groups from Unaligned Sequences
Authors: David Kyle T , Halanych Kenneth M
Published: May 2023

Interpreting protein function from sequence data is a fundamental goal of bioinformatics. However, our current understanding of protein diversity is bottlenecked by the fact that most proteins have only been functionally validated in model organisms, limiting our understanding of how function varies with gene sequence diversity. Thus, accuracy of inferences in clades without model representatives is questionable. Unsupervised learning may help to ameliorate this bias by identifying highly complex patterns and structure from large data sets without external labels. Here, we present DeepSeqProt, an unsupervised deep learning program for exploring large protein sequence data sets. DeepSeqProt is a clustering tool capable of distinguishing between broad classes of proteins while learning local and global structure of functional space. DeepSeqProt is capable of learning salient biological features from unaligned, unannotated sequences. DeepSeqProt is more likely to capture complete protein families and statistically significant shared ontologies within proteomes than other clustering methods. We hope this framework will prove of use to researchers and provide a preliminary step in further developing unsupervised deep learning in molecular biology.
Brands in the Metaverse: The Concept of ‘Interdimensional Confusion’ Between the Physical and the Virtual Space under EU Trade Mark Law
Authors: Tenkhoff Christian , Grotkamp Philipp , Burgess-Tate Sylvia
Published: May 2023

Brands have identified the metaverse, Web3 and NFTs as new means of engaging with their consumer base. Digital fashion, in particular, seems to have a bright future ahead. However, novel forms of virtual counterfeits are also on the rise. Brand owners are concerned that their existing trade mark registrations might not provide sufficient protection against infringements in the virtual space. The present article examines whether a likelihood of confusion within the meaning of Art. 9(2)(b) EUTMR can exist where a trade mark registered for physical goods is used almost identically in respect of their virtual counterparts.
Dopamine alleviates cadmium stress in apple trees by recruiting beneficial microorganisms to enhance the physiological resilience revealed by high-throughput sequencing and soil metabolomics
Authors: Cao Yang , Du Peihua , Zhang Jiran , Ji Jiahao , Xu Jizhong , Liang Bowen
Published: May 2023

Dopamine has demonstrated promise as a stress-relief substance. However, the function of dopamine in Cd tolerance and its mechanism remains largely unknown. The current study was performed to investigate the mechanism of dopamine on alleviating apple Cd stress through regular application of CdCl2 and dopamine solution to potting soil. The results indicated that dopamine significantly reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and Cd accumulation and alleviated the inhibitory effect of Cd stress on the growth of apple plants through activation of the antioxidant system, enhancement of photosynthetic capacity, and regulation of gene expression related to Cd absorption and detoxification. The richness of the rhizosphere microbial community increased, and community composition and assembly were affected by dopamine treatment. Network analysis of microbial communities showed that the numbers of nodes and total links increased significantly after dopamine treatment, while the keystone species shifted. Linear discriminant analysis effect size indicated that some biomarkers were significantly enriched after dopamine treatment, suggesting that dopamine induced plants to recruit potentially beneficial microorganisms (Pseudoxanthomonas, Aeromicrobium, Bradyrhizobium, Frankia, Saccharimonadales, Novosphingobium, and Streptomyces) to resist Cd stress. The co-occurrence network showed several metabolites that were positively correlated with relative growth rate and negatively correlated with Cd accumulation, suggesting that potentially beneficial microorganisms may be attracted by several metabolites (L-threonic acid, profenamine, juniperic acid and (3β,5ξ,9ξ)-3,6,19-trihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid). Our results demonstrate that dopamine alleviates Cd stress in apple trees by recruiting beneficial microorganisms to enhance the physiological resilience revealed. This study provides an effective means to reduce the harm to agricultural production caused by heavy metals.
Embracing or Rebuffing “the International”? Populist Foreign Policy and the Fourth Wave of Populism in Latin America
Authors: Wajner Daniel F , Wehner Leslie
Published: May 2023

