bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reduced sexual contacts with non-steady partners and less PrEP use among MSM in Belgium during the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown: results of an online survey
Authors: Reyniers Thijs , Rotsaert Anke , Thunissen Estrelle , Buffel Veerle , Masquillier Caroline , Van Landeghem Ella , Vanhamel Jef , Nöstlinger Christiana , Wouters Edwin , Laga Marie , Vuylsteke Bea
Published: November 2020

Objectives

To examine changes in the occurrence of physical sex with non-steady partners among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Belgium during the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown and associations with sociodemographic factors, sexual practices, drug, alcohol and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use. A secondary objective was to explore changes in PrEP use and the need for PrEP follow-up.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey. The questionnaire was available in Dutch, French and English, between April 10 and 27 (2020), and disseminated via sexual health and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or intersex organisations throughout Belgium. Eligibility criteria included being 18 years or older, not being exclusively heterosexual and living or being born in Belgium.

Results

The sample included 694 MSM. Physical sex with non-steady partners decreased from 59.1% to 8.9% during the first weeks of the lockdown. Those who had sex with non-steady partners were significantly more likely to be HIV positive, to use PrEP or to have engaged in sexual practices such as group sex, chemsex and sex work before the lockdown, compared with their counterparts. Among those who used PrEP before the lockdown, 47.0% stopped using PrEP, 19.7% used event-driven PrEP and 33.3% used daily PrEP during the lockdown. Almost two-thirds of PrEP users had a PrEP care appointment in the weeks before the lockdown and a minority received follow-up elsewhere or online. Some PrEP users had concerns regarding their follow-up.

Conclusions

MSM in our survey substantially reduced sexual contact with non-steady partners during the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown, suggesting that the risk for HIV and STI transmission in this period was low. We recommend ensuring access to sexual health services, such as HIV testing and follow-up for PrEP for the small group having multiple sex partners and engaging in sexual practices such as chemsex, or group sex, even in times of a pandemic threat.
Suitability of empirical equations for estimating permanent settlement of railway foundation materials subjected to cyclic loading with principal stress rotation
Authors: Mamou Anna , Powrie William , Clayton Christopher R.I. , Priest Jeffrey A.
Published: November 2020

This paper uses the results of a series of laboratory tests with cyclic principal stress rotation to assess the suitability of a number of empirical equations for estimating the development of plastic settlements in railway track foundations. The laboratory tests were carried out on three sand–clay mixes representative of railway track foundation materials, in both free-to-drain and undrained conditions. The results of a non-linear regression analysis demonstrate that the drainage conditions are the key factor affecting the estimation accuracy of the models, with the clay content playing a secondary role. The correlation coefficient was generally higher in free-to-drain than in undrained conditions and reduced slightly with increasing clay content.
Online Learning Algorithms
Authors: Cesa-Bianchi Nicolò , Orabona Francesco
Published: November 2020

Online learning is a framework for the design and analysis of algorithms that build predictive models by processing data one at the time. Besides being computationally efficient, online algorithms enjoy theoretical performance guarantees that do not rely on statistical assumptions on the data source. In this review, we describe some of the most important algorithmic ideas behind online learning and explain the main mathematical tools for their analysis. Our reference framework is online convex optimization, a sequential version of convex optimization within which most online algorithms are formulated. More specifically, we provide an in-depth description of online mirror descent and follow the regularized leader, two of the most fundamental algorithms in online learning. As the tuning of parameters is a typically difficult task in sequential data analysis, in the last part of the review we focus on coin-betting, an information-theoretic approach to the design of parameter-free online algorithms with good theoretical guarantees.
Rationalizing Calcium Electrodeposition Behavior by Quantifying Ethereal Solvation Effects on Ca2+ Coordination in Well-Dissociated Electrolytes
Authors: Driscoll Darren M. , Dandu Naveen K. , Hahn Nathan T. , Seguin Trevor J. , Persson Kristin A. , Zavadil Kevin R. , Curtiss Larry A. , Balasubramanian Mahalingam
Published: November 2020

Ca-ion electrochemical systems have been pushed to the forefront of recent multivalent energy storage advances due to their use of earth-abundant redox materials and their high theoretical specific densities in relation to monovalent or even other more widely explored multivalent-charge carriers. However, significant pitfalls in metal plating and stripping arise from electrolyte decomposition and can be related to the coordination environment around Ca2+ with both the negatively charged anion and the organic–aprotic solvent. In this study, we apply multiple spectroscopic techniques in conjunction with density functional theory to evaluate the coordination environment of Ca2+ across a class of ethereal solvents. Through the combination of X-ray absorption fine structure and time-dependent density functional theory, descriptive measures of the local geometry, coordination, and electronic structure of Ca–ethereal complexes provide distinct structural trends depending on the extent of the Ca2+–solvent interaction. Finally, we correlate these findings with electrochemical measurements of calcium tetrakis(hexafluoroisopropoxy)borate (CaBHFIP2) salts dissolved within this class of solvents to provide insight into the preferred structural configuration of Ca2+ electrolytic solutions for optimized electrochemical plating and stripping.
The Effects of Microwave-Assisted Pretreatment and Cofermentation on Bioethanol Production from Elephant Grass
Authors: Kolo Sefrinus Maria Dolfi , Wahyuningrum Deana , Hertadi Rukman
Published: November 2020

