bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pandemia e hiper-realidade: o fim sem fim do Ocidente em um confronto a partir de Heidegger e Baudrillard
Authors: Rodrigues da Costa Paulo Victor
Published: February 2021

O presente artigo tem em vista interpretar a pandemia desde uma reflexão acerca da noção de hiper-realidade, presente na filosofia do autor francês Jean Baudrillard. Para tanto, serão trabalhadas, de início, noções do pensamento de Martin Heidegger, principalmente seu desenvolvimento acerca do esquecimento da questão do ser na era da técnica. O objetivo de tal explanação é a indicação de uma passagem da técnica para a simulação, em um diagnóstico sugerido por Baudrillard ao longo de seus textos. A partir da noção de hiper-realidade e simulação, será proposta a tese de que o Sars-Cov-2 é um simulacro global que consuma a expansão do Ocidente como abandono radical de qualquer relação possível com o real.
Editorial
Authors: Fernandes Christiane Costa de Matos
Published: February 2021

Editorial Vol. 10 N. 1Dossiê "Pandemia, um ano depois" + Temática livrePortuguês [PT]Español [ESP]English [ENG]
A pilot study into ecological burning in forests as part of a species conservation plan
Authors: Pearson Matthew W
Published: February 2021

Abstract. Pearson MW. 2021. A pilot study into ecological burning in forests as part of a species conservation plan. Biodiversitas 22: 1296-1303. Fire management and the process of managing communities has become an increasingly topical subject due to recent events. The role of fire for fuel reduction with areas set aside for conservation may not be compatible as a seed recruitment tool for Allocasuarina robusta. Presently, fire as a recruitment tool on A. robusta is not well understood. The pilot study aims to examine the latent seedbank ability to contribute to the conservation of A. robusta when ecological burning is part of a fire management plan. The investigation examined the soil seed bank beneath A. robusta before and after an ecological burn as a greenhouse experiment. The experiment results demonstrated that a diverse range of species responds to a fire that may out-compete the seed recruitment from A. robusta. The results indicate that A. robusta may not be recruiting through seed. Competition appears to be a factor that may limit the ability of A. robusta to recruit from seed.
Short Communication: Taxonomy and the first report for pollen and leaf surfaces anatomy of the genus Enkleia (Thymelaeaceae) in Thailand
Authors: Saensouik Piyaporn , Saensouk Surapon
Published: February 2021

Abstract. Saensouk P, Saensouk S. 2021. Short Communication: Taxonomy and the first report for pollen and leaf surfaces anatomy of the genus Enkleia (Thymelaeaceae) in Thailand. Biodiversitas 22: 1340-1344. Taxonomic of the genus Enkleia in Thailand are revised. Two species, Enkleia malaccensis Griff. and E. thorelii (Lecomte) Nevling, are reported. Enkleia siamensis (Kurz) Nevling and E. siamensis (Kurz) Nevling subsp. andamanica (Hutch. Ex C. E. Parkinson) Nevling are reduced to Enkleia malaccensis Griff.. Therefore, both species are recorded as synonym of E. malaccensis. E. thorelii is reported endemic to Thailand. Vernacular name, distribution data, ecological data, flowering period, fruiting period, conservation status, traditional use of this genus are provided. The pollen and leaf surfaces of the genus are examined and the first studied.
Phenetic analysis and habitat preferences of wild orchids in Gunung Gajah, Purworejo, Indonesia
Authors: Purba Theresia Henny Primasiwi , Chasani Abdul Razaq
Published: February 2021

Abstract. Purba THP, Chasani AR. 2021. Phenetic analysis and habitat preferences of wild orchids in Gunung Gajah Purworejo. Biodiversitas 22: 1371-1377. Orchid (Orchidaceae) is one of the largest flowering plant families comprising more than 25.000 species. Knowledge of wild orchid diversity and their habitat preferences is useful for its conservation efforts. Research of wild orchid diversity in Indonesia has been done before, however, there is still few information about phenetic analysis and habitat preferences of wild orchids in Indonesia particularly in Gunung Gajah, Purworejo, Indonesia. Therefore, our research aimed to study species diversity and phenetic relationship of wild orchids and their habitat preferences in Gunung Gajah, Purworejo. Exploration was done using purposive sampling method. Phenetic analysis was carried out using MVSP 3.1, implemented by clustering method to understand phenetic relationships and ordination by PCA method to reveal morpho-anatomical characters which determine the clustering pattern. Thirteen orchid species of subfamily Vanilloideae, Orchidoideae, and Epidendroideae were found. Two clusters were formed on dendrogram and each of them was separated into two sub-clusters. PCA analysis based on stem, leaf, and flower characters showed different clusters compared to dendrogram. Habitat preferences of wild orchids in Gunung Gajah are alkaline soil, low soil moisture, air temperature 24-29°C, and low to high light intensity. Epiphytic orchids preferences on their host tree are dominated by median and upper part of main stem.
Diffraction manipulation of visible light with submicron structures for structural coloration fabrication
Authors: He Yupeng , Zhou Tianfeng , Dong Xiaobin , Zhu Zhanchen , Yu Qian , Liu Peng , Zhao Wenxiang , Wang Xibin , Hu Yao , Yan Jiwang
Published: February 2021

