We present a focused analysis of user studies in explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) entailing qualitative investigation. We draw on social science corpora to suggest ways for improving the rigor of studies where XAI researchers use observations, interviews, focus groups, and/or questionnaires to capture qualitative data. We contextualize the presentation of the XAI papers included in our analysis according to the components of rigor described in the qualitative research literature: 1) underlying theories or frameworks, 2) methodological approaches, 3) data collection methods, and 4) data analysis processes. The results of our analysis support calls from others in the XAI community advocating for collaboration with experts from social disciplines to bolster rigor and effectiveness in user studies.

Resistance evolution, from genetic mechanism to ecological contextRegina S. Baucom1, Veronica Iriart2, Julia Kreiner3, and Sarah Yakimowski41Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA3Biodiversity Research Centre & Department of Botany, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z44Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6CorrespondenceRegina S. Baucom, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109.Email: [email protected]*Authors contributed equallyPesticide use by humans has induced strong selective pressures, reshaping evolutionary trajectories, ecological networks, and even influencing ecosystem dynamics. The evolution of pesticide resistance across weeds, insects, and fungi often leads to negative impacts on both human health and the economy while concomitantly providing excellent systems for studying the process of evolution. In fact, the study of pesticide resistance has been a feature of evolutionary biology since the Evolutionary Synthesis, with Dobzhansky noting in his book The Genetics and Origins of Species (1937) that cyanide resistance in the California red scale constituted the “best proof of the effectiveness of natural selection yet obtained”. Following the pioneering work of James Crow and others in the 1950’s—which greatly expanded our knowledge of the genetics underlying adaptation—the study of pesticide resistance has shed light on a variety of topics, such as the repeatability of phenotypic evolution across the landscape, ‘hotspots’ of evolution across the genome, and information on the number and type of genetic solutions that populations may employ to strong selection pressures.Landscape level approaches have come to the forefront over the last 20 years of resistance evolution research, often taking advantage of the fact that replicated populations of the same species are exposed to the same pesticide. Further, the resistance evolution field is turning more attention to the ecological context within which resistance evolution occurs, likely stemming, at least in part, from an historical focus on fitness costs (Cousens & Fournier-Level 2018; Baucom 2019). This special feature, ‘Resistance evolution, from genetic mechanism to ecological context’ in Molecular Ecology captures the current state of resistance evolution with contributions broadly addressing the question ‘What has the rapid evolution of pesticide resistance taught us about genome dynamics and adaptation as well as the ecological context within which resistance evolution occurs?’ Below, we contextualize the manuscripts in this special issue that provide insight into the state of the art investigations of resistance evolution across various species of insects, weeds and fungi.

The use of the Radial Artery (RA) as a conduit in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has been steadily increasing since the early 1990’s and based on the most recent data may well become the standard of care for patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring multiple arterial grafts. The TRA approach for cardiac catherization has also increased steadily in use by interventional cardiologists owing to its reduction in bleeding and vascular complications when compared with the femoral approach and is now considered the preferred arterial access. However, prior use of transradial access (TRA) for cardiac catherization is a contra-indication for the use of the RA for CABG because of high rates of structural damage to the vascular wall and potential for graft failure. In this issue of the Journal of Cardiac Surgery Clarke et al. examine the RA of two patients who had TRA for coronary angiography 8 and 12 years prior and note that both patients had chronic injury with dissection and obstruction of the lumen secondary to fibrosis suggesting that TRA causes long-term and irreversible damage rendering them unsuitable as conduits for CABG.

Background: reliable country-specific data on influenza burden play a crucial role in informing prevention and control measures. Our purpose was to provide a comprehensive summary of the available evidence on the burden of seasonal influenza in Italy. Methods: we performed a sys-tematic literature review of articles published until 31 July 2020. PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched using terms related to burden, influenza, and Italian population. We in-cluded studies investigating seasonal influenza-related complications, hospitalizations and/or mortality. Results: sixteen studies were included: eight (50%) analyzed influenza-related compli-cations, eight (50%) hospitalizations, while seven (43.8%) influenza-related deaths. Only three studies (19.7%) concerned pediatric age. The synthesis of results showed that patients with chron-ic conditions have an increased risk for complications up to almost three times as compared to healthy people. Hospitalizations due to influenza can occur in as much as 5% of infected people depending on the study setting. Excess deaths rates were over six-fold higher in the elderly as compared to the rest of population. Conclusions: although there are still gaps in existing data, there is evidence of the significant burden that influenza places each year especially on high-risk groups. These data should be used to inform public health decision-making.

