bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on transmission among healthcare workers in South Korea
Authors: Kim Jiyun , Jung Jiwon , Namgung Songhee , Jung Jihye , Kim Sun Kyung , Lim Young-ju , Kim Eun Ok , Kim Sung-Han 
Published: May 2022

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection of healthcare workers (HCWs) occasionally occurs via acquisition from their colleagues. Data regarding the infection rates of HCWs with close contact and non–close contacts of HCWs are limited. In addition, the protective effect of COVID-19 vaccination against transmission between HCWs is unknown. We evaluated the infection rates of HCWs with close contact and non–close contact of infected HCWs and the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on transmission among HCWs in a tertiary-care hospital in South Korea. Methods: This study was performed in a tertiary-care hospital in Korea. We analyzed the COVID-19 cases and contacts among HCWs from January to December 2021. We reviewed the vaccination status of confirmed and exposed HCWs, the type of vaccination, and the infection rate according to the contact. We performed subgroup analyses in individuals who had been diagnosed since July 2021 when the δ (delta) variant became the dominant strain in South Korea. Transmission was defined based on their spatiotemporal epidemiologic association. Results: During the study period, 173 HCWs had COVID-19, and 2,693 HCWs were exposed to them. Among them, 18 (1.52%) of 1,186 close contacts and 13 (0.86%) of 1,507 non–close contacts had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test (P = .11). When the index cases had been fully vaccinated, the infection rate of close contacts was 0.85% (7 of 820), whereas the infection rate of close contacts was 3.01% (11 of 366) when the index had not been fully vaccinated (P = .005). However, the infection rate of non–close contacts was not different according to the vaccination status of index (0.83% vs 0.89%; P = .90). During the period of δ (delta) variant being dominant, the infection rate of close contacts was significantly lower when the index case had been fully vaccinated index than in cases with a non–fully vaccinated index case (0.85% vs 5.88%; P < .001). Conclusions: Transmission to colleagues was significantly lower from vaccinated HCWs than from nonvaccinated HCWs, and this finding was more significant in the era of the δ (delta) variant. Our findings support the importance of vaccination in HCWs.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Outpatient antibiotic prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic–United States, January 2019–October 2021
Authors: Bizune Destani , Tsay Sharon , Kabbani Sarah , Hicks Lauri 
Published: May 2022

Background: Improving antibiotic use is a key strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance. Here, we have described national outpatient antibiotic prescribing trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared the monthly numbers of prescriptions in 2020–2021 to those from 2019 to describe the impact of the pandemic and to highlight areas for improvement. Methods: We used the IQVIA National Prescription Audit (NPA) data set to identify all antibiotic prescriptions dispensed from US retail pharmacies during January 2019–October 2021. We calculated the percentage change in volume of prescriptions for each month during the pandemic (beginning in March 2020) compared to the baseline (defined as the corresponding month in 2019). Data were characterized by patient age group (0–19 years, 20–64 years, ≥65 years) and antibiotic class and drug, including azithromycin. Results: Antibiotic prescriptions were lower than baseline during March 2020–June 2021. The greatest decrease in antibiotic prescribing volume occurred in May 2020 (40.0% lower than May 2019) (Fig. 1), with the greatest decreases among children 0–19 years of age. However, prescribing was similar to baseline levels in July–August 2021 (Fig. 1). Specifically, azithromycin prescribing exceeded the 2019 baseline by 11.0% in July and further to a 34.5% increase in August 2021 (Fig. 2). Increases in azithromycin prescribing in August 2021 were observed across all age groups: 20–64 years (46.9% above baseline), ≥65 years (25.3% above baseline), and children 0–19 years (7.8% above baseline). Conclusions: Antibiotic prescribing volume was lower during 2020 and the first half of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019. Decreases in outpatient antibiotic prescriptions during the pandemic likely reflect decreased utilization of outpatient healthcare and decreased transmission of non–COVID-19 infections secondary to nonpharmaceutical interventions (eg, masking, social distancing, school closures). However, outpatient antibiotic prescribing levels in general, and azithromycin prescribing in particular, approached or exceeded prepandemic levels in July and August 2021. Ongoing surveillance and sustained outpatient antibiotic stewardship efforts are needed to optimize antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Work system barriers to & resilience strategies for COVID-19 PPE use in the emergency department: A qualitative interview study
Authors: Daodu Oluseyi , Gurses Ayse , Osei Patience , Nosakhare Esosa , Perry Shawna , Sultan Marium , Prabhu Nivedha , Peterson Susan , MacIntyre Emma , Vo Khue , Yuan Lauren , Benishek Lauren , Li Jessica 
Published: May 2022

