bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Safety of Catheter Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiac Amyloidosis
Authors: Alhassan Hassan A. , Kainat Aleesha , Donohue Joseph , Baumgartner Scott J. , Akunor Harriet , Saba Samir , Jain Sandeep , Soman Prem
Published: July 2023

Background

Despite the high burden of atrial fibrillation in cardiac amyloidosis (CA), the safety of catheter ablation therapy in CA is not well established. We sought to examine short‐term safety outcomes following atrial fibrillation ablation in patients with CA compared with matched patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods and Results

Using data from the National Inpatient Sample, we identified all hospitalizations for atrial fibrillation ablation from the fourth quarter of 2015 through 2019. Admissions for CA and DCM were matched in a 1:5 ratio using propensity scores based on the following sociodemographics: age, sex, race or ethnicity, payor, median income, comorbidities, and hospital characteristics. We compared in‐hospital outcomes between both cardiomyopathies. We identified 1395 unweighted hospitalizations (representing 6750 national hospitalizations) for atrial fibrillation ablation, out of which 45 (3.2%) were admissions for CA. Compared with DCM, patients with CA were older (72.9 versus 65.1 years), had a higher burden of prior stroke (20.0% versus 8.6%) and chronic kidney disease (53.3% versus 33.6%), and were less likely to have a prior implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (4.4% versus 23.0%). We successfully matched 42 CAs to 210 DCM hospitalizations. After matching, there was no difference in total complications (14.3% versus 10.5%,
P
=0.60), length‐of‐stay (3.1 versus 2.1 days,
P
=0.23), home disposition (97.6% versus 96.2%,
P
=0.65), and total charges ($137 250 versus $133 910,
P
=0.24).

Conclusions

In this nationally representative study of atrial fibrillation catheter ablation in CA, short‐term safety outcomes and complication rates were similar to a propensity score‐matched cohort of DCM. Further studies exploring long‐term safety outcomes are needed.
Renin‐Angiotensin‐Aldosterone System Inhibitors Are Associated With Favorable Outcomes Compared to Beta Blockers in Reducing Mortality Following Abdominal Aneurysm Repair
Authors: Elsayed Nadin , Gaffey Ann C. , Abou‐Zamzam Ahmed , Malas Mahmoud B.
Published: July 2023

Background

The best medical therapy to control hypertension following abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is yet to be determined. We therefore examined whether treatment with renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASIs) versus beta blockers influenced postoperative and 1‐year clinical end points following abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in a Medicare‐linked database.

Methods and Results

All patients with hypertension undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair and open aneurysm repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative Vascular Implant Surveillance and Interventional Outcomes Network database between 2003 and 2018 were included. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on their preoperative and discharge medications, either RAASIs or beta blockers. Our cohort included 8789 patients, of whom 3523 (40.1%) were on RAASIs, and 5266 (59.9%) were on beta blockers. After propensity score matching, there were 3053 matched pairs of patients in each group. After matching, RAASI use was associated with lower risk of postoperative mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.3 [95% CI, 0.1–0.6]), myocardial infarction (OR, 0.1 [95% CI, 0.03–0.6]), and nonhome discharge (OR, 0.6 [95% CI, 0.5–0.7]). Before propensity score matching, RAASI use was associated with lower 1‐year mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.4 [95% CI, 0.4–0.5]) and lower risk of aneurysmal rupture (HR, 0.7 [95% CI, 0.5–0.9]). These results persisted after propensity score matching for mortality (HR, 0.4 [95% CI, 0.4–0.5]) and aneurysmal rupture (HR, 0.7 [95% CI, 0.5–0.9]).

Conclusions

In this large contemporary retrospective cohort study, RAASI use was associated with favorable postoperative outcomes compared with beta blockers. It was also associated with lower mortality and aneurysmal rupture at 1 year of follow‐up.
Lipid Levels During Adult Lifetime in Men and Women With and Without a Subsequent Incident Myocardial Infarction: A Longitudinal Analysis of Data From the Tromsø Study 1974 to 2016
Authors: Albrektsen Grethe , Wilsgaard Tom , Heuch Ivar , Løchen Maja‐Lisa , Thelle Dag Steinar , Njølstad Inger , Grimsgaard Sameline , Bønaa Kaare Harald
Published: July 2023

Background

The atherosclerotic effect of an adverse lipid profile is assumed to accumulate throughout life, leading to increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Still, little is known about age at onset and duration of unfavorable lipid levels before MI.

Methods and Results

Longitudinal data on serum lipid levels for 26 130 individuals (50.5% women, aged 20–89 years) were obtained from 7 population‐based health surveys in Tromsø, Norway. Diagnoses of MI were obtained from national registers. A linear mixed model was applied to compare age‐ and sex‐specific mean values of total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), and triglyceride concentration by MI status (MI versus non‐MI). Already from young adulthood, 20 to 35 years before the incident MI, individuals with a subsequent incident MI had on average more adverse lipid levels than individuals of the same age and sex without MI. Analogous to a dose–response relationship, there was a clear trend toward more severe adverse lipid levels the lower the age at incident MI (
P
<0.001, test for trend through ordered categories <55, 55–74, ≥75 years). This trend was particularly pronounced for high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol in percentage of total cholesterol (both sexes) and for the relative relationship between triglyceride, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol level (women). The difference in mean lipid level by MI status was just as large in women as in men, but the age pattern differed (
P
≤0.05, tests of 3‐way interaction).

