bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Community-Derived Recommendations for Improving Gender Affirmation of Black and Latine Transgender/Nonbinary Youth
Authors: Vance Stanley R , Venegas Luz , Johnson Jack , Sinha Anoushka , Chaphekar Anita V , Sevelius Jae
Published: July 2024

Background

Gender affirmation is a process by which gender-diverse individuals are supported in their gender identity. Parents are critical in how gender-diverse youth, including Black and Latine transgender/nonbinary youth (BLTY), access various forms of gender affirmation—for example, social and medical transition. Culturally relevant supports are needed to bolster how BLTY and their parents navigate gender affirmation.

Purpose

This study aimed to explore recommendations for aiding BLTY and parents in navigating the youth’s gender journey.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of BLTY, BLTY, and BLT young adults (BLTYAs) recruited from clinics, community organizations, and social media. Interviews focused on gender affirmation and recommendations to promote BLTY’s gender affirmation. Primary and secondary analysts coded transcripts using a priori and emergent codes. For this analysis, excerpts pertaining to recommended supports were analyzed to identify themes.

Results

Ten parents of BLTY, 10 BLTY (14–18 years), and 23 BLTYAs (18–30 years) participated. Participants provided recommendations at different socio-ecological levels. On the societal level, participants recommended improvements in media representation of racial and ethnic minority gender-diverse individuals. For organizations, participants recommended more clinicians who shared minoritized identities, clinicians knowledgeable in gender-affirming care, affordability of gender-affirming services, and school-based education regarding gender diversity. On interpersonal/individual levels, they suggested culturally informed peer support among BLTY and parents, including support groups, peer mentors, and camps with individuals who share their minoritized identities.

Conclusions

Participants provided salient insights to supporting gender affirmation of BLTY, which can inform intervention development for BLTY and their families.
Epic Theatre as a Form of Platonic Drama
Authors: Gürsoy İhsan
Published: July 2024

Given Aristotle’s response to Plato’s views by positing a cathartic function for tragedy, it is understandable that an author opposing him through the development of a non-Aristotelian theatrical theory would spontaneously draw closer to Platonic thought. However, Brecht’s stance goes beyond this spontaneous proximity in this debate. This article challenges those critics who have overlooked the direct relationship between Plato and Brecht, and it offers a reasoned decision on Walter Benjamin’s verdict that epic theatre is a form of Platonic drama. Moreover, it argues that Brecht’s endeavour aimed to create a theatre that remained impervious to Plato’s critiques. The article analyzes Brecht’s achievements in epic theatre as an expression of disenchantment, demonstrating how, through the techniques he developed, he radically dismantled the magical effect that was essential to Aristotelian theatre.
AttABseq: an attention-based deep learning prediction method for antigen–antibody binding affinity changes based on protein sequences
Authors: Jin Ruofan , Ye Qing , Wang Jike , Cao Zheng , Jiang Dejun , Wang Tianyue , Kang Yu , Xu Wanting , Hsieh Chang-Yu , Hou Tingjun
Published: July 2024

The optimization of therapeutic antibodies through traditional techniques, such as candidate screening via hybridoma or phage display, is resource-intensive and time-consuming. In recent years, computational and artificial intelligence-based methods have been actively developed to accelerate and improve the development of therapeutic antibodies. In this study, we developed an end-to-end sequence-based deep learning model, termed AttABseq, for the predictions of the antigen–antibody binding affinity changes connected with antibody mutations. AttABseq is a highly efficient and generic attention-based model by utilizing diverse antigen–antibody complex sequences as the input to predict the binding affinity changes of residue mutations. The assessment on the three benchmark datasets illustrates that AttABseq is 120% more accurate than other sequence-based models in terms of the Pearson correlation coefficient between the predicted and experimental binding affinity changes. Moreover, AttABseq also either outperforms or competes favorably with the structure-based approaches. Furthermore, AttABseq consistently demonstrates robust predictive capabilities across a diverse array of conditions, underscoring its remarkable capacity for generalization across a wide spectrum of antigen-antibody complexes. It imposes no constraints on the quantity of altered residues, rendering it particularly applicable in scenarios where crystallographic structures remain unavailable. The attention-based interpretability analysis indicates that the causal effects of point mutations on antibody–antigen binding affinity changes can be visualized at the residue level, which might assist automated antibody sequence optimization. We believe that AttABseq provides a fiercely competitive answer to therapeutic antibody optimization.
Detecting tipping points of complex diseases by network information entropy
Authors: Lyu Chengshang , Chen Lingxi , Liu Xiaoping
Published: July 2024

The progression of complex diseases often involves abrupt and non-linear changes characterized by sudden shifts that trigger critical transformations. Identifying these critical states or tipping points is crucial for understanding disease progression and developing effective interventions. To address this challenge, we have developed a model-free method named Network Information Entropy of Edges (NIEE). Leveraging dynamic network biomarkers, sample-specific networks, and information entropy theories, NIEE can detect critical states or tipping points in diverse data types, including bulk, single-sample expression data. By applying NIEE to real disease datasets, we successfully identified critical predisease stages and tipping points before disease onset. Our findings underscore NIEE’s potential to enhance comprehension of complex disease development.
Comprehensive single-cell RNA-seq analysis using deep interpretable generative modeling guided by biological hierarchy knowledge
Authors: Chen Hegang , Lu Yuyin , Dai Zhiming , Yang Yuedong , Li Qing , Rao Yanghui
Published: July 2024