The process of acid hydrolysis using conventional methods at high concentrations results in products having lower yields, and it needs a longer time of process; therefore, it becomes less effective. In this study, we analyzed the effects of microwave-assisted pretreatment and cofermentation on bioethanol production from elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum). We used a combination of delignification techniques and acid hydrolysis by employing a microwave-assisted pretreatment method on elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) as a lignocellulosic material. This was followed by cofermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae ITB-R89 and Pichia stipitis ITB-R58 to produce bioethanol. The optimal sugar mixtures (fructose and xylose) of the hydrolysis product were subsequently converted into bioethanol by cofermentation with S. cerevisiae ITB-R89 and P. stipitis ITB-R58, carried out with varying concentrations of inoculum for 5 days (48 h) at 30°C and pH 4.5. The high-power liquid chromatographic analysis revealed that the optimal inoculum concentration capable of converting 76.15% of the sugar mixture substrate (glucose and xylose) to 10.79 g/L (34.74% yield) of bioethanol was 10% (v/v). The optimal rate of ethanol production was 0.45 g/L/d, corresponding to a fermentation efficiency of 69.48%.
Development of an Autophagy Score Signature for Predicting Overall Survival in Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Gu Xiang , Chen Xiaojun , Zhu Lei , Song Wenbo , Wang Ali , Chu Junfeng , Wang Tao , Jiang Peng , Ge Yizhi
Published: November 2020

Background. Autophagy is considered to be closely associated with cancer, functioning as either an anticancer or procancer mechanism depending on the cancer stage. However, the prognostic value of autophagy on papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) remains unclear. In this study, our purpose was to determine the autophagy-related mRNA signature to predict the overall survival of patients with pRCC. Materials and Methods. A total of 284 patients with pathologic confirmed pRCC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset were recruited and included. We choose patients who have smoked less than 15 years but staging 3 or 4 (including nontobacco exposure) vs. more than 15 years but staging 1 or 2. Fourteen differentially expressed mRNAs were found with

fold
 
change
>
2

and

P

value < 0.001 through limma package after making a pair between nontobacco exposure or less than 15 years and tobacco exposure more than 15 years by matchIt package. Results. Six mRNAs were identified to be significantly associated with overall survival. Then, using a risk score based on the signature of these six mRNAs, we divided the patients into low-risk and high-risk groups with significantly different OS. Further multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that the 6-mRNA signature was independent of age, TNM stage, and tumor type. In the present study, a novel 6-mRNA signature that is useful in survival prediction in pRCC patients was developed. If validated, this mRNA signature might assist in selecting high-risk subpopulation that needs more aggressive therapeutic intervention. The risk score involved in several cancer-related pathways was identified using gene set enrichment analysis. Conclusion. We initially generated a six autophagy-related genes’ signature, which correlates with AJCC N stage, tumor type, and pathological stage and independently predicts OS.
Quantitative Evaluation for the Threat Degree of a Thermal Reservoir to Deep Coal Mining
Authors: Chen Yun , Wang Xinyi , Zhao Yanqi , Shi Haolin , Liu Xiaoman , Niu Zhigang
Published: November 2020

Taking the Suiqi coalfield located in North China as the object, where the coal seam burial depth is more than 1100 m, the water abundance of the roof pore thermal storage aquifer is better than average, the ground temperature is abnormally high, and hydrogeological data are relatively lacking, this paper selects and determines eight index factors that influence the mining of the coalfield. Based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the index factor weight is defined, and then, the threat degree of the roof thermal storage aquifer to the coal mining is quantitatively evaluated and divided by using the fuzzy variable set theory. The evaluation results show that the threat degree of the roof in the eastern region is generally greater than that in the western region and that the closer it is to the coal seam outcrop line, the higher the threat degree is; near the boreholes, in the areas Qs1,Qs5, Qs8, Sx1, Tk5, Zc4, and Zc7, which are close to the hidden outcrop line of the coal seam, the classification characteristic value of the threat degree is greater than 3.5, which is in the high-threat zone for disasters caused by roof thermal storage aquifers during coal seam mining. The area above the medium-threat zone accounts for 71.82% of the total study area, indicating that deep coal mining is affected by multiple factors and that roof water and heat disasters are more likely to occur.
Construction of the Evaluation System of Sustainable Utilization of Large Stadiums Based on the AHP Method
Authors: Zhu Li-Cai , Gao Zhi , Zhu Jia-Ming , Zhang Di
Published: November 2020

Large-scale sports stadiums are an important part of China’s sports stadium system and an important material basis and prerequisite for China’s basic public sports service system. This paper aims to establish the evaluation index system by exploring the utilization of large stadiums and gymnasiums under the background of sustainable development and to provide important reference for the construction and utilization of stadiums and gymnasiums in the future. Using literature methods, quantitative statistics, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and other methods, focusing on sustainable use, this study develops a postgame utilization evaluation system for large stadiums, considering the design, construction, operation, and management of the stadium. This paper identifies 5 first-level indicators, 13 second-level indicators, and 38 third-level indicators, which mainly included five aspects of comprehensive performance, service level, environmental performance, economic performance, and venue maintenance. The AHP method was used to determine the index weight coefficient, thus forming a sustainable use evaluation index system for the large stadiums. Finally, taking Bengbu Sports Center in Anhui province as an example, this paper makes an empirical analysis.
Ahorro previsional voluntario en Chile y América Latina
Authors: Fuentes Olga , López Fernando
Published: November 2020