Conclusions

Compared with general population mean levels, adverse lipid levels were seen 20 to 35 years before the incident MI in both men and women.
Screening for Rare Coding Variants That Associate With the QTc Interval in Iceland
Authors: Sveinbjornsson Gardar , Benediktsdottir Bara D. , Sigfusson Gunnlaugur , Norland Kristjan , Davidsson Olafur B. , Thorolfsdottir Rosa B. , Tragante Vinicius , Arnadottir Gudny A. , Jensson Brynjar O. , Katrinardottir Hildigunnur , Fridriksdottir Run , Gudmundsdottir Hallbera , Aegisdottir Hildur M. , Fridriksson Brynjar , Thorgeirsson Gudmundur , Magnusson Vidar , Oddsson Asmundur , Sulem Patrick , Gudbjartsson Daniel F. , Holm Hilma , Arnar David O. , Stefansson Kari
Published: July 2023

Background

Long‐QT syndrome (LQTS) is a cardiac repolarization abnormality that can lead to sudden cardiac death. The most common causes are rare coding variants in the genes
KCNQ1
,
KCNH2
, and
SCN5A
. The data on LQTS epidemiology are limited, and information on expressivity and penetrance of pathogenic variants is sparse.

Methods and Results

We screened for rare coding variants associated with the corrected QT (QTc) interval in Iceland. We explored the frequency of the identified variants, their penetrance, and their association with severe events. Twelve variants were associated with the QTc interval. Five in
KCNQ
1, 3 in
KCNH2
, 2 in cardiomyopathy genes
MYBPC3
and
PKP2
, and 2 in genes where coding variants have not been associated with the QTc interval,
ISOC1
and
MYOM2.
The combined carrier frequency of the 8 variants in the previously known LQTS genes was 530 per 100 000 individuals (1:190). p.Tyr315Cys and p.Leu273Phe in
KCNQ1
were associated with having a mean QTc interval longer than 500 ms (
P
=4.2×10
−7
; odds ratio [OR], 38.6;
P
=8.4×10
−10
, OR, 26.5; respectively), and p.Leu273Phe was associated with sudden cardiac death (
P
=0.0034; OR, 2.99). p.Val215Met in
KCNQ1
was carried by 1 in 280 Icelanders, had a smaller effect on the QTc interval (
P
=1.8×10
−44
; effect, 22.8 ms), and did not associate with severe clinical events.

Conclusions

The carrier frequency of associating variants in LQTS genes was higher than previous estimates of the prevalence of LQTS. The variants have variable effects on the QTc interval, and carriers of p.Tyr315Cys and p.Leu273Phe have a more severe disease than carriers of p.Val215Met. These data could lead to improved identification, risk stratification, and a more precise clinical approach to those with QTc prolongation.
HS‐CRP Modifies the Prognostic Value of Platelet Count for Clinical Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Liu Fanghua , Yang Pinni , Wang Yinan , Shi Mengyao , Wang Ruirui , Xu Qingyun , Peng Yanbo , Chen Jing , Zhang Jintao , Wang Aili , Xu Tan , Zhang Yonghong , He Jiang
Published: July 2023

Background

We examined whether the relationship between baseline platelet count and clinical outcomes is modulated by HS‐CRP (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein) in patients with ischemic stroke.

Methods and Results

A total of 3267 patients with ischemic stroke were included in the analysis. The primary outcome was a combination of death and major disability at 1 year after ischemic stroke. Secondary outcomes included major disability, death, vascular events, composite outcome of vascular events or death, and an ordered 7‐level categorical score of the modified Rankin Scale at 1 year. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association between the baseline platelet count and clinical outcomes stratified by HS‐CRP levels when appropriate. There was an interaction effect of platelet count and HS‐CRP on the adverse clinical outcomes after ischemic stroke (all
P
interaction
<0.05). The elevated platelet count was significantly associated with the primary outcome (odds ratio [OR], 3.14 [95% CI, 1.77–5.58]), major disability (OR, 2.07 [95% CI, 1.15–3.71]), death (hazard ratio [HR], 2.75 [95% CI, 1.31–5.79]), and composite outcome of vascular events or death (HR, 2.57 [95% CI, 1.38–4.87]) among patients with high HS‐CRP levels (all
P
trend
<0.05).

