bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Engineered nanovesicles from activated neutrophils with enriched bactericidal proteins have molecular debridement ability and promote infectious wound healing
Authors: Jin Hangfei , Wen Xiao , Sun Ran , Yu Yanzhen , Guo Zaiwen , Yang Yunxi , Li Linbin , Sun Bingwei
Published: June 2024

Background

Bacterial infections pose a considerable threat to skin wounds, particularly in the case of challenging-to-treat diabetic wounds. Systemic antibiotics often struggle to penetrate deep wound tissues and topically applied antibiotics may lead to sensitization, necessitating the development of novel approaches for effectively treating germs in deep wound tissues. Neutrophils, the predominant immune cells in the bloodstream, rapidly release an abundance of molecules via degranulation upon activation, which possess the ability to directly eliminate pathogens. This study was designed to develop novel neutrophil cell engineered nanovesicles (NVs) with high production and explore their bactericidal properties and application in promoting infectious wound healing.

Methods

Neutrophils were isolated from peripheral blood and activated in vitro via phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) stimulation. Engineered NVs were prepared by sequentially extruding activated neutrophils followed by ultracentrifugation and were compared with neutrophil-derived exosomes in terms of morphology, size distribution and protein contents. The bactericidal effect of NVs in vitro was evaluated using the spread plate technique, LIVE/DEAD backlight bacteria assay and observation of bacterial morphology. The therapeutic effects of NVs in vivo were evaluated using wound contraction area measurements, histopathological examinations, assessments of inflammatory factors and immunochemical staining.

Results

Activated neutrophils stimulated with PMA in vitro promptly release a substantial amount of bactericidal proteins. NVs are similar to exosomes in terms of morphology and particle size, but they exhibit a significantly higher enrichment of bactericidal proteins. In vitro, NVs demonstrated a significant bactericidal effect, presumably mediated by the enrichment of bactericidal proteins such as lysozyme. These NVs significantly accelerated wound healing, leading to a marked reduction in bacterial load, downregulation of inflammatory factors and enhanced collagen deposition in a full-thickness infectious skin defect model.

Conclusions

We developed engineered NVs derived from activated neutrophils to serve as a novel debridement method targeting bacteria in deep tissues, ultimately promoting infectious wound healing.
Compensatory thickening of cortical thickness in early stage of schizophrenia
Authors: Wang Yujue , Fan Lejia , He Ying , Yuan Liu , Li Zongchang , Zheng Wenxiao , Tang Jinsong , Li Chunwang , Jin Ke , Liu Weiqing , Chen Xiaogang , Ouyang Lijun , Ma Xiaoqian
Published: June 2024

Brain structural abnormality has been observed in the prodromal and early stages of schizophrenia, but the mechanism behind it is not clear. In this study, to explore the association between cortical abnormalities, metabolite levels, inflammation levels and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, 51 drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients, 51 ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR), and 51 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. We estimated gray matter volume (GMV), cortical thickness (CT), concentrations of different metabolites, and inflammatory marks among four groups (UHR converted to psychosis [UHR-C], UHR unconverted to psychosis [UHR-NC], FES, HC). UHR-C group had more CT in the right lateral occipital cortex and the right medial orbito-frontal cortex (rMOF), while a significant reduction in CT of the right fusiform cortex was observed in FES group. UHR-C group had significantly higher concentration of IL-6, while IL-17 could significantly predict CT of the right fusiform and IL-4 and IL-17 were significant predictors of CT in the rMOF. To conclude, it is reasonable to speculate that the increased CT in UHR-C group is related to the inflammatory response, and may participate in some compensatory mechanism, but might become exhaustive with the progress of the disease due to potential neurotoxic effects.
Verbal semantic expertise is associated with reduced functional connectivity between left and right anterior temporal lobes
Authors: Wu Wei , Hoffman Paul
Published: June 2024

The left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) encode semantic representations. They show graded hemispheric specialization in function, with the left ATL contributing preferentially to verbal semantic processing. We investigated the cognitive correlates of this organization, using resting-state functional connectivity as a measure of functional segregation between ATLs. We analyzed two independent resting-state fMRI datasets (n = 86 and n = 642) in which participants’ verbal semantic expertise was measured using vocabulary tests. In both datasets, people with more advanced verbal semantic knowledge showed weaker functional connectivity between left and right ventral ATLs. This effect was highly specific. It was not observed for within-hemisphere connections between semantic regions (ventral ATL and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), though it was found for left–right IFG connectivity in one dataset). Effects were not found for tasks probing semantic control, nonsemantic cognition, or face recognition. Our results suggest that hemispheric specialization in the ATLs is not an innate property but rather emerges as people develop highly detailed verbal semantic representations. We speculate that this effect is a consequence of the left ATL’s greater connectivity with left-lateralized written word recognition regions, which causes it to preferentially represent meaning for advanced vocabulary acquired primarily through reading.
DMLS: an automated pipeline to extract the Drosophila modular transcription regulators and targets from massive literature articles
Authors: Yang Tzu-Hsien , Yu Yu-Huai , Wu Sheng-Hang , Chang Fang-Yuan , Tsai Hsiu-Chun , Yang Ya-Chiao
Published: June 2024