The aim of this paper was to compare the prediction performance of three strategies: general global Partial least squares regression (PLSR) using CSSL with and without spiking samples, memory-based learning (MBL) using CSSL with and without spiking samples and general PLSR using only spiking samples to predict soil organic matter in the target area. When using spiked subsets, we also investigated the prediction performance of the extra-weighted subsets. A series of spiking subsets randomly selected from the total spiking samples were selected by conditioned Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS) from the target sites. We calculated the mean squared Euclidean distance (msd) of different spiking subsets with the distribution density function of their vis–NIR spectra only and statistically inferred the optimal sampling set size to be 30. Our study showed that when the number of spiking were lower than 30, the predicted accuracy derived from global PLSR using CSSL spiked with and without extra-weighted samples was greater than the predicted accuracy derived from the general PLSR using the corresponding number of spiking samples only (RMSE 5.57–5.98 v.s. RMSE 6.76). Global PLSR using CSSL spiked with the statistically optimal local samples can achieve higher predicted performance (with a mean RMSE of 5.75). MBL spiked with five extra-weighted optimal spiking samples achieved the best accuracy with an RMSE of 3.98, an R2 of 0.70, a bias of 0.04 and an LCCC of 0.81. The msd is a simple and effective method to determine an adequate spiking size using only vis–NIR data.

Horizontal gene transfer via plasmids is important for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among medically relevant pathogens. Specifically, the transfer of IncHI1A plasmids is believed to facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, such as carbapenemases, within the clinically important family Enterobacteriaceae. The microbial community of urban wastewater treatment plants has been shown to be highly permissive towards conjugal transfer of IncP1 plasmids. Here, we tracked the transfer of the P1 plasmid pB10 and the clinically relevant HI1A plasmid R27 in the microbial communities present in urban residential sewage entering full-scale wastewater treatment plants. We found that both plasmids readily transferred to these communities and that strains in the sewage were able to further disseminate them. Furthermore, that R27 has a broad potential host range, but a low host divergence. Interestingly, although the majority of R27 transfer events were to members of Enterobacteriaceae, we found a subset of transfer to other families, even other phyla. Indicating, that HI1A plasmids facilitate horizontal gene transfer both within Enterobacteriaceae, but also across families of especially Gammaproteobacteria, such as Moraxellaceae, Pseudomonadaceae and Shewanellaceae. pB10 displayed a similar potential host range as R27. In contrast to R27, pB10 had a high host divergence. By culture enrichment of the transconjugant communities, we show that sewage strains of Enterobacteriaceae and Aeromonadaceae can stably maintain R27 and pB10, respectively. Our results suggest that dissemination in the urban residual water system of HI1A plasmids may result in an accelerated acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes among pathogens.

Introduction Understanding the impact of scoliosis surgery on lung function is important for counseling patients about risks and benefits of surgery. We prospectively compared the trends in lung function test (LFT) results prior to and after scoliosis surgery in children with neuromuscular diseases, or dysmorphic syndromes. We hypothesized a stabilization. Methods We prospectively included children with neuromuscular or syndromic scoliosis able to perform LFTs. We studied (Forced) Vital Capacity ((F)VC), the ratio of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) and FVC, and Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF). Preoperative LFT results were compared with results 3-4 months after surgery. The mean monthly change in LFT results up to 2 years after surgery was compared with the preoperative natural history using linear mixed effects models. Results We included 43 patients. No significant change was observed in absolute values of (F)VC, FEV1/FVC and PEF prior to and after surgery. Median standardized VC, FVC and PEF decreased significantly after surgery from 59 to 58%, 60 to 51% and 61 to 53% respectively. The monthly rate of change in FVC was -0.13 % (95% CI -0.42 to 0.17) prior to surgery and -0.20% (95% CI -0.42 to 0.03) after surgery, mean difference -0.07 (95% CI -0.46 to 0.31; p=0.36). Conclusion No stabilization of lung function 3-4 months after scoliosis surgery was observed in children with neuromuscular and syndromic scoliosis with restrictive lung function disease. The effect of surgery on the rate of lung function decline remains inconclusive.

