bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Women in Niger
Authors: Alidou Ousseina D. , Hima Halimatou
Published: March 2021

Nigerien women played important cultural, economic, and political leadership roles throughout history. Women across ethnicities contributed to the economic life in precolonial Nigerien societies and their public presence in indigenous markets have been recorded by both Arab chroniclers as well as European colonial explorers, authorities, and historians. Women also occupied important positions in the political sphere and played important roles within their indigenous religious traditions and pantheons. The advent of Islam in the region in the 11th century changed the nature of preexisting spaces. However, a syncretism between Islam and indigenous religions developed, and this created yet another space for women across Nigerien ethnic groups to continue the preservation of some practices tied to their indigenous culture. As predominantly Muslims, most Nigerien women and men have been exposed to Arabic and Qur’anic literacy, and women of clerical lineage and those married to Qur’anic teachers have played a major role in the propagation of Islamic literacy in Nigerien precolonial societies, and continue to do so in the postcolonial dispensation. Ethnic and regional diversity accounts for the degree of authority that women may enjoy within the family structure, and women from rural and urban areas experience patriarchal structures in distinct ways. In relation to contemporary participation in political leadership, the year 1991, with the historic women’s march, marked a turning point in the history of women’s political leadership. The democratization process opened the way for multiparty democracy and greater women’s participation; it also fostered a religious pluralism that has engendered manifestations with women playing distinctive roles in the religious moral economy, including in minority religions. However, democratic pluralism has inadvertently created the conditions for the growth of violent religious fundamentalist movements undermining the rights of girls and women. Unequal gendered and power relations continue to hinder Nigerien women’s emergence at high levels of public leadership, with consequences for economic development and women’s rights. While there has been a steady increase in women’s participation in parliament and high-level appointed positions in government owing to a quota law, which was revisited in 2019, Nigerien women still have some way to go to achieve representative parity not only in politics but also in other public and private sectors of employment and elective positions in society. In terms of human development, Niger continues to register poor development indicators, especially those relating to women’s and girls’ welfare and well-being in rural areas including high rates of child marriage as well as high infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. The status of women in Nigerien societies continues to experience major mutations as women consolidate their roles as a visible and vocal political force as well as one of the main drivers of economic development.
Agent-Level Adaptive Learning
Authors: Evans George W. , McGough Bruce
Published: March 2021

Adaptive learning is a boundedly rational alternative to rational expectations that is increasingly used in macroeconomics, monetary economics, and financial economics. The agent-level approach can be used to provide microfoundations for adaptive learning in macroeconomics.

Two central issues of bounded rationality are simultaneously addressed at the agent level: replacing fully rational expectations of key variables with econometric forecasts and boundedly optimal decisions-making based on those forecasts. The real business cycle (RBC) model provides a useful laboratory for exhibiting alternative implementations of the agent-level approach. Specific implementations include shadow-price learning (and its anticipated-utility counterpart, iterated shadow-price learning), Euler-equation learning, and long-horizon learning. For each implementation the path of the economy is obtained by aggregating the boundedly rational agent-level decisions.

A linearized RBC can be used to illustrate the effects of fiscal policy. For example, simulations can be used to illustrate the impact of a permanent increase in government spending and highlight the similarities and differences among the various implements of agent-level learning. These results also can be used to expose the differences among agent-level learning, reduced-form learning, and rational expectations.

The different implementations of agent-level adaptive learning have differing advantages. A major advantage of shadow-price learning is its ease of implementation within the nonlinear RBC model. Compared to reduced-form learning, which is widely use because of its ease of application, agent-level learning both provides microfoundations, which ensure robustness to the Lucas critique, and provides the natural framework for applications of adaptive learning in heterogeneous-agent models.
Health Information Systems and Migrant Health in Europe
Authors: Biddle Louise , Bozorgmehr Kayvan , Jahn Rosa
Published: March 2021

