Recent Time Period Research Articles

Past extent of lunar permanently shadowed areas.

As the Moon migrated away from Earth, it experienced a major spin axis reorientation. Permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), which are thought to have trapped ices and are a main focus of lunar exploration, appeared and grew after this (Cassini state) transition and are often younger than their host craters. Here, we calculate the lunar spin axis orientation and the extent of PSRs based on recent advances for the time evolution of the Earth-Moon distance. The solar declination reached twice its current value 2.1 billion years (Ga) ago, when the PSR area was about half as large. The PSR area becomes negligible beyond 3.4 Ga ago. The site of an artificial impact in Cabeus Crater, where various volatiles have been detected, became continuously shadowed only about 0.9 Ga ago, and hence, cold-trapping has continued into this relatively recent time period. Overall estimates for the amount of cold-trapped ices have to be revised downward.

Management of metastatic endometrial cancer: physicians' choices beyond the first line after approval of checkpoint inhibitors.

Endometrial cancer (EC) represents 3.4% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases and is responsible for 2.1% of all cancer-related deaths. Approximately 10%-15% of women with EC are diagnosed with advanced-stage disease, resulting in a reported 5-year survival rate of only 17% for those with distant metastases. A better understanding of its molecular features has ushered in a new era of immunotherapy for the treatment of EC, allowing for alternative therapeutic approaches, even in cases of advanced disease. We administered a multi-choice online survey for Multicenter Italian Trials in Ovarian cancer and gynecologic malignancies (MITO) members. The questionnaire was available for 2 months, starting in October 2022. Our objective was to evaluate the current attitude of incorporating molecular characterization of EC into routine clinical practice, appraise the implementation of newly available therapies, and compare the outcomes with the previous survey conducted in April-May 2021 to ascertain the actual changes that have transpired during this recent time period. The availability of molecular classification in Italian centers has changed in 1 year. Seventy-five percent of centers performed the molecular classification compared with 55.6% of the previous survey. Although this percentage has increased, only 18% performed all the tests. Significant changes have occurred in the administration of new treatments in EC patients in MITO centers. In 2022, 82.1% of the centers administrated dostarlimab in recurrent or advanced MMR-deficient (dMMR) EC experiencing disease progression after platinum-based chemotherapy regimens, compared to only 24.4% in 2021. In 2022, 85.7% of the centers already administrated the pembrolizumab plus lenvatinib combination as a second-line therapy for MMR-proficient (pMMR) patients with advanced or recurrent EC who had progressed from first-line platinum-based therapy. Both the therapeutic and diagnostic scenarios have changed over the last couple of years in MITO centers, with an increased prescription of immune checkpoint inhibitors and use of the molecular classification.

Contemporary Patients Have Better Perioperative Outcomes Following Cytoreductive Nephrectomy: A Multi-institutional Analysis of 1272 Consecutive Patients

To evaluate factors associated with perioperative outcomes in a multi-institutional cohort of patients treated with cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN). Data wereanalyzed for metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with CN at 6 tertiary academic centers from 2005 to 2019. Outcomes included: Clavien-Dindo complications, mortality, length of hospitalization, 30-day readmission rate, and time to systemic therapy. Univariate and multivariable models evaluated associations between outcomes and prognostic variables including the year of surgery. A total of 1272 consecutive patients were treated with CN. Patients treated in 2015-2019 vs 2005-2009 had better performance status (P<.001),higher pathologic N stage (P=.04), more frequent lymph node dissections (P<.001), and less frequent presurgical therapy (P=.02). Patients treated in 2015-2019 vs 2005-2009 had lower overall and major complications from surgery, 22% vs 39%, P<.001% and 10% vs 16%, P=.03. Mortality at 90days was higher for patients treated 2005-2009 vs 2015-2019; 10% vs 5%, P=.02. After multivariable analysis, surgical time period was an independent predictor of major complications and 90-day mortality following cytoreductive surgery. Postoperative major complications and mortality rates following CN are significantly lower in patients treated within the most recent time period.