Conclusions

The HS‐CRP levels had a modifying effect on the association between platelet count and clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke. Elevated platelet count was significantly associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke with high HS‐CRP levels, but not in those with low HS‐CRP levels. These findings suggest that strategies for anti‐inflammatory and antiplatelet therapy should be developed according to the results of both platelet and HS‐CRP testing.
Targeting Neutrophil α9 Improves Functional Outcomes After Stroke in Mice With Obesity-Induced Hyperglycemia
Authors: Patel Rakesh B. , Dhanesha Nirav , Sutariya Brijesh , Ghatge Madankumar , Doddapattar Prakash , Barbhuyan Tarun , Kumskova Mariia , Leira Enrique C. , Chauhan Anil K.
Published: July 2023

BACKGROUND:

Obesity-induced hyperglycemia is a significant risk factor for stroke. Integrin α9β1 is expressed on neutrophils and stabilizes adhesion to the endothelium via ligands, including Fn-EDA (fibronectin containing extra domain A) and tenascin C. Although myeloid deletion of α9 reduces susceptibility to ischemic stroke, it is unclear whether this is mediated by neutrophil-derived α9. We determined the role of neutrophil-specific α9 in stroke outcomes in a mice model with obesity-induced hyperglycemia.

METHODS:

α9
Neu-KO
(α9
fl/fl
MRP8Cre
+
) and littermate control α9
WT
(α9
fl/fl
MRP8Cre
−
) mice were fed on a 60% high-fat diet for 20 weeks to induce obesity-induced hyperglycemia. Functional outcomes were evaluated up to 28 days after stroke onset in mice of both sexes using a transient (30 minutes) middle cerebral artery ischemia. Infarct volume (magnetic resonance imaging) and postreperfusion thrombo-inflammation (thrombi, fibrin, neutrophil, phospho-nuclear factor kappa B [p-NFκB], TNF [tumor necrosis factor]-α, and IL [interleukin]-1β levels, markers of neutrophil extracellular traps) were measured post 6 or 48 hours of reperfusion. In addition, functional outcomes (modified Neurological Severity Score, rota-rod, corner, and wire-hanging test) were measured for up to 4 weeks.

RESULTS:

Stroke upregulated neutrophil α9 expression more in obese mice (
P
<0.05 versus lean mice). Irrespective of sex, deletion of neutrophil α9 improved functional outcomes up to 4 weeks, concomitant with reduced infarct, improved cerebral blood flow, decreased postreperfusion thrombo-inflammation, and neutrophil extracellular traps formation (NETosis) (
P
<0.05 versus α9
WT
obese mice). Obese α9
Neu-KO
mice were less susceptible to thrombosis in FeCl
3
injury-induced carotid thrombosis model. Mechanistically, we found that α9/cellular fibronectin axis contributes to NETosis via ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) and PAD4 (peptidyl arginine deiminase 4), and neutrophil α9 worsens stroke outcomes via cellular fibronectin-EDA but not tenascin C. Obese wild-type mice infused with anti–integrin α9 exhibited improved functional outcomes up to 4 weeks (
P
<0.05 versus vehicle).

CONCLUSIONS:

Genetic ablation of neutrophil-specific α9 or pharmacological inhibition improves long-term functional outcomes after stroke in mice with obesity-induced hyperglycemia, most likely by limiting thrombo-inflammation.
Gender Trouble in the Land of the Nile: Transgender Identities, the Judiciary and Islam in Egypt
Authors: Noralla Nora
Published: July 2023

The paper provides a socio-political context analysis to outline Al-Azhar’s discourse on transgender identities and its influence on law and policy in Egypt. Transgender identities in Egypt represent an issue governed by Islamic Sharia more than anything else. Scholars at Al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Islamic authority, viewed transgender identities as a danger to the fabric of society if not regulated. Thus, in the 1980s, several Fatwas were issued to examine the compatibility of transgender identities with Sharia. These Fatwas were mostly concerned with the criteria that should exist to allow people to undergo surgical and hormonal interventions to change their sex. Initially, judicial opinions reviewed the issue of transgender identities independently of those Fatwas. However, since late 2000s, judicial opinions shifted to be more aligned with Sharia on the matter. Apart from judicial opinions, the Fatwas that emerged from the 1980s have also managed to influence the official health policy on transgender identities. To understand Al-Azhar’s discourse on transgender identities, the author provides an analysis of three Fatwas issued by three different jurists in the 1980s and 1990s; examines the influence of that discourse on the current health policy providing medical care for transgender people; and provides a socio-political context analysis of judicial opinions in the 1980s and present-day to outline the reasons behind the judicial shift in attitude towards transgender identities.
Affordances and Actions: Requests for Confirmation as Devices for Implementing Challenging and Other Disagreement- Implicative Actions
Authors: Küttner Uwe-A. , Ehmer Oliver
Published: July 2023

This article examines how requests for confirmation (RfCs) can be used as devices for challenging or disagreeing with another participant, their talk, or their action(s) in informal interaction. Based on their defining pragmatic characteristics, we identify two generic interactional affordances RfCs offer their speakers: (1) a capacity to do questioning and (2) a capacity to forward propositional content. While these two affordances are generally utilized together, one or the other may be mobilized more strongly when bringing off challenging or disagreement-implicative actions. Drawing on interactional data in (Peninsular) Spanish and (American) English, and using conversation analytic methods, we illustrate how participants may differentially draw on these two basic affordances with respect to two major classes of “challengeables”: (1) a co-participant’s claims and assertions (or the stances with which they are delivered), and (2) a co-participant’s plans or decisions. We end with a discussion of the usefulness of an affordance-based approach.
Folktales of Mayotte, an African Island
Authors: Haring Lee
Published: July 2023

The book uncovers the versatility and literary skills of oral narrators in a small African island. Relying on the researches of three French ethnographers who interviewed storytellers in the 1970s-80s, Lee Haring shows a once-colonised people using verbal art to preserve ancient values in the postcolonial world, when the island of Mayotte was transforming itself from a neglected colony to an overseas department of France.

