bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical impact of a multiplex rapid diagnostic pneumonia panel in critically ill patients
Authors: Esplund Jayda N. , Taylor Alex D. , Stone Tyler J. , Palavecino Elizabeth L. , Kilic Abdullah , Luther Vera P. , Ohl Christopher A. , Beardsley James R. 
Published: January 2023

Abstract

Objective:
To evaluate the clinical impact of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (PNA panel) in critically ill patients.

Design:
Single-center, preintervention and postintervention retrospective cohort study.

Setting:
Tertiary-care academic medical center.

Patients:
Adult ICU patients.

Methods:
Patients with quantitative bacterial cultures obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage or tracheal aspirate either before (January–March 2021, preintervention period) or after (January–March 2022, postintervention period) implementation of the PNA panel were randomly screened until 25 patients per study month (75 in each cohort) who met the study criteria were included. Antibiotic use from the day of culture collection through day 5 was compared.

Results:
The primary outcome of median time to first antibiotic change based on microbiologic data was 50 hours before the intervention versus 21 hours after the intervention (P = .0006). Also, 56 postintervention regimens (75%) were eligible for change based on PNA panel results; actual change occurred in 30 regimens (54%). Median antibiotic days of therapy (DOTs) were 8 before the intervention versus 6 after the intervention (P = .07). For the patients with antibiotic changes made based on PNA panel results, the median time to first antibiotic change was 10 hours. For patients who were initially on inadequate therapy, time to adequate therapy was 67 hours before the intervention versus 37 hours after the intervention (P = .27).

Conclusions:
The PNA panel was associated with decreased time to first antibiotic change and fewer antibiotic DOTs. Its impact may have been larger if a higher percentage of potential antibiotic changes had been implemented. The PNA panel is a promising tool to enhance antibiotic stewardship.
Dogs functionally respond to and use emotional information from human expressions
Authors: Albuquerque Natalia , Resende Briseida 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
Emotions are critical for humans, not only feeling and expressing them, but also reading the emotional expressions of others. For a long time, this ability was thought to be exclusive to people; however, there is now evidence that other animals also rely on emotion perception to guide their behaviour and to adjust their actions in such way as to guarantee success in their social groups. This is the case for domestic dogs, who have tremendously complex abilities to perceive the emotional expressions not only of their conspecifics but also of human beings. In this paper we discuss dogs’ capacities to read human emotions. More than perception, though, are dogs able to use this emotional information in a functional way? Does reading emotional expressions allow them to live functional social lives? Dogs can respond functionally to emotional expressions and can use the emotional information they obtain from others during problem-solving, that is, acquiring information from faces and body postures allows them to make decisions. Here, we tackle questions related to the abilities of responding to and using emotional information from human expressions in a functional way and discuss how far dogs can go when reading our emotions.
Associations between self-reported symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and dietary supplement use over the previous year during the first pandemic wave
Authors: Ellis Amy , Bui Chuong , Ferguson Christine , Azarmanesh Deniz , Park Han-A 
Published: January 2023