Recent advances in microfluidics and sequencing technologies allow researchers to explore cellular heterogeneity at single-cell resolution. In recent years, deep learning frameworks, such as generative models, have brought great changes to the analysis of transcriptomic data. Nevertheless, relying on the potential space of these generative models alone is insufficient to generate biological explanations. In addition, most of the previous work based on generative models is limited to shallow neural networks with one to three layers of latent variables, which may limit the capabilities of the models. Here, we propose a deep interpretable generative model called d-scIGM for single-cell data analysis. d-scIGM combines sawtooth connectivity techniques and residual networks, thereby constructing a deep generative framework. In addition, d-scIGM incorporates hierarchical prior knowledge of biological domains to enhance the interpretability of the model. We show that d-scIGM achieves excellent performance in a variety of fundamental tasks, including clustering, visualization, and pseudo-temporal inference. Through topic pathway studies, we found that d-scIGM-learned topics are better enriched for biologically meaningful pathways compared to the baseline models. Furthermore, the analysis of drug response data shows that d-scIGM can capture drug response patterns in large-scale experiments, which provides a promising way to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms. Lastly, in the melanoma dataset, d-scIGM accurately identified different cell types and revealed multiple melanin-related driver genes and key pathways, which are critical for understanding disease mechanisms and drug development.
Integrating spatial transcriptomics and bulk RNA-seq: predicting gene expression with enhanced resolution through graph attention networks
Authors: Baul Sudipto , Tanvir Ahmed Khandakar , Jiang Qibing , Wang Guangyu , Li Qian , Yong Jeongsik , Zhang Wei
Published: July 2024

Spatial transcriptomics data play a crucial role in cancer research, providing a nuanced understanding of the spatial organization of gene expression within tumor tissues. Unraveling the spatial dynamics of gene expression can unveil key insights into tumor heterogeneity and aid in identifying potential therapeutic targets. However, in many large-scale cancer studies, spatial transcriptomics data are limited, with bulk RNA-seq and corresponding Whole Slide Image (WSI) data being more common (e.g. TCGA project). To address this gap, there is a critical need to develop methodologies that can estimate gene expression at near-cell (spot) level resolution from existing WSI and bulk RNA-seq data. This approach is essential for reanalyzing expansive cohort studies and uncovering novel biomarkers that have been overlooked in the initial assessments. In this study, we present STGAT (Spatial Transcriptomics Graph Attention Network), a novel approach leveraging Graph Attention Networks (GAT) to discern spatial dependencies among spots. Trained on spatial transcriptomics data, STGAT is designed to estimate gene expression profiles at spot-level resolution and predict whether each spot represents tumor or non-tumor tissue, especially in patient samples where only WSI and bulk RNA-seq data are available. Comprehensive tests on two breast cancer spatial transcriptomics datasets demonstrated that STGAT outperformed existing methods in accurately predicting gene expression. Further analyses using the TCGA breast cancer dataset revealed that gene expression estimated from tumor-only spots (predicted by STGAT) provides more accurate molecular signatures for breast cancer sub-type and tumor stage prediction, and also leading to improved patient survival and disease-free analysis. Availability: Code is available at https://github.com/compbiolabucf/STGAT.
Design patterns for the construction of computational biological models
Authors: Herajy Mostafa , Liu Fei , Heiner Monika
Published: July 2024

Computational biological models have proven to be an invaluable tool for understanding and predicting the behaviour of many biological systems. While it may not be too challenging for experienced researchers to construct such models from scratch, it is not a straightforward task for early stage researchers. Design patterns are well-known techniques widely applied in software engineering as they provide a set of typical solutions to common problems in software design. In this paper, we collect and discuss common patterns that are usually used during the construction and execution of computational biological models. We adopt Petri nets as a modelling language to provide a visual illustration of each pattern; however, the ideas presented in this paper can also be implemented using other modelling formalisms. We provide two case studies for illustration purposes and show how these models can be built up from the presented smaller modules. We hope that the ideas discussed in this paper will help many researchers in building their own future models.
Feasibility and flexibility of a novel multi-dose level avoidance reirradiation technical methodology in recurrent head and neck cancer
Authors: Hague Thomas , Lad Rikki , Chiu Kevin
Published: July 2024

