bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Monitoring thermal defects in rail and rail joints using piezo impedance-based structural health monitoring (PISHM)
Authors: Banerjee Tathagata , Moharana Sumedha
Published: January 2022

Rail track derailment has been proven to be the cause of most of the rail accidents in recent years. High-temperature strains in railways caused by rail traction and thermal variation are the main causes of derailment, which lead to buckling. The likelihood of passenger deaths and maintenance costs will be reduced if thermal strains and failure in rails are detected early. This research attempts to provide a preventative strategy for detecting thermal strains and deformation caused by temperature fluctuations at railways. Using the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique, piezoelectric sensors were used to acquire piezo coupled structural signatures for lab-sized rail samples, i.e. plain rail and rail joints, for gradual temperature escalation and repeat heat cycle. The experimental conductance signatures were obtained for the incremental rise in temperature (30–80 °C) in ambient conditions, and repetitive thermal cycles. To better diagnose structural problems induced only by the effect of heat on the host structure, thermal compensation is proposed. The piezo–coupled signatures for thermal changes in rail and rail junctions (weld and bolt) were found to be particularly effective in detecting incipient structural alterations for both steady and cyclic temperature variations. Statistical damage index was used to quantify the damage for all types of rail-joint bar caused due to temperature variation. Overall, this study has paved an experimental technique that can be used to detect early damage in rail and rail joints due to thermal loading.
Video Exposure Monitoring and Position Tracking for Evaluating Particulate and Gas Exposures in a Fully Enclosed Small Arms Firing Range
Authors: Parker Ariel , Wardall Austin , Duran Christin
Published: January 2022

The exposure environment in small arms firing ranges is dynamic since ventilation conditions vary in space and time and instructors continuously move around throughout the range. Understanding the impact of engineering controls and instructor behavior on the levels of particulates and gases in the breathing zone is required for providing recommendations to mitigate exposure. In this study, video exposure monitoring (VEM) and position tracking technologies were used in conjunction with real-time measurements of ultrafine particle (UFP) and carbon monoxide (CO) exposures in the breathing zone of instructors in an enclosed small arms firing range. VEM was completed using Enhanced Video Analysis of Dust Exposure 2.1 developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. With this program, video recordings of Combat Arms instructor activity were synced with exposure data collected in real-time during small arms training. Position tracking was completed using a system by Pozyx, which uses ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. Position tracking data was aligned with real-time sensor data via time-synchronization. VEM identified that the largest peaks in UFP and CO concentrations generally occurred when instructors were close to the firing line assisting shooters during live fire and when instructors were located near the center of the range near the back wall where the air supplies transition between the Left-Hand-Side (LHS) and Right-Hand-Side (RHS). The UWB position tracking results agreed with the VEM results, confirming that peak exposures occurred when firing range instructors were near the center of the range close to the back wall where the LHS and RHS air supplies transition. Without these exposure visualization technologies, this observation could not have been made. Thus, exposure visualization is a valuable tool to identify gaps in exposure assessment, although future technologies should focus on automation to expedite analysis.
The Plug-in Graft, the Essential Supplement for a Stable Cartilaginous Framework in Rhinoplasty
Authors: Wu Lehao , Wang Huan , Tian Le , Fan Fei , You Jianjun
Published: January 2022

Background

A stable cartilaginous framework establishes the foundation for a successful rhinoplasty procedure. However, the curvature of the anterior septal angle usually does not match the added tip graft, leaving a structural gap that can cause postoperative rotation of the nasal tip. A supplementary graft is required to fill this gap, consolidating this structure in 3 dimensions.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to detail and validate the utilization of a graft that fills the structural gap, producing a more stabilized framework and better-sustained tip position in the long term.

Methods

The counterrotating force applied intraoperatively and the complications that arose were collected retrospectively. Three-dimensional stereophotogrammetric evaluations were performed. Anthropometric points were analyzed in a blinded fashion. Outcome variables were tip projection, nasal length, Goode’s ratio, and tip rotation. Results were compared statistically.

Results

Thirty-one female patients, ranging in age from 18 to 41 years, completed the study. Intraoperative measurements of rotation indicated an unequivocal stabilizing effect of the plug-in graft. Postoperative analysis showed excellent maintenance of the tip position over time. Tip projection and nasolabial angle decreased slightly over time, but the differences were not statistically different.

Conclusions

The plug-in graft evidently consolidates the entire cartilaginous framework in rib-based rhinoplasty procedures. This anatomically integrated structure establishes the fundamental groundwork which provides uncompromising support for the tip graft, thereby achieving an aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting outcome. When executed properly, this graft is effective in maintaining postoperative tip position, justifying the technical challenges involved and the prolonged operating time.

