bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facilitation enhances ecosystem function with non‐random species gains
Authors: Navarro‐Cano Jose A. , Goberna Marta , Verdú Miguel
Published: October 2021

Facilitation, an ecological interaction assembling plant communities worldwide, has been shown to modulate both species richness and ecosystem functions. Such a biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship can be decomposed into different components not only related to species losses and gains but also to the identity of the species and the context in which they live. Using an extension of the classical BEF approach named CAFE (community assembly and the functioning of ecosystems), we quantified the contribution of these components to the BEF relationship in a Spanish semiarid plant community shaped by facilitation. We used species richness as a measure for biodiversity and plant cover as a proxy of multiple ecosystem functions including plant productivity, soil protection, soil fertility and microbial productivity. Nurse plants doubled the number of species that live beneath them relative to open ground, but caused a five‐fold increase in plant cover. The disproportionate increase of plant cover was a consequence of the identity of the species enhanced by nurse plants, which were more productive than the average. We discuss these results in terms of sampling effects (i.e. the higher probability of richer communities to harbour hyperproductive species) and complementary effects (i.e. richer communities enhancing productivity through resource partitioning, abiotic facilitation or biotic feedbacks). The enhancement of ecosystem functions that plant facilitation produces by incorporating species with high functional values to the community may reverberate among other trophic levels and propagate beyond the local scale where the ecological interaction is produced.
A Postoperative Phenomenon of Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: Rebound Pain
Authors: Zhang Chang , Li Ziquan , Yu Keyi , Wang Yipeng
Published: October 2021

Objective

After percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), most patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) experience relief from the typical symptoms of low back and leg pain. However, for a small number of patients, these symptoms are relieved immediately after surgery but aggravated soon after, and then relieved after short‐term full rest or conservative treatment. The aim of the study was to demonstrate this short‐term recurrent phenomenon, termed rebound pain.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted on 144 patients who underwent single‐segment PELD from May 2017 to June 2020. Postoperative patients were divided into a rebound pain group and a non‐rebound pain group. For the former group, general information, symptom characteristics and visual analogue score (VAS) changes in rebound pain were summarized. For both groups, postoperative efficacy was evaluated by recent VAS of low back and leg pain in the remission stage, the Oswestry disability index (ODI) and the modified MacNab criteria at the last follow‐up. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors for rebound pain.

Results

The VAS and ODI exhibited significant improvements at the last follow‐up of average 15.4 months (P < 0.001). The successful outcomes according to the modified MacNab criteria reached 94.4%. A total of 15 patients (10.4%) experienced rebound pain. The typical feature was pain that usually began within 1 month after surgery and lasted for less than 1 month. The symptoms were mainly leg pain with or without low back pain. The range of pain was equal to or less than that before surgery. The symptoms were relieved after conservative treatment. In logistic regression model, postoperative return‐to‐work time > 45 days was found as a protective factor for rebound pain (p = 0.031).

Conclusion

Although rebound pain with multiple characteristics and a short duration had no significant effect on long‐term postoperative efficacy, its high incidence often caused unnecessary concern in both patients and doctors. As a result, careful differentiation of rebound pain from other postoperative complications is needed.
Subspine Hypertrophy: Higher Incidence of Symptomatic versus Asymptomatic Hips in Patients with Unilateral Femoroacetabular Impingement
Authors: Bai Hui , Li Chun‐bao , Zhao Heng , Yin Qing‐feng
Published: October 2021

Objective

To compare the difference of anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS) and subspine hypertrophic deformity between symptomatic and asymptomatic hips in patients traditionally diagnosed with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), and investigate the correlation of subspine decompression with AIIS variation and subspine hypertrophic deformity.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 70 patients with unilateral symptomatic FAI who underwent hip arthroscopy. The operative hips and contralateral hips naturally formed the symptomatic groups and asymptomatic control groups, respectively. The morphometric comparison of the hip joint was performed between the operative and contralateral sides of each patient. Radiological assessment was performed by two observers (an experienced musculoskeletal radiologist and an experienced surgeon). Three‐dimensional (3D)‐CT images of each patient were blindly reviewed to determine the AIIS variation and subspine hypertrophic deformity. Reformatted two‐dimensional (2D)‐CT images and anterior–posterior (AP) pelvic plain radiographs were blindly reviewed to determine FAI‐related morphological measurements. Moreover, the surgical assessment was reviewed by one experienced surgeon to interpret whether subspine decompression was performed. The correlation of subspine decompression with AIIS variation and subspine hypertrophy was analyzed.

