bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cryopreserved aortic homografts for complex aortic valve or root endocarditis: a 28-year experience
Authors: Galeone Antonella , Trojan Diletta , Gardellini Jacopo , di Gaetano Renato , Faggian Giuseppe , Luciani Giovanni Battista 
Published: March 2022

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate early- and long-term outcomes of cryopreserved aortic homograft (CAH) implantation for aortic valve replacement (AVR) or aortic root replacement (ARR) in patients with or without complex infective endocarditis.

METHODS
All adult patients undergoing AVR or ARR with CAH at our institution between January 1993 and July 2021 were included in the study.

RESULTS
One hundred four patients, 75 males and 29 females, aged 59 ± 17 years, underwent AVR or ARR with CAH for infective endocarditis (n = 94, 90%) or aortic valve disease (n = 10, 10%). There were 33 (35%) native valve endocarditis and 61 (65%) prosthetic valve endocarditis, which were complicated by annular abscess in 77 (82%) patients, mitral valve endocarditis in 13 (14%) and tricuspid valve endocarditis in 13 (14%). The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 214 ± 80 min and the mean aortic cross-clamping time was 164 ± 56 min. There were 12 (12%) hospital deaths and 7 (7%) postoperative low cardiac output syndrome requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in 4 patients and intra-aortic balloon pump in 3. Thirty-nine (42%) patients died during the follow-up (94% complete). The mean survival time was 13.9 ± 1.2 years. Twenty-five patients (26%) underwent late reoperation for aortic homograft degeneration (n = 17, 18%), homograft endocarditis (n = 6, 7%), homograft dehiscence (n = 1, 1%) and mitral valve regurgitation (n = 1, 1%). The mean survival free from reintervention was 15.7 ± 1.2 years.

CONCLUSIONS
AVR or ARR with a CAH for complex endocarditis is associated with satisfactory hospital survival, considering the critical patient presentation at surgery, and excellent survival free from recurrent infection. Need for reoperation late after surgery is similar to other biological prostheses.
The figure-of-8 aortic valve suturing technique optimizes the effective orifice area of a small aortic annulus—an ex vivo study
Authors: Saisho Hiroyuki , Kuhlmann Carina , Scharfschwerdt Michael , Jeganathan Reuben , Sadat Najla , Schaller Tim , Aboud Anas , Ensminger Stephan , Fujita Buntaro 
Published: March 2022

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in small annuli carries an elevated risk for the patient–prosthesis mismatch. In this study, we systematically investigated the influence of different implantation techniques including annular enlargement (AE) on the functional result after SAVR in small annuli using a standardized ex vivo model.

METHODS
SAVR using the PERIMOUNT Magna Ease® (PME) 21 mm was performed in small porcine aortic roots using 4 implantation techniques: non-everting pledgeted (NE) suture, single interrupted (SI) suture, continuous suture (CS), figure-of-8 (F8) suture, as well as the PME 23 mm after AE using the Nunez method and the NE suture technique (PME23 AE). The effective orifice area (EOA), mean pressure gradient and leakage volume were evaluated using a mock circulation loop in accordance with ISO regulations.

RESULTS
Experiments were conducted on 31 porcine aortic roots. PME21 using F8 and PME23 after AE achieved a significantly larger EOA than using NE. PME23 after AE showed a larger EOA than the PME21 using any suture technique, except the F8 [for stroke volume of 74 ml: PME21 NE: 1.68 (1.63–1.72) cm2, PME21 SI: 1.76 (1.68–1.81) cm2 (P = 0.17), PME21 CS: 1.76 (1.65–1.79) cm2 (P = 0.14), PME21 F8: 1.81 (1.70–1.85) cm2 (P = 0.005); PME23 AE: 1.83 (1.73–1.92) cm2 (P &lt; 0.001)]. SI and CS did not result in larger EOA compared with the NE technique. PME21 using SI had a significantly larger leakage volume than using NE and there was no significant difference between other techniques [for stroke volume of 74 ml: PME21 NE: 3.51 (1.85–4.53) ml/stroke, PME21 SI: 6.00 (4.02–7.06) ml/stroke (P &lt; 0.001), PME21 CS: 4.04 (3.60–4.49) ml/stroke (P = 0.10), PME21 F8: 3.16 (1.99–3.62) ml/stroke (P = 0.74), PME23 NE: 2.89 (2.45–4.72) ml/stroke (P = 0.51)].