Under what conditions do populists embrace or reject “the international”? Some scholars of populism argue that populist leaders tend to neglect political (inter-)action in the international arena due to their stated preference for isolationist, nationalistic, and protectionist stances. Meanwhile, others claim that through their promotion of performative encounters and transnational solidarities between “People(s),” populists are actually more likely to engage with actors, ideas, styles, and agendas coming from abroad. This article explores this apparent contradiction, hypothesizing that three main elements influence the “populist mindset” to narrate the external world and thus adopt or rather resist new contingencies originating internationally: legitimacy, support, and opportunity. To examine the combination of these behavioral patterns, we compare two populist presidents who are paradigmatic of a fourth wave of populism in Latin America: Brazil's Jair Messias Bolsonaro and Mexico's Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). A comparative analysis of Bolsonaro's and AMLO's discursive responses to numerous foreign policy issues reveals how these three mechanisms condition their engagement or apathy toward external developments in bilateral frameworks of cooperation, regional integration schemes, multilateral organizations, and global governance institutions. The findings of this study can contribute to a greater understanding of populist foreign policies and their outcomes, with a special emphasis on Latin America and the Global South, and more generally to the emerging research on populism in international relations.
Diplomats, Soldiers, and Armed Conflict Databases: Another French Exception?
Authors: Beaumais Louise , Ramel Frédéric
Published: May 2023

Contemporary governments are awash in quantification, as numbers and algorithms play an ever-greater role in public decision-making processes. In the field of defense and diplomacy, the development of armed conflict databases holds out the promise of improved predictive capacities and early warning systems. While this dynamic can be witnessed across a range of European countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, it appears to be much less present in France. Diplomats and militaries make only marginal use of the available databases, judged both inadequate in their own right and ill-adapted to strategic analysis. This article proposes two explanatory variables to explain this specific appreciation: not only is a relatively limited training in quantitative methods offered to French diplomats and militaries, which leads to a specific use of numbers, but there is also a broader picture link to the will of protecting “digital sovereignty” in the international realm.
A critical review of automated extraction of rock mass parameters using 3D point cloud data
Authors: Chen Jiayao , Fang Qian , Zhang Dingli , Huang Hongwei
Published: May 2023

This paper presents a comprehensive review aimed at gaining insights into the current state of research on quantification technology used for acquiring three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data of rock masses and extracting vital structural information. Addressing this significant challenge and problem within the field of rock engineering is the main objective of this study. The timely and accurate acquisition of rock mass data and fine characterization of rock mass parameters can avoid unnecessary personnel injury and property damage. First, the methods of point cloud information acquisition and structural information extraction are systematically summarized and classified. Then, various existing methods are analyzed for their advantages and disadvantages. Based on this analysis, the future development direction of relevant technologies is proposed to improve the level of acquisition of 3D information of rock mass and the level of extraction of key information of rock mass. The results indicate that rock mass point cloud information acquisition technology can be classified into two types: laser point cloud acquisition and image reconstruction based on structure from motion (SfM) algorithm. Rock mass structural information can be classified into rock mass structural planes and their attitudes, rock mass traces and their geometric parameters, and other rock mass parameters, including structural plane roughness, spacing, and block characteristics, etc. Different acquisition technologies and feature extraction methods have their own advantages, disadvantages, and applicable ranges. Therefore, a comprehensive selection of various evaluation methods should be made based on specific engineering characteristics and existing data situations in practice.
Invasive candidiasis: current clinical challenges and unmet needs in adult populations
Authors: Soriano Alex , Honore Patrick M , Puerta-Alcalde Pedro , Garcia-Vidal Carolina , Pagotto Anna , Gonçalves-Bradley Daniela C , Verweij Paul E
Published: May 2023

Invasive candidiasis (IC) is a serious infection caused by several Candida species, and the most common fungal disease in hospitals in high-income countries. Despite overall improvements in health systems and ICU care in the last few decades, as well as the development of different antifungals and microbiological techniques, mortality rates in IC have not substantially improved. The aim of this review is to summarize the main issues underlying the management of adults affected by IC, focusing on specific forms of the infection: IC developed by ICU patients, IC observed in haematological patients, breakthrough candidaemia, sanctuary site candidiasis, intra-abdominal infections and other challenging infections.

Several key challenges need to be tackled to improve the clinical management and outcomes of IC patients. These include the lack of global epidemiological data for IC, the limitations of the diagnostic tests and risk scoring tools currently available, the absence of standardized effectiveness outcomes and long-term data for IC, the timing for the initiation of antifungal therapy and the limited recommendations on the optimal step-down therapy from echinocandins to azoles or the total duration of therapy.