Abstract
During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of infection varied widely among adults younger than 60 years. This cross-sectional investigation of adults ages 18–59 years explored associations between SARS-CoV-2 symptomatology and supplementation of micronutrients involved in immune function, such as multivitamins, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc. Between August and December 2020, an online survey was completed by 287 respondents, averaging 33⋅3 ± 10⋅5 years, who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection within the previous 4 months. In regression models, intake of supplements over the previous year was not protective against number of symptoms or symptom severity. Despite higher rates of supplementation over the previous year, smokers experienced more symptoms and greater symptom severity than non-smokers. Micronutrient supplementation did not protect young adults from experiencing symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, but our results suggest that smoking cessation may be a more effective modifiable lifestyle factor.
Pharmaceutical patent law and policy in Africa: a survey of selected SADC member states
Authors: Mercurio Bryan , Adekola Tolulope Anthony , Tsega Chimdessa Fekadu 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe paper surveys the intellectual property (IP) laws of seven Southern African Development Community countries to better understand the nature, scope, and depth of their patent laws with particular focus on their utilisation of TRIPS flexibilities to facilitate pharmaceutical access. The selected countries – Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – represent a mix of both major and modest economies. While the current literature contains widespread assertions on the impact and effect of TRIPS on access to medicines in these countries and less-developed countries in general, this paper finds that the countries lack explicit and workable provisions implementing key TRIPS flexibilities. Hence, available TRIPS flexibilities have not been well utilised and it is often the complicated and unworkable domestic framework – rather than TRIPS – which becomes the stumbling block to pharmaceutical access. Another major finding is that patents may not be a major impediment in the region given that few patents and even fewer pharmaceutical patents are filed. The paper argues that since the surveyed countries are mainly net IP importers with similar developmental contexts and aspirations, the best approach would be to fully take advantage of existing flexibilities and more aggressively leverage policy space to engender access to cheaper medicines.
Recalibration of Predicted Probabilities Using the “Logit Shift”: Why Does It Work, and When Can It Be Expected to Work Well?
Authors: Rosenman Evan T. R. , McCartan Cory , Olivella Santiago 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe output of predictive models is routinely recalibrated by reconciling low-level predictions with known quantities defined at higher levels of aggregation. For example, models predicting vote probabilities at the individual level in U.S. elections can be adjusted so that their aggregation matches the observed vote totals in each county, thus producing better-calibrated predictions. In this research note, we provide theoretical grounding for one of the most commonly used recalibration strategies, known colloquially as the “logit shift.” Typically cast as a heuristic adjustment strategy (whereby a constant correction on the logit scale is found, such that aggregated predictions match target totals), we show that the logit shift offers a fast and accurate approximation to a principled, but computationally impractical adjustment strategy: computing the posterior prediction probabilities, conditional on the observed totals. After deriving analytical bounds on the quality of the approximation, we illustrate its accuracy using Monte Carlo simulations. We also discuss scenarios in which the logit shift is less effective at recalibrating predictions: when the target totals are defined only for highly heterogeneous populations, and when the original predictions correctly capture the mean of true individual probabilities, but fail to capture the shape of their distribution.
When Correlation Is Not Enough: Validating Populism Scores from Supervised Machine-Learning Models
Authors: Jankowski Michael , Huber Robert A. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractDespite the ongoing success of populist parties in many parts of the world, we lack comprehensive information about parties’ level of populism over time. A recent contribution to Political Analysis by Di Cocco and Monechi (DCM) suggests that this research gap can be closed by predicting parties’ populism scores from their election manifestos using supervised machine learning. In this paper, we provide a detailed discussion of the suggested approach. Building on recent debates about the validation of machine-learning models, we argue that the validity checks provided in DCM’s paper are insufficient. We conduct a series of additional validity checks and empirically demonstrate that the approach is not suitable for deriving populism scores from texts. We conclude that measuring populism over time and between countries remains an immense challenge for empirical research. More generally, our paper illustrates the importance of more comprehensive validations of supervised machine-learning models.
Contagion, Confounding, and Causality: Confronting the Three C’s of Observational Political Networks Research
Authors: Uppala Medha , Desmarais Bruce A. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractContagion across various types of connections is a central process in the study of many political phenomena (e.g., democratization, civil conflict, and voter turnout). Over the last decade, the methodological literature addressing the challenges in causally identifying contagion in networks has exploded. In one of the foundational works in this literature, Shalizi and Thomas (2011, Sociological Methods and Research 40, 211–239.) propose a permutation test for contagion in longitudinal network data that is not confounded by selection (e.g., homophily). We illustrate the properties of this test via simulation. We assess its statistical power under various conditions of the data, including the nature of the contagion, the structure of the network through which contagion occurs, and the number of time periods included in the data. We then apply this test to an example domain that is commonly considered in the context of observational research on contagion—the international spread of democracy. We find evidence of international contagion of democracy. We conclude with a discussion of the practical applicability of the Shalizi and Thomas test to the study of contagion in political networks.
Transdiagnostic treatment of depression and anxiety: a meta-analysis
Authors: Cuijpers Pim , Miguel Clara , Ciharova Marketa , Ebert David , Harrer Mathias , Karyotaki Eirini 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundIn the past 10 years an increasing number of randomised trials have examined the effects of transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety. We conducted the first comprehensive meta-analysis of the outcomes of this emerging field.MethodsWe used the searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase and the Cochrane library of an existing database of randomised trials of psychological interventions for depression to identify studies comparing a transdiagnostic treatment of patients with depression or anxiety with a control group (deadline 1 January 2022). We conducted random-effects meta-analyses and examined the effects on depression and anxiety at the short and longer term.ResultsWe included 45 randomised controlled trials with 51 comparisons between a psychotherapy and a control group and 5530 participants. Thirty-five (78%) studies were conducted in the last 10 years. The overall effect size was g = 0.54 (95% CI 0.40–0.69; NNT = 5.87), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 78; 95% CI 71–83), and a broad PI (−0.31–1.39). The effects remained significant in a series of sensitivity analyses, including exclusion of outliers, adjustment for publication bias, for studies with low risk of bias, and in multilevel analyses. The results were comparable for depression and anxiety separately. At 6 months after randomisation the main effects were still significant, but not at 12 months, although the number of studies was small.ConclusionsTransdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety are increasingly examined and are probably effective at the short term.
“Me? At this age?”: A narrative analysis of older South Asian Muslim immigrant women’s subjectivity-formations in migration arrangements
Authors: Syed Manaal 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCritical and feminist ageing scholarship has drawn attention to how dominant discourses of ageing negatively impact older women's identities and social lives. While research intersecting migration and ageing has broadly focused on older immigrants' settlement experiences, very little is known about the discursive influences over older immigrant women's sense of agency and social relations. To address this knowledge gap, this study explores the subjectivity-formations of older South Asian Muslim women engaged in transnational migration. Narrative and discourse analysis principles were used to conduct and analyse life story-based interviews with 15 South Asian Muslim older women who recently migrated to Toronto, Canada. Findings indicate that participant subjectivity-formations are shaped by: (a) discourses of ageing; (b) socio-cultural–religious discourses; and (c) discourses of transnational migration. In response, participants engaged in dynamic strategies including conforming, negotiating, creating alternative narratives and/or resisting these discourses to organise their lives. These findings reinforce the continued need to trace the governmentality of structural conditions over ageing migrant women's lives and their responsive strategies to manage these impacts.
Social networks and social support of older immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Szabó Ágnes , Stephens Christine , Alpass Fiona 
Published: January 2023