Transcription regulation in multicellular species is mediated by modular transcription factor (TF) binding site combinations termed cis-regulatory modules (CRMs). Such CRM-mediated transcription regulation determines the gene expression patterns during development. Biologists frequently investigate CRM transcription regulation on gene expressions. However, the knowledge of the target genes and regulatory TFs participating in the CRMs under study is mostly fragmentary throughout the literature. Researchers need to afford tremendous human resources to fully surf through the articles deposited in biomedical literature databases in order to obtain the information. Although several novel text-mining systems are now available for literature triaging, these tools do not specifically focus on CRM-related literature prescreening, failing to correctly extract the information of the CRM target genes and regulatory TFs from the literature. For this reason, we constructed a supportive auto-literature prescreener called Drosophila Modular transcription-regulation Literature Screener (DMLS) that achieves the following: (i) prescreens articles describing experiments on modular transcription regulation, (ii) identifies the described target genes and TFs of the CRMs under study for each modular transcription-regulation-describing article and (iii) features an automated and extendable pipeline to perform the task. We demonstrated that the final performance of DMLS in extracting the described target gene and regulatory TF lists of CRMs under study for given articles achieved test macro area under the ROC curve (auROC) = 89.7% and area under the precision-recall curve (auPRC) = 77.6%, outperforming the intuitive gene name-occurrence-counting method by at least 19.9% in auROC and 30.5% in auPRC. The web service and the command line versions of DMLS are available at https://cobis.bme.ncku.edu.tw/DMLS/  and  https://github.com/cobisLab/DMLS/, respectively.

Database Tool URL: https://cobis.bme.ncku.edu.tw/DMLS/
Unveiling the reliability of left atrial strain measurement: a dedicated speckle tracking software perspective in controls and cases
Authors: Mandoli G E , Pastore M C , Procopio M C , Pica A , Vigna M , Benfari G , Diviggiano E E , Martini L , Lunghetti S , Focardi M , Henein M Y , Cameli M
Published: June 2024

Aims

Speckle tracking echocardiography increasingly supports left atrial (LA) strain (LAS) analysis for diagnosis and prognosis of various clinical conditions. Prior limitations, such as the absence of dedicated software, have been overcome by validated ventricular-based software. A newly automated real-time and offline LA-specific software have now become available on echocardiographs and dedicated workstations. This study aimed at comparing LA strain measures obtained from new fully automated software vs. traditional semi-automated ventricular-based methods in different groups of patients.

Methods and results

Two operators acquired LA images in a mixed population of healthy individuals and patients with pressure overload (hypertension and aortic stenosis) or pressure–volume overload (mitral regurgitation and heart failure). Subjects with prosthetic valves, heart transplant, or atrial fibrillation were excluded. Strain analysis was performed twice by old semi-automated software and new LA dedicated. LAS was then measured online on the scanning echocardiograph. Overall, 100 patients were analysed (41 healthy subjects, 28 pressure overload, 31 volume overload). LAS proved to be highly reproducible with both software. The dedicated method exhibited slightly superior inter- and intra-operator reproducibility. The online software results showed a nearly perfect reproducibility with offline software [intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99 [0.99; 1.00]] in addition to being able to save an average of ∼30 s.

Conclusion

The recently developed fully automated software for dedicated LAS analysis demonstrates excellent inter- and intra-operator reproducibility, making it a reliable and efficient strain calculation method in routine clinical practice. Another advantage of online LAS calculation is time efficiency.
Molecular diagnosis and phylogenetic analysis of a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus human case in Jordan
Authors: Abu-Basha Ehab A , Ismail Zuhair B , Alboom Mohammad H , Alkofahi Ayesha , Amarneh Basil H , Al-Omari Omar , Fahmawi Alaa , Alshammari Abdullah , Lakaideh Mais , Shaban Shereen , Al-Omari Bilal , Talafha Hani , Hijazeen Zaidoun , Daradkeh Yasmin , El-Shesheny Rabeh , Kayali Ghazi , Bagge Whitney , Karesh William B
Published: June 2024

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an important zoonotic pathogen. The aim of this paper is to report one polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive case of MERS-CoV in a 27-year-old man who was involved in a nationwide longitudinal surveillance study of certain zoonotic diseases in Jordan including MERS-CoV. Whole-blood and nasal swab samples were collected from the man and five camels in the vicinity of his living area. The samples were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) to detect MERS-CoV-specific antibodies and MERS-CoV genetic material, respectively. Genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis were also performed to detect similarities with known strains of the virus in the region. In January 2021, an ongoing surveillance study detected a MERS-CoV-positive nasal swab sample from an asymptomatic male and camels using RT-PCR. Phylogenetically, the MERS-CoV isolated in this case belonged to clade B and is clustered with other strains originating in the Arabian Peninsula. The case report represents the first PCR-positive case of MERS-CoV in an asymptomatic individual in Jordan, indicating active circulation of the virus within the population.
Digest: Asymmetrical introgression of belly coloration across a manakin hybrid zone in Panama
Authors: Ottenburghs Jente
Published: June 2024

