bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Data Combination: Interferometry and Single-dish Imaging in Radio Astronomy
Authors: Plunkett Adele , Hacar Alvaro , Moser-Fischer Lydia , Petry Dirk , Teuben Peter , Pingel Nickolas , Kunneriath Devaky , Takagi Toshinobu , Miyamoto Yusuke , Moravec Emily , Suri Sümeyye , Hess Kelley M. , Hoffman Melissa , Mason Brian
Published: March 2023

Modern interferometers routinely provide radio-astronomical images down to subarcsecond resolution. However, interferometers filter out spatial scales larger than those sampled by the shortest baselines, which affects the measurement of both spatial and spectral features. Complementary single-dish data are vital for recovering the true flux distribution of spatially resolved astronomical sources with such extended emission. In this work, we provide an overview of the prominent available methods to combine single-dish and interferometric observations. We test each of these methods in the framework of the CASA data analysis software package on both synthetic continuum and observed spectral data sets. We develop a set of new assessment tools that are generally applicable to all radio-astronomical cases of data combination. Applying these new assessment diagnostics, we evaluate the methods’ performance and demonstrate the significant improvement of the combined results in comparison to purely interferometric reductions. We provide combination and assessment scripts as add-on material. Our results highlight the advantage of using data combination to ensure high-quality science images of spatially resolved objects.
The Second Radio Synchrotron Background Workshop: Conference Summary and Report
Authors: Singal J. , Fornengo N. , Regis M. , Bernardi G. , Bordenave D. , Branchini E. , Cappelluti N. , Caputo A. , Carucci I. P. , Chluba J. , Cuoco A. , DiLullo C. , Fialkov A. , Hale C. , Harper S. E. , Heston S. , Holder G. , Kogut A. , Krause M. G. H. , Leahy J. P. , Mittal S. , Monsalve R. A. , Piccirilli G. , Pinetti E. , Recchia S. , Taoso M. , Todarello E.
Published: March 2023

We summarize the second radio synchrotron background workshop, which took place on 2022 June 15–17 in Barolo, Italy. This meeting was convened because available measurements of the diffuse radio zero level continue to suggest that it is several times higher than can be attributed to known Galactic and extragalactic sources and processes, rendering it the least well-understood electromagnetic background at present and a major outstanding question in astrophysics. The workshop agreed on the next priorities for investigations of this phenomenon, which include searching for evidence of the radio Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect, carrying out cross-correlation analyses of radio emission with other tracers, and supporting the completion of the 310 MHz absolutely calibrated sky map project.
Automated visual inspection system for ATLAS ITk strip hybrids
Authors: Dervan P.J.
Published: March 2023

A method of automating the visual inspection of ATLAS upgrade strip modules is shown. The visual inspection of the hybrids is a time consuming part of the quality control during module production. A method of detecting and classifying the SMD components on the hybrids using an object detection neural network was investigated. The results show that the amount of hybrids that needed to be check by a human operator was reduced to around 10% of the batch. This hugely reduced the amount of time needed for human inspection and did find real mistakes done during the production of the hybrids.
Meaning Salience and Meaning in Life Prospectively Predict Lower Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Boylan Jennifer Morozink , Vagnini Kaitlyn M , Rush Christina L , Larson Emily K , Adams Monica , Wilson Caitlyn L , Shaffer Jonathan A , Masters Kevin S
Published: March 2023

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is a widespread source of stress with adverse mental health impacts. Meaning in life, both as a trait and as momentary awareness of what is personally meaningful (meaning salience), is associated with positive health outcomes and may buffer against the deleterious effects of stress.

Purpose

This project examines prospective associations between baseline meaning salience (daily, post-laboratory stressor) and meaning in life with perceived stress during COVID-19.

Methods

A community sample of healthy adults (n = 147) completed a laboratory stress protocol in 2018–2019, where perceived stress, meaning in life, and meaning salience (daily, post-stressor) were assessed. During April and July 2020 (n = 95, and 97, respectively), participants were re-contacted and reported perceived stress. General linear mixed-effects models accounting for repeated measures of stress during COVID-19 were conducted.

Results

Partial correlations holding constant baseline perceived stress showed that COVID-19 perceived stress was correlated with daily meaning salience (r = –.28), post-stressor meaning salience (r = –.20), and meaning in life (r = –.22). In mixed-effects models, daily and post-stressor meaning salience and higher meaning in life, respectively, predicted lower perceived stress during COVID-19, controlling for age, gender, and baseline perceived stress.