Reirradiation in recurrent head and neck cancer presents a considerable clinical challenge in radiation oncology. Though technically feasible due to advanced treatment delivery and planning techniques, confidence in delivering such treatments is not universal and patient selection is critical. Radiotherapy planning in reirradiation cases presents a complex technical challenge owing to the often-considerable overlap of dose from a patient’s first treatment plan. This technical note describes three clinical case studies of recurrent head and neck cancer and the technical details of how their multidose level reirradiation was planned. Each patient had confirmed recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma and was referred for reirradiation to a previously irradiated area. The clinical details for each patient are provided before a detailed description of the treatment planning methodology is presented, which specifies how to approach such complex overlapping treatment volumes. The patient outcomes are described and a discussion is presented outlining the clinical challenges associated with these cases and the variables that must be accounted for when considering patients for potential reirradiation.
Multicentre randomized clinical trial on robot-assisted versus video-assisted thoracoscopic oesophagectomy (REVATE trial)
Authors: Chao Yin-Kai , Li Zhigang , Jiang Hongjing , Wen Yu-Wen , Chiu Chen-Hung , Li Bin , Shang Xiaobin , Fang Tuan-Jen , Yang Yang , Yue Jie , Zhang Xiaobin , Zhang Chen , Liu Yun-Hen
Published: July 2024

Background

Surgery for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma involves dissecting lymph nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerve. This is technically challenging and injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve may lead to vocal cord palsy, which increases the risk of pulmonary complications. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of robot-assisted oesophagectomy (RAO) versus video-assisted thoracoscopic oesophagectomy (VAO) for dissection of lymph nodes along the left RLN.

Methods

Patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were scheduled for minimally invasive McKeown oesophagectomy were allocated randomly to RAO or VAO, stratified by centre. The primary endpoint was the success rate of left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node dissection. Success was defined as the removal of at least one lymph node without causing nerve damage lasting longer than 6 months. Secondary endpoints were perioperative and oncological outcomes.

Results

From June 2018 to March 2022, 212 patients from 3 centres in Asia were randomized, and 203 were included in the analysis (RAO group 103; VAO group 100). Successful left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node dissection was achieved in 88.3% of the RAO group and 69% of the VAO group (P < 0.001). The rate of removal of at least one lymph node according to pathology was 94.2% for the RAO and 86% for the VAO group (P = 0.051). At 1 week after surgery, the RAO group had a lower incidence of left recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy than the VAO group (20.4 versus 34%; P = 0.029); permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy rates at 6 months were 5.8 and 20% respectively (P = 0.003). More mediastinal lymph nodes were dissected in the RAO group (median 16 (i.q.r. 12–22) versus 14 (10–20); P = 0.035). Postoperative complication rates were comparable between the two groups and there were no in-hospital deaths.

Conclusion

In patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, RAO leads to more successful left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph node dissection than VAO, including a lower rate of short- and long-term recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Registration number: NCT03713749 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Osmia lignaria (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) increase pollination of Washington sweet cherry and pear crops
Authors: McCabe Lindsie M , Boyle Natalie K , Pitts-Singer Theresa L
Published: July 2024

Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apis), honey bees, are the most widely used managed crop pollinators. However, their high rental cost and uncertain availability for North American orchard crops have motivated growers to explore alternative pollination options. We examined whether adding solitary, spring-flying Osmia lignaria Say (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), blue orchard bees, as co-pollinators with A. mellifera in Washington sweet cherry and pear orchards enhances fruit set and yield compared to the use of A. mellifera alone. We added managed O. lignaria to orchard sites where A. mellifera hives were already present. Fruit set, fruit yield, and O. lignaria reproduction at O. lignaria-supplemented sites were compared to nearby, paired sites pollinated only by A. mellifera (3 paired cherry and 3 paired pear sites). For both crops, the addition of O. lignaria significantly increased fruit set but did not yield at harvest. Microscopic inspection of pollen grains from O. lignaria nest cell provisions confirmed that O. lignaria primarily visited orchard flowers. Mean retention of O. lignaria in cherry orchards was slightly higher (65%) than O. lignaria retention reported in other orchard crops (30%–60%). However, retention in pear orchards was much lower (≤20%). These results show that supplementing hives with O. lignaria in Washington spring orchard crops can increase overall pollination, but that trees fail to bear developing fruit to maturity. The strategy of using co-pollinators, O. lignaria and A. mellifera, in US orchards may act as “pollination insurance” when A. mellifera hives are in low supply or when the weather is not amenable for A. mellifera flight during the bloom period.
Carotid plaque score is associated with 10-year major adverse cardiovascular events in low–intermediate risk patients referred to a general cardiology community clinic
Authors: Matangi Murray F , Hétu Marie-France , Armstrong David W J , Shellenberger Jonas , Brouillard Daniel , Baker Josh , Johnson Ana , Grubic Nicholas , Willms Hannah , Johri Amer M
Published: July 2024

Aims

Atherosclerotic carotid plaque assessments have not been integrated into routine clinical practice due to the time-consuming nature of both imaging and measurements. Plaque score, Rotterdam method, is simple, quick, and only requires 4–6 B-mode ultrasound images. The aim was to assess the benefit of plaque score in a community cardiology clinic to identify patients at risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE).