Results

Out of 70 patients with unilateral symptomatic FAI, 37 were males (52.9%) and 23 (32.9%) had symptoms involving the left hip. The mean age was 39.3 ± 10.4 years and the mean BMI was 24.3 ± 3.6. The distribution of AIIS variants in symptomatic hips did not differ significantly from that in asymptomatic hips (χ2 = 3.092, P = 0.213). Twenty‐nine hips in the symptomatic group (41.4%) and 12 hips in the asymptomatic group (17.1%) were identified as positive for subspine hypertrophy. The incidence of positive subspine hypertrophy was significantly higher in the symptomatic hips compared to the asymptomatic hips (χ2 = 9.968, P = 0.002). FAI‐related morphological parameters including α angle, lateral center‐edge angle, acetabular anteversion, crossover sign, and Tonnis grade were highly symmetrical and did not show significant differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic hips. Fifty‐four of 70 hips (77.1%) had labral tears extended to the acetabular rim corresponding to the AIIS. Forty‐seven hips of 70 hips (67.1%) underwent subspine decompression, which was significantly correlated with AIIS variation and subspine hypertrophic deformity (P = 0.019 and 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion

Subspine hypertrophic deformity was found to be more common in symptomatic side vs asymptomatic side in patients with unilateral symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement. Subspine hypertrophy may be considered as an underlying indication for subspine decompression besides low‐lying AIIS.
Dinosaurian survivorship schedules revisited: new insights from an age‐structured population model
Authors: Griebeler Eva M.
Published: October 2021

Little is known of dinosaur population biology due to insufficient information on age‐dependent fecundities and mortalities. So far, survivorship curves (SC) of only six dinosaurs (four tyrannosaurs, one ceratopsian, one hadrosaur) have been erected from bone assemblages of aged specimens. They indicate high survival throughout most of their life with presumably higher mortalities after hatching and increasing mortalities towards its end. However, none of these studies recognized that to infer a reliable SC for a taxon, the assemblage must preserve a stationary age distribution (i.e. one which is stable, with constant population size over time as overall fecundities match mortalities, hereafter SAD population). To assess SCs of these dinosaurs, I built a simple population model with age‐dependent fecundities and survival rates. Its three input parameters are maximum longevity, age at sexual maturation and maximum annual offspring number, for which information exists on these dinosaurs. As bone histological studies and scaling relationships provide estimates on these parameters, my model is also applicable to other extinct taxa. Modelling suggests that bone assemblages did not preserve SAD populations. SCs determined for SAD populations of Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Gorgosaurus libratus, Dasplatosaurus torosus and Tyrannosaurus rex indicated that low mortalities followed high mortalities in early life or that mortality rates were rather constant throughout their life. In Psittacosaurus lujiatuensis, modelling suggests low mortalities throughout most of its life that increase towards its end. Due to its simplicity, my model was unable to render composite SCs, specifically the sigmoidal shape previously predicted for Maiasaura peeblesorum.
Thinopyrum intermedium TiAP1 interacts with a chitin deacetylase from Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici and increases the resistance to Bgt in wheat
Authors: Yang Yanlin , Fan Pan , Liu Jingxia , Xie Wenjun , Liu Na , Niu Zubiao , Li Quanquan , Song Jing , Tian Qiuju , Bao Yinguang , Wang Honggang , Feng Deshun
Published: October 2021

The biotrophic fungal pathogen Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) is a crucial factor causing reduction in global wheat production. Wild wheat relatives, for example Thinopyrum intermedium, is one of the wild‐used parents in wheat disease‐resistant breeding. From T. intermedium line, we identified the aspartic protease gene, TiAP1, which is involved in resistance against Bgt. TiAP1 is a secreted protein that accumulates in large amounts at the infection sites of Bgt and extends to the intercellular space. Yeast two‐hybrid, luciferase complementation imaging and bimolecular florescent complimentary analysis showed that TiAP1 interacted with the chitin deacetylase (BgtCDA1) of Bgt. The yeast expression, purification and in vitro test confirmed the chitin deacetylase activity of BgtCDA1. The bombardment and VIGS‐mediated host‐induced gene silencing showed that BgtCDA1 promotes the invasion of Bgt. Transcriptome analysis showed the cell wall xylan metabolism, lignin biosynthesis‐related and defence genes involved in the signal transduction were up‐regulated in the transgenic TiAP1 wheat induced by Bgt. The TiAP1 in wheat may inactivate the deacetylation function of BgtCDA1, cause chitin oligomers expose to wheat chitin receptor, then trigger the wheat immune response to inhibit the growth and penetration of Bgt, and thereby enhance the resistance of wheat to pathogens.
Psoriasiform dermatitis during dupilumab treatment for moderate‐to‐severe atopic dermatitis in children
Authors: Parker Jennifer J. , Sugarman Jeffrey L. , Silverberg Nanette B. , Gonzalez Mercedes Elena , Ramien Michele L. , Teng Joyce M. C. , Paller Amy S.
Published: October 2021

Background/Objectives

Psoriasiform eruptions after initiation of dupilumab have been previously described in adults. This report details the risk of developing or unmasking psoriasiform eruptions after initiation of dupilumab in children.

Methods

Records of patients ≤18 years of age with atopic dermatitis who developed psoriasiform dermatitis during treatment with dupilumab were reviewed retrospectively.