Level of Evidence: 4
Towards routine employment of computational tools for antimicrobial resistance determination via high-throughput sequencing
Authors: Marini Simone , Mora Rodrigo A , Boucher Christina , Robertson Noyes Noelle , Prosperi Mattia
Published: January 2022

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to public health and farming at large. In clinical and veterinary practice, timely characterization of the antibiotic susceptibility profile of bacterial infections is a crucial step in optimizing treatment. High-throughput sequencing is a promising option for clinical point-of-care and ecological surveillance, opening the opportunity to develop genotyping-based AMR determination as a possibly faster alternative to phenotypic testing. In the present work, we compare the performance of state-of-the-art methods for detection of AMR using high-throughput sequencing data from clinical settings. We consider five computational approaches based on alignment (AMRPlusPlus), deep learning (DeepARG), k-mer genomic signatures (KARGA, ResFinder) or hidden Markov models (Meta-MARC). We use an extensive collection of 585 isolates with available AMR resistance profiles determined by phenotypic tests across nine antibiotic classes. We show how the prediction landscape of AMR classifiers is highly heterogeneous, with balanced accuracy varying from 0.40 to 0.92. Although some algorithms—ResFinder, KARGA and AMRPlusPlus—exhibit overall better balanced accuracy than others, the high per-AMR-class variance and related findings suggest that: (1) all algorithms might be subject to sampling bias both in data repositories used for training and experimental/clinical settings; and (2) a portion of clinical samples might contain uncharacterized AMR genes that the algorithms—mostly trained on known AMR genes—fail to generalize upon. These results lead us to formulate practical advice for software configuration and application, and give suggestions for future study designs to further develop AMR prediction tools from proof-of-concept to bedside.
Accurate flexible refinement for atomic-level protein structure using cryo-EM density maps and deep learning
Authors: Zhang Biao , Liu Dong , Zhang Yang , Shen Hong-Bin , Zhang Gui-Jun
Published: January 2022

With the rapid progress of deep learning in cryo-electron microscopy and protein structure prediction, improving the accuracy of the protein structure model by using a density map and predicted contact/distance map through deep learning has become an urgent need for robust methods. Thus, designing an effective protein structure optimization strategy based on the density map and predicted contact/distance map is critical to improving the accuracy of structure refinement. In this article, a protein structure optimization method based on the density map and predicted contact/distance map by deep-learning technology was proposed in accordance with the result of matching between the density map and the initial model. Physics- and knowledge-based energy functions, integrated with Cryo-EM density map data and deep-learning data, were used to optimize the protein structure in the simulation. The dynamic confidence score was introduced to the iterative process for choosing whether it is a density map or a contact/distance map to dominate the movement in the simulation to improve the accuracy of refinement. The protocol was tested on a large set of 224 non-homologous membrane proteins and generated 214 structural models with correct folds, where 4.5% of structural models were generated from structural models with incorrect folds. Compared with other state-of-the-art methods, the major advantage of the proposed methods lies in the skills for using density map and contact/distance map in the simulation, as well as the new energy function in the re-assembly simulations. Overall, the results demonstrated that this strategy is a valuable approach and ready to use for atomic-level structure refinement using cryo-EM density map and predicted contact/distance map.
ABC-Net: a divide-and-conquer based deep learning architecture for SMILES recognition from molecular images
Authors: Zhang Xiao-Chen , Yi Jia-Cai , Yang Guo-Ping , Wu Cheng-Kun , Hou Ting-Jun , Cao Dong-Sheng
Published: January 2022

Structural information for chemical compounds is often described by pictorial images in most scientific documents, which cannot be easily understood and manipulated by computers. This dilemma makes optical chemical structure recognition (OCSR) an essential tool for automatically mining knowledge from an enormous amount of literature. However, existing OCSR methods fall far short of our expectations for realistic requirements due to their poor recovery accuracy. In this paper, we developed a deep neural network model named ABC-Net (Atom and Bond Center Network) to predict graph structures directly. Based on the divide-and-conquer principle, we propose to model an atom or a bond as a single point in the center. In this way, we can leverage a fully convolutional neural network (CNN) to generate a series of heat-maps to identify these points and predict relevant properties, such as atom types, atom charges, bond types and other properties. Thus, the molecular structure can be recovered by assembling the detected atoms and bonds. Our approach integrates all the detection and property prediction tasks into a single fully CNN, which is scalable and capable of processing molecular images quite efficiently. Experimental results demonstrate that our method could achieve a significant improvement in recognition performance compared with publicly available tools. The proposed method could be considered as a promising solution to OCSR problems and a starting point for the acquisition of molecular information in the literature.
Arab Social Workers’ Burnout in Welfare Bureaus: Expressions, Reasons, Implications and Coping-Mechanisms
Authors: Mahajne Ibrahim
Published: January 2022