Conclusions

Individuals more capable of accessing meaning when exposed to laboratory stress reported lower perceived stress during a global health crisis. Despite study limitations concerning generalizability, results support meaning in life and meaning salience as important aspects of psychological functioning that may promote well-being by affecting stress appraisals and available resources for coping.
Male Noble Dress in 19th-Century Russian Literature
Authors: Green Daniel
Published: March 2023

Dress was highly semiotically charged in 19th-century Russia. Clothing was a material representation of structures of power; this was a reality that writers were aware of and drew on in their work. What a person wore depended on their status, but also partly on their inclinations. Some clothes, such as uniforms, were legally prescribed, while others, such as fashionable dress, relied on generally understood codes. Noblemen used their clothing choices to negotiate their relationship with the state and to express their political leanings. At times they conformed with and at times they retreated from the norms of the public sphere. They also sometimes dressed in opposition to the status quo. Writers used the significances of different kinds of clothing to explore the nuances of social structures and how they affected individuals within society.
Test-Enhanced Learning
Authors: Shanks David R. , Don Hilary J. , Boustani Shaun , Yang Chunliang
Published: March 2023

Tests following learning serve several important functions, including enabling students to monitor their progress and identify knowledge gaps, but they are also learning events in their own right. Testing is a powerful strategy to consolidate retention of studied information, by comparison with restudying and other elaborative strategies, and facilitates subsequent learning of new information. Moreover, the testing effect generalizes to different test formats, study-test intervals, and material types, and has been robustly demonstrated not only in the laboratory but also in classroom settings. Pretesting can promote subsequent learning of tested information, but its effect on non-pre-questioned information remains unclear. Although the beneficial effects of testing on learning and memory are substantial, learners tend to underappreciate the merits of practice tests, leading to their underemployment. Lack of motivation or insufficient knowledge about how best to exploit testing may be factors that suppress its use. However, some promising interventions have been developed to promote learners’ employment of self-testing. Whether these interventions can be effective in high-stakes classroom or online learning is an important issue for future research. Importantly, research suggests that frequent low-stakes testing may be an effective method of reducing test anxiety. Although the testing effect is very general, testing can also have negative consequences, such as when choosing an incorrect answer in a multiple-choice test stamps that incorrect answer into memory and increases its likelihood of being recalled later. Understanding the conditions in which positive or negative consequences of testing are observed bears considerable importance regarding the theoretical understanding of test-enhanced learning. Characterizing, understanding, and exploiting the multifaceted effects of tests on long-term learning has provided a rich and deep challenge to researchers in psychology, education, cognitive science, neuroscience, and related fields.
Economics and Family Structures
Authors: Baudin Thomas , De Rock Bram , Gobbi Paula
Published: March 2023

Household decisions are one of the key elements impacting many dimensions of any economy. For instance at the macro level, decisions regarding how much to save affect the economy’s investment possibilities or decisions regarding children’s education affect the overall level of human capital. Economists who study household behavior have almost solely focused on the understanding of nuclear families, i.e., parents living with their own children, childless couples, or singles. However, it is well documented that family types are heterogeneous across and within countries, both in the past and in present times. Among the different types, a classical distinction can be made between nuclear, stem, and complex households. Stem families are those allowing for three generations to live in a same household. Complex families allow for several married siblings to live together in a household. It is important to note that this is not a marginal phenomenon. For instance in China or India, the two most populous countries in the world, the majority of the population lives in either stem or complex families types. However, there is still a lot to understand about them. What are the driving factors leading individuals to form one type of family over another? Are these drivers economic or cultural? What are the intra-household dynamics of these families and how do they function? What are the implications of these differences for implementing effective family policies? The focus on nuclear families limits our capacity to answer these questions and to analyze the impact of institutional phenomena or public policies. More research to understand the determinants and functioning of other types of families hence matters both from an academic and a policy perspective.
American Muslim Comedy
Authors: Choudhury Samah Selina
Published: March 2023

That Muslims are both consumers and practitioners of comedy may run counter to the otherwise ubiquitous notion that Islam, seemingly above all other religious traditions, is devoid of humor. Yet comedy, especially its staged performance version known as stand-up, is an occupation readily taken up by a number of Muslim comedians during the 21st century in North America. Muslim comedians are also South Asian comedians, Arab comedians, Iranian comedians, or Black comedians, among others, and the naming of their comedy explicitly as “Muslim” can be traced to how openly they speak of their common experiences of being subject to anti-Muslim hostility as a racialized act of violence. This racialization of Islam relies on “looking” Muslim: phenotypic features like dark hair, skin, and beards that simultaneously sweep up others that may share these attributes and make them targets of institutional and interpersonal violences. This common refrain can be seen especially in the material of comedians from the Allah Made Me Funny and Axis of Evil tours during the early 2000s, while later comedians like Hasan Minhaj, Aziz Ansari, and Kumail Nanjiani describe similar experiences in added terms of a racialized solidarity with other minoritized communities of color in the United States. These later comedians of the 2010s and their brand of politically oriented comedy have been upheld by dominant arts industries as examples of American multiculturalism and diversity, coinciding with the large-scale and cross-sectional social justice efforts to support undocumented immigrants, Black Lives Matter, and the #MeToo movement. Far from being a mark of their non-belonging in North American society, this racialized association with Islam is platformed as emblematic of North American societies: their exceptional openness and unparalleled freedoms. At the same time, however, women and Black Muslim comedians are rarely bestowed a similar entrée of visibility as “Muslim” comedians due to the hegemonic racialized image of Muslims as terrifying “terrorists”—a distorted privilege accessible usually only to male comedians of South Asian or Middle Eastern heritage.
Jefferson, Thomas and Islam
Authors: Spellberg Denise A.
Published: March 2023

