bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Impact of Frailty in Patients ≥70 Years Old with Acute Coronary Syndrome Referred for Coronary Angiography
Authors: Ratcovich Hanna , Joshi Francis R. , Palm Pernille , Færch Jane , Bang Lia E. , Tilsted Hans-Henrik , Sadjadieh Golnaz , Engstrøm Thomas , Holmvang Lene
Published: November 2023

Introduction: Elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have a higher risk of adverse cardiovascular events and may be frail but are underrepresented in clinical trials. Previous studies have proposed that frailty assessment is a better tool than chronological age, in assessing older patients’ biological age, and may exceed conventional risk scores in predicting the prognosis. Therefore, we wanted to investigate the prevalence and impact on 12-month outcomes of frailty in patients ≥70 years with ACS referred for coronary angiography (CAG). Methods: Patients ≥70 years with ACS referred for CAG underwent frailty scoring with the clinical frailty scale (CFS). Patients were divided into three groups depending on their CFS: robust (1–3), vulnerable (4), and frail (5–9) and followed for 12 months. Results: Of 455 patients, 69 (15%) patients were frail, 79 (17%) were vulnerable, and 307 (68%) were robust. Frail patients were older (frail: 80.9 ± 5.7 years, vulnerable: 78.5 ± 5.5 years, and robust: 76.6 ± 4.9 years, p < 0.001) and less often treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (frail: 56.5%, vulnerable: 53.2%, and robust: 68.6%, p = 0.014). 12-month mortality was higher among frail patients (frail: 24.6%, vulnerable: 21.8%, and robust: 6.2%, p < 0.001). Frailty was associated with a higher mortality after adjustment for age, sex, comorbidities, the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score, and revascularisation (HR 2.67, 95% CI 1.30–5.50, p = 0.008). There was no difference between GRACE and CFS in predicting 12-month mortality (p = 0.893). Conclusions: Fifteen percent of patients ≥70 years old with ACS referred for CAG are frail. Frail patients have significantly higher 12-month mortality. GRACE and CFS are similar in predicting 12-month mortality.
Innate Immune System Regulated by Stimulator of Interferon Genes, a Cytosolic DNA Sensor, Regulates Endothelial Function
Authors: Pham Phuong Tran , Bavuu Oyunbileg , Kim‐Kaneyama Joo‐Ri , Lei Xiao‐Feng , Yamamoto Takayuki , Otsuka Kenichiro , Suto Kumiko , Kusunose Kenya , Yagi Shusuke , Yamada Hirotsugu , Soeki Takeshi , Shimabukuro Michio , Barber Glen N. , Sata Masataka , Fukuda Daiju
Published: November 2023

Background

Sterile inflammation caused by metabolic disorders impairs endothelial function; however, the underlying mechanism by which hyperglycemia induces inflammation remains obscure. Recent studies have suggested that stimulator of interferon genes (STING), a key cytosolic DNA sensor in the innate immune system, contributes to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. This study examines the role of the STING in endothelial dysfunction in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic mice.

Methods and Results

Injection of streptozotocin promoted the expression of STING and DNA damage markers in the aorta of wild‐type mice. Streptozotocin elevated blood glucose and lipid levels in both wild‐type and STING‐deficient mice, which showed no statistical differences. Genetic deletion of STING ameliorated endothelial dysfunction as determined by the vascular relaxation in response to acetylcholine (
P
<0.001) and increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation in the aorta (
P
<0.05) in STZ‐injected mice. Endothelium‐independent vascular response to sodium nitroprusside did not differ. Treatment with a direct STING agonist, cyclic GMP‐AMP, or mitochondrial DNA increased inflammatory molecule expression (eg,
VCAM1
and
IFNB
) and decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, partially through the STING pathway. Cyclic GMP‐AMP significantly impaired endothelial function of aortic segments obtained from wild‐type mice, which was ameliorated in the presence of C‐176, a STING inhibitor, or a neutralizing interferon‐β antibody. Furthermore, the administration of C‐176 ameliorated endothelial dysfunction in STZ‐induced diabetic mice (
P
<0.01).

Conclusions

The DNA damage response regulated by STING impairs endothelial function. STING signaling may be a potential therapeutic target of endothelial dysfunction caused by hyperglycemia.
Pattern and Prognostic Impact of Regional Wall Motion Abnormalities in 255 697 Men and 236 641 Women Investigated with Echocardiography
Authors: Playford David , Stewart Simon , Harris Sarah Ann , Chan Yih‐Kai , Strange Geoff
Published: November 2023

Background

Regional wall motion abnormalities (WMAs) after myocardial infarction are associated with adverse remodeling and increased mortality in the short to medium term. Their long‐term prognostic impact is less well understood.

