bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
WRKY63 transcriptional activation of COOLAIR and COLDAIR regulates vernalization-induced flowering
Authors: Hung Fu-Yu , Shih Yuan-Hsin , Lin Pei-Yu , Feng Yun-Ru , Li Chenlong , Wu Keqiang
Published: June 2022

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) acts as a key flowering regulator by repressing the expression of the floral integrator FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). Prolonged exposure to cold (vernalization) induces flowering by reducing FLC expression. The long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) COOLAIR and COLDAIR, which are transcribed from the 3′ end and the first intron of FLC, respectively, are important for FLC repression under vernalization. However, the molecular mechanism of how COOLAIR and COLDAIR are transcriptionally activated remains elusive. In this study, we found that the group-III WRKY transcription factor WRKY63 can directly activate FLC. wrky63 mutant plants display an early flowering phenotype and are insensitive to vernalization. Interestingly, we found that WRKY63 can activate the expression of COOLAIR and COLDAIR by binding to their promoters.WRKY63 therefore acts as a dual regulator that activates FLC directly under non-vernalization conditions but represses FLC indirectly during vernalization through inducing COOLAIR and COLDAIR. Furthermore, genome-wide occupancy profile analyses indicated that the binding of WRKY63 to vernalization-induced genes increases after vernalization. In addition, WRKY63 binding is associated with decreased levels of the repressive marker Histone H3 Lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). Collectively, our results indicate that WRKY63 is an important flowering regulator involved in vernalization-induced transcriptional regulation.
University policy engagement bodies in the UK and the variable meanings of and approaches to impact
Authors: Durrant Hannah , MacKillop Eleanor
Published: June 2022

Over the last decade, there has been a proliferation of policy engagement bodies set up within universities worldwide. The present study focuses on the British experience of this phenomenon but with relevance to other contexts. Multiple factors are at play to explain this growth, from the Research Excellence Framework impact agenda (which assesses and ranks the quality of research in UK universities and has been echoed in other countries) to universities’ renewed focus on their civic mission, and a growing demand within policy and practice circles for more research evidence. Based on interviews with senior staff and analysis of their websites and documentary outputs, this article offers a comprehensive catalogue of university policy engagement bodies across the UK, and classifies them into types based on their activities, outputs, impact, and staff. We enrich this categorization by examining the stories these bodies tell to explain how and why they have emerged, and the variable approaches they adopt as they seek to influence both academic and policymaking practices. In doing so, we develop a typology of university policy engagement bodies, and demonstrate how they seek to partake in changing the roles and identities of universities, and their relationship with policymaking.
Lung vascular changes as biomarkers of severity in systemic sclerosis–associated interstitial lung disease
Authors: Bruni Cosimo , Occhipinti Mariaelena , Pienn Michael , Camiciottoli Gianna , Bartolucci Maurizio , Bosello Silvia Laura , Payer Christian , Bálint Zoltán , Larici Anna Rita , Tottoli Alessandra , Tofani Lorenzo , De Lorenzis Enrico , Lepri Gemma , Bellando-Randone Silvia , Spinella Amelia , Giuggioli Dilia , Masini Francesco , Cuomo Giovanna , Lavorini Federico , Colagrande Stefano , Olschewski Horst , Matucci-Cerinic Marco
Published: June 2022

Objectives

It has recently become possible to assess lung vascular and parenchymal changes quantitatively in thoracic CT images using automated software tools. We investigated the vessel parameters of patients with SSc, quantified by CT imaging, and correlated them with interstitial lung disease (ILD) features.

Methods

SSc patients undergoing standard of care pulmonary function testing and CT evaluation were retrospectively evaluated. CT images were analysed for ILD patterns and total pulmonary vascular volume (PVV) extents with Imbio lung texture analysis. Vascular analysis (volumes, numbers and densities of vessels, separating arteries and veins) was performed with an in-house developed software. A threshold of 5% ILD extent was chosen to define the presence of ILD, and commonly used cut-offs of lung function were adopted.

Results

A total of 79 patients [52 women, 40 ILD, mean age 56.2 (s.d. 14.2) years, total ILD extent 9.5 (10.7)%, PVV/lung volume % 2.8%] were enrolled. Vascular parameters for total and separated PVV significantly correlated with functional parameters and ILD pattern extents. SSc-associated ILD (SSc-ILD) patients presented with an increased number and volume of arterial vessels, in particular those between 2 and 4 mm of diameter, and with a higher density of arteries and veins of <6 mm in diameter. Considering radiological and functional criteria concomitantly, as well as the descriptive trends from the longitudinal evaluations, the normalized PVVs, vessel numbers and densities increased progressively with the increase/worsening of ILD extent and functional impairment.