Thomas Jefferson (b. 1743–d. 1826), author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom (1786), governor of Virginia (1779–1781), commissioner and US minister to France (1784–1789), first secretary of state (1790–1793), vice president (1797–1801), and two-term president (1801–1809), is famed in Americans history in each of these capacities. Less well known remains Jefferson’s lifelong interest in Islam and his personal contacts with its practitioners. This aspect of his public life and intellectual thought deserves to be included in standard histories of the United States as a unique window into ideas about religion and race during the nation’s founding era. A complex figure, Jefferson’s views of Islam and Muslims reflect his uniquely expansive views of religious freedom as well as his enduring engagement with issues of race and slavery.

Jefferson’s intellectual curiosity about Islam predates the founding of the United States. His early views of Muslims and their faith would be shaped first by transatlantic British scholarly publications as well as English diplomatic precedents with the Muslim kingdoms of North Africa and the Ottoman Empire. Books Jefferson ordered while a colonist in Virginia established the foundation for this bibliophile’s lifelong pursuit of knowledge about Islam and the Middle East. His direct encounters with Muslim officials resulted from Jefferson’s diplomatic and presidential engagement with North African Muslim kingdoms.

As an American intellectual, Jefferson’s views of race and slavery ultimately intersected with his capacious, radical, but minority view that Muslims should theoretically be granted religious freedom and political equality in his new nation—at some future point. He did not invent this position but rather borrowed and extended earlier English precedents for the religious toleration of Muslims, which he applied to legal precedents in his native Virginia at the outset of American independence. However, these theories would be contradicted by his personal practice of the enslavement of Black West Africans. Among those who arrived in bondage in North America from West Africa, a significant minority were persons of Islamic heritage.

The author of the Declaration of Independence knew well that enslaved Blacks toiling in North America would never be defined as “created equal” before the law. Among the West African Muslims swept up in the slave trade from 1619 to 1808, some may have labored unrecognized for their faith on Jefferson’s plantations. Although there is no proof of this, Jefferson learned of the presence of two enslaved West African escapees, both seemingly literate in Arabic, at the end of his second term as president. His response to their predicament reveals innate contradictions at the heart of his views of Muslim religious freedom and future citizenship. Ultimately, Jefferson’s remarkably inclusive precedents for his nation’s ideals of religious pluralism, which included Muslims theoretically, would be vitiated by his competing views of race and slavery.
Natural Hazards Governance in Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: Kouamé Koffi Fernand , Kouassi Kan Désiré
Published: March 2023

The implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) has made progress since 2012 in Côte d’Ivoire. Over the past decades, due to the recurrence of natural disasters caused by climate change and various factors such as uncontrolled urbanization and environmental degradation, many institutions and programs have been implemented. Affiliated to the prime minister’s office, a National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) had been created in 2012 to promote the integration of risk reduction and disaster management into development policies, plans, and programs; to mobilize the necessary financial and material resources; to carry out studies; and to disseminate the strategy and action plan.

In addition, a National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management had been developed on the basis of international (Sendai Framework) and regional (Economic Community of West African States strategy) initiatives for “a resilient country to face hazards and risks of natural, technological, or anthropogenic disasters by 2040.”

Currently, the DRR platform is functional but not very operational. It is expected that local committees will be established. To strengthen the system of governance, it is necessary to provide efficient resources (human, material, and financial) to the National Platform and to the local committees and authorities (ministries, private sector, universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)) for prospective, corrective, and compensatory disaster risk management.
Deindustrialisation and the post-socialist mortality crisis
Authors: Scheiring Gábor , Azarova Aytalina , Irdam Darja , Doniec Katarzyna , McKee Martin , Stuckler David , King Lawrence
Published: March 2023