Methods and Results

Via the National Echo Database of Australia (2000–2019), we identified normal wall motion versus WMA for each left ventricular wall among 492 338 individuals aged 61.9±17.9 years. The wall motion score index was also calculated. We then examined actual 1‐ and 5‐year mortality, plus adjusted risk of long‐term mortality according to WMA status. Overall, 39 346/255 697 men (15.4%) and 17 834/236 641 women (7.5%) had a WMA. The likelihood of a WMA was associated with increasing age and greater systolic/diastolic dysfunction. A defect in the inferior versus anterior wall was the most and least common WMA in men (8.0% and 2.5%) and women (3.3% and 1.1%), respectively. Any WMA increased 5‐year mortality from 17.5% to 29.7% in men and from 14.9% to 30.8% in women. Known myocardial infarction (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86 [95% CI, 0.80–0.93]) or revascularization (HR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.82–0.92]) was independently associated with a better prognosis, whereas men (1.22‐fold increase) and those with greater systolic/diastolic dysfunction had a worse prognosis. Among those with any WMA, apical (HR, 1.08 [95% CI, 1.02–1.13]) or inferior (HR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.04–1.15]) akinesis, dyskinesis or aneurysm, or a wall motion score index >3.0 conveyed the worst prognosis.

Conclusions

In a large real‐world clinical cohort, twice as many men as women have a WMA, with inferior WMA the most common. Any WMA confers a poor prognosis, especially inferoapical akinesis/dyskinesis/aneurysm.
Association Between Self‐Rated Medication Adherence and Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Hypertension
Authors: Ibrahim Shirin , Nurmohamed Nick S. , Collard Didier , de Weger Anouk , Hovingh G. Kees , van den Born Bert‐Jan H. , Reeskamp Laurens F. , Stroes Erik S. G. , Brouwer Tom F.
Published: November 2023

Background

Medication nonadherence contributes to poor health outcomes but remains challenging to identify. This study assessed the association between self‐rated adherence and systolic blood pressure, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, cardiovascular events, and all‐cause mortality in SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial).

Methods and Results

A total of 9361 patients randomized to 2 systolic blood pressure target groups, <120 mm Hg (intensive) and <140 mm Hg (standard), self‐rated their medication adherence at each visit by marking a scale, ranging from 0% to 100%. Lower and high adherence were defined as scores ≤80% and >80%, respectively. Linear mixed effect regression models and Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between self‐rated adherence and systolic blood pressure and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular events and all‐cause mortality, respectively. A total of 9278 participants (mean age 68±9.4 years, 35.6% female) had repeated self‐rated adherence measurements available, with a mean of 15±4 measurements per participant over 3.8 years follow‐up. Of these, 2694 participants (29.0%) had ≥1 adherence measurements ≤80%. Compared with high‐adherent patients, patients with lower adherence had significantly higher estimated on‐treatment systolic blood pressure at 2‐year follow‐up: 128.7 (95% CI, 127.6–129.9) versus 120.0 (95% CI, 119.7–120.2) mm Hg in the intensive arm; and 139.8 (95% CI 138.4–141.1) versus 135.0 (95% CI 134.7–135.2) in the standard arm. Moreover, lower adherence was associated with an estimated 11 mg/dL higher low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol level, more cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR], 1.69 [95% CI, 1.20–2.39]), and higher all‐cause mortality (HR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.16–2.31]).

Conclusions

Self‐rated adherence allows identification of lower medication adherence and correlates with blood pressure control, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and adverse outcomes.
Shifting incubation rhythms in response to predation risk and the length of the response in mountain bluebirds
Authors: Tkaczyk Simon P. , Chivers Douglas P. , Wiebe Karen L.
Published: November 2023

Parent birds may alter incubation rhythms in response to predation risk but few studies have examined the recovery time immediately after exposure to a predator. Here, we examined incubation rhythms in mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) in response to a simulated nest predator, a taxidermy-mounted squirrel. We used data loggers (iButtons) to measure the recess (off-bout) length, recess rate, and constancy of incubation and found no relationship between incubation rhythms and female age, body size and aggressiveness. Incubating females reacted to the predator by reducing nest visitation rates and increasing recess length but did not change incubation constancy. Instead, constancy was negatively associated with ambient temperature. Changes in incubation behaviour lasted about 48 h before returning to pre-exposure patterns. Our results suggest that modifying incubation rhythms is costly for female birds and the demand to regulate egg temperature efficiently limits the length of behavioural responses to the threat of nest predation.
Hold Fast the Reins and Be Guided: Embodied Expressions of Taqwā in Prophetic Hadith and Orations of ʿ⁠⁠Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
Authors: Atwell Erin
Published: November 2023

This essay examines the interplay of form and content in early Islamic expressions of taqwā (translated variously as piety, or fear or consciousness of God), with a primary focus on prophetic hadith and the orations of ʿ⁠Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Through this analysis, two major observations can be made. First, expressions of taqwā in these sources are indelibly corporeal, articulated through forms of bodily intimacy, whether between rider and mount, or as the cure for bodily sickness. Second, attention to both form and content and their interstices elucidates a picture of taqwā that expands our notion of embodiment to encompass the realm of the internal. Taqwā involves techniques of the limbs, tongue, eyes, and ears as well as techniques of the heart. To demonstrate this, I explore both the ways that believers are enjoined to seek taqwā as well as how taqwā is articulated as enacting transformations in/on those believers.
Without Nature
Authors: Saß Maurice
Published: November 2023