Ensuring the health of migrants and access to appropriate health services presents a challenge to health systems in the age of global migration. Reliable and timely information is key to decision-making in all sectors of the health system to ensure that health system goals are met. Such information is even more important among a mobile, sometimes rapidly changing, dynamic and heterogeneous migrant population. While health information systems (HIS) are crucial for effective functioning of other health system blocks as well as for evidence-informed decision-making, they are often sidelined in health system policy and development. Looking across the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region, HIS for migrants are deficient both in their overall availability and their integration into regular monitoring structures. Less than half of the 53 member states routinely report health data for refugees and migrants. Most of the routinely collected data on migrant and refugee health can be identified in countries with strong population-based records, with some good practice examples of well-integrated and high-quality health monitoring surveys, disease-specific registries, and “parallel” HIS in migrant-specific settings. Overall, however, HIS in the WHO European Region are not able to provide data of sufficient quality and comparability to be well integrated into regular health monitoring structures. The reasons for this can be highlighted by five key barriers to improved information systems for migrant health: barriers in recording data, standardizing data collection, harmonizing migrant indicators, producing high-quality data, and sharing information. Better integration can be achieved through increased multilateral collaboration for the harmonization of indicators, strengthening of governance frameworks for data-sharing and protection measures, and the increased use of currently underutilized data collection mechanisms, including health monitoring surveys and medical records from refugee reception facilities. These steps will remain essential for the adequate planning and provision of needs-based care for refugees and migrants.
Genetically Modified Crops
Authors: Stone Glenn Davis
Published: March 2021

In 1958, a Nobel laureate predicted that one day scientists would be able to use “biological engineering” to improve all species. Genetic modification of viruses and bacteria was performed in the early 1970s. Genetic modification of plants was announced in the early 1980s, followed by predictions of revolutionary improvements in agriculture. But nearly forty years later, the improvements brought by genetic modification are meager: few crops have been modified and 87 percent of all area planted to genetically modified (GM) crops contains traits for herbicide tolerance (HT), which increases use of herbicide but not productivity. The only other widely used modification, which causes plants to produce insecticide, has improved agriculture in some areas but not others. Debate on why genetic modification has fallen so short of expectations have centered on three factors. Public resistance to GM crops and foods is blamed for slow progress by some. Excessive regulation is cited by some, especially those involved in the development of GM crops. But the main factor has been patent regimes that concentrate the development of marketable GM crops in the hands of a small number of companies that hold large patent portfolios and that can afford to enforce the patents. New technologies for genetic modification such as CRISPR-Cas9 are being heralded as offering revolutionary change in agriculture, much as genetic modification was in the 1980s.
Measurement-Based Quantum Computation
Authors: Wei Tzu-Chieh
Published: March 2021

Measurement-based quantum computation is a framework of quantum computation, where entanglement is used as a resource and local measurements on qubits are used to drive the computation. It originates from the one-way quantum computer of Raussendorf and Briegel, who introduced the so-called cluster state as the underlying entangled resource state and showed that any quantum circuit could be executed by performing only local measurement on individual qubits. The randomness in the measurement outcomes can be dealt with by adapting future measurement axes so that computation is deterministic. Subsequent works have expanded the discussions of the measurement-based quantum computation to various subjects, including the quantification of entanglement for such a measurement-based scheme, the search for other resource states beyond cluster states and computational phases of matter. In addition, the measurement-based framework also provides useful connections to the emergence of time ordering, computational complexity and classical spin models, blind quantum computation, and so on, and has given an alternative, resource-efficient approach to implement the original linear-optic quantum computation of Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn. Cluster states and a few other resource states have been created experimentally in various physical systems, and the measurement-based approach offers a potential alternative to the standard circuit approach to realize a practical quantum computer.
Latinxs and the US Census
Authors: Mora G. Cristina
Published: March 2021

The question of how to classify and count Latinxs has perplexed citizens and state officials alike for decades. Although Latinxs in the United States have been counted in every census the nation has conducted, it was not until the 1930s that the issue of race came to the fore as the politics of who Latinxs were and whether the government should simply classify them as White became contested. These issues were amplified in the 1960s when Chicano and Boricua—Puerto Rican—activists, inspired by the Black civil rights movement, demanded that their communities be counted as distinct from Anglos. Decades of racial terror, community denigration, and colonialism, they contended, had made the Latinx experience distinct from that of Whites. A separate classification, activists argued, would allow them to have data on the state of their communities and make claims on government resources. Having census data on Hispanic/Latino poverty, for example, would allow Latinx advocacy groups to lobby for anti-poverty programs in their communities. Yet the issue of race and Latinxs continued to be thorny as the Census Bureau struggled with how to create a classification broad enough to encompass the immense racial, social, and cultural diversity of Latinxs. As of 2020, the issue remains unresolved as the Bureau continues to officially classify Latinxs as ethnically Hispanic/Latino but racially White, even though the bulk of research shows that about half of Latinxs consistently check the “some other race” box on census forms. More recent Latinx census politics centers on the issue of whether the Census Bureau should include a citizenship question on census forms. Latinx advocacy groups and academics have long argued that such a question would dampen Latinx census participation and effect the usefulness of census data for making claims about the size, growth, and future of the Latinx community. These politics came to a head in the months leading up to the 2020 census count as the Trump administration attempted to overturn decades of protocol and add a citizenship question to the decennial census form.
Tibetan Visionary Buddhism
Authors: Hatchell Chris
Published: March 2021