How does sexual selection impact introgression dynamics across a hybrid zone? Long et al. (2024) used historical (1989–1994) and contemporary (2017–2020) samples to quantify the stability of a Panamanian hybrid zone between golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus) and white-collared manakins (M. candei). Their analyses revealed a spatially stable hybrid zone, except for one trait, belly plumage coloration, which has introgressed into the distribution of the white-collared manakin. This finding suggests possible sexual selection for this trait.
Examining First- and Second-Level Digital Divide at the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status: An Analysis of the National Health and Aging Trends Study
Authors: Wang Kun , Chen Xiayu Summer , Gu Danan , Smith Brenda D , Dong Yanjun , Peet Jared Zak
Published: June 2024

Background and Objectives

Significant societal and technological changes in the 2010s called for an up-to-date understanding of the digital divide among older adults in the United States. This trend study aimed to examine the effects of race/ethnicity and the intersecting effects of race/ethnicity with other marginalized identities related to gender, income, education, and occupation on the first- and second-level digital divide.

Research Design and Methods

Utilizing a nationally representative sample of older community dwellers from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, we conducted weighted logistic regressions at 3 time points (2011/2013, 2015, and 2019). The first-level digital divide was measured by access to working phones or computers/laptops; the second-level divide was measured by 7 activities in personal task, social, and health-related Internet use.

Results

The first-level racial/ethnic digital divide became nonsignificant in 2019, whereas the disparities in all second-level measures persisted. The intersecting effects of race/ethnicity with low education and/or low income became nonsignificant in 2019 for personal-task use. However, the interactions with low education and/or low income became significant for social and health-related use in 2015 and/or 2019.

Discussion and Implications

This study highlights the persistence of the second-level racial/ethnic digital divide among older community dwellers in the United States, especially the exacerbated social and health-related digital divide for people of color with low socioeconomic status. By considering intersections of marginalized social identities, policymakers and stakeholders should develop targeted strategies to bridge the digital divide, promote health outcomes, and reduce health disparities.
Hybrid meshless-FEM method for 3-D magnetotelluric modelling using non-conformal discretization
Authors: Cao Jin , Liu Yunhe , Yin Changchun , Wang Haoman , Su Yang , Wang Luyuan , Ma Xinpeng , Zhang Bo
Published: June 2024

We propose a novel method for 3-D magnetotelluric (MT) forward modelling based on hybrid meshless and finite-element (FE) methods. This method divides the earth model into a central computational region and an expansion one. For the central region, we adopt scatter points to discretize the model, which can flexibly and accurately characterize the complex structures without generating unstructured mesh. The meshless method using compact support radial basis function is applied to simulate this area's electromagnetic field. While in the expansion region, to avoid the heavy time consumption and numerical error of the meshless method caused by non-uniform nodes, we adopt a node-based finite-element method with regular hexahedral mesh for stability. Finally, the two discretized systems are coupled at the interface nodes according to the continuity conditions of vector and scalar potentials. Considering that the normal electric field is discontinuous at the interface with resistivity discontinuity, while the shape functions for the meshless method are continuous, we further adopt the visibility criterion in constructing the support region. Numerical experiments on typical models show that using the same degree of freedom, the hybrid meshless-finite element method (FEM) algorithm has higher accuracy than the node-based FEM and meshless method. In addition, the electric field discontinuity at interfaces is well preserved, which proves the effectiveness of the visibility criterion method. In general, compared to the conventional grid-based method, this new approach does not need the complex mesh generation for complex structures and can achieve high accuracy, thus it has the potential to become a powerful 3-D MT forward modelling technique.
New Progress in China’s Anti-Monopoly Investigation into the Pharmaceutical Industry – Comment on the Injectable Polymyxin B Sulfate Case
Authors: Wei De
Published: June 2024

China’s competition authorities imposed a record penalty in the pharmaceutical sector against four pharmaceutical companies for jointly abusing their market dominance and engaging in excessive pricing behavior. This incident caused widespread concern and controversy, and has raised questions about the fairness and transparency of the pharmaceutical industry. From the perspective of antitrust enforcement, the administrative penalty decision has significant value for discussion in several aspects, including the identification of the subjects engaged in joint abuse of market dominance, the delineation of the relevant market, the determination of excessive prices, the imposition of penalties, and subsequent corrective measures. Furthermore, the coordination and cooperation between the competition authorities and the health security authorities in this case also merit discussion. This opinion provides an overview of the grounds of the decision and a detailed analysis in the context of China’s anti-monopoly regulations and guidelines for the pharmaceutical sector.
Negotiating situational abstinence and moderation: a study of regular and heavy-drinking young Nigerians
Authors: Dumbili Emeka W , Uwa-Robinson Kelechi
Published: June 2024