Results

Six children, 4–18 years of age, on dupilumab for severe atopic dermatitis developed new‐onset psoriasiform dermatitis at a median duration of 8 months (range, 6‐12 months) after dupilumab initiation. Typical locations of psoriasis were involved (face, scalp, trunk, and extensor extremities). The majority showed clearance or near clearance with the use of medium‐strength to potent topical corticosteroid ointments and 83% continued use of the dupilumab. A 7th patient had psoriasis, in addition to severe atopic dermatitis, and the psoriasis was unmasked by its failure to respond to dupilumab.

Conclusion

Although unusual, psoriasiform lesions can appear during effective treatment with dupilumab for atopic dermatitis, potentially reflecting a shift toward cutaneous IL‐23/TH17 pathway activation with dupilumab‐induced suppression of type 2 immunity.
Reflectance confocal microscopy in pediatric dermatology: A state‐of‐the‐art review
Authors: Ko Randy F. , Smidt Aimee C. , Durkin John R.
Published: October 2021

Reflectance confocal microscopy is an innovative imaging modality, which noninvasively provides an optical image to aid in the diagnosis of skin lesions. While performing a skin biopsy for histopathologic analysis is the gold standard to definitively diagnose skin disease, this may prove to be more difficult in the pediatric population. This will occasionally necessitate sedation or general anesthesia as an approach, which carries a number of different risks. Reflectance confocal microscopy is an exciting new avenue in the support of diagnosing skin pathology, with the goal of improving pediatric patient tolerance and experience when examining epidermal and superficial dermal skin lesions. This review discusses the utility of reflectance confocal microscopy for pediatric dermatology patients pertaining to melanocytic and non‐melanocytic skin neoplasms and inflammatory and infectious skin diseases in children.
Bioactive substances in the stratum corneum of the epidermis found as indicators of skin damage due to sun exposure
Authors: Fukunaga Atsushi , Fukushima Satoshi , Iwata Hiroaki , Nakahara Makiko , Sasaki Rikako , Baba Naoko , Matsunaka Hiroshi , Murakami Yumi , Furue Masutaka , Nishigori Chikako
Published: October 2021

Background/Purpose

Although an inflammatory response upon acute injury caused by ultraviolet radiation (UV) can be observed immediately, the influence of long‐term, repetitive low‐dose UV exposure on the skin cannot be precisely perceived, making early detection of chronic damage difficult. This study investigated bioactive substances in the stratum corneum as a potential early and sensitive indicator of the influence of sun exposure on the skin using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Methods

Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to assess the responsiveness of cytokines [interleukin (IL)‐1α, IL‐1 receptor antagonist (IL‐1ra), IL‐10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α], BCL2‐associated protein X (Bax), Toll‐like receptor (TLR)3, and TLR4 in the stratum corneum of healthy people exposed (dorsum of the hand) and unexposed (inner arm) to UV. Sunscreen was applied to patients with photodermatosis for 4 weeks to evaluate changes in IL‐1ra/IL‐1α, TNF‐α, Bax, and TLR3 levels after sunscreen application, as these molecules exhibited high responsiveness to sun exposure according to ROC analysis. In addition, IL‐1ra, IL‐1α, and IL‐10 levels were quantified by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, and TNF‐α, Bax, TLR3, and TLR4 levels were semi‐quantitatively assessed by immunocytochemistry.

Results

Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified IL‐1ra/IL‐1α, TNF‐α, Bax, and TLR3 in the stratum corneum as highly responsive to sun exposure. Moreover, in participants, including patients with photodermatosis, IL‐1ra/IL‐1α, TNF‐α, and Bax levels decreased significantly after sunscreen application.

Conclusion

The results revealed that IL‐1ra/IL‐1α, TNF‐α, and Bax in the stratum corneum represent sensitive indicators of the influence of sun exposure on the skin.
Multi‐mode standardization under extreme time‐pressure – the case of COVID‐19 contact‐tracing apps
Authors: Marhold Klaus , Fell Jan
Published: October 2021

The present study investigates the standardization process of contact tracing apps during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Due to the epidemiological urgency, and differing from classical examples in the literature, this process is characterized by a compressed timeframe. In this setting, we investigate the role of different standard‐setting modes and their interaction through the lens of multi‐mode standardization. We find that the processes of standard setting through market competition or inclusive multi‐stakeholder committees proved time‐consuming and inefficient in addressing the immediate needs during this major global health crisis. Multi‐mode standardization between committees, market players, and governments equally proved unable to coordinate a standard. Ultimately, a so far neglected actor, namely platform owners, proved to be pivotal in coordinating a widely‐adopted standard. Our research extends multi‐mode standardization with platform owners as a further standardization actor of proliferating importance given the increasing pervasiveness of platforms in numerous contexts. The present article provides implications for the interplay between different modes of standard setting in general, and the setting of technological standards in crises in particular.
High injury rates and weak injury prevention strategies in football referees at all levels of play
Authors: Szymski Dominik , Opitz Sabine , Pfeifer Christian , Rupp Markus , Angele Peter , Alt Volker , Krutsch Werner , Krutsch Volker
Published: October 2021