The structural coloration of glass induced by submicron structures is eco-friendly, ink-free, and has profound scientific significance. However, it is difficult to manufacture the submicron structures for glass optics due to the high hardness of glass and the miniature size of the microstructures. In this paper, the diffraction manipulation mechanism of groove shape to structural coloration and optimization theory are studied by establishing the theoretical and simulation mode. Moreover, a newly-developed axial-feed fly-cutting (AFC) technology and the PGM technology are introduced to precisely create the designed submicron V-shape grooves and structural color pattern on a Ni-P mold and then replicating them on a glass surface. Between these two kinds of typical submicron grooves that can be machined by mechanical cutting technology, it is found that the diffraction intensity and efficiency of V-shape grooves are higher than these of jagged-shape grooves, which indicates that V-shape grooves is more suitable to be used for structural coloration with high brightness. The structural color resolution is dramatically increased with the reduction of groove spacing and can be flexibly regulated by AFC, which significantly contributes to the structural coloration manufacturing. Structural pixel segments composed of submicron grooves are arranged row-by-row to form color patterns, and the letters of different colors are fabricated on the mold and transferred to the glass surface. Methods of optical diffraction manipulation, flexible manufacturing of submicron structures, and structural color image construction proposed in this paper for the production of a structural color pattern are beneficial to a wide range of fields.
Square-root non-Bloch topological insulators in non-Hermitian ring resonators
Authors: Lin Zekun , Ke Shaolin , Zhu Xuefeng , Li Xun
Published: February 2021

We investigate the topological skin effect in a ring resonator array which can be mapped into the square root of a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with non-Hermitian asymmetric coupling. The asymmetric coupling is realized by integrating the same amount of gain and loss into the two half perimeters of linking rings that effectively couple two adjacent site rings. Such a square-root topological insulator inherits the properties from its parent Hamiltonian, which has the same phase transition points and exhibits non-Bloch features as well. We show the band closing points for open chain are different from that of periodic chain as a result of the skin effect. Moreover, the square-root insulator supports multiple topological edge modes as the number of band gaps is doubled compared to the original Hamiltonian. The full-wave simulations agree well with the theoretical analyses based on a tight-binding model. The study provides a promising approach to investigate the skin effect by utilizing ring resonators and may find potential applications in light trapping, lasers, and filters.
High-efficient photoacoustic generation with an ultrathin metallic multilayer broadband absorber
Authors: Zheng Chunqi , Zhu Huanzheng , Xu Ziquan , Sinha Ravindra K. , Li Qiang , Ghosh Pintu
Published: February 2021

Metal nanomaterials have been widely used to generate photoacoustic (PA) signals because of their high optical absorption characteristics. However, the PA conversion efficiency of metal nanomaterials is limited by the single-wavelength absorption at the resonant peak. To mitigate this issue, a three-layer ultrathin film containing a thin PDMS layer sandwiched between two ultrathin chromium films is proposed. This kind of film structure can attain high optical absorbance (>80%) through the visible light range (450–850 nm). The optical absorption characteristics can be easily modulated by varying the thickness of the PDMS layer. Under the same excitation condition, the PA signal generated by this film structure is twice that of an only Cr film and three times that of an only Au film. This film structure is easily fabricated and can operate with lasers having different central wavelengths or even white light sources, leading to its applications in many fields, including photoacoustic communications and audio transducers.
Focus issue introduction: Advanced Solid-State Lasers 2020
Authors: Petersen Alan , Taccheo Stefano , Mirov Sergey , Nilsson Johan , Pask Helen , Saraceno Clara , Wetter Niklaus , Wu Ruifen
Published: February 2021

This Joint Issue of Optics Express and Optical Materials Express features 15 articles written by authors who participated in the international online conference Advanced Solid State Lasers held 13–16 October, 2020. This review provides a summary of the conference and these articles from the conference which sample the spectrum of solid state laser theory and experiment, from materials research to sources and from design innovation to applications.
Angular spectrum matching for digital holographic microscopy under extremely low light conditions
Authors: Inoue Kotaro , Anand Arun , Cho Myungjin
Published: February 2021

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a future three-dimensional (3D) microscopy due to its high-resolution and high-precision 3D images. Thus, it is getting attention in bioinformatics, semiconductor defect detection, etc. However, some limitations still exist. Especially, high-speed holographic imaging requires high-power lasers, which are difficult to image on highly absorbent or light-sensitive samples. To overcome these issues, we propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, digital hologram recovery algorithm called angular spectrum matching (ASM), which achieves hologram imitation to recover holograms in digital holography at low light intensities. The hologram used for the background phase comparison is recorded without objects; thus, no power limitation is required. The ASM utilizes this background hologram to recover dark holograms. We present experimental results showing improved DHM numerical reconstructions and recovered holograms under extremely low light conditions.
Single-pixel ptychography
Authors: Li Meng , Bian Liheng , Zheng Guoan , Maiden Andrew , Liu Yang , Li Yiming , Suo Jinli , Dai Qionghai , Zhang Jun
Published: February 2021