Studies that have examined young people’s drinking behaviour, particularly how they abstain from alcohol or drink lightly and their motivations, have focused on Western contexts. Currently, studies on how and why young Africans abstain from alcohol or drink moderately are lacking. Therefore, there is a need to examine young people’s drinking behaviours/practices on the continent to facilitate health promotion interventions. This study, which uses qualitative data elicited from 53 participants, explores how young Nigerian men and women who consume alcohol and drink heavily enact and negotiate abstinence and moderate drinking and the factors that motivate their choices. Some participants constructed situational abstinence, while others participated in temporary light drinking in their friendship networks, but these attracted some consequences. Peers pressured them, but some deployed the ability to offer ‘valid’ explanations and express self-determination and agency to ward off such pressures and negotiate situational abstinence or moderate drinking. Additionally, the fear of public embarrassment, negative publicity on social media due to intoxication and parental influences motivated some participants’ occasional sobriety. Others relied on previous personal or friends’ negative experiences of drunkenness or the consequences of heavy drinking represented in movies and books to construct occasional light drinking. The findings demonstrated how enacting and rejecting particular forms of masculinity and embodied gendered drinking practices, more generally, in some friendship groups, facilitated situational abstinence and moderation. Policymakers should partner with young people to design interventions that encourage abstinence or moderation and mitigate the current drinking practices in Nigeria, which will enhance health promotion.
Deletion of Trps1 regulatory elements recapitulates postnatal hip joint abnormalities and growth retardation of Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome in mice
Authors: Saeki Naoya , Inui-Yamamoto Chizuko , Ikeda Yuki , Kanai Rinna , Hata Kenji , Itoh Shousaku , Inubushi Toshihiro , Akiyama Shigehisa , Ohba Shinsuke , Abe Makoto
Published: June 2024

Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is a genetic disorder caused by point mutations or deletions in the gene-encoding transcription factor TRPS1. TRPS patients display a range of skeletal dysplasias, including reduced jaw size, short stature, and a cone-shaped digit epiphysis. Certain TRPS patients experience early onset coxarthrosis that leads to a devastating drop in their daily activities. The etiologies of congenital skeletal abnormalities of TRPS were revealed through the analysis of Trps1 mutant mouse strains. However, early postnatal lethality in Trps1 knockout mice has hampered the study of postnatal TRPS pathology. Here, through epigenomic analysis we identified two previously uncharacterized candidate gene regulatory regions in the first intron of Trps1. We deleted these regions, either individually or simultaneously, and examined their effects on skeletal morphogenesis. Animals that were deleted individually for either region displayed only modest phenotypes. In contrast, the Trps1Δint/Δint mouse strain with simultaneous deletion of both genomic regions exhibit postnatal growth retardation. This strain displayed delayed secondary ossification center formation in the long bones and misshaped hip joint development that resulted in acetabular dysplasia. Reducing one allele of the Trps1 gene in Trps1Δint mice resulted in medial patellar dislocation that has been observed in some patients with TRPS. Our novel Trps1 hypomorphic strain recapitulates many postnatal pathologies observed in human TRPS patients, thus positioning this strain as a useful animal model to study postnatal TRPS pathogenesis. Our observations also suggest that Trps1 gene expression is regulated through several regulatory elements, thus guaranteeing robust expression maintenance in skeletal cells.
An Improved Eigenvalue Estimate for Embedded Minimal Hypersurfaces in the Sphere
Authors: Duncan Jonah A J , Sire Yannick , Spruck Joel
Published: June 2024

Suppose that $\Sigma ^{n}\subset \mathbb{S}^{n+1}$ is a closed embedded minimal hypersurface. We prove that the first non-zero eigenvalue $\lambda _{1}$ of the induced Laplace–Beltrami operator on $\Sigma $ satisfies $\lambda _{1} \geq \frac{n}{2}+ a_{n}(\Lambda ^{6} + b_{n})^{-1}$, where $a_{n}$ and $b_{n}$ are explicit dimensional constants and $\Lambda $ is an upper bound for the length of the second fundamental form of $\Sigma $. This provides the first explicitly computable improvement on Choi and Wang’s lower bound $\lambda _{1} \geq \frac{n}{2}$ without any further assumptions on $\Sigma $.
Increasing aggregate size reduces single-cell organic carbon incorporation by hydrogel-embedded wetland microbes
Authors: Johnston Juliet T , Quoc Bao Nguyen , Abrahamson Britt , Candry Pieter , Ramon Christina , Cash Kevin J , Saccomano Sam C , Samo Ty J , Ye Congwang , Weber Peter K , Winkler Mari-Karoliina Henriikka , Mayali Xavier
Published: June 2024

Microbial degradation of organic carbon in sediments is impacted by the availability of oxygen and substrates for growth. To better understand how particle size and redox zonation impact microbial organic carbon incorporation, techniques that maintain spatial information are necessary to quantify elemental cycling at the microscale. In this study, we produced hydrogel microspheres of various diameters (100, 250, and 500 μm) and inoculated them with an aerobic heterotrophic bacterium isolated from a freshwater wetland (Flavobacterium sp.), and in a second experiment with a microbial community from an urban lacustrine wetland. The hydrogel-embedded microbial populations were incubated with 13C-labeled substrates to quantify organic carbon incorporation into biomass via nanoSIMS. Additionally, luminescent nanosensors enabled spatially explicit measurements of oxygen concentrations inside the microspheres. The experimental data were then incorporated into a reactive-transport model to project long-term steady-state conditions. Smaller (100 μm) particles exhibited the highest microbial cell-specific growth per volume, but also showed higher absolute activity near the surface compared to the larger particles (250 and 500 μm). The experimental results and computational models demonstrate that organic carbon availability was not high enough to allow steep oxygen gradients and as a result, all particle sizes remained well-oxygenated. Our study provides a foundational framework for future studies investigating spatially dependent microbial activity in aggregates using isotopically labeled substrates to quantify growth.
Standardizing imaging findings representation: harnessing Common Data Elements semantics and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources structures
Authors: Tejani Ali S , Bialecki Brian , O’Donnell Kevin , Sippel Schmidt Teri , Kohli Marc D , Alkasab Tarik
Published: June 2024