“My blood boiled”: Emotional metaphors and masculinity in Mexican men

The principal aim of this communication is to describe and analyze metaphor as a narrative resource of emotional vocabulary used by men. Beside the relationship with mandates of masculinity. A qualitative ethnographic approach was used with in-depth interviews on family life and work experiences of men between age from 20 to 49 years, living with a heterosexual couple, with at least one child, being unemployed or having a recent unemployment period of time and residents of the metropolitan area of ​​Guadalajara, Mexico. Men enunciated metaphors more frequently than emotional labels. The metaphor sense of pleasure or displeasure are described, their relation with family and/or work experiences, but also linkage with some mandates of masculinity. A series of reflections on methodological and empirical aspects and questions are presented to continue the research on emotions and masculinities as a promising field of studies on the gender of men.

Sixty-years of community-science data suggest earlier fall migration and short-stopping of waterfowl in North America

Abstract Worldwide, migratory phenology and movement of many bird species is shifting in response to anthropogenic climate and habitat changes. However, due to variation among species and a shortage of analyses, changes in waterfowl migration, particularly in the fall, are not well understood. Fall migration phenology and movement patterns dictate waterfowl hunting success and satisfaction, with cascading implications on economies and support for habitat management and securement. Using 60 years of band recovery data for waterfowl banded in the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), we evaluated whether fall migration timing and/or distribution changed in Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Pintail (A. acuta), and Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) between 1960 and 2019. We found that in the Midcontinent Flyways, Mallards and Blue-winged Teal migrated faster in more recent time periods, whereas Northern Pintail began fall migration earlier. In the Pacific Flyway, Mallards began fall migration earlier. Both Mallards and Northern Pintails showed evidence of short-stopping in the Midcontinent Flyways. Indeed, the Mallard and Northern Pintail distribution of band recovery data shifted 180 and 226 km north, respectively, from 1960 to 2019. Conversely, Blue-winged Teal recovery distributions were consistent across years. Mallards and Northern Pintails also exhibited an increased proportion of band recoveries in the Pacific Flyway in recent decades. We provide clear evidence that the timing and routes of fall migration have shifted over the past 6 decades, but these phenological and spatial shifts differ among species. We suggest that using community-science data collected by hunters themselves to explain one of the group’s major concerns (changes in duck abundance at traditional hunting grounds), within the environmental lens of climate change, may help lead to further engagement and two-way dialogue to support effective waterfowl management for these culturally and ecologically important species.

Impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on tundra productivity near Utqiaġvik, Alaska

Earlier snowmelt, warmer temperatures and herbivory are among the factors that influence high-latitude tundra productivity near the town of Utqiaġvik in northern Alaska. However, our understanding of the potential interactions between these factors is limited. MODIS observations provide cover fractions of vegetation, snow, standing water, and soil, and fractional absorption of photosynthetically active radiation by canopy chlorophyll (fAPARchl) per pixel. Here, we evaluated a recent time-period (2001–2014) that the tundra experienced large interannual variability in vegetation productivity metrics (i.e. fAPARchl and APARchl), which was explainable by both abiotic and biotic factors. We found earlier snowmelt to increase soil and vegetation cover, and productivity in June, while warmer temperatures significantly increased monthly productivity. However, abiotic factors failed to explain stark decreases in productivity during August of 2008, which coincided with a severe lemming outbreak. MODIS observations found this tundra ecosystem to completely recover two years later, resulting in elevated productivity. This study highlights the potential roles of both climate and herbivory in modulating the interannual variability of remotely retrieved plant productivity metrics in Arctic coastal tundra ecosystems.

THE DISCREPANCIES OF THE ‘ANTHROPOZOIC AGE’ IN ERNST HAECKEL'S INDISCHE REISEBRIEFE (1882)

ABSTRACTIn Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (1866), Ernst Haeckel systematised the biological study of morphology along evolutionary lines and proposed that the ‘Anthropozoic Age’ should be considered the most recent paleontological time period. This article first examines Haeckelʼs early concept of the Anthropozoic Age in relation to his ambiguous use of the words ‘Nature’ and ‘Culture’ in his life's work. It then illustrates how his later travel narrative, Indische Reisebriefe (1882), projects notions of the Anthropozoic Age onto landscapes from his journey to British‐governed Ceylon. Haeckel presents two diverging paleontological timescales: a deep and interconnected past of the island's organisms and the currently escalating consequences of human cultivation of the land. Lending different scientific and aesthetic attention to the depiction of the two environmental developments, discrepant images are fused in his hopes and visions of a new and better ‘Age of Culture’. The travel report is thus a very early literary response to the scientific concept of living during a time in which humanity dominates the world's environments. From today's perspective, the text raises familiar questions regarding how humans should conceive their own agency in the Anthropocene. At the same time, it highlights the concept's entanglement with contemporary philosophical and socio‐political discourses.

