bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mortality in low-risk patients with aortic stenosis undergoing transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement: a reconstructed individual patient data meta-analysis
Authors: Çelik Mevlüt , Milojevic Milan M , Durko Andras P , Oei Frans B S , Bogers Ad J J C , Mahtab Edris A F 
Published: August 2020

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Although the standard of care for patients with severe aortic stenosis at low-surgical risk has included surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) since the mid-1960s, many clinical studies have investigated whether transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) can be a better approach in these patients. As no individual study has been performed to detect the difference in mortality between these 2 treatment strategies, we did a reconstructive individual patient data analysis to study the long-term difference in all-cause mortality.

METHODS
Randomized clinical trials and propensity score-matched studies that included low-risk adult patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing either SAVR or TAVI and with reports on the mortality rates during the follow-up period were considered. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality of up to 5 years.

RESULTS
In the reconstructed individual patient data analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality between TAVI and SAVR at 5 years of follow-up [30.7% vs 21.4%, hazard ratio (HR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96–1.48; P = 0.104]. However, landmark analyses in patients surviving up to 1 year of follow-up showed significantly higher all-cause mortality at 5 years of follow-up (27.5% vs 17.3%, HR 1.77, 95% CI 1.29–2.43; P &lt; 0.001) in patients undergoing TAVI compared to patients undergoing SAVR, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
This reconstructed individual patient data analysis in low-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis demonstrates that the 5-year all-cause mortality rates are higher after TAVI than after SAVR, driven by markedly higher mortality rates between 1 and 5 years of follow-up in the TAVI group. The present results call for caution in expanding the TAVI procedure as the treatment of choice for the majority of all low-risk patients until long-term data from contemporary randomized clinical trials are available.
Wave-mode separation in inhomogeneous anisotropic media based on adaptive sampling
Authors: Wang Jian , Liu Hong 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
The reverse time migration of an elastic wave is an advanced method for an imaging velocity model, and the reverse time migration of an elastic inhomogeneous TTI medium has become a research hotspot. The amount of calculation and storage is an important factor restricting its development. To solve the storage problem, we improve the wave field separation algorithm using adaptive sampling in the process of reverse time migration. This resampling algorithm can retain the core region and resample the marginal area of a quasi-differential operator. After sampling we only need to save the sampling point and the sampling location. It is proved by model calculation that the storage capacity of the algorithm can reduce a large part of the computational time of a traditional algorithm without reducing calculation accuracy. The new algorithm is more suitable for GPU because the storage is greatly reduced. In the process of reverse time migration, we can store the quasi-differential operator in the GPU so as to avoid a lot of I/O of GPU to CPU and improve calculation efficiency.
Using Patient-Reported Outcomes to Describe the Patient Experience on Phase I Clinical Trials
Authors: Sedhom Ramy , Ferrell Betty , Ruel Nora , Koczywas Marianna , Chung Vincent , Smith Thomas J 
Published: August 2020

Abstract

Background
Symptoms are common among patients enrolled in phase I trials. We assessed the validity of Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) items in relation to previously validated assessments of quality of life and psychological distress. We used data from a randomized trial testing a palliative care support intervention for patients enrolled on phase I trials.

Methods
Patients (n = 479) were accrued to the parent study prior to initiating a phase I clinical trial with data collected at baseline, 4, and 12 weeks. We determined the correlation of PRO-CTCAE with distress level, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G) total, and subscale domain scores.

Results
Patients were predominantly female (56.8%) and older than age 60 years, and 30.7% were from minority populations. The correlation coefficient for distress level for all PRO-CTCAE items was small to moderate (Pearson r = 0.33-0.46). Pearson correlation coefficient for FACT-G total was moderate (r = -0.45 to -0.69). Stronger associations were noted for mood items of the PRO-CTCAE only (with distress level, r = 0.55-0.6; with FACT-G, r = -0.54 to -0.6). PRO-CTCAE symptom interference scores had the strongest correlation with distress level (Pearson r = 0.46) and FACT-G total (Pearson r = -0.69). Correlations between PRO-CTCAE items and corresponding FACT-G (total and subscales) and distress levels reached statistical significance for all items (P &lt;.001).