The research investigated expressions of, reasons, implications and coping strategies for burnout according to twenty-three Arab ethnic-national minority social workers in Arab welfare bureaus in Israel. Interview data indicated that burnout is expressed in somatisation and interpersonal behaviours with clients and colleagues. As in Arab culture, personal emotional suffering is not mentioned. Micro- and meso-level factors were ignored. Macro-level dependence on the establishment includes professional training and government policies inappropriate for the Arab population’s unique needs. Interviewees mentioned only minor consequences, ensuring their continued employment. They rationalised and universalised burnout as normative, sufficing with indirect coping strategies, for example social events.
Peripheral neuropathy in Parkinson’s disease: prevalence and functional impact on gait and balance
Authors: Corrà Marta Francisca , Vila-Chã Nuno , Sardoeira Ana , Hansen Clint , Sousa Ana Paula , Reis Inês , Sambayeta Firmina , Damásio Joana , Calejo Margarida , Schicketmueller Andreas , Laranjinha Inês , Salgado Paula , Taipa Ricardo , Magalhães Rui , Correia Manuel , Maetzler Walter , Maia Luís F
Published: January 2022

Peripheral neuropathy is a common problem in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Peripheral neuropathy’s prevalence in Parkinson’s disease varies between 4.8–55%, compared with 9% in the general population. It remains unclear whether peripheral neuropathy leads to decreased motor performance in Parkinson’s disease, resulting in impaired mobility and increased balance deficits. We aimed to determine the prevalence and type of peripheral neuropathy in Parkinson’s disease patients and evaluate its functional impact on gait and balance.

A cohort of consecutive Parkinson’s disease patients assessed by movement disorders specialists based on the UK Brain Bank criteria underwent clinical, neurophysiological (nerve conduction studies and quantitative sensory testing) and neuropathological (intraepidermal nerve fibre density in skin biopsy punches) evaluation to characterize the peripheral neuropathy type and aetiology using a cross-sectional design. Gait and balance were characterized using wearable health-technology in OFF and ON medication states, and the main parameters were extracted using validated algorithms.

A total of 99 Parkinson’s disease participants with a mean age of 67.2 (±10) years and mean disease duration of 6.5 (±5) years were assessed. Based on a comprehensive clinical, neurophysiological and neuropathological evaluation, we found that 40.4% of Parkinson’s disease patients presented peripheral neuropathy, with a predominance of small fibre neuropathy (70% of the group). In the OFF state, the presence of peripheral neuropathy was significantly associated with shorter stride length (P = 0.029), slower gait speed (P = 0.005) and smaller toe-off angles (P = 0.002) during straight walking; significantly slower speed (P = 0.019) and smaller toe-off angles (P = 0.007) were also observed during circular walking. In the ON state, the above effects remained, albeit moderately reduced. With regard to balance, significant differences between Parkinson’s disease patients with and without peripheral neuropathy were observed in the OFF medication state during stance with closed eyes on a foam surface. In the ON states, these differences were no longer observable.

We showed that peripheral neuropathy is common in Parkinson’s disease and influences gait and balance parameters, as measured with mobile health-technology. Our study supports that peripheral neuropathy recognition and directed treatment should be pursued in order to improve gait in Parkinson’s disease patients and minimize balance-related disability, targeting individualized medical care.
Efficacy of probiotics or synbiotics for critically ill adult patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Wang Kai , Zeng Qin , Li Ke-xun , Wang Yu , Wang Lu , Sun Ming-wei , Zeng Jun , Jiang Hua
Published: January 2022

Background

Microbial dysbiosis in critically ill patients is a leading cause of mortality and septic complications. Probiotics and synbiotics have emerged as novel therapy on gut microbiota to prevent septic complications. However, current evidence on their effects is conflicting. This work aims to systematically review the impact of probiotics or synbiotics in critically ill adult patients.

Methods

A comprehensive search of the PubMed, CBM, Embase, CENTRAL, ISI, and CNKI databases was performed to identify randomized controlled trials that evaluate probiotics or synbiotics in critically ill patients. The quality assessment was based on the modified Jadad's score scale and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.0.1. The major outcome measure was mortality. Secondary outcomes included incidence of septic complications, sepsis incidence, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, incidence of non-septic complication, and ventilator day. Data synthesis was conduct by Review Manager 5.4.

Results

A total of 25 randomized controlled trials reporting on 5049 critically ill patients were included. In the intervention group, 2520 participants received probiotics or synbiotics, whereas 2529 participants received standard care or placebo. Pooling data from randomized controlled trials demonstrated a significant reduction in the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the treatment group [(risk ratio (RR) 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78–0.95; p < 0.003, I2 = 85%)]. However, in the subgroup analysis, the reduction of incidence of VAP was only significant in patients receiving synbiotics (RR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.47–0.80, p = 0.0004, I2 = 40%) and not significant in those receiving only probiotics (RR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.82–1.01, p = 0.07, I2 = 65%). Moreover, sepsis incidence of critically ill patients was only significantly reduced by the addition of synbiotics (RR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.22–0.72, p = 0.005, I2 = 0%). The incidence of ICU-acquired infections was significantly reduced by the synbiotics therapy (RR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58–0.89, p = 0.0007, I2 = 79%). There was no significant difference in mortality, diarrhea, or length of ICU stay between the treatment and control groups.