This essay examines two late landscape paintings by Peter Paul Rubens that are characterized by an intense engagement with the wetland in which his property Het Steen was located. On the one hand, the large Rainbow landscape from the Wallace Collection in London offers the chance to inquire about the relevance for Rubens’s landscapes of the Stoic imperative of a ‘life in accord with Nature’. On the other hand, the approximately contemporary Flat landscape with clouds from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, which powerfully evokes the fragility of landscape painting’s bond with an understanding of Nature as an abstract quantity, makes it possible to illuminate the ecological sensibility with which Rubens approaches terrestrial interconnections even beyond prevailing orders of Nature and their implicit hierarchies. In sum, this paper proposes to sound out fresh perspectives that early modern art history can contribute to recent ecocritical discourses.
Co-created by the Wadden Sea
Authors: Haveman Anna-Rosja
Published: November 2023

In Anna-Rosja Haveman’s essay, the largely forgotten work of the Groningen artist Han Jansen is examined. Her analysis unpacks the artistic oeuvre, within a broader perspective of the nature-culture debates in art and society. The public discussion that emerged around the Waddenprojects brings to bear contrasting ideas about nature in society. By embedding the project in the historical context of emerging environmental activism, the tensions inherent in art that aims to ‘raise awareness of nature’ become clear. As illustrated, the position of Han Jansen remains paradoxical: while he certainly intended to contribute to the awareness of nature and reconfigured hierarchies between humans and nature during the making process, the project created an image of a human, the artist, as polluter without further reflection on the ethics of his own actions.
Impacts of Multiscale Components of Initial Perturbations on Error Growth Characteristics and Ensemble Forecasting Skill
Authors: Wang Jingzhuo , Chen Jing , Zhang Hanbin , Ma Ruoyun , Chen Fajing
Published: November 2023

To compare the roles of two kinds of initial perturbations in a convection-permitting ensemble prediction system (CPEPS) and reveal the effects of the differences in large-scale/small-scale perturbation components on the CPEPS, three initial perturbation schemes are introduced, including a dynamical downscaling (DOWN) scheme originating from a coarse-resolution model, a multiscale ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) scheme, and a filtered ETKF (ETKF_LARGE) scheme. First, the comparisons between the DOWN and ETKF schemes reveal that they behave differently in many ways. Specifically, the ensemble spread and forecast error for precipitation in the DOWN scheme are larger than those in the ETKF; the probabilistic forecasting skill for precipitation in the DOWN scheme is better than that in the ETKF at small neighborhood radii, whereas the advantages of the ETKF begin to appear as the neighborhood radius increases; DOWN possesses better spread–skill relationships than ETKF and has comparable probabilistic forecasting skills for nonprecipitation. Second, the comparisons between DOWN and ETKF_LARGE indicate that the differences in the large-scale initial perturbation components are key to the differences between DOWN and ETKF. Third, the comparisons between ETKF and ETKF_LARGE demonstrate that the small-scale initial perturbations are important since they can increase the precipitation spread in the early times and decrease the forecast errors while simultaneously improving the probabilistic forecasting skill for precipitation. Given the advantages of the DOWN and ETKF schemes and the importance of both large-scale and small-scale initial perturbations, multiscale initial perturbations should be constructed in future research.
Diagnosing the Quasi-Equilibrium Response of ENSO Variability under a Range of CO2 Levels
Authors: Zhu Mengke , Ren Hong-Li , Hu Zizhan , Wright Jonathon S. , Xu Shiming
Published: November 2023

Several recent studies have highlighted differences in simulated properties of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) under transient and equilibrium responses to increasing CO2. However, the reasons behind these disparate responses and the extent to which they are robust to different scales of CO2 forcing remain unclear. In this study, we adopt a climate system model with reduced SST bias in the eastern tropical Pacific and incrementally apply abrupt increases in CO2, analyzing outputs after each simulation reaches quasi-equilibrium with the imposed forcing. The results suggest that ENSO activity under quasi-equilibrium first increases and then decreases with increasing CO2, peaking in simulations with CO2 concentrations similar to the present day. Bjerknes–Jin stability analysis indicates that changes in the ENSO growth rate result primarily from changes in the thermocline feedback and thermodynamic damping terms. While thermodynamic damping increases monotonically with increasing CO2, the positive thermocline feedback varies within the range of internal variability up to twice the preindustrial value of CO2 and then weakens sharply with further increases. The mechanisms behind these changes include weaker mean ocean upwelling and weaker dynamical coupling between the atmosphere and subsurface ocean associated with substantial near-surface freshening at higher levels of CO2. These changes steepen the thermodynamic barrier to mixing between the surface and subsurface, weakening the east–west temperature gradient in the mean state and suppressing variability in the cold tongue. Analysis of similar model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) archive indicates that changes in the Bjerknes–Jin stability index are robust but do not establish a consensus as to the mechanisms behind them.