Conclusion

In SSc patients CT vessel parameters increase in parallel with ILD extent and functional impairment, and may represent a biomarker of SSc-ILD severity.
Treatment Decision-Making Capacity in Forensic vs Non-forensic Psychiatric Patients: A European Comparison
Authors: Marazia Chantal , Rucci Paola , Fangerau Heiner , Voßberg Dilara , Rolfes Vasilija , Iozzino Laura , Iommi Marica , Gosek Pawel , Heitzman Janusz , Ferrari Clarissa , Macis Ambra , Markiewicz Inga , Picchioni Marco , Salize Hans Joachim , Stompe Thomas , Wancata Johannes , Appelbaum Paul S , de Girolamo Giovanni
Published: June 2022

Background

Consent to treatment is a cornerstone of medical ethics and law. Nevertheless, very little empirical evidence is available to inform clinicians and policymakers regarding the capacities of forensic patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) to make decisions about their treatment, with the risk of clinical and legal inertia, silent coercion, stigmatization, or ill-conceived reforms.

Study Design

In this multinational study, we assessed and compared with treatment-related decisional capacities in forensic and non-forensic patients with SSD. 160 forensic and 139 non-forensic patients were used in Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, and England. Their capacity to consent to treatment was assessed by means of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T). Multiple generalized linear regression models were used to identify the socio-demographic and clinical variables associated with MacCAT-T scores.

Study Results

In total, 55 forensic (34.4%) and 58 non-forensic patients (41.7%) showed high treatment-related decisional capacity, defined as scoring ≥75% of the maximum scores for the understanding, appreciation and reasoning, and 2 for expressing a choice. Forensic patients showed differences in their capacity to consent to treatment across countries. Of all socio-demographic and clinical variables, only “social support” was directly relevant to policy.

Conclusions

Forensic patients have treatment-related decisional capacities comparable with their non-forensic counterparts. Social contacts might provide a substantial contribution towards enhancing the decisional autonomy of both forensic and non-forensic patients, hence improving the overall quality and legitimacy of mental health care.
Detecting and Removing Sample Contamination in Phylogenomic Data: An Example and its Implications for Cicadidae Phylogeny (Insecta: Hemiptera)
Authors: Owen Christopher L , Marshall David C , Wade Elizabeth J , Meister Russ , Goemans Geert , Kunte Krushnamegh , Moulds Max , Hill Kathy , Villet M , Pham Thai-Hong , Kortyna Michelle , Lemmon Emily Moriarty , Lemmon Alan R , Simon Chris
Published: June 2022

Contamination of a genetic sample with DNA from one or more nontarget species is a continuing concern of molecular phylogenetic studies, both Sanger sequencing studies and next-generation sequencing studies. We developed an automated pipeline for identifying and excluding likely cross-contaminated loci based on the detection of bimodal distributions of patristic distances across gene trees. When contamination occurs between samples within a data set, a comparison between a contaminated sample and its contaminant taxon will yield bimodal distributions with one peak close to zero patristic distance. This new method does not rely on a priori knowledge of taxon relatedness nor does it determine the causes(s) of the contamination. Exclusion of putatively contaminated loci from a data set generated for the insect family Cicadidae showed that these sequences were affecting some topological patterns and branch supports, although the effects were sometimes subtle, with some contamination-influenced relationships exhibiting strong bootstrap support. Long tip branches and outlier values for one anchored phylogenomic pipeline statistic (AvgNHomologs) were correlated with the presence of contamination. While the anchored hybrid enrichment markers used here, which target hemipteroid taxa, proved effective in resolving deep and shallow level Cicadidae relationships in aggregate, individual markers contained inadequate phylogenetic signal, in part probably due to short length. The cleaned data set, consisting of 429 loci, from 90 genera representing 44 of 56 current Cicadidae tribes, supported three of the four sampled Cicadidae subfamilies in concatenated-matrix maximum likelihood (ML) and multispecies coalescent-based species tree analyses, with the fourth subfamily weakly supported in the ML trees. No well-supported patterns from previous family-level Sanger sequencing studies of Cicadidae phylogeny were contradicted. One taxon (Aragualna plenalinea) did not fall with its current subfamily in the genetic tree, and this genus and its tribe Aragualnini is reclassified to Tibicininae following morphological re-examination. Only subtle differences were observed in trees after the removal of loci for which divergent base frequencies were detected. Greater success may be achieved by increased taxon sampling and developing a probe set targeting a more recent common ancestor and longer loci. Searches for contamination are an essential step in phylogenomic analyses of all kinds and our pipeline is an effective solution. [Auchenorrhyncha; base-composition bias; Cicadidae; Cicadoidea; Hemiptera; phylogenetic conflict.]
Linking tree water use efficiency with calcium and precipitation
Authors: Yin You , Zhou Yong-Bin , Li Hui , Zhang Song-Zhu , Fang Yunting , Zhang Yong-Jiang , Zou Xiaoming
Published: June 2022