Conclusions

Synbiotics is an effective and safe nutrition therapy in reducing septic complications in critically ill patients. However, in such patients, administration of probiotics alone compared with placebo resulted in no difference in the septic complications.
A combined treatment with melatonin and andrographis promotes autophagy and anticancer activity in colorectal cancer
Authors: Zhao Yinghui , Wang Chuanxin , Goel Ajay
Published: January 2022

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent malignancies worldwide and remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the USA. The high degree of morbidity and mortality associated with this disease is largely due to the inadequate efficacy of current treatments as well the development of chemoresistance. In recent years, several pharmaceutical agents screened from natural products have shown the promise to offer a safe, inexpensive and synergistically multi-targeted treatment option in various cancers. Given the growing evidence of anti-carcinogenic properties of two natural compounds, melatonin (MLT) and andrographis (Andro), we aimed to evaluate their synergistic anticancer effects in CRC. We demonstrate that indeed these two compounds possessed a synergistic anticancer effect in terms of their ability to inhibit cell viability, suppression of colony-formation and induction of apoptosis (P < 0.05). In line with our in vitro findings, we were able to validate this combinatorial anticancer activity in xenograft animal models (P < 0.001) as well as tumor-derived 3D organoids (P < 0.01). RNA-sequencing analysis revealed candidate pathways and genes that mediated antitumor efficacy of MLT and Andro in CRC, among which autophagy pathway and related genes, including NR4A1, CTSL and Atg12, were found to be primarily responsible for the increased anticancer effect by the two natural products. In conclusion, our data reveal a potent and synergistic therapeutic effect of MLT and Andro in the treatment of CRC and provides a rationale for suppressing autophagy in cancer cells as a potential therapeutic strategy for CRC.
Epidemiological evidence for associations between variants in microRNA and cancer risk
Authors: Tian Jie , Dong Yingxian , Chang Shuai , Wang Yan , Shen Cheng , Che Guowei
Published: January 2022

Numerous papers have reported variants in microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with cancer risk; these results, however, are controversial. We seek to offer an updated, comprehensive synopsis of genetic associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in miRNAs and cancer risk. We did a systematic field synopsis and meta-analysis to investigate 29 SNPs in 24 miRNAs associated with risk of 18 different kinds of cancer based on data from 247 eligible articles. We graded levels of cumulative epidemiological evidence of significant association using Venice criteria and a false-positive report probability (FPRP) test. We constructed functional annotations for these variants using data from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project. We used FPRP to find additional noteworthy associations between 278 SNPs in 117 miRNAs and risk of 26 cancers based on each SNP with one data source. Sixteen SNPs were statistically associated with risk of 17 cancers. We graded the cumulative epidemiological evidence as strong for statistical associations between 10 SNPs in 8 miRNAs and risk of 11 cancers, moderate for 9 SNPs with 12 cancers and weak for 11 SNPs with 11 cancers. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the SNPs with strong evidence might fall in putative functional regions. In addition, 38 significant associations were observed in 38 SNPs and risk of 13 cancers. This study offered a comprehensive research on miRNA gene variants and cancer risk and provided referenced information for the genetic predisposition to cancer risk in future research.
Differential auditory cortical development in left and right cochlear implanted children
Authors: Wang Yuyang , Wu Meiyun , Wu Kun , Liu Haotian , Wu Shinan , Zhang Zhikai , Liu Min , Wei Chaogang , Zhang Yu-Xuan , Liu Yuhe
Published: January 2022

Unilateral aural stimulation has been shown to cause massive cortical reorganization in brain with congenital deafness, particularly during the sensitive period of brain development. However, it is unclear which side of stimulation provides most advantages for auditory development. The left hemisphere dominance of speech and linguistic processing in normal hearing adult brain has led to the assumption of functional and developmental advantages of right over left implantation, but existing evidence is controversial. To test this assumption and provide evidence for clinical choice, we examined 34 prelingually deaf children with unilateral cochlear implants using near-infrared spectroscopy. While controlling for age of implantation, residual hearing, and dominant hand, cortical processing of speech showed neither developmental progress nor influence of implantation side weeks to months after implant activation. In sharp contrast, for nonspeech (music signal vs. noise) processing, left implantation showed functional advantages over right implantation that were not yet discernable using clinical, questionnaire-based outcome measures. These findings support the notion that the right hemisphere develops earlier and is better preserved from adverse environmental influences than its left counterpart. This study thus provides, to our knowledge, the first evidence for differential influences of left and right auditory peripheral stimulation on early cortical development of the human brain.
Robust Image Hashing With Saliency Map And Sparse Model
Authors: Yu Mengzhu , Tang Zhenjun , Li Zhixin , Liang Xiaoping , Zhang Xianquan
Published: January 2022