Objectives

Designing a framework representing radiology results in a standards-based data structure using joint Radiological Society of North America/American College of Radiology Common Data Elements (CDEs) as the semantic labels on standard structures. This allows radiologist-created report data to integrate with artificial intelligence-generated results for use throughout downstream systems.

Materials and Methods

We developed a framework modeling radiology findings as Health Level 7 (HL7) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) observations using CDE set/element identifiers as standardized semantic labels. This framework deploys CDE identifiers to specify radiology findings and attributes, providing consistent labels for radiology report concepts—diagnoses, recommendations, tabular/quantitative data—with built-in integration with RadLex, SNOMED CT, LOINC, and other ontologies. Observation structures fit within larger HL7 FHIR DiagnosticReport resources, providing output including both nuanced text and structured data.

Results

Labeling radiology findings as discrete data for interchange between systems requires two components: structure and semantics. CDE definitions provide semantic identifiers for findings and their component values. The FHIR observation resource specifies a structure for associating identifiers with radiology findings in the context of reports, with CDE-encoded observations referring to definitions for CDE identifiers in a central repository. The discussion includes an example of encoding pulmonary nodules on a chest CT as CDE-labeled observations, demonstrating the application of this framework to exchange findings throughout the imaging workflow, making imaging data available to downstream clinical systems.

Discussion

CDE-labeled observations establish a lingua franca for encoding, exchanging, and consuming radiology data at the level of individual findings, facilitating use throughout healthcare systems.

Importance

CDE-labeled FHIR observation objects can increase the value of radiology results by facilitating their use throughout patient care.
A first report of the genome size for the freshwater-crab family Trichodactylidae (Decapoda: Brachyura)
Authors: Barioto João G , Moraes Isabela R R , Castilho Antonio L
Published: June 2024

The evaluation of genome size has emerged as a resource for populational, biogeographic, and evolutionary interpretations. Still, little has been recorded on the size of the genomes of decapod crustaceans, mainly freshwater species. Using flow cytometry, we aimed to provide new data on the genome size of the freshwater crabs Trichodactylus fluviatilisLatreille, 1828 and T. petropolitanus (Göldi, 1886) in São Paulo state, southern Brazil. We analyzed 12 individuals with a c-value of 8.0–9.6 picograms. We observed a tendency for freshwater crabs with direct development to have a higher genome-size value than those decapods with indirect development, which links the possible relationship of genome size with the developmental pattern.
Prohibition, Censorship, Denial: Polish Episcopate’s Narrative on (Homo)sexual Acts Between 1945 and 1989
Authors: Laddach Agnieszka
Published: June 2024

One of the most important issues for the Polish Episcopate under communism was moral evaluation of sexual activities. Bishops suggested that, along with other immoral activities, homosexuality resulted from the popularization of Marxism and atheization of customs. This article presents a thematic analysis of the episcopal writings from 1945 to 1989, and their evaluation in light of Michel Foucault’s theory, in order to discuss Polish episcopal power in the context of its narrative on homosexuality. I present the doctrinal and historical context of the analyzed writings in a trichotomy: the Episcopate of Poland, the Apostolic See, and the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic. Moreover, I recognize that components of episcopal discourse suggest a multiplicity of power relations. In the selected period, these forces were the subjects of a game in which the church created strategies and chains of influence, and, as an agent of power, consolidated its position by demanding obedience. This image of the institutional church in Poland was established through a great central mechanism of denial that excluded any possibility of a positive moral evaluation of homosexual and other extramarital acts.
Very low levels of ABCA7 in the cerebrum and Alzheimer’s disease onset between the ages of 60 and 80 independently of APOE
Authors: Garliyev Viktor , Lyssenko Catherine A , Wiener Joel P , Praticò Domenico , Lyssenko Nicholas N
Published: June 2024