Tibetan religious traditions contain a variety of practices and discourses that involve the eyes: epistemologies that investigate the act of seeing, ritual uses of visual arts, literary references to light, and meditative practices of looking and visualization. Tibetan traditions also use practices of “vision,” where luminous scenes appear spontaneously to the eyes. Insofar as Tibetan Buddhists have extensively theorized these visionary experiences and identified them as important methods of attaining Buddhist goals, they can be thought of as constituting a kind of “visionary” Buddhism.

Visionary practices in Tibetan religion can be placed on two interconnected registers: those having practical or this-worldly benefits, and those that are viewed as leading to liberation. In the first category, vision is commonly found in practices related to prognostication, mediumship, and textual revelation. The second category is more characteristic of tantric yogic practices related to Kālacakra and the post-tantric movement known as the Great Perfection. In these cases, practitioners use sensory deprivation to induce complex visions. Such visions are described variously as being expressions of emptiness, expressions of one’s own mind, or the “lighting up” of an omnipresent awareness. Recognizing the nature of these visions is seen as part of the path to enlightenment.
Guatemalan Churches: The Maya Legacy in Organic Façades
Authors: Damian Carol
Published: March 2021

Located in the center of Maya civilization and tradition, Guatemala features some of the world’s most spectacular archaeological sites, with extensive pre-Hispanic remains. The Maya of pre-Contact times believed in a pantheistic religion with many gods, and despite violent Spanish subjugation beginning in 1524, many of those traditions still survive. Coerced conversion had mixed results, as the Maya in certain territories often did not replace or abolish their beliefs in favor of Christianity, but rather added this new faith as another layer. This allowed Mayans to participate in their own rituals while maintaining Christian identity, blending religious cultures in a syncretic situation that saw art, music, festivals, and other events as unique and genuine dialogue. Today, contemporary Mayans in Guatemala maintain their linguistic dialects, along with traditional clothing and ceremonies of ancient rituals.

The tenacity of the Maya people in upholding their longstanding customs and beliefs is reflected in the architectural embellishments that adorn Guatemala’s many churches. From small parishes to cities, a profusion of organic details is evident on the façades of even newly built Catholic churches. These flourishes exhibit relationships to Mayan glyphs and produce a unique visual vocabulary based on the ancient beliefs that connected man’s relation to nature as inherent to daily life. Disguised within these Christian landmarks, the adornments uncover the Guatemalan people’s enduring commitment to Mayan beliefs, despite waves of forced evangelization throughout their territories.
Digital Resources: Dark Tourism in Latin America
Authors: Piña Ulices
Published: March 2021

Participation in tourism has dramatically increased since the mid-20th century. Yet travel to destinations associated with death, disaster, and destruction have long fascinated people. This subgroup of tourism, known as dark tourism, however, has only received popular and scholarly attention from travel enthusiasts, media, and academics since the turn of the century. The website Dark Tourism is a digital resource that introduces the concept and practice of dark tourism to a wider audience. The digital resource delivers well-curated and researched information on dark tourism and boasts excellent coverage of a range of categories, news, and topics with a primary focus on destinations across the globe (including almost 900 places in 112 countries). In particular, the site curates significant content on Latin America (Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America) and is home to numerous entries on sites including sensationalized tragedies and crimes, natural disasters, and politically tinged sites of genocide and state terrorism. The digital resource is a good reference point to begin critical, historical, and ethical conversations about how to visit sites of death, destruction, and disaster in the region.
Alcohol and Drugs in Brazil
Authors: Carneiro Henrique S.
Published: March 2021

Brazilian native communities already knew various drugs, such as tobacco, ayahuasca, mate, or guaraná, but after the arrival of Portuguese colonizers, sugarcane became the main economic activity for production of sugar and brandy (cachaça), with tobacco ranking second. Ayahuasca became, in the 20th century, the sacrament of syncretic and mixed religions. Pharmaceutical regulations since the late 19th century, especially of painkillers and cocaine, as well as the prohibition of folk healers, tightened state controls that particularly stigmatized cannabis as an expression of an African heritage to be extirpated. Adherence to international treaties and the establishment of bodies that centralized drug policy, such as the National Commission for the Inspection of Narcotic Drugs (CNFE), in 1938 were accompanied by repressive legislation, with a large increase in criminal indictment and incarceration. Brazil’s 20th-century drug history, encompassing the sphere of pharmaceuticals and illicit and licit substances such as alcoholic, stimulants, and tobacco, reflects shifting socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts.
Environmental Degradation, Tropical Diseases, and Economic Development
Authors: Gallup John Luke
Published: March 2021