El ahorro previsional voluntario se ha convertido en un pilar relevante de los sistemas previsionales porque permite mejorar la cobertura y suficiencia de las pensiones, aumentando su sustentabilidad de largo plazo. Aumentar la necesidad de recursos para financiar las futuras pensiones es particularmente relevante debido al envejecimiento de la población, las altas tasas de informalidad, la disminución en las rentabilidades esperadas de los activos financieros, así como las crecientes presiones para acceder a los fondos previsionales con anterioridad al retiro. Los artículos de este número especial entregan un análisis amplio que se beneficia del trabajo conjunto de académicos, reguladores y organismos internacionales como el BID.
Los sistemas de pensiones en América Latina y el Caribe
Authors: Cabrita Felix Carolina C.
Published: November 2020

Este artículo ofrece una mirada a los sistemas de pensiones de América Latina y el Caribe, y los desafíos que estos enfrentan en la actualidad. Presenta, además, el trabajo realizado por la Red de Pensiones en América Latina y el Caribe del BID, la cual desde hace más de 4 años apoya a los países de la región en su continuo esfuerzo por mejorar sus sistemas de pensiones. Finalmente, el artículo discute la importancia del ahorro previsional voluntario en un contexto de cambio demográfico y mayor longevidad.
Multimodal Imaging of Large Optic Disc Coloboma: A Report of Three Cases
Authors: El Hamichi Sophia , Acón Dhariana , Murray Timothy G. , Berrocal Audina M.
Published: November 2020

Optic disc coloboma (ODC) is a rare congenital anomaly of the optic nerve. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) helps to monitor the complications when there is associated retinoschisis, retinal detachment, or peripapillary neovascularization, while being minimally invasive. OCT angiography could help to better understand this entity from a vascular perspective. We report multimodal imaging of 3 children with large ODC associated with cat eye syndrome, CHARGE syndrome (coloboma, heart defects, atresia choanae, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities), and branchio-oculo-facial syndrome.
Heart Failure Results in Inspiratory Muscle Dysfunction Irrespective of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction
Authors: Spiesshoefer Jens , Henke Carolin , Kabitz Hans Joachim , Bengel Philipp , Schütt Katharina , Nofer Jerzy-Roch , Spieker Maximilian , Orwat Stefan , Diller Gerhard Paul , Strecker Jan Kolia , Giannoni Alberto , Dreher Michael , Randerath Winfried Johannes , Boentert Matthias , Tuleta Izabela
Published: November 2020

Background: Exercise intolerance in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) results from both cardiac dysfunction and skeletal muscle weakness. Respiratory muscle dysfunction with restrictive ventilation disorder may be present irrespective of left ventricular ejection fraction and might be mediated by circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines. Objective: To determine lung and respiratory muscle function in patients with HFrEF/HFpEF and to determine its associations with exercise intolerance and markers of systemic inflammation. Methods: Adult patients with HFrEF (n = 22, 19 male, 61 ± 14 years) and HFpEF (n = 8, 7 male, 68 ± 8 years) and 19 matched healthy control subjects underwent spirometry, measurement of maximum mouth occlusion pressures, diaphragm ultrasound, and recording of transdiaphragmatic and gastric pressures following magnetic stimulation of the phrenic nerves and the lower thoracic nerve roots. New York Heart Association (NYHA) class and 6-min walking distance (6MWD) were used to quantify exercise intolerance. Levels of circulating interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured using ELISAs. Results: Compared with controls, both patient groups showed lower forced vital capacity (FVC) (p < 0.05), maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax), maximum expiratory pressure (PEmax) (p < 0.05), diaphragm thickening ratio (p = 0.01), and diaphragm strength (twitch transdiaphragmatic pressure in response to supramaximal cervical magnetic phrenic nerve stimulation) (p = 0.01). In patients with HFrEF, NYHA class and 6MWD were both inversely correlated with FVC, PImax, and PEmax. In those with HFpEF, there was an inverse correlation between amino terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide levels and FVC (r = −0.77, p = 0.04). In all HF patients, IL-6 and TNF-α were statistically related to FVC. Conclusions: Irrespective of left ventricular ejection fraction, HF is associated with respiratory muscle dysfunction, which is associated with increased levels of circulating IL-6 and TNF-α.
Gene Expression Analysis by Real-Time PCR in Nasal Brushings of Adult Patients with Allergic Rhinitis, Suspected Allergic Rhinitis, and Nonallergic Rhinitis
Authors: Wang Min , She Wenyu , Yang Jun , Wang Xiangdong , Zhang Yuan , Zhang Xu , Zhang Luo
Published: November 2020