The availability of new compounds may overcome some of the challenges identified and increase the existing options for management of chronic Candida infections and ambulant patient treatments. However, early identification of patients that require antifungal therapy and treatment of sanctuary site infections remain a challenge and will require further innovations.
6-MSA, a secondary metabolite distribution hub with multiple fungal destinations
Authors: Bejenari Mihaela , Sondergaard Teis Esben , Sørensen Jens Laurids
Published: May 2023

6-methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA) is a small, simple polyketide produced by a broad spectrum of fungal species. Since fungi obtained the ability to synthesize 6-MSA from bacteria through a horizontal gene transfer event, it has developed into a multipurpose metabolic hub from where numerous complex compounds are produced. The most relevant metabolite from a human perspective is the small lactone patulin as it is one of the most potent mycotoxins. Other important end products derived from 6-MSA include the small quinone epoxide terreic acid and the prenylated yanuthones. The most advanced modification of 6-MSA is observed in the aculin biosynthetic pathway, which is mediated by a non-ribosomal peptide synthase and a terpene cyclase. In this short review, we summarize for the first time all the possible pathways that takes their onset from 6-MSA and provide a synopsis of the responsible gene clusters and derive the resulting biosynthetic pathways.
Listing Specs: The Effect of Framing Attributes on Choice
Authors: Galperti Simone , Cerigioni Francesco
Published: May 2023

Consistent evidence across important domains shows that people’s decisions can depend on the order or emphasis with which the attributes of the available options are presented to them. We introduce the first model of such framing effects, which we characterize in terms of observable behavior. We apply the model to study how the strategic use of attribute framing affects the outcomes of negotiations and competition in markets. We extend the model to stochastic-choice frameworks, which are often used in practice.
Artificial infestation of white-tailed deer with ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) to study tick–host interactions
Authors: Baker Alec S , Persinger Kelly A , Olafson Pia U , Johnson Tammi L
Published: May 2023

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are a main host for the adult life stages of tick species of medical and veterinary importance. Since white-tailed deer play a vital role in tick ecology, research has been conducted to understand this tick–host relationship. To date, research involving captive white-tailed deer and artificial infestation of these animals with ticks has focused on host suitability, the role of white-tailed deer in tick-borne diseases, and anti-tick vaccine research. The methodology reported for these studies was at times not descriptive and inconsistent regarding how and what region of the white-tailed deer was infested with ticks. Here, we propose a standardized method to artificially infest captive white-tailed deer with ticks for research purposes. The protocol describes a method proven effective to experimentally infest captive white-tailed deer with blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) to study tick–host interactions. The methods can be reliably transferred for experimental infestation of white-tailed deer by other multi-host and one-host tick species.
Cancer equity for those impacted by mass incarceration
Authors: Ramaswamy Megha , Manz Christopher , Kouyoumdjian Fiona , Vest Noel , Puglisi Lisa , Wang Emily , Salyer Chelsea , Osei Beverly , Zaller Nick , Rebbeck Timothy R
Published: May 2023

The cancer disparities between people with incarceration histories compared with those who do not have those histories are vast. Opportunities for bolstering cancer equity among those impacted by mass incarceration exist in criminal legal system policy; carceral, community, and public health linkages; better cancer prevention, screening, and treatment services in carceral settings; expansion of health insurance; education of professionals; and use of carceral sites for health promotion and transition to community care. Clinicians, researchers, persons with a history of incarceration, carceral administrators, policy makers, and community advocates could play a cancer equity role in each of these areas. Raising awareness and setting a cancer equity plan of action are critical to reducing cancer disparities among those affected by mass incarceration.
Shaming and Treaty Ratification
Authors: Welch Ryan M
Published: May 2023

Does shaming affect human rights treaty ratification? Whereas most scholars study shaming’s effects on eventual human rights respect, models of international shame predict states institutionalize rights before behavioral changes become reality. I take a step back and study shaming’s effects on treaty ratification. Viewing shaming as a process that seeks to change behavior by isolating and embarrassing the target leads to a somewhat counter-intuitive prediction—although increasing pressure on states raises a state’s willingness to ratify treaties, too much shame can cause a state to eschew treaty ratification. The argument follows from the social psychology literature on social exclusion that shows isolated individuals retreat from efforts to act normatively rather than increasing their efforts at inclusion. Using data on ratifications of the core UN human rights treaties and an original latent variable measuring shame, I find support for the argument that shaming increases treaty ratification to a point, but then begins to decrease ratification rates.
Structures of abandonment: Gender, statuslessness, and bare life
Authors: Preser Ruth , Olier Ayala
Published: May 2023