The author’s innovation is to read ethnographic researches as play scripts—to see printed folktales as accounts of live performances. One storyteller after another comments symbolically on what it is like to be a formerly colonised population. Storytelling women, in particular, combine diverse plots and characters to create traditional-sounding stories, which could not have been predicted from the African, Malagasy, Indian, and European traditions coexisting in Mayotte. Haring’s account shows them to be particularly skilled at irony and ambiguity, conveying both submissive and rebellious attitudes in their tales. He makes Mayotte storytelling accessible to a new, English-speaking audience and demonstrates that traditional storytellers in those years were preserving, but also critiquing, their inherited social order in a changing world. Their creative intentions, cultural influences and widely different narrative styles constitute Mayotte’s system of the arts of the word.

Literary specialists, folklore enthusiasts, and people who like reading stories will find much to appreciate in this engaging and sophisticated book.
1. Mayotte Is Ours
Authors: Haring Lee
Published: July 2023

Chapter 1 draws on two years of research by the historian and ethnographer Claude Allibert. His schoolboy informants told him, the foreigner, a good many local legends about memorable places in Mayotte. These are key to a recurrent theme in the book, that in the face of foreign domination, Mahorais people cling to ancestral traditions from Africa and Madagascar. Their symbols and style portray tricksters, the making and breaking of friendship, and the force of kinship. Other tales are recognizably European. Claude Allibert reads them as bearing traces of Mayotte’s early history; they also seem to have much to say about 1970s Mayotte.
3. Giving an Account of Herself
Authors: Haring Lee
Published: July 2023

Chapter 3 brings into the foreground, by name, the women storytellers recorded by Sophie Blanchy, who has extensively studied Comoran society and custom. Their social criticism more often focuses on a misogynistic man, even on a hypocritical Islamic master, than on a lazy wife. If in a story, a young girl is mistreated by her father’s new wife, almost to real or symbolic death, and then is recognized and restored to her proper place through the supernatural intervention of her dead mother, the fiction corresponds all too closely to family tensions in 1980s Mayotte. The central theme is the precious mother-daughter relation; ideally a daughter aspires to blend into her mother and live in her house. Verbal art in Mayotte exists to celebrate that relation. Performing such an oral tale is an instance of Hélène Cixous’s ‘woman writing herself’.
2. A “Two Person Career”
Authors: Auspos Patricia
Published: July 2023

The marital ideal that made it difficult for Grace Chisholm Young (1868-1944) to maintain an independent professional life was that of the "helpmate wife” who advanced her husband’s career. A graduate of Girton College and the first woman to defend a thesis and earn a doctorate in mathematics in Germany, Grace Chisholm was a mathematician in her own right when she married her former college tutor, William Henry Young (1863-1942), in 1896.

After they moved to Europe with their infant son, Will encouraged Grace to fulfill her longstanding desire to study medicine, instead of continuing to work with him on pure mathematics. She remained in Germany with their two children while he divided his time between Germany and teaching jobs in Britain. Soon Grace was doing mathematics with Will as well as medicine, and also caring for their growing family (four more children were born between 1901 and 1908).

Their partnership, which never fully acknowledged her contribution, established Will as a highly creative mathematician in the early 1900s. Over the next two decades, the Youngs produced several books and over two hundred articles, but Will took public credit for their joint work. Grace willingly assumed the role of junior, mostly anonymous, and distinctly subordinate partner in the Youngs’ collaboration. Her role in their professional partnership mirrored her role in their domestic partnership, and reflected their assessment of their respective talents: he was a late-blooming genius while she was merely talented. They agreed that helping him was more important than anything she could do on her own.

Nevertheless, Grace refused to give up her medical training -- an aspect of her life that has not been adequately explored until now. Will encouraged her interest in medicine, but simultaneously pressured her to devote more time to helping him with mathematics. Grace never became a licensed doctor, but she eventually completed all the required coursework, despite the seemingly impossible demands on her time. She also published two children’s books about science, penned stories for her own children, wrote poetry, and authored an historical novel about Elizabethan England that was never published.