CONCLUSIONS
The F8 technique with the PME21 achieved a similar EOA as the 1 size larger PME23 using NE after AE. These results suggest that the F8 technique may be an effective surgical modification to improve the haemodynamic result in a small annulus without additional AE.
The effectiveness of promotion incentives for public employees: evidence from Italian academia
Authors: Nieddu Marco , Pandolfi Lorenzo 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
We investigate how promotion incentives affect the productivity of a large sample of high-skilled public employees: academics. In a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design, we exploit the three bibliometric thresholds of the 2012 National Scientific Qualification (NSQ), the centralized evaluation procedure regulating career advancements in Italian universities. We compare the 2013–16 research productivity of assistant professors barely qualified for associate professor—whose next goal becomes meeting the higher thresholds for the full professor qualification—with the productivity of candidates who barely miss the qualification—whose goal remains meeting the associate professor thresholds. We find that barely qualified scholars publish significantly more papers than their non-qualified colleagues, in journals of comparable quality. Our results emphasize the importance of promotion incentives as an effective incentivizing tool in public universities and more in general public organizations.
EU Digital Regulation 2022: Data Desiderata
Authors: Picht Peter Georg , Richter Heiko 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
With the drafts of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Data Governance Act (DGA), the EU Commission presented three cornerstones of its digital regulation approach in November and December of 2020. This article looks at data transactions and focuses on four aspects which illustrate that the proposed Acts leave ample room for improvement in terms of the coherence and specificity of their respective rules: the specificity of data-related provisions; the role of FRAND in the Package context; the role of data intermediaries; and the upcoming Data Act. Beyond diagnosis, the article calls for an integrative approach and proposes improvements. It aims to spark a more intense discourse on data transactions under the Package.
Gendered labour, negritude and the Black public sphere
Authors: Fejzula Merve 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
This article uses the landmark 1956 Congress of Black Writers and Artists to re-examine the gendering of the Black public sphere. Organized by Présence africaine, the journal/publishing house that served as the hub for the negritude movement, the congress is one of the iconic moments in African and Black intellectual history. Women were notoriously absent among its delegates, yet this article reconstructs the contributions of Christiane Yandé Diop, Dorothy Brooks and other collectives whose myriad contributions were critical to its success. It argues that the congress was representative of what feminist theorists and organizers have called the fused nature of ‘work’ (production) and ‘domestic work’ (social reproduction), that is, labour necessary to sustain life. As they have shown, where labour takes place impacts its gendering. Because most of the planning for the congress took place in social reproductive settings like homes and cafés, this often compressed re/productive labours, gendering negritude’s intellectual life in consequential ways. Yet though negritude’s women exemplify the frequently blurred lines between re/productive labour, between so-called ‘intellectuals’ and those who operated without such a designation, their own self-understandings sometimes reinstated these gendered divisions. Yandé Diop, Brooks and many others were critical to shaping negritude, and yet the alternative choices they made in that shaping need to be reckoned with on their own terms. I thus argue that we need to take such choices seriously at the same time as we do justice to the integral nature of their contributions. Doing so can help us negotiate with greater nuance the different choices that women made in their contributions to intellectual life.
Existence of localized radial patterns in a model for dryland vegetation
Authors: Hill Dan J 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Localized radial patterns have been observed in the vegetation of semi-arid ecosystems, often as localized patches of vegetation or in the form of ‘fairy circles’. We consider stationary localized radial solutions to a reduced model for dryland vegetation on flat terrain. By considering certain prototypical pattern-forming systems, we prove the existence of three classes of localized radial patterns bifurcating from a Turing instability. We also present evidence for the existence of localized gap solutions close to a homogeneous instability. Additionally, we numerically solve the vegetation model and use continuation methods to study the bifurcation structure and radial stability of localized radial spots and gaps. We conclude by investigating the effect of varying certain parameter values on the existence and stability of these localized radial patterns.
Liouville-Type Theorems for Fractional and Higher-Order Hénon–Hardy Type Equations via the Method of Scaling Spheres
Authors: Dai Wei , Qin Guolin 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
In this paper, we aim to develop the (direct) method of scaling spheres, its integral forms, and the method of scaling spheres in a local way. As applications, we investigate Liouville properties of nonnegative solutions to fractional and higher-order Hénon–Hardy type equations $$ \begin{align*}& (-\Delta)^{\frac{\alpha}{2}}u(x)=f(x,u(x)) \,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\, \text{in} \,\,\, \mathbb{R}^{n}, \,\,\, \mathbb{R}^{n}_{+} \,\,\, \text{or} \,\,\, B_{R}(0) \end{align*}$$with $n&gt;\alpha $, $0&lt;\alpha &lt;2$ or $\alpha =2m$ with $1\leq m&lt;\frac {n}{2}$. We first consider the typical case $f(x,u)=|x|^{a}u^{p}$ with $a\in (-\alpha ,\infty )$ and $0&lt;p&lt;p_{c}(a):=\frac {n+\alpha +2a}{n-\alpha }$. By using the method of scaling spheres, we prove Liouville theorems for the above Hénon–Hardy equations and equivalent integral equations (IEs). In $\mathbb {R}^{n}$, our results improve the known Liouville theorems for some especially admissible subranges of $a$ and $1&lt;p&lt;\min \big \{\frac {n+\alpha +a}{n-\alpha },p_{c}(a)\big \}$ to the full range $a\in (-\alpha ,\infty )$ and $p\in (0,p_{c}(a))$. In particular, when $a&gt;0$, we covered the gap $p\in \big [\frac {n+\alpha +a}{n-\alpha },p_{c}(a)\big )$. For bounded domains (i.e., balls), we also apply the method of scaling spheres to derive Liouville theorems for super-critical problems. Extensions to PDEs and IEs with general nonlinearities $f(x,u)$ are also included (Theorem 1.31). In addition to improving most of known Liouville type results to the sharp exponents in a unified way, we believe the method of scaling spheres developed here can be applied conveniently to various fractional or higher order problems with singularities or without translation invariance or in the cases the method of moving planes in conjunction with Kelvin transforms do not work.
Effectiveness of a Buffalo Turbine and A1 Mist Sprayer for the Areawide Deployment of Larvicide for Mosquito Control in an Urban Residential Setting
Authors: Burtis James C , Bickerton Matthew W , Indelicato Nicholas , Poggi Joseph D , Crans Scott C , Harrington Laura C 
Published: March 2022