This article asks the question: What does the term status mean with regard to women without legal status in Israel? Ostensibly, status represents a sovereign state’s formal classification system. In practice, however—according to the accounts of statusless women, civil society activists, and welfare and health officials, as analyzed in this article—status, or its lack thereof, is not a one-off, absolute condition, but an ephemeral and vulnerable position. This article examines two concurrent processes: the blurring of boundaries between status and statuslessness; and the process of differentiating groups of racialized, undesired, and unwelcomed women foreigners: Palestinian women residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories; asylum-seeking women from Africa; and women from the Former Soviet Union, who have either been trafficked by the sex industry, or separated from their Israeli-citizen spouse before completing their naturalization. Drawing on feminist and critical race renditions of bare life, we explore the ways in which statusless women are positioned in relation to violent power. Moving away from a polarized and emancipatory discussion of legality, we argue that in the absence of full access to legal status, the body may serve as a more fitting alternative in the analysis of abandonment and violence.
The impact of AGN-driven winds on physical and observable galaxy sizes
Authors: Cochrane R K , Anglés-Alcázar D , Mercedes-Feliz J , Hayward C C , Faucher-Giguère C-A , Wellons S , Terrazas B A , Wetzel A , Hopkins P F , Moreno J , Su K-Y , Somerville R S
Published: May 2023

Without active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, simulated massive, star-forming galaxies become too compact relative to observed galaxies at z ≲ 2. In this paper, we perform high-resolution re-simulations of a massive ($M_{\star }\sim 10^{11}\, \rm {{\rm M}_{\odot }}$) galaxy at z ∼ 2.3, drawn from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. In the simulation without AGN feedback, the galaxy experiences a rapid starburst and shrinking of its half-mass radius. We experiment with driving mechanical AGN winds, using a state-of-the-art hyper-Lagrangian refinement technique to increase particle resolution. These winds reduce the gas surface density in the inner regions of the galaxy, suppressing the compact starburst and maintaining an approximately constant half-mass radius. Using radiative transfer, we study the impact of AGN feedback on the magnitude and extent of the multiwavelength continuum emission. When AGN winds are included, the suppression of the compact, dusty starburst results in lowered flux at FIR wavelengths (due to decreased star formation) but increased flux at optical-to-near-IR wavelengths (due to decreased dust attenuation, in spite of the lowered star formation rate), relative to the case without AGN winds. The FIR half-light radius decreases from ∼1 to $\sim 0.1\, \rm {kpc}$ in $\lesssim 40\, \rm {Myr}$ when AGN winds are not included, but increases to $\sim 2\, \rm {kpc}$ when they are. Interestingly, the half-light radius at optical-NIR wavelengths remains approximately constant over $35\, \rm {Myr}$, for simulations with and without AGN winds. In the case without winds, this occurs despite the rapid compaction, and is due to heavy dust obscuration in the inner regions of the galaxy. This work highlights the importance of forward-modelling when comparing simulated and observed galaxy populations.
Synchrotron emission from double-peaked radio light curves of the symbiotic recurrent nova V3890 Sagitarii
Authors: Nyamai Miriam M , Linford Justin D , Allison James R , Chomiuk Laura , Woudt Patrick A , Ribeiro Valério A R M , Sarbadhicary Sumit K
Published: May 2023

We present radio observations of the symbiotic recurrent nova V3890 Sagitarii following the 2019 August eruption obtained with the MeerKAT radio telescope at 1.28 GHz and Karl G. Janksy Very Large Array (VLA) at 1.26−35 GHz. The radio light curves span from day 1 to 540 days after eruption and are dominated by synchrotron emission produced by the expanding nova ejecta interacting with the dense wind from an evolved companion in the binary system. The radio emission is detected early on (day 6) and increases rapidly to a peak on day 15. The radio luminosity increases due to a decrease in the opacity of the circumstellar material in front of the shocked material and fades as the density of the surrounding medium decreases and the velocity of the shock decelerates. Modelling the light curve provides an estimated mass-loss rate of ${\overset{\hbox{$\bullet $}}{M}}_{\textrm {wind}} \approx 10^{-8}\, {\textrm {M}}_\odot ~{\textrm {yr}}^{-1}$ from the red giant star and ejecta mass in the range of Mej = 10−5––10−6 M⊙ from the surface of the white dwarf. V3890 Sgr likely hosts a massive white dwarf similar to other symbiotic recurrent novae, thus considered a candidate for supernovae type Ia (SNe Ia) progenitor. However, its radio flux densities compared to upper limits for SNe Ia have ruled it out as a progenitor for SN 2011fe like supernovae.
Properties and asteroseismological analysis of a new ZZ ceti discovered by TMTS
Authors: Guo Jincheng , Chen Yanhui , Wang Xiaofeng , Lin Jie , Xi Gaobo , Mo Jun , Filippenko Alexei V , Brink Thomas , Ma Xiao-Yu , Zong Weikai , Yang Yong , Zhao Jingkun , Zeng Xiangyun , Chen Zhihao , Esamdin Ali , Guo Fangzhou , Iskandar Abdusamatjan , Jiang Xiaojun , Li Wenxiong , Liu Cheng , Shi Jianrong , Song Xuan , Wang Letian , Xiang Danfeng , Yan Shengyu , Zhang Jicheng , Yang Yonghui
Published: May 2023