Methods and results

Patients ≥ 40 years presenting for risk assessment were given a carotid ultrasound. Exclusions included a history of vascular disease or MACE and being >75 years. Kaplan–Meier curves and hazard ratios were performed. The left and right common carotid artery (CCA), bulb, and internal carotid artery were given 1 point per segment if plaque was present (plaque scores 0–6). Administrative data holdings at ICES were used for 10-year event follow-up. Of 8472 patients, 60% were females (n = 5121). Plaque was more prevalent in males (64% vs. 53.9%; P < 0.0001). The 10-year MACE cumulative incidence estimate was 6.37% with 276 events (males 6.9% vs. females 6.0%; P = 0.004). Having both maximal CCA intima media thickness < 1.00 mm and plaque score = 0 was associated with less events. A plaque score < 2 was associated with a low 10-year event rate (4.1%) compared with 2–4 (8.7%) and 5–6 (20%).

Conclusion

A plaque score ≥ 2 can re-stratify low–intermediate risk patients to a higher risk for events. Plaque score may be used as a quick assessment in a cardiology office to guide treatment management of patients.
Multimodality imaging for the evaluation and management of patients with long-term (durable) left ventricular assist devices
Authors: Cameli Matteo , Aboumarie Hatem Soliman , Pastore Maria Concetta , Caliskan Kadir , Cikes Maja , Garbi Madalina , Lim Hoong Sern , Muraru Denisa , Mandoli Giulia Elena , Pergola Valeria , Plein Sven , Pontone Gianluca , Soliman Osama I , Maurovich-Horvat Pal , Donal Erwan , Cosyns Bernard , Petersen Steffen E , Antonopoulos Alexios , Bohbot Yohann , Dweck Marc , Garg Pankaj , Gimelli Alessia , Stankovic Ivan , Uusitalo Valtteri
Published: July 2024

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are gaining increasing importance as therapeutic strategy in advanced heart failure (HF), not only as bridge to recovery or to transplant but also as destination therapy. Even though long-term LVADs are considered a precious resource to expand the treatment options and improve clinical outcome of these patients, these are limited by peri-operative and post-operative complications, such as device-related infections, haemocompatibility-related events, device mis-positioning, and right ventricular failure. For this reason, a precise pre-operative, peri-operative, and post-operative evaluation of these patients is crucial for the selection of LVAD candidates and the management LVAD recipients. The use of different imaging modalities offers important information to complete the study of patients with LVADs in each phase of their assessment, with peculiar advantages/disadvantages, ideal application, and reference parameters for each modality. This clinical consensus statement sought to guide the use of multimodality imaging for the evaluation of patients with advanced HF undergoing LVAD implantation.
Measuring Social Benefits of Media Coverage: How Coverage of Climate Change Affects Behaviour
Authors: Beattie Graham
Published: July 2024

It has been well documented that beliefs and actions can be affected by media coverage. In this paper, I study the effect of newspaper coverage of climate change on individual driving behaviour. I construct a measure of the tone of coverage based on comparisons between environmental and sceptical texts. I then use this measure, along with detailed information about driving patterns, to test whether households’ travel decisions are affected by the coverage that they have recently received. I find that coverage of climate change that uses an environmental tone causes households to make environmentally friendly travel decisions, particularly when good substitutes are available. Since driving is a major source of carbon emissions, these results illustrate a potential externality of media coverage.
Radio-miRs: a comprehensive view of radioresistance-related microRNAs
Authors: Pedroza-Torres Abraham , Romero-Córdoba Sandra L , Montaño Sarita , Peralta-Zaragoza Oscar , Vélez-Uriza Dora Emma , Arriaga-Canon Cristian , Guajardo-Barreto Xiadani , Bautista-Sánchez Diana , Sosa-León Rodrigo , Hernández-González Olivia , Díaz-Chávez José , Alvarez-Gómez Rosa María , Herrera Luis A
Published: July 2024

Radiotherapy is a key treatment option for a wide variety of human tumors, employed either alone or alongside with other therapeutic interventions. Radiotherapy uses high-energy particles to destroy tumor cells, blocking their ability to divide and proliferate. The effectiveness of radiotherapy is due to genetic and epigenetic factors that determine how tumor cells respond to ionizing radiation. These factors contribute to the establishment of resistance to radiotherapy, which increases the risk of poor clinical prognosis of patients. Although the mechanisms by which tumor cells induce radioresistance are unclear, evidence points out several contributing factors including the overexpression of DNA repair systems, increased levels of reactive oxygen species, alterations in the tumor microenvironment, and enrichment of cancer stem cell populations. In this context, dysregulation of microRNAs or miRNAs, critical regulators of gene expression, may influence how tumors respond to radiation. There is increasing evidence that miRNAs may act as sensitizers or enhancers of radioresistance, regulating key processes such as the DNA damage response and the cell death signaling pathway. Furthermore, expression and activity of miRNAs have shown informative value in overcoming radiotherapy and long-term radiotoxicity, revealing their potential as biomarkers. In this review, we will discuss the molecular mechanisms associated with the response to radiotherapy and highlight the central role of miRNAs in regulating the molecular mechanisms responsible for cellular radioresistance. We will also review radio-miRs, radiotherapy-related miRNAs, either as sensitizers or enhancers of radioresistance that hold promise as biomarkers or pharmacological targets to sensitize radioresistant cells.
Consideration of T-Cell Profile in the Examination of Statin Efficacy in Inflammatory Diseases, Neurodegeneration, and Neurocognitive Performance
Authors: Hintermayer Matthew A , Mendelson Daniel , Byun Jae Hyun
Published: July 2024