Conclusion
Evidence demonstrates validity of PRO-CTCAE in a heterogeneous US sample of patients undergoing cancer treatment on phase I trials, with small to moderate correlations with distress level for all PRO-CTCAE items and moderate correlations with quality of life as measured by FACT-G total.
Philosophical Theorising on Taxation†
Authors: Loutzenhiser Glen 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
This review article examines two collected-works books: Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Martin O’Neill and Shepley Orr, and Philosophical Foundations of Tax Law, edited by Monica Bhandari. It is argued that the two books reflect a high-quality but also fragmented body of philosophical work on taxation with a surprising degree of silo working. A selection of contributions to the two books are examined and categorised into four distinct strands with the aim of developing stronger connections between those working on related philosophical questions within the four strands and across disciplines.
Parties and Executives in Parliamentary Systems
Authors: Andeweg Rudy B. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe study of the relationship between political parties and political executives is inspired by normative questions about the democratic legitimacy of government. As a common denominator, party government requires several parties to present distinctive and realistic policy programmes to the voters, who choose the party with the programme they most prefer. The party winning a majority receives a mandate to implement its policies, and appoints partisans to executive office with that aim. The empirical study of this chain of delegation brought to light a more complex reality. Most governments are controlled by a coalition of parties. Paradoxically, decision-making in coalition governments is more politicized than in single-party governments, although individual parties in a coalition are not able to realize as much of their programmes. In addition to inter-party dynamics in coalitions, government may be affected by intra-party divisions between factions and branches of the party, government itself is increasingly multi-level government, and the direction of influence does not run exclusively from the party to the government. Party governments may be replaced by party governance, but several areas of further study to determine the extent of this development are identified. Alternatives, or challenges, to party government such as personalization, populism or technocracy seem to deny rather than incorporate the growing complexity.
New Institutional Approaches to the Study of Political Executives
Authors: Goetz Klaus H. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe New Institutionalism—NI—has had a pervasive influence on the study of political executives over the past three decades. It draws attention to the interactions between institutions, organizations, actors, interests, preferences, ideas, resources, and decisions. As such, it captures executives as both institutions and organizations and as political governments and administrations. NI’s strong orientation towards understanding the horizontal and vertical interconnectedness of institutions and organizations makes is very well-suited to analysing Europe’s multi-level executive system. Key NI insights to the study of political executives include the interdependency between formal and informal institutional-organizational settings; the importance of resources; the porosity of institutional-organizational boundaries; the diversity of actors’ motivations; and the relevance of legacies for explaining executive developmental trajectories and executive effects. However, ‘unruly actors’ and political and policy ‘turbulence’ pose analytical challenges to core theoretical assumptions of the NI.
What is ‘Competition Law’?—Measuring EU Member States’ Leeway to Regulate Platform-to-Business Agreements
Authors: Franck Jens-Uwe , Stock Nils 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
If both national competition law and Article 101 TFEU apply to an agreement, the former must not set rules that are stricter than the latter. Member States remain free, though, to impose stricter rules if they are not classified as ‘competition law’. We analyse relevant jurisprudence by the English and French courts that have dealt with potential conflicts between, on the one hand, EU competition law and, on the other hand, the common law restraint of trade doctrine and the pratiques restrictives de concurrence under French commercial law. We develop criteria that allow (national) ‘competition law’ to be distinguished from similar regulatory interventions into agreements that pursue purposes distinct from Article 101 TFEU and which, therefore, must not be regarded as ‘competition law’. This article illustrates and elaborates on the challenges for the implementation of our approach by focusing on the ban on the use of parity clauses by hotel booking platforms in France, Austria, Italy, and Belgium. We map a possible way forward to prevent further regulatory fragmentation in the internal market with regard to the regulation of platform-to-business agreements.
A Uterus-Preserving Treatment for Uncontrollable Postpartum Hemorrhage
Authors: Esike Chidi Ochu Uzoma 
Published: August 2020

BACKGROUND:
Postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide, with uterine atony responsible in 80% of cases. In intractable cases, hysterectomy is the final treatment, but it has complications. Many doctors in developing countries with high maternal mortality rates from postpartum hemorrhage can perform cesarean deliveries but cannot perform hysterectomy. Patients with postpartum hemorrhage who need hysterectomy in these countries will die in such cases, whereas, if doctors know this simple, easily learned technique, such patients may survive.

TECHNIQUE:
Esike's technique is a uterine-compression method that uses supplies generally available at delivery hospitals. Six sutures are placed in the lower uterine segment, three anteriorly and three posteriorly. Starting with the middle sutures, the sutures are tied at the fundus with the help of an assistant to provide uterine compression. The more laterally placed sutures are then tied similarly, resulting in uterine compression and stoppage of postpartum hemorrhage.