Tsinghua University-Ma Huateng Telescope for Survey (TMTS) aims to discover rapidly evolving transients by monitoring the northern sky. The TMTS catalogue is cross-matched with the white dwarf (WD) catalogue of Gaia EDR3, and light curves of more than a thousand WD candidates are obtained so far. Among them, the WD TMTS J23450729+5813146 is one interesting common source. Based on the light curves from the TMTS and follow-up photometric observations, periods of 967.113, 973.734, 881.525, 843.458, 806.916, and 678.273 s are identified. In addition, the TESS observations suggest a 3.39-h period but this can be attributed to the rotation of a comoving M dwarf located within 3 arcsec. The spectroscopic observation indicates that this WD is DA type with Teff = 11 778 ± 617 K, log g = 8.38 ± 0.31, mass = 0.84 ± 0.20 M⊙, and age = 0.704 ± 0.377 Gyr. Asteroseismological analysis reveals a global best-fitting solution of Teff = 12 110 ± 10 K and mass = 0.760 ± 0.005 M⊙, consistent with the spectral fitting results, and oxygen and carbon abundances in the core centre are 0.73 and 0.27, respectively. The distance derived from the intrinsic luminosity given by asteroseismology is 93 parsec, which is in agreement with the distance of 98 parsec from Gaia DR3. Additionally, kinematic study shows that this WD is likely a thick-disc star. The mass of its zero-age main sequence is estimated to be 3.08 M⊙ and has a main sequence plus cooling age of roughly 900 Myr.
Effectiveness of renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system blockers in patients with Alport syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zeng Mengyao , Di Hongling , Liang Ju , Liu Zhihong
Published: May 2023

Background

Although renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers have been considered the primary treatment for patients with Alport syndrome (AS) for a decade, there is no comprehensive review with evidence-based analysis evaluating the effectiveness of RAAS blockers in AS.

Methods

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed of published studies that compared outcomes related to disease progression between patients with AS receiving RAAS blockers with those taking non-RAAS treatment. Outcomes were meta-analyzed using the random effects models. Cochrane risk-of-bias, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology (GRADE) assessment determined the certainty of evidence.

Results

A total of eight studies (1182 patients) were included in the analysis. Overall, the risk of bias was low to moderate. Compared with non-RAAS treatment, RAAS blockers could reduce the rate of progression to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) [four studies; hazard ratio (HR) 0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.24–0.45; moderate certainty evidence]. After stratified by genetic types, a similar benefit was detected: male X-linked AS (XLAS) (HR 0.32, 95% CI 0.22–0.48), autosomal recessive AS (HR 0.25, 95% CI 0.10–0.62), female XLAS and autosomal dominant AS (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.21–0.75). In addition, RAAS blockers showed a clear gradient of benefit depending on the stage of disease at the initiation of treatment.

Conclusion

This meta-analysis suggested that RAAS blockers could be considered as a specific therapy to delay of ESKD for AS with any genetic type, especially at the early stage of the disease, and every further more-effective therapy would be advised to be applied on top of this standard of care.
Book of Durrow
Authors: Moss Rachel
Published: May 2023

The Book of Durrow (Dublin, Trinity College MS 57) is thought to be the earliest extant illustrated manuscript of the gospels in northwestern Europe. It measures 9.6 × 5.7 in. (245 × 145 mm) and contains 248 folios. Drawing on stylistic comparison and the relatively pure nature of the Vulgate text, current scholarship places its production in the latter half of the seventh century. Its place of production has been the subject of significant controversy, with arguments for Irish, English and Scottish origins. There is consensus only on its association with a Columban monastery. The manuscript contains the text of the four gospels with prefatory texts typical of the Insular tradition. The unusual order of the latter is also found in the Book of Kells, suggesting that this part of the Book of Durrow, its exemplar, or a direct copy of either, served as a model for the later manuscript. The Book of Durrow contains eleven fully decorated pages together with the elaboration of important parts of the text. As currently bound, the book opens with a double-armed cross (folio 1v), facing an image of a cross surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists (folio 2r), followed by a page decorated with dynamic intertwining spiral motives, derived from the pre-Christian, La Tène style (folio 3v). This faces the enlarged letters of the words “Novum Opus,” the opening of the prefatory materials. Each gospel is then prefaced with an evangelist symbol, a “carpet” page of full decoration, and the enlarged initials of the opening text of the gospel. The exception is the Gospel of Matthew, which is missing a carpet page. This may be the present folio 3v. The manuscript is closed by a carpet page on folio 248r. The artwork draws heavily on the fine metalwork traditions of the seventh century. Each carpet page demonstrates knowledge of the traditions current in “Celtic” Ireland, the Mediterranean, and Anglo-Saxon England, while Pictish and Roman influences are found in some of the evangelist symbols. The restrained color palette of red, yellow green, and brown/black is also typical of the metalwork tradition of the time. An inscription on a now-lost cumdach or book cover, the addition of a legal memorandum to one of the blank pages, and various other later textual additions suggest that it was in Durrow Co. Offaly by the tenth century. It remained there until c. 1660, when it was given to the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The manuscript is rarely publicly displayed.
Printmaking
Authors: Lincoln Evelyn
Published: May 2023