The increasing association between child poverty and children in out-of-home care - an ecological longitudinal analysis of Finnish municipalities in the period 1992–2021

BackgroundInternational evidence indicates that child poverty increases the risk of child welfare intervention needs but Finland, paradoxically, has low child poverty rates and high child welfare intervention rates. We investigate the extent to which the rate of social assistance use in families with children, as a proxy for child poverty, can be associated with the rate of children in out-of-home care in Finnish municipalities. MethodsData on the annual rate of social assistance use and out-of-home care were drawn from national registers for 216 Finnish municipalities from 1992 to 2021. Linear regression models were utilised to investigate the extent to which the social assistance use rate explained child out-of-home care rates, both spatially and temporally, across municipalities and years while adjusting for the unemployment rate. ResultsThe rate of out-of-home care increased from some 700 to 1600 per 100,000 children over the period 1992–2021. A percentage point higher rate of the social assistance use was associated with 44–72 more children placed in out-of-home care per 100,000 children, net of the unemployment rate. This association was stronger in more recent time periods. A smaller association was observed within municipalities over time: a percentage point increase in social assistant use was linked to some 4–25 more children placed in out-of-home care per 100,000 children. ConclusionOut-of-home care is increasingly concentrated in Finnish municipalities with high rates of families receiving social assistance. Preventative child welfare interventions are therefore required in areas with higher rates of economic difficulties among families.

Legitimising CSR through the institutional backup – gauging compliance of the Indian corporate sector in the mandatory regime

PurposeThis study aims to calculate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure made by companies as per the provisions of Section 135 of Companies Act 2013 and check the status of compliance/non-compliance of these provisions in the mandatory regime of CSR.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of top 500 Indian companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange, the study compares the CSR expenditure required to be incurred by companies with the actual CSR expenditure made by them over a time span of seven years and calculates the extent of surplus or deficit attained by them starting from the year of inception of CSR provisions, 2014–2015, till the most recent year, 2020–2021.FindingsThe findings indicate that the average CSR expenditure made by Indian corporate sector is less than the mandatory requirement. More than half of the companies do not comply with the CSR regulations of the country. Even the “Most Profitable” companies fail to contribute the minimum required amount towards social activities akin to their counterparts in the “Less” and “Least” profitable categories.Practical implicationsThe disobedience towards the statutory provisions implies that Indian companies are non-compliant towards CSR guidelines despite the regulative institutional pressure that makes CSR a mandatory practice to legitimise it.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the CSR literature in the light of the transformed regulative institutional environment in India. It includes a comprehensive analysis of compliance of companies with the revised statutes over all the years since the inception of new mandatory guidelines on CSR till the most recent time period on a representative sample, thus, making the findings robust and generic with respect to India.

POWER QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENHANCEMENT BY DSTATCOM

Over the recent period of time, power quality problems have been marked as a buzzing issue with regards to promote delicate or miniature power electronic devices where Voltage sag problem is the most frequently occurring as well as detrimental power quality problems. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assuage voltage sag problem using proposed Distribution Static Synchronous Compensator (D-STATCOM). Utility distribution networks, sensitive industrial loads and critical commercial operations suffer from various types of outages and service interruptions which can cost significant financial losses. In developing countries such as India, where the power frequency and many such other determinants of power quality are themselves a serious question. The DSTATCOM is a most effective device which is based on the VSC principle. In this paper DSTATCOM, under different faults is analyzed. The modeling and simulation of the proposed shunt compensator was implemented in MATLAB Simulink environment. Simulation results showed that the proposed shunt compensator was efficient in mitigating voltage sags power system. Keywords: Power Quality, Distribution Static Synchronous Compensator (DSTATCOM), Voltage Source Converter (VSC), MATLAB.

