tag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:/all?page=15Journal of Brief Ideas: Ideas from the last week2020-05-06T08:24:20Ztag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7322020-05-06T08:24:20Z2020-07-22T11:39:58ZPlaying Football behind closed doors: A natural experiment on the link between crowd support and home advantagehttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3813103In football, as in many other sports, there is a sizeable advantage for the home team, found all around the globe, which means that home teams have a significantly higher chance of winning. While this effect has shrunk over the years, the exact reasons are unknown. They may include familiarity with the ground, travel burdens for the away team, and, of course, crowd support for the home team (directly, by affecting players’ performance, or indirectly, by pressuring referees).
Currently, due to the Corona-Crisis, all major leagues in Europe are suspended and it’s unclear whether professional football can resume any time soon. In Germany, preparations for re-opening the league have advanced the furthest. It seems possible that the Bundesliga might return to play in the second half of May, without supporters. There are still 81 games to play until the end of the season. While there is a public debate about the dangers of resuming the league, playing in empty stadiums would create a natural experiment on the effect of home crowd support on the match result: As no supporters are present, the home advantage should vanish or at least diminish significantly if crowd support is the major driver. Games played on neutral venues could serve the same purpose (as currently discussed in England).
Weinhardt, Michaeltag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7302020-05-01T20:00:44Z2020-05-28T16:42:20ZCOVID-19 treatment using magnetic hyperthermiahttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3782268Although it is not widely available, magnetic hyperthermia is a good approach to be used in elevating the tissue temperature, especially in cancer treatment (Giustini et al., 2010). Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP's) can be manipulated by applying a magnetic field. When applying a vibrational magnetic field, the MNP's vibrate producing heat (Giustini et al., 2010).
In a study by Chen et al., (2017) and using influenza virus as a study model, **magnetic nanoparticles (MNP's) were used to target and isolate virus particles**. Schematic illustration of erythrocyte membrane cloaked magnetic nanoparticles (RBC-mNPs) for influenza virus isolation can be shown in the attached file.
On the other hand, a study by Chin et al., (2020) showed that **incubating SARS-COV-2 virus at high temperature caused virus inactivation**. So, **magnetic hyperthermia could be used as a treatment tool for COVID-19 pandemic**.
**Firstly**, MNP's can be injected into the body to target and isolate the virus. **Secondly**, a strong magnetic field can be applied making the MNP's to vibrate and produce heat. **Finally**, the heat which would be localized in the virus particles could inactivate them.Hassanein, Esraatag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7272020-04-27T14:01:38Z2020-04-28T06:00:36ZStem Cell Based Approach for Control of Invasive Fish Specieshttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3771817Germ cell (GC) transplantation (GCT) is widely used for generating surrogate gametes from commercially important fishes that are difficult to breed in confinement and propagation of endangered populations. Here is an innovative application of GCT for control of invasive fish population those pose havoc to the native ecosystem. The donor GCs from commercially important native fish species will be isolated and transplanted through the genital papilla into the gonads of recipient invasive fish species that should be prior depleted of endogenous GCs by cytotoxic drug and high water temperature treatments. Few months after GCT, the donor GCs will proliferate and differentiate into functional donor-origin gametes. The natural spawning between males and females of invasive fish species will generate commercially important native fish species progeny and there will not be any progeny of invasive fish species (Figure 1). The simple yet viable idea of GCT present here could be useful for ecosystem management especially for control of invasive fish species those causes huge economic losses worldwide. Majhi, Dr. Sullip Kumartag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7262020-04-24T03:07:09Z2020-04-27T06:01:20ZWithdrawal Confounding in Studies of The Pharmacological Management of Substance Use Disordershttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3767449Recently, there has been greater emphasis on the management of “addiction” and substance use disorders with pharmacological treatments. For example, Medication-Assisted Treatments (MAT), such as methadone and buprenorphine for opioid dependence and disulfiram and naltrexone for alcoholism are increasingly utilized by providers. Replacement Therapies (RT) such as heroin for opioid dependence and a variety of patches, lozenges, and gums for nicotine dependence are also common.
When studied in clinical trials MAT and RT are frequently compared with placebo. This is typically a welcome addition to study design. However, researchers need to take extra precautions when using placebo in substance use disorders. Opioids, alcohol, nicotine, and others (e.g. benzodiazepines, barbiturates) can cause intense withdrawal syndromes, that commonly arise upon cessation of use. This may impact the validity of findings (e.g. by breaking patient and/or clinician blinding; increasing the nocebo effect and attrition rates, and affecting patient compliance).
An "active placebo" should be employed where possible. Additionally, blinding assessment (for patient and clinician) should routinely be done throughout the study. Trialists may also consider comparing the study treatment with itself (at a lower dose) or reintroducing the original drug at a low enough dose to mitigate withdrawal effects, thus (potentially) preserving the blind. Failure to take withdrawal confounding into account, in any serious way, may distort the evidence-base of these drugs for substance use treatment.