AbstractThe control of medically important container-inhabiting mosquitoes is an ongoing challenge for mosquito control operations. Truck-mounted application equipment is a common option for rapid areawide larvicide deployment utilized by mosquito control operations. We tested the effectiveness of two truck-mounted sprayers (A1 Super Duty + Buffalo Turbine CSM3), for the deployment of water-dispersible biopesticides (VectoBac WDG:VectoLex WDG 50:50). Sixty residences within four residential neighborhoods in New Jersey were treated in 2019 and 2020. Three empty bioassay cups were placed in specific locations on each property (front yard/ back yard/ side of house), with an additional cup placed in an adjacent catch basin. This approach was replicated in two untreated control neighborhoods. Following larvicide application, cups were subjected to bioassays wherein larval mortality was tracked through adult eclosion. Overall, average larval mortality rates were 56% higher in treated cups compared against untreated controls. Mortality rates were affected by cup location, with 39% mortality in bioassay cups from back yards, 54% in those from the sides of houses, 73% in front yards, and 76% from cups in catch basins. Mortality did not differ significantly between the four treated neighborhoods, nor by the type of sprayer used. Our research shows that truck-mounted sprayers can be an effective method for larvicide deployment in residential neighborhoods, but effectiveness may depend upon the location of the target treatment area in relation to residences and other geographic obstacles.
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with adrenalectomy, feasibility, safety and outcome
Authors: Alqahtani Awadh , Almayouf Mohammad , Billa Srikar , Helmi Hadeel 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Concomitant surgery is an attractive option because of convenience. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting concomitant laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic right adrenalectomy. A retrospective review of three patients with obesity and a unilateral adrenal mass was conducted. The demographics, workup, surgical technique and outcome were presented. Patient 1 had a body mass index (BMI) of 41 kg/m2, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN) and a right adrenal pheochromocytoma. Patient 2 had a BMI of 40 kg/m2, insulin-dependent DM, uncontrolled HTN, chronic kidney disease, ischemic heart disease and an aldosterone secreting right adrenal adenoma. Patient 3 had a BMI of 41 kg/m2, dyslipidemia, HTN and gout. All patients underwent concomitant LSG and laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA). LSG and LA is a feasible and safe concomitant surgery when performed under specific measures with minimal morbidity and more convenience.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support and total thyroidectomy in patients with refractory thyroid storm: case series and literature review
Authors: Alahmad Murad , Al-Sulaiti Maryam , Abdelrahman Husham , El-Menyar Ayman , Singh Inaita , Tabeb Abdelhakeem , Al-Thani Hassan 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Thyroid storm (TS) is a rare but life-threatening complication of hyperthyroidism in which multiorgan failure (MOF) is the most common cause of death. Early diagnosis and treatment of TS are challenging. We presented two cases with refractory TS complicated with arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock and MOF and were not responding to medical treatment, therapeutic plasma exchange or continuous renal replacement therapy. The combination of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and early thyroidectomy was the mainstay treatment that was performed with no complications. MOF was resolved and patients were doing well in the outpatient clinic follow-up. Precautions concerning the beta blockers and anti-thyroid medications use in TS, especially in the acute setting, should be considered. Upon its availability, the use of ECMO and early thyroidectomy is efficient. This is most applicable in patients not responding to medical treatment or patients who develop complications related to the TS and its medical treatment.
A Semiparametric Multiple Imputation Approach to Fully Synthetic Data for Complex Surveys
Authors: Yu Mandi , He Yulei , Raghunathan Trivellore E 
Published: March 2022

