bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Of principle, practicality, and precedents: the presumption of the arbitration agreement’s governing law
Authors: Yoong Aaron 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
The issue of determining the appropriate law governing an arbitration agreement is one that has long vexed the courts in many jurisdictions. Most recently, both the English and Singapore Court of Appeals have waded into the fray, contributing contrary opinions in their respective decisions of Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” and BNA v BNB. This article examines these decisions and argues that there should be a presumption that the governing law of the arbitration agreement follows the matrix contract within which it is situated.
The agreement terminating intra-EU BITs: are its provisions on ‘New’ and ‘Pending’ Arbitration Proceedings compatible with investors’ fundamental rights?
Authors: Nardell QC Gordon , Rees-Evans Laura 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
On 5 May 2020, 23 Member States of the EU signed a plurilateral treaty with the purpose of terminating the nearly 130 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) between them (the so-called ‘intra-EU BITs’) and the 11 sunset clauses that continue in effect in intra-EU BITs that have already been terminated. The treaty, entitled the ‘Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties Between the Member States of the European Union’, marks the beginning of the next—but by no means the final—chapter in the controversy over the status of intra-EU BITs. In this article, we examine one of the many important legal questions raised by the Agreement; namely, whether its attempt to undercut arbitrations commenced well before the Agreement came into force, including those resulting in awards rendered before the Achmea judgment, is compatible with investors’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. We argue that by purporting to deprive investors of the fruits of valid claims in this way, the Agreement infringes Article 1 of the First Protocol to the ECHR (‘A1P1’) and may also breach the rights of access to justice and a fair hearing under Article 6(1) (and their equivalents in the Charter).
Selective disappearance does not underlie age-related changes in trait repeatability in red squirrels
Authors: Martinig April Robin , Mathot Kimberley J , Lane Jeffrey E , Dantzer Ben , Boutin Stan 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Understanding the causes and consequences of repeatable among-individual differences in behavior (i.e., animal personality) is a major area of research in behavioral and evolutionary ecology. Recently, attention has turned to understanding the processes behind changes in repeatability through ontogeny because of their implications for populations. We evaluated the relative importance of selective disappearance (i.e., differential mortality), an among-individual mechanism, in generating age-related changes in the repeatability of aggression and activity in juvenile North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). We observed age-related decreases in the repeatability of aggression across ages, arising from lower among-individual variance. Although we found evidence for directional selection on aggressiveness, it was insufficient to erode among-individual variance. Thus, ontogenetic decreases in the repeatability of aggression do not appear to be due to selective disappearance. In contrast, the repeatability of activity was higher across ages due to higher among-individual variance in activity, but there was no support for selective disappearance based on activity. Taken together, our results suggest that age-related changes in trait repeatability in red squirrels are not the result of selective disappearance and instead may be the result of within-individual developmental processes, such as individual differences in developmental trajectories.
Heterogeneous graph inference with matrix completion for computational drug repositioning
Authors: Yang Mengyun , Huang Lan , Xu Yunpei , Lu Chengqian , Wang Jianxin 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Motivation
Emerging evidence presents that traditional drug discovery experiment is time-consuming and high costs. Computational drug repositioning plays a critical role in saving time and resources for drug research and discovery. Therefore, developing more accurate and efficient approaches is imperative. Heterogeneous graph inference is a classical method in computational drug repositioning, which not only has high convergence precision, but also has fast convergence speed. However, the method has not fully considered the sparsity of heterogeneous association network. In addition, rough similarity measure can reduce the performance in identifying drug-associated indications.