When Will was teaching in India from 1914 to 1916, Grace wrote a series of papers under her own name that established her independent reputation in pure mathematics. Although she found it increasingly difficult to be Will’s self-sacrificing helpmate, especially after he retired, she continued to cultivate her image as a devoted, helpmate wife who advanced her husband’s career. But she silently rebelled, and her notebooks, pocket diaries, and the poetry she wrote in the 1930s record her disillusionment and suppressed anger.
Physical Mechanism of Winter Temperature Multidecadal Variations in Arid Central Asia: The Role of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)
Authors: Zheng Fei , Liu Xiaoning , Chen Jianhui , Huang Wei , Sun Cheng , Wang Hao
Published: July 2023

This study investigates the influence of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on the multidecadal variability of winter surface air temperature in arid central Asia (ACASAT). Apart from a long-term warming trend, the observational analysis shows that the winter ACASAT exhibits a significant multidecadal variability, which is characterized by antiphase fluctuations with the AMO. The mechanism for this negative correlation between the AMO and the winter ACASAT is explored from the aspect of wave teleconnection. The AMO provides energy for the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern at middle and low altitudes by regulating the high-altitude wave train over the middle and high latitudes of Eurasia, and thus has an impact on the remote climate in arid central Asia. Results from the linear baroclinic model (LBM) provide evidence for the linkage between the AMO and the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern. When the AMO is in its warm periods, the Scandinavian teleconnection pattern is in a positive phase, which further makes the cold air from the northeast strengthen, leading to the anomalously colder surface air temperature in arid central Asia. Based on the relationship that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) leads the AMO by 15–20 years, it is further found that there is a leading relationship between the NAO and the winter ACASAT via the AMO. On this basis, an empirical model using the NAO as a predictor was established to predict the ACASAT, and the empirical model shows good hindcast performance. Results from the model show that the winter ACASAT will continue to rise in the next 10 years and decline after 2030.
On the Consistent Parametric Description of the Wave Age Dependence of the Sea Surface Roughness
Authors: Li Shuiqing
Published: July 2023

The wind drag on the sea surface is characterized by the aerodynamic roughness of the sea surface, z0, which is regulated by surface wind waves. Many studies have related the dimensionless form of z0 to the wave age parameter estimated from spectral peak information. These parametric relationships have been well developed for the wind-driven sea but not for mixed seas. Based on an analysis using observations from a fixed platform in the northern South China Sea, the deficiency of the spectral peak information in the parametric description z0 when swells dominate is indicated. Instead, a consistent parametric description of z0 can be obtained by using the wave age estimated from the mean wave period, and normalizing z0 by the mean wavelength. Normalizing z0 by the significant wave height introduces a spurious residual dependence of z0 on the wave steepness. A parametric relationship is developed between the dimensionless z0 (normalized by the mean wavelength) and the wave age from the mean wave period. A comparison of this new relationship to the wind-speed-only formulation in COARE 3.5 is provided.

Significance Statement

In this paper, a consistent parametric description of the wave age dependence of the surface aerodynamic roughness is presented, with a wide range of sea states from dominant wind-driven seas to mixed seas in which the swells are dominant.
A Quantile-Conserving Ensemble Filter Framework. Part II: Regression of Observation Increments in a Probit and Probability Integral Transformed Space
Authors: Anderson Jeffrey L.
Published: July 2023

Traditional ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation methods make implicit assumptions of Gaussianity and linearity that are strongly violated by many important Earth system applications. For instance, bounded quantities like the amount of a tracer and sea ice fractional coverage cannot be accurately represented by a Gaussian that is unbounded by definition. Nonlinear relations between observations and model state variables abound. Examples include the relation between a remotely sensed radiance and the column of atmospheric temperatures, or the relation between cloud amount and water vapor quantity. Part I of this paper described a very general data assimilation framework for computing observation increments for non-Gaussian prior distributions and likelihoods. These methods can respect bounds and other non-Gaussian aspects of observed variables. However, these benefits can be lost when observation increments are used to update state variables using the linear regression that is part of standard ensemble Kalman filter algorithms. Here, regression of observation increments is performed in a space where variables are transformed by the probit and probability integral transforms, a specific type of Gaussian anamorphosis. This method can enforce appropriate bounds for all quantities and deal much more effectively with nonlinear relations between observations and state variables. Important enhancements like localization and inflation can be performed in the transformed space. Results are provided for idealized bivariate distributions and for cycling assimilation in a low-order dynamical system. Implications for improved data assimilation across Earth system applications are discussed.
Wall Street’s Practice of Compelling Confidentiality of Private Underwriting Fees: An Antitrust Violation?
Authors: Willcox Thomas C.
Published: July 2023

A small oligopoly of commercial and investment banks dominates the arranging and underwriting of loans and bonds for publicly traded companies. The oligopoly’s dominance apparently compels nondisclosure of preliminary agreements that outline the proposed issuance terms of the loans or bonds, which non-disclosure violates the securities laws. Also, the banks do not disclose the arranging and underwriting fees to anyone outside the oligopoly and prohibit disclosure to anyone by their customers. This makes it impossible for customers to compare such fees and more difficult for non-oligopoly banks to offer competing bids. This article concludes the Antitrust Division, and Securities & Exchange Commission should investigate these practices.
Potential Anaphylaxis to Systemic Phenylephrine: A Case Report
Authors: Pathan Sophia
Published: July 2023