Water use efficiency (WUE) is a key physiological trait in studying plant carbon and water relations. However, the determinants of WUE across a large geographical scale are not always clear, limiting our capacity to predict WUE in response to future global climate change. We propose that tree WUE is influenced by calcium (Ca) availability and precipitation. In addition, although it is well-known that transpiration is the major driving force for passive nutrient uptake, the linkage between these two processes has not been well-established. Because Ca uptake is an apoplastic and passive process that purely relies on transpiration, and there is no translocation once assimilated, we further developed a theoretical model to quantify the relationship between tree Ca accumulation and WUE using soil-to-plant calcium ratio (SCa/BCa) and tree WUE derived from δ13C. We tested our theoretical model and predicted relationships using three common tree species across their native habitats in Northern China, spanning 2300 km and a controlled greenhouse experiment with soil Ca concentrations manipulated. We found that tree WUE was negatively related to precipitation of the growing season (GSP) and positively with soil Ca. A multiple regression model and a path analysis suggested a higher contribution of soil Ca to WUE than GSP. As predicted by our theoretical model, we found a positive relationship between WUE and SCa/BCa across their distribution ranges in all three tree species and in the controlled experiment for one selected species. This relationship suggests a tight coupling between water and Ca uptake and the potential use of SCa/BCa to indicate WUE. A negative relationship between SCa/BCa and GSP also suggests a possible decrease in tree Ca accumulation efficiency in a drier future in Northern China.
18Visual Culture
Authors: Lewis India
Published: June 2022

This chapter addresses books published in the field of visual culture in 2021 and is divided into four sections: 1. Edges of Europe; 2. Rethinking Art; 3. Art and the Anthropocene; and 4. Conclusion. The books under review cover a range of subjects within their specialities and reflect general trends in contemporary writing and study in the field of visual culture. The first section looks at publications concerning art at the edge of Europe: Marsha Morton and Barbara Larson’s edited volume Constructing Race on the Borders of Europe: Ethnography, Anthropology, and Visual Culture, 1850–1930 and Kerry Greaves’s collection Modern Women Artists in the Nordic Countries, 1900–1960. The second section reviews books that ask that we re-examine how we think about art, especially its political element: Jason Miller’s The Politics of Perception and the Aesthetics of Social Change and Sharon Irish’s Concerning Stephen Willats and the Social Function of Art. The third section examines publications about what it means to create art in the age of the Anthropocene: Susan Ballard’s Art and Nature in the Anthropocene, Gry Hedin and Ann-Sofie N. Gremaud’s Artistic Visions of the Anthropocene North: Climate Change and Nature in Art, and Jessica Morgan and Dorothea von Hantelmann’s Resource Hungry: Our Cultured Landscape and its Ecological Impact.
15Racial Capitalism
Authors: Jones Rhys Steven
Published: June 2022

This chapter reviews theories of racial capitalism and black critical theory published in 2021 under the following headings: 1. Introduction; 2. History and Aesthetics (Histories of Racial Capitalism, edited by Destin Jenkins and Dustin Leroy; Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Black Bodies, White Gold: Art, Cotton, and Commerce in the Atlantic World); 3. Critical Theory (Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Becoming Human: Matter and Meaning in an Antiblack World); 4. Globalization and Technology (Neferti Tadiar, ‘Thresholds’; Seb Franklin, The Digitally Disposed: Racial Capitalism and the Informatics of Value); and 5. Conclusion.
Microdose Induction of Buprenorphine in a Patient Using Tianeptine
Authors: Szczesniak Laura , Sullivan Ross
Published: June 2022

Background

Opioids and opioid alternatives are a serious threat to public health in the United States and other countries. Patients are looking to the internet increasingly as a source of opioid alternatives to self-treat addiction or other psychiatric conditions. It is imperative that patients receive proper treatment to prevent morbidity and mortality related to opioid use disorder.

Case Summary

We report a case of a middle-aged male with a 3-year history of tianeptine use who presented to an outpatient clinic looking for addiction treatment options after failed attempts at tapering his daily dosage of approximately 10 grams per day. The patient underwent a microdose induction of sublingual buprenorphine over a 7-day period (0.25–12 mg) while continuing tianeptine use, and self-monitored for withdrawal symptoms daily using the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale. The patient was seen over the course of treatment by a board-certified toxicologist and addiction specialist on day 2, 5, 6, and 14 to ensure patient safety and treatment adherence. After 14 days of treatment, the patient was able to stop tianeptine use without any major symptoms of withdrawal, anxiety, or depression.

Discussion

This case report highlights the effectiveness of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid use disorder in a patient using tianeptine and further exemplifies the utility of buprenorphine in an outpatient setting.
Effect of Length Stability on Complications in the Treatment of Preadolescent Diaphyseal Femur Fractures Treated With Elastic Stable Intramedullary Nailing
Authors: Nixon Devon C. , Mardam-Bey Sami , Miller Mark L. , Dobbs Matthew B. , Schoenecker Perry L. , Luhmann Scott J. , Gordon J. Eric
Published: June 2022

Objectives:

To examine the effectiveness and complication rates in age- and size-appropriate patients with either stable or unstable fracture patterns treated with elastic stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN).