Football referees need other physiological requirements on field than football players and are affected by different types of injury. The absence of referees may result in canceled matches, so special focus should be placed on injury prevention through specific training programs for referees. This study retrospectively analyzed injury occurrence and prevention strategies for German football referees at the different levels of play over one season. Data were collected by means of seasonal injury reports based on the consensus statement of injury definition and data collection. Of the 923 participating referees, 91 (9.9%) played at the professional level, 151 (16.3%) at the semi‐professional, and 681 (73.8%) at the amateur level. 86.2% (n = 796) were men and 13.8% (n = 127) women. Referees at the amateur level showed the highest injury incidence (3.14/1000 h football) compared to referees at the semi‐professional (1.92/1000 h; p < 0.001) and professional level (1.01/1000 h; p < 0.001). Most referees at the amateur (n = 372; 56.4%) and semi‐professional level (n = 46; 31.3%) conducted warm‐up programs of <10 min, whereas the mean warm‐up duration of professional referees was >11 min (n = 75; 82.4%). Although running and stretching exercises were common among referees during warm‐up, preventive exercises focusing on coordination and trunk muscles were less frequent, especially among amateur referees (jumping: 15.9%; strengthening: 9.7%; balance exercises: 7.9%). Injury incidence was highest at lower amateur levels, which thus has specific need for injury prevention. Appropriate training exercises to prevent injuries of referees were weak at all levels of play, especially the lack of strength, plyometric, and balance exercises in training and warm‐up programs.
“Eurowhite” Conceit, “Dirty White” Ressentment: “Race” in Europe
Authors: Böröcz József
Published: October 2021

This paper offers tools to rethink global critical insights on “race” in the contemporary structural transformation of European identity politics from the perspectives of postcolonial global historical sociologies. “Race” regimes rest on the following background assumptions: (1) The claim that humankind consists of a finite number of disjunct (non‐overlapping) “groups,” “populations” or, in the extreme, “races”; (2) The presumption that it is valid to arrange those “groups,” “populations” or “races” in a system of moral super‐ and subordination; (3) The contention that the resulting moral hierarchy forms a single constant, irrespective of socio‐historical contexts, criteria, or purposes of comparison; (4) Insistence that single, ahistorical/decontextualized hierarchy can be mapped on to body shape, skin pigmentation or other epiphenomenal “features” of “groups,” “populations,” or “races,” such that (5) “Whiteness” is always already at the top, “Blackness” is always already at the bottom of that hierarchy. This paper focuses on the workings of “Whiteness” as a moral‐geopolitical superiority claim, whose defining element is an ahistorical/decontextualized claim, indeed demand, for unconditional global privilege. “Whiteness” is an unfounded, un‐found‐able—hence eminently unstable and contested—identity category. It is a relational category whose core is fixed as a constant, inaugurating the “White” subject’s relations (“superiority”) to its constitutive outside. I introduce two conceptual innovations: “eurowhiteness”—result of an internal structuring of the category of “Whiteness” whose purpose is separating an even more exalted, even more superior “cultural” —“racial” distinction within the universe of “Whiteness” and “dirty whiteness”—to capture the epistemic position of quantitative undervalued, positions within the moral quasi‐community of “White” claims for global privilege, especially in their east European variants.
Factors influencing healthcare seeking in patients with dengue: Systematic review
Authors: Ng Tze Chang , Teo Chin Hai , Toh Jia Yong , Dunn Adam G. , Ng Chirk Jenn , Ang Tan Fong , Abdullah Adina , Syed Ayeshah , Lim Hooi Min , Yin Kathleen , Liew Chee Sun
Published: October 2021

Objective

Delays in seeking healthcare for dengue are associated with poor health outcomes. Despite this, the factors influencing such delays remain unclear, rendering interventions to improve healthcare seeking for dengue ineffective. This systematic review aimed to synthesise the factors influencing healthcare seeking of patients with dengue and form a comprehensive framework.

Methods

This review included both qualitative and quantitative studies. Studies were obtained by searching five databases, contacting field experts and performing backward reference searches. The best‐fit meta‐synthesis approach was used during data synthesis, where extracted data were fitted into the social‐ecological model. Sub‐analyses were conducted to identify the commonly reported factors and their level of statistical significance.

Results

Twenty studies were selected for meta‐synthesis. Eighteen factors influencing healthcare seeking in dengue were identified and categorised under four domains: individual (11 factors), interpersonal (one factor), organisational (four factors) and community (two factors). The most reported factors were knowledge of dengue, access to healthcare, quality of health service and resource availability. Overall, more barriers to dengue health seeking than facilitators were found. History of dengue infection and having knowledge of dengue were found to be ambiguous as they both facilitated and hindered dengue healthcare seeking. Contrary to common belief, women were less likely to seek help for dengue than men.

