bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The short-term impact of the 2020 pandemic lockdown on employment in Greece
Authors: Betcherman Gordon , Giannakopoulos Nicholas , Laliotis Ioannis , Pantelaiou Ioanna , Testaverde Mauro , Tzimas Giannis 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThis paper analyzes the short-term employment impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece during the first few months following the pandemic onset. During the initial lockdown period, aggregate employment was lower by almost 9 percentage points than it would have been expected based on pre-pandemic employment trends. However, due to a government intervention that prohibited layoffs, this was not due to higher separation rates. The overall short-term employment impact was due to lower hiring rates. To uncover the mechanism behind this, we use a difference-in-differences framework, and show that tourism-related activities, which are exposed to seasonal variation, had significantly lower employment entry rates in the months following the pandemic onset compared to non-tourism activities. Our results highlight the relevance of the timing of unanticipated shocks in economies with strong seasonal patterns, and the relative effectiveness of policy interventions to partly absorb the consequences of such shocks.
Preliminary clinical study of personalized neoantigen vaccine therapy for microsatellite stability (MSS)-advanced colorectal cancer
Authors: Yu Yao-Jun , Shan Na , Li Li-Yi , Zhu Yue-Sheng , Lin Li-Miao , Mao Chen-Chen , Hu Ting-Ting , Xue Xiang-Yang , Su Xiao-Ping , Shen Xian , Cai Zhen-Zhai 
Published: February 2023

AbstractImmunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has provided revolutionary results in treating various cancers. However, its efficacy in colorectal cancer (CRC), especially in microsatellite stability-CRC, is limited. This study aimed to observe the efficacy of personalized neoantigen vaccine in treating MSS–CRC patients with recurrence or metastasis after surgery and chemotherapy. Candidate neoantigens were analyzed from whole-exome and RNA sequencing of tumor tissues. The safety and immune response were assessed through adverse events and ELISpot. The clinical response was evaluated by progression-free survival (PFS), imaging examination, clinical tumor marker detection, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing. Changes in health-related quality of life were measured by the FACT-C scale. A total of six MSS–CRC patients with recurrence or metastasis after surgery and chemotherapy were administered with personalized neoantigen vaccines. Neoantigen-specific immune response was observed in 66.67% of the vaccinated patients. Four patients remained progression-free up to the completion of clinical trial. They also had a significantly longer progression-free survival time than the other two patients without neoantigen-specific immune response (19 vs. 11 months). Changes in health-related quality of life improved for almost all patients after the vaccine treatment. Our results shown that personalized neoantigen vaccine therapy is likely to be a safe, feasible and effective strategy for MSS–CRC patients with postoperative recurrence or metastasis.
The evolution of dynamic and flexible courtship displays that reveal individual quality
Authors: Hollon Samuel H. , García-Ruiz Irene , Veen Thor , Fawcett Tim W. 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Sexual selection is a major force shaping morphological and behavioral diversity. Existing theory focuses on courtship display traits such as morphological ornaments whose costs and benefits are assumed be to fixed across individuals’ lifetimes. In contrast, empirically observed displays are often inherently dynamic, as vividly illustrated by the acrobatic dances, loud vocalizations, and vigorous motor displays involved in courtship behavior across a broad range of taxa. One empirically observed form of display flexibility occurs when signalers adjust their courtship investment based on the number of rival signalers. The predictions of established sexual selection theory cannot readily be extended to such displays because display expression varies between courtship events, such that any given display may not reliably reflect signaler quality. We thus lack an understanding of how dynamic displays coevolve with sexual preferences and how signalers should tactically adjust their display investment across multiple courtship opportunities. To address these questions, we extended an established model of the coevolution of a female sexual preference and a male display trait to allow for flexible, dynamic displays. We find that such a display can coevolve with a sexual preference away from their naturally selected optima, though display intensity is a weaker signal of male quality than for non-flexible displays. Furthermore, we find that males evolve to decrease their display investment when displaying alongside more rivals. This research represents a first step towards generalizing the findings of sexual selection theory to account for the ubiquitous dynamism of animal courtship.