This cross-sectional study addressed the ABCA7-Alzheimer’s disease (AD) association. ABCA7 protein levels were quantified in 3 cerebral regions of brain donors with Braak neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) stages 0-V. Ordinal regression models were implemented to estimate the effect of ABCA7 on stopping in an earlier Braak NFT stage versus progressing to the later stages in 2 prespecified age segments. In the final model, high ABCA7 levels in the parietal cortex increased the odds of remaining cognitively healthy (ie, in stages 0/I) versus experiencing AD onset (ie, progressing to stages II-V) in the 61-80 age segment (OR = 2.87, adj 95% CI = 1.41-7.86, adj P = .007, n = 109), after controlling for APOE and other covariates. No ABCA7-AD association was found in the 81-98 age segment (n = 113). Parietal ABCA7 levels in 61-80-year-old with stages II-V were very low, even significantly lower than in 81-98-year-old with stages II-V. ABCA7 levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus predicted AD onset in the 61-80 age segment after adjustment for APOE. ABCA7 levels were also the lowest in 61-80-year-old with frequent neuritic plaques. Thus, very low ABCA7 levels in the cerebrum are associated with AD onset in the 7th-8th decade of life.
The Uchuu-glam BOSS and eBOSS LRG lightcones: exploring clustering and covariance errors
Authors: Ereza Julia , Prada Francisco , Klypin Anatoly , Ishiyama Tomoaki , Smith Alex , Baugh Carlton M , Li Baojiu , Hernández-Aguayo César , Ruedas José
Published: June 2024

This study investigates the clustering and bias of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRG) in the BOSS-LOWZ, -CMASS, -COMB, and eBOSS samples, using two types of simulated lightcones: (i) high-fidelity lightcones from UchuuN-body simulation, employing SHAM technique to assign LRG to (sub)haloes, and (ii) 16 000 covariance lightcones from GLAM-UchuuN-body simulations, including LRG using HOD data from Uchuu. Our results indicate that Uchuu and glam lightcones closely replicate BOSS/eBOSS data, reproducing correlation function and power spectrum across scales from redshifts 0.2 to 1.0, from 2 to $150 \,h^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$ in configuration space, from 0.005 to $0.7\, h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ in Fourier space, and across different LRG stellar masses. Furthermore, comparing with existing MD-Patchy and EZmock BOSS/eBOSS lightcones based on approximate methods, our GLAM-Uchuu lightcones provide more precise clustering estimates. We identify significant deviations from observations within $20 \,h^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$ scales in MD-Patchy and EZmock, with our covariance matrices indicating that these methods underestimate errors by between 10 per cent and 60 per cent. Lastly, we explore the impact of cosmology on galaxy clustering. Our findings suggest that, given the current level of uncertainties in BOSS/eBOSS data, distinguishing models with and without massive neutrino effects on large-scale structure (LSS) is challenging. This paper highlights the Uchuu and GLAM-Uchuu simulations’ robustness in verifying the accuracy of Planck cosmological parameters, providing a strong foundation for enhancing lightcone construction in future LSS surveys. We also demonstrate that generating thousands of galaxy lightcones is feasible using N-body simulations with adequate mass and force resolution.
Low-mass planets falling into gaps with cyclonic vortices
Authors: Chametla Raúl O , Sánchez-Salcedo F J , Reyes-Ruiz Mauricio , Carrasco-González Carlos , Chrenko Ondřej
Published: June 2024

We investigate the planetary migration of low-mass planets ($M_p\in [1,15]\, \mathrm{ M}_{\oplus }$, here $\mathrm{ M}_{\oplus }$ is the Earth mass) in a gaseous disc containing a previously formed gap. We perform high-resolution 3D simulations with the fargo3d code. To create the gap in the surface density of the disc, we use a radial viscosity profile with a bump, which is maintained during the entire simulation time. We find that when the gap is sufficiently deep, the spiral waves excited by the planet trigger the Rossby wave instability, forming cyclonic (underdense) vortices at the edges of the gap. When the planet approaches the gap, it interacts with the vortices, which produce a complex flow structure around the planet. Remarkably, we find a widening of the horseshoe region of the planet produced by the vortex at the outer edge of the gap, which depending on the mass of the planet differs by at least a factor of two with respect to the standard horseshoe width. This inevitably leads to an increase in the co-rotation torque on the planet and produces an efficient trap to halt its inward migration. In some cases, the planet becomes locked in co-rotation with the outer vortex. Under this scenario, our results could explain why low-mass planets do not fall towards the central star within the lifetime of the protoplanetary disc. Lastly, the development of these vortices produces an asymmetric temporal evolution of the gap, which could explain the structures observed in some protoplanetary discs.
Cerebrospinal fluid diversion prior to posterior fossa tumor resection in adults: A systematic review
Authors: Vastani Amisha , Baig Mirza Asfand , Ali Fizza , Iqbal Allayna , Sharma Chaitanya , Khizar Khoja Abbas , Vaqas Babar , Lavrador José Pedro , Pollock Jonathan
Published: June 2024

Background

Posterior fossa tumors (PFTs) comprise 15%–20% of adult brain tumors, with the reported frequency of hydrocephalus (HCP) ranging between 3.7% and 58%. Most HCP resolves after resection of PFTs, but studies report persistent or new-onset HCP occurring in between 2% and 7% of cases. Preoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS), external ventricular drain (EVD), or endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has been shown to improve outcomes. Evidence regarding the efficacy of these techniques is limited.

Methods

A systematic literature search was performed in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Data points were extracted from individual patient cohort data. A failure rate was determined by the number of patients requiring further postoperative CSF diversion.