Statins are a cornerstone in the medical management of cardiovascular disease, yet their efficacy varies greatly between individuals. In this commentary, we outline the evidence for the role of CD4+CD28null T-cell expansion as a critical moderator of the effects of statins in preventing cardiovascular events via the reduction of pathological inflammation. Given this relationship, we argue that T-cell profiles should be considered as a patient characteristic in clinical and preclinical studies examining statin efficacy in other age- and inflammation-related pathologies. We discuss the implications this may have for studies of statin use in numerous disease processes—notably, dementia and neurocognitive dysfunction—and the potential for T-cell profiles to be used as a prognosticator for statin efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Weakly supervised classification of acoustic echo-traces in a multispecific pelagic environment
Authors: Lekanda Aitor , Boyra Guillermo , Louzao Maite
Published: July 2024

In trawl-acoustic methods, machine learning can objectively assign species composition to echo-traces, providing a reproducible approach for improving biomass assessments and the study of schooling behaviour. However, the automatic classification of schools in multispecies environments is challenging due to the difficulty of obtaining ground truth information for training. We propose a weakly supervised approach to classify schools into seven classes using catch proportions as probabilities. A balancing strategy was used to address high dominance of some species while preserving species mixtures. As the composition of schools from multispecific catches was unknown, model performance was evaluated at the school and haul level. Accuracy was 63.5% for schools from single-species catches or those identified by experts, and a 20.1% error was observed when comparing predicted and actual species proportions at the haul level. Positional and energetic descriptors were highly relevant, while morphological characteristics showed low discriminative power. The highest accuracies were obtained for juvenile anchovy and Muller’s pearslide, while sardine was the most challenging to classify. Our multioutput approach allowed the introduction of a metric to assess the confidence of the model in classifying each school. As a result, we introduced a method to classify echo-traces considering prediction reliability.
Adaptive output-feedback trajectory tracking for a class of uncertain second-order linear systems
Authors: Aguilar-Ibanez Carlos , Acosta José Ángel , S Suarez-Castanon Miguel , Saldivar Belem
Published: July 2024

In this work, we present a novel design of an explicit control strategy to solve the trajectory tracking problem for an uncertain second-order linear system with only partial availability of the state. The system parameters are unknown, and an additive constant disturbance is considered. Despite the apparent simplicity of this system, the solution requires an intricate combination of available methodologies. The proposed approach corresponds to a Lyapunov-based adaptive control strategy consisting of a reduced-order observer, a dynamic slave system and an adaptive controller with dynamic extension. Simulation results are provided to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive control strategy in accomplishing the regulation and trajectory tracking problems.
Stability analysis of LTV systems via gain and phase
Authors: Si Na , Yu Tianqiu
Published: July 2024

This paper considers the feedback stability analysis of infinite-dimensional discrete-time linear time-varying systems with combined gain and phase information. The framework considers a system to be a causal linear operator described by a lower triangular infinite-dimensional complex matrix. For $r$-sectorial operators, we first derive a sufficient condition for the invertibility of $I+AB$ using the gain and phase information. Finally, we use this invertibility criterion to give a sufficient condition for feedback stability of $r$-sectorial systems.
Public comfort with the use of ChatGPT and expectations for healthcare
Authors: Platt Jodyn , Nong Paige , Smiddy Renée , Hamasha Reema , Carmona Clavijo Gloria , Richardson Joshua , Kardia Sharon L R
Published: July 2024

Objectives

To examine whether comfort with the use of ChatGPT in society differs from comfort with other uses of AI in society and to identify whether this comfort and other patient characteristics such as trust, privacy concerns, respect, and tech-savviness are associated with expected benefit of the use of ChatGPT for improving health.

Materials and Methods

We analyzed an original survey of U.S. adults using the NORC AmeriSpeak Panel (n = 1787). We conducted paired t-tests to assess differences in comfort with AI applications. We conducted weighted univariable regression and 2 weighted logistic regression models to identify predictors of expected benefit with and without accounting for trust in the health system.

Results

Comfort with the use of ChatGPT in society is relatively low and different from other, common uses of AI. Comfort was highly associated with expecting benefit. Other statistically significant factors in multivariable analysis (not including system trust) included feeling respected and low privacy concerns. Females, younger adults, and those with higher levels of education were less likely to expect benefits in models with and without system trust, which was positively associated with expecting benefits (P = 1.6 × 10−11). Tech-savviness was not associated with the outcome.

Discussion

Understanding the impact of large language models (LLMs) from the patient perspective is critical to ensuring that expectations align with performance as a form of calibrated trust that acknowledges the dynamic nature of trust.