Background: Simultaneous atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is sometimes recommended for both rhythm control and stroke prevention. However, the advantages of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) guidance for this combined procedure have been scarcely reported. To evaluate the clinical outcomes and safety of ICE guided LAAC within a zero-fluoroscopy catheter ablation procedure. Methods and Results:From April 2019 to April 2020, 56 patients with symptomatic AF underwent concomitant catheter ablation and LAAC. ICE with a multi-angled imaging protocol mimicking the TEE echo windows was used to guide LAAC. Successful radiofrequency catheter ablation and LAAC was achieved in all patients. Procedure-related adverse event rate was 3.6%. During the 12-month follow-up, 77.8% of patients became free of arrhythmia recurrences and oral anticoagulants were discontinued in 96.4% of patients. No ischemic stroke occurred despite two cases of device-related thrombosis versus an expected stroke rate of 4.8% based on the CHA2DS2-VASc score. The overall major bleeding events rate was 1.8%, which represented a relative reduction of 68% versus an expected bleeding rate of 5.7% based on the HAS-BLED score of the patient cohort. The incidence of iatrogenic atrial septal defect secondary to a single transseptal access dropped from 57.9% at 2 months to 4.2% at 12 months TEE follow-up. Conclusion:The combination of catheter ablation and LAAC under ICE guidance was safe and effective in AF patients with high stroke risk. ICE with our novel protocol was technically feasible for comprehensive and systematic assessment of device implantation.

Object: Investigate the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in perimembranous ventricular septal defect (PmVSD) closure via a left parasternal ultra‐minimal trans intercostal incision in children. Methods: From January 2015 and December 2020, 212 children with PmVSD were performed device occlusion via an ultraminimal intercostal incision. TEE is used throughout the perioperative period, including TEE assessment, TEE-guided localization of the puncture site, TEE guidance. All patients were followed up using transthoracic echocardiography for over 6 months. Results: A total of 207 cases successfully occluded, the successful rate was 97. 64%. one hundred and forty-five patients had single orifice, and 62 patients had multiple orifices in the AMS. During the operation, the surgeon readjusted the device or replaced the larger device in 17 cases. After operation, there were 19 cases of slight residual shunts, 13 cases of pericardial effusion and 4 cases of pleural effusion. And all were back to normal during the 4- month follow-up period. Mild mitral regurgitation was presented in 1 patient and remained the same during the follow-up period. No other complications were found. Conclusions: TEE was used to evaluate and determine the defect in PmVSDs with an concentric occluder via a left parasternal ultra‐minimal trans intercostal incision. TEE guidance and immediate postoperative efficacy evaluation are of great value, which can effectively guide the treatment of PmVSD occlusion.

Objectives Pulmonary atresia (PA) with ventricular septal defect (VSD) and systemic-pulmonary collateral arteries (SPCA’s) has a variable anatomy with regard to the pulmonary vasculature, asking for an individualized surgical treatment. A protocol was applied consisting of staged unifocalization and correction. Methods Since 1989 39 consecutive patients were included (median age at first operation 13 months). In selected cases a central aorto-pulmonary shunt was performed as first procedure. Unifocalization procedures were performed through a lateral thoracotomy. Correction consisted of shunt takedown, VSD closure and interposition of an allograft between the right ventricle and the reconstructed pulmonary artery. Postoperatively and at follow up echocardiographic data were obtained. Results In 39 patients 66 unifocalization procedures were performed. Early mortality was 5%. Seven patients were considered not suitable for correction, four of them died. One patient is awaiting further correction. Correction was done successfully in 28 patients. Operative mortality was 3% and late mortality 11%. Median follow-up after correction was 19 years. Eleven patients needed homograft replacement. Freedom from conduit replacement was 88%, 73% and 60% at 5, 10 and 15 years respectively. Right ventricular function was reasonable or good in 75 % of the patients. Conclusions After complete unifocalization 30/37 patients (81%) were considered correctable. The main reasons for palliative treatment without correction were pulmonary hypertension and/or inadequate outgrowth of pulmonary arteries. Staged approach of PA, VSD and SPCA’s results in adequate correction and good functional capacity. RV function after correction remains reasonable or good in the majority of patients.