Image hashing is an effective technology for extensive image applications, such as retrieval, authentication and copy detection. This paper designs a new image hashing scheme based on saliency map and sparse model. The major contributions are twofold. The first contribution is the construction of a weighted image representation by combining a visual attention model called Itti model and the matrix of color vector angle (CVA). Since the Itti model can efficiently detect saliency map and CVA fully captures color information of image, they contribute to a visually robust and discriminative image representation. The second contribution is the hash extraction from the weighted image representation via sparse model. A classical sparse model called robust principal component analysis is exploited to decompose the weighted image representation into a low-rank component and a sparse component. As the low-rank component can describe intrinsic structure of image, hash calculation with low-rank component can achieve good discrimination. The efficiencies of the proposed scheme are validated by extensive experiments with open databases. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme is superior to some state-of-the-art schemes in terms of classification performance between robustness and discrimination.
On 2-Interval Pairwise Compatibility Properties of Two Classes of Grid Graphs
Authors: Papan Bishal Basak , Pranto Protik Bose , Rahman Md Saidur
Published: January 2022

A graph $G = (V,E)$ is called a pairwise compatibility graph (PCG) if it admits a tuple $(T, d_{min},d_{max})$ of an edge-weighted tree $T$ of non-negative edge weights with leaf set $L$, two non-negative real numbers $d_{min} \leq d_{max}$ such that each vertex $u^{\prime} \in V$ represents a leaf $u \in L$ and $G$ has an edge $(u^{\prime},v^{\prime}) \in E$ if and only if the distance between the two leaves $u$ and $v$ in the tree $T$ lies within interval $[d_{min}, d_{max}]$. It has been proven that not all graphs are PCGs. A graph $G$ is called a $k$-interval PCG if there exists an edge-weighted tree $T$ and $k$ mutually exclusive intervals of non-negative real numbers such that there is an edge between two vertices in $G$ if and only if the distance between their corresponding leaves in $T$ lies within any of the $k$ intervals. It is known that every graph $G$ is a $k$-interval PCG for $k=|E|$, where $E$ is the set of edges of $G$. It is thus interesting to know the smallest value of $k$ for which $G$ is a $k$-interval PCG. In this paper, we show that grid graphs and a subclass of $3$D grid graphs are $2$-interval PCGs.
An Improved Self Attention Mechanism Based on Optimized BERT-BiLSTM Model for Accurate Polarity Prediction
Authors: Shobana J , Murali M
Published: January 2022

Polarity prediction is the field of study that discovers people’s opinions, feelings, assessments, perspectives and feelings about associations and their attributes as communicated in written text. It is one of the most active research areas in the field of text mining. Nowadays online reviews play an important role by giving a helping hand to the customers to know about other customer’s opinions about the product they are going to purchase. This also guides the organizations and government sectors to increase their quality of product and services. Pre-trained BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is used for word embedding in this model. The fine-tuned BERT is used for better word representation which in turn improves the sentimental analysis classification accuracy. Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory classifier is utilized for polarity prediction. To enhance the performance of Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory, the weight parameters of Bi-directional LSTM are optimally selected by using APSO algorithm. Improved self-attention mechanism is added with BiLSTM for focusing on significant words in the context. For performance analysis, four bench mark datasets are used for experiments.
Smoking Behaviour Changes After Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Risk of All-cause Mortality
Authors: Hua Xinwei , Lopes Emily W , Burke Kristin E , Ananthakrishnan Ashwin N , Richter James M , Lo Chun-Han , Lochhead Paul , Chan Andrew T , Khalili Hamed
Published: January 2022

Background and Aims

We examined smoking behaviour changes after diagnoses of Crohn’s disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC] and evaluated their impact on mortality.

Methods

Study population included incident CD or UC cases from three cohorts of the Nurses’ Health Study [NHS], NHSII, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Smoking and other risk factors were prospectively assessed. Smoking behaviour changes were categorised as never, former [i.e., quit smoking before diagnosis], quitters [i.e., quit smoking after diagnosis], and current [i.e., continue smoking after diagnosis]. Follow-up for date and cause of death was completed through linkage to the National Death Index. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate hazard ratios [HRs] and 95% confidence intervals [CIs].

Results

Among 909 eligible CD and UC cases, 45% were never smokers, 38% were past smokers, and 16% were active smokers at the time of diagnosis. Among active smokers, 70% of patients with CD and 44% of patients with UC continued to smoke after diagnosis. In patients with CD, compared with current smokers, the multivariable-adjusted HRs [95% CI] of death were 0.19 [0.10 to 0.38] for never smokers, 0.31 [0.16 to 0.57] for former smokers, and 0.41 [0.18 to 0.93] for quitters. Similarly for UC, compared with current smokers, we observed a reduced risk of mortality for never smokers [HR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.51], former smokers [HR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.48], and quitters [HR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.72].