Conclusion

Including measures of system trust in evaluating LLMs could capture a range of issues critical for ensuring patient acceptance of this technological innovation.
Glucosinolate Hydrolytic Products—A Multi-Arm Warrior
Authors: Arora Rohit
Published: July 2024

Background

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are the most controversial yet ignored class of phytochemicals. These are the middleman phytochemicals that have low bioactivity. But once there is any injury in the plant—manmade, insect caused, or natural—magic happens. The compound is broken down into smaller phytochemicals referred to as glucosinolate hydrolytic products (GHPs; nitriles, isothiocyanates [ITCs], and thiocyanates). These hydrolytic products are like a showstopper of the fashion industry. These compounds have some of the highest bioactivity in nature. They have been associated with a varied range of bioactivities (anticancer, antioxidant, insecticidal, weedicide, etc.) by researchers across the globe.

Objective

The objective of the current article is to provide a critical review to highlight some of the important bioactivities of these ignored compounds and for promoting researchers to at least give these compounds a chance—to glow in the dark.

Methods

This review has been written from analysis of accessible literature, mostly from the last 5 years (2018–2023), with some critically essential exceptions.

Results

The review highlighted a brief background of GSLs and its hydrolysis. Efforts were made to include most of the biological properties of the compound. Special emphasis has been given to the anticancer activities of the compound with details of the involved mechanism.

Conclusions

Considering the wide array of bioactivities of GHPs, it is essential to consider it as a prospective medicinal compound. More GHPs—in a similar manner as sulforaphane—can be proceeded to phase trials.

Highlights

The mechanistic pathway for production of GHPs and related biological activities have been discussed in detail. The bioactivities have been further explained using the involved mechanism.
Macrophages modulate mesenchymal stem cell function via tumor necrosis factor alpha in tooth extraction model
Authors: Mun Aung Ye , Akiyama Kentaro , Wang Ziyi , Zhang Jiewen , Kitagawa Wakana , Kohno Teisaku , Tagashira Ryuji , Ishibashi Kei , Matsunaga Naoya , Zou Tingling , Ono Mitsuaki , Kuboki Takuo
Published: July 2024

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and macrophages collaboratively contribute to bone regeneration after injury. However, detailed mechanisms underlying the interaction between MSCs and inflammatory macrophages (M1) remain unclear. A macrophage-depleted tooth extraction model was generated in 5-wk-old female C57BL/6J mice using clodronate liposome (12.5 mg/kg/mouse, intraperitoneally) or saline injection (control) before maxillary first molar extraction. Mice were sacrificed on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 after tooth extraction (n = 4). Regenerated bone volume evaluation of tooth extraction socket (TES) and histochemical analysis of CD80+M1, CD206+M2 (anti-inflammatory macrophages), PDGFRα+MSC, and TNF-α+ cells were performed. In vitro, isolated MSCs with or without TNF-α stimulation (10 ng/mL, 24 h, n = 3) were bulk RNA-sequenced (RNA-Seq) to identify TNF-α stimulation-specific MSC transcriptomes. Day 7 micro-CT and HE staining revealed significantly lower mean bone volume (clodronate vs control: 0.01 mm3 vs 0.02 mm3, p<.0001) and mean percentage of regenerated bone area per total TES in clodronate group (41.97% vs 54.03%, p<.0001). Clodronate group showed significant reduction in mean number of CD80+, TNF-α+, PDGFRα+, and CD80+TNF-α+ cells on day 5 (306.5 vs 558.8, p<.0001; 280.5 vs 543.8, p<.0001; 365.0 vs 633.0, p<.0001, 29.0 vs 42.5, p<.0001), while these cells recovered significantly on day 7 (493.3 vs 396.0, p=.0004; 479.3 vs 384.5, p=.0008; 593.0 vs 473.0, p=.0010, 41.0 vs 32.5, p=.0003). RNA-Seq analysis showed that 15 genes (|log2FC| > 5.0, log2TPM > 5) after TNF-α stimulation were candidates for regulating MSC’s immunomodulatory capacity. In vivo, Clec4e and Gbp6 are involved in inflammation and bone formation. Clec4e, Gbp6, and Cxcl10 knockdown increased osteogenic differentiation of MSCs in vitro. Temporal reduction followed by apparent recovery of TNF-α-producing M1 macrophages and MSCs after temporal macrophage depletion suggests that TNF-α activated MSCs during TES healing. In vitro mimicking the effect of TNF-α on MSCs indicated that there are 15 candidate MSC genes for regulation of immunomodulatory capacity.
The evolution of morphological castes under decoupled control
Authors: Flintham Lewis , Field Jeremy
Published: July 2024