Background: Epithelial gene expression in allergic rhinitis patients has been evaluated by microarray. However, gene expression in patients with nonallergic rhinitis and suspected allergic rhinitis who reported allergen-related nasal symptoms but presented a negative atopic test was unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study was to observe and compare epithelial gene expression in patients with allergic rhinitis, suspected allergic rhinitis, and nonallergic rhinitis. Methods: Nasal brushings were collected from healthy controls and from patients with allergic rhinitis, suspected allergic rhinitis, and nonallergic rhinitis. The expressions of 20 genes selected from a previous microarray study were measured by real-time PCR. Associations of these genes with allergen type, disease duration and severity, the grade of nasal smear eosinophilia, and serum total IgE were analyzed. Results: Twelve genes were confirmed to be upregulated in current adult allergic rhinitis patients allergic to multiple allergens, and 10 of them were also increased in the suspected allergic rhinitis and nonallergic rhinitis groups. TFF3 and ITLN1 expressions were increased in allergic rhinitis and suspected allergic rhinitis, but not nonallergic rhinitis. Different expressions between the allergic rhinitis and nonallergic rhinitis groups were found for 3 genes: CST1, TFF3, and ITLN1. In the allergic rhinitis patients, all 12 genes were upregulated in the seasonal and perennial groups; 9 of these 12 genes were also upregulated in the mixed group. In suspected allergic rhinitis patients, all 12 genes were upregulated in the perennial group; 8 of these 12 genes were also upregulated in the seasonal group and only 5 in the mixed group. No gene expression was associated with disease duration and serum total IgE. GCNT3 was positively correlated with the grade of nasal smear eosinophilia in the suspected allergic rhinitis group. Different genes were found to be associated with disease severity in different rhinitis groups. Conclusions: Patients with allergic rhinitis, suspected allergic rhinitis, and nonallergic rhinitis showed much similarity with regard to epithelial gene expression; most genes were related to Th2 inflammation. CST1, TFF3, and ITLN1 might have the ability to differentiate allergic rhinitis from nonallergic rhinitis. Understanding the mechanisms underlying different types of rhinitis may be helpful for rhinitis diagnosis and treatment.
Sex-Segregated Range Use by Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia variegata) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar
Authors: Baden Andrea L. , Oliveras Jelisa , Gerber Brian D.
Published: November 2020

Ranging behavior is one important strategy by which nonhuman primates obtain access to resources critical to their biological maintenance and reproductive success. As most primates live in permanent social groups, their members must balance the benefits of group living with the costs of intragroup competition for resources. However, some taxa live in more spatiotemporally flexible social groups, whose members modify patterns of association and range use as a method to mitigate these costs. Here, we describe the range use of one such taxon, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), at an undisturbed primary rain forest site in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, and characterize sex differences in annual home range area, overlap, and daily distances traveled. Moreover, we characterize seasonal variability in range use and ask whether ranging behaviors can be explained by either climatic or reproductive seasonality. We found that females used significantly larger home ranges than males, though sexes shared equal and moderate levels of home range overlap. Overall, range use did not vary across seasons, although within sexes, male range use varied significantly with climate. Moreover, daily path length was best predicted by day length, female reproductive state, and sex, but was unrelated to climate variables. While the patterns of range use and spatial association presented here share some similarities with “bisexually bonded” community models described for chimpanzees, we argue that ruffed lemurs best conform to a “nuclear neighborhood” community model wherein nuclear (core) groups share the highest levels of home range overlap, and where these groups cluster spatially into adjacent “neighborhoods” within the larger, communally defended territory.
The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended Pediatric Scores of Intracranial Bleeding Patients with Acquired Prothrombin Complex Deficiency Post Craniotomy and Duraplasty
Authors: Sinurat Robert
Published: November 2020

Introduction: Surgical evacuation of intracranial bleeding in pediatric patients due to acquired prothrombin complex deficiency (APCD) is a life-saving surgery when conservative treatment insufficient and impending brain herniation. This study aimed to evaluate the Glasgow outcome scale-extended pediatric (GOS-ePed) score of the pediatric intracranial bleeding patients with APCD after craniotomy and duraplasty. Method: This was a retrospective study in the last 5 years of our experience. All of the pediatric patients with intracranial bleeding due to APCD who needed surgery were investigated. The data were collected from medical records after their parents have given their written informed concern and approved by the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Kristen Indonesia. The inclusion criteria were patients who operated on by craniotomy and duraplasty. The patient with a second disease was excluded. Blood tests include hemoglobin, prothrombin time, activated prothrombin time, and platelets were investigated before and after intravenous vitamin K injection, transfusion packed red cells (PRCs), and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) administration. The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) pre- and postoperatively was evaluated using a modified GCS for infants and children. The outcome was evaluated by the GOS-ePed score. All data were analyzed with the normality test and paired t test. Results: There were 5 patients age between 37 and 60 days, and all patients did not get vitamin K prophylaxis after birth. The blood tests of all patients revealed anemia, prothrombin, and activated prothrombin time increased, but platelets were normal. All these values returned to normal after vitamin K injection, transfusion of PRCs, and FFP. The paired t tests were p < 0.05. The GCS of all patients before surgery was 8 or below. After surgery, the GCS of 4 patients was increased become 12 and 15. One patient did not change significantly. The GOS-ePed score showed 4 patients (80%) had upper or lower good recovery, and 1 patient (20%) was in a vegetative state. Conclusions: The GOS-ePed score of the pediatric intracranial bleeding with APCD after craniotomy and duraplasty was mostly in upper or lower good recovery.
The Growth Kinetics of Collision Nodal Metastasis from Medullary and Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas: A Case Report
Authors: Li Hao , Livneh Nir , Dogan Snjezana , Shaha Ashok R.
Published: November 2020