Significance statement
Animal courtship displays are typically costly for survival: songs attract predators; dances are exhausting; extravagant plumage is cumbersome. Because of the trade-off between mating benefits and survival costs, displaying individuals often vary their displays across time, courting more intensely when the potential benefit is higher or the cost is lower. Despite the ubiquity of such adjustment in nature, existing theory cannot account for how this flexibility might affect the coevolution of displays with sexual preferences, nor for the patterns of tactical display adjustment that might result, because those models treat displays as static, with fixed costs and benefits. Generalizing a well-studied model of sexual selection, we find that a static display and a flexible display can evolve under similar conditions. Our model predicts that courtship should be less intense when more competitors are present.
Bumblebee cognitive abilities are robust to changes in colony size
Authors: Hill Luke , Gérard Maxence , Hildebrandt Frida , Baird Emily 
Published: February 2023

Abstract Eusocial insect colonies act as a superorganism, which can improve their ability to buffer the negative impact of some anthropogenic stressors. However, this buffering effect can be affected by anthropogenic factors that reduce their colony size. A reduction in colony size is known to negatively affect several parameters like brood maintenance or thermoregulation, but the effects on behaviour and cognition have been largely overlooked. It remains unclear how a sudden change in group size, such as that which might be caused by anthropogenic stressors, affects individual behaviour within a colony. In this study, the bumblebeeBombus terrestriswas used to study the effect of social group size on behaviour by comparing the associative learning capabilities of individuals from colonies that were unmanipulated, reduced to a normal size (a colony of 100 workers) or reduced to a critically low but functional size (a colony of 20 workers). The results demonstrated that workers from the different treatments performed equally well in associative learning tasks, which also included no significant differences in the learning capacity of workers that had fully developed after the colony size manipulation. Furthermore, we found that the size of workers had no impact on associative learning ability. The learning abilities of bumblebee workers were thus resilient to the colony reduction they encountered. Our study is a first step towards understanding how eusocial insect cognition can be impacted by drastic reductions in colony size.Significance statementWhile anthropogenic stressors can reduce the colony size of eusocial insects, the impact of this reduction is poorly studied, particularly among bumblebees. We hypothesised that colony size reduction would affect the cognitive capacity of worker bumblebees as a result of fewer social interactions or potential undernourishment. Using differential conditioning, we showed that drastic reductions in colony size have no effect on the associative learning capabilities of the bumblebeeBombus terrestrisand that this was the same for individuals that were tested just after the colony reduction and individuals that fully developed under the colony size reduction. We also showed that body size did not affect learning capabilities. This resilience could be an efficient buffer against the ongoing impacts of global change.
Mineralogical characterization of fluorescent grossular garnet var. tsavorite from Merelani Hills, Tanzania
Authors: Idini Alfredo , Angeli Celestino , Frau Franco , Ennas Guido , Naitza Stefano , De Giudici Giovanni Battista , Argazzi Roberto 
Published: February 2023