Trends in hepatocellular carcinoma stage by racial/ethnic group in the United States, 1992–2019

Background & AimsAlthough incidence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) began to decline in the United States in the past decade, disparities in rates among racial/ethnic groups have persisted. Whether disparities in stage at diagnosis have remained over time, however, is unclear. MethodsNational Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program has created a new staging-over-time variable that facilitates the examination of trends in HCC stage. Thus, the proportions of HCCs diagnosed by stage between 1992 and 2019 were examined among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black (NHB), Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals. HCC incidence between 1992 and 2019 was also analysed using Joinpoint regression. ResultsBetween 1992 and 2019, the proportion of stage 1 HCCs increased and the proportion of stage 4 HCCs decreased among non-Hispanic White, NHB, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander individuals. Among AI/AN persons, the proportion of stage 1 tumours remained stable, and the proportion of stage 4 tumours declined. In the most recent time period, NHB individuals had the lowest proportions of stage 1 HCCs (32%) and the highest proportion of stage 4 HCCs (20%) of any group. Joinpoint analysis found that HCC incidence began to decline by 2013 among all groups except AI/AN individuals, the only group that had an increase in incidence. ConclusionsDespite generally favourable trends in HCC stage and incidence rates, disparities remain. NHB persons continue to have less favourable stages at diagnosis, and incidence rates continue to increase among AI/AN persons. Impact and implicationsHCC incidence rates among most United States racial/ethnic groups began to decline in recent years, but whether stage at diagnosis also improved was unclear. As a result, a new SEER stage variable was used to examine stage trends by race/ethnicity. Although the finding of generally favourable trends in stage as well as incidence is encouraging, continuity disparities in both stage and incidence require serious attention.

Dendrochemical indicators of tree rings reveal historical soil acidification in Swiss forest stands

The deposition of acidifying nitrogen and sulphur compounds from agriculture and fossil fuel combustion has drastically altered the chemical balance of forest soils in many regions of the world, leading to soil acidification with negative impacts on nutrient availability and thus also on tree vitality. The change of nutrient concentrations in the soil solution can be assessed by long-term investigations, however meaningful indicators, reflecting environmental changes, are needed to compare the current nutrient status with past values. We used dendrochemical indicators in stem wood of different tree species to access the impact of acidifying depositions on soil quality and tree nutrition. We selected 328 stem wood samples from 96 trees of Norway spruce (Picea abies), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Sessile oak (Quercus petrea) and English oak (Quercus robur) from 22 forest sites, which are part of the long-term Intercantonal Forest Observation Program in Switzerland. Four time periods of 20 years were defined according to the emissions of air pollutants between 1910 and 2017. Our results showed a trend of increasing Al concentrations in tree rings of spruce peaking in the most recent time period (2000–2017). Mn and Ca concentrations in spruce and beech wood have decreased significantly throughout the time period 1910–2017. These dendrochemical indicators depended on the soil pH, with higher Al and lower Mn and Ca concentrations for soils with a low pH (pH<4.2). In oak trees the observed dendrochemical changes are confounded with dendrochemical differences between heartwood and sapwood. K and Mg showed inconsistent patterns in all three tree species, which are probably caused by translocation within the stem discs. With the use of piecewise structural equation models (SEM) we highlighted the direct and indirect influences of N deposition on element concentrations in stem wood. The data suggest a relation between increased N deposition and lower base saturation values in the forest soils for all three tree species, which were linked to higher Al concentrations in spruce and lower Mn concentrations in spruce and beech. The relation between Al concentrations in tree rings of Norway spruce and measured base saturation was used to reconstruct past soil base saturation values. It revealed a progressive soil acidification in the long-term forest observation sites. These reconstructed base saturation values were further used to validate modelled values from dynamic biogeochemical models such as SAFE/ForSAFE. This comparison pointed out possible shortcomings such as the lack of organic complexation in those models. Taken together, our analyses showed that element concentrations of Al, Mn, Ca in Norway spruce and European beech stem wood were suitable dendrochemical indicators of environmental change due to soil acidification, as they reflect both direct and indirect effects of air pollutants and chemical soil properties.

Testing the resource curse hypothesis: The dynamic roles of institutional quality, inflation and growth for Dragon

In the recent time period, we have observed a great deal of interest from different stakeholders to discuss regarding the credibility of the resource curse/blessing assumption for so many obvious reasons, including that economies and policy practitioners are eager to reap the benefits of natural resources to increase economic prosperity. On the same lines, this analysis confabulate the credibility of resource curse assumption in presence of two most prominent economic indicators, institutional quality and inflation, which are essentially interconnected with financial development in developing nations. Our present analysis is grounded upon a developing economy - China - and will serve as a stepping stone for the similar economies. The time period we have considered for empirical estimation is from 1990 to 2020. The empirical analysis, after estimations elucidates that in the far off time frame, natural resources are adversely interconnected with financial growth, i.e., resource course hypothesis is proved. However, quality of government is favorably associated with financial development and inflation is hampering the financial development. Thus, policymakers should adapt those polices which discourage the over utilization and exploitation of natural resources and also to encourage the political reliability and fiscal decentralization in the Chinese economy also bring a positive increase in financial development.