Significance Statement

This study investigates how El Niño–Southern Oscillation changes with increasing CO2 forcing by using a global model with improved tropical Pacific climate. The simulations roughly correspond to scenarios in which emissions are reduced to maintain CO2 concentrations at near-constant values over a long period, with levels ranging from about 2/3 to more than 5 times the present-day concentration. Analysis of these simulations suggests that ENSO activity is strongest when CO2 concentrations are similar to the present-day and becomes substantially weaker when CO2 is more than double its present-day value. Reduced ENSO activity with further increases in CO2 is caused by weaker interactions between the atmosphere and the subsurface ocean. Both the amplitude of warm (El Niño) events and the occurrence frequency of warm and cold (La Niña) events decrease as ENSO events become first more difficult to grow and then more difficult to trigger with increasing CO2.
Revisiting the Relationship between the North Pacific High and Upwelling Winds along the West Coast of North America in the Present and Future Climate
Authors: Ding Hui , Alexander Michael A. , Ting Mingfang
Published: November 2023

The wind-driven circulation is an important driver of upwelling in the California Current System, a key factor in maintaining a productive ecosystem. In summer, the North Pacific high (NPH) dominates the atmospheric circulation, including the nearshore winds. The impact of the NPH on the surface winds along the North American west coast during summer is examined using the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) and the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) large ensemble of simulations. The strength, latitude, and longitude of the sea level pressure (SLP) and subsidence at 500 hPa are used to assess the NPH and its variability. While both the surface high pressure cell and subsidence are related to the interannual variability of the surface winds over the North Pacific, the strength of subsidence has a much larger effect on the coastal winds than the variability in SLP. Based on the mean of the 40 CESM simulations, future changes in upwelling also more strongly coincide with changes in subsidence than in SLP. Subsidence and southward upwelling-favorable winds increase off the Canadian coast, with the reverse occurring off the U.S. West Coast, by the end of the twenty-first century. In particular, the intermember correlation between the changes in the nearshore surface winds and the 500-hPa pressure vertical velocity reaches 0.75 and 0.87 in the southern and northern portions of the northeast Pacific, respectively. The effect of the subsidence on upwelling winds in the future is confirmed by the CESM2 large ensemble.
Improved Acoustic Tracking of RAFOS-Enabled Profiling Floats through the New Software Package artoa4argo
Authors: Hancock Cathrine , Boebel Olaf
Published: November 2023

In sea ice–covered polar oceans, profiling Argo floats are often unable to surface for 9 months or longer, rendering acoustic RAFOS tracking the only method to obtain unambiguous under-ice positions. Tracking RAFOS-enabled floats has historically relied on the ARTOA3 software, which had originally been tailored toward nonprofiling floats in regions featuring the sound fixing and ranging (SOFAR) channel with acoustic ranges of approximately 1000 km. However, in sea ice–covered regions, RAFOS tracking is challenged due to (i) reduced acoustic ranges of RAFOS signals, and (ii) enhanced uncertainties in float and sound source clock offsets. A new software, built on methodologies of previous ARTOA versions, called artoa4argo, has been created to overcome these issues by exploiting additional float satellite fixes, resolving ambiguous float positions when tracking with only two sources and systematically resolving float and sound source clock offsets. To gauge the performance of artoa4argo, 21 RAFOS-enabled profiling floats deployed in the Weddell Sea during 2008–12 were tracked. These have previously been tracked in independent studies with a Kalman smoother and a multiconstraint method. The artoa4argo improves tracking by automating and streamlining methods. Although artoa4argo does not necessarily produce positions for every time step, which the Kalman smoother and multiconstraint methods do, whenever a track location is available, it outperforms both methods.

Significance Statement

Argo is an international program that collects oceanic data using floats that drift with ocean currents and sample the water column from 2000-m depth to the surface every 7–10 days. Upon surfacing, the float acquires a satellite position and transmits its data via satellite. In polar regions, with extensive seasonal sea ice coverage, floats are unable to surface for many months. Thus, any under-ice samples collected are missing positions, hampering their use in scientific endeavors. Since monitoring of polar regions is imperative to better understand and predict the effects of climate change, hydroacoustic tracking is employed there. Here a new acoustic tracking software, artoa4argo, is introduced, which improves tracking of these floats.
Tornadoes in Southeast South America: Mesoscale to Planetary-Scale Environments
Authors: Veloso-Aguila Daniel , Rasmussen Kristen L. , Maloney Eric D.
Published: November 2023

A multiscale analysis of the environment supporting tornadoes in southeast South America (SESA) was conducted based on a self-constructed database of 74 reports. Composites of environmental and convective parameters from ERA5 were generated relative to tornado events. The distribution of the reported tornadoes maximizes over the Argentine plains, while events are rare close to the Andes and south of Sierras de Córdoba. Events are relatively common in all seasons except in winter. Proximity environment evolution shows enhanced instability, deep-layer vertical wind shear, storm-relative helicity, reduced convective inhibition, and a lowered lifting condensation level before or during the development of tornadic storms in SESA. No consistent signal in low-level wind shear is seen during tornado occurrence. However, a curved hodograph with counterclockwise rotation is present. The Significant Tornado Parameter (STP) is also maximized prior to tornadogenesis, most strongly associated with enhanced CAPE. Differences in the convective environment between tornadoes in SESA and the U.S. Great Plains are discussed. On the synoptic scale, tornado events are associated with a strong anomalous trough crossing the southern Andes that triggers lee cyclogenesis, subsequently enhancing the South American low-level jet (SALLJ) that increases moisture advection to support deep convection. This synoptic trough also enhances vertical shear that, along with enhanced instability, sustains organized convection capable of producing tornadic storms. At planetary scales, the tornadic environment is modulated by Rossby wave trains that appear to be forced by convection near northern Australia. Madden–Julian oscillation phase 3 preferentially occurs 1–2 weeks ahead of tornado occurrence.