An unprecedented mortality crisis struck Eastern Europe during the 1990s, causing around seven million excess deaths. We enter the debate about the causes of this crisis by performing the first quantitative analysis of the association between deindustrialisation and mortality in Eastern Europe. We develop a theoretical framework identifying deindustrialisation as a process of social disintegration rooted in the lived experience of shock therapy. We test this theory relying on a novel multilevel dataset, fitting survival and panel models covering 52 towns and 42,800 people in 1989–95 in Hungary and 514 towns in European Russia in 1991–99. The results show that deindustrialisation was directly associated with male mortality and indirectly mediated by hazardous drinking as a stress-coping strategy. The association is not a spurious result of a legacy of dysfunctional working-class health culture aggravated by low alcohol prices during the early years of the transition. Both countries experienced deindustrialisation, but social and economic policies have offset Hungary’s more immense industrial employment loss. The results are relevant to health crises in other regions, including the deaths of despair plaguing the American Rust Belt. Policies addressing the underlying causes of stress and despair are vital to save lives during painful economic transformations.
Biomarkers and cardiovascular outcomes in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy recipients
Authors: Mahmood Syed S , Riedell Peter A , Feldman Stephanie , George Gina , Sansoterra Stephen A , Althaus Thomas , Rehman Mahin , Mead Elena , Liu Jennifer E , Devereux Richard B , Weinsaft Jonathan W , Kim Jiwon , Balkan Lauren , Barbar Tarek , Lee Chuy Katherine , Harchandani Bhisham , Perales Miguel-Angel , Geyer Mark B , Park Jae H , Palomba M Lia , Shouval Roni , Tomas Ana A , Shah Gunjan L , Yang Eric H , Gaut Daria L , Rothberg Michael V , Horn Evelyn M , Leonard John P , Van Besien Koen , Frigault Matthew J , Chen Zhengming , Mehrotra Bhoomi , Neilan Tomas G , Steingart Richard M
Published: March 2023

Aims

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) harnesses a patient’s immune system to target cancer. There are sparse existing data characterizing death outcomes after CAR-T-related cardiotoxicity. This study examines the association between CAR-T-related severe cardiovascular events (SCE) and mortality.

Methods and results

From a multi-centre registry of 202 patients receiving anti-CD19 CAR-T, covariates including standard baseline cardiovascular and cancer parameters and biomarkers were collected. Severe cardiovascular events were defined as a composite of heart failure, cardiogenic shock, or myocardial infarction. Thirty-three patients experienced SCE, and 108 patients died during a median follow-up of 297 (interquartile range 104–647) days. Those that did and did not die after CAR-T were similar in age, sex, and prior anthracycline use. Those who died had higher peak interleukin (IL)-6 and ferritin levels after CAR-T infusion, and those who experienced SCE had higher peak IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and troponin levels. The day-100 and 1-year Kaplan–Meier overall mortality estimates were 18% and 43%, respectively, while the non-relapse mortality (NRM) cumulative incidence rates were 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively. In a Cox model, SCE occurrence following CAR-T was independently associated with increased overall mortality risk [hazard ratio (HR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–4.7] after adjusting for age, cancer type and burden, anthracycline use, cytokine release syndrome grade ≥ 2, pre-existing heart failure, hypertension, and African American ancestry; SCEs were independently associated with increased NRM (HR 3.5, 95% CI 1.4–8.8) after adjusting for cancer burden.

Conclusion

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy recipients who experience SCE have higher overall mortality and NRM and higher peak levels of IL-6, CRP, ferritin, and troponin.
Incidence of clinical atrial fibrillation and related complications using a screening algorithm at a nationwide level
Authors: Roger Antoine , Cottin Yves , Bentounes Sid Ahmed , Bisson Arnaud , Bodin Alexandre , Herbert Julien , Maille Baptiste , Zeller Marianne , Deharo Jean Claude , Lip Gregory Y H , Fauchier Laurent
Published: March 2023

Aims

In a recent position paper, the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) proposed an algorithm for the screening and management of arrhythmias using digital devices. In patients with prior stroke, a systematic screening approach for atrial fibrillation (AF) should always be implemented, preferably immediately after the event. Patients with increasing age and with specific cardiovascular or non-cardiovascular comorbidities are also deemed to be at higher risk. From a large nationwide database, the aim was to analyse AF incidence rates derived from this new EHRA algorithm.

Methods and results

Using the French administrative hospital discharge database, all patients hospitalized in 2012 without a history of AF, and with at least a 5-year follow-up (FU) (or if they died earlier), were included. The yearly incidence of AF was calculated in each subgroup defined by the algorithm proposed by EHRA based on a history of previous stroke, increasing age, and eight comorbidities identified via International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision codes. Out of the 4526 104 patients included (mean age 58.9 ± 18.9 years, 64.5% women), 1% had a history of stroke. Among those with no history of stroke, 18% were aged 65–74 years and 21% were ≥75 years. During FU, 327 012 patients had an incidence of AF (yearly incidence 1.86% in the overall population). Implementation of the EHRA algorithm divided the population into six risk groups: patients with a history of stroke (group 1); patients > 75 years (group 2); patients aged 65–74 years with or without comorbidity (groups 3a and 3b); and patients < 65 years with or without comorbidity (groups 4a and 4b). The yearly incidences of AF were 4.58% per year (group 2), 6.21% per year (group 2), 3.50% per year (group 3a), 2.01% per year (group 3b), 1.23% per year (group 4a), and 0.35% per year (group 4b). In patients aged < 65 years, the annual incidence of AF increased progressively according to the number of comorbidities from 0.35% (no comorbidities) to 9.08% (eight comorbidities). For those aged 65–75 years, the same trend was observed, i.e. increasing from 2.01% (no comorbidities) to 11.47% (eight comorbidities).