Comparison of on-site versus NOAA’s extreme precipitation intensity-duration-frequency estimates for six forest headwater catchments across the continental United States

Urgency of Precipitation Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) estimation using the most recent data has grown significantly due to recent intense precipitation and cloud burst circumstances impacting infrastructure caused by climate change. Given the continually available digitized up-to-date, long-term, and fine resolution precipitation dataset from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s (USDAFS) Experimental Forests and Ranges (EF) rain gauge stations, it is both important and relevant to develop precipitation IDF from onsite dataset (Onsite-IDF) that incorporates the most recent time period, aiding in the design, and planning of forest road-stream crossing structures (RSCS) in headwaters to maintain resilient forest ecosystems. Here we developed Onsite-IDFs for hourly and sub-hourly duration, and 25-yr, 50-yr, and 100-yr design return intervals (RIs) from annual maxima series (AMS) of precipitation intensities (PIs) modeled by applying Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) analysis and L-moment based parameter estimation methodology at six USDAFS EFs and compared them with precipitation IDFs obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Atlas 14 (NOAA-Atlas14). A regional frequency analysis (RFA) was performed for EFs where data from multiple precipitation gauges are available. NOAA’s station-based precipitation IDFs were estimated for comparison using RFA (NOAA-RFA) at one of the EFs where NOAA-Atlas14 precipitation IDFs are unavailable. Onsite-IDFs were then evaluated against the PIs from NOAA-Atlas14 and NOAA-RFA by comparing their relative differences and storm frequencies. Results show considerable relative differences between the Onsite- and NOAA-Atlas14 (or NOAA-RFA) IDFs at these EFs, some of which are strongly dependent on the storm durations and elevation of precipitation gauges, particularly in steep, forested sites of H. J. Andrews (HJA) and Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory (CHL) EFs. At the higher elevation gauge of HJA EF, NOAA-RFA based precipitation IDFs underestimate PI of 25-yr, 50-yr, and 100-yr RIs by considerable amounts for 12-h and 24-h duration storm events relative to the Onsite-IDFs. At the low-gradient Santee (SAN) EF, the PIs of 3- to 24-h storm events with 100-yr frequency (or RI) from NOAA-Atlas14 gauges are found to be equivalent to PIs of more frequent storm events (25–50-yr RI) as estimated from the onsite dataset. Our results recommend use of the Onsite-IDF estimates for the estimation of design storm peak discharge rates at the higher elevation catchments of HJA, CHL, and SAN EF locations, particularly for longer duration events, where NOAA-based precipitation IDFs underestimate the PIs relative to the Onsite-IDFs. This underscores the importance of long-term high resolution EF data for new applications including ecological restorations and indicates that planning and design teams should use as much local data as possible or account for potential PI inconsistencies or underestimations if local data are unavailable.

Twenty-five years of epilepsy surgery at a Central European comprehensive epilepsy center - trends in intervention delay and outcomes.

We analyzed trends in patients' characteristics, outcomes, and waiting times over the last 25 years at our epilepsy surgery center situated in Central Europe to highlight possible areas of improvement in our care for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. A total of 704 patients who underwent surgery at the Brno Epilepsy Center were included in the study, 71 of those were children. Patients were separated into three time periods, 1996-2000 (n = 95), 2001-2010 (n = 295) and 2011-2022 (n = 314) based on first evaluation at the center. The average duration of epilepsy before surgery in adults remained high over the last 25 years (20.1 years from 1996-2000, 21.3 from 2001-2010, and 21.3 from 2011-2020, p = 0. 718). There has been a decrease in rate of surgeries for temporal lobe epilepsy in the most recent time period (67% - 70% - 52%, p <0.001). Correspondingly, extratemporal resections have become more frequent with significant increase in surgeries for focal cortical dysplasias (2% - 8% - 19%, p <0.001). For resections, better outcomes (ILAE scores 1a-2) have been achieved in extratemporal lesional (0% - 21% - 61%, p = 0.01, at least two years follow-up) patients. In temporal lesional patients, outcomes remained unchanged (at least 77% success rate). A longer duration of epilepsy predicted a less favorable outcome for resective procedures (p = 0.024) in patients with disease duration of less than 25 years. The spectrum of epilepsy surgery is shifting towards non-lesional and extratemporal cases. While success rates of extratemporal resections at our center are getting better, the average duration of epilepsy before surgical intervention is still very long and is not improving. This underscores the need for stronger collaboration between epileptologists and outpatient neurologists to ensure prompt and effective treatment for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Comparison of lung cancer clinical trials treatment options and standard practice in Brazilian national health system over the last decade.