Eusociality, where units that previously reproduced independently function as one entity, is of major interest in evolutionary biology. Obligate eusociality is characterized by morphologically differentiated castes and reduced conflict. We explore conditions under which morphological castes may arise in the Hymenoptera and factors constraining their evolution. Control over offspring morphology and behaviour seems likely to be decoupled. Provisioners (queens and workers) can influence offspring morphology directly through the nutrition they provide, while adult offspring control their own behaviour. Provisioners may, however, influence worker behaviour indirectly if offspring modify their behaviour in response to their morphology. If manipulation underlies helping, we should not see helping evolve before specialized worker morphology, yet empirical observations suggest that behavioural castes precede morphological castes. We use evolutionary invasion analyses to show how the evolution of a morphologically differentiated worker caste depends on the prior presence of a behavioural caste: specialist worker morphology will be mismatched with behaviour unless some offspring already choose to work. A mother’s certainty about her offspring’s behaviour is also critical—less certainty results in greater mismatch. We show how baseline worker productivity can affect the likelihood of a morphological trait being favoured by natural selection. We then show how under a decoupled control scenario, morphologically differentiated castes should be less and less likely to be lost as they become more specialized. We also suggest that for eusociality to be evolutionarily irreversible, workers must be unable to functionally replace reproductives and reproductives must be unable to reproduce without help from workers.
Conceptualization, design, and construction of a novel insect mass trapping device: the USDA Biomass Harvest Trap (USDA-BHT)
Authors: Cohnstaedt Lee W , Lado Paula , Ewing Robert , Cherico Jason , Brabec Daniel , Shults Phillip , Wagner Roy , Chaskopoulou Alexandra
Published: July 2024

The use of insects as animal feed has the potential to be a green revolution for animal agriculture as insects are a rich source of high-quality protein. Insect farming must overcome challenges such as product affordability and scalability before it can be widely incorporated as animal feed. An alternative is to harvest insect pests from the environment using mass trapping devices and use them as animal feed. For example, intensive agricultural environments generate large quantities of pestiferous insects and with the right harvest technologies, these insects can be used as a protein supplement in traditional animal daily rations. Most insect trapping devices are limited by the biomass they can collect. In that context, and with the goal of using wild collected insects as animal feed, the United States Department of Agriculture-Biomass Harvest Trap (USDA-BHT) was designed and built. The USDA-BHT is a valuable mass trapping device developed to efficiently attract, harvest, and store flying insects from naturally abundant agricultural settings. The trap offers a modular design with adjustable capabilities, and it is an inexpensive device that can easily be built with commonly available parts and tools. The USDA-BHT is also user-friendly and has customizable attractants to target various pest species.
MINIstock: Model for INsect Inclusion in sustainable agriculture: USDA-ARS’s research approach to advancing insect meal development and inclusion in animal diets
Authors: Robinson Kelsy , Duffield Kristin R , Ramirez José L , Cohnstaedt Lee W , Ashworth Amanda , Jesudhasan Palmy R , Arsi Komala , Morales Ramos Juan A , Rojas M Guadalupe , Crippen Tawni L , Shanmugasundaram Revathi , Vaughan Martha , Webster Carl , Sealey Wendy , Purswell Joseph L , Oppert Brenda , Neven Lisa , Cook Kim , Donoghue Annie M
Published: July 2024

Animal agriculture is under pressure to increase efficiency, sustainability, and innovation to meet the demands of a rising global population while decreasing adverse environmental effects. Feed cost and availability are 2 of the biggest hurdles to sustainable production. Current diets depend on sources of grain and animal byproduct protein for essential amino acids which have limited sustainability. Insects have arisen as an attractive, sustainable alternative protein source for animal diets due to their favorable nutrient composition, low space and water requirements, and natural role in animal diets. Additionally, insects are capable of bioremediating waste streams including agricultural and food waste, manure, and plastics helping to increase their sustainability. The insect rearing industry has grown rapidly in recent years and shows great economic potential. However, state-of-the-art research is urgently needed to overcome barriers to adoption in commercial animal diets such as regulatory restrictions, production scale issues, and food safety concerns. To address this need, the USDA Agricultural Research Service “MINIstoc: Model for INsect Inclusion” project was created to bring together diverse scientists from across the world to synergistically advance insect meal production and inclusion in animal diets. Here, we provide a short review of insects as feed while describing the MINIstock project which serves as the inspiration for the Journal of Economic Entomology Special Collection “Insects as feed: sustainable solutions for food waste and animal production practices.”
Comprehensive analysis of distinct circadian clock subtypes of adult diffuse glioma and their associations with clinicopathological, genetic, and epigenetic profiles
Authors: Le Minh-Khang , Tran Nguyen Quoc Vuong , Nguyen Phuc-Tan , Nguyen Thuy-An , Nakao Atsuhito , Kondo Tetsuo
Published: July 2024