Introduction: The collision of medullary (MTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in the same cervical lymph node can occur, but its growth kinetics has not been reported. Case Presentation: We report a 27-year-old male patient who had collision nodal metastases from PTC and sporadic MTC in the central compartment. This was treated with total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection. The collision nodal metastasis persisted and presented with a single sonographically enlarging central compartmental lymph node postoperatively. The volume of the collision nodal metastasis increased from 226 to 507 mm3 over the first 8 months, from 507 to 572 mm3 over the next 6 months, and from 572 to 762 mm3 over the next 31 months. The calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) fluctuated in the first 19 months followed by a steady increase at a doubling time of 1.97 and 8.42 years, respectively. Unstimulated thyroglobulin remained at 0.2 ng/mL or lower during the same period while thyrotropin (TSH) was not suppressed. Revision central neck dissection performed 4.5 years later resulted in undetectable serum calcitonin, CEA of 2 ng/mL, and thyroglobulin of 0.1 ng/mL from a preoperative calcitonin of 212 ng/L, CEA of 10 ng/mL, and thyroglobulin of 0.2 ng/mL. Further structural imaging 13.5 months later revealed no evidence of disease. Discussion: The growth kinetics of collision nodal metastasis from PTC and MTC can be similar to conventional PTC and MTC. Furthermore, the growth rate of such collision nodal metastases can be slow. Guided by tumor marker doubling time and regular structural imaging, surgical salvage performed after a period of active surveillance may still result in biochemical and structural remission.
Deubiquitinase Ubiquitin‐Specific Protease 10 Deficiency Regulates Sirt6 signaling and Exacerbates Cardiac Hypertrophy
Authors: Zhang Dian‐Hong , Zhang Jie‐Lei , Huang Zhen , Wu Lei‐Ming , Wang Zhong‐Min , Li Ya‐Peng , Tian Xin‐Yu , Kong Ling‐Yao , Yao Rui , Zhang Yan‐Zhou
Published: November 2020

Background

Cardiac hypertrophy (CH) is a physiological response that compensates for blood pressure overload. Under pathological conditions, hypertrophy can progress to heart failure as a consequence of the disorganized growth of cardiomyocytes and cardiac tissue. USP10 (ubiquitin‐specific protease 10) is a member of the ubiquitin‐specific protease family of cysteine proteases, which are involved in viral infection, oxidative stress, lipid drop formation, and heat shock. However, the role of USP10 in CH remains largely unclear. Here, we investigated the roles of USP10 in CH.

Methods and Results

Cardiac‐specific USP10 knockout (USP10‐CKO) mice and USP10‐transgenic (USP10‐TG) mice were used to examined the role of USP10 in CH following aortic banding. The specific functions of USP10 were further examined in isolated cardiomyocytes. USP10 expression was increased in murine hypertrophic hearts following aortic banding and in isolated cardiomyocytes in response to hypertrophic agonist. Mice deficient in USP10 in the heart exhibited exaggerated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis following pressure overload stress, which resulted in worsening of cardiac contractile function. In contrast, cardiac overexpression of USP10 protected against pressure overload‐induced maladaptive CH. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that USP10 activation and interaction with Sirt6 in response to angiotensin II led to a marked increase in the ubiquitination of Sirt6 and resulted in Akt signaling downregulation and attenuation of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Accordingly, inactivation of USP10 reduced Sirt6 abundance and stability and diminished Sirt6‐induced downstream signaling in cardiomyocytes.

Conclusions

USP10 functions as a Sirt6 deubiquitinase that induces cardiac myocyte hypertrophy and triggers maladaptive CH.
Admission Cardiac Diagnostic Testing with Electrocardiography and Troponin Measurement Prognosticates Increased 30‐Day Mortality in COVID‐19
Authors: Poterucha Timothy J. , Elias Pierre , Jain Sneha S. , Sayer Gabriel , Redfors Bjorn , Burkhoff Daniel , Rosenblum Hannah , DeFilippis Ersilia M. , Gupta Aakriti , Lawlor Matthew , Madhavan Mahesh V. , Griffin Jan , Raikhelkar Jayant , Fried Justin , Clerkin Kevin J. , Kim Andrea , Perotte Adler , Maurer Mathew S. , Saluja Deepak , Dizon José , Ehlert Frederick A. , Morrow John P. , Yarmohammadi Hirad , Biviano Angelo B. , Garan Hasan , Rabbani LeRoy , Leon Martin B , Schwartz Allan , Uriel Nir , Wan Elaine Y.
Published: November 2020

Background

Cardiovascular involvement in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is common and leads to worsened mortality. Diagnostic cardiovascular studies may be helpful for resource appropriation and identifying patients at increased risk for death.