Ptychography is a predominant non-interferometric technique to image large complex fields but with quite a narrow working spectrum, because diffraction measurements require dense array detection with an ultra-high dynamic range. Here we report a single-pixel ptychography technique that realizes non-interferometric and non-scanning complex-field imaging in a wide waveband, where 2D dense detector arrays are not available. A single-pixel detector is placed in the far field to record the DC-only component of the diffracted wavefront scattered from the target field, which is illuminated by a sequence of binary modulation patterns. This decreases the measurements’ dynamic range by several orders of magnitude. We employ an efficient single-pixel phase-retrieval algorithm to jointly recover the field’s 2D amplitude and phase maps from the 1D intensity-only measurement sequence. No a priori object information is needed in the recovery process. We validate the technique’s quantitative phase imaging nature using both calibrated phase objects and biological samples and demonstrate its wide working spectrum with both 488-nm visible light and 980-nm near-infrared light.
Expression Pattern of the LacZ Reporter in Secretogranin III Gene-trapped Mice
Authors: Gomi Hiroshi , Hinata Airi , Yasui Tadashi , Torii Seiji , Hosaka Masahiro
Published: February 2021

Secretogranin III (SgIII) is a granin protein involved in secretory granule formation in peptide-hormone-producing endocrine cells. In this study, we analyzed the expression of the LacZ reporter in the SgIII knockout mice produced by gene trapping ( SgIII-gtKO) for the purpose of comprehensively clarifying the expression patterns of SgIII at the cell and tissue levels. In the endocrine tissues of SgIII-gtKO mice, LacZ expression was observed in the pituitary gland, adrenal medulla, and pancreatic islets, where SgIII expression has been canonically revealed. LacZ expression was extensively observed in brain regions, especially in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamic nuclei, cerebellum, and spinal cord. In peripheral nervous tissues, LacZ expression was observed in the retina, optic nerve, and trigeminal ganglion. LacZ expression was particularly prominent in astrocytes, in addition to neurons and ependymal cells. In the cerebellum, at least four cell types expressed SgIII under basal conditions. The expression of SgIII in the glioma cell lines C6 and RGC-6 was enhanced by excitatory glutamate treatment. It also became clear that the expression level of SgIII varied among neuron and astrocyte subtypes. These results suggest that SgIII is involved in glial cell function, in addition to neuroendocrine functions, in the nervous system:
Noncanonical TGF-β signaling leads to FBXO3-mediated degradation of ΔNp63α promoting breast cancer metastasis and poor clinical prognosis
Authors: Niu Mengmeng , He Yajun , Xu Jing , Ding Liangping , He Tao , Yi Yong , Fu Mengyuan , Guo Rongtian , Li Fengtian , Chen Hu , Chen Ye-Guang , Xiao Zhi-Xiong Jim
Published: February 2021

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling plays a critical role in promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell migration, invasion, and tumor metastasis. ΔNp63α, the major isoform of p63 protein expressed in epithelial cells, is a key transcriptional regulator of cell adhesion program and functions as a critical metastasis suppressor. It has been documented that the expression of ΔNp63α is tightly controlled by oncogenic signaling and is frequently reduced in advanced cancers. However, whether TGF-β signaling regulates ΔNp63α expression in promoting metastasis is largely unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that activation of TGF-β signaling leads to stabilization of E3 ubiquitin ligase FBXO3, which, in turn, targets ΔNp63α for proteasomal degradation in a Smad-independent but Erk-dependent manner. Knockdown of FBXO3 or restoration of ΔNp63α expression effectively rescues TGF-β-induced EMT, cell motility, and tumor metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, clinical analyses reveal a significant correlation among TGF-β receptor I (TβRI), FBXO3, and p63 protein expression and that high expression of TβRI/FBXO3 and low expression of p63 are associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS). Together, these results demonstrate that FBXO3 facilitates ΔNp63α degradation to empower TGF-β signaling in promoting tumor metastasis and that the TβRI-FBXO3-ΔNp63α axis is critically important in breast cancer development and clinical prognosis. This study suggests that FBXO3 may be a potential therapeutic target for advanced breast cancer treatment.
Limited role for meteorological factors on the variability in COVID-19 incidence: A retrospective study of 102 Chinese cities
Authors: Chong Ka Chun , Ran Jinjun , Lau Steven Yuk Fai , Goggins William Bernard , Zhao Shi , Wang Pin , Tian Linwei , Wang Maggie Haitian , Mohammad Kirran N. , Wei Lai , Xiong Xi , Liu Hengyan , Chan Paul Kay Sheung , Wang Huwen , Wang Yawen , Wang Jingxuan
Published: February 2021