AbstractTsavorite is the trade name for the green vanadium–chromium variety of grossular occurring in the Precambrian terrains in the areas of Merelani Hills (Tanzania) and Tsavo Park (Kenya) which are by far the most important source of gem grade specimens of tsavorite used for high jewellery. The tsavorite crystals from Merelani Hills exhibit a pink-red and yellow fluorescence when irradiated by common portable UV lamp, an unusual phenomenon among members of the garnet group. The electron density map calculated from the diffraction data and plotted against a grossular standard shows that an excess of negative charge is clearly pinpointed in the crystallographic site occupied by Al3+. The bulk elemental analysis shows that the most represented end-member, besides grossular, is the vanadium-bearing goldmanite garnet (3.82–4.08 mol %). The fluorometry with an excitation beam at 408 nm indicates a complex emission pattern with the most intense emissions at 701 and 716 nm and subordinately at 592 nm. The colour perception is dominated by the emission yellow band at 592 nm while the contribution of the red band modulates the colour ranging from bright orange to pink-red. The attribution of the emission at 592 nm is related to Mn2+ while the emissions at 701 and 716 nm could be related to the chromium content and/or to a possible fraction of vanadium as V2+. Because of the characteristic colour perceived under UV light, the use of a common led lamp can be useful as a diagnostic tool to easily identify tsavorite.
Comparison of Safety and Efficacy after Emergency Stenting in Patients Exhibiting Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis Associated with Large-vessel Occlusion with and without Intravenous Infusion of Tirofiban
Authors: Garayzade Rana , Berlis Ansgar , Schiele Stefan , Schneider Hauke , Ertl Michael , Müller Gernot , Maurer Christoph J. 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Intracranial rescue stent angioplasty is a bailout strategy for acute stroke patients in cases of unsuccessful endovascular thrombectomy due to underlying atherosclerotic stenosis. However, there is no consensus on a preprocedural and intraprocedural antiplatelet regimen. The aim of this single-centre study was to compare the safety and efficacy of emergency stenting in patients exhibiting intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis-related acute large-vessel occlusion with or without peri-interventional intravenous infusion of tirofiban.

Materials and Methods
We performed a retrospective analysis of 78 patients who were treated with rescuestent angioplasty between 2010 and 2019 due to acute ischaemic stroke. The patients were divided into 2 groups: those who received peri-interventional intravenous tirofiban and those who did not receive tirofiban. We compared clinical safety and functional outcomes in both treatment groups with symptomatic haemorrhage as the primary endpoint. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was performed to investigate the association between tirofiban and outcome measures.

Results
Thirty-seven patients were treated with intravenous tirofiban (47.4%), and 41 patients did not receive intravenous tirofiban (52.6%). Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between the two groups in the rate of symptomatic haemorrhage (16.2% in the tirofiban group versus 14.6% in the control group, p = 0.847). The 3-month mortality (21.6% in the tirofiban group versus 17.1% in the control group, p = 0.611) and good functional outcomes according to the modified Rankin scale (45.9% versus 34.1%, p = 0.289) were comparable.

Conclusion
The results of our study suggest that the application of tirofiban for rescue stenting after failed mechanical thrombectomy is safe.
Postoperative morbidity and mortality in pediatric indigenous populations: a scoping review and meta-analysis
Authors: Livergant Rachel J. , Fraulin Georgia , Stefanyk Kelsey , Binda Catherine , Maleki Sasha , Joharifard Shahrzad , Hillier Tracey , Joos Emilie 
Published: February 2023

AbstractMounting evidence suggests that childhood health is an important predictor of wellness as an adult. Indigenous peoples worldwide suffer worse health outcomes compared to settler populations. No study comprehensively evaluates surgical outcomes for Indigenous pediatric patients. This review evaluates inequities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children globally for postoperative complications, morbidities, and mortality. Nine databases were searched for relevant subject headings including “pediatric”, “Indigenous”, “postoperative”, “complications”, and related terms. Main outcomes included postoperative complications, mortality, reoperations, and hospital readmission. A random-effects model was used for statistical analysis. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used for quality assessment. Fourteen studies were included in this review, and 12 met inclusion criteria for meta-analysis, representing 4793 Indigenous and 83,592 non-Indigenous patients. Indigenous pediatric patients had a greater than twofold overall (OR 2.0.6, 95% CI 1.23–3.46) and 30-day postoperative mortality (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.23–4.05) than non-Indigenous populations. Surgical site infections (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.73–1.50), reoperations (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.51–1.11), and length of hospital stay (SMD = 0.55, 95% CI − 0.55–1.65) were similar between the two groups. There was a non-significant increase in hospital readmissions (OR 6.09, 95% CI 0.32–116.41, p = 0.23) and overall morbidity (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.91–1.40) for Indigenous children. Indigenous children worldwide experience increased postoperative mortality. It is necessary to collaborate with Indigenous communities to promote solutions for more equitable and culturally appropriate pediatric surgical care.
Impact of implementation of polymerase chain reaction on diagnosis, treatment, and clinical course of Acanthamoeba keratitis
Authors: Roth Mathias , Balasiu Adriana , Daas Loay , Holtmann Christoph , Servera Anna , Walckling Marcus , MacKenzie Colin R. , Fuchsluger Thomas A. , Geerling Gerd 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a painful and possibly sight-threatening ocular infection. While the correct diagnosis and specific treatment in the early stages significantly improve the prognosis, the disease is often misdiagnosed and in clinical examination confused with other forms of keratitis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of AK was first introduced in our institution in December 2013 to improve the timely diagnosis of AK. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of implementation of Acanthamoeba PCR on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease in a German tertiary referral center.