Conclusion

These findings at a nationwide scale confirm the relevance of the subgroups in the EHRA algorithm for identifying a higher risk of AF incidence, showing that older patients (>75 years, regardless of comorbidities) have a higher incidence of AF than those with prior ischaemic stroke. Further studies are needed to evaluate the usefulness of algorithm-based risk stratification strategies for AF screening and the impact of screening on major cardiovascular event rates.
The R-wave amplitude in V1 on baseline electrocardiogram correlates with the occurrence of high-degree atrioventricular block following left bundle branch block after transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Authors: Yagel Oren , Belhassen Bernard , Planer David , Amir Offer , Elbaz-Greener Gabby
Published: March 2023

Aims

Several procedural and electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters have been associated with the occurrence of high-degree atrioventricular block (AVB) requiring permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We hereunder sought to assess if the baseline R-wave amplitude in V1 ECG lead of patients with normal QRS duration undergoing TAVR is associated with a higher patient’s risk for developing high-degree AVB following left bundle branch block (LBBB).

Methods and results

In this retrospective single-centre study in 720 consecutive patients who underwent TAVR, 141 (19.6%) patients with normal QRS duration developed a new LBBB after TAVR. The 24 (17%) patients who underwent PPI for reasons other than high-degree AVB were excluded from further analysis. In the remaining 117 study patients, 14 (12%) developed high-degree AVB requiring PPI (Group 1) while the remaining 103 (88%) patients did not (Group 2). There were no significant differences in baseline demographic or procedural characteristics nor in PR interval, QRS duration, and QRS axis between these two groups. The incidence of left anterior hemiblock was higher in Group 1 (3 of 14, 21.4%) than that in Group 2 (9 of 103, 8.7%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.156). The R-wave amplitude in V1 was smaller in Group 1 than that in Group 2 (0.029 ± 0.04 mV vs. 0.11 ± 0.14 mV, P = 0.0316). In the receiver-operating characteristics analysis, the cutoff for R-wave amplitude pre-TAVR was 0.03 mV, area under the curve = 0.7219 (P = 0.0002).

Conclusion

The R-wave amplitude in lead V1 during baseline ECG in patients with normal QRS duration may predict the occurrence of high-degree AVB following new LBBB after TAVR.
New insertable cardiac monitors show high diagnostic yield and good safety profile in real-world clinical practice: results from the international prospective observational SMART Registry
Authors: Quartieri Fabio , Harish Manyam , Calò Leonardo , Ebrahim Iftikhar , Fusco Antonio , Mester Stephen , Cauti Filippo , Park Seung-Jung , Francia Pietro , Giovagnoni Marco , Adragao Pedro , Vezi Brian , Lin Wenjiao , Hutson Chananit Sintuu , Grammatico Andrea
Published: March 2023

Aims

Insertable cardiac monitors (ICMs) are indicated for long-term monitoring of unexplained syncope or palpitations, and for detection of bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and/or atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of our study was to evaluate the safety and clinical value associated with a new generation ICM (Confirm Rx™, Abbott, Illinois, USA), featuring a new remote monitoring system based on smartphone patient applications.

Methods and results

The SMART Registry is an international prospective observational study. The main endpoints were ICM safety (incidence of serious adverse device and procedure-related events (SADEs) at 1 month), ICM clinical value (incidence of device-detected true arrhythmias and of clinical diagnoses and interventions), and patient-reported experience measurements (PREMs). A total of 1400 subjects were enrolled. ICM indications included syncope (49.1%), AF (18.8%), unexplained palpitations (13.6%), risk of ventricular arrhythmia (6.6%), and cryptogenic stroke (6.0%). Freedom from SADEs at 1 month was 99.4% (95% Confidence Interval: 98.8–99.7%). In the 6-month monitoring period, the ICM detected true cardiac arrhythmias in 45.7% of patients and led to clinical interventions in a relevant proportion of patients; in particular, a pacemaker implant was performed after bradycardia detection in 8.9% of subjects who received an ICM for syncope and oral anticoagulation therapy was indicated after AF detection in 15.7% of subjects with cryptogenic stroke. PREMs showed that 78.2% of subjects were satisfied with the remote monitoring patient app.