Results

In total, 8863 records were identified. Thirteen studies consisting of 17 patient cohorts met our inclusion criteria. Across all individual cohort studies, 2976 patients underwent surgical resection of a PFT in whom the frequency of hydrocephalus at presentation was 22.98% (1.92%–100%), and persistent hydrocephalus following preoperative CSF diversion was 13.63% (0%–18%). Of the 684 hydrocephalic patients, 83.63% underwent CSF diversion in the form of ETV, EVD, or VPS. Between years 1992 and 2020, 1986 and 2021, and 1981and 2013, the pre-resection ETV, EVD, and VPS failure rates were 14.66% (17/116), 16.26% (60/369), and 0% (0/87), respectively.

Conclusions

This systematic review highlights that VPS has a better failure rate profile in minimizing postoperative hydrocephalus in adult patients with PFTs.
Prospective assessment of end-of-life symptoms and quality of life in patients with high-grade glioma
Authors: Walbert Tobias , Schultz Lonni , Mikkelsen Tom , Snyder James Matthew , Phillips Joel , Fortunato John T
Published: June 2024

Background

Glioblastoma and high-grade glioma (HGG) remain non-curable diseases. Symptoms and Quality-of-life (QoL) in the end-of-life (EoL) phase have not been prospectively studied with validated instruments. Therefore, we prospectively assessed symptom progression, symptom management, and hospice utilization in patients with treatment-refractory progressive HGG.

Methods

Patients failing bevacizumab and presenting with a Karnofsky performance score of ≤60, and their caregivers, were eligible. Symptoms, medication, and clinical management were tracked with serial telephone calls every 2 weeks until death utilizing clinical evaluations and the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory Brain Tumor Module (MDASI-BT). The MDASI-BT rates symptoms on a scale from 0 (no symptoms) to 10 (worst).

Results

Fifty-four patient-caregiver dyads were enrolled in the study. Amongst 50 evaluable patients, the most severe symptoms during the last 2 weeks prior to death were drowsiness (9.09 ± 1.44), difficulty with concentration (8.87 ± 2.29), fatigue (8.63 ± 2.03), difficulty speaking (8.44 ± 2.42), weakness (8.27 ± 3.44), and difficulty with understanding (7.71 ± 2.94). All symptoms, except weakness and memory impairment, which were high at baseline, showed statistically significant progression. Seizures were rare and did not progressively worsen near the end of life (1.38 ± 3.02). The decision-making composite score almost doubled during the EoL phase (8.58 ± 1.53).

Conclusions

This is the first prospective study describing symptoms and QoL issues in patients with HGG. Patients suffer from high morbidity in the EoL phase and should be offered early palliative and hospice care to assure proper symptom management and advance care planning.
Yoga in the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas
Authors: Adluri Sucharita
Published: June 2024

Teachings of yoga in the Sanskrit epics include elements later incorporated into the systematic philosophy of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (see also Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism articles “Yoga” and “Sāṃkhya and Philosophical Yoga”). Ensconced in narratives that navigate the opposing lifestyles of engagement with the world (pravṛtti) and withdrawal from the world (nivṛtti), these iterations overlap with renouncer ideologies both vedic and non-vedic. Yoga teachings in purāṇic literature include modified versions of Patañjali’s system and its integration with theistic and tantric traditions.
Mary Boykin Chesnut
Authors: Theodosiadou Youli
Published: June 2024

Mary Boykin Chesnut (b. 1823–d. 1886) was born in Statesburg, South Carolina, and educated at a French boarding school in Charleston where she learned German and French. Her father Stephen Decatur Miller had served as a US congressman and senator and in 1826 was elected governor of South Carolina. On 23 April 1840 she married James Chesnut Jr. (b. 1815–d. 1885), who was elected to the US Senate and later served in the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America eventually achieving the rank of general. Because she moved within a circle of political and social privilege, she knew many of the political and military figures of the time and had the opportunity to observe every aspect of the Confederacy experience. From February 1861 to July 1865 she recorded her experiences during the Civil War in a diary which she returned to in the early 1880s with a view of revising and expanding it. She wrote and rewrote entries, compiling more than 400,000 words in the end. The diary or expanded journal was not published during her lifetime; posthumously there were two truncated and poorly edited versions, one in 1905 and another one in 1949. However, a complete, meticulously edited version was published in 1981 under the title Mary Chesnut’s Civil War and it is considered one of the finest literary works and a rich historical source of the Confederacy. With the renewed interest in women’s studies, Chesnut’s work is significant in the way it portrays the day-to-day life of a plantation mistress during the time of the Confederacy. Chesnut also wrote three novels which were not published during her lifetime: Two Years of My Life—or The Way We Lived Then, The Captain and the Colonel, and “Manassas.” The first two were published in 2002, whereas the third one is a fragment of a novel and was never published. The only work to have been published during her lifetime is “The Arrest of a Spy,” a short sketch which appeared in the Charleston Weekly News and Courier in 1883. Chesnut’s family lost everything in the war, leaving them so poor that she had to operate a small dairy farm in order to survive. Her original papers are housed in the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina.
Mic-shouting in China and Hong Kong, 1996–2020
Authors: Chew Matthew M. T.
Published: June 2024