Design:

Retrospective case series.

Setting:

Academic tertiary care children's hospital.

Patients/Participants:

This was a consecutive series of 106 preadolescent children with femoral shaft fractures. The mean age of the patients was 8.0 years (range, 4.0–16.0 years).

Intervention:

All children were treated by retrograde ESIN.

Main Outcome Measures:

Fractures were categorized as either length stable or unstable. Length stability and complications were assessed. A subset of patients with final full-length, standing x-rays was also evaluated.

Results:

We analyzed 63 stable and 43 length unstable fractures. The mean age and weight of the patients with stable and unstable fractures were similar. There was no difference in complication rates between groups (χ2(1) = 0.00, P = 0.99). There was no difference (t(96.93) = 0.53, P = 0.59) in femoral shaft length change. Leg length discrepancies as assessed by full-length standing radiographs at follow-up were similar (χ2(2) = 1.52, P = 0.47).

Conclusions:

Preadolescent children younger than 10 years do not experience increased complications after ESIN of length unstable femur fractures [odds ratio (OR) = 1.68 (0.18–16.87), P = 0.65]. Length unstable femur fractures are not at increased risk of more complications [OR = 0.90 (0.26–2.92), P = 0.87], early femoral shortening [OR = (0.42–2.02), P = 0.85], or leg length discrepancy [OR = (0.13–1.56), P = 0.21] when treated with ESIN.

Level of Evidence:

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for complete description of levels of evidence.
PrEP-aring the General Gynecologist to Offer HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
Authors: Ralph Jessika A. , Westberg Sarah M. , Boraas Christy M. , Terrell Carrie A. , Fischer John R.
Published: June 2022

It is estimated that 450,000 American women are at increased risk of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and yet only 7% have a prescription for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is a safe and effective method of HIV infection prevention via a daily use of an oral combination antiretroviral pill or longer-acting intramuscular injections. Gynecologists are experts in women’s sexual health, and provide over half of annual preventative health visits, but are not yet routinely providing PrEP to patients, citing lack of knowledge as a major barrier. The authors aim to provide the general gynecologist with the skills to expertly provide PrEP to their patients to reduce HIV infection.
Evaluation of Breast Problems
Authors: Imeokparia Folasade , Chandrasekaran Bindupriya
Published: June 2022

Breast disorders arise from a myriad of etiologies. They are frequent reasons for patient encounters in primary care and obstetric and gynecologic practices. The most common complaints include breast pain, nipple discharge and breast lumps or masses. Given widespread and well-known screening recommendations, breast cancers are regularly diagnosed during routine screening. Regardless of the presenting complaint, a patient’s presentation, physical examination, and diagnostic imaging may require a unique framework for adequate and timely diagnosis for appropriate intervention and treatment. This manuscript aims to discuss and guide assessment to manage breast disorders.
Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Postpartum Care as a Pathway to Future Health
Authors: GARR BARRY VALENE , JOHNSON TRACI N. , HERRICK CYNTHIA , LINDLEY KATHRYN , CARTER EBONY B.
Published: June 2022

Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) collectively represent the leading causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Beyond the potentially devastating impact of APOs during pregnancy and the puerperium, women diagnosed with APOs have a 2-fold to 4-fold increased risk of future cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, APOs occur at an opportune time, in early-adulthood to mid-adulthood, when primary and secondary prevention strategies can alter the disease trajectory and improve long-term health outcomes. This chapter takes a life-course approach to (1) the epidemiology of APOs, (2) evidence-based strategies for clinicians to manage APOs, and (3) future directions for APO research and clinical practice.
Intrascleral anchoring knot on the double suture without peritomy for fixation of intraocular lens
Authors: Toropygin Sergey G.
Published: June 2022

A new minimally invasive technique for universal fixation of any posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL), iris prosthesis or capsular tension device (CTD), both for rescuing in case of dislocation and for secondary implantation, is described. It uses intrascleral anchoring knot on the reinforced double 9-0 polypropylene suture without conjunctival opening or scleral dissection. The technique was applied for scleral fixation of the S-shaped monoblock acrylic IOL dislocated into the vitreous cavity in 1 eye, and decentered IOL-CTD-capsular bag complexes in 3 eyes. In none of the cases, complications including knot slippage, suture exposure or hypotony were observed. All patients were followed up for 6 months. The uncorrected distance visual acuity was significantly improved and the IOLs positions remained stable. The described technique might be a simple, effective and safe alternative to flanged scleral fixation approaches.
Customized Cochlear Implant Positioning in a Patient With a Low- Grade Glioma: Towards the Best MRI Artifact Management
Authors: Canzi Pietro , Luzzi Sabino , Carlotto Elena , Simoncelli Anna , Brondino Natascia , Marconi Stefania , Magnetto Marianna , Lucifero Giotta A. , Avato Irene , Manfrin Marco , Auricchio Ferdinando , Preda Lorenzo , Benazzo Marco
Published: June 2022

Objective

To report the personalized decision-making pro- cess adopted for a cochlear implant (CI) candidate requiring magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain surveillance.