AbstractImmigrants commonly report difficulties with developing social connections post-transition, which can lead to social isolation as they age. Understanding what factors promote/hinder the social integration of immigrants is an important public health objective. We tested the public health model of social integration of Berkman et al. in a sample of older immigrants. This model calls for considering both the social conditions in which social networks are embedded (upstream influences) and the levels of social support offered by different types of networks (downstream influences). First, we derived an empirical typology of social networks of older immigrants. Next, we tested associations of social networks with upstream and downstream influences. Data came from the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study. The sample included 568 older adults (54% male) who immigrated as adults (mean length of stay = 28.5 years, standard deviation = 12.5). Latent profile analysis was employed on responses to the Practitioner Assessment of Network Type to identify social networks. Associations with upstream and downstream correlates were tested using logistic and multiple regression. Four network configurations emerged: ‘private-restricted’ (43.4%), ‘family-dependent’ (35.8%), ‘locally integrated’ (10.9%) and ‘wider community-based’ (9%). Having shorter length of residence and individualistic cultural background was predictive of being in a restricted network (private-restricted, family-dependent). Being in a restricted network was associated with lower levels of social support. Network type interacted with partner status: having a partner buffered the negative impact of having a restricted network on social support. Although restricted networks are common among older immigrants, they do not necessarily result in compromised social support. While we may see differences across countries regarding the impact of specific upstream and downstream influences, our findings highlight that both contextual and individual-level resources need to be considered alongside network structure to promote social integration of immigrants as they age.
Predicting L2-Spanish fluency from L1-English fluency and L2 proficiency: A conceptual replication
Authors: Pérez Castillejo Susana , Urzua-Parra Katherine 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis study conceptually replicated Huensch and Tracy-Ventura’s (2017) analysis of the relationship between L1 and L2 utterance fluency with adult L1-English learners of Spanish. Data from 88 participants were analyzed to explore the proportion of the variance in L2 fluency measures that can be attributed to the corresponding L1 measures, and the relative weights of L1 fluency and L2 proficiency as predictors of L2 fluency. This study applied the same fluency and proficiency constructs and operationalizations as the original study, but differed in task type and learners’ L2 proficiency. Results were most similar for speed and repair frequency, and for silent pause duration. Findings concerning silent and filled pause frequency differed. Combined, the studies show that some L1-L2 fluency relationships are relatively stable across proficiency levels, task type, and learning context.
From Cold War Geopolitics to the Crisis of Global Capitalism: The History of Chinese Wireless Network Infrastructures (1987–2020)
Authors: Chen Jianqing 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThis paper explores the genesis and growth of the current Chinese wireless network infrastructures by pulling together the historical threads of two telecommunications infrastructures: first, the development of the first-tier inter-provincial optical backbone, the “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal Fibre-optic Grid,” in the late 1980s and 1990s; and second, the deployment of two broadband-access cellular networks, the third-generation (3G) cellular networks in 2008 and the fourth-generation (4G) networks from 2013 to now, which constitute the wireless network's edges. I insert the development of Chinese wireless networks since the 1980s into the interconnected global technological environment, contextualizing the infrastructure deployment in the history of Sino-American technological cooperation and competition, traversing the final decade of the Cold War era (the 1980s), the dual global expansion of economic neoliberalism and informational technology since the 1990s and the crisis of global capitalism since 2008. This historical inquiry reconciles two historical (meta-)narratives that are not always compatible with each other – the Chinese narratives grounded on the overarching concept of Chinese post-socialism, and the narratives in Western discourses that often evoke Cold War/post-Cold War dialectics. This paper examines the global distribution of wireless network infrastructures on the basis of commercialization, technology transfers and trades of techno-commodities across borders, challenging the reduced depiction of the Chinese wireless network as an extension, or an exception, to the West-centred techno-capitalist system.
A review and evaluation of study design considerations for omega-3 fatty acid supplementation trials in physically trained participants
Authors: Anthony Ryan , Macartney Michael J. , Heileson Jeffery L. , McLennan Peter L. , Peoples Gregory E. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractLong-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC n-3 PUFA) supplements, rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and/or docosahexaenoic acid, are increasingly being recommended within athletic institutions. However, the wide range of doses, durations and study designs implemented across trials makes it difficult to provide clear recommendations. The importance of study design characteristics in LC n-3 PUFA trials has been detailed in cardiovascular disease research, and these considerations may guide LC n-3 PUFA study design in healthy cohorts. This systematic review examined the quality of studies and study design considerations used in evaluating the evidence for LC n-3 PUFA improving performance in physically trained adults. SCOPUS, PubMed and Web of Science electronic databases were searched to identify studies that supplemented LC n-3 PUFA in physically trained participants. Forty-six (n = 46) studies met inclusion. Most studies used a randomised control design. Risk of bias, assessed using the design-appropriate Cochrane Collaboration tool, revealed that studies had a predominant judgment of ‘some concerns’, ‘high risk’ or ‘moderate risk’ in randomised controlled, randomised crossover or non-randomised studies, respectively. A custom five-point quality assessment scale demonstrated that no study satisfied all recommendations for LC n-3 PUFA study design. This review has highlighted that the disparate range of study designs is likely contributing to the inconclusive state of outcomes pertaining to LC n-3 PUFA as a potential ergogenic aid. Further research must adequately account for the specific LC n-3 PUFA study design considerations, underpinned by a clear hypothesis, to achieve evidence-based dose, duration and composition recommendations for physically trained individuals.
Effects of myo-inositol plus folic acid on ovarian morphology and oocyte quality in PCOS mouse model
Authors: Haghighi Maryam , Mehdizadeh Mehdi , Amjadi Fatemehsadat , Zandieh Zahra , Najafi Mohammad , Artimani Tayebe , Mohammadi Fatemeh , Mehdizadeh Rana 
Published: January 2023