Conclusions

In three cohorts of health professionals, a substantial proportion of patients with new diagnosis of CD and UC and history of smoking continued to smoke after diagnosis. Smoking cessation around the time of diagnosis was associated with a significant reduction in mortality.
Sensitivities to Chill Durations and No-Chill Temperatures Regulating Eclosion Responses Differ Between Rhagoletis zephyria (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its Braconid Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Authors: Yee Wee L , Goughnour Robert B , Forbes Andrew A , Milnes Joshua M , Feder Jeffrey L
Published: January 2022

Seasonal temperatures select for eclosion timing of temperate insects and their parasitoids. In western North America, the fruit fly Rhagoletis zephyria Snow (Diptera: Tephritidae) is parasitized by the hymenopterous wasps Utetes lectoides (Gahan), an egg parasite, and Opius downesi Gahan, a larval parasite (both Braconidae). Eclosion of wasps should be timed with the presence of susceptible fly stages, but reports indicate U. lectoides ecloses in the absence of flies under no-chill conditions. Based on this, we tested the hypotheses that chill durations and no-chill temperatures both differentially regulate eclosion times of R. zephyria and its parasitic wasps. When fly puparia were chilled at ~3°C for 130–180 d, U. lectoides and O. downesi always eclosed on average later than flies. However, after 180-d chill, flies eclosed on average earlier than after 130- and 150-d chill, whereas eclosion times of U. lectoides and O. downesi were less or not affected by chill duration. When fly puparia were exposed to 20–22°C (no chill), U. lectoides eclosed before flies, with 88.9% of U. lectoides versus only 0.61% of flies eclosing. Taken together, findings show that eclosion times of flies are more sensitive to changes in chill duration than those of wasps. Flies are less sensitive than wasps to no-chill in that most flies do not respond by eclosing after no-chill while most wasps do. Our results suggest that shorter winters and longer summers due to climate change could cause mismatches in eclosion times of flies and wasps, with potentially significant evolutionary consequences.
Mechanical versus biological valve prostheses for left-sided infective endocarditis
Authors: Kahrovic Amila , Angleitner Philipp , Herkner Harald , Kocher Alfred , Ehrlich Marek , Laufer Günther , Andreas Martin
Published: January 2022

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to analyse outcomes after implantation of mechanical versus biological valve prostheses in patients presenting with left-sided infective endocarditis.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective single-centre cohort study, analysing adults requiring valve surgery for left-sided infective endocarditis between January 2009 and December 2018 at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Medical University of Vienna. The primary outcome variable was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcome variables included the occurrence of a combined event (death, stroke, intracerebral bleeding or reoperation) and the risk of re-endocarditis.

RESULTS

Among 220 patients, 76 (34.5%) underwent mechanical valve replacement, while 144 (65.5%) underwent biological valve replacement. Recipients of mechanical valve prostheses were younger at the time of surgery and presented with lower European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II values. In patients <55 years of age, implantation of a mechanical valve prosthesis was independently associated with significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.35, 95% confidence interval 0.15–0.80, P = 0.013). Moreover, this group was at significantly lower risk of a combined event (adjusted hazard ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.19–0.76, P = 0.006). Implantation of a mechanical valve prosthesis was not associated with increased risk of re-endocarditis. The presence of an annular abscess significantly increased the risk of re-endocarditis (adjusted hazard ratio 3.06, 95% confidence interval 1.40–6.71, P = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients presenting with left-sided infective endocarditis <55 years of age, implantation of a mechanical valve prosthesis is associated with superior outcomes. A prospective randomized controlled trial is warranted to confirm these results.
Migrant Women’s Employment: International Turkish Migrants in Europe, Their Descendants, and Their Non-Migrant Counterparts in Turkey
Authors: Guveli Ayse , Spierings Niels
Published: January 2022

When compared with native-born women, migrant women have lower employment likelihoods. However, to reveal the relationship between migration and employment, migrant women need to be compared to those remaining in the origin regions and across generations. This study is the first to fill this gap by employing a dissimilation-from-origins and across-generations perspective. We test the hypothesis that migration to more welfare-state based and liberal contexts increase women’s employment likelihood among migrants and the second generation. The 2000 Families data enable a unique comparison of Turkish international migrants, including Turkish-origin women born in Europe, and their non-migrant counterparts from the same regions in Turkey. Furthermore, we theorize and test whether differences in employment are explained by differences in family composition, education, and culture (religiosity and gender attitudes). We find migration leads to a higher likelihood of paid employment for the second generation and international migrant women, in that order. Education and religiosity are the main explanatory factors for differences between non-migrants and the international migrants, including the second generation. Parenthood, while explaining differences between migrant and destination ‘native’ women, hardly explains differences between migrant women and their non-migrant counterparts. Overall, we find strong support for the hypothesis that migration increases women’s employment.
Nudging within learning health systems: next generation decision support to improve cardiovascular care
Authors: Chen Yang , Harris Steve , Rogers Yvonne , Ahmad Tariq , Asselbergs Folkert W.
Published: January 2022