It’s complicated. Tropical diseases have unusually intricate life cycles because most of them involve not only a human host and a pathogen, but also a vector host. The diseases are predominantly tropical due to their sensitivity to local ecology, usually due to the vector organism. The differences between the tropical diseases mean that they respond to environmental degradation in various ways that depend on local conditions. Urbanization and water pollution tend to limit malaria, but deforestation and dams can exacerbate malaria and schistosomiasis. Global climate change, the largest environmental change, will likely extend the range of tropical climate conditions to higher elevations and near the limits of the tropics, spreading some diseases, but will make other areas too dry or hot for the vectors. Nonetheless, the geographical range of tropical diseases will be primarily determined by public health efforts more than climate. Early predictions that malaria will spread widely because of climate change were flawed, and control efforts will probably cause it to diminish further. The impact of human disease on economic development is hard to pin down with confidence. It may be substantial, or it may be misattributed to other influences. A mechanism by which tropical disease may have large development consequences is its deleterious effects on the cognitive development of infants, which makes them less productive throughout their lives.
Economic Issues Related to Asian Deforestation
Authors: Onder Stefanie , Erbaugh James T. , Kosmidou-Bradley Georgia Christina
Published: March 2021

The loss of Asian forests represents one of the most significant changes in contemporary land cover. Between 2000 and 2020 alone, an area twice the size of Malaysia has lost its tree cover as measured by Earth observation data. These trends have significant repercussions for greenhouse gas emissions, carbon storage, the conservation of biodiversity, and the wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), making Asian deforestation a phenomenon of global concern.

There are many immediate factors that drive deforestation across Asia, but the conversion to commodity agriculture is the leading cause. Most notably, the expansion of oil palm and rubber plantations by both multinational corporations and smallholders has led to dramatic conversion of forests. The production of timber as well as pulp and paper has further contributed to significant deforestation, with the evolution of each sector often driven by government policies, such as logging bans.

However, it is the underlying drivers (i.e., distal and proximate causes) that determine where and when commodity production displaces forest cover. They are particularly challenging to tackle in a globalized world, where consumption patterns driven by local population and income growth lead to environmental and social change in distant producer countries, including in Asia. Certification programs and legality requirements have been put in place to address these externalities with varying success. Deforestation in Asia is also facilitated by weak governance and regulatory frameworks, where forest rights are often unclear, and financial, technological, and human resources for forest monitoring are limited.

Several contemporary forest governance strategies seek to promote sustainable management of Asian forests. Financial mechanisms such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) and payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes seek to provide economic incentives for forest conservation. Pledges and activities to remove deforestation from commodity supply chains seek to respond to consumer demand, promote corporate environmental and social responsibility, and reduce the extent to which commodity supply chains contribute to Asian deforestation. And multiple state-led initiatives across Asia to empower IPLCs aim to align forest management objectives between national governments, subnational administrations, and local people. Assessing the impact of interventions related to financial mechanisms, corporate responsibility, and local forest governance will be critical to shaping the future of Asian forest cover change.
Gustafson, Howard
Authors: Logan Sadye L. M.
Published: March 2021

Howard Gustafson (1916–1966) was a respected authority in the field of community organization. He was also a strong and thoughtful advocate of social work cooperation on eradicating poverty in the United States. He served as the sixth President of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
Kelly, James R., Jr.
Authors: Logan Sadye L. M.
Published: March 2021

James R. Kelly, Jr. (1934–2002) undertook pioneering work in the development and administration of the Veterans Administration (VA) Extended Care programs that has basically shaped the modalities of long-term care now available to veterans across the United States.
Pantoja, Antonia
Authors: Logan Sadye L. M.
Published: March 2021

Antonia Pantoja (1921–2002) was a civil and human rights activist, educational innovator, housing and economic development trailblazer, and a visionary. She was the principal architect of the most enduring Puerto Rican organizations in the United States.
Schorr, Alvin
Authors: Logan Sadye L. M.
Published: March 2021