Methods and Results

We analyzed 887 patients (aged 64±17 years) admitted with COVID‐19 from March 1 to April 3, 2020 in New York City with 12 lead electrocardiography within 2 days of diagnosis. Demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory testing, including high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs‐cTnT), were abstracted. At 30 days follow‐up, 556 patients (63%) were living without requiring mechanical ventilation, 123 (14%) were living and required mechanical ventilation, and 203 (23%) had expired. Electrocardiography findings included atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (AF/AFL) in 46 (5%) and ST‐T wave changes in 306 (38%). 27 (59%) patients with AF/AFL expired as compared to 181 (21%) of 841 with other non‐life‐threatening rhythms (
P
<0.001). Multivariable analysis incorporating age, comorbidities, AF/AFL, QRS abnormalities, and ST‐T wave changes, and initial hs‐cTnT ≥20 ng/L showed that increased age (HR 1.04/year), elevated hs‐cTnT (HR 4.57), AF/AFL (HR 2.07), and a history of coronary artery disease (HR 1.56) and active cancer (HR 1.87) were associated with increased mortality.

Conclusions

Myocardial injury with hs‐cTnT ≥20 ng/L, in addition to cardiac conduction perturbations, especially AF/AFL, upon hospital admission for COVID‐19 infection is associated with markedly increased risk for mortality than either diagnostic abnormality alone.
Introduction: Queerness, Time, and Biblical Interpretation
Authors: Moore Stephen D. , Buell Denise Kimber
Published: November 2020

This article introduces a thematic issue of Biblical Interpretation on the “temporal turn” in queer theory as it relates to biblical studies. Queer theorists of time have variously interrogated inherited concepts of history, historiography, historicity, and/or periodicity; the chrononormativity that regulates contemporary sexual lives; reproductive futurism, which evokes “our children” and their future to shore up heteronormativity and anathematize queerness; or explored the complex relations of queerness to the future and hence to hope. The contributions to this thematic issue, also introduced in the article, creatively harness these temporal theories and analytic strategies for queer biblical criticism and queer biblical hermeneutics.
Queer Necropolitics in the Decapolis: Here and There, Now and Then
Authors: McLellan Peter N.
Published: November 2020

This article seeks to disrupt the deadly deployment of boundaries that mark particular people as normative or queer, socially living or dead. Conversing with the Decapolis of Mark 5:1-20 and Washington D.C.’s prostitution free zones (pfz), the present project deploys a hauntological and critical spatial response, that locates points of contact between transwomen of color in the U.S. capital and the possessed Gerasenes. This article challenges biblical scholars to lean into historiography that sees such stories—from the tombs and from the pfz—as politically active in and of themselves, and with one another. Mark 5:1-20 is imagined here as a place constructed by alliances of queer bodies spatialized into unlivability. Such alliances are resources for thinking beyond the neocapitalist drive to create deadly normativity through insides and outsides, suggesting that biblical texts are always already infused with demands from places where life is suffocated.
A Backward Glance for a Queer Utopian Future: Genesis, Climate Change, and Hope as a Hermeneutic
Authors: Tipton Brian James
Published: November 2020

This article explores the ways in which biblical narratives and queer ecocritical voices can converge to recognize the importance of an intersectional climate change movement: to show that queer ecology matters. Specifically, I argue for an alternative approach to biblical ecocriticism, constructed around a queer(ed) biblical performance. I employ José Esteban Muñoz’s conceptualization of a queer utopian futurity, Lee Edelman’s critique of the political and rhetorical discourse centered on reproductive futurity, and Nicole Seymour’s blending of queer theory and ecocriticism in order to analyze conversations held by a cohort of the environmentally engaged nyc queer community. A performance and retelling of the story of Joseph(ine) in Genesis illustrates how queer engagement with biblical narratives offers an alternative to the dominant narrative of the climate change movement: “We must do it for our kids, for our grandkids.”
Biblical Interpretations and/as Queer Temporalities: A Response
Authors: Hidalgo Jacqueline M.
Published: November 2020

This response discusses the conjunction of “queer,” “temporalities,” and “biblical interpretation.” I argue that these essays demonstrate, through their turn to queer temporalities, that attending to queer time means attending to people in time, to their social practices, to dynamics of power, to violence, to survival, to the lost pasts whose voices still call out to our own, and to the choices we make in reading. The response also turns to borderlands theories, especially the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, and decolonial feminist thought, particularly that of María Lugones, in order to ask questions about biblical studies that cross borders.
Register and Rhetoric
Authors: Kienzle Alec
Published: November 2020

Despite 4QMMT having been informally called a “Halakhic Letter” since its first publication, more recently some scholars have expressed skepticism as to the original genre of this text. This article aims to provide empirical and theoretical support for what one might call the orthodox position: that this text was in fact a letter originally. By means of a detailed linguistic comparison between 4QMMT and the Damascus Document, it will be shown that despite many surface similarities between these texts in terms of structure and rhetoric, they present extremely divergent grammars. This in turn raises a fundamental question: how could two texts likely produced by the same community be so different linguistically? It will be argued that the most plausible explanation is that these two texts were written in distinct registers in order to accommodate to distinct literary genres. While the language of MMT can reasonably be called closer to the contemporary vernacular, the Damascus Document seems to be patterned after the language of the higher register of biblical narrative. From here, sociolinguistic research will be employed in an effort to show that the epistolary genre reliably reflects a lower register across languages and cultures, thereby justifying the orthodox position with respect to MMT.
Metaphysics as a Way of Life: Heymericus de Campo on Universals and the “Inner Man”
Authors: Calma Dragos
Published: November 2020