Patients and methods
Patients treated for Acanthamoeba keratitis between 1st of January 1993 and 31st of December 2021 in the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Duesseldorf were identified retrospectively via in-house registries. Evaluated parameters include age, sex, initial diagnosis, method of correct diagnosis, duration of symptoms until correct diagnosis, contact lens use, visual acuity, and clinical findings as well as medical and surgical therapy by keratoplasty (pKP). In order to assess the impact of implementation of Acanthamoeba PCR, the cases were divided into two groups (before (pre-PCR group) and after PCR implementation (PCR group).

Results
Seventy-five patients with Acanthamoeba keratitis were included (69.3% female, median age 37 years). Eighty-four percent (63/75) of all patients were contact lens wearers. Until PCR was available, 58 patients with Acanthamoeba keratitis were diagnosed either clinically (n = 28), by histology (n = 21), culture (n = 6), or confocal microscopy (n = 2) with a median duration until diagnosis of 68 (18; 109) days. After PCR implementation, in 17 patients, the diagnosis was established with PCR in 94% (n = 16) and median duration until diagnosis was significantly shorter with 15 (10; 30.5) days. A longer duration until correct diagnosis correlated with a worse initial visual acuity (p = 0.0019, r = 0.363). The number of pKP performed was significantly lower in the PCR group (5/17; 29.4%) than in the pre-PCR group (35/58; 60.3%) (p = 0.025).

Conclusions
The choice of diagnostic method and especially the application of PCR have a significant impact on the time to diagnosis and on the clinical findings at the time of confirmation of diagnosis and the need for penetrating keratoplasty. In contact lens–associated keratitis, the first crucial step is to take AK into consideration and perform a PCR test as timely confirmation of diagnosis of AK is imperative to prevent long-term ocular morbidity.
“More life and more days”—patient and care characteristics in a specialized acute pediatric palliative care inpatient unit
Authors: Stoesslein Sophie , Gramm Julia D. , Bender Hans-Ulrich , Müller Petra , Rabenhorst Dorothee , Borasio Gian Domenico , Führer Monika 
Published: February 2023

AbstractOnly a few acute hospital inpatient units dedicated to pediatric palliative care (PPC) patients exist today. Clinical data on the patients and care provided at specialized acute PPC inpatient units (PPCUs) are scarce. This study aims at describing patient and care characteristics on our PPCU to learn about the complexity and relevance of inpatient PPC. A retrospective chart analysis was performed on the 8-bed PPCU of the Center for Pediatric Palliative Care of the Munich University Hospital, including demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics (487 consecutive cases; 201 individual patients; 2016–2020). Data were analyzed descriptively; the chi-square test was used for comparisons. Patients’ age (1–35.5 years, median: 4.8 years) and length of stay (1–186 days, median 11 days) varied widely. Thirty-eight percent of patients were admitted repeatedly (range 2–20 times). Most patients suffered from neurological diseases (38%) or congenital abnormalities (34%); oncological diseases were rare (7%). Patients’ predominant acute symptoms were dyspnea (61%), pain (54%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (46%). Twenty percent of patients suffered from > 6 acute symptoms, 30% had respiratory support incl. invasive ventilation, 71% had a feeding tube, and 40% had full resuscitation code. In 78% of cases, patients were discharged home; 11% died on the unit.Conclusion: This study shows the heterogeneity, high symptom burden, and medical complexity of the patients on the PPCU. The high dependency on life-sustaining medical technology points to the parallelism of life-prolonging and palliative treatments that is typical for PPC. Specialized PPCUs need to offer care at the intermediate care level in order to respond to the needs of patients and families.