The history of printmaking is unwieldy to thematize because pictures were necessary components of so many aspects of medieval life when prints appeared in 15th-century Europe. Printed pictures were interchanged with handmade images as pilgrimage souvenirs, the focus of prayer, decoration, manuscript illustration, workshop models, and other situations requiring images. With the development of moveable type, single-sheet woodblock prints, available on fabric and paper, were used for book illustration; maps were collected into atlases; print publishing, printmaking, and print selling flourished; and collecting was encouraged by the publication of print series and pre-compiled albums. Printmaking required access to prepared hardwood blocks and copper plates, specialized tools and training, presses, paper, and labor. Print distribution required publishers, booksellers, and eventually the legal protection of investments through a privilege system. New ways of distributing responsibility for authorship emerged during the Inquisition with print censorship. An active patronage system was adapted to conventions of dedication and rededication as matrices survived their original patronage networks. Prints were rarely the subject of academic research before the twentieth century unless they reflected designs by renowned painters, such as Mantegna, Dürer, Rubens, or Rembrandt. Much of the early writing about prints focused on these recognized masters. The definition of an original print relied on Bartsch’s 19th-century category of peintre-graveurs, artists whose original inventions were registered in the form of prints. Since few painters learned printmaking techniques with the skill of specialized craftspeople, Bartsch’s distinction muddied the question of what an original print is today, also preventing historians from understanding how to value the contribution of the painters, goldsmiths, embroiderers, and cartographers for whom the distinction was irrelevant. In the modern era, early private print collections entered museums, making curators the first interpreters of prints. The encyclopedic Illustrated Bartsch, the New Hollstein, and digitized censuses of prints and their matrices are ongoing projects allowing us to understand better how integral copying and republishing was to the development of printmaking. Scholars studying the role of prints in ritual practice, career formation, theology, medicine, commerce, travel, colonization, and the geographic imagination engaged new opportunities offered by digital cataloguing. The material turn in print studies fruitfully combined the work of academic historians, curators, and conservators who had the most intimate knowledge of prints, showing how the three branches of study demonstrating how printed pictures shaped and were shaped by the aesthetic, social, and material circumstances of early modern life.
Sea Creatures in the Atlantic World
Authors: Pastore Christopher , Price Kristian
Published: May 2023

Sea creatures, both real and imagined, helped forge the principal pathways of Atlantic world circulation and exchange. By the sixteenth century Europeans were crisscrossing the North Atlantic in pursuit of fish and marine mammals and the equatorial Atlantic in search of gold, silver, sugar, and souls. Those voyages created new economies of extraction but also produced new knowledge of Atlantic geography and marine natural history. With the help of African and Native American divers, Europeans marveled at turtles, manatees, corals, and pearl-producing mollusks. They forged new material and psychological relationships with sharks, which haunted an expanding slave trade. And fishing transformed European foodways and helped establish New World settler societies. Yet, along the limits of philosophical understanding, where the apprehensions of exploration muddled perception, there often lurked merpeople, sea serpents, and other apocryphal beasts. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, inquiry into these real and imagined sea creatures helped lay the foundations of taxonomy, marine biology, and oceanography. A more organized, professionalized science of the sea developed during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, often in efforts to understand changing ocean ecologies. Some marine scientists sought to fix ailing fisheries, and often made great strides in ocean conservation. But at various times, as was the case with oysters and clams, their efforts to modernize fishery management served to privatize fishing grounds, thereby transferring those resources from fishers to powerful corporations. In other cases, fishery scientists were simply unable to accurately estimate fish stocks or rates of reproduction, which led to overfishing. And in still other cases, traditional knowledge trumped science. As the history of marine creatures has shown, humans have shaped the living sea in profound ways, and sea creatures—from the smallest plankton to the largest whales—have shaped human history across the Atlantic world (and beyond) in return.
Sign Language
Authors: Farnell Brenda , Davies Brenier Laura
Published: May 2023