The circadian clock (CC) has biological and clinical implications in gliomas. Most studies focused on CC effects on the tumor microenvironment and the application of chronotherapy. The present study focused on CC gene expression patterns and intracellular oncogenic activities. Glioma gene expression data were collected from The Human Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 666 patients from TCGA-GBM and TCGA-LGG projects and included important clinicopathological variables. The entire cohort was subjected to clustering analysis and divided into CC1 and CC2 subtypes based on statistical, biological, and clinical criteria. CC2 gliomas showed higher expression of BMAL1 and CRY1 and lower expression of CRY2 and PER2 (adjusted P < .001). CC2 gliomas had q higher activity of cell proliferation, metabolic reprogramming, angiogenesis, hypoxia, and many oncogenic signals (P < .001). The CC2 subtype contained a higher proportion of glioblastomas (P < .001) and had a worse prognosis (P < .001). Stratified Kaplan–Meier and multivariable Cox analyses illustrated that the CC subtype is an independent prognostic factor to clinicopathological characteristics (P < .001), genetic aberrations (P = .006), and biological processes (P < .001). Thus, this study shows statistical evidence of CC subtypes and their biological, and clinicopathological significance in adult gliomas.
The ingenious drainage system controls persistent duodenal stump fistula due to pancreatic fistula after subtotal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer
Authors: Moriwake Kazuya , Isozaki Hiroshi , Takama Takehiro , Murakami Shigeki , Matsumoto Sasau
Published: July 2024

Duodenal stump fistula (DSF) is a dangerous complication after gastrectomy. There is no consensus on the management of DSF. Sometimes, emergency surgery may be necessary. We present the case who underwent subtotal gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction for advanced gastric cancer. After that surgery, we diagnosed DSF due to pancreatic fistula, and performed reoperation because of hemodynamic instability due to diffuse peritonitis and sepsis. We resected the stump and closed with handsewn suturing and inserted three intra-abdominal drainage tubes, including a dual drainage tube around the duodenal stump. Although there was a recurrence of DSF, because of the continuous and absolute drainage, the patient improved and discharged on postoperative Day 59. From this experience, diligent debridement and a continuous suction dual drainage system, intraluminal drain of the duodenum, and biliary diversion may be an effective surgical management for DFS.
Will the Olympic flame spark dengue outbreaks during the Paris 2024 summer Olympic and Paralympic games?
Authors: Javelle Emilie , Itani Oula , Rapp Christophe , Hamer Davidson H , Huits Ralph
Published: July 2024

The risk of dengue emergence in France this summer is likely and must be considered in preparedness planning. The risk could arise from international visitors but also French travellers returning from epidemic areas. The French preparedness and response plan and the importance of international surveillance after the Olympics are highlighted.
CMB polarization signal demodulation with a rotating half-wave plate
Authors: Rashid Mariam , Brown Michael L , Thomas Daniel B
Published: July 2024

Several forthcoming Cosmic Microwave Background polarization experiments will employ a Continuously Rotating Half-Wave Plate (CRHWP), the primary purpose of which is to mitigate instrumental systematic effects. The use of a CRHWP necessitates demodulating the time-ordered data during the early stages of data processing. The standard approach is to “lock in” on the polarization signal using the known polarization modulation frequency and use Fourier techniques to filter out the remaining unwanted components. However, an alternative, less well-studied option is to incorporate the demodulation directly into the map-making step. Using simulations, we compare the performance of these two approaches to determine which is most effective for B-mode signal recovery. Testing the two techniques in multiple experimental scenarios, we find that the lock-in technique performs best over the full multipole range explored. However, for the recovery of the largest angular scales (multipoles, $\ell \lt 100$) we find essentially no difference in the recovery of the signal between the lock-in and map-making approaches, suggesting that a parallel analysis based on the latter approach could represent a powerful consistency check for primordial B-mode experiments employing a CRHWP. We also investigate the impact of a detector-differencing step, implemented prior to demodulation, finding that, in most scenarios, it makes no difference whether differencing is used or not. However, analysing detectors individually allows the point at which information from multiple detectors is combined to be moved to later stages in the analysis pipeline. This presents alternative options for dealing with additional instrumental systematic effects that are not mitigated by the CRHWP.
Detecting superfluid transition in the pulsar core
Authors: Bagchi Partha , Layek Biswanath , Saini Dheeraj , Sarkar Anjishnu , Srivastava Ajit M , Venkata Deepthi Godaba
Published: July 2024

It is believed that the core of a neutron star can be host to various novel phases of matter, from nucleon superfluid phase to exotic high baryon density quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phases. Different observational signals for such phase transitions have been discussed in the literature. Here, we point out a unique phenomenon associated with phase transition to a superfluid phase, which may be the nucleon superfluid phase or a phase like the colour-flavour locked phase, allowing for superfluid vortices. In any superfluid phase transition, a random network of vortices forms via the so-called Kibble–Zurek mechanism, which eventually mostly decays away, finally leaving primarily vortices arising from the initial angular momentum of the core. This transient, random vortex network can have a non-zero net angular momentum for the superfluid component, which will generally be oriented in an arbitrary direction. This is in contrast to the final vortices, which arise from initial rotation and hence have the initial angular momentum of the neutron star. The angular momentum of the random vortex network is balanced by an equal and opposite angular momentum in the normal fluid due to the conservation of angular momentum, thereby imparting an arbitrarily oriented angular momentum component to the outer shell of the neutron star. This will affect the pulse timing and pulse profile of a pulsar. These changes in the pulses will decay away in a characteristic manner that this as the random vortex network decays, obeying specific scaling laws leading to universal features for the detection of superfluid transitions occurring in a pulsar core.