Flow regimes are critical for determining physical and biological processes in rivers, and their classification and regionalization traditionally seeks to link patterns of flow to physiographic, climate and other information. There are many approaches to, and rationales for, catchment classification, with those focused on streamflow often seeking to relate a particular response characteristic to a physical property or climatic driver. Rationales include such topics as Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB), helping with experimental approaches, and providing guidance for model selection in poorly understood hydrological systems. While scale and time are important considerations for classification, the Annual Daily Hydrograph (ADH) is a first-order easily visualized integrated expression of catchment function, and over many years is a distinct hydrological signature. In this study, we use t-SNE, a state-of-the-art technique of dimensionality reduction, to classify 17110 ADHs for 304 reference catchments in mountainous Western North America. t-SNE is chosen over other conventional methods of dimensionality reduction (e.g. PCA) as it presents greater separability of ADHs, which are projected on a 2D map where the similarities are evaluated according to their map distance. We then utilize a Deep Learning encoder to upgrade the non-parametric t-SNE to a parametric approach, enhancing its capability to address ‘unseen’ samples. Results showed that t-SNE was an effective classifier as it successfully clustered ADHs of similar flow regimes on the 2D map. In addition, many compact clusters on the 2D map in the coastal Pacific Northwest suggest information redundancy in the local hydrometric network. The t-SNE map provides an intuitive way to visualize the similarity of high-dimensional data of ADHs, groups catchments with like characteristics, and avoids the reliance on subjective hydrometric indicators.

The results of a meta-analysis are more than just the reported odds ratio, 95% confidence interval, and P value. Of equal importance is the fine print of the study which should include assessment of risk of bias, certainty in evidence, and heterogeneity in the individual point estimates and confidence intervals. These areas all have influence on the quality of the data in the analysis. Reading and understanding the fine print is important.

5 Key Points: Prior studies demonstrated a failure to identify and localize head and neck cancers via near-infrared (NIR) imaging of indocyanine green (ICG) with a robot-integrated platform. However, our group demonstrated success in visualization of neoplasms using a commercially available dedicated NIR camera system and a technique called second window ICG (SWIG), in which ICG is injected 24 hours pre-operatively.We aimed to evaluate the SWIG technique in patients undergoing transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and compare two NIR camera systems.System 1 showed poor tumor-margin delineation with no fluorescence in 4/6 cases (66.7%) and only minimal fluorescence in the remaining 2 cases (33.3%).System 2 showed marked fluorescence in 5/6 cases (83.3%), with good margin definition in 4 cases (66.7%). In 2 cases (33.3%), System 2 also identified tumor that was not visible under white light.In this preliminary case series, we found that System 2 outperforms System 1 in NIR imaging with SWIG during TORS for oropharyngeal tumor resection.

Snow density is one of the essential properties to describe snowpack characteristics. To obtain the spatial variability of snow density and estimate it accurately in different periods of snow season still remain as challenges, particularly in the mountains. This study analyzed the spatial variability of snow density with in-situ measurements in three different periods (i.e. accumulation, stable, melt period) of snow seasons 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 in the middle Tianshan Mountains, China. The performance of multiple linear regression model (MLR) and three machine learning models (i.e. Random Forest (RF), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB) and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM)) to simulate snow density has been evaluated. It was found that the snow density in melt period (0.27 g cm-3) was generally greater than that in stable (0.20 g cm-3) and accumulation period (0.18 g cm-3), and the spatial variability of snow density in melt period was slightly smaller than that in other two periods. The snow density in mountainous areas was generally higher than that in plain or valley areas, and snow density increased significantly (p < 0.05) with elevation in the accumulation and stable periods. Besides elevation, latitude and ground surface temperature also had critical impacts on the spatial variability of snow density in the middle Tianshan Mountains, China. In this work, the machine learning model, especially RF model, performed better than MLR on snow density simulation in three periods. Compared with MLR, the determination coefficients of RF promoted to 0.61, 0.51 and 0.58 from 0.50, 0.1 and 0.52 in accumulation period, stable period and melt period respectively. This study provide a more accurate snow density simulation method for estimating regional snow mass and snow water equivalent, which allows us to achieve a better understanding of regional snow resources.

The reintroduction of endangered plant species is an essential conservation tool. Reintroductions can fail to create resilient, self-sustaining populations due to a poor understanding of environmental factors that limit or promote plant success. Biotic factors, specifically plant-arthropod interactions, have been shown to affect the establishment of endangered plant populations. Lupinus nipomensis (Nipomo Mesa lupine) is a state of California (California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.1) and federally (65 FR 14888) endangered endemic plant with only one extant population located along the central California coast. How arthropods positively or negatively interact with L. nipomensis is not well known and more information could aid conservation efforts. We conducted arthropod surveys of the entire L. nipomensis extant population in spring 2017. Observed arthropods present on L. nipomensis included 17 families, with a majority of individuals belonging to Thripidae. We did not detect any obvious pollinators of L. nipomensis, providing support for previous studies suggesting this lupine is capable of self-pollinating, and observed several arthropod genera that could potentially impact the reproductive success of L. nipomensis via incidental pollination or plant predation.