What is Known:• Pediatric patients in outpatient PPC or hospices present with a variety of clinical syndromes and different levels of complexity and care intensity.• There are many children with life-limiting conditions (LLC) in hospitals, but specialized PPC hospital units for these patients are rare and poorly described.

What is New:• Patients on a specialized PPC hospital unit show a high symptom burden and a high level of medical complexity, including dependency on medical technology and frequent full resuscitation code.﻿• The PPC unit is mainly a place for pain and symptom management as well as crisis intervention, and needs to be able to offer treatment at the intermediate care level.
Investigation of spatial and temporal variations of airborne Poaceae, Myrtaceae and Cupressaceae pollen and Alternaria spores in Sydney, Australia, 2017–2020
Authors: Jetschni Johanna , Al Kouba Jane , Beggs Paul J. , Jochner-Oette Susanne 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThere is a need for information on pollen exposure to assess allergy risk. Monitoring of aeroallergens in a city is usually limited to the use of a single trap for the whole area. While a single trap provides enough information on background pollen concentration for the area, varying pollen exposure across different urban environments, however, is not considered. In this study, we analysed aerobiological data of three pollen seasons (2017–2020) recorded with a volumetric pollen trap in Sydney, Australia. In order to assess spatial differences in pollen exposure across the city, we installed ten gravimetric traps recording pollen deposition for eight weeks during the summer of 2019/2020. We considered the influence of meteorological variables, land use, urbanisation and distance to the sea. Our results showed differences in pollen season characteristics across the three analysed seasons and correlations with meteorological parameters. Considering all years, we found for Poaceae and Alternaria the strongest positive correlation with mean temperature and for Myrtaceae and Cupressaceae with maximum temperature. Likewise, there were negative correlations with humidity (Myrtaceae, Cupressaceae, Alternaria) and precipitation (Myrtaceae, Cupressaceae). Days with medically relevant pollen and spore concentrations varied between years and we recorded the highest amount in 2017/2018 for Poaceae and Alternaria and in 2019/2020 for Myrtaceae. In addition, we found spatial and temporal variations of pollen deposition. However, we did not detect significant correlations between pollen deposition and land use, which can be attributable to drought conditions prior to the sampling campaign and the temporal setting in the pollen season. This study highlights the importance of continuous volumetric aerobiological monitoring as well as the assessment of pollen exposure at several locations across a large urban area.
Design-based spatial interpolation with data driven selection of the smoothing parameter
Authors: Fattorini Lorenzo , Franceschi Sara , Marcheselli Marzia , Pisani Caterina , Pratelli Luca 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIn the inverse distance weighting interpolation the interpolated, value is a weighted mean of the sampled values, with weights decreasing with the distances. The most widely adopted class of distance functions is the class of negative powers of order $$\alpha $$
α
and the appropriate choice of the smoothing parameter $$\alpha $$
α
is a crucial issue. In this paper, we give sufficient conditions for the design-based consistency of the inverse distance weighting interpolator when $$\alpha $$
α
is selected by cross-validation techniques, and a pseudo-population bootstrap approach is introduced to estimate the accuracy of the resulting interpolator. A simulation study is performed to empirically confirm the theoritical findings and to investigate the finite-sample properties of the interpolator obtained using leave-one-out cross-validation. Moreover, a comparison with the nearest neighbor interpolator, which is the limiting case for $$\alpha =\infty $$

α
=
∞

, is performed. Finally, the estimation of the surface of the Shannon diversity index of tree diameter at breast height in the experimental watershed of Bonis forest (Southern Italy) is described.