The increasing volume and richness of healthcare data collected during routine clinical practice have not yet translated into significant numbers of actionable insights that have systematically improved patient outcomes. An evidence-practice gap continues to exist in healthcare. We contest that this gap can be reduced by assessing the use of nudge theory as part of clinical decision support systems (CDSS). Deploying nudges to modify clinician behaviour and improve adherence to guideline-directed therapy represents an underused tool in bridging the evidence-practice gap. In conjunction with electronic health records (EHRs) and newer devices including artificial intelligence algorithms that are increasingly integrated within learning health systems, nudges such as CDSS alerts should be iteratively tested for all stakeholders involved in health decision-making: clinicians, researchers, and patients alike. Not only could they improve the implementation of known evidence, but the true value of nudging could lie in areas where traditional randomized controlled trials are lacking, and where clinical equipoise and variation dominate. The opportunity to test CDSS nudge alerts and their ability to standardize behaviour in the face of uncertainty may generate novel insights and improve patient outcomes in areas of clinical practice currently without a robust evidence base.
Genetic basis of a spontaneous mutation’s expressivity
Authors: Schell Rachel , Hale Joseph J , Mullis Martin N , Matsui Takeshi , Foree Ryan , Ehrenreich Ian M
Published: January 2022

Genetic background often influences the phenotypic consequences of mutations, resulting in variable expressivity. How standing genetic variants collectively cause this phenomenon is not fully understood. Here, we comprehensively identify loci in a budding yeast cross that impact the growth of individuals carrying a spontaneous missense mutation in the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial ribosomal gene MRP20. Initial results suggested that a single large effect locus influences the mutation’s expressivity, with 1 allele causing inviability in mutants. However, further experiments revealed this simplicity was an illusion. In fact, many additional loci shape the mutation’s expressivity, collectively leading to a wide spectrum of mutational responses. These results exemplify how complex combinations of alleles can produce a diversity of qualitative and quantitative responses to the same mutation.
ExTaxsI: an exploration tool of biodiversity molecular data
Authors: Agostinetto Giulia , Brusati Alberto , Sandionigi Anna , Chahed Adam , Parladori Elena , Balech Bachir , Bruno Antonia , Pescini Dario , Casiraghi Maurizio
Published: January 2022

Background

The increasing availability of multi-omics data is leading to regularly revised estimates of existing biodiversity data. In particular, the molecular data enable novel species to be characterized and the information linked to those already observed to be increased with new genomics data. For this reason, the management and visualization of existing molecular data, and their related metadata, through the implementation of easy-to-use IT tools have become a key point to design future research. The more users are able to access biodiversity-related information, the greater the ability of the scientific community to expand its knowledge in this area.

Results

In this article we focus on the development of ExTaxsI (Exploring Taxonomy Information), an IT tool that can retrieve biodiversity data stored in NCBI databases and provide a simple and explorable visualization. We use 3 case studies to show how an efficient organization of the available data can lead to obtaining new information that is fundamental as a starting point for new research. Using this approach highlights the limits in the distribution of data availability, a key factor to consider in the experimental design phase of broad-spectrum studies such as metagenomics.

Conclusions

ExTaxsI can easily retrieve molecular data and its metadata with an explorable visualization, with the aim of helping researchers to improve experimental designs and highlight the main gaps in the coverage of available data.
Connected historiographies: cross-border exchanges on the French Revolution (U.S.S.R.–France, 1917–41)
Authors: Lancereau Guillaume
Published: January 2022

This article explores the intellectual exchanges between France and Soviet Russia on the history of the French Revolution as a lens through which to reassess the importance of the international sphere in the making of these academic fields and schools of historical thought. It takes a relational perspective and draws on Russian and French archives and historical journals to avoid the pitfalls of methodological nationalism. While demonstrating just how much political repression constrained these cross-border exchanges on such a critical historical topic, the article investigates scientific internationalization in ways that recall present-day issues regarding cross-cultural co-operation, academic freedom and international scholarly reputations.
Transnational Business and Human Rights Litigation: An Imperialist Project?
Authors: Palombo Dalia
Published: January 2022

Business and human rights litigators have increasingly attempted to hold to account parent companies incorporated in the west for the extraterritorial human rights abuses committed by their subsidiaries and supply chains in the global south. This has met with the criticisms of judges and scholars calling out such attempts as imperialists. The purpose of this article is to address this anti-imperialist critique in the context of the accountability of multinational enterprises. The anti-imperialist critique is based on three fallacies. First, the equal sovereign fallacy: the assumption that developing and developed states are equally able to hold multinationals to account. Second, the transnational commerce fallacy: the acceptance of the transnational use of western laws protecting a particular market or economy, but the refusal to apply the laws aimed at preventing or remediating human rights abuses committed by commercial actors extraterritorially. Third, the public/private divide fallacy: to consider multinational enterprises as purely private actors while ignoring that they were hybrid entities regulated by both private and public laws during colonial times.
The ‘beating-heart butterfly technique’ for repair of basal post-infarction ventricle septum defect
Authors: Mihalj Maks , Pasic Miralem , Carrel Thierry
Published: January 2022