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) are complex, sociotechnical, high-paced, safety-critical work systems that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite training, consistent compliance with recommended PPE use during COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have had adapt to overcome these challenges to ensure their own safety and patient safety. We sought to identify barriers in the work system that impede the recommended COVID-19 PPE use in EDs. Methods: We conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews over ZoomTM from August 2020–May 2021 with 45 HCWs from the ED (ie, physicians, nurses, ancillary support staff, etc) affiliated with a large, tertiary-care, academic medical center. These audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a hybrid (inductive and deductive) qualitative coding approach in NVivo software. The deductive portion was guided by the SEIPS work system model, a well-known human-factors conceptual framework. Results: We identified multiple work-system factors in the ED that impede compliance with the recommended COVID-19 PPE use. In addition, ED HCWs have reported making a variety of adaptations or developing strategies to overcome these barriers. Some of these adaptations were made to the PPE physically (eg, trimming portions of PPE), and others were related to the tasks and/or processes associated with PPE, such as filming their own training video demonstrating PPE donning and doffing techniques, and environment services staff checking a patient’s status with nurses prior to entering the patient’s room when there was no COVID-19 signage on the door. Conclusions: Consistent compliance with COVID-19 PPE use in ED clinical practice is challenging and can be negatively affected by a variety of work system factors. Resilience strategies developed by HCWs can provide critical information with regards to HCW needs and potential directions for innovation. Future efforts should focus on not only changing individual HCW behavior through training but also on improving the PPE and ED work system design.Funding: US CDCDisclosures: The authors gratefully acknowledge the US CDC for funding this work. This material is based upon work supported by the Naval Sea Systems Command (under contract no. N00024-13-D-6400, task order NH076). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) or the US CDC.
Effecting the culture: Impact of changing urinalysis with reflex culture criteria on culture rates and outcomes
Authors: Penney Jessica , Rodday Angie , Sebastiani Paola , Snydman David , Doron Shira 
Published: May 2022

Background: Urinalysis and urine culture are frequently ordered diagnostic tests among hospitalized patients, often for nonspecific symptoms. Diagnostic testing stewardship with urinalysis with reflex culture (UARC) is a practice shown to reduce institutional culture rates by selecting patients who are more likely to have a true infection. Optimal reflex criteria are not well established, and downstream effects, such as antibiotic use, have not been well studied. Methods: We compared outcomes in the preimplementation period (December 2018 – October 2019) and postintervention period (November 2019–October 2020) at an academic medical center. The intervention was changing the UARC reflex criteria. The primary outcomes were urine-culture rate per 1,000 patient days, urine-culture positivity, antibiotic prescription for suspected urinary tract infection (UTI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rate per 1,000 Foley catheter days. Analysis was performed using interrupted time-series negative binomial regression or Poisson regression where appropriate. Results: We detected a significant decrease in the rate of cultures performed (32.5 cultures per 1,000 patient days before the intervention vs 8.6 cultures per 1,000 patient days after the intervention; P = 0.10). Fig. 1 summarizes these results graphically. In an adverse events analysis, of 646 patients in the postintervention period, 130 patients were reviewed for the outcome of sepsis secondary to a urinary tract infection, with only 1 patient meeting criteria for this diagnosis. Conclusions: Changing the UARC reflex criteria resulted in the expected decrease in rate of cultures performed with increase in culture positivity, and the stricter criteria appeared to more effectively identify true UTIs. Minimal adverse events were associated with the UARC criteria change, demonstrating that these criteria are also safe. We detected a significant change in antibiotic prescriptions, but much of the decrease occurred during the preintervention period, which likely reflected educational and stewardship interventions performed at that time. Although the intervention affected culture performance, which does decrease institutional costs, continued provider education is needed to influence clinical outcomes.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
B-Cell-Directed Therapies: A New Era in Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
Authors: Kanatas Panagiotis , Stouras Ioannis , Stefanis Leonidas , Stathopoulos Panos 
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACT:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that often progresses to severe disability. Previous studies have highlighted the role of T cells in disease pathophysiology; however, the success of B-cell-targeted therapies has led to an increased interest in how B cells contribute to disease immunopathology. In this review, we summarize evidence of B-cell involvement in MS disease mechanisms, starting with pathology and moving on to review aspects of B cell immunobiology potentially relevant to MS. We describe current theories of critical B cell contributions to the inflammatory CNS milieu in MS, namely (i) production of autoantibodies, (ii) antigen presentation, (iii) production of proinflammatory cytokines (bystander activation), and (iv) EBV involvement. In the second part of the review, we summarize medications that have targeted B cells in patients with MS and their current position in the therapeutic armamentarium based on clinical trials and real-world data. Covered therapeutic strategies include the targeting of surface molecules such as CD20 (rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab, ublituximab) and CD19 (inebilizumab), and molecules necessary for B-cell activation such as B cell activating factor (BAFF) (belimumab) and Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) (evobrutinib). We finally discuss the use of B-cell-targeted therapeutics in pregnancy.
Distinguishing subaerial and submarine calving with underwater noise
Authors: Glowacki Oskar 
Published: May 2022