While many studies have focused on identifying the association between meteorological factors and the activity of COVID-19, we argue that the contribution of meteorological factors to a reduction of the risk of COVID-19 was minimal when the effects of control measures were taken into account. In this study, we assessed how much variability in COVID-19 activity is attributable to city-level socio-demographic characteristics, meteorological factors, and the control measures imposed. We obtained the daily incidence of COVID-19, city-level characteristics, and meteorological data from a total of 102 cities situated in 27 provinces/municipalities outside Hubei province in China from 1 January 2020 to 8 March 2020, which largely covers almost the first wave of the epidemic. Generalized linear mixed effect models were employed to examine the variance in the incidence of COVID-19 explained by different combinations of variables. According to the results, including the control measure effects in a model substantially raised the explained variance to 45%, which increased by >40% compared to the null model that did not include any covariates. On top of that, including temperature and relative humidity in the model could only result in < 1% increase in the explained variance even though the meteorological factors showed a statistically significant association with the incidence rate of COVID-19. In conclusion, we showed that very limited variability of the COVID-19 incidence was attributable to meteorological factors. Instead, the control measures could explain a larger proportion of variance.
Quick self-assembly of bio-inspired multi-dimensional well-ordered structures induced by ultrasonic wave energy
Authors: Murphy Connor , Cao Yunqi , Sepúlveda Nelson , Li Wei
Published: February 2021

Bottom-up self-assembly of components, inspired by hierarchically self-regulating aggregation of small subunits observed in nature, provides a strategy for constructing two- or three-dimensional intriguing biomimetic materials via the spontaneous combination of discrete building blocks. Herein, we report the methods of ultrasonic wave energy-assisted, fast, two- and three-dimensional mesoscale well-ordered self-assembly of microfabricated building blocks (100 μm in size). Mechanical vibration energy-driven self-assembly of microplatelets at the water-air interface of inverted water droplets is demonstrated, and the real-time formation process of the patterned structure is dynamically explored. 40 kHz ultrasonic wave is transferred into microplatelets suspended in a water environment to drive the self-assembly of predesigned well-ordered structures. Two-dimensional self-assembly of microplatelets inside the water phase with a large patterned area is achieved. Stable three-dimensional multi-layered self-assembled structures are quickly formed at the air-water interface. These demonstrations aim to open distinctive and effective ways for new two-dimensional surface coating technology with autonomous organization strategy, and three-dimensional complex hierarchical architectures built by the bottom-up method and commonly found in nature (such as nacre, bone or enamel, etc.).
The heartbeat of the city
Authors: Prieto Curiel Rafael , Patino Jorge Eduardo , Duque Juan Carlos , O’Clery Neave
Published: February 2021

Human activity is organised around daily and weekly cycles, which should, in turn, dominate all types of social interactions, such as transactions, communications, gatherings and so on. Yet, despite their strategic importance for policing and security, cyclical weekly patterns in crime and road incidents have been unexplored at the city and neighbourhood level. Here we construct a novel method to capture the weekly trace, or “heartbeat” of events and use geotagged data capturing the time and location of more than 200,000 violent crimes and nearly one million crashes in Mexico City. On aggregate, our findings show that the heartbeats of crime and crashes follow a similar pattern. We observe valleys during the night and peaks in the evening, where the intensity during a peak is 7.5 times the intensity of valleys in terms of crime and 12.3 times in terms of road accidents. Although distinct types of events, crimes and crashes reach their respective intensity peak on Friday night and valley on Tuesday morning, the result of a hyper-synchronised society. Next, heartbeats are computed for city neighbourhood ‘tiles’, a division of space within the city based on the distance to Metro and other public transport stations. We find that heartbeats are spatially heterogeneous with some diffusion, so that nearby tiles have similar heartbeats. Tiles are then clustered based on the shape of their heartbeat, e.g., tiles within groups suffer peaks and valleys of crime or crashes at similar times during the week. The clusters found are similar to those based on economic activities. This enables us to anticipate temporal traces of crime and crashes based on local amenities.
Prevalences and predictive factors of maternal trauma through 18 months after premature birth: A longitudinal, observational and descriptive study
Authors: Brunson Emilie , Thierry Aurore , Ligier Fabienne , Vulliez-Coady Laurianne , Novo Alexandre , Rolland Anne-Catherine , Eutrope Julien
Published: February 2021

Posttraumatic reactions are common among mothers of preterm infants and can have a negative influence on their quality of life and lead to interactional difficulties with their baby. Given the possible trajectories of posttraumatic reactions, we hypothesized that prevalences of postpartum posttraumatic reactions at given times underestimate the real amount of mothers experiencing these symptoms within 18 months following delivery. Additionally, we examined whether sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of dyads influence the expression of posttraumatic symptoms among these mothers. A sample of 100 dyads was included in this longitudinal study led by 3 french university hospitals. Preterm infants born before 32 weeks of gestation and their mothers were followed-up over 18 months and attended 5 visits assessing the infants’ health conditions and the mothers’ psychological state with validated scales. Fifty dyads were retained through the 18 months of the study. The period prevalence of posttraumatic reactions was calculated and a group comparison was conducted to determine their predictive factors. Thirty-six percent of the mothers currently suffered from posttraumatic symptoms 18 months after their preterm delivery. The 18 months period prevalence was 60.4% among all the mothers who participated until the end of the follow-up. There was a statistical link between posttraumatic symptoms and a shorter gestational age at delivery, C-section, and the mother’s psychological state of mind at every assessment time. Only a small proportion of mothers were receiving psychological support at 18 months. Preterm mothers are a population at risk of developing a long-lasting postpartum posttraumatic disorder, therefore immediate and delayed systematic screenings for posttraumatic symptoms are strongly recommended to guide at-risk mothers towards appropriate psychological support.
Mechanisms and impact of public reporting on physicians and hospitals’ performance: A systematic review (2000–2020)
Authors: Prang Khic-Houy , Maritz Roxanne , Sabanovic Hana , Dunt David , Kelaher Margaret
Published: February 2021

Background

Public performance reporting (PPR) of physician and hospital data aims to improve health outcomes by promoting quality improvement and informing consumer choice. However, previous studies have demonstrated inconsistent effects of PPR, potentially due to the various PPR characteristics examined. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review of the impact and mechanisms (selection and change), by which PPR exerts its influence.