Study Design

Clinical capsule report.

Setting

Tertiary academic referral center.

Patient

A 23-year-old man affected by posttraumatic bilat- eral profound hearing loss, already in radiological follow-up for a suspected small left cuneal low-grade glioma.

Interventions

A multidisciplinary approach involving preoperative MRI simulations and 3D printed (3DP) models aiming to adapt the CI position to facilitate MRI brain lesion visibility.

Main Outcome Measures

MRI visibility and surgical approach.

Results

Preoperative MRI scans with the placement of an Ultra 3D CI were performed simulating different implant location to assess the brain lesion visibility in MRI. CI was positioned 9 cm away from the external auditory canal with an angle of 90 degrees. To assess the technical feasibility of the surgical procedure, a patient-specific 3DP head model was produced preoperatively. The postoperative course was uneventful, the patient showed a significant benefit from CI, and the brain lesion was highly visible at the MRI follow-up.

Conclusions

The employment of strategies aimed at improving the MRI quality in CI recipients still represents a topic requiring attention. Thanks to multidisciplinary team collaboration, in our case, the CI position was successfully determined to allow unhindered MRI visibility of a specific intracranial structure.
Long-Term Urinary Copper Excretion and Exchangeable Copper in Children With Wilson Disease Under Chelation Therapy
Authors: Ngwanou Dany Hermann , Couchonnal Eduardo , Parant François , Belmalih Abdelouahed , Guillaud Olivier , Dumortier Jérôme , Bost Muriel , Lachaux Alain
Published: June 2022

Objectives:

Determining 24-hour urinary copper excretion (UCE) levels is useful for diagnosing Wilson’s disease (WD) and for treatment monitoring. Exchangeable copper (ExC) is a novel potential marker, but its long-term changes have never been described in patients under chelation therapy. Our aim was to describe the long-term changes in ExC levels compared to UCE levels in symptomatic WD pediatric patients under chelation therapy.

Methods:

A retrospective, descriptive, and analytical study including all patients under 18 years of age, diagnosed between 2006 and 2020, and treated with chelation therapy was conducted at the National Reference Center for WD in Lyon. Ceruloplasmin levels, serum copper, 24 h-UCE, ExC, and liver enzymes at diagnosis and during follow-up were analyzed.

Results:

Our study included 36 patients, predominantly with hepatic form of WD (n = 31). The median [interquartile range (IQR)] age at diagnosis was 10.5 (8.4–13.1) years, and the median (IQR) follow-up duration was 6.3 (3.3–8.8) years. At diagnosis, the median (IQR) ExC value was 1.01 (0.60–1.52) µmol/L. There was a significant decrease during the first year of chelation treatment (P = 0.0008), then a stabilization. The median (IQR) ExC values was 0.38 (0.22–0.63) µmol/L at 12–18 months and 0.43 (0.31–0.54) µmol/L at 5 years of chelation treatment (P = 0.4057). Similarly, there was a significant decrease in 24-hour UCE (P < 0.001) during the first year of chelation treatment, then a stabilization.

Conclusions:

Our study showed a significant decrease in ExC and 24-hour UCE levels during the first year of follow-up; The dynamics of both biomarkers were similar along the follow-up, demonstrating their usefulness in clinical practice for monitoring WD.
American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Diplomate Customization Choices on the Longitudinal Assessment for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Authors: Driscoll Sherilyn W. , Raddatz Mikaela M. , Sabharwal Sunil , Francisco Gerard E. , Nguyen Vu , Kinney Carolyn L.
Published: June 2022

The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation began administering the longitudinal assessment for physical medicine and rehabilitation for continuing certification in 2020. The longitudinal assessment for physical medicine and rehabilitation digitally delivers quarterly short assessments of content and repeats missed items to facilitate learning as well as serve as a summative certification assessment. With a goal of offering content relevant to an individual’s practice and learning needs, diplomates choose how to customize the domains or topic areas of their question content on an annual basis. This report describes the first year of experience with customization of longitudinal assessment for physical medicine and rehabilitation. The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation diplomate customization data are grouped and compared in a variety of ways to ascertain whether there are differences in customization choices. While customization choices were similar across several domains, significant differences were seen when comparing groups with specific areas of practice or subspecialty certification. Smaller differences were also seen when comparing question domain allocation choice between sexes, age groups, and practice setting. The results from this first full year of experience confirm an alignment of this innovative assessment approach to individual physician practice, a significant step in improving the relevance of continuing certification overall for participating physicians.
Recipient and Center Factors Associated With Immunosuppression Practice Beyond the First Year After Liver Transplantation and Impact on Outcomes
Authors: Bittermann Therese , Lewis James D. , Goldberg David S.
Published: June 2022

Background.