Significance Statement

The main goal of this study is to describe what atmospheric conditions (from local to global scales) are present prior to and during tornadic storms impacting southeast South America (SESA). Increasing potential for deep convection, wind shear, and potential for rotating updrafts, as well as reducing convective inhibition and cloud-base height, are predominant a few hours before and during the events in connection to low-level northerly winds enhancing moisture transport to the region. Remote convective activity near northern Australia appears to influence large-scale atmospheric circulation that subsequently triggers convective storms supporting tornadogenesis 1–2 weeks later in SESA. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for atmospheric processes occurring at different scales to understand and predict tornado occurrences.
From Holocaust to Anfal: The impact of genocide and cross-generational trauma on the mental health of Kurds
Authors: Ahmed Darya Rostam
Published: November 2023

Genocide attempts are among the most severe traumatic events that are transmitted across generations. However, it may also prove the strength and survivability as well as the vulnerability of the targeted group. Anfal and chemical attacks on Halabja on Iraqi Kurds that targeted their annihilation had a devastating impact. Many survivors and their generations are still dealing with their effects on psychological disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. To address the psychological effects of these tragic events on survivors and their generations and propose the actions to be taken, this article explores the psychological trauma and problems caused by attempted genocide and chemical attacks in the case of Anfal campaign. These effects require more research to fully understand the long-term effects of these tragedies, as well as support and provision of comprehensive psychological and mental health interventions to their survivors and generations.
Lviv relived in exile: Józef Wittlin and Mόj Lwów [My Lwów]
Authors: Taylor-Terlecka Nina
Published: November 2023

The Polish-Jewish novelist, poet and translator Józef Wittlin (1896–1976), author of the classic Sól ziemi (1935, English Salt of the Earth, 1939), lived in Lwów (until 1918 Lemberg, today Lviv) for about 20 years until 1922. Thereafter, whether in Poland or from 1939 in exile first in France, then the United States, he cherished his memories of this architecturally distinguished and multiethnic city, publishing his memoir Mόj Lwów [My Lwów] with an exile press in New York in 1946 (English translation 2016). The article draws on archival documents from Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States and other published sources to give a history of the book’s conception and reception, above all in the exiled Polish diaspora, and makes a case for Mόj Lwów’s enduring significance as a work of imaginative reconstruction written in exile.
The Impact of the Defense Attorney on Plea Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis
Authors: Suiter Emily , Metcalfe Christi
Published: November 2023

Most criminal court cases are resolved through a plea, yet the plea decision-making process remains largely unexplored in comparison to other phases of case processing. With defendants reliant on their defense attorney during the plea process, it stands to reason that the characteristics of the defense attorney would impact plea decision-making. To assess this possibility, we administered an experimental vignette to a national sample, manipulating defense attorney type, race, sex, experience, familiarity with other courtroom workgroup members, and empathy toward the defendant. We found that respondents were more likely to accept a plea offer if the defense attorney was experienced and empathic. When the defense attorney was private, experienced, familiar, or empathic, respondents rated their defense attorney as more qualified, which then influenced their acceptance of the plea offer. Uncertainty of the outcome, consequences of a plea, and reasonableness of the plea offer were the common motivators in decision-making.
Perceived preparedness to teach over time: A longitudinal case study of instrumental music teachers
Authors: Denis John
Published: November 2023

Music teacher education programs are an integral part of preparing novice music teachers for a successful start to their careers. Despite that, many studies show that music educators often feel unprepared by their education. This three-and-a-half year longitudinal case study examined instrumental music educators’ perceptions of the preparation provided by their education as they completed university coursework and entered the profession. Participants were four instrumental music education majors who were in their upper-level courses at the beginning of the study and participants completed five focus group discussions. Participants were four instrumental music education majors who were in their upper-level courses at the beginning and participants completed five focus group discussions starting at the end of their third year, continuing through both semesters of their final year, and at the end of their first 2 years in the classroom. I identified three emergent themes from the data: the importance of authenticity and contextualization; the core practices of classroom management, secondary instrument knowledge/skills, and rehearsing ensembles were central to feelings of preparedness; and a shifting focus over time. Findings indicated various perceptions of preparedness and their connection to music teacher education experiences, including implications for future research.
Living and dying in the shadow of coal: Relocating social death and its contestations in Lephalale
Authors: Luckett Thembi
Published: November 2023