Alvin Schorr (1921–2016) had a long and distinguished career fighting poverty on many fronts. His career was essentially identified with public social policy, particularly with the issues surrounding income maintenance. After working for several years in social service agencies, he began a career in policy in the government and academic sectors. He dedicated his life and career to fighting poverty. His personal motto was, “Tikkun Olam,” which refers to repairing the world through acts of social justice and kindness.
Milanof, Lillian Catherine
Authors: Logan Sadye L. M.
Published: March 2021

Lillian Catherine Milanof (1922–2015), Professor Emerita at Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville, has, as her heritage, a lifetime of accomplishments as an advocate for social justice.
Use of Nalmefene in Routine Practice: Results from a French Prospective Cohort Study and a National Database Analysis
Authors: Aubin Henri-Jean , Dureau-Pournin Caroline , Falissard Bruno , Paille François , Rigaud Alain , Micon Sophie , Pénichon Marine , Andersohn Frank , Truchi Christine , Blin Patrick
Published: March 2021

Aims

Two complementary studies were used to assess the real-life use of nalmefene in alcohol-dependent patients and its impact on alcohol use health status.

Methods

USE-PACT was a prospective cohort study designed to evaluate the real-life effectiveness of nalmefene in the management of alcohol dependence, as assessed by total alcohol consumption (TAC) and number of heavy drinking days (HDD) at 1 year. USE-AM was a cohort study using data from the French nationwide claims database and was used to evaluate the external validity of the population in the prospective study.

Results

Overall, 256 of 700 new nalmefene users enrolled in the USE-PACT study had valid data at 1 year. After 1 year, patients treated with nalmefene showed a mean ± SD reduction from baseline in TAC (−41.5 ± 57.4 g/day) and number of HDD (−10.7 ± 11.7 days/4 weeks). Patients took a mean ± SD of 20.0 ± 12.0 tablets/4 weeks (median of 1 tablet/day) for the first 3 months and then reduced the dose. The proportion of patients who no longer took nalmefene gradually increased from 5% at 1 month to 52% at 1 year. The USE-AM study identified 486 patients with a first reimbursement for nalmefene in 2016; baseline characteristics confirmed external validity of the USE-PACT study. Overall, 46.3% of initial USE-AM prescriptions were made by GPs; most (91.8%) patients stopped treatment during follow-up. However, 15.2% of patients resumed treatment after stopping.

Conclusions

In this analysis of French routine practice, patients with alcohol dependence treated with nalmefene showed reduced alcohol consumption, and nalmefene was generally well tolerated.
Investigation of Association of Rare, Functional Genetic Variants With Heavy Drinking and Problem Drinking in Exome Sequenced UK Biobank Participants
Authors: Curtis David
Published: March 2021

Aims

The study aimed to identify specific genes and functional genetic variants affecting susceptibility to two alcohol-related phenotypes: heavy drinking and problem drinking.

Methods

Phenotypic and exome sequence data were downloaded from the UK Biobank. Reported drinks in the last 24 hours were used to define heavy drinking, while responses to a mental health questionnaire defined problem drinking. Gene-wise weighted burden analysis was applied, with genetic variants which were rarer and/or had a more severe functional effect being weighted more highly. Additionally, previously reported variants of interest were analysed inidividually.

Results

Of exome sequenced subjects, for heavy drinking, there were 8166 cases and 84,461 controls, while for problem drinking, there were 7811 cases and 59,606 controls. No gene was formally significant after correction for multiple testing, but three genes possibly related to autism were significant at P < 0.001, FOXP1, ARHGAP33 and CDH9, along with VGF which may also be of psychiatric interest. Well established associations with rs1229984 in ADH1B and rs671 in ALDH2 were confirmed, but previously reported variants in ALDH1B1 and GRM3 were not associated with either phenotype.

Conclusions

This large study fails to conclusively implicate any novel genes or variants. It is possible that more definitive results will be obtained when sequence data for the remaining UK Biobank participants become available and/or if data can be obtained for a more extreme phenotype such as alcohol dependence disorder. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource.
Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Urinary Escherichia coli Among Outpatients in Washington State, 2013–2017: Associations With Age and Sex
Authors: Frisbie Lauren , Weissman Scott J , Kapoor Hema , D’Angeli Marisa , Salm Ann , Radcliff Jeff , Rabinowitz Peter
Published: March 2021

Background

Management of acute, uncomplicated cystitis in outpatients benefits from knowledge of drug resistance patterns in the population. However, antibiograms are often not available for the outpatient setting, and the role of host factors such as sex and age in assessing the likelihood of resistance are not well understood. We investigated whether antibiotic resistance patterns of outpatient urinary Escherichia coli isolates vary by age group and sex in a large database of antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) results from Washington State.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed AST data for outpatient urinary E. coli isolates in Washington State tested at a clinical reference laboratory from 2013 to 2017. In logistic regression models stratified by sex, we tested the associations of antibiotic resistance with patient age.