Conclusions

The factors affecting dengue healthcare‐seeking behaviour are diverse, can be ambiguous and are found across multiple social‐ecological levels. Understanding these complexities is essential for the development of effective interventions to improve dengue healthcare‐seeking behaviour.
Profound architectural and functional readjustments of the secretory pathway in decidualization of endometrial stromal cells
Authors: Anelli Tiziana , Dalla Torre Marco , Borini Elena , Mangini Elisabetta , Ulisse Adele , Semino Claudia , Sitia Roberto , Panina‐Bordignon Paola
Published: October 2021

Certain cell types must expand their exocytic pathway to guarantee efficiency and fidelity of protein secretion. A spectacular case is offered by decidualizing human endometrial stromal cells (EnSCs). In the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle, progesterone stimulation induces proliferating EnSCs to differentiate into professional secretors releasing proteins essential for efficient blastocyst implantation. Here, we describe the architectural rearrangements of the secretory pathway of a human EnSC line (TERT‐immortalized human endometrial stromal cells (T‐HESC)). As in primary cells, decidualization entails proliferation arrest and the coordinated expansion of the entire secretory pathway without detectable activation of unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways. Decidualization proceeds also in the absence of ascorbic acid, an essential cofactor for collagen biogenesis, despite also the secretion of some proteins whose folding does not depend on vitamin C is impaired. However, even in these conditions, no overt UPR induction can be detected. Morphometric analyses reveal that the exocytic pathway does not increase relatively to the volume of the cell. Thus, differently from other cell types, abundant production is guaranteed by a coordinated increase of the cell size following arrest of proliferation.
Editorial: Geography in the world
Authors: McFarlane Colin
Published: October 2021

This editorial introduces a new initiative at Transactions, “Geography in the World,” which engages with some of the challenges and opportunities of the discipline today. It does so by staging a set of reflections from Geographers working in different contexts across the world. The editorial introduces the first collection gathered in this issue, and discusses some of the key themes posed by the contributions and the wider initiative. Transactions invites further contributions – as short commentaries or full papers – to “Geography in the World” from authors based in different national contexts.
Performances of care: Questioning relationship‐building and international student recruitment
Authors: Beech Suzanne E.
Published: October 2021

This paper analyses how performances of care are a critical feature within the international student recruitment process through an investigation of three distinctive geographical encounters: caring for students; supporting third‐party recruiters; and acting collegially. Caring and the recognition of students as emotional beings is often cited as overlooked within internationalisation agendas brought about by the neoliberalised higher education system. This paper shows how performances of caring are mobilised as part of this as an attempt to secure international student enrolments. International students are a critical income stream in the university sector and, within the UK, higher education is a major export industry. However, growing competition from new markets, limited longer‐term migration prospects, and evidence that international students are primarily viewed as cash cows, means that it is ever more difficult to recruit these students. This paper uses qualitative interviews with international office staff based at 10 UK higher education institutions together with observational research at recruitment events in Hong Kong in 2017 to offer critical and as yet unresearched insights into this aspect of the student recruitment process. It questions the validity of these caring practices and whether the university can ever be a “caring” entity if wider policy agendas are focused on the marketised and the neoliberal.
Clinical outcomes of double pelvic osteotomies in eight dogs with hip dysplasia aged 10–28 months
Authors: Petazzoni Massimo , Tamburro Roberto
Published: October 2021

Objective

To report the short‐term outcome of double pelvic osteotomy (DPO) in dogs with canine hip dysplasia ≥10 months of age.

Study design

Case series.

Animals or sample population

Eleven hips in eight dogs aged between 10 to 28 months.

Methods

Dogs clinically affected by hip dysplasia with a hip reduction angle <40°, subluxation angle <25°, dorsal acetabular rim angle between 7.5–25°, and minimal osteoarthritic changes were considered as candidates for DPO. The clinical outcome was subjectively assessed using a lameness score and pain scale upon hip extension. Norberg angle, percentage of the area of the femoral head coverage, percentage of linear femoral head coverage, pelvic width dimensions were measured on pre and postoperative radiographs.

Results

At the 8‐week follow‐up examination, all the dogs had no lameness with no pain upon hip extension. Median Norberg angle increased by 21.8% (p < .01), median percentage of the area of the femoral head coverage increased by 66.7% (p < .01) and percentage of linear femoral head coverage increased by 162.5% (p < .01) 1 year after DPO. No changes to pelvic canal width after DPO were detected.

Conclusion

Double pelvic osteotomy improved joint congruity and clinical signs in dogs affected by hip dysplasia without osteoarthritis that were ≥10 months of age.

Clinical significance (or impact)

Double pelvic osteotomy may be a treatment option for dogs with hip dysplasia ≥10 months of age. A large study assessing long‐term outcomes is indicated.
Histopathology of pig kidney grafts with/without expression of the carbohydrate Neu5Gc in immunosuppressed baboons
Authors: Foote Jeremy B. , Jagdale Abhijit , Yamamoto Takayuki , Hara Hidetaka , Bikhet Mohamed H. , Schuurman Henk‐Jan , Nguyen Huy Q. , Ezzelarab Mohamed , Ayares David , Anderson Douglas J. , Fatima Huma , Eckhoff Devin E. , Cooper David K. C. , Iwase Hayato
Published: October 2021

Introduction

Pigs deficient in three glycosyltransferase enzymes (triple‐knockout [TKO] pigs, that is, not expressing the three known carbohydrate xenoantigens) and expressing ‘protective’ human transgenes are considered a likely source of organs for transplantation into human recipients. Some human sera have no or minimal natural antibody binding to red blood cells (RBCs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from TKO pigs. However, all Old World monkeys exhibit natural antibody binding to TKO pig cells. The xenoantigen targets of Old World monkey natural antibodies are postulated to be carbohydrate moieties exposed when the expression of the carbohydrate N‐glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is deleted. The aim of this study was to compare the survival in baboons and histopathology of renal grafts from pigs that either (a) expressed Neu5Gc (GTKO pigs; Group 1) or (b) did not express Neu5Gc (GTKO/CMAHKO [DKO] or TKO pigs; Group 2).