Methods

Studies published between 2000 and 2020 were retrieved from five databases and eight reviews. Data extraction, quality assessment and synthesis were conducted. Studies were categorised into: user and provider responses to PPR and impact of PPR on quality of care.

Results

Forty-five studies were identified: 24 on user and provider responses to PPR, 14 on impact of PPR on quality of care, and seven on both. Most of the studies reported positive effects of PPR on the selection of providers by patients, purchasers and providers, quality improvement activities in primary care clinics and hospitals, clinical outcomes and patient experiences.

Conclusions

The findings provide moderate level of evidence to support the role of PPR in stimulating quality improvement activities, informing consumer choice and improving clinical outcomes. There was some evidence to demonstrate a relationship between PPR and patient experience. The effects of PPR varied across clinical areas which may be related to the type of indicators, level of data reported and the mode of dissemination. It is important to ensure that the design and implementation of PPR considered the perspectives of different users and the health system in which PPR operates in. There is a need to account for factors such as the structural characteristics and culture of the hospitals that could influence the uptake of PPR.
Association of SARS-CoV-2 viral load at admission with in-hospital acute kidney injury: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Paranjpe Ishan , Chaudhary Kumardeep , Johnson Kipp W. , Jaladanki Suraj K. , Zhao Shan , De Freitas Jessica K. , Pujdas Elisabet , Chaudhry Fayzan , Bottinger Erwin P. , Levin Matthew A. , Fayad Zahi A. , Charney Alexander W. , Houldsworth Jane , Cordon-Cardo Carlos , Glicksberg Benjamin S. , Nadkarni Girish N.
Published: February 2021

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the associated Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health emergency. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 although mechanisms underlying AKI are yet unclear. There may be a direct effect of SARS-CoV-2 virus on the kidney; however, there is currently no data linking SARS-CoV-2 viral load (VL) to AKI. We explored the association of SARS-CoV-2 VL at admission to AKI in a large diverse cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Methods and findings

We included patients hospitalized between March 13th and May 19th, 2020 with SARS-CoV-2 in a large academic healthcare system in New York City (N = 1,049) with available VL at admission quantified by real-time RT-PCR. We extracted clinical and outcome data from our institutional electronic health records (EHRs). AKI was defined by KDIGO guidelines. We fit a Fine-Gray competing risks model (with death as a competing risk) using demographics, comorbidities, admission severity scores, and log10 transformed VL as covariates and generated adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs). VL was associated with an increased risk of AKI (aHR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01–1.08, p = 0.02) with a 4% increased hazard for each log10 VL change. Patients with a viral load in the top 50th percentile had an increased adjusted hazard of 1.27 (95% CI: 1.02–1.58, p = 0.03) for AKI as compared to those in the bottom 50th percentile.

Conclusions

VL is weakly but significantly associated with in-hospital AKI after adjusting for confounders. This may indicate the role of VL in COVID-19 associated AKI. This data may inform future studies to discover the mechanistic basis of COVID-19 associated AKI.
Relationship between mortality and health care expenditure: Sustainable assessment of health care system
Authors: Owusu Phebe Asantewaa , Sarkodie Samuel Asumadu , Pedersen Pål Andreas
Published: February 2021

Infant and maternal mortality are important indicators for assessing the quality of healthcare systems. The World Health Organization underscores the importance of proper health care system in reducing preventable mortality through early intervention. Early intervention includes availability, accessibility and affordability of health care systems for children and mothers. While there are several studies that assess the immediate and underlying drivers of child mortality, literature on the role of policy measures are limited and inconsistent. Thus, robust empirical analysis of the determinants of maternal and infant mortality remains inconclusive in the era of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Here, we examined the influence of health expenditure on infant and maternal deaths for the period 2000–2015 across 177 countries. Using panel Quantile Regression with bootstrapping, this study accounted for the 2007–2008 financial crisis in an empirical relationship between health outcome and health expenditure. We found a negative effect of health expenditure on mortality across all percentiles. Infant mortality rate declines between 0.19% - 1.45% while maternal mortality rate declines ranging from 0.09% - 1.91%. To attain the goal of ensuring healthy lives and wellbeing of all people (SDG 3), this study infers that health expenditure potentially reduces maternal and infant mortality across lower and middle income countries. We highlight the need for an enhanced health care expenditure, especially in developing countries to curb the levels of infant and maternal deaths.
The effects of wearing facemasks on oxygenation and ventilation at rest and during physical activity
Authors: Shein Steven L. , Whitticar Sofie , Mascho Kira K. , Pace Elizabeth , Speicher Richard , Deakins Kathleen
Published: February 2021

Background

Facemasks are recommended to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, but concern about inadequate gas exchange is an often cited reason for non-compliance.