Conclusion

The evaluated ICM is associated with an excellent safety profile and high diagnostic yield. Patients reported positive experiences associated with the use of their smartphone for the device remote monitoring.
Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Acute Pouchitis
Authors: Kayal Maia , Posner Hannah , Milwidsky Hadar Meringer , Plietz Michael , Khaitov Sergey , Sylla Patricia , Greenstein Alexander , Dubinsky Marla C , Mehandru Saurabh , Colombel Jean Frederic
Published: March 2023

Background

Pouchitis occurs in up to 80% of patients after total proctocolectomy (TPC) with ileal pouch–anal anastomosis (IPAA) and has been associated with microbial and host-related immunological factors. We hypothesized that a more robust immune response at the time of colectomy, manifested by acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC), may be associated with subsequent acute pouchitis.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort analysis of all patients with UC or indeterminate colitis complicated by medically refractory disease or dysplasia who underwent TPC with IPAA at Mount Sinai Hospital between 2008 and 2017 and at least 1 subsequent pouchoscopy. Acute pouchitis was defined according to the Pouchitis Disease Activity Index. Cox regression was used to assess unadjusted relationships between hypothesized risk factors and acute pouchitis.

Results

A total of 416 patients met inclusion criteria. Of the 165 (39.7%) patients who underwent urgent colectomy, 77 (46.7%) were admitted with ASUC. Acute pouchitis occurred in 228 (54.8%) patients a median of 1.3 (interquartile range, 0.6-3.1) years after the final surgical stage. On multivariable analysis, ASUC (hazard ratio [HR], 1.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-2.17) and a greater number of biologics precolectomy (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.06-2.31) were associated with an increased probability of acute pouchitis, while older age at colectomy (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97-0.99) was associated with a decreased probability. Time to pouchitis was significantly less in patients admitted with ASUC compared with those not (P = .002).

Conclusion

A severe UC disease phenotype at the time of colectomy was associated with an increased probability of acute pouchitis.
Monitoring the Monitor? Selective Responses to Human Rights Transgressions
Authors: Attia Hana , Grauvogel Julia
Published: March 2023

Sanctions are among the most frequently used foreign policy tools to address human rights violations, but they can be highly politicized. Since the early 2000s, human rights sanctions have been increasingly triggered by standardized rankings of states’ performances. While research on economic statecraft suggests that coercive measures based on cross-national assessments may be less influenced by strategic considerations, scholarship on rankings highlights how standardized performance indicators can also be political. This paper investigates whether sanctions based on standardized human rights assessments are also influenced by senders’ strategic political and economic interests. Empirically, we examine the case of United States human trafficking sanctions that combines universal rankings in the first stage and country-specific sanctions waivers in the second. The analysis leverages novel data on all Trafficking in Persons (TIP) rankings by the US State Department and presidential sanctions waivers from 2003 to 2018. Despite the TIP report's reputation as a reliable indicator, we find that both stages in the process of imposing human trafficking sanctions are driven by strategic attempts to minimize the economic and political costs of sanctions for the US. These findings have broader implications for the reputation and effectiveness of other human rights rankings by the US.
Repurposing antifungals: population pharmacokinetics of itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole following administration of a nanocrystal formulation
Authors: Jansen Anouk M E , Ter Heine Rob , Donnelly J P , Blijlevens Nicole , Brüggemann Roger J M
Published: March 2023

Objectives

To describe itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole pharmacokinetics following intravenous (IV) administration of a previously developed nanocrystal formulation (NCF) in haematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients for prophylaxis of invasive fungal disease.

Methods

In a prospective Phase II study, 10 HCT recipients received itraconazole NCF administered in 2-hour infusions of 200 mg twice daily for 2 days, followed by 200 mg once daily until Day 14. Full pharmacokinetic curves were obtained on Days 7 and 14. Additional samples were collected pre- and post-infusion until Day 6, pre-infusion on Days 10 and 12, and during washout on Days 16, 17, 18, 19 and 28. Itraconazole and hydroxy-itraconazole pharmacokinetics were analysed by non-linear mixed-effects population pharmacokinetic modelling.

Results

Four-hundred and seventy-one itraconazole and 471 paired hydroxy-itraconazole concentrations from 10 patients were included for analysis. Data were best described by a semi-mechanistic model with central and peripheral itraconazole compartments and a hydroxy-itraconazole compartment with dissolution of itraconazole drug particles from nanocrystals and first-order distribution and elimination. The final model included interindividual variability on itraconazole clearance and hydroxy-itraconazole clearance.

Conclusions

This study provides information on the pharmacokinetic properties of the itraconazole NCF useful for development of this formulation. Our results suggest that itraconazole NCF is a suitable formulation and may warrant renewal in the setting of repurposing. Our findings may be useful for the reformulation of other highly lipophilic compounds as well.
Neutrophil defect and lung pathogen selection in cystic fibrosis
Authors: Jennings Scott , Hu Yawen , Wellems Dianne , Luo Meng , Scull Callie , Taylor Christopher M , Nauseef William M , Wang Guoshun
Published: March 2023