Methods

Life‐supporting renal transplants were carried out using GTKO (n = 5) or DKO/TKO (n = 5) pig kidneys under an anti‐CD40mAb‐based immunosuppressive regimen.

Results

Group 1 baboons survived longer than Group 2 baboons (median 237 vs. 35 days; mean 196 vs. 57 days; p < 0.07) and exhibited histopathological features of antibody‐mediated rejection in only two kidneys. Group 2 exhibited histopathological features of antibody‐mediated rejection in all five grafts, with IgM and IgG binding to renal interstitial arteries and peritubular capillaries. Rejection‐free survival was significantly longer in Group 1 (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The absence of expression of Neu5Gc on pig kidney grafts is associated with increased binding of baboon antibodies to pig endothelium and reduced graft survival.
SIMD-Optimized Search Over Sorted Data
Authors: Mastripolito Benjamin P , Koskelo Nicholas A. , Weatherred Dylan A. , Pimentel David A , Sheppard Daniel G. , Pietarila Graham Anna , Monroe Laura M , Robey Robert
Published: October 2021

Applications often require a fast, single-threaded search algorithm over sorted data, typical in table-lookup operations. We explore various search algorithms for a large number of search candidates over a relatively small array of logarithmically-distributed sorted data. These include an innovative hash-based search that takes advantage of floating point representation to bin data by the exponent. Algorithms that can be optimized to take advantage of SIMD vector instructions are of particular interest. We then conduct a case study applying our results and analyzing algorithmic performance with the EOSPAC package. EOSPAC is a table look-up library for manipulation and interpolation of SESAME equation-of-state data. Our investigation results in a couple of algorithms with better performance with a best case eight times speedup over the original EOSPAC Hunt-and-Locate implementation. Our techniques should generalize to other instances of search algorithms seeking to get a performance boost from vectorization.
SARS-CoV-2 infection generates tissue-localized immunological memory in humans
Authors: Poon Maya M.L. , Rybkina Ksenia , Kato Yu , Kubota Masaru , Matsumoto Rei , Bloom Nathaniel I. , Zhang Zeli , Hastie Kathryn M. , Grifoni Alba , Weiskopf Daniela , Wells Steven B. , Ural Basak B. , Lam Nora , Szabo Peter A. , Dogra Pranay , Lee Yoon S. , Gray Joshua I. , Bradley Marissa C. , Brusko Maigan A. , Brusko Todd M. , Saphire Erica O. , Connors Thomas J. , Sette Alessandro , Crotty Shane , Farber Donna L.
Published: October 2021

SARS-CoV-2–specific memory cells persist in multiple sites months after infection, particularly in lungs and associated lymph nodes.
Metamorphism of the Sierra de Maz and implications for the tectonic evolution of the MARA terrane
Authors: Tholt Andrew , Mulcahy Sean R. , McClelland William C. , Roeske Sarah M. , Meira Vinícius T. , Webber Patricia , Houlihan Emily , Coble Matthew A. , Vervoort Jeffrey D.
Published: October 2021

The Mesoproterozoic MARA terrane of western South America is a composite igneous-metamorphic complex that is important for Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstructions and the relative positions of Laurentia and Gondwana. The magmatic and detrital records of the MARA terrane are consistent with a Laurentian origin; however, the metamorphic and deformation records lack sufficient detail to constrain the correlation of units within the MARA terrane and the timing and mechanisms of accretion to the Gondwana margin.

Combined regional mapping, metamorphic petrology, and garnet and monazite geochronology from the Sierra de Maz of northwest Argentina suggest that the region preserves four distinct litho-tectonic units of varying age and metamorphic conditions that are separated by middle- to lower-crustal ductile shear zones. The Zaino and Maz Complexes preserve Barrovian metamorphism and ages that are distinct from other units within the region. The Zaino and Maz Complexes both record metamorphism ca. 430–410 Ma and show no evidence of the regional Famatinian orogeny (ca. 490–455 Ma). In addition, the Maz Complex records an earlier granulite facies event at ca. 1.2 Ga. The Taco and Ramaditas Complexes, in contrast, experienced medium- and low-pressure upper amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism, respectively, between ca. 470–460 Ma and were later deformed at ca. 440–420 Ma.