Marapong, “place of bones”, is situated in the shadow of the coal-fired Matimba Power Station and Grootegeluk coal mine in Lephalale, northern South Africa. Marapong was named after the bones of a local woman, Salaminah Moloantoa, which were found during the development of Grootegeluk in 1973. That same year her bones were buried on Naawontkomen farm where she had lived. Thirty-four years later with the construction of coal-fired Medupi Power Station, Moloantoa’s bones became the site of industrial construction again in this current iteration of extractivism. Working from two provocations that emerged during fieldwork – we are dead here and the mines turn our lives upside down – I relocate social death and its relation to different kinds of violence that constitute racial capitalism in this city of coal. In so doing, I engage with literature on Afropessimism, the black radical tradition, and land and ancestral struggles and argue for reconceptualising social death as grounded in place and time rather than a totalising ontological condition. Such a rereading emphasises relationality and the processes of contestation over land, life, and death, that open up futures beyond that of bones becoming coal for fossil fuel development.
Del Nido cardioplegia in adult cardiac surgery: Clinical outcomes in a single center all-comer study
Authors: Di Bacco Lorenzo , Rosati Fabrizio , Repossini Alberto , Baudo Massimo , Renghini Mauro , Maddinelli Debora , Boldini Francesca , Zanin Francesca , Tomasi Cesare , Muneretto Claudio , Benussi Stefano
Published: November 2023

Introduction

The use of Del Nido Cardioplegia (DNC) has been extended in the latest years from pediatrics to adult cardiac surgery with encouraging results. We sought to investigate clinical and biochemical outcomes in adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery with different degrees of complexity who received DNC for myocardial protection.

Methods

Data on one-thousand patients were retrospectively collected from 2020 to 2022. The only exclusion criteria was off-pump adult cardiac surgery. Surgical procedures weight was categorized according EuroSCORE II in six groups: Single-CABG(G1), isolated non-CABG(mitral) (G2), isolated non-CABG(aortic) (G3), isolated non-CABG(any) (G4), 2-procedures(G5), 3/more-procedures(G6). Primary endpoint was to identify a binomial correlation between hs-TnT/CK-MB and the cross-clamp time (X-Clamp). A secondary endpoint was the comparison between the treatment groups of the vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) and the need of mechanical circulatory support (MCS).

Results

A linear correlation was identified between hs-TnT and X-clamp in the overall population (rho:0.447, p< .001) and in the treatment groups (G1:rho=0.357, p< .001/G2:rho=0.455, p< .001/G3:rho=0.307, p= .001/G4:rho=0.165, p= .257/G5:rho=0.157, p= .031/G6:rho=0.226, p= .015). Similarly, a linear correlation between CK-MB and X-clamp in the overall population (rho=0.457, p< .001) and treatment group (G1:rho=0.282, p< .001/G2:rho=0.287, p= .025/G3:rho=0.211, p= .009/G4:rho=0.0878, p= .548/G5:rho=0.309, p< .001/G6: rho=0.212, p= .024) was identified. As regard for the secondary endpoint, no differences were reported between the treatment groups in terms of VIS and MCS (VIS G1:7; G2:4; G3:7; G4:7, G5:5.5, G6:6, p-value= .691) (MCS G1: 4.5%; G2:4.8%; G3:3.3%; G4:3.1%; G5:1.4%; G6:5.3%; p-value= .372).

Conclusions

Del Nido Cardioplegia is a safe and useful tool in adult cardiac surgery allowing operators to achieve a stable and durable cardioplegic arrest. Despite accounting with different types of surgery, the six subgroups of our study population showed similar perioperative results.
The psychedelic effects of cannabis: A review of the literature
Authors: Wolinsky David , Barrett Frederick Streeter , Vandrey Ryan
Published: November 2023

Cannabis and classic psychedelics are controlled substances with emerging evidence of efficacy in the treatment of a variety of psychiatric illnesses. Cannabis has largely not been regarded as having psychedelic effects in contemporary literature, despite many examples of historical use along with classic psychedelics to attain altered states of consciousness. Research into the “psychedelic” effects of cannabis, and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in particular, could prove helpful for assessing potential therapeutic indications and elucidating the mechanism of action of both cannabis and classic psychedelics. This review aggregates and evaluates the literature assessing the capacity of cannabis to yield the perceptual changes, aversiveness, and mystical experiences more typically associated with classic psychedelics such as psilocybin. This review also provides a brief contrast of neuroimaging findings associated with the acute effects of cannabis and psychedelics. The available evidence suggests that high-THC cannabis may be able to elicit psychedelic effects, but that these effects may not have been observed in recent controlled research studies due to the doses, set, and settings commonly used. Research is needed to investigate the effects of high doses of THC in the context utilized in therapeutic studies of psychedelics aimed to occasion psychedelic and/or therapeutic experiences. If cannabis can reliably generate psychedelic experiences under these conditions, high-THC dose cannabis treatments should be explored as potential adjunctive treatments for psychiatric disorders and be considered as an active comparator in clinical trials involving traditional psychedelic medications.
Multilevel motion planning: A fiber bundle formulation
Authors: Orthey Andreas , Akbar Sohaib , Toussaint Marc
Published: November 2023