Research question

Among adult volunteers, do either cloth masks or surgical masks impair oxygenation or ventilation either at rest or during physical activity?

Study design and methods

With IRB approval and informed consent, we measured heart rate (HR), transcutaneous carbon dioxide (CO2) tension and oxygen levels (SpO2) at the conclusion of six 10-minute phases: sitting quietly and walking briskly without a mask, sitting quietly and walking briskly while wearing a cloth mask, and sitting quietly and walking briskly while wearing a surgical mask. Brisk walking required at least a 10bpm increase in heart rate. Occurrences of hypoxemia (decrease in SpO2 of ≥3% from baseline to a value of ≤94%) and hypercarbia (increase in CO2 tension of ≥5 mmHg from baseline to a value of ≥46 mmHg) in individual subjects were collected. Wilcoxon signed-rank was used for pairwise comparisons among values for the whole cohort (e.g. walking without a mask versus walking with a cloth mask).

Results

Among 50 adult volunteers (median age 33 years; 32% with a co-morbidity), there were no episodes of hypoxemia or hypercarbia (0%; 95% confidence interval 0–1.9%). In paired comparisons, there were no statistically significant differences in either CO2 or SpO2 between baseline measurements without a mask and those while wearing either kind of mask mask, both at rest and after walking briskly for ten minutes.

Interpretation

The risk of pathologic gas exchange impairment with cloth masks and surgical masks is near-zero in the general adult population.
Immunity and survival response of Atta cephalotes (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae) workers to Metarhizium anisopliae infection: Potential role of their associated microbiota
Authors: Valencia-Giraldo Sandra Milena , Niño-Castro Andrea , López-Peña Andrea , Trejos-Vidal Danna , Correa-Bueno Odair , Montoya-Lerma James
Published: February 2021

Leaf-cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex are at constant risk of epizootics due to their dense living conditions and frequent social interactions between genetically related individuals. To help mitigate the risk of epizootics, these ants display individual and collective immune responses, including associations with symbiotic bacteria that can enhance their resistance to pathogenic infections. For example, Acromyrmex spp. harbor actinobacteria that control infection by Escovopsis in their fungal gardens. Although Atta spp. do not maintain symbiosis with protective actinobacteria, the evidence suggests that these insects are colonized by bacterial microbiota that may play a role in their defense against pathogens. The potential role of the bacterial microbiome of Atta workers in enhancing host immunity remains unexplored. We evaluated multiple parameters of the individual immunity of Atta cephalotes (Linnaeus, 1758) workers, including hemocyte count, encapsulation response, and the antimicrobial activity of the hemolymph in the presence or absence of bacterial microbiota. Experiments were performed on ants reared under standard conditions as well as on ants previously exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metharrizium anisopliae. Furthermore, the effects of the presence/absence of bacteria on the survival of workers exposed to M. anisopliae were evaluated. The bacterial microbiota associated with A. cephalotes workers does not modulate the number of hemocytes under control conditions or under conditions of exposure to the fungal pathogen. In addition, infection by M. anisopliae, but not microbiota, increases the encapsulation response. Similarly, the exposure of workers to this fungus led to increased hemolymph antimicrobial activity. Conversely, the removal of bacterial microbiota did not have a significant impact on the survival of workers with M. anisopliae. Our results suggest that the bacterial microbiota associated with the cuticle of A. cephalotes workers does not play a role as a modulator of innate immunity, either at baseline or after exposure to the entomopathogen M. anisopliae. Further, upon infection, workers rely on mechanisms of humoral immunity to respond to this threat. Overall, our findings indicate that the bacterial microbiota associated with A. cephalotes workers does not play a defensive role.
Emergency mortality of non-trauma patients was predicted by qSOFA score
Authors: Li Yufang , Guo Yanxia , Chen Du
Published: February 2021

Objective

This study was aimed to evaluate the performance of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) in predicting the emergency department (ED) mortality of non-trauma patients and to expand the application scope of qSOFA score.

Methods

A single, retrospective review of non-trauma patients was conducted in ED between November 1, 2016 and November 1, 2019. The qSOFA score was obtained from vital signs and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. The outcome was ED mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between the qSOFA score and ED mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve, the best cutoff value, sensitivity and specificity were performed to ascertain the predictive value of the qSOFA score.

Results

228(1.96%) of the 11621 patients were died. The qSOFA score was statistically higher in the non-survival group (P<0.001). The qSOFA score 0 subgroup was used as reference baseline, after adjusting for gender and age, adjusted OR of 1, 2 and 3 subgroups were 4.77 (95%CI 3.40 to 6.70), 18.17 (95%CI 12.49 to 26.44) and 23.63 (95%CI 9.54 to 58.52). All these three subgroups show significantly higher ED mortality compared to qSOFA 0 subgroup (P<0.001). AUROC of qSOFA score was 0.76 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.79). The best cutoff value was 0, sensitivity was 77.63% (95%CI 71.7% to 82.9%), and specificity was 67.2% (95%CI 66.3% to 68.1%).