The Maz shear zone that bounds the Zaino and Maz Complexes records sinistral oblique to sinistral deformation between ca. 430–410 Ma. The data suggest that at least some units in the MARA terrane were accreted by translation, and the Gondwana margin of northwest Argentina transitioned from a dominantly convergent margin to a highly oblique margin in the Silurian.
Anonymization of Network Traces Data through Condensation-based Differential Privacy
Authors: Aleroud Ahmed , Yang Fan , Pallaprolu Sai Chaithanya , Chen Zhiyuan , Karabatis George
Published: October 2021

Network traces are considered a primary source of information to researchers, who use them to investigate research problems such as identifying user behavior, analyzing network hierarchy, maintaining network security, classifying packet flows, and much more. However, most organizations are reluctant to share their data with a third party or the public due to privacy concerns. Therefore, data anonymization prior to sharing becomes a convenient solution to both organizations and researchers. Although several anonymization algorithms are available, few of them allow sufficient privacy (organization need), acceptable data utility (researcher need), and efficient data analysis at the same time. This article introduces a condensation-based differential privacy anonymization approach that achieves an improved tradeoff between privacy and utility compared to existing techniques and produces anonymized network trace data that can be shared publicly without lowering its utility value. Our solution also does not incur extra computation overhead for the data analyzer. A prototype system has been implemented, and experiments have shown that the proposed approach preserves privacy and allows data analysis without revealing the original data even when injection attacks are launched against it. When anonymized datasets are given as input to graph-based intrusion detection techniques, they yield almost identical intrusion detection rates as the original datasets with only a negligible impact.
“Los Programadores Debieron Pensarse Como Dos Veces”: Exploring the Intersections of Language, Power, and Technology with Bi/Multilingual Students
Authors: Vogel Sara
Published: October 2021

Critical computing approaches to K-12 computer science education aim to promote justice in computing and the wider world. Despite being intertwined with inequitable power dynamics in computing, issues of linguistic (in)justice have received less attention in critical computing. In this article, I draw on theoretical ideas from sociolinguistics and critical computing to analyze qualitative data collected in computing and technology-integrated language and humanities classes serving emergent bi/multilingual middle school students. Conversations about language, technology, and power were close at hand in focal classrooms, and surfaced in moments when students acted as users and critics of, and tinkerers with, digital tools. Students exercised agency in relation to both technology and language—using their budding understandings of language to question digital tools, and their engagements with tools to challenge traditional language ideologies. I build on past scholarship and the findings of this analysis to argue for the development ofcritical translingual computing education—an approach that would engage especially language-minoritized students in critical computing to build on and affirm their language practices and promote linguistic justice in computer science education, fields, and tools.
Counter-hegemonic Computing: Toward Computer Science Education for Value Generation and Emancipation
Authors: Eglash Ron , Bennett Audrey , Cooke Laquana , Babbitt William , Lachney Michael
Published: October 2021

Students’ lives, both in and out of school, are full of different forms of value. Wealthy students enjoy value in the form of financial capital; their fit to hegemonic social practices; excellent health care and so on. Low-income students, especially those from African American, Native American, and Latinx communities, often lack access to those resources. But there are other forms of value that low-income students do possess. Most examples of what we will call
Counter-Hegemonic Practice (CHP)
in the African American community involve some mixture of Indigenous African heritage, contemporary innovation in the Black community, and other influences. Moving between these value forms and the computing classroom is a non-trivial task, especially if we are to avoid merely using the appearance of culture to attract students. Our objective in this paper is to provide a framework for deeper investigations into the computational potentials for CHP; its potential as a link between education and community development; and a more dignified role for its utilization in the CS classroom. We report on a series of collaborative engagements with CHP, largely focused on African American communities.
Deception in Network Defences Using Unpredictability
Authors: Happa Jassim , Bashford-Rogers Thomas , Van Rensburg Alastair Janse , Goldsmith Michael , Creese Sadie
Published: October 2021

In this article, we propose a novel method that aims to improve upon existing moving-target defences by making them unpredictably reactive using probabilistic decision-making. We postulate that unpredictability can improve network defences in two key capacities: (1) by re-configuring the network in direct response to detected threats, tailored to the current threat and a security posture, and (2) by deceiving adversaries using pseudo-random decision-making (selected from a set of acceptable set of responses), potentially leading to adversary delay and failure. Decisions are performed automatically, based on reported events (e.g.,
Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
alerts), security posture, mission processes, and states of assets. Using this codified form of situational awareness, our system can respond differently to threats each time attacker activity is observed, acting as a barrier to further attacker activities. We demonstrate feasibility with both anomaly- and misuse-based detection alerts, for a historical dataset (playback), and a real-time network simulation where asset-to-mission mappings are known. Our findings suggest that unpredictability yields promise as a new approach to deception in laboratory settings. Further research will be necessary to explore unpredictability in production environments.
“What Happens to the
Raspado
man in a Cash-free Society?”: Teaching and Learning Socially Responsible Computing
Authors: Ryoo Jean J. , Morris Alicia , Margolis Jane
Published: October 2021