EXPERIENCE:
Esike's technique was used in controlling life-threatening, uncontrollable postpartum hemorrhage in 18 women and was successful in 16 (89%) without requiring hysterectomy.

CONCLUSION:
Esike's technique is effective in controlling life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage and can be used in low-resource settings with commonly available supplies and performed by doctors with a common level of training.
Antimalarial drugs lose their activity with a slight drop in pH
Authors: Kitagawa Tomohisa , Mastumoto Atsushi , Terashima Ichiro , Uesono Yukifumi 
Published: August 2020

AbstractAntimalarial drugs have antimicrobial, antiviral, antimalarial and immunosuppressive activities, although the mechanisms remain unknown. Quinacrine (QC) increases the antimicrobial activity against yeast exponentially with a pH-dependent increase in the cationic amphiphilic drug (CAD) structure. CAD-QC localizes in membranes and induces glucose starvation by noncompetitively inhibiting glucose uptake. A logarithmic increase in antimicrobial activity with pH-dependent CAD formation was also observed for chloroquine, indicating that the CAD structure is crucial for its pharmacological activity. A decrease in CAD structure with a slight decrease in pH from 7.4 greatly reduced their effects; namely, these drugs would inefficiently act on falciparum malaria and COVID-19 pneumonia patients with acidosis, resulting in resistance. Recovering normal blood pH or using pH-insensitive quinoline drugs might be effective.
Epidemiology of Reopening in the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States, Europe and Asia
Authors: Zhang Weiqi , Oltean Alina , Nichols Scott , Odeh Fuad , Zhong Fei 
Published: August 2020

AbstractSince the discovery of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19 has become a global healthcare and economic crisis. The United States (US) and Europe exhibited wide impacts from the virus with more than six million cases by the time of our analysis. To inhibit spread, stay-at-home orders and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were instituted. Beginning late April 2020, some US states, European, and Asian countries lifted restrictions and started the reopening phases. In this study, the changes of confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were analyzed after reopening for 11 countries and 40 US states using an interrupted time series analysis. Additionally, the distribution of these categories was further analyzed by age due to the known increased risk in elderly patients. Reopening had varied effects on COVID-19 cases depending on the region. Recent increases in cases did not fully translate into increased deaths. Eight countries had increased cases after reopening while only two countries showed the same trend in deaths. In the US, 30 states had observed increases in cases while only seven observed increased deaths. In addition, we found that states with later reopening dates were more likely to have significant decreases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Furthermore, age distributions through time were analyzed in relation to COVID-19 in the US. Younger age groups typically had an increased share of cases after reopening.
Peak identification and quantification by proteomic mass spectrogram decomposition
Authors: Taechawattananant Pasrawin , Yoshii Kazuyoshi , Ishihama Yasushi 
Published: August 2020

AbstractRecent advances in liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) technology have notably improved the sensitivity, resolution, and speed of proteome analysis, resulting in increasing demand for more sophisticated algorithms to interpret complex mass spectrograms. Here, we propose a novel statistical method that we call proteomic mass spectrogram decomposition (ProtMSD) for joint identification and quantification of peptides and proteins. Given the proteomic mass spectrogram and the reference mass spectra of all possible peptide ions associated with proteins as a dictionary, our method directly estimates the temporal intensity curves of those peptide ions, i.e., the chromatograms, under a group sparsity constraint without using the conventional careful pre-processing (e.g., thresholding and peak picking). We show that the accuracy of protein identification was significantly improved by using the protein-peptide hierarchical relationships, the isotopic distribution profiles and predicted retention times of peptide ions and the pre-learned mass spectra of noise. In the analysis ofE. colicell lysate, our ProtMSD showed excellent agreement (3277 peptide ions (94.79%) and 493 proteins (98.21%)) with the conventional cascading approach to identification and quantification based on Mascot and Skyline. This is the first attempt to use a matrix decomposition technique as a tool for LC/MS-based joint proteome identification and quantification.
The Structural Basis for SARM1 Inhibition, and Activation Under Energetic Stress
Authors: Sporny Michael , Guez-Haddad Julia , Khazma Tami , Yaron Avraham , Dessau Moshe , Mim Carsten , Isupov Michail N. , Zalk Ran , Hons Michael , Opatowsky Yarden 
Published: August 2020