The subphylum Myriapoda included four extant classes (Chilopoda, Symphyla, Diplopoda and Pauropoda), but very little work has been done to explore their phylogenetic relationships. Herein, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of Polydesmus sp. GZCS-2019 (Myriapoda: Polydesmida) and the mitochondrial genomes are circular molecules of 15,036 bp, with all genes encoded on + strand. The A+T content is 66.1%, making the chain asymmetric, and exhibits negative AT-skew (-0.236). Several genes rearrangements were detected and we propose a new rearrangement model: “TD (N\R) L + C” based on the genome-scale duplication + (non-random/random) loss + recombination. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that Chilopoda and Symphyla both were monophyletic group, whereas Pauropoda was embedded in Diplopoda to form the Dignatha. Divergence time showed the first split of Myriapoda occurred between the Chilopoda and other classes (Wenlock period of Silurian). We combine phylogenetic analysis, divergence time, and gene arrangement to yield valuable insights into the evolutionary history and classification relationship of Myriapoda and these results support a monophyletic Progoneata and the relationship (Chilopoda + (Symphyla + (Diplopoda + Pauropoda))) within Myriapod. Our results help to better explain the gene rearrangement events of the invertebrate mitogenome and lay the foundation for further phylogenetic study of Myriapoda.

Background: Male circumcision is a common procedure, generally performed during the newborn period. Bleeding is an uncommon but feared complication of circumcision. Few reports have evaluated circumcision bleeding rates in patients with bleeding disorders. Objectives: To study circumcision bleeding rates in male subjects who were diagnosed later in life with delta-storage pool deficiency (δ-SPD). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of male subjects (≤ 18 years of age) who were circumcised without hemostatic prophylaxis prior to δ-SPD diagnosis from 2000-2020. Bleeding rates and severity were the main outcomes evaluated. We collected demographic data, bleeding scores using a validated assessment tool, laboratory data, and platelet electron microscopy results. A descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Twenty-five male subjects were included. The median bleeding score at presentation was 3.5 (range,2-9). The diagnosis was confirmed using platelet electron microscopy. A value of <2 dense granules/platelet was considered abnormal. Circumcision was performed at a median age of 2 days (range, 1 day-4 months). None of the subjects had intraoperative or postoperative bleeding. With a bleeding rate of zero, we suggest that newborn males with a family history of δ-SPD may be safely circumcised without hemostatic prophylaxis. 

This study compared the microhabitat use, daily activity pattern and diet of Liolaemus etheridgei Laurent 1998 in two Polylepis woodlands: El Simbral (fragmented) and Tuctumpaya (unfragmented), in Arequipa, Southern Peru. In both populations, we did not detect positive selection for any microhabitat; however, the population at El Simbral showed a negative selection for Polylepys trees while the Tuctumpaya population showed negative selection for Polylepis trees and non-thorny bushes. In El Simbral, active individuals were detected between 9:00 and 15:59h, whereas in Tuctumpaya, we detected active individuals from 8:00 to 17:59h. In both populations, observations of active individuals dropped between 11:00 and 11:59h. We recorded 17 and 23 prey categories in the El Simbral and Tuctumpaya populations respectively. The most important animal prey category in each population was found to be Lygaeidae: Hemiptera, and was the only animal prey category that was selected for in El Simbral and Tuctumpaya. In addition, due to the proportions of plant material found, the El Simbral was found to be omnivorous, whereas the Tuctumpaya population was herbivorous. Trophic niche breadth was broader in Tuctumpaya (B_a= 0.202) than the El Simbral (B_a= 0.147) population, despite there being no significant differences in diet (Permanova: F = 1.036, P = 0.409, permutations = 9999), which is coherent with the high value of trophic niche overlap (O_(j,k) = 0.963). Our compiled data reveal that L. etheridgei shows no selection for any of the resources we define in Polylepis woodlands, on the contrary, it selects negatively against Polylepis trees and non-thorny bushes. The daily activity patterns indicate a bimodal pattern with peaks at 9:00-10:59 and 13:00-13:59 h. The diet of L. etheridgei consists mainly of plants (%W: 66.373), and the most important animal prey category is Lygaeidae: Hemiptera (%IRI = 55.3), which is selected positively.