Results

We found females >50 years had greater odds than females younger than 19 for resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate (odds ratio [OR], 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22–1.69), ciprofloxacin (OR, 3.04; 95% CI, 2.48–3.74), ceftriaxone (OR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.77–3.92), and gentamicin (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.27–2.08) (all P < .001). Compared to males younger than 19, males >50 years had greater odds of resistance to ciprofloxacin (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.18–5.69) and lower odds of resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, .34–.96) (all P < .05).

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate that age and sex are associated with variability in antibiotic resistance patterns in the outpatient setting. Availability of outpatient antibiotic resistance data based on sex and age may be useful to inform empiric prescribing for outpatient UTIs and to support antibiotic stewardship efforts.
Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccination in Preventing Hospitalization Due to Influenza in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Boddington Nicki L , Pearson Isabelle , Whitaker Heather , Mangtani Punam , Pebody Richard G
Published: March 2021

This systematic review assesses the literature for estimates of influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalization in children. Studies of any design to June 8, 2020, were included if the outcome was hospitalization, participants were 17 years or younger and influenza infection was laboratory-confirmed. A random-effects meta-analysis of 37 studies that used a test-negative design gave a pooled seasonal IVE against hospitalization of 53.3% (47.2–58.8) for any influenza. IVE was higher against influenza A/H1N1pdm09 (68.7%, 56.9–77.2) and lowest against influenza A/H3N2 (35.8%, 23.4–46.3). Estimates by vaccine type ranged from 44.3% (30.1–55.7) for live-attenuated influenza vaccines to 68.9% (53.6–79.2) for inactivated vaccines. IVE estimates were higher in seasons when the circulating influenza strains were antigenically matched to vaccine strains (59.3%, 48.3–68.0). Influenza vaccination gives moderate overall protection against influenza-associated hospitalization in children supporting annual vaccination. IVE varies by influenza subtype and vaccine type.
Democratic Disruption in the Age of Social Media: Between Marketized and Structural Conceptions of Human Rights Law
Authors: Sander Barrie
Published: March 2021

Once hailed as beacons of democracy, social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter now find themselves credited with its decay. Amidst a rising global techlash and growing calls for digital constitutionalism, this article develops a typology of the diverse forms of governance enabled by social media platforms and examines the contestability of human rights law in addressing the accountability deficits that characterize the platform economy. The article examines two interrelated forms of social media governance in particular: content moderation, encompassing the practices through which social media companies determine the permissibility and visibility of online content on their platforms; and data surveillance, encompassing the practices through which social media companies process personal data in accordance with their extractivist business models. Recognizing that human rights law is a vocabulary of governance with the potential to both restrain and legitimate particular relations of power within the platform economy, this article critically examines two rival conceptions of human rights law – marketized and structural – that may be relied upon to address the accountability shortfalls that pervade the contemporary social media ecosystem. The article ultimately argues in favour of a more structural conception of human rights law, one characterized by an openness to positive state intervention to safeguard public and collective values such as media pluralism and diversity as well as a systemic lens that strives to take into account imbalances of power in the social media ecosystem and the effects of state and platform practices on the social media environment as a whole.
Genomic Variation and Recent Population Histories of Spotted (Strix occidentalis) and Barred (Strix varia) Owls
Authors: Fujito Naoko T , Hanna Zachary R , Levy-Sakin Michal , Bowie Rauri C K , Kwok Pui-Yan , Dumbacher John P , Wall Jeffrey D
Published: March 2021