Immunosuppression is a critical aspect of post-transplant management, yet practices at intermediate and late time points after liver transplantation (LT) are poorly characterized.

Methods.

A retrospective cohort of 11 326 adult first LT alone recipients between 2007 and 2016 was identified by linking United Network for Organ Sharing transplant data to Medicare administrative claims. The immunosuppression regimen was obtained from Medicare billing claims. Factors associated with calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) monotherapy at 1-, 3-, and 5-y post-LT were investigated using mixed-effects logistic regression. Center practice heterogeneity was evaluated. The association of immunosuppression regimen (time-updating) with patient and graft survival was studied.

Results.

CNI monotherapy was used in 51.9% at 1-y post-LT and 68.6% at 5-y post-LT. Center-specific rates ranged from 20.0%–79.9% to 15.4%–95.2%, respectively. CNI monotherapy at 1- and 3-y post-LT was less likely among Black recipients (P = 0.027 and P = 0.015 versus White, respectively). CNI plus antimetabolite was associated with improved adjusted patient (hazard ratio, 0.59; P < 0.001) and graft (hazard ratio, 0.62; P < 0.001) survival versus CNI monotherapy. The benefit of CNI plus antimetabolite on patient and graft survival increased with older age.

Conclusions.

In this first longitudinal analysis of LT immunosuppression practices among Medicare beneficiaries, a CNI plus antimetabolite approach led to improved outcomes. Significant center heterogeneity in practice was observed.
A deep learning approach to identify seizure-prone and normal patients from their EEG records
Authors: Basu Sayantani , Campbell Roy H.
Published: June 2022

Various learning models distinguish between an electroencephalogram (EEG) record of a normal patient and one having a seizure. In this paper, we propose a deep-learning based short-term memory (LSTM) model to identify whether an EEG record belongs to a seizure-prone patient with a non-seizure record or to a normal patient. The study builds on two datasets, namely the TUH Abnormal EEG Corpus (TUAB) and the TUH EEG Seizure Corpus (TUSZ) including the classified EEG records for seizure-prone and normal patients. We conducted experiments on both imbalanced and balanced datasets and show results using an LSTM model. We observed that the model performs consistently in both balanced and imbalanced cases using only 5 seconds of EEG data from the patient records. We show that our proposed LSTM model gives test accuracies up to 99.84% in case of 2-class classification between the non-seizure and normal classes and up to 98.87% in case of 3-class classification among non-seizure, seizure, and normal classes. This provides a basis for making improved temporal predictions about the occurrences of seizures.
Recurrent chromosomal translocations in sarcomas create a megacomplex that mislocalizes NuA4/TIP60 to Polycomb target loci
Authors: Sudarshan Deepthi , Avvakumov Nikita , Lalonde Marie-Eve , Alerasool Nader , Joly-Beauparlant Charles , Jacquet Karine , Mameri Amel , Lambert Jean-Philippe , Rousseau Justine , Lachance Catherine , Paquet Eric , Herrmann Lara , Thonta Setty Samarth , Loehr Jeremy , Bernardini Marcus Q. , Rouzbahman Marjan , Gingras Anne-Claude , Coulombe Benoit , Droit Arnaud , Taipale Mikko , Doyon Yannick , Côté Jacques
Published: June 2022

Chromosomal translocations frequently promote carcinogenesis by producing gain-of-function fusion proteins. Recent studies have identified highly recurrent chromosomal translocations in patients with endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESSs) and ossifying fibromyxoid tumors (OFMTs), leading to an in-frame fusion of PHF1 (PCL1) to six different subunits of the NuA4/TIP60 complex. While NuA4/TIP60 is a coactivator that acetylates chromatin and loads the H2A.Z histone variant, PHF1 is part of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) linked to transcriptional repression of key developmental genes through methylation of histone H3 on lysine 27. In this study, we characterize the fusion protein produced by the EPC1-PHF1 translocation. The chimeric protein assembles a megacomplex harboring both NuA4/TIP60 and PRC2 activities and leads to mislocalization of chromatin marks in the genome, in particular over an entire topologically associating domain including part of the HOXD cluster. This is linked to aberrant gene expression—most notably increased expression of PRC2 target genes. Furthermore, we show that JAZF1—implicated with a PRC2 component in the most frequent translocation in ESSs, JAZF1-SUZ12—is a potent transcription activator that physically associates with NuA4/TIP60, its fusion creating outcomes similar to those of EPC1-PHF1. Importantly, the specific increased expression of PRC2 targets/HOX genes was also confirmed with ESS patient samples. Altogether, these results indicate that most chromosomal translocations linked to these sarcomas use the same molecular oncogenic mechanism through a physical merge of NuA4/TIP60 and PRC2 complexes, leading to mislocalization of histone marks and aberrant Polycomb target gene expression.
Influence of risk propensity, behavioural biases and demographic factors on equity investors' risk perception
Authors: Saivasan Rangapriya , Lokhande Madhavi
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Investor risk perception is a personalized judgement on the uncertainty of returns pertaining to a financial instrument. This study identifies key psychological and demographic factors that influence risk perception. It also unravels the complex relationship between demographic attributes and investor's risk attitude towards equity investment.