High-dimensional motion planning problems can often be solved significantly faster by using multilevel abstractions. While there are various ways to formally capture multilevel abstractions, we formulate them in terms of fiber bundles. Fiber bundles essentially describe lower-dimensional projections of the state space using local product spaces, which allows us to concisely describe and derive novel algorithms in terms of bundle restrictions and bundle sections. Given such a structure and a corresponding admissible constraint function, we develop highly efficient and asymptotically optimal sampling-based motion planning methods for high-dimensional state spaces. Those methods exploit the structure of fiber bundles through the use of bundle primitives. Those primitives are used to create novel bundle planners, the rapidly-exploring quotient space trees (QRRT*), and the quotient space roadmap planner (QMP*). Both planners are shown to be probabilistically complete and almost-surely asymptotically optimal. To evaluate our bundle planners, we compare them against classical sampling-based planners on benchmarks of four low-dimensional scenarios, and eight high-dimensional scenarios, ranging from 21 to 100 degrees of freedom, including multiple robots and nonholonomic constraints. Our findings show improvements up to two to six orders of magnitude and underline the efficiency of multilevel motion planners and the benefit of exploiting multilevel abstractions using the terminology of fiber bundles.
Under-canopy dataset for advancing simultaneous localization and mapping in agricultural robotics
Authors: Cuaran Jose , Baquero Velasquez Andres Eduardo , Valverde Gasparino Mateus , Uppalapati Naveen Kumar , Sivakumar Arun Narenthiran , Wasserman Justin , Huzaifa Muhammad , Adve Sarita , Chowdhary Girish
Published: November 2023

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has been an active research problem over recent decades. Many leading solutions are available that can achieve remarkable performance in environments with familiar structure, such as indoors and cities. However, our work shows that these leading systems fail in an agricultural setting, particularly in under the canopy navigation in the largest-in-acreage crops of the world: corn ( Zea mays) and soybean ( Glycine max). The presence of plenty of visual clutter due to leaves, varying illumination, and stark visual similarity makes these environments lose the familiar structure on which SLAM algorithms rely on. To advance SLAM in such unstructured agricultural environments, we present a comprehensive agricultural dataset. Our open dataset consists of stereo images, IMUs, wheel encoders, and GPS measurements continuously recorded from a mobile robot in corn and soybean fields across different growth stages. In addition, we present best-case benchmark results for several leading visual-inertial odometry and SLAM systems. Our data and benchmark clearly show that there is significant research promise in SLAM for agricultural settings. The dataset is available online at: https://github.com/jrcuaranv/terrasentia-dataset .
Mixed Signals: The Effect of Employment Training on Employment Outcomes for Previously Incarcerated Individuals
Authors: Nighswander Tristan J. , Roddy Ariel L.
Published: November 2023

This work investigates the effects of pre-employment training on employment outcomes for previously incarcerated individuals using two theories developed in the discipline of economics: human capital theory and signaling theory. Human capital theory suggests that preemployment training increases wages and the likelihood of employment by building relevant skills that would improve productivity. Signaling theory asserts that the completion of pre-employment training acts as a signal of participant ability, as ability is known to the applicant but unknown to employers. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, results support hypotheses related to signaling theory for individuals without a history of incarceration, but show no meaningful relationship between pre-employment training and employment outcomes for previously incarcerated individuals. Findings contribute to both economic and criminal justice theory and can be used to inform employment interventions for those with or without a history of incarceration.
When and how political skill becomes counterproductive: A moral licensing view
Authors: Zahid Fariha , Butt Arif Nazir , Malik Muhammad Abdul Rahman
Published: November 2023

Counterintuitive to the generally prevailing positive view of political skill, we suggest that this social competency also has the potential to foster dysfunctional outcomes for organizations. Drawing insights from moral licensing theory, the study examines a framework that explains how politically skilled employees strategize to fulfill their self-serving objectives through leader-member exchange (LMX) relations. The findings from a multi-source sample of 250 private sector employees supported our proposed framework and demonstrated that political skill is indirectly related to self-serving counterproductive behaviors through LMX, with psychological entitlement as an important boundary condition. The study’s implications, its strengths and limitations, and future research directions are also discussed.

JEL Classification: D23
Bob’s Productive Task Engagement in Fractional Reasoning: A Case Study
Authors: Hunt Jessica H. , Martin Kristi
Published: November 2023

Productive engagement in fractional reasoning is essential for abstracting fundamental algebraic concepts vital to college and career success. Yet, data suggest students with learning disabilities (LDs), in particular, display pervasive shortfalls in learning and mastering fraction content. We argue that shortfalls in understanding are in fact issues of access in terms of opportunities that students have to productively engage with learning objects (i.e., tasks) that meaningfully bring forward and promote students’ fractions understanding. In this study, we define engagement as a state and take up a single case study methodology to illustrate behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement of Bob, a student with a LD, as he works with a series of fraction tasks designed to support his engagement. Results reveal patterns of productive engagement as regards this student’s fractional reasoning as they relate to the tasks he was given over time. Contributions of this work include insights into Bob’s engagement within tasks and provide considerations for teaching practice seeking to promote productive engagement by design.
Feasibility and Acceptability of Facilitated Advance Care Planning in Outpatient Clinics: A Qualitative Study of Patient and Caregivers Experiences
Authors: Marshall Kate H. , Riddiford-Harland Diane L. , Meller Anne E. , Caplan Gideon A. , Naganathan Vasi , Cullen John , Gonski Peter , Zwar Nicholas A. , O’Keeffe Julie-Ann , Krysinska Karolina , Rhee Joel J.
Published: November 2023