Spotted owls (SOs, Strix occidentalis) are a flagship species inhabiting old-growth forests in western North America. In recent decades, their populations have declined due to ongoing reductions in suitable habitat caused by logging, wildfires, and competition with the congeneric barred owl (BO, Strix varia). The northern spotted owl (S. o. caurina) has been listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act since 1990. Here, we use an updated SO genome assembly along with 51 high-coverage whole-genome sequences to examine population structure, hybridization, and recent changes in population size in SO and BO. We found that potential hybrids identified from intermediate plumage morphology were a mixture of pure BO, F1 hybrids, and F1 × BO backcrosses. Also, although SO underwent a population bottleneck around the time of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, their population sizes rebounded and show no evidence of any historical (i.e., 100–10,000 years ago) population decline. This suggests that the current decrease in SO abundance is due to events in the past century. Finally, we estimate that western and eastern BOs have been genetically separated for thousands of years, instead of the previously assumed recent (i.e., <150 years) divergence. Although this result is surprising, it is unclear where the ancestors of western BO lived after the separation. In particular, although BO may have colonized western North America much earlier than the first recorded observations, it is also possible that the estimated divergence time reflects unsampled BO population structure within central or eastern North America.
Impact of Retirement on Sleep Problems Among Older Workers and Their Partners
Authors: Mutambudzi Miriam , van Solinge Hanna
Published: March 2021

Background and Objectives

Sleep problems are a public health burden and have adverse health consequences in older adults. Despite sleep being a shared biological process between couples, to date, there have not been any studies that have assessed the association between retirement and sleep in older couples. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of retirement on diagnosed sleep problems in older Dutch couples.

Research Design and Methods

This study used data from 2 waves of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute Pension Panel Study for older Dutch adults living with a partner (n = 3,726). Logistic regression models examined the strength of association between retirement and sleep problems, while accounting for the moderating role of relationship characteristics.

Results

Retirement was associated with decreased odds of sleep problems at Wave 2 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.46–0.78). Lower relationship quality was associated with increased odds of sleep problems in the fully adjusted model (OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.32–2.49). Having a partner with sleep problems was associated with an increased risk of sleep problems as well (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.07–2.13). There was evidence of effect modification by relationship quality (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.05–3.31).

Discussion and Implications

Retirement and sleep do not occur in a social vacuum and have implications beyond the individual level. More research is therefore needed to understand the impact of sleep and its health consequences on older coupled workers. Such research may provide valuable insights for the management and treatment of sleep problems and may have implications for the public health of aging communities.
Arrests, Internments, and Deportations of Swiss Jews in France, and the Reactions of Swiss Authorities, 1941–1944
Authors: Späti Christina
Published: March 2021

Hundreds of Swiss Jews were living in France when Germany attacked and conquered it in mid-1940. Antisemitic laws came into force soon thereafter. One question was whether these measures would apply to citizens of a neutral state. German and French authorities applied such laws, for instance, interning approximately sixty Swiss Jews in the Northern Zone. The present study focuses on the arrests, internments, and occasional deportations of Swiss Jews living in France, and the often feeble efforts of Swiss diplomats and other authorities to extricate them. The haunting question remains how much more could have been done.
Separate and combined effects of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage on health-related lifestyle risk factors: a multilevel analysis
Authors: Zhu Yinjie , Duan Ming-Jie , Riphagen Ineke J , Minovic Isidor , Mierau Jochen O , Carrero Juan-Jesus , Bakker Stephan J L , Navis Gerjan J , Dekker Louise H
Published: March 2021

Background

Socio-economic disadvantage at both individual and neighbourhood levels has been found to be associated with single lifestyle risk factors. However, it is unknown to what extent their combined effects contribute to a broad lifestyle profile. We aimed to (i) investigate the associations of individual socio-economic disadvantage (ISED) and neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage (NSED) in relation to an extended score of health-related lifestyle risk factors (lifestyle risk index); and to (ii) investigate whether NSED modified the association between ISED and the lifestyle risk index.

Methods

Of 77 244 participants [median age (IQR): 46 (40–53) years] from the Lifelines cohort study in the northern Netherlands, we calculated a lifestyle risk index by scoring the lifestyle risk factors including smoking status, alcohol consumption, diet quality, physical activity, TV-watching time and sleep time. A higher lifestyle risk index was indicative of an unhealthier lifestyle. Composite scores of ISED and NSED based on a variety of socio-economic indicators were calculated separately. Linear mixed-effect models were used to examine the association of ISED and NSED with the lifestyle risk index and to investigate whether NSED modified the association between ISED and the lifestyle risk index by including an interaction term between ISED and NSED.