Design/methodology/approach

Exploratory factor analysis is used to identify factors that define investor risk perception. Multiple regression is used to assess the relationship between demographic traits and factor groups. Kruskal–Wallis test is used to ascertain whether the factors extracted differ across demographic categories. A risk perception framework based on these findings is developed to provide deeper insight.

Findings

There is evidence of the relationship and influence of demographic factors on risk propensity and behavioural bias. From this study, it is apparent that return expectation, time horizon and loss aversion, which define the risk propensity construct, vary significantly based on demographic traits. Familiarity, overconfidence, anchoring and experiential biases which define the behavioural bias construct differ across demographic categories. These factors influence the risk perception of an individual with respect to equity investments.

Research limitations/implications

The reference for the framework of this study is limited as there has been no precedence of similar work in academia.

Practical implications

This paper establishes that information seekers make rational decisions. The paper iterates the need for portfolio managers to develop and align investment strategies after evaluation of investors' risk by including these behavioural factors, this can particularly be advantageous during extreme volatility in markets that concedes the possibility of irrational decision making.

Social implications

This study highlights that regulators need to acknowledge the investor's affective, cognitive and demographic impact on equity markets and align risk control measures that are conducive to market evolution. It also creates awareness among market participants that psychological factors and behavioural biases can have an impact on investment decisions.

Originality/value

This is the only study that looks at a three-dimensional perspective of the investor risk perception framework. The study presents the relationship between risk propensity, behavioural bias and demographic factors in the backdrop of “information” being the mediating variable. This paper covers five characteristics of risk propensity and eight behavioural biases, such a vast coverage has not been attempted within the academic realm earlier with the aforesaid perspective.
Unifying customer, product and brand performance management
Authors: Heldt Rodrigo , Silveira Cleo Schmitt , Luce Fernando Bins
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Customer, product and brand (CPB) management constitute relevant and inextricably linked levels of decision-making that marketers should manage to drive business success. However, they are generally treated separately in extant research. It leads to a disconnected assessment and management of customers and products/brands, preventing marketers to take advantage of the positive implications of managing them simultaneously. This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework to unify these perspectives: the CPB bottom-up approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on a range of extant literature on customer equity, brand equity and product performance to identify how financial performance is assessed in each of these perspectives and support the conceptual proposition to unify these different levels of decisions-making.

Findings

The proposed framework allows predicting and managing the expected values of these three intertwined perspectives together, providing a unified forward-looking metric to more effectively drive marketing efforts.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed framework opens the path for future discussion concerning possible models that can be adopted to implement it.

Practical implications

The proposed framework allows managers to make decisions having a holistic assessment of CPB performance.

Originality/value

In practice, marketing managers have to deal with brand and product as well as customer levels of decision-making simultaneously. Besides this, adopting customer centricity does not decrease the importance of managing the performance of brands and products. Therefore, the proposition of a solution able to bridge the gap between these levels of decision-making enhances both the marketing practice and literature.
Peace engineering and compassionate operations: a framework for leveraging social good
Authors: Queiroz Maciel M. , Jabbour Charbel José Chiappetta , Lopes de Sousa Jabbour Ana Beatriz , Pereira Susana Carla Farias , Carneiro-da-Cunha Julio
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Peace engineering and compassionate operations can unlock the potential of emerging technologies for social good. This work aims to investigate the integration of peace engineering and compassionate operations by proposing an integrative framework and identifying the main drivers regarding social good, considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) landscape.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a two-stage methodology by employing a narrative literature review in the first stage to identify the relationships and drivers and propose an original framework. In the second stage, the authors utilized an expert panel to validate the framework’s drivers.

Findings

The authors identified five main categories related to peace engineering and compassionate operations, which were then used to support the categorization of the drivers. In the second stage, the authors validated the drivers with a panel of academicians and experienced industry practitioners.

Practical implications

The proposed framework can provide insightful directions for practitioners and governments to develop strategies and projects in different contexts, including humanitarian logistics, climate change crises, supply chain disruptions, etc.

Originality/value

This work makes unique contributions by reinvigorating an amalgamation of the peace engineering and compassionate operations arenas and their integration with the SDGs to enable enhanced social good, supported by cutting-edge technologies. Thus, this framework’s contributions encompass essential theoretical, managerial, and social implications.
Numerical study of heat transfer in high voltage solid insulating materials using transmission line method
Authors: Shamsi Amin , Ganjovi Alireza , Shayegani Akmal Amir Abbas
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to numerically examine the heat transfer and transport of space charges in the solid insulating materials [low density polyethylene (LDPE), flame retardant type 4 (FR4), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)] using the transmission line modeling (TLM) method. Besides, a comprehensive study is performed on the mutual influences of heat transfer and space charges transport within the solid dielectric bulk.