Guidelines recommend advance care planning (ACP) for people with advanced illness; however, evidence supporting ACP as a component of outpatient care is lacking. We sought to establish the feasibility and acceptability of a facilitated ACP intervention for people attending tertiary outpatient clinics. Data from 20 semi-structured interviews with patient ( M = 79.3 ± 7.7, 60% male) and caregiver ( M = 68.1 ± 11.0, 60% female) participants recruited as part of a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial (RCT) were analyzed using qualitative descriptive methodology. Patients were randomized to intervention (e.g., facilitated support) or control (e.g., standard care). Intervention patients expressed high satisfaction, reporting the facilitated ACP session was clear, straightforward, and suited to their needs. Intervention caregivers did not report any significant concerns with the facilitated ACP process. Control participants reported greater difficulty completing ACP compared to intervention participants. Embedding facilitated ACP into tertiary outpatient care appears feasible and acceptable for people with advanced illnesses.
Who's the Best Detective? Large Language Models vs. Traditional Machine Learning in Detecting Incoherent Fourth Grade Math Answers
Authors: Urrutia Felipe , Araya Roberto
Published: November 2023

Written answers to open-ended questions can have a higher long-term effect on learning than multiple-choice questions. However, it is critical that teachers immediately review the answers, and ask to redo those that are incoherent. This can be a difficult task and can be time-consuming for teachers. A possible solution is to automate the detection of incoherent answers. One option is to automate the review with Large Language Models (LLM). They have a powerful discursive ability that can be used to explain decisions. In this paper, we analyze the responses of fourth graders in mathematics using three LLMs: GPT-3, BLOOM, and YOU. We used them with zero, one, two, three and four shots. We compared their performance with the results of various classifiers trained with Machine Learning (ML). We found that LLMs perform worse than MLs in detecting incoherent answers. The difficulty seems to reside in recursive questions that contain both questions and answers, and in responses from students with typical fourth-grader misspellings. Upon closer examination, we have found that the ChatGPT model faces the same challenges.
Perceptions toward Upzoning: A Parcel-Level Analysis of Public Sentiments toward the Minneapolis 2040 Plan
Authors: Davis Jenna , Rong Helena , Huennekens Joseph Weil
Published: November 2023

Zoning change typically draws significant public opposition, especially when it facilitates the construction of multifamily homes. Yet, in recent years, new pro-density political constituencies have emerged who advocate for denser development. This article analyzes public sentiment toward the Minneapolis 2040 rezoning where pro-density forces were highly active and emerged victorious. After qualitatively coding public comments, we use spatial cluster analysis and ordinal regression to examine what factors predict pro-density sentiment. We find that pro- and anti-density constituents cluster differently in space and that a few parcel-level characteristics, notably house typology, are the best predictors of sentiment.
Politics, Covid, and In-Person Instruction During the First Year of the Pandemic
Authors: Houston David M. , Steinberg Matthew P.
Published: November 2023

In spring 2020, nearly every U.S. public school closed at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Existing evidence suggests that local political partisanship was a better predictor of in-person instruction than Covid case and death rates in fall 2020. We replicate and extend these analyses using data collected over the entirety of the 2020–21 academic year. We affirm that local political partisanship was an important initial predictor of county-level in-person instruction rates. We also demonstrate that, under certain conditions, Covid case and death rates were meaningfully associated with initial rates of in-person instruction. We reveal that partisanship became less predictive—and prior average student achievement became more predictive—of in-person instruction as the school year continued. We then leverage data from two nationally representative surveys of Americans’ attitudes toward education and identify an as-yet-undiscussed factor that predicts in-person instruction: public support for increasing teachers’ salaries.
Everyday security and the newspaper obituary: Reproducing and contesting terrorism discourse
Authors: Jarvis Lee , Whiting Andrew
Published: November 2023

This article explores the obituary as an important, yet neglected, site of everyday security discourse. Through an original analysis of 86 published obituaries of 11 prominent ‘terrorists’, we offer three arguments. First, obituaries play an important constitutive role in shaping public understanding of terrorism and terrorists. Second, in so doing, terrorist obituaries frequently draw upon and reproduce established constructions of terrorism. Especially important here, we argue, are claims associated with the influential, yet heavily contested, ‘new terrorism’ thesis that posits profound transformations in the motives, organization and violences of terrorist groups from the late 20th century onwards. Third, notwithstanding the above, the (terrorist) obituary also offers important resources for nuancing and problematizing dominant constructions – such as of ‘new terrorism’ – in part because of the opportunity for sociopolitical critique afforded by this mnemonic genre. In making these arguments, the article therefore offers new empirical and conceptual insight into the obituary as a genre of everyday security knowledge, and into the mobility and resilience of established security discourses.