e18678 Background: New cancer drugs for metastatic non-small cell (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) have been approved worldwide in the past decade, but expensive pricing has led to unequal access. Despite being categorized as an upper-middle income country, Brazil's public health system is underfunded and has faced difficulties in incorporating new cancer treatments, which is concerning as two-thirds of the population depend on the public health system for their cancer-related medical needs. We hypothesized that the disparity between the standard of care (SOC) provided in developed nations and the prevailing practices in Brazil's public healthcare system is widening. Methods: We conducted a search of the ClinicalTrials.gov database from January 1st, 2012 to December 31th, 2021, for all phase III clinical trials on metastatic lung cancer that had at least one clinical site located in Brazil. We collected data on the experimental arm therapies, planned outcomes, and control arm therapies (used as a proxy for the standard of care worldwide). We then compared the control-arm drug therapy at the trial's start date with the standard practice for lung cancer in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) at that time, using available governmental protocols on lung cancer (PCDT) and recent approvals from the technology health assessment committee (CONITEC). Additionally, we assessed the potential eligibility of patients treating in SUS for second-line therapy trials based on prior required treatments to trial enrollment. We analyzed two time periods: 2012-2016 and 2017-2021. Results: Out of 86 screened trials, 64 were included. 86% of them were on NSCLC, and 67% on first-line settings. Almost half had a biomarker inclusion criterion for enrollment. Immunotherapy was studied most frequently (52%), followed by targeted therapies (36%) and antibody-conjugate drugs (ADC) (9.4%). PD(L)1 was the target of 33% of drug therapies. Compared to 2012-2017, in the 2018-2021 period we observed an increase in available clinical trials (24 vs 40) with similar rates of NSCLC (83% vs. 88%, p = 0.7) and first-line therapies (68 vs 67%, p &gt; 0.9). The proportion of trials with control group therapies better than the standard practice available at the time increased from 8.3% to 38% in the recent time-period (p = 0.011). Among second-line therapy trials, the proportion of trials with mandatory previous therapy unavailable in SUS rose numerically from 12% to 54% (p = 0.085). Conclusions: While the number of trials increased over time, there was a rising proportion of control group therapies better than available standard practice in Brazil. The widening difference between drug therapies in clinical trials and standard cancer treatments creates difficult ethical quandaries for oncologists enrolling patients, and also impacts patient eligibility in advanced settings.

Relationship between Climate Variables and Dengue Incidence in Argentina.

Climate change is an important driver of the increased spread of dengue from tropical and subtropical regions to temperate areas around the world. Climate variables such as temperature and precipitation influence the dengue vector's biology, physiology, abundance, and life cycle. Thus, an analysis is needed of changes in climate change and their possible relationships with dengue incidence and the growing occurrence of epidemics recorded in recent decades. This study aimed to assess the increasing incidence of dengue driven by climate change at the southern limits of dengue virus transmission in South America. We analyzed the evolution of climatological, epidemiological, and biological variables by comparing a period of time without the presence of dengue cases (1976-1997) to a more recent period of time in which dengue cases and important outbreaks occurred (1998-2020). In our analysis, we consider climate variables associated with temperature and precipitation, epidemiological variables such as the number of reported dengue cases and incidence of dengue, and biological variables such as the optimal temperature ranges for transmission of dengue vector. The presence of dengue cases and epidemic outbreaks are observed to be consistent with positive trends in temperature and anomalies from long-term means. Dengue cases do not seem to be associated with precipitation trends and anomalies. The number of days with optimal temperatures for dengue transmission increased from the period without dengue cases to the period with occurrences of dengue cases. The number of months with optimal transmission temperatures also increased between periods but to a lesser extent. The higher incidence of dengue virus and its expansion to different regions of Argentina seem to be associated with temperature increases in the country during the past two decades. The active surveillance of both the vector and associated arboviruses, together with continued meteorological data collection, will facilitate the assessment and prediction of future epidemics that use trends in the accelerated changes in climate. Such surveillance should go hand in hand with efforts to improve the understanding of the mechanisms driving the geographic expansion of dengue and other arboviruses beyond the current limits. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11616.