AbstractIceberg calving is one of the major mechanisms of ice loss from tidewater glaciers and ice sheets, but obtaining accurate estimates of ice discharge that are both continuous and accurate is a challenging task. Recent results have demonstrated the effective application of passive cryoacoustics – the use of naturally generated sounds to study the cryosphere – to quantify subaerial calving fluxes. However, little is known about the acoustic signatures of submarine calving. This study investigates the underwater noise from 656 subaerial and 162 submarine calving events observed at Hansbreen, Svalbard in the summers of 2016 and 2017. Statistical analysis of the acoustic signal shows that the normalized power of the calving noise is log-normally distributed regardless of the calving mode. However, submarine events can be distinguished from subaerial events by using the shape parameter of the log-normal distribution paired with the calving signal duration. The newly developed classification model may potentially be used for two purposes: (1) to study potential causal relationships between these two calving modes and (2) to separate calving fluxes into subaerial and submarine components. The latter will also require knowledge of the relationship between ice mass and sound spectral level for submarine calving events.
Paleontology and ichnology of the late Ediacaran Nasep–Huns transition (Nama Group, southern Namibia)
Authors: Turk Katherine A. , Maloney Katie M. , Laflamme Marc , Darroch Simon A.F. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractThe Nasep and Huns members of the Urusis Formation (Nama Group), southern Namibia, preserve some of the most diverse trace-fossil assemblages known from the latest Ediacaran worldwide, including potentially the world's oldest “complex” vertical sediment-penetrating burrows. These sediments record relatively diverse communities of bilaterian metazoans existing before the base of the Cambrian and an increase in the intensity of metazoan ecosystem engineering behaviors that could eventually produce profound changes in the character of the Phanerozoic sedimentary record (the “agronomic revolution”). Despite this, relatively little about this trace-fossil assemblage is known. We explore the Nasep–Huns transition at two localities in the Witputs sub-basin and describe the trace- and body-fossil diversity present in these horizons alongside a paleoenvironmental reconstruction. We document eight unique ichnotaxa from these localities, including well-preserved “probes” potentially left by priapulids. We also report the first occurrence ofCorumbellafrom Namibia, helping to establish a biostratigraphic link between Namibia, Brazil, Paraguay, Iran, and the southwestern United States. Last, we find that several ichnotaxa, in particular small treptichnids, appear to be preferentially preserved on the bases of gutter casts, hinting at the potential existence of an unusual late Ediacaran preservational window with possible implications for timing the first appearance of key bilaterian behaviors.
Unpacking the Impact of OFDI Speed and Rhythm on Innovation Performance: Evidence from Chinese Firms
Authors: Wu Xiaobo , Du Jian , Xu Yue , Xu Hongqi , Zhu Shan 
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACTIn this study, we focus on the temporal behaviors – speed and rhythm – of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) and examine the effect of such behaviors on innovation performance. Using a learning perspective, we argue that OFDI speed has an inverted U-shaped effect on EMNEs’ innovation performance, whereas the relationship between the uneven rhythm of OFDI and innovation performance is negative. The results, based on OFDI panel data of 1,092 Chinese firms, support our predictions that a moderate OFDI speed and a more regular pattern of OFDI expansion provide sources of competitiveness and contribute to firms’ innovation performance.
Achieving Mutual Understanding Without Saying a Word: The Conceptualization of Moqi and a Nomological Network
Authors: Chen Xiao-Ping , Cole Benjamin M. 
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACTWhile the construct of moqi (默契, pronounced ‘mò-chee’) is ubiquitously understood and finds itself in everyday conversations around the home and workplace in China, the theoretical development of moqi has been scarce. In this article, we expand on prior work on moqi and conceptualize moqi as a dyadic level construct that describes a situated state of shared contextualized understanding without saying a word between two counterparties. We further articulate a broader view of moqi as a dyadic communication construct that is both target-specific and situation-specific. We propose a nomological network of moqi that shows how shared contextualized understandings between counterparties are informed by several different layers, including ‘capability’ (a) a generalized proclivity to be able to form such understandings with others, and ‘contributing factors’, (b) how those understandings are formed either (i) through interactions or (ii) without them through overlaps in background characteristics or experiences, and (c) how other factors accentuate the capability and inclination to ultimately achieve moqi. We then discuss several potential consequences of moqi in organizational settings. Finally, we discuss why moqi is a powerful form of effective communication that is meaningful beyond the Chinese cultural context.
Flood basalt structures and textures as guides to cooling histories and palaeoclimates: the Deccan Traps of Saurashtra, western India
Authors: Sheth Hetu , Duraiswami Raymond A. , Ghule Vivek , Naik Anmol , Das Tarulata 
Published: May 2022