Conclusion

The qSOFA score was associated with ED mortality in non-trauma patients and showed good prognostic performance. It can be used as a general tool to evaluate non-trauma patients in ED. This is just a retrospective cohort study, a prospective or a randomized study will be required.
Did the COVID-19 pandemic help or hurt Donald Trump’s political fortunes?
Authors: Hart Joshua
Published: February 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic likely had an effect on the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. Was it responsible for the defeat of incumbent President Donald Trump? The present study makes an initial attempt at, and provides a model for, understanding the pandemic’s influence on Trump support. The study employed a mixed experimental and correlational design and surveyed separate samples of adults (N = 1,763) in six waves beginning March 23, 2020 and ending June 1, 2020. Participants were randomly assigned to report their Trump support either before or after being reminded of the pandemic with a series of questions gauging their level of concern about it. Results revealed complex and dynamic effects that changed over time. Depending on survey wave, the pandemic seems to have lowered Trump support among Democrats, while (marginally) raising it among independents. Republicans’ reactions also changed over time; of particular note, Republicans who were more concerned about the pandemic reported higher Trump support after being reminded of the pandemic in its early stages, but this effect reversed by the time the economy began reopening (coinciding with a dip in Trump’s approval ratings). Although the correlational results in the present study did not converge neatly with the experimental results, the combined experimental and correlational approach has the potential to increase researchers’ confidence in the causal effects of salient national and international events on political attitudes.
On the ontology and afterlife of the scenic model
Authors: Schweikardt Michael
Published: February 2021

For scenic designers, the building of a scenic model is not merely a component of one’s practice – it is an act of creation. Handcrafted from pieces of this and that, the model’s purpose is to imagine whole worlds in miniature that, in turn, inspire fantasies and daydreams. But when this purpose is ignored, and the model is regarded as simply a tool for communication, it is seen as having outlived its usefulness and often thrown away. On the stage our work exists only briefly and then it is gone (i.e., the bittersweet, ephemeral nature of theatre) but the model need not meet the same fate. The life of the scenic model, like any life spent in the service of art, is worthy of more consideration. We must imagine a better afterlife for it. In this article, I examine an exhibit of my own discarded scenic models titled Please Touch: Revitalizing Scenic Models through Play. Displayed in their ruined state, detached from their original duties as tools for production, I invited audiences to play with the models; to touch and examine them; and to move or rearrange them, as a way to revitalize them through engagement so that they might live again.
‘Blow Your Trumpets, Angels!’: Jeremy Goldstein and Truth to Power Café
Authors: Jarrett James
Published: February 2021

In the years since his death, some of the most important new areas of enquiry in Pinter studies have centred on the artistic works inspired by this major dramatist. One such endeavour is a new theatre production entitled Truth to Power Café. Truth to Power Café has been written and devised by the artist and producer Jeremy Goldstein. Goldstein’s work is a blend of poetry, performance and storytelling – an exploration of his own hidden history, and an articulation of his own ambivalent feelings. Even though Pinter contended that art and politics were irreconcilable, the argument of this paper is that Truth to Power Café represents an attempt by Goldstein to generate a synthesis between the artistic and the political: to reconcile the subjective character of art with the public nature of political activism; to mobilize the power of the theatre to enable the oppressed to break through the ritualistic ‘habits of lying’ that protect the powerful, and to discover a form of theatre where the audience can articulate themselves with ‘honesty’ and ‘precision’. Goldstein reconceptualizes the theatre as a ‘safe space’, where audience members can speak out against oppressive forces. Goldstein’s performance is a ‘call to action’. Each life testimony mediates between Goldstein’s lyrical psycho-biography, and the audience’s reception of his presentation, situating each regional performance of Truth to Power Café in its social, historical, and economic context. Goldstein achieves his objective by interweaving the personal, the private and the artistic with the public, the political and the historical.
Ethics of homeless representation in costume design
Authors: Ridder Alyssa
Published: February 2021

Marisol, set in 1993 New York City, depicts the end of the world from the perspective of a twenty-something Puerto Rican white collar woman who loses her guardian angel. In approaching the costume design for this play I encountered a deeply concerning question: how can I design costumes for homeless characters without appropriating the physical appearance of people who experience homelessness in real life? Homeless characters are represented in many iconic plays in English language theatre, from Angels in America to Oliver!, and costume designers are frequently asked to address the ethics of representation with their design choices. In this short article I share my process in sourcing primary reference images for homeless characters without appropriating the exclusionary violence of the people who are considered ‘out of place’ in today’s New York City. I considered the ethics of different approaches to sourcing primary research that I have used in the past but ultimately chose to give up ‘authenticity’ for ethics. For the design I used reference images sourced from Japanese label N. Hoolywood’s Fall 2017 Menswear Collection, a fashion design that directly appropriates people who experience homelessness. My choice to frame homelessness through the lens of fashion served our production of Marisol only because of its design concept but leaves open the question of how to ethically design costumes for homeless characters in other plays.
The ethos of the periphery
Authors: Ewing-Pierce Jennifer
Published: February 2021