Time from biopsy to radical prostatectomy by race in an equal-access healthcare system: Results from the SEARCH cohort.

We previously showed that within an equal-access health system, race was not associated with the time between prostate cancer (PC) diagnosis and radical prostatectomy (RP). However, in the more recent time-period of the study (2003-2007), Black men had significantly longer times to RP. We sought to revisit the question in a larger study population with more contemporary patients. We hypothesized that time from diagnosis to treatment would not differ by race, even after accounting for active surveillance (AS) and the exclusion of men at very low to low risk of PC progression. We analyzed data from 5885 men undergoing RP from 1988 to 2017 at eight Veterans Affairs Hospitals from SEARCH. Multiple linear regression was used to compare time from biopsy to RP and to examine the risk of delays (>90 and >180 days) between races. In sensitivity analyses we excluded men deemed to have initially chosen AS based on having >365 days from biopsy to RP and men at very low to low PC risk for progression according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines. At biopsy, Black men (n = 1959) were younger, had lower body mass index, and higher prostate specific antigen levels, (all p < 0.02), compared to White men (n = 3926). Time from biopsy to RP was longer in Black men (mean days: 98 vs. 92; adjusted ratio of mean number of days, 1.07 [95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.11], p < 0.001); however, there were no differences in delays >90 or >180 days after adjusting for confounders (all p ≥ 0.286). Results were similar following the exclusion of men potentially under on AS and at very low and low risk. In an equal-access healthcare system, we did not find evidence of clinically relevant differences in time from biopsy to RP in Black versus White men.

Day-of-the-week effect and volatility in stock returns: evidence from the Indian stock market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of the day-of-the-week effect in the Indian stock market.Design/methodology/approachGeneralized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) (1, 1), Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) (1, 1) and Threshold GARCH (TGARCH) (1, 1) models are employed to examine the day-of-the-week effect in the Indian stock market for the period of 28 years from 3rd July, 1990 to 31st March, 2022.FindingsThe empirical results derived from the GARCH models indicate the existence of day-of-the-week effects on stock returns and volatility of the Indian stock market. The study reveals that all the days of the week are positive and significant in National Stock Exchange (NSE)-Nifty market returns. The findings confirm the persistence of ARCH and GARCH effects in the daily return series. Moreover, the asymmetric GARCH models show that the daily stock returns exhibit significant asymmetric (leverage) effects.Practical implicationsThe results of this study established that the Indian stock market is not efficient and there exists an opportunity to the traders for predicting the future prices and earning abnormal profits in the Indian stock market. The findings of the study are important for traders, investors and portfolio managers to earn abnormal returns by cross-border diversification.Originality/valueFirst, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to study the day-of-the-week effect in Indian stock market considering the most recent and longer time period (1990–2022). Second, unlike previous research, this study used GARCH models (GARCH, EGARCH and TGARCH) to capture the volatility clustering in the data.

Influence of participant and reviewer characteristics in application scores for a hematology research training program

AbstractThe American Society of Hematology Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) is a clinical research training program with a competitive application process. The objectives were to compare application scores based on applicant and reviewer sex and underrepresented minority (URM) status. We included applications to CRTI from 2003 to 2019. The application scores were transformed into a scale from 0 to 100 (100 was the strongest). The factors considered were applicant and reviewer sex and URM status. We evaluated whether there was an interaction between the characteristics and time related to application scores. In total, 713 applicants and 2106 reviews were included. There was no significant difference in scores according to applicant sex. URM applicants had significantly worse scores than non-URM applicants (mean [standard error] 67.9 [1.56] vs 71.4 [0.63]; P = .0355). There were significant interactions between reviewer sex and time (P = .0030) and reviewer URM status and time (P = .0424); thus, results were stratified by time. For the 2 earlier time periods, male reviewers gave significantly worse scores than did female reviewers; this difference did not persist for the most recent time period. The URM reviewers did not give significantly different scores across time periods. URM applicants received significantly lower scores than non-URM applicants. The impact of reviewer sex and URM status changed over time. Although male reviewers gave lower scores in the early periods, this effect did not persist in the late period. Efforts are required to mitigate the impact of applicant URM status on application scores.