AbstractThe primary features (morphologies, structures, textures) of volcanic lava flows are determined by parameters such as composition, temperature, crystallinity, viscosity, flow velocity, strain rate and cooling rate. However, lava flows are open systems, and their primary features are strongly influenced by their emplacement environment. Among subaerial lava flows, those that solidify in a wet environment with rainfall develop very different internal structures (e.g. jointing patterns) and textures from those in a dry environment. Thus, the outcrop structures and textures of ancient lava flows, such as those forming continental flood basalt sequences thousands of metres thick, provide clues to their cooling histories and the palaeoclimates. Here we provide field, petrographic and geochemical data on large tholeiitic lava flows (sheet lobes) and associated dykes of the Saurashtra region in the northwestern Deccan Traps continental flood basalt province (India). The sheet lobes are dominantly pāhoehoe and rubbly pāhoehoe, and occasionally ‘a‘ā, with colonnade and entablature tiers. We show that the jointing patterns in the entablatures (irregular, chevron, rosette and skeleton jointing), and the textures of the sheet lobes and even some dykes (abundant glass, and quench crystals of plagioclase and Fe–Ti oxides) reflect convective heat removal, owing to widespread interaction with meteoric waters (rainfall) during solidification. The observations thus provide evidence for a wet climate in western India 65.5 million years ago.
Palatalisation can be quantity-sensitive: Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in Liverpool English
Authors: CARDOSO AMANDA , HONEYBONE PATRICK 
Published: May 2022

This paper shows that the Liverpool English dorsal fricative, derived through the lenition of /k/, is subject to place of articulation assimilation, driven by the preceding vowel. This is similar to the vowel-driven aspects of typical perseverative Dorsal Fricative Assimilation (a type of palatalisation), as found, for example, in the Germanich-Laut~ach-Lautalternation, where (among other things) a preceding front high or mid vowel is followed by the front dorsal [ç], and other vowels are followed by a back dorsal. However, the majority Liverpool English pattern differs from previously described cases of Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in that [ç] only occurs followinglongfront high vowels, while a back dorsal remains after their short congeners. This type of quantity-sensitive pattern in assimilation has not been reported before. We use Centre of Gravity measurements to investigate this pattern of place assimilation, and argue for the use of an innovative normalisation technique for consonant measurements, based on measurements of /k/ aspiration in a linear regression model. We thus both expand the taxonomy of what is known to be possible in phonology and also provide new detail in the description of Liverpool English (including a proposal for the featural analysis of its vowel system).
Similarities and differences among the Opisthorchiidae liver flukes: insights from Opisthorchis felineus
Authors: Pakharukova Maria Y. , Mordvinov Viatcheslav A. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractThe foodborne liver trematode Opisthorchis felineus (Rivolta, 1884) is a member of the triad of phylogenetically related epidemiologically important Opisthorchiidae trematodes, which also includes O. viverrini (Poirier, 1886) and Clonorchis sinensis (Loos, 1907). Despite similarity in the life cycle, Opisthorchiidae liver flukes also have marked differences. Two species (O. viverrini and C. sinensis) are recognized as Group 1A biological carcinogens, whereas O. felineus belongs to Group 3A. In this review, we focus on these questions: Are there actual differences in carcinogenicity among these 3 liver fluke species? Is there an explanation for these differences? We provide a recent update of our knowledge on the liver fluke O. felineus and highlight its differences from O. viverrini and C. sinensis. In particular, we concentrate on differences in the climate of endemic areas, characteristics of the life cycle, the range of intermediate hosts, genomic and transcriptomic features of the pathogens, and clinical symptoms and morbidity of the infections in humans. The discussion of these questions can stimulate new developments in comparative studies on the pathogenicity of liver flukes and should help to identify species-specific features of opisthorchiasis and clonorchiasis pathogenesis.
The timing and development of infections in a fish–cestode host–parasite system
Authors: Wohlleben Anika M. , Steinel Natalie C. , Meyer Néva P. , Baker John A. , Foster Susan A. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractThe cestode Schistocephalus solidus is a common parasite in freshwater threespine stickleback populations, imposing strong fitness costs on their hosts. Given this, it is surprising how little is known about the timing and development of infections in natural stickleback populations. Previous work showed that young-of-year stickleback can get infected shortly after hatching. We extended this observation by comparing infection prevalence of young-of-year stickleback from 3 Alaskan populations (Walby, Cornelius and Wolf lakes) over 2 successive cohorts (2018/19 and 2019/20). We observed strong variation between sampling years (2018 vs 2019 vs 2020), stickleback age groups (young-of-year vs 1-year-old) and sampling populations.