Results
In this article, we propose a heterogeneous graph inference with matrix completion (HGIMC) method to predict potential indications for approved and novel drugs. First, we use a bounded matrix completion (BMC) model to prefill a part of the missing entries in original drug–disease association matrix. This step can add more positive and formative drug–disease edges between drug network and disease network. Second, Gaussian radial basis function (GRB) is employed to improve the drug and disease similarities since the performance of heterogeneous graph inference more relies on similarity measures. Next, based on the updated drug–disease associations and new similarity measures of drug and disease, we construct a novel heterogeneous drug–disease network. Finally, HGIMC utilizes the heterogeneous network to infer the scores of unknown association pairs, and then recommend the promising indications for drugs. To evaluate the performance of our method, HGIMC is compared with five state-of-the-art approaches of drug repositioning in the 10-fold cross-validation and de novo tests. As the numerical results shown, HGIMC not only achieves a better prediction performance but also has an excellent computation efficiency. In addition, cases studies also confirm the effectiveness of our method in practical application.

Availabilityand implementation
The HGIMC software and data are freely available at https://github.com/BioinformaticsCSU/HGIMC, https://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/yangmy84/hgimc and http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4285640.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease is associated with reduced complexity of EEG at baseline
Authors: Keller Sebastian M , Gschwandtner Ute , Meyer Antonia , Chaturvedi Menorca , Roth Volker , Fuhr Peter 
Published: November 2020

Abstract
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder requiring motor signs for diagnosis, but showing more widespread pathological alterations from its beginning. Compared to age-matched healthy individuals, patients with Parkinson’s disease bear a 6-fold lifetime risk of dementia. For individualized counselling and treatment, prognostic biomarkers for assessing future cognitive deterioration in early stages of Parkinson’s disease are needed. In a case–control study, 42 cognitively normal patients with Parkinson’s disease were compared with 24 healthy control participants matched for age, sex and education. Tsallis entropy and band power of the δ, θ, α, β and γ-band were evaluated in baseline EEG at eyes-open and eyes-closed condition. As the θ-band showed the most pronounced differences between Parkinson’s disease and healthy control groups, further analysis focussed on this band. Tsallis entropy was then compared across groups with 16 psychological test scores at baseline and follow-ups at 6 months and 3 years. In group comparison, patients with Parkinson’s disease showed lower Tsallis entropy than healthy control participants. Cognitive deterioration at 3 years was correlated with Tsallis entropy in the eyes-open condition (P &lt; 0.00079), whereas correlation at 6 months was not yet significant. Tsallis entropy measured in the eyes-closed condition did not correlate with cognitive outcome. In conclusion, the lower the EEG entropy levels at baseline in the eyes-open condition, the higher the probability of cognitive decline over 3 years. This makes Tsallis entropy a candidate prognostic biomarker for dementia in Parkinson’s disease. The ability of the cortex to execute complex functions underlies cognitive health, whereas cognitive decline might clinically appear when compensatory capacity is exhausted.
A structured training pathway to implement robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy: the learning curve results from a high-volume center
Authors: Kingma B Feike , Hadzijusufovic Edin , Van der Sluis Pieter C , Bano Erida , Lang Hauke , Ruurda Jelle P , van Hillegersberg Richard , Grimminger Peter P 
Published: November 2020