Results

Both ISED and NSED were associated with an unhealthier lifestyle, because ISED and NSED were both positively associated with the lifestyle risk index {highest quartile [Q4] ISED beta-coefficient [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 0.64 [0.62–0.66], P < 0.001; highest quintile [Q5] NSED beta-coefficient [95% CI]: 0.17 [0.14–0.21], P < 0.001} after adjustment for age, sex and body mass index. In addition, a positive interaction was found between NSED and ISED on the lifestyle risk index (beta-coefficient 0.016, 95% CI: 0.011–0.021, Pinteraction < 0.001), which indicated that NSED modified the association between ISED and the lifestyle risk index; i.e. the gradient of the associations across all ISED quartiles (Q4 vs Q1) was steeper among participants residing in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods compared with those who resided in the less disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that public health initiatives addressing lifestyle-related socio-economic health differences should not only target individuals, but also consider neighbourhood factors.
ACE2, TMPRSS2, and L-SIGN Expression in Placentae From HIV-Positive Pregnancies Exposed to Antiretroviral Therapy—Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Placental Infection
Authors: Kala Smriti , Meteleva Ksenia , Serghides Lena
Published: March 2021

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binding receptor ACE2 and the spike protein priming protease TMPRSS2 are coexpressed in human placentae. It is unknown whether their expression is altered in the context of HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods

We compared mRNA levels of SARS-CoV-2 cell-entry mediators ACE2, TMPRSS2, and L-SIGN by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 105 placentae: 45 from pregnant women with HIV (WHIV) on protease inhibitor (PI)-based ART, 17 from WHIV on non-PI–based ART, and 43 from HIV-uninfected women.

Results

ACE2 levels were lower, while L-SIGN levels were higher, in placentae from WHIV on PI-based ART compared to those on non-PI–based ART and to HIV-uninfected women. TMPRSS2 levels were similar between groups. Black race was significantly associated with lower expression of ACE2 and higher expression of L-SIGN. ACE2 levels were significantly higher in placentae of female fetuses.

Conclusions

We identified pregnant women of black race and WHIV on PI-based ART to have relatively lower expression of placental ACE2 than those of white race and HIV-uninfected women. This may potentially contribute to altered susceptibility to COVID-19 in these women, favorably by reduced viral entry or detrimentally by loss of ACE2 protection against hyperinflammation.
Managing User-Centered Design Activities in Distributed Agile Development
Authors: Alyahya Sultan , Almughram Ohoud
Published: March 2021

The integration of user-centered design (UCD) activities into agile information systems development has become more popular recently. Despite the fact that there are many ways the merging of UCD activities into agile development can be carried out, it has been widely recognized that coordinating design activities with development activities is one of the most common problems, especially in distributed environments where designers, developers and users are spread over several sites. The main approach to coordinate UCD activities with distributed agile development is the use of informal methods (e.g. communication through using video conference tools). In addition to the temporal, geographical and socio-cultural barriers associated with this type of methods, a major limitation is a lack of awareness of how UCD activities and development activities affect each other. Furthermore, some agile project management tools are integrated with design platforms but fail to provide the necessary coordination that helps team members understand how the design and development activities affect their daily work. This research aims to support the effective management of integrating UCD activities into distributed agile development by (i) identifying the key activity dependencies between UX design teams and development teams during distributed UCD/agile development and (ii) designing a computer-based system to provide coordination support through managing these activity dependencies. In order to achieve these objectives, two case studies are carried out. Our findings revealed 10 main dependencies between UCD design teams and development teams as shown by six types of activity. In addition, the participatory design approach shows that developing a computer-based system to manage seven of these selected dependencies is achievable.
Assessing the appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy in patients with sepsis at a Vietnamese national hospital
Authors: Nguyen-Hoang Nam , Bui Quynh Thi Huong
Published: March 2021

Objectives

To assess the appropriateness of empirical antimicrobial therapy for sepsis and septic shock and determine factors associated with patient treatment outcomes at a Vietnamese national hospital.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 134 patients diagnosed with sepsis and/or septic shock at Thong-Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from January 2018 to June 2018. Appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy was defined as physician adherence to antimicrobial guidelines using the Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy and the Vietnam national guidelines. Bayesian model averaging technique was used to identify the related factors associated with patient treatment outcomes.

Results

The median age of patients was 70 years. Organisms were identified in 54.5% of cases and predominated by Escherichia coli and staphylococci. Appropriate empirical antimicrobial agents were initiated in 56.6% (n = 73) of all cases. Of these patients, 31 cases (42.5%) and 61 cases (83.6%) received the antimicrobials in accordance with recommendations related to dosage and route of administration, respectively, bringing the overall rate of appropriate empirical antimicrobial therapy down to 23.3%. Patients who progressed to septic shock, received inappropriate antimicrobial therapy and required ICU admission were more likely to suffer treatment failure.

Conclusions

The study findings suggest that clinicians should appropriately adhere to antimicrobial guidelines, especially in patients with septic shock and those who require ICU care, to improve treatment outcomes.