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disorder caused by mutations in the CFTR chloride channel. Clinically, over 90% of patients with cystic fibrosis succumb to pulmonary complications precipitated by chronic bacterial infections, predominantly by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Despite the well-characterized gene defect and clearly defined clinical sequelae of cystic fibrosis, the critical link between the chloride channel defect and the host defense failure against these specific pathogens has not been established. Previous research from us and others has uncovered that neutrophils from patients with cystic fibrosis are defective in phagosomal production of hypochlorous acid, a potent microbicidal oxidant. Here we report our studies to investigate if this defect in hypochlorous acid production provides P. aeruginosa and S. aureus with a selective advantage in cystic fibrosis lungs. A polymicrobial mixture of cystic fibrosis pathogens (P. aeruginosa and S. aureus) and non–cystic fibrosis pathogens (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli) was exposed to varied concentrations of hypochlorous acid. The cystic fibrosis pathogens withstood higher concentrations of hypochlorous acid than did the non–cystic fibrosis pathogens. Neutrophils derived from F508del-CFTR HL-60 cells killed P. aeruginosa less efficiently than did the wild-type counterparts in the polymicrobial setting. After intratracheal challenge in wild-type and cystic fibrosis mice, the cystic fibrosis pathogens outcompeted the non–cystic fibrosis pathogens and exhibited greater survival in the cystic fibrosis lungs. Taken together, these data indicate that reduced hypochlorous acid production due to the absence of CFTR function creates an environment in cystic fibrosis neutrophils that provides a survival advantage to specific microbes—namely, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa—in the cystic fibrosis lungs.
Research progress on pharmacological effects of isoalantolactone
Authors: Xu Lu , Sun Yanan , Cai Qihan , Wang Mengmeng , Wang Xinliang , Wang Siming , Ni Zhiyu
Published: March 2023

Objectives

To review the pharmacokinetics, pharmacological action and mechanism of isoalantolactone (IAL). Explore the therapeutic potential of isoalantolactone.

Keywords including isoalantolactone, pharmacological effects, pharmacokinetic and toxicity were used for literature search in PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) and Web of Science, to identify articles published from 1992 to 2022.

Key findings

IAL has a great many obiological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumour, neuroprotection, with no obvious toxicity. This review suggests that IAL exerts different pharmacological effects with different mechanisms of action at different doses, and may be a potential drug candidate to treat inflammatory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, with medicinal value.

IAL has various pharmacological activities and medicinal values. However, further research is needed to determine its specific intracellular action sites and targets, so as to fully understand its therapeutic mechanism and provide a reference for the treatment of related diseases.
Multiwavelength monitoring of the nucleus in PBC J2333.9−2343: the giant radio galaxy with a blazar-like core
Authors: Hernández-García L , Panessa F , Bruni G , Bassani L , Arévalo P , Patiño-Alvarez V M , Tramacere A , Lira P , Sánchez-Sáez P , Bauer F E , Chavushyan V , Carraro R , Förster F , Muñoz Arancibia A M , Ubertini P
Published: March 2023

PBC J2333.9−2343 is a giant radio galaxy at z  = 0.047 with a bright central core associated to a blazar nucleus. If the nuclear blazar jet is a new phase of the jet activity, then the small orientation angle suggests a dramatic change of the jet direction. We present observations obtained between 2018 September and 2019 January (cadence larger than three days) with Effeslberg, SMARTS-1.3m, ZTF, ATLAS, Swift, and Fermi-LAT, and between 2019 April and 2019 July (daily cadence) with SMARTS-1.3 m and ATLAS. Large (>2 ×) flux increases are observed on time-scales shorter than a month, which are interpreted as flaring events. The cross correlation between the SMARTS-1.3 m monitoring in the NIR and optical shows that these data do not show significant time lag within the measured errors. A comparison of the optical variability properties between non-blazars and blazars AGN shows that PBC J2333.9−2343 has properties more comparable to the latter. The SED of the nucleus shows two peaks, that were fitted with a one-zone leptonic model. Our data and modelling show that the high energy peak is dominated by External Compton from the dusty torus with mild contribution from Inverse Compton from the jet. The derived jet angle of 3 deg is also typical of a blazar. Therefore, we confirm the presence of a blazar-like core in the centre of this giant radio galaxy, likely a Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar with peculiar properties.
BESST: a novel LncRNA knockout strategy with less genome perturbance
Authors: Zhang Shikuan , Chen Yue , Dong Kunzhe , Zhao Yiwan , Wang Yanzhi , Wang Songmao , Qu Chen , Xu Naihan , Xie Weidong , Zeng Chunyu , Lyu Qing Rex , Zhang Yaou
Published: March 2023