AbstractData synthesis is an effective statistical approach for reducing data disclosure risk. Generating fully synthetic data might minimize such risk, but its modeling and application can be difficult for data from large, complex surveys. This article extended the two-stage imputation to simultaneously impute item missing values and generate fully synthetic data. A new combining rule for making inferences using data generated in this manner was developed. Two semiparametric missing data imputation models were adapted to generate fully synthetic data for skewed continuous variable and sparse binary variable, respectively. The proposed approach was evaluated using simulated data and real longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study. The proposed approach was also compared with two existing synthesis approaches: (1) parametric regressions models as implemented in IVEware; and (2) nonparametric Classification and Regression Trees as implemented in synthpop package for R using real data. The results show that high data utility is maintained for a wide variety of descriptive and model-based statistics using the proposed strategy. The proposed strategy also performs better than existing methods for sophisticated analyses such as factor analysis.
Towards a just energy transition: a critical analysis of the existing policies and regulations in Europe
Authors: del Guayo Íñigo , Cuesta Álvaro 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
The concept of just transition is included in the texts that establish the energy policy of the European Union (EU), in particular in the texts relating to the European Green Deal. The idea refers to the need to compensate the inhabitants of those regions where coal-fired power plants or coalmines are closed, to try to maintain employment and activity. There is a proposal for a regulation that establishes a Just Transition Fund, as the main element of the Just Transition Mechanism. The fund is the focus in coal areas. This norm is inserted in the set of norms for the reconstruction of Europe (NextGenerationEU). The same idea of just transition is found in the laws that various European countries have passed (or are proposing to pass), such as the UK, Germany, Spain and Poland. It is assumed that energy justice requires that in those areas where new forms of electricity production are being implemented, using renewable sources of energy, which displace coal, workers must be compensated. This perspective is the one that has become general, due to the influence of the energy policy of the EU and its law. This article does also show that limiting the just transition to coal problems is inadequate, since the transition generates other problems related to energy justice (such as the implementation of renewable facilities in rural areas, environmental impacts, energy poverty, etc). In other words, the article highlights that there are several potential winners and losers in the energy transition, other than coal regions and workers. To illustrate that idea we pick three remarkable examples: (i) the mining of lithium, since it is a key for electric mobility, but can create environmental and/or social problems; (ii) damages to rural areas from wind or sun installations (iii) and the increase of energy poverty.
Topical Application of Methyl Nicotinate Solution Enhances Peripheral Blood Collection
Authors: Zhu YuLi , Xu Wei , OuYang LiangLiang , Wang Hong , Mao WeiWei , Zhou HuiXiang , Shen Chao , Hu ZhiJian , Tan YunChang 
Published: March 2022