Pierre Hadot famously claimed that, between Antiquity and German Idealism, Western philosophy had lost its practical role of guiding the life of the practitioner. Scholars who challenged this view focused on two medieval models. This article argues that the overlooked work Colliget principiorum iuris naturalis, divini et humani philosophice doctrinalium by Heymericus de Campo postulates a third model. On the basis of St. Paul’s teaching about the “inner man,” Heymericus reconsiders the Aristotelian doctrines of abstraction and of being as such in relation to the Neoplatonic model of intellectual progression and interior conversion. In a realist conceptual framework, he holds that only metaphysics reflects the true nature of the human being inasmuch as it presupposes a way of life that assumes both the interaction with and withdrawal from the sensible world. However, Heymericus’ theory is neither limited to nor conditioned by Christian principles, but by Peripatetic philosophy (understood in the broad, Albertinian tradition).
The Rule of Contradictory Pairs, Insolubles and Validity
Authors: Read Stephen
Published: November 2020

The Oxford Calculator Roger Swyneshed put forward three provocative claims in his treatise on insolubles, written in the early 1330s, of which the second states that there is a formally valid inference with true premises and false conclusion. His example deployed the Liar paradox as the conclusion of the inference: ‘The conclusion of this inference is false, so this conclusion is false’. His account of insolubles supported his claim that the conclusion is false, and so the premise, referring to the conclusion, would seem to be true. But what is his account of validity that can allow true premises to lead to a false conclusion? This article considers Roger’s own account, as well as that of Paul of Venice, writing some sixty years later, whose account of the truth and falsehood of insolubles followed Roger’s closely. Paul endorsed Roger’s three claims. But their accounts of validity were different. The question is whether these accounts are coherent and support Paul’s claim in his Logica Magna that he endorsed all the normal rules of inference.
The effect of group size on the speed of decision making depends on compromise and predation risk across populations in the guppy Poecilia reticulata
Authors: Wade Amy S.I. , Ramnarine Indar W. , Ioannou Christos C.
Published: November 2020

While larger groups tend to be better at making decisions, very few studies have explored how ecological variables, including predation pressure, shape how group size affects decision making. Our cross-population study of wild-caught guppies (Poecilia reticulata) shows that leading individuals from larger groups made faster decisions when deciding to leave the start area and reach the junction of a Y-maze, which allows for compromise over timing. However, at the junction of the Y when the fish needed to make a mutually exclusive decision that does not allow for compromise, there was no effect of group size in high predation fish on decision speed. In fish from low predation habitats, speed was fastest at the intermediate group size with a decline in speed in the largest group size. These results challenge the view that decision making always improves with group size and shows this effect depends on ecological and decision-making conditions.
Growth curves of the yellowlegs shrimp Penaeus californiensis Holmes, 1900 (Decapoda, Penaeidae), using length data
Authors: Félix-Salazar Luis A. , Aragón-Noriega E. Alberto , Rodríguez-Domínguez Guillermo , Valenzuela-Quiñónez Wenceslao , Arroyo-Bustos Ana M. , Arzola-González Juan F. , Félix-Ortiz José A.
Published: November 2020

The yellowlegs shrimp Penaeus californiensis is an oceanic species that approaches the coastal zone for its reproduction. However, in the southern Gulf of California, this species also enters coastal lagoons to grow and reproduce. To test the hypothesis that the growth of P. californiensis differs between these two environments, monthly samplings of shrimp were made in the interior of the Navachiste coastal lagoon and its adjacent marine area. To determine growth, age groups were identified using the size structures over time. Five cases of the Schnute model were adjusted to the data, and the best case was selected using a multi-model selection approach. A sigmoid-shaped curve best represented the female data (case 2), and the inverted exponential curve (case 5; equivalent to the Von Bertalanffy growth function) was best for males. Average growth differed between sexes () but not between environments ().
Imperatives for Theories in Social Science: The North-South Divide Notwithstanding
Authors: Ogundiwin, Aaron Ola , Nwachukwu Joel N.
Published: November 2020

The paper underscores the place of theories in organizing social science data and experience. It holds that theories are indispensable to social research (The North-South divide notwithstanding), in view of the fact that the framework of knowledge and experience within which theories are established make a meaningful explanation of the world phenomenon reasonably possible. It delineates political philosophy and history of ideas from theory and thus, takes care of common mistake social scientists make differentiating between them. Furthermore, the paper on one hand, takes on the scientific requisites of theory such as assumption, concepts (and their functions), hypothesis (and its characteristics typology), law, models, paradigm and provides lucid conceptual analysis of each with a view to showing their relatedness to theory but not as synonyms to it. On the other hand, we singled out dependency theory in its emanation from knowledge and experience of underdevelopment of Third World countries, as the first and perhaps most relevant theoretic explanation of Africa’s underdevelopment. The paper posits that a good theory that will serve as a rudder for formulation of research questions, problem statement, as well as sustain the data analysis, and findings must parade some, if not all of the following qualities: precision and testability, empirical validity, parsimony, stimulation, and practicability.
Inscribed Ceremonial Dagger from a Princely Sarmatian Burial near the Village of Kosika in the Lower Volga Region
Authors: Belousov Alexey V. , Treister Mikhail
Published: November 2020