In the scholarly world where disembodied language and intellectualism reign, Kaustavi Sarkar, a dancing archive, performs embodied epistemologies. Even in her native Odissi dance discipline, Sarkar works from the margin as a questioner and an experimenter in a codified practice that values obedience and tradition. It is from this periphery that Sarkar develops a unique ethos of traditional dance that turns the conservatism of classical forms to open-layered intracultural and intercultural dance dialogues through dance.
Writing in Collaborative Theatre-Making, Sarah Sigal (2016)
Authors: La Follette Tavia
Published: February 2021

Review of: Writing in Collaborative Theatre-Making, Sarah Sigal (2016)

London: Palgrave Macmillan, 240 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-13733-170-0, e-book, €23.99

ISBN 978-1-13733-169-4, h/bk, €79.11

ISBN 978-1-13733-168-7, p/bk, €28.47
Transformación digital en las universidades: Implicaciones de la pandemia de la COVID-19
Authors: GARCÍA PEÑALVO Francisco José
Published: February 2021

Mirando con retrospectiva, el año 2020 no ha sido para nada como lo hubiéramos imaginado. La pandemia de la COVID-19 lo ha marcado todo. Hemos vivido experiencias inimaginables. Los escenarios de confinamiento y de distancia social han requerido una incorporación de las tecnologías como medio imprescindible para continuar con las actividades profesionales, educativas y sociales. A nivel social, el avance en las competencias digitales de la población se ha visto incrementado de forma exponencial. Sin embargo, esta necesidad de uso de la tecnología no significa que, de forma general, las instituciones y personas estuvieran preparadas para afrontar los procesos digitales, lo que pone de manifiesto déficits en sus estrategias de transformación digital. Esto ha sido muy patente en las universidades, que, si bien gracias a las tecnologías han podido cumplir con sus misiones, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la docencia, la madurez de sus procesos de transformación digital se ha visto comprometida. En lo que se refiere a la revista Education in the Knowledge Society (EKS), como para el resto de publicaciones científicas, en 2020 los procesos de revisión se han visto un poco más dilatados, pero se han cumplido y el volumen 21 ha contado con 30 contribuciones de calidad contrastada. Además, 2020 le ha otorgado a EKS su primer índice CiteScore (Scopus) de 0.25, con un percentil del 27% que la coloca en un tercer cuartil. Con este artículo editorial se inaugura el volumen 22 de esta revista correspondiente a 2021. Este editorial está disponible tanto en español como en inglés.
PENGETAHUAN ETNOMEDISIN MASYARAKAT BALI TENTANG PARE (Momordica charantia L.; CUCURBITACEAE): SEBUAH KAJIAN KEPUSTAKAAN
Authors: Oktavia Gebby Agnessya Esa , Arifah Fitriana Hayyu , Arifa Nissa , Sujarwo Wawan
Published: February 2021

Momordica charantia merupakan tumbuhan herba merambat, yang dikenal masyarakat Indonesia dengan nama “pare”. Tumbuhan ini secara umum dimanfaatkan masyarakat Bali untuk membuat loloh (minuman herbal tradisional Bali) untuk meredakan panas dalam, mengobati limuh dan diabetes. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pemanfaatan M. charantia oleh masyarakat Bali serta aktivitas farmakologinya. Metode yang digunakan dalam pengumpulan data adalah dengan menggunakan scientific databases, seperti google scholar, science direct, portal scopus, dan springer. Data yang diperoleh selanjutnya dianalisis dengan pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa masyarakat Bali menggunakan M. charantia sebagai obat tradisional pada beberapa kondisi yaitu limuh (pingsan), barah/ beteg (bengkak), nyeri, dan cacar. M. charantia mengandung aktivitas farmakologi, seperti antidiabetes melitus, antikanker, antibakteri, antifertilitas, antivirus, anti-ulcer, antelminitik, dan antimalaria.
Populism and religion in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Máté-Tóth András , Nagy Gábor Dániel , Szilárdi Réka
Published: February 2021

Populism is a re-emerging modern topic. Since 2015 it has been one of the most mentioned and analyzed issues in the political sciences, international relations, and sociological academic literature. Although populism is a worldwide phenomenon it is also highly regionalized. This research focuses on link between populism, nationalism, and religion in Central and Eastern Europe. Differences seen between this region, Western Europe, and United States are also examined. In this paper, we offer a novel understanding of populist phenomenon in Central and Eastern Europe based on decisive impacts of geopolitical and geo-cultural status of the region. This populist phenomenon can be traced back to “nurture itself” on the traumatized collective identity and a special kind of mindset, which is termed as wounded collective identity in this paper.
Digital inequalities by gender and socio-economic status among Hungarian students based on PISA 2015
Authors: Vincze Anikó
Published: February 2021

Our paper focuses on the socio-demographic segmentation of dimensions of digital inequalities introduced by DiMaggio and Hargittai (2001). These dimensions include technical apparatus, autonomy of use, ICT skills, social support and purpose of use. We conducted our investigation on the Hungarian subsample of the PISA 2015 dataset, from which we applied variables on ICT use to reveal differences between boys and girls, and by socio-economic and cultural status of students in these dimensions. According to our analysis there are gendered differences as well as differences by socio-economic status regarding dimensions of digital inequalities. Our results can contribute to further research to better understand the relationship between digital inequalities and other dimensions.