This chapter documents the cultural origins, dissemination, musical characteristics, and development of mic-shouting (hanmai), a local style of electronic dance music (EDM) that was developed in Hong Kong and China. It also assesses mic-shouting’s local distinctiveness vis-à-vis core Western EDM, cultural hybridity, and positive sociopolitical meanings. The chapter has two theoretical objectives. The first is to help bridge the research gap on non-Western local EDM. Scholars have discovered and discussed local EDM styles in South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa, but rarely those in China. The second objective is to explore the cultural legitimization of non-Western EDM. It finds that this cultural legitimization can proceed through the investigation of the historical development, local distinctiveness, hybridity, and sociopolitical progressiveness of the non-Western EDM style in question. This chapter illustrates that a research program on the histories of local EDM from various cultures, regions, nations, and localities will be fruitful.
Mughal Architecture
Authors: Asher Catherine B.
Published: June 2024

This chapter concerns architecture produced by the imperial Mughals, their Rajput supporters and detractors, as well as some Mughal successor states, notably, the Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh. The material dates from the inception of Mughal rule in 1526 and extends through the demise of the Mughal dynasty in 1858. The chapter critically examines a wide range of structures from religious edifices, such as mosques, dargahs, and temples, to secular ones, including palaces, gardens, tombs, serais, and pleasure pavilions. It argues that until the mid-seventeenth century the Mughal emperors were the arbiters of taste, and the nobility often emulated imperial prototypes; but after this time, as the Mughal state became increasingly impoverished, nobles and the mercantile classes were the chief patrons of architecture. At this time, the rulers of Awadh and Bengal, who regarded classical Mughal architecture as a cultural apex, built structures indebted to this architectural tradition.
Philosophy of Music Education in Early China
Authors: Xiu Hailin , Fung C. Victor
Published: June 2024

This chapter presents an account of the philosophy of music education in early China, focusing in particular on Confucian perspectives, including the ideas of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi. From the historical origins of rites and music (liyue 禮樂) education in the Zhou dynasty (1046‒256 BCE) to its disintegration after the Qin Han Period (221 BCE‒220 CE), this chapter presents an array of associated philosophical ideas, including the Order of Heaven (tianming天命), moral enhancement (jingde敬德), harmony (he 和), and the Confucian Theory of Human Nature. It concludes by highlighting how, from the late Western Zhou (1046‒771 BCE) to the early Han era (206 BCE‒220 CE), music activities in society were increasingly freed from the restrictions of liyue.
Evolution of Korean Music Education
Authors: Park So Jeong
Published: June 2024

Confucian ritual music was reconstructed and rejuvenated during the reign of King Sejong of Joseon (r. 1418‒1450), but this represented an adventurous reinterpretation of Confucian values, not a mere restoration of the original music. The successful reconstruction was a result of an awareness of Korea’s own culture as distinct from the Chinese cultural mainstream. Because of the cultural and linguistic differences between China and Korea, Joseon Korea did not uncritically assimilate the mainstream culture. These differences motivated King Sejong to develop a new notation system for Korean indigenous tunes and bring newly composed ritual music to the court. The awareness of their own musical culture turned out to be the best way to embody the ideal of Confucian music education, cultivating musical sensibility and the enjoyment with all people. A similar movement occurred again during the Westernization period in early modern Korea and continues today in contemporary music education.
The Reception History of the Letter of James
Authors: Gowler David B.
Published: June 2024

Debates about apostolic provenance or perceived disagreements with Paul’s justification by faith—both raised, most famously, by Martin Luther—have contributed to the diminished influence of the Letter of James in the Christian tradition. It is also true, however, that James is often neglected precisely because it shares radical sayings and perspectives from the teachings of Jesus that many Christians ignore or domesticate. This essay highlights representative responses to the Letter of James in art, music, literature, and political and social critiques. Visual representations of James of Jerusalem often reflect his holiness, similarity to Jesus, role in the Jerusalem church, authorship of the Letter of James, and/or traditions about his death. Many receptions of the Letter of James in art, music, and literature focus on God’s sovereignty and God as friend/benefactor, but a majority emphasize putting one’s faith into action. Political receptions of James include church and state issues such as papal claims of authority or governmental requirements to swear oaths. James’s radical statements about wealth and poverty, which echo sayings of Jesus, are often ignored or domesticated, but some interpreters emphasize the importance of putting those words into practice, including Liberation theologians and those like Frederick Douglass who extend those concerns to related issues of gender, class, and race.
Galen’s Hippocratism
Authors: Coughlin Sean
Published: June 2024

The starting point for this chapter is a tension in recent scholarship on Galen’s Hippocratism: one position holds that Galen reads the Hippocratic Corpus as an impartial philologist whose aim is to recover Hippocrates’ original words and doctrines; another position claims that he reads Hippocrates in his own image and in doing so distorts the text to serve his own scientific or rhetorical purposes. This chapter explores this tension by locating Galen’s Hippocratism in its local intellectual context, where inquiry and debate are framed in terms of following or rejecting the thought of a founding authority. It puts forth the idea that Galen did not adopt Hippocrates, but was, so to speak, born into Hippocratism and that many of the features of Galen’s Hippocratism that at first appear exceptional are better understood as refinements and revisions of his Hippocratist inheritance.