Dunleavy, Danieltag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7242020-04-12T08:06:46Z2020-04-15T06:01:09ZThe biopsychosocial approach and its application to sports injuries and athlete managementhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3752118The biopsychosocial approach is well-defined and widely known amongst health care providers, but often unclear when it comes to its application to sports injuries and athlete management. For example, a runner who experiences knee pain of gradual onset: The one school of thought is that the pain is not an indication of pathology, that pain during a loading activity, such as running is normal, and that the athlete should run through the pain. The other school of thought is that the groin pain is an indication of potential pathology which need to be investigated and managed, as it may be as a result of biomechanical adaptations, and it may worsen into a time-loss injury. Current research in these areas should be pooled, new research questions should be identified and awareness should be created amongst health care professionals to create a paradigm shift.Olivier, Benitatag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7232020-04-04T13:24:56Z2022-03-27T13:20:16ZCOVID-19: Merging Twitter with the Journal of Brief Ideas to improve knowledge production in emergencieshttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3742670There are a lot of great ideas poured in Twitter on several topics and COVID19. Its time to published them also in the Journal of Brief Ideas http://beta.briefideas.org/ . The advantages are that is fully machine quotable, instant publication, ORCID-linked, that generates a free DOI in Zenodo https://zenodo.org/. Merging Twitter with Journal of Brief Ideas will give a boost to our production of scientific knowledge during emergencies.Mastroleo, Ignaciotag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7222020-03-25T03:00:11Z2020-04-08T06:00:21ZVein Dynamics to predict the immune response and susceptibility to disordershttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3742668The immune system acts as a protective framework against the pathogenic microbes. Understanding the immune system can give us insights of how vulnerable someone is to foreign invaders. Amidst the recent events such as virus outbreaks it becomes highly advantageous if we pinpoint the individuals who are more prone to be affected.
The vein patterns such as finger veins or palm veins are amongst the most robust features which are [unique](https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/9/9/213) to individuals. These vascular networks which are determined by genetic and chromosomal patterns can give us more insights to a person’s response to fight foreign microbes. In order to understand how these vascular patterns can predict the immune response and susceptibility to foreign microbes we can make use of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge machine learning algorithms, which can be trained to correlate with immune markers such as C-reactive proteins, differential cell count, lymphocyte proliferation and subset distribution and red blood cell distribution width. A designated score sheet which categorizes the vein patterns with the immune markers can help us mark the groups that are more immunocompromised and thereby keep us prepared during pandemics.
Pradhan, Arpit Kumartag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7132020-03-13T10:34:59Z2020-06-23T12:07:13ZTuesday/Thursday shutdowns as a reduced economic impact alternative for epidemic control https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3709095Total isolation and quarantine are being deployed in citiesaffected by the COVID-19 infection. These measures, while effective, have devastating socio-economic consequences. An alternative method which could achieve a major reduction in the infection's basic reproduction rate but with less economic impact would be to impose shutdowns on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If infections were solely through direct contact, this would simply reduce workweek potentially infectious contacts (PICs) by 40% - however, the virus is believed to survive outside the body for 36 hours or longer, and hence PICs arise in a secondary fashion, albeit presumably at a reduced rate. Assuming an exponential decline in PICs over time, these second-day PICs will be roughly half as frequent as day-one contacts and hence, bundling variables into an arbitrary scaling factor x and assigning a value of 2x to the number of direct contacts occurring in one day, then a typical workweek would present the following distribution of PICs: 2x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x. A workweek with closures on Tuesdays and Thursdays would instead present a distribution of 2x, 0, 2x, 0, 2x; just 43% of the typical workweek. This is potentially sufficient to lower the reproduction rate below 1, thereby containing the epidemic. Stacey, Neil Thomastag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7122020-03-04T20:42:05Z2020-09-25T06:01:12ZCups And Rings Stones: Representations Of Clan Structurehttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4049037Fertility was so valued by the first farmers that a seed became the symbol for a human life. Neolithic Britons may have believed life's purpose was connected to proliferation, both here and beyond, in the stars.
The symbols on the Cups and Ring Stones found throughout the UK, appear to be derived from the stars. Although similar in appearance to constellations, they most likely represent a family unit, or clan.
The art suggests that clans were polygamous and celebrated proliferation rather than specific lineages.
A "cup" represents a seed/person/star. The rings may relate to the number of children born to the woman represented. When a child was born, a ring was carved around the mother cup and a new child cup marked nearby. When the child matured and gave birth, their cup received a ring, and another cup carved nearby.
In this way, ringed cups represent mothers and how many children they birthed, while ringless cups represent men, childless women and children.
A trough, or a strike through the rings may represent the death of the mother. Where the line joins another cup, death during childbirth. Deeper, additional meaning of the trough is related to its directionality.
Diagram Attached
Neumann, Ericatag:beta.briefideas.org,2005:Idea/7112020-02-28T08:58:40Z2020-03-14T06:00:49ZThe role of mineral depletion on insect depopulationhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3709099It has been established that the mineral content, particularly of trace minerals, in modern food crops is considerably lower than in their natural forms, a phenomenon that arises as a result of a number of causes. Intense fertilization methods, selective breeding of crop species, topsoil erosion and even plant morphology responses to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide all contribute to radically depleted mineral content in cultivated crops. Wild plants can be expected to exhibit the same phenomenon, albeit to a lesser extent. This depletion could be expected to have significant nutritional implications for terrestrial animals. This effect would be more pronounced for insects than for feral grazing mammals, as the former have greater mobility to access and consume cultivated crops, which have the lowest mineral contents.
It has also been observed that insect populations have plummeted in the last 50 years, with no consensus as to the contributing causes and their respective severity. The role of nutritional deficiencies arising from mineral depletion has yet to be investigated, and could be a significant contributor to insect de-population.Stacey, Neil Thomas