The Computer Science for All movement is bringing CS to K-12 classrooms across the nation. At the same time, new technologies created by computer scientists have been reproducing existing inequities that directly impact today's youth, while being “promoted and perceived as more objective or progressive than the discriminatory systems of a previous era” [1, p. 5–6]. Current efforts are being made to expose students to the social impact and ethics of computing at both the K-12 and university-level—which we refer to as
“socially responsible computing” (SRC)
in this paper. Yet there is a lack of research describing what such SRC teaching and learning actively involve and look like, particularly in K-12 classrooms. This paper fills this gap with findings from a research-practice partnership, through a qualitative study in an Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles classroom enrolling low-income Latino/a/x students from a large urban community. The findings illustrate 1) details of teaching practice and student learning during discussions about SRC; 2) the impact these SRC experiences have on student engagement with CS; 3) a teacher's reflections on key considerations for effective SRC pedagogy; and 4) why students’ perspectives and agency must be centered through SRC in computing education.
Domain-Specific Language Model Pretraining for Biomedical Natural Language Processing
Authors: Gu Yu , Tinn Robert , Cheng Hao , Lucas Michael , Usuyama Naoto , Liu Xiaodong , Naumann Tristan , Gao Jianfeng , Poon Hoifung
Published: October 2021

Pretraining large neural language models, such as BERT, has led to impressive gains on many natural language processing (NLP) tasks. However, most pretraining efforts focus on general domain corpora, such as newswire and Web. A prevailing assumption is that even domain-specific pretraining can benefit by starting from general-domain language models. In this article, we challenge this assumption by showing that for domains with abundant unlabeled text, such as biomedicine, pretraining language models from scratch results in substantial gains over continual pretraining of general-domain language models. To facilitate this investigation, we compile a comprehensive biomedical NLP benchmark from publicly available datasets. Our experiments show that domain-specific pretraining serves as a solid foundation for a wide range of biomedical NLP tasks, leading to new state-of-the-art results across the board. Further, in conducting a thorough evaluation of modeling choices, both for pretraining and task-specific fine-tuning, we discover that some common practices are unnecessary with BERT models, such as using complex tagging schemes in named entity recognition. To help accelerate research in biomedical NLP, we have released our state-of-the-art pretrained and task-specific models for the community, and created a leaderboard featuring our BLURB benchmark (short for Biomedical Language Understanding & Reasoning Benchmark) at
https://aka.ms/BLURB
.
On Secure E-Voting over Blockchain
Authors: Mccorry Patrick , Mehrnezhad Maryam , Toreini Ehsan , Shahandashti Siamak F. , Hao Feng
Published: October 2021

This article discusses secure methods to conduct e-voting over a blockchain in three different settings: decentralized voting, centralized remote voting, and centralized polling station voting. These settings cover almost all voting scenarios that occur in practice. A proof-of-concept implementation for decentralized voting over Ethereum’s blockchain is presented. This work demonstrates the suitable use of a blockchain not just as a public bulletin board but, more importantly, as a trustworthy computing platform that enforces the correct execution of the voting protocol in a publicly verifiable manner. We also discuss scaling up a blockchain-based voting application for national elections. We show that for national-scale elections the major verifiability problems can be addressed without having to depend on any blockchain. However, a blockchain remains a viable option to realize a public bulletin board, which has the advantage of being a “preventive” measure to stop retrospective changes on previously published records as opposed to a “detective” measure like the use of mirror websites. CCS Concepts: • 
Security and privacy
;
Supporting Personalized Health Care With Social Media Analytics: An Application to Hypothyroidism
Authors: Grani Giorgio , Lenzi Andrea , Velardi Paola
Published: October 2021

Social media analytics can considerably contribute to understanding health conditions beyond clinical practice, by capturing patients’ discussions and feelings about their quality of life in relation to disease treatments. In this article, we propose a methodology to support a detailed analysis of the therapeutic experience in patients affected by a specific disease, as it emerges from health forums. As a use case to test the proposed methodology, we analyze the experience of patients affected by hypothyroidism and their reactions to standard therapies. Our approach is based on a data extraction and filtering pipeline, a novel topic detection model named
Generative Text Compression with Agglomerative Clustering Summarization
(
GTCACS
), and an in-depth data analytic process. We advance the state of the art on automated detection of
adverse drug reactions
(
ADRs
) since, rather than simply detecting and classifying positive or negative reactions to a therapy, we are capable of providing a fine characterization of patients along different dimensions, such as co-morbidities, symptoms, and emotional states.
Randomized Local Network Computing: Derandomization Beyond Locally Checkable Labelings
Authors: Feuilloley Laurent , Fraigniaud Pierre
Published: October 2021

We carry on investigating the line of research questioning the power of randomization for the design of distributed algorithms. In their seminal paper, Naor and Stockmeyer [STOC 1993] established that, in the context of network computing in which all nodes execute the same algorithm in parallel, any
construction
task that can be solved locally by a randomized Monte-Carlo algorithm can also be solved locally by a deterministic algorithm. This result, however, holds only for distributed tasks such that the correctness of their solutions can be locally
checked
by a deterministic algorithm. In this article, we extend the result of Naor and Stockmeyer to a wider class of tasks. Specifically, we prove that the same derandomization result holds for every task such that the correctness of their solutions can be locally checked using a 2-sided error randomized Monte-Carlo algorithm.