This case summarizes a 66 year old woman with a past medical history of asthma, breast cancer, anxiety, and chronic back pain with prior surgical insertion of spinal hardware, presenting for removal of spinal hardware at L5-S1 and spinal laminectomy and fusion at L4-L5. Her course was complicated by acute blood loss anemia and post-operative hypotension managed with a phenylephrine infusion, for which she experienced a possible anaphylactic reaction requiring upgrade to the intensive care unit. She was managed using intramuscular epinephrine, diphenhydramine, methylprednisolone, albuterol, famotidine, and oxygen. As phenylephrine is structurally similar to the endogenous catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine, diagnosis of her reaction was difficult. However, phenylephrine contains sodium metabisulfite, a preservative sulfite that may cause allergic-type reactions, particularly in patients with asthma in their medical history. Her hypersensitivity reaction was likely secondary to her use of phenylephrine, and she was discharged with a plan for outpatient follow up with the allergy team. As this case exemplifies, patients with a predisposition to allergic reactions should be closely monitored for possible hypersensitivity to preservatives and excipients in medications.
Fatigue Threshold R-Curves for Dental Lithium Disilicate Glass–Ceramics
Authors: Lubauer J. , Lohbauer U. , Belli R.
Published: July 2023

Chemical and mechanical fatigue degradation in ceramic materials is generally inconspicuous yet ubiquitous, to the effect that clinical fractures still consist of the main cause of failure in all-ceramic restorations. Implications of this span wide, from a reduced survival prognosis for the affected teeth, including more frequent and increasingly invasive procedural interventions, to the financial burden borne by individuals and health care systems. To suffice as an effective corrective, restoration lifetimes need only to be extended so to outlive the patient. That opens a box of problems from a materials science standpoint, entailing inherent deficiencies of brittle materials to resist mechanical and environmental challenges. Efforts in developing more damage-tolerant and fatigue-resistant restoratives go thus hand in hand with understanding intrinsic mechanisms of crack growth behavior under conditions that simulate the oral environment. Here we developed experiments using size-relevant sharp precracked specimens with controlled size and geometry (truncated semielliptical crack in the surface-crack-in-biaxial-flexure method) to establish a relationship between crack size and strength. The tangent method was used to construct envelopes for the quasi-static resistance curves (R-curves), which served as template for deriving residual cyclic R-curve analogs. By means of experimentally obtained stress–cycle curves, lifetime and fatigue parameters were employed within a mechanistic framework to reveal constitutive toughening mechanisms during subcritical growth under cyclic loading in a wet environment. Using 3 modern dental lithium disilicate glass–ceramics, we demonstrate the extent of R-curve degradation up to a threshold of 10 million cycles (~30 y in service) and draw parallels between the scope of fatigue degradation and the size of the microstructural units responsible for toughening mechanisms in glass–ceramic materials. Our results indicate that larger microstructural elements endow glass–ceramics with a higher reaching quasi-static R-curve at the onset but degrading more rapidly to comparable levels of lithium disilicates having submicrometric and nanometric crystal phases.
Mapping the Pluralities of Agrarian Change in India: The Role of Intermediaries and Caste–Tribe Relations in Jharkhand
Authors: Avinash  , Parthasarathy D.
Published: July 2023

The agricultural economy of Jharkhand is primarily understood to be ‘subsistence’ agriculture. However, an ongoing agrarian change in rural Jharkhand has drawn less academic attention. This substantial change is from indigenous seeds to high-yielding varieties of paddy seeds enabling food sufficiency in the villages to a larger extent. In addition, the introduction of commercial crops like vegetables, watermelons and marigolds is another attendant change. This article is concerned with ethnographic fieldwork in two neighbouring villages of district—Khunti of Jharkhand, where farmers have been influenced by intermediaries (both old and new) restricted to State, NGOs and private companies (agricultural input suppliers). Also, the introduction of various governmental schemes, such as the ‘Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI)’ programme, a part of ‘National Food Security Mission’ and ‘Special-Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana’, has encouraged agrarian change in rural Jharkhand. Despite Jharkhand being a low agricultural productivity region, there is a proliferated presence of transnational connections such as agribusiness companies and research institutions linked to State institutions and NGOs to form a new set of agricultural intermediaries. These agricultural intermediaries at the regional level in the Khunti district influence the crop choice, cropping pattern and usage of inputs (seeds, fertilisers and pesticides). The study also tries to understand agrarian (labour) relations among caste–tribe communities of rural Jharkhand.
Interrogating Privilege: An Autoethnographic Pedagogical Exercise
Authors: Wagh Anurekha Chari
Published: July 2023