A sign language is a language that uses movements of the hands, face, and body to convey meaning instead of the speech sounds produced by the vocal tract. Understood through vision rather than hearing, signers use these visible articulators in three-dimensional space in complex linguistic ways to create lexical forms and grammatical relationships. Although typically used among groups of Deaf people, it is incorrect to assume that sign languages only come into being when deafness prevents the normal acquisition of a spoken language. This is well illustrated by the sign languages used by the Warlpiri indigenous people of Australia, the sign language shared by indigenous peoples of the Plains region of North America, and those used by religious orders such as Cistercian monks in the United States and Trappist monks in Japan and China. These peoples and communities use sign languages in addition to conventional spoken languages, not instead of them. Importantly, sign languages are not simply a mapping of the spoken language of a region into a visual modality performed with the hands, face, and body. Sign languages have markedly different grammars from the spoken language(s) with which they are in contact. It is also the case that countries such as England, the United States, and the Republic of Ireland, which use variants of the same spoken language, have mutually unintelligible signed languages. The use of uppercase “Deaf” indicates cultural deafness as opposed to the strictly audiological condition indicated by lowercase “deaf.” These uses are conventional in the literature on deafness and signed languages.
Zoonosis
Authors: Fearnley Lyle
Published: May 2023

A zoonosis is a disease that spreads by infection from animals to humans: zoon (animal) + nosos (disease). More than 60 percent of new or “emerging” diseases since the 1940s are zoonoses, including HIV, influenza, Ebola, and Covid-19. As a subject of anthropological inquiry, however, zoonosis is best approached not as a novel topic with medical urgency, but rather as a zone of problematization within which several reconstructions of contemporary anthropology meet. First, the anthropology of zoonosis furthers the ethical and epistemological displacement of medical anthropology from the clinical encounter toward the collective scale of epidemics, biopolitics, and the political economy of health—a process initiated by the anthropological responses to HIV/AIDS (though HIV was not treated by anthropologists as zoonosis until more recently). Second, it participates in the renewed anthropological interest in nonhuman animals that has accompanied disciplinary lines of flight such as science and technology studies, posthumanism, and multispecies ethnography. In short, anthropological studies of zoonosis reflect two distinct but overlapping changes of object: from individual to public or global health; and from human to nonhuman illness and disease. As a result, the anthropology of zoonosis is an intensively interdisciplinary and collaborative field—not only forging new links across subfields within anthropology, such as between medical anthropology and animal studies, agrarian studies, biological anthropology/primatology, archaeology, and environmental anthropology, but also building collaborations across disciplines including co-research alongside epidemiologists, virologists, and veterinarians. From a position of adjacency to zoonosis research in virology labs and veterinary fields, anthropologists are providing cultural insights to improve zoonotic disease prevention and control, while also seeking to critique the ways that biosecurity interventions are configured with a variety of modes of interspecies living. Given the above, this review is not restricted to works published by anthropologists (disciplinarily) proper, and also includes anthropological studies of diseases that are not technically zoonoses, but articulate similar problematizations, such as vector-borne diseases and animal infections that do not spread to humans.
Successful Use of Fosmanogepix for Treatment of Rare Highly Resistant Cutaneous Fusariosis in a Pediatric Patient With STAT3 Hyper-Immunoglobulin E Syndrome and End-Stage Kidney Disease
Authors: Goggin Kathryn P , Londeree Jackson , Freeman Alexandra F , Garro Rouba , George Roshan P
Published: May 2023

We describe the successful use of the novel antifungal drug fosmanogepix to treat a chronic case of multidrug-resistant cutaneous Fusarium suttonianum infection in a pediatric patient with STAT3 hyper-IgE syndrome and end-stage kidney disease on peritoneal dialysis.
Early Discontinuation of Antibiotics in Patients Admitted With Clinically Suspected Serious Infection but Negative Cultures: Retrospective Cohort Study of Practice Patterns and Outcomes at 111 US Hospitals
Authors: Kadri Sameer S , Warner Sarah , Rhee Chanu , Klompas Michael , Follmann Dean , Swihart Bruce J , Laxminarayan Ramanan , Klein Eili ,   the NIH–Antimicrobial Resistance Outcomes Research Initiative
Published: May 2023

Background

The optimal duration for antibiotics in patients hospitalized with culture-negative serious infection (CNSI) is unknown. We compared outcomes in patients with CNSI treated with 3 or 4 vs ≥5 days of antibiotics.