ABSTRACTTo ensure safe implementation of robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE), the learning process should be optimized. This study aimed to report the results of a surgeon who implemented RAMIE in a German high-volume center by following a tailored and structured training pathway that involved proctoring. Consecutive patients who underwent RAMIE during the course of the program were included from a prospective database. A single surgeon, who had prior experience in conventional MIE, performed all RAMIE procedures. Cumulative sum (CUSUM) learning curves were plotted for the thoracic operating time and intraoperative blood loss. Perioperative outcomes were compared between patients who underwent surgery before and after a learning curve plateau occurred. Between 2017 and 2018, the adopting center adhered to the structured training pathway, and a total of 70 patients were included in the analysis. The CUSUM learning curves showed plateaus after 22 cases. In consecutive cases 23 to 70, the operating time was shorter for both the thoracic phase (median 215 vs. 249 minutes, P = 0.001) and overall procedure (median 394 vs. 440 minutes, P = 0.005), intraoperative blood loss was less (median 210 vs. 400 milliliters, P = 0.029), and lymph node yield was higher (median 32 vs. 23 nodes, P = 0.001) when compared to cases 1 to 22. No significant differences were found in terms of conversion rates, postoperative complications, length of stay, completeness of resection, or mortality. In conclusion, the structured training pathway resulted in a short and safe learning curve for RAMIE in this single center’s experience. As the pathway seems effective in implementing RAMIE without compromising the early oncological outcomes and complication rates, it is advised for surgeons who are wanting to adopt this technique.
Non-invasive myocardial workiIndices derived from left ventricular pressure-strain loops in predicting the response to cardiac resynchronization therapy
Authors: Zhu M.R , Shu X , Chen H.Y , Wang Y.N , Cheng Y.F , Su Y.G , Ge J.B 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Non-invasive left ventricular (LV) pressure-strain loops (PSLs) which generated by combining LV longitudinal strain with brachial artery blood pressure, provide a novel method of quantifying global and segmental myocardial work (MW) indices with potential advantages over conventional echocardiographic strain which is load-dependent. The method has been introduced in echocardiographic software recently, making MW calculations more effectively and rapidly. The aim was to evaluate the role of non-invasive MW indices derived from LV PSLs in the prediction of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) response.

Methods
106 heart failure (HF) patients scheduled for CRT were included for MW analysis. Global and segmental (septal and lateral at the mid-ventricular level) MW indices were accessed before CRT. Response to CRT was defined as ≥15% reduction in LV end-systolic volume at 6-month follow-up in comparison with baseline value.

Results
CRT response was observed in 78 (74%) patients. At baseline, global work index (GWI) and global constructive work (GCW) were significant higher in CRT responders than in non-responders (both P&lt;0.05). Besides, responders exhibited a significantly higher Mid Lateral MW and Mid Lateral constructive work (CW) (both P&lt;0.001) but a significantly lower Mid Septal MW and Mid Septal myocardial work efficiency (MWE), as well as a significantly higher Mid Septal wasted work (WW) than non-responders (all P&lt;0.01). Baseline Mid Septal MWE (OR 0.975, 95% CI 0.959–0.990, P=0.002) and Mid Lateral MW (OR 1.003, 95% CI 1.002–1.004, P&lt;0.001) were identified as independent predictors of CRT response in multivariate regression analysis. Mid Septal MWE ≤42% combined with Mid Lateral MW ≥740 mm Hg% predicted CRT response with the optimal sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 82% (AUC = 0.830, P&lt;0.001).

Conclusion
Mid Septal MWE and Mid Lateral MW can successfully predict response to CRT, and their combination can further improve the prediction accuracy. Assessment of MW indices before CRT could identify the marked misbalance in LV myocardial work distribution and has the potential to be widely used as a reliable complementary tool for guiding patient selection in clinical practice.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Decreased right ventricular strain before LVAD implantation is associated with adverse early outcome
Authors: Tan T.S , Lin G , Pislaru S.V , Luis S.A , Frantz R.P , Clavell A.L , Stulak J.M , Pislaru C , Brady P , Liu M , Ye Z 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Objectives
Right ventricular (RV) failure occurring after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is associated with increased mortality.

Purpose
We sought to determine whether RV strain by echocardiography predicts outcomes following LVAD.

Methods
Consecutive patients who underwent continuous flow LVAD placement at our clinic between February 2007 and October 2018 were included. Patients with complex congenital heart disease and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy were excluded. Baseline characteristics, pre-operative hemodynamic catheterization (1 week) transthoracic echocardiography (1 month) measurements were obtained from the medical record. Speckle tracking RV free wall longitudinal 2D strain was measured using TomTec Imaging System. Univariate and multivariable analysis performed to identify predictors of mortality following LVAD.