The article focuses on the challenges of interrogating privilege, so as to initiate a process of making classrooms space conducive to inclusive and collaborative learning. In doing so, it addresses three aspects of privilege; one, the need to make visible the ‘invisible’ presence of privilege and highlights the structures that renders it normalised and naturalised. Two, to emphasise the interrogation as a significant step towards democratising teaching and learning experience. Three, the necessity to reflect and document the pedagogical exercises essential to engage with privilege within the classrooms. The article using the autoethnographical method, places the ‘self’ at the core of interrogation and highlights the complexities of experience and the practice of self-reflexivity. In doing so the article makes an attempt to initiate a conversation on interrogation of one’s privilege as a pedagogical exercise.
Uprising on the Dance Floor: New Chilean Pop and Protest in Postdictatorship Chile
Authors: Simonetto Patricio , Shalloe Thomas
Published: July 2023

New Chilean Pop catalyzed and reinforced a queer exploration of social exclusion, an alternative and sometimes a counter culture. An analysis of Javiera Mena and Álex Anwandter’s music and filmography reveals a musical scene that has been led by queer and feminist artists whose work has evolved alongside national social movements and a counter-telling of the political, social, cultural, and economic legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s bloody regime (1973–1990).

El Nuevo Pop Chileno catalizó y reforzó una exploración queer de la exclusión social, así como una cultura alternativa y, a veces, contracultural. Un análisis de la música y filmografía de Javiera Mena y Álex Anwandter revela una escena musical que ha sido liderada por artistas queer y feministas cuyo trabajo ha evolucionado junto con los movimientos sociales nacionales y una contranarrativa del legado político, social, cultural y económico del sangriento régimen de Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990).
Synthesis of copper-grafted graphite and its effect on properties of natural rubber composites
Authors: Sampath W.D.M. , Fernando C.A.N. , Edirisinghe D.G.
Published: July 2023

Conductive polymer composites, which are extensively applied in the fields of sensors, batteries, memory materials, etc. possess some significant properties mainly high electrical conductivity and good mechanical performance. In this study, copper (Cu) was grafted onto the graphite surface according to a chemical process. The Cu-grafted graphite (Cu-g-graphite) was characterized via fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), where the analysis proved that Cu was successfully grafted onto the graphite surface. Subsequently, natural rubber (NR) composites were prepared by varying the Cu-g-graphite loading from 0 phr (parts per hundred rubber) to 10 phr at 2 phr intervals. The 8 phr Cu-g-graphite filled NR composite showed better physico-mechanical properties in comparison with the other Cu-g-graphite composites and the NR composite prepared without Cu-g-graphite (control). Also, the former composite showed better thermal ageing and electrical conductivity which are requirements for sensor applications. Further, electrical conductivity of the Cu-g-graphite/NR composites prepared with greater than 4 phr loading of Cu-g-graphite was at a high level. Furthermore, the Cu-g-graphite filled NR composites indicated a remarkable improvement in electrical conductivity compared to that of the control. Finally, the performance of NR composite prepared with 8 phr loading of Cu-g-graphite in overall showed a considerable level of applicability for high electrical, thermal and physico-mechanical polymeric applications.
Left atrium volume and ventricular volume ratio algorithm as indication of pulmonary hypertension etiology
Authors: Granot Yoav , Ziv-Baran Tomer , Berliner Shlomo , Topilsky Yan , Aviram Galit
Published: July 2023

Background

Pressure overload of the right heart (pulmonary hypertension [PH]) can be an acute or a chronic process with various pathophysiologic changes affecting the dimensions of the heart chambers. The automatic four-chamber volumetric analysis tool is now available to measure the volume of the cardiac chambers in patients undergoing a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA).

Purpose

To characterize the volumetric changes that occurred in response to increased systolic pulmonary arterial pressures (sPAP) in acute events, such as acute pulmonary embolism (APE), compared with other etiologies.

Material and Methods

Consecutive patients who underwent CTPA and echocardiography within 24 h between 2011 and 2015 were included. Differences in cardiac chamber volumes were investigated in correlation to the patients’ sPAP.

Results

The final cohort of 961 patients included 221 (23%) patients diagnosed with APE. The right (RV) to left (LV) ventricular volume ratio (VVR) was higher, while the left atrial (LA) volume index was smaller ( P < 0.001) in the patients with APE. A decision tree for the prediction of APE showed that an RV to left VVR >2.8 was characteristic of APE, whereas an LA volume index >37.5 mL/m² was more compatible with PH due to other etiologies ( P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The combination of VVR and LA volume index may help in differentiating between APE and chronic PH. CTPA-based volumetric information may be used to help clarify the underlying etiology of the dyspnea.
An exploratory study on how mechanical engineering undergraduates perceive participation in professional disciplinary engineering student organizations that influence their engineering identity
Authors: Sanchez Dominga , Brooks Amy L. , Nembhard Harriet , Brown Shane
Published: July 2023