SummaryAlthough the role of myo-inositol (MYO) in promoting the oocyte quality of PCOS patients has been documented in human studies; the cellular effects of this supplement on oocytes have not been directly examined due to ethical limitations. In the first phase of this study, MYO dosimetry was carried out simultaneously with the PCOS model development. An effective dose was obtained following the assessment of fasting insulin and testosterone levels using ELISA and ovarian morphology appraisal by histopathology. In the second phase, following the continuous administration of the effective dose of MYO and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cellular evaluation was performed. The quality of oocytes from superovulation was analyzed by examining maturity and normal morphology percentage using a stereomicroscope, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) levels using fluorometry, and ATP count evaluation using ELISA. The results revealed that, among the four different MYO concentrations, the 0.36 mg/g dose compared with the DHEA group reduced testosterone levels and large atretic antral follicles (LAtAnF) diameter. This dose also increased the corpus luteum count and the granulosa:theca (G/T)layer thickness ratio in antral follicles. Furthermore, this dose increased mature oocytes and normal morphology percentage, ATP count, and GSH levels; however, it decreased ROS levels in mature oocytes. Our findings provide the grounds for further cellular and molecular studies on the PCOS mouse model, suggesting that the improvement in mitochondrial function and its antioxidant properties is probably one of the mechanisms by which MYO increases oocyte quality.