Results
The study group was comprised of 323 patients (mean age 60.8±11.5, 79.9% male) of which 256 had adequate image quality for RV strain. RV strain was impaired in most patients (mean −11.7±3.47). RV strain of −8.1% was identified as predictive of poor outcomes. RV strain did not correlate with other measures of RV dysfunction including pulmonary artery pulsatility index (PAPi) and RVFAC. After adjusting for PAPi, RA pressure, and clinical cumulative risk scores (Matthews, Kormos and Lietz-Miller) impaired RV free wall longitudinal strain (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.01–1.29, p=0.025), tricuspid regurgitation (by vena contracta width (TRvc) (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.05–1.36, p=:0.0021) and smaller LVEDD (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.92–0.99, p:0.023) predicted 30-day all-cause mortality and RV failure. Decreased RV free wall strain also predicted peri-operative mortality (22.58% vs. 4.89%, p=0.0003) and prolonged inotropic support (247.0.±277.4 vs. 122.8±139.3, p=0.024).

Conclusions
RV free wall strain is a non-invasive independent predictor of 30-day adverse outcomes (RV failure or all-cause mortality) Routine measurement of RV free strain may identify those patients at highest risk for early and long term mortality following LVAD.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
Impact of coronary plaque characteristics on periprocedural myocardial injury after elective percutaneous coronary intervention -MDCT and CMR analysis-
Authors: Usami K , Watabe H , Otani M , Maruta S , Hiraya D , Hoshi T , Sato A , Ieda M 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is often complicated by periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) manifested by elevated cardiac biomarkers. The occurrence of PMI has been shown to be associated with worse clinical outcome over short- and long-term.

Purpose
We performed multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to evaluate the relationship between culprit plaque characteristics and PMI.

Methods
A total of 90 patients who underwent elective PCI were underwent CMR and multidetector coronary tomography before PCI. The high intensity plaque (HIP) on CMR was defined as a coronary plaque to myocardium signal intensity ratio (PMR) of &gt;1.4. The plaque characteristics and the presence of napkin-ring sign (NRS) were analyzed on MDCT. PMI was defined as an increase in cardiac Troponin T levels to more than 5 times the upper limit of normal at 24 h after PCI. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence (Group I, n=26) or absence (Group II, n=64) of PMI.

Results
Spotty calcification, positive remodeling, low attenuation plaque and NRS on MDCT were significantly more observed in Group I than in Group II. HIP on CMR was significantly more observed in Group I than in Group II. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the presence of NRS and HIP were significantly independent predictors of PMI (odds ratio (OR) 4.82, 95% confidence interval 1.13–20.60, P=0.034 and OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.09–12.30, P=0.036, respectively). Moreover, for prediction of PMI, NRS and HIP showed a high positive predictive value of 81%, and their absence showed a high negative predictive value of 91%.

Conclusions
MDCT and CMR may play an important role in detecting which lesions are high risks for myocardial necrosis after PCI in elective coronary stenting.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
GENECHOC study: genetic markers of arrhythmic risk in heart failure
Authors: Anys S , Rigade S , Rigade S , Baron E , Baron E , Lecointe S , Lecointe S , Guyomarch B , Guyomarch B , Klug D , Klug D , Babuty D , Babuty D , Mansourati J , Mansourati J , Bordachar P , Bordachar P , Mabo P , Mabo P , Thollet A , Thollet A , Dina C , Dina C , Schott J.J , Schott J.J , Barc J , Barc J , Probst V , Probst V 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background
Ventricular arrhythmic events are responsible for 50% of death in heart failure but no reliable predictive marker is known to discriminate patients at risk of fatal arrhythmia. Interestingly, familial predisposition has been reported suggesting a role of genetic factors.

Purpose
Identify genetic markers increasing the arrhythmic risk in heart failure population.