Abstract

Objective
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether local application of methyl nicotinate solution can change the content and proportion of blood cells in peripheral blood samples and to determine whether this treatment is a safe and reliable method for improving peripheral blood collection.

Methods
Routine blood analysis and flow cytometry were used to analyze the contents and proportions of blood cells and T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood samples. Experimental blood specimens were collected from earlobes treated with different concentrations of methyl nicotinate solution, and the control group consisted of blood specimens collected from untreated earlobes.

Results
The blood flow in the earlobe was significantly increased after methyl nicotinate solution stimulation, especially when the methyl nicotinate solution concentration was greater than 10−4 mol/L. There were no significant changes in the proportions of white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, or lymphocytes in the peripheral blood obtained from earlobes treated with methyl nicotinate solution. The proportion of T lymphocytes increased in the experimental group, but this difference was not significant.

Conclusion
Local application of methyl nicotinate solution is a feasible method for improving peripheral blood collection, especially for patients with venous blood collection phobia or an inability to provide venous blood samples.
Phylogeny-Aware Chemoinformatic Analysis of Chemical Diversity in Lamiaceae Enables Iridoid Pathway Assembly and Discovery of Aucubin Synthase
Authors: Rodríguez-López Carlos E. , Jiang Yindi , Kamileen Mohamed O. , Lichman Benjamin R. , Hong Benke , Vaillancourt Brieanne , Buell C. Robin , O'Connor Sarah E. 
Published: March 2022

Abstract
Countless reports describe the isolation and structural characterization of natural products, yet this information remains disconnected and underutilized. Using a cheminformatics approach, we leverage the reported observations of iridoid glucosides with the known phylogeny of a large iridoid producing plant family (Lamiaceae) to generate a set of biosynthetic pathways that best explain the extant iridoid chemical diversity. We developed a pathway reconstruction algorithm that connects iridoid reports via reactions and prunes this solution space by considering phylogenetic relationships between genera. We formulate a model that emulates the evolution of iridoid glucosides to create a synthetic data set, used to select the parameters that would best reconstruct the pathways, and apply them to the iridoid data set to generate pathway hypotheses. These computationally generated pathways were then used as the basis by which to select and screen biosynthetic enzyme candidates. Our model was successfully applied to discover a cytochrome P450 enzyme from Callicarpa americana that catalyzes the oxidation of bartsioside to aucubin, predicted by our model despite neither molecule having been observed in the genus. We also demonstrate aucubin synthase activity in orthologues of Vitex agnus-castus, and the outgroup Paulownia tomentosa, further strengthening the hypothesis, enabled by our model, that the reaction was present in the ancestral biosynthetic pathway. This is the first systematic hypothesis on the epi-iridoid glucosides biosynthesis in 25 years and sets the stage for streamlined work on the iridoid pathway. This work highlights how curation and computational analysis of widely available structural data can facilitate hypothesis-based gene discovery.