AbstractSARM1 is a central executor of axonal degeneration (1). Mechanistically, SARM1 contains NADase activity, which, in response to nerve injury, depletes the key cellular metabolite, NAD+ (2–5). Interestingly, SARM1 knockout mouse models do not present any apparent physiological impairment. Yet, the lack of SARM1 protects against various neuropathies (6, 7), thereby highlighting SARM1 as a likely safe and effective drug target (8). However, the absence of a SARM1 structure, in its active or inhibited form, makes it impossible to understand the molecular basis of SARM1 inhibition, and its activation under stress conditions. In this study we present two cryo-EM maps of SARM1 (at 2.6 Å and 2.9 Å resolution). We show that the inhibited SARM1 homo-octamer assumes a packed conformation with well-ordered inner and peripheral rings. Here the catalytic TIR domains are held apart from each other and are unable to form dimers, which is a prerequisite for NADase activity. More importantly, after screening several cellular metabolites we discovered that the inactive conformation is stabilized by the binding of SARM1’s own substrate: NAD+. The NAD+ inhibitory allosteric site is located away from the NAD+ catalytic site of the TIR domain. Site-directed mutagenesis of the allosteric site leads to constitutive active SARM1. Based on our data we propose that a reduction of cellular NAD+ concentrations (an early indication of disease-associated and age-related neurodegeneration (9)) disassemble SARM1’s peripheral ring, which allows NADase activity. This leads to an energetic catastrophe and eventually cell death. The discovery of the allosteric inhibitory site opens the door for the development of effective drugs that will prevent SARM1 activation, rather than compete for binding to the NADase catalytic site.Brief descriptionIt is not known how NAD+ depletion brings about neurodegeneration. Here, we show that the intrinsic NADase activity of SARM1 is allosterically inhibited by physiological concentrations of NAD+. NAD+ stabilizes a compact, auto-inhibited conformation of the SARM1 octamer. Once NAD+ levels are depleted, the allosteric inhibition is released, enabling SARM1’s NADase activity, which eventually leads to energetic catastrophe and cell death.
IntEResting structures: formation and applications of organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum in plant cells
Authors: Sandor Andras , Fricker Mark D , Kriechbaumer Verena , Sweetlove Lee J 
Published: August 2020

Abstract
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle with remarkable plasticity, capable of rapidly changing its structure to accommodate different functions based on intra- and extracellular cues. One of the ER structures observed in plants is known as “organized smooth endoplasmic reticulum” (OSER), consisting of symmetrically stacked ER membrane arrays. In plants, these structures were first described in certain specialized tissues, e.g. the sieve elements of the phloem, and more recently in transgenic plants overexpressing ER membrane resident proteins. To date, much of the investigation of OSER focused on yeast and animal cells but research into plant OSER has started to grow. In this update, we give a succinct overview of research into the OSER phenomenon in plant cells with case studies highlighting both native and synthetic occurrences of OSER. We also assess the primary driving forces that trigger the formation of OSER, collating evidence from the literature to compare two competing theories for the origin of OSER: that OSER formation is initiated by oligomerizing protein accumulation in the ER membrane or that OSER is the result of ER membrane proliferation. This has long been a source of controversy in the field and here we suggest a way to integrate arguments from both sides into a single unifying theory. Finally, we discuss the potential biotechnological uses of OSER as a tool for the nascent plant synthetic biology field with possible applications as a synthetic microdomain for metabolic engineering and as an extensive membrane surface for synthetic chemistry or protein accumulation.
Best practices of organizational change for adopting alternative project delivery methods in the AEC industry
Authors: Aldossari Khaled Medath , Lines Brian C. , Smithwick Jake B. , Hurtado Kristen C. , Sullivan Kenneth T. 
Published: August 2020

PurposeAlthough numerous studies have examined alternative project delivery methods (APDMs), most of these studies have focused on the relationship between these methods and improved project performance. Limited research identifies how to successfully add these methods within architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identifying organizational change management (OCM) practices that, when effectively executed, lead to increased success rates of adopting APDMs in owner AEC organizations.Design/methodology/approachSeven OCM practices were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Then, through a survey of 140 individuals at 98 AEC organizations, the relationships between OCM practices and organizational adoption of APDMs were established.FindingsThe findings indicate that OCM practices with the strongest relationship to successful APDM adoption are realistic timeframe, effective change agents, workloads adjustments, senior-leadership commitment and sufficient change-related training.Practical implicationsAdopting APDMs can be extremely difficult and requires significant organizational change efforts to ensure the change is a success. Organizations that are implementing APDMs for the first time should consider applying the OCM practices that this study identifies as most related to successful APDM adoption.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by identifying the OCM practices that are most significantly associated with successfully adopting APDMs.