Method
We prospectively included heart failure patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) under 35% and a cardioverter defibrillator in primary prevention in 22 French centres between 2009 and 2017. Patients were followed for 72 months and divided into two groups: cases with an arrhythmic event during follow-up and controls. A Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) was done. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyping was performed on Affymetrix Axiom Precision Medicine Research Array plates. To complement the directly genotyped SNPs we performed large-scale imputation based on the Haplotype Reference Consortium European ancestry panel leading to a dataset of 7,5 million of SNPs.

Results
332 cases and 567 controls were included (86% men, mean age at implantation 52±11 years). 78% of patients had ischaemic cardiopathy, 20% had dilated cardiomyopathy. Mean LVEF was 27±5%. No statistical difference was found between cases and controls on clinical parameters, biological results, electrocardiographic measures. No locus shows genome-wide significant association (p&lt;5.10–8) on the GWAS analysis. However, 16 signals with a p-value between 5.10–8 and 5.10–5 were investigated. eQTL and chromatin conformation point to 35 genes with cardiac expression previously associated with heart failure, cardiomyopathies, cardiogenesis, arrhythmias and inflammation. Variants identified point to regulatory regions of the genome and may then propose a molecular mechanism predisposing patients to arrhythmias.

Conclusion
No locus raises genome-wide significance, but several signals with a nominal p-value point to relevant genes and pathways. Replication of the GWAS is ongoing on a cohort of 156 new patients with a less severe cardiopathy implanted with a cardioverter defibrillator in secondary prevention.

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): Nantes University Hospital
Characteristics and outcomes of pace mapping for ablation of premature ventricular complexes
Authors: Kemme M.J.B , Ozer R , Mulder M.J , Hauer H.A , Tahapary G.J.M , Van Zutphen E.M , Allaart C.P 
Published: November 2020

Abstract

Background/Introduction
Activation mapping is the “gold standard” for localisation of the site of origin during mapping and ablation of symptomatic premature ventricular complexes (PVC). In case of suppression of PVCs during the procedure, the origin of the PVC can be located using a pace mapping technique. The PASO module is an addition in the CARTO3 mapping system that calculates the correlation between the induced and observed 12-lead ECG PVC morphology, and visualises this correlation on an isochronal 3D colour map.

Purpose
The aim of this study was to compare the follow-up success rate of pace mapping using the PASO module and activation mapping and to determine cut-off values for clinical success.

Methods
Seventy-six consecutive ablation procedures of symptomatic PVCs were included in this single-center retrospective study. Mapping and ablation parameters were derived from the CARTO3 mapping system. Ablation success was defined as a ≥95% reduction in PVC burden on 24-hour Holter recordings or absence of the clinical PVC on multiple ECGs in case of multiple PVC morphologies. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between applied mapping methods and ablation parameters. Optimal cut-off values of ablation characteristics for successful ablation were determined using ROC curves.

Results
Thirty-five (46%) patients were male and 39 (51%) patients had a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Pace mapping was used in 36 (47%) patients. Baseline PVC burden was lower in patients when pace mapping was applied (18% vs. 28%, p&lt;0.001). The use of either mapping technique was influenced by PVC localisation (p=0.004). Pace mapping was used predominantly in the right ventricular outflow tract (n=21/31) whereas activation mapping was used predominantly in the left ventricle (n=14/22) and left ventricular outflow tract (n=7/7). Ablation success did not differ between activation mapping (77.5%) and pace mapping (77.8%). Median [IQR] maximum PASO correlation was 98.2% [97.1–98.6] for successful ablations and 96.5% [92.9–97.5] for unsuccessful ablations (p=0.030). The optimal cut-off value for successful ablation of the PASO correlation was 97.6% (AUC 0.754, sensitivity 68%, specificity 88%). There were no significant differences in other ablation parameters between both groups.

Conclusion
This study indicates that pace mapping using PASO is a good alternative for activation mapping for localisation of the PVC. A minimum PASO correlation coefficient of 97.6% is the optimal cut-off value for successful PVC ablation.
ROC of maximum PASO coefficient

Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None