Involvement in professional disciplinary engineering student organizations (PDESOs) positively influences engineering students’ college experience. While extensive research about engineering student societies and organizations has demonstrated various benefits for students, few studies explore professional disciplinary engineering student societies and organizations that provide unique opportunities tailored around specific engineering disciplines. To better understand how participation in PDESOs influences engineering undergraduates, we conducted an exploratory study, interviewing thirteen mechanical engineering undergraduates with six months to three years of experience with PDESOs. The overarching conceptual framework is derived from a combination of motivated identity construction theory and engineering identity, allowing us to see how participation in these organizations contributes to students’ engineering identity and professional development. Participants indicated that involvement in PDESOs provided unique professional development opportunities that enhanced their self-esteem and efficacy and provided a welcoming environment where they experienced a sense of belonging. These results demonstrate that participation in PDESOs contributes to professional development, interpersonal skills, and community engagement, preparing them for the engineering workforce, which contributes to a strengthened engineering identity.
Bringing therapy home: Exploring parents’ experiences of telehealth for children with developmental coordination disorder
Authors: Bourke Aisling , O’Connor Una , Boyle Bryan , Kennedy Jessica , Lynch Helen
Published: July 2023

Introduction:

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) significantly impacts a child’s motor skills and ability to learn and perform self-care and academic tasks. Telehealth is a rapidly emerging service delivery model, ensuring expanded access to services and continuity of care. Many benefits to the use of telehealth have been identified; yet, there is a dearth of published evidence available on the experiences of parents of children with DCD.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of implementing a telehealth motor skills programme for their child with DCD.

Method:

This study utilised a qualitative descriptive approach to best capture parents’ experiences of a telehealth programme. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight participants and analysed using thematic analysis. Measures to ensure the trustworthiness of the study were observed within the naturalistic paradigm comprising criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability.

Findings:

This study uncovered three major themes: (1) Parents in the dark, (2) telehealth in the family and (3) telehealth: what success looks like. Ten further subthemes highlighted the factors for success and parents’ considerations for future service delivery.

Conclusion:

Challenges for parents in accessing traditional occupational therapy services present an opportunity to explore alternative means of delivery such as telehealth. Parents, however, are clear in their preference for a blended approach for future services.
Secondary Crashes Identification and Modeling Along Highways in Utah
Authors: Zhang Zhao , Gong Yaobang , Yang Xianfeng
Published: July 2023

The occurrence of secondary crashes on highways can bring many adverse effects, such as traffic congestion and air pollution, leading to more crashes. Accurate identification of secondary crashes is the basis for identifying contributing factors that are the cornerstones for incident management systems to find effective strategies to reduce the risk of secondary crashes. However, secondary crash records are often not recorded correctly in the crash database. To tackle this issue, this research proposes a hybrid method to accurately identify primary and secondary crashes. Based on the identified primary and secondary crashes, this study developed a binary logit model to find contributing factors of secondary crashes and construct a HOPIT model to analyze the crash injury patterns in primary and secondary crashes using the identified data on primary and secondary crashes, respectively. This study provides a better understanding of contributing factors as well as the crash injury patterns in secondary crashes.
New Modeling Approach for Predicting Disaggregated Time-Series Traffic Crashes
Authors: Cai Bowen , Quddus Mohammed , Wang Xuesong , Miao Yu
Published: July 2023

Short-window crash prediction is a fundamental step in proactive traffic safety management that can monitor traffic conditions in real time, identify unsafe traffic dynamics, and implement suitable interventions for traffic conflicts. Short-window (e.g., hourly) traffic-collision count data, however, exhibits excessive zeros and serial autocorrelation. Most of the commonly used regression-based models fail to address excessive zeros and temporal structure simultaneously in hourly traffic-collision prediction. For example, Hurdle models and zero-inflated (ZI) models can address the overdispersion issue caused by excessive zeros but lack power to control the significant spatiotemporal characteristics inherent in the time-based collision data. To overcome these issues simultaneously, this paper develops a novel statistical model termed Zero-Inflated Logarithmic link for count Time series (ZILT) which is based on the framework of ZI models. Covariates (e.g., speed, vehicle type, and traffic volume) were extracted through deep-learning computer vision methods in vehicle detection and tracking on the image space. This new statistical model (i.e., ZILT) performs better at solving the issues of excessive zeros and serial dependencies. The prediction accuracy of the ZILT model improved by around 5% in relation to zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and Hurdle models. Results show that traffic crashes happening in the previous hour and other covariates such as truck-to-car ratio, holiday effect, traffic flow, and speed have significant influence on collision occurrence. Findings from this study could be utilized by relevant transport agencies in developing engineering interventions and countermeasures to proactively manage road safety.
Self-Care of Canadian School Psychology Graduate Students
Authors: Miller Courtney , Postill Brittany , Andrews Jac J. W.
Published: July 2023

This study assessed the predictive nature of professional self-care practices on various outcome variables (academic performance, psychological well-being, and affect) and investigated if self-care influenced the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being amongst school psychology graduate students across Canada. Participants included 102 Canadian school psychology graduate students (female: 94, male: 8, Mage: 26.9). Results indicated that professional support and life balance self-care practices predicted increased psychological well-being and that life balance predicted positive affect. Additionally, the results indicated that professional self-care practices strengthened the inverse relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being, suggesting that self-care practices can buffer the negative effects of perceived stress on well-being. These results highlight the important role that professional self-care plays for school psychology trainees and may guide researchers and practitioners on ways to improve self-care intervention practices within professional and training settings.