Methods

CNSI was identified among adults admitted to 111 US hospitals between 2009 and 2014 via electronic health record data, defined as suspected serious infection (blood cultures drawn and ≥3 days of antibiotics) and negative culture- and nonculture-based tests for infection. Patients treated with antibiotics on their last hospital day and patients with diagnosis codes for sepsis-mimicking conditions were excluded. Among patients without fevers/hypothermia or vasopressors by day 3, we calculated odds ratios for in-hospital mortality or discharge to hospice associated with 3 or 4 vs ≥5 days of antibiotics, adjusting for confounders.

Results

Antibiotics were discontinued in 3 or 4 days in 1862 (9%) of 20 714 patients with CNSI. Early discontinuation was not associated with higher mortality odds overall (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.27; 95% CI, .98–1.65), in patients presenting with (1.39; .88–2.22) and without sepsis (1.17; .81–1.69), and in those with pulmonary (1.23; .65–2.34) and nonpulmonary CNSI (1.30; .99–1.72). Early discontinuation appeared detrimental with propensity score weighting (aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.03–1.80) and when retaining patients with sepsis mimics (1.38; 1.16–1.65), but it was protective (0.48; .37–.64]) when retaining patients who received antibiotics on their last hospital day.

Conclusions

Early discontinuation of antibiotics in CNSI was not associated with significant harm in our primary analysis, but different conclusions based on alternative analytic decisions, as well as risk of residual confounding, indicate that randomized controlled trials are needed.
Multidrug Resistance of Escherichia coli From Outpatient Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections in a Large United States Integrated Healthcare Organization
Authors: Ku Jennifer H , Bruxvoort Katia J , Salas S Bianca , Varley Cara D , Casey Joan A , Raphael Eva , Robinson Sarah C , Nachman Keeve E , Lewin Bruno J , Contreras Richard , Wei Rong X , Pomichowski Magdalena E , Takhar Harpreet S , Tartof Sara Y
Published: May 2023

Background

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) cause significant disease and economic burden. Uncomplicated UTIs (uUTIs) occur in otherwise healthy individuals without underlying structural abnormalities, with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) accounting for 80% of cases. With recent transitions in healthcare toward virtual visits, data on multidrug resistance (MDR) (resistant to ≥3 antibiotic classes) by care setting are needed to inform empiric treatment decision making.

Methods

We evaluated UPEC resistance over time by care setting (in-person vs virtual), in adults who received outpatient care for uUTI at Kaiser Permanente Southern California between January 2016 and December 2021.

Results

We included 174 185 individuals who had ≥1 UPEC uUTI (233 974 isolates) (92% female, 46% Hispanic, mean age 52 years [standard deviation 20]). Overall, prevalence of UPEC MDR decreased during the study period (13% to 12%) both in virtual and in-person settings (P for trend <.001). Resistance to penicillins overall (29%), coresistance to penicillins and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) (12%), and MDR involving the 2 plus ≥1 antibiotic class were common (10%). Resistance to 1, 2, 3, and 4 antibiotic classes was found in 19%, 18%, 8%, and 4% of isolates, respectively; 1% were resistant to ≥5 antibiotic classes, and 50% were resistant to none. Similar resistance patterns were observed over time and by care setting.

Conclusions

We observed a slight decrease in both class-specific antimicrobial resistance and MDR of UPEC overall, most commonly involving penicillins and TMP-SMX. Resistance patterns were consistent over time and similar in both in-person and virtual settings. Virtual healthcare may expand access to UTI care.
Economic and Social Rights and the City
Authors: Jones Peris S.
Published: May 2023

The challenges and possibilities associated with rapid urban change under late neoliberalism represents a dynamic new frontier for human rights. Three central arguments concerning the relationship between urban areas and human rights are made. First, an explicit entry point concerns increasing incorporation of international human rights standards into city governance through multiple transnational networks. An illustration is briefly provided of one initiative aimed toward this outcome, namely, the “Human Rights Cities” movement. Second, critical geographies of law and rights show, however, how urban space may be used to undermine, limit, or, alternatively, promote rights. In relation to this, the effects of economic and social rights litigation requires assessment also when placed in the broader context of the lawscape of cities. Third, more general concerns about the ability of human rights to tackle material and structural challenges signifies the importance of the right to the city (RTC). RTC draws attention to political and structural causes of rights violations in cities rather than focus on legal rights per se. The chapter argues that it is in the interstices of all three that give us an appreciation of how human rights are being urbanized, and from where we may begin to put in place not only an urban subgenre of human rights but also a more socially just city.