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are >200 nt RNA transcripts without protein-coding potential. LncRNAs can be categorized into intergenic, intronic, bidirectional, sense, and antisense lncRNAs based on the genomic localization to nearby protein-coding genes. The current CRISPR-based lncRNA knockout strategy works efficiently for lncRNAs distant from the protein-coding gene, whereas it causes genomic perturbance inevitably due to technical limitations. In this study, we introduce a novel lncRNA knockout strategy, BESST, by deleting the genomic DNA fragment from the branch point to the 3′ splicing site in the last intron of the target lncRNA. The BESST knockout exhibited comparable or superior repressive efficiency to RNA silencing or conventional promoter-exon1 deletion. Significantly, the BESST knockout strategy minimized the intervention of adjacent/overlap protein-coding genes by removing an average of ∼130 bp from genomic DNA. Our data also found that the BESST knockout strategy causes lncRNA nuclear retention, resulting in decapping and deadenylation of the lncRNA poly(A) tail. Further study revealed that PABPN1 is essential for the BESST-mediated decay and subsequent poly(A) deadenylation and decapping. Together, the BESST knockout strategy provides a versatile tool for investigating gene function by generating knockout cells or animals with high specificity and efficiency.
Martin R. Delany
Authors: Chiles Katy , Kirby Henry
Published: March 2023

Martin Robison Delany (b. 1812–d. 1885) was an African American writer, editor, physician, politician, soldier, and theorist of race, emigration, and Black nationalism. Delany was born free in present-day West Virginia to a free mother and an enslaved father. In 1831, Delany moved to Pittsburgh where, in 1843, he established The Mystery (1843–1847), Pennsylvania’s first African American newspaper. His efforts with The Mystery gained the attention of Frederick Douglass, who invited Delany to co-edit The North Star. As co-editor and correspondent, Delany toured free African American communities, fundraising and writing editorials about issues facing African Americans. By the early 1850s Delany had emerged as a free Black leader and an important voice on colonization. In 1852 he wrote The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, arguing for African American emigration to Central and South America. He subsequently imagined Africa as the site for a new nation founded and governed by African Americans and devoted to the general uplift of “the African race.” In 1859, he led the first American expeditionary tour into Africa, where he entered into a treaty with the Egba peoples of Abeokuta to establish a new nation on their lands. Delany detailed his expedition and plans for the new nation in his 1861 Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring Party, but his vision never came to pass. During this time Delany conceived and wrote the manuscript for Blake; or, the Huts of America: A Tale of the Mississippi Valley, the Southern United States, and Cuba, his only novel, which depicts an inchoate slave insurrection that envelops the United States, Canada, Cuba, and Africa. Blake was published serially in The Anglo-African Magazine (January–July 1859) and then in The Weekly Anglo-African (November 1861–April 1862). However, the final chapters of the novel are no longer extant. During the Civil War, Delany became the first African American major in the US Army. After the collapse of Reconstruction, Delany apparently abandoned his postwar ideas of racial equality. His 1879 Principia of Ethnology: The Origin of Races and Color with an Archaeological Compendium of Ethiopian and Egyptian Civilization promoted his newly articulated polygenetic racial theory and presented Africa as a symbolic site for Black social and cultural regeneration. He continued to champion selective Black emigration to Africa through the final years of his life. After his death, Delany lapsed into obscurity until the 1960’s, when Black Nationalist historians restored his writing to public consciousness. Since that time, Delany has been of perennial interest to scholars of American literature, history, and culture.
Private Security
Authors: Berg Julie
Published: March 2023

There are many ways in which “private security” can, and has been, defined. Many concepts have been used to describe it directly, such as “commercial security,” “private security companies,” “the private security industry,” “corporate” and “in-house,” security and so forth. Similarly, many concepts have been deployed as umbrella terms within which “private security” can be included or incorporated, such as “nonstate policing,” “privatized policing,” “for-profit policing,” and the like. Allowing for flexibility in terms of the continuum of private security provision, this bibliography contains literature on a spectrum of engagement that includes what can be thought of as commercial or corporate entities (businesses) undertaking security and policing functions for a profit—these functions, as this review will show, can incorporate a very wide range of activities, operating on a variety of private, public, and hybrid spaces, both locally and transnationally, and in cyberspace, and which converge and diverge with public or state policing functions, community or vigilante activities, as well as activates that align with any “conventional” corporate or business entity. Furthermore, this review is predominantly focused on “everyday,” nonmilitary forms of security and policing provision as opposed to an explicit focus on private military companies operating in conflict settings. It must be noted that scholarly literature on militarized versus nonmilitarized forms of private security tends to be divided along disciplinary lines. Therefore, traditionally, international relations and global security scholars have focused on private military companies and activities, whereas criminologists and policing scholars have focused more on the everyday, nonmilitarized forms of private security. However, this divide has been shifting, as some scholars have challenged these disciplinary boundaries, focused on the continuities between military and nonmilitary forms of security privatization, and/or increasingly undertaken an interdisciplinary approach. Given these developments, therefore, this review does include literature that seeks to acknowledge and situate private security within this continuum of form and function: from the everyday, domestic, or “low” security provision to the transnational, specialized, “high” forms of policing. The geographical focus is on both Global North and South contexts, and incorporates several thematic areas; besides the inclusion of introductory texts and general overviews, these include its governance, activities and functions, growth and development, occupational culture, powers, relations with other entities, how it is perceived and perceives itself, undertaking research on private security, and, finally, how it is theorized.