Ischaemic ventricular septal defect is a serious complication of acute myocardial infarction with poor outcome. We present the ‘beating-heart butterfly’ technique to close the ventricular septal defect with a double-layered pericardial patch sewn to the intact septum under beating-heart cardiopulmonary bypass in 4 highest-risk patients. This technique combined with a liberal postoperative mechanical circulatory support and open-chest treatment allowed excellent results with 12 months of survival in all patients.
Seasonal influenza vaccination in pharmacy in France: description and determinants of the vaccinated at-risk population using this service, 1 year after implementation
Authors: Liard Roxane , Souty Cécile , Guerrisi Caroline , Colizza Vittoria , Hanslik Thomas , Kengne Kuetche Charly , Turbelin Clément , Blanchon Thierry , Debin Marion
Published: January 2022

Objectives

Vaccination of the at-risk population against influenza by pharmacists was widely implemented in France in 2019. Only little data are available about the population using this service. We have explored the characteristics and determinants of the at-risk population vaccinated in pharmacy through a web-based cohort during the 2019–20 winter season.

Methods

This study is based on the data of the profile survey of at-risk over-18 vaccinated participants of the cohort GrippeNet.fr, for the 2019–20 winter season. Population characteristics were described using the inclusion questionnaire data. Factors associated with pharmacy influenza vaccination were analysed through a logistic regression model.

Key findings

In total, 3144 people were included in the study. 50.2% (N = 1577) of them were women and 65.5% (N = 2060) were over 65 years old. 29.5% (N = 928) of participants were vaccinated in pharmacy. 73.1% (N = 678) of participants vaccinated in pharmacy were over 65 years old and 46.6% (N = 432) had a treatment for one or more chronic disease. Factors positively associated with being vaccinated by a pharmacist were: being a man (OR = 1.25, 95% confidence interval [1.06–1.47]), being over 65 years old (OR = 1.97 [1.49–2.63]), living in a test region (OR = 1.62 [1.29–2.02] and 1.72 [1.43–2.07] depending on the year of the implementation of the experimentation) and being vaccinated against influenza in 2018/2019 (OR = 1.71 [1.32–2.21]). Factors negatively associated were: taking a chronic treatment (OR = 0.83 [0.70–0.97]), and living alone (OR = 1.40 [1.17–1.67] and being in contact with sick people (OR = 0.68 [0.50–0.93]).

Conclusions

This study confirmed some factors associated with pharmacy influenza vaccination and feeds the debate on other uncertain factors. These findings can support public health authorities’ willingness to enhance pharmacists’ involvement in the future country-wide vaccination campaign. Our study also highlights the necessity to further investigate the impact of this measure in a few years.
Malaria in the First Trimester of Pregnancy and Fetal Growth: Results from a Beninese Preconceptional Cohort
Authors: Koladjo Babagnidé François , Yovo Emmanuel , Accrombessi Manfred , Agbota Gino , Atade William , Ladikpo Olaiitan T , Mehoba Murielle , Degbe Auguste , Jackson Nikki , Massougbodji Achille , Sossou Darius , Vianou Bertin , Cot Michel , Cottrell Gilles , Fievet Nadine , Zeitlin Jennifer , Briand Valérie
Published: January 2022

Background

Malaria in early pregnancy occurs at a time when the placenta is developing, with possible consequences for placental function and fetal growth. We assessed the association between first trimester malaria and fetal growth documented through repeated ultrasound scans.

Methods

The RECIPAL preconceptional cohort included 411 Beninese pregnant women followed from 7 weeks’ gestation (wg) until delivery. Among them, 218 had 4 scans for fetal monitoring at 16, 22, 28, and 34 wg. Multivariate seemingly unrelated regression models were used to assess association of microscopic malaria in the first trimester (<15 wg) with abdominal circumference, head circumference, biparietal diameter, and femur length throughout pregnancy.

Results

Of 39% (86/218) of women with at least 1 microscopic malarial infection during pregnancy, 52.3% (45/86) were infected in the first trimester. Most women (88.5%) were multiparous. There was no association between adjusted z-scores for fetal growth parameters and first trimester malaria. Parity, newborn sex, socioeconomic level, and maternal body mass index significantly influenced fetal growth.

Conclusions

In a context where malaria infections in pregnancy are well detected and treated, their adverse effect on fetal growth may be limited. Our results argue in favor of preventing and treating infections as early as the first trimester.