The paper is devoted to the cross-guard of the fragmentary dagger found in 1984 in the princely nomad burial near the village of Kosika in the Lower Volga area, belonging to the type of ceremonial daggers which were widespread in Eurasia in the 1st century BC-1st century AD and which became one of the insignia of power as testified by the finds in the princely nomadic burials and depictions on the royal figures on the stelae from Commagene. The dated (year 238) dotted inscription preserved on the gold overlay of the cross-guard found by one of the authors in 2015 and completely cleaned from the iron oxides in 2017 contains an indication of the craftsmen and the weight of gold, confirmed by the eklogistes, which means estimated on the highest state level. The inscription allows us to suggest, with high degree of probability, that the dagger may have been manufactured either as a tax payment of the corporation to the state or rather was ordered by a king to serve as a gift to an equal person. Moreover, the analysis of the inscription suggests that the object could have been made in Asia Minor, perhaps in Commagene, in 74 BC (that means the date falls in the Seleucid era), rather than in 59 BC, because the existence of the eklogistes in the Pontic Kingdom has not been confirmed by any documents. This date corresponds well to the archaeological date of the burial in Kosika to the early third quarter of the 1st century BC and the already published hypothesis, that the deceased could have been a participant of the Asia Minor campaign of the Bosporan King Pharnakes in 49-47 BC.
Legislating Utopia
Authors: De Rycke Wouter
Published: November 2020

This article deals with the contribution of one exponent of the first generation of institutional pacifist internationalism to the rise of ius contra bellum. Traditionally associated with events from the late nineteenth century onwards, this significant paradigm shift knew an extensive prehistory. Legal scholarship has long dismissed the ‘peace friends’ of the mid-century as either not legalistic or solely focussed on arbitration. The article will argue that this longstanding bias has precluded a profound engagement with legal discourse within the early international peace movement. It will do so through a contextual legal analysis of the works of Louis Bara, a young Belgian lawyer who won first prize for his lengthy and controversial peace essay at the famous Paris peace conference of 1849. This neglected jurist articulated an enduring popular desire to develop a liberal international legal project, which both the peace movement and international law as a discipline increasingly internalized.
Replacing a Culture of Disposability With One of Disponibilidad: An Ecclesiological Proposal for a World in Peril
Authors: Canaris Michael M.
Published: November 2020

The ecclesial, sociopolitical, and ecological challenges of are day, while legion, can be read in many ways through the primary lens of a culture of disposability, where things are treated like waste, and people are treated like things. After briefly tracing the rise of the throwaway culture, I propose an antidote in the Ignatian principle of disponibilidad, commonly translated into English as ‘availability’. The ecclesiological proposal that would recalibrate our individual and collective Christian identities around this hallmark quality illumines various spheres of thought and activity which would benefit from a heightened awareness of and commitment to radical availability. The article closes with a charge to rethink what it means to be ‘children of the promise’, as Lumen Gentium puts it so movingly, in light of the twin patrimonies of Ignatian spirituality and rising attunement to the Global South bequeathed on the whole Christian world through the current pontificate.
Nothing in My Hand I Bring: Reformed Ecclesiology in a Secular Age
Authors: Michelson Jared
Published: November 2020

Reformed Protestantism is variously critiqued in a secular age. On the one hand, Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics represent Protestantism as individualistic, opposed to tradition and liturgy, and tending toward a world-denying spirituality. They see Protestantism as participating in modernity’s worst tendencies. On the other hand, missional churches tend to see Magisterial Protestantism as inflexible and overly traditional, being unable to relate to a modern, secular context. I seek to retrieve the often unrecognised missional potential of a robust Reformed ecclesiology for a secular age. I retrieve an account of Reformed ecclesiology in dialogue with Calvin and some key modern voices.
The Dynamic Role of the Bibliothèque wallonne in the History of the Walloon Churches
Authors: den Hollander August
Published: November 2020

The Bibliothèque wallonne accommodates a church collection that is the result of distinct archival policies. Tracing the archival history of this collection reveals important shifts in its formation, accessibility, and usage. A travelling archive from 1578, it became a fixed church archive in 1777, and in 1852 was augmented by a separate Walloon Library, with both archives under the management of a Commission des Archives. In 1877, the Commission de l’ histoire des Églises wallonnes was established, whose goal was to write the history of the Walloon churches in the Netherlands, and collecting the necessary sources for doing so. In 1893, after the activities of both commissions were merged, the collections were combined to form what is now the Bibliothèque wallonne. Established primarily as a church archive, the collection is now mostly used for researching the history of the Walloon churches in the Netherlands.