Design/methodology/approach

The obtained governing equations including continuity and circuit equations are coupled with heat transfer equations, and they are solved via fourth-order Runge–Kutta method.

Findings

The electric potential and field, current density and temperature distribution are calculated. It is shown that compared with FR4 and PTFE, the temperature increment rate in LDPE is much lower. Moreover, the heat transfer in the solid insulating materials bulk increases the homo-charges density and temperature in the vicinity of electrodes. Hence, the reduction in electric field is reflected in the potential deformations in the proximity of electrodes. Furthermore, where the electric field is maximized, the temperature is minimized.

Research limitations/implications

This study is restricted to two-dimensional problems.

Originality/value

Interestingly, because of the lower temperature in LDPE, the current density and their increment rates in LDPE are much lower than that in FR4 and PTFE dielectric materials.
Market structure, institutional quality and bank stability: evidence from emerging and developing countries
Authors: Tran Hung Son , Nguyen Thanh Dat , Nguyen Thanh Liem
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to carry out an empirical investigation about how the level of market concentration or competitiveness of the banking system and institutional quality are associated with bank’s financial stability.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses dynamic panel data techniques on the sample of 133 developing and emerging countries over the years 2002–2020.

Findings

The authors document several significant findings. First, there is evidence that bank stability is positively associated with the level of market concentration. The result is in line with the concentration–stability view that banks operating in a more concentrated market tend to be more stable than those in a less concentrated market. Second, the results confirm that the quality of the institutional environment plays a critical role in improving the stability of banks in developing and emerging countries. Third, the authors find that institutional development can moderate the effect of market concentration (or competitiveness of the banking system) on bank stability. Specifically, the results show that better institutional quality enhances the positive influence of bank concentration on the bank’s financial stability in developing and emerging countries. These results are robust to different specifications with the alternative measures of bank stability and market concentration.

Originality/value

This study provides further understanding regarding the effects of the level of market concentration or competitiveness of the banking system and institutional quality on bank stability in 133 developing and emerging countries over the years 2002–2020.
A boosting-based transfer learning method to address absolute-rarity in skin lesion datasets and prevent weight-drift for melanoma detection
Authors: Singh Lokesh , Janghel Rekh Ram , Sahu Satya Prakash
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Automated skin lesion analysis plays a vital role in early detection. Having relatively small-sized imbalanced skin lesion datasets impedes learning and dominates research in automated skin lesion analysis. The unavailability of adequate data poses difficulty in developing classification methods due to the skewed class distribution.

Design/methodology/approach

Boosting-based transfer learning (TL) paradigms like Transfer AdaBoost algorithm can compensate for such a lack of samples by taking advantage of auxiliary data. However, in such methods, beneficial source instances representing the target have a fast and stochastic weight convergence, which results in “weight-drift” that negates transfer. In this paper, a framework is designed utilizing the “Rare-Transfer” (RT), a boosting-based TL algorithm, that prevents “weight-drift” and simultaneously addresses absolute-rarity in skin lesion datasets. RT prevents the weights of source samples from quick convergence. It addresses absolute-rarity using an instance transfer approach incorporating the best-fit set of auxiliary examples, which improves balanced error minimization. It compensates for class unbalance and scarcity of training samples in absolute-rarity simultaneously for inducing balanced error optimization.

Findings

Promising results are obtained utilizing the RT compared with state-of-the-art techniques on absolute-rare skin lesion datasets with an accuracy of 92.5%. Wilcoxon signed-rank test examines significant differences amid the proposed RT algorithm and conventional algorithms used in the experiment.

Originality/value

Experimentation is performed on absolute-rare four skin lesion datasets, and the effectiveness of RT is assessed based on accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and area under curve. The performance is compared with an existing ensemble and boosting-based TL methods.
Monetary policy and house prices in emerging markets
Authors: Tunc Cengiz , Gunes Ali
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This study aims to focus on two-way interaction between monetary policy and house prices in emerging economies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses panel structural vector autoregressive model.

Findings

The results show that real house prices decrease in response to a contractionary monetary policy shock. However, relative to advanced economies, the reaction of the prices is limited in emerging economies, pointing out the structural differences in emerging economies including the small size of the mortgage market and the lack of a well-functioning secondary market in housing finance. This study further finds that monetary policy is tightened in response to a positive shock to house prices. However, this response is also weak when compared to that response in advanced economies.

Research limitations/implications

These findings suggest that house price developments should not be prior target for monetary policies in emerging economies unless they become problem for financial stability or inflationary concerns.

Originality/value

Using a sample of inflation targeting emerging countries, this study contributes to the literature by conducting both panel setting and single-country analysis to explore the two-way dynamic relationships between the monetary policy and housing market in emerging economies.