bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dealing with Moral Dilemmas in Psychotherapy: The Relevance of Moral Case Deliberation
Authors: Widdershoven Guy A. M. , Ruissen Andrea M.
Published: November 2020

This chapter addresses the nature of moral issues in psychotherapy, and the way in which psychotherapists can be supported in dealing with them. It first explains the notion of moral dilemma, making use of the work of the philosopher Martha Nussbaum. Next it addresses Moral Case Deliberation (MCD) as an approach to support healthcare professionals. In MCD, a group of healthcare professionals deliberates on a moral issue in a concrete case. The deliberation is guided by a facilitator, who applies a deliberation method. The method presented here is the Dilemma Method. The chapter provides an example of a deliberation on a case in psychotherapy, concerning a patient with a request for euthanasia. It also describes experienced effects of MCD, and compares the approach with ethics consultation.
The Conservatives
Authors: Alexakis Manolis
Published: November 2020

The chapter provides a presentation of the creation and development of the New Democracy party (ND, Νέα Δημοκρατία) in Greece, after the restoration of democracy, in 1974. Smooth transition and the establishment of a truly democratic regime with all political parties able to contest on equal grounds, the drafting and adoption of a genuinely democratic Constitution in 1975, the disentanglement of the Conservatives, under Karamanlis guidance from the monarchy, as well as the accession of Greece into the European Union in 1981, should be considered as some of the party’s most important achievements. On the other hand, the party’s failure to dissociate itself from the state and the spoils system, persisting personalistic antagonisms, its limited progress as regards its organizational development, its vagueness concerning its ideological identity, and the lack of a concrete plan concerning the country’s future course are some of its most serious and enduring weaknesses.
Greening Industrial Policy
Authors: Mathews John A.
Published: November 2020

The scope of industrial policy is broadened in this chapter to encompass energy, materials, and finance. Given the unprecedented scale of the industrialization of India, China, and the late latecomers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the traditional options of fossil fuels, linear economy, and generic finance have been found wanting, for reasons of immediate environmental spoliation but also to do with countries running up against geopolitical limits. The greening of industrial policy presents itself as a solution, involving the shift to renewables, to a circular economy, and to the greening of finance (green bonds and green loans from development banks), encompassed under the rubric of green growth. The details of these new, green options are explored, and contrasted with traditional green industrial policy. The case is made that, far from being a special case, the greening of industrial policy promises to become the core development strategy, and the general case in industrialization, as the twenty-first century unfolds.
Late Shang Ritual and Residential Architecture at Great City Shang, Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
Authors: Childs-Johnson Elizabeth
Published: November 2020

This chapter analyzes the variations of architectural remains from the Late Shang capital of Yinxu (Yin Ruins) at Anyang, Henan. The chapter distinguishes several architectural types related to palace, administrative, ritual, and sacrificial centers, in addition to altars in the shape of truncated pyramids and burials with superstructures. The archaeological data indicate the presence of professional work units in the capital associated with bronze, ceramic, bone, or other types of manufacturing, combined with massive units of laborers. At this time Yinxu may be considered the central economic and cultural hub of the East Asian Heartland region and China.
Liangzhu Culture and the Ancient City of Liangzhu
Authors: Liu Bin
Published: November 2020

This chapter analyzes the significance and characteristics of the Liangzhu culture and the Liangzhu ancient city at Mojiaoshan, beginning with an overview of the geographical layout, followed by discussions of the regional “civilization’s” major characteristics. Special attention is paid to why the ancient Liangzhu city is the center of a regional “civilization” and to an illustration of the advanced system of hydraulic engineering and fortifications at Liangzhu ancient city. Jade-working and its religious context are also analyzed, with clarification of how Liangzhu jades became an everlasting symbol of Chinese civilization.
The Principia, from Conception to Publication
Authors: Smith George E.
Published: November 2020

We lack a complete manuscript record covering the development of the Principia from the time Newton took the initial steps toward it with the short tract De motu corporum in gyrum sent to Halley in November 1684 until Halley received the final parts of the manuscript for the first edition in March 1687. What we have, beside occasional correspondence, are fragmentary manuscripts plus one complete manuscript composed in the spring and summer of 1685, De Motu Corporum, Liber Secundus—the forerunner in “popular” style of Book 3. The many deletions and revisions Newton made to these manuscripts and the evolution of his terminology from one of them to the next allow a reconstruction of the sequence of both them and the steps he went through over this nearly two-and-a-half-year period. This chapter presents such a reconstruction, describing each manuscript that we have from the period in sequence along with pertinent correspondence, with emphasis on the steps displayed in each that Newton took in his progress toward the first edition.
Gender and the Wars of Nation-Building and Nation-Keeping in the Americas, 1830s–1870s
Authors: Greenberg Amy S.
Published: November 2020

The middle decades of the nineteenth century in the Americas were marked by dramatic warfare in the name of nationalism. The two most important conflicts were the US–Mexican War and the American Civil War. Both participants and observers interpreted the causes and outcomes of these most important conflicts as crucial to gender relations. As this chapter demonstrates, war and martial masculinity were often mutually reinforcing during wartime, while more restrained practices of manhood gained precedence after war’s end. Practices of womanhood were also shaped by the demands of war, leading in many cases to short-term increases in female autonomy and authority. In the long term, however, women rarely benefitted from the larger equation that citizenship was grounded in military sacrifice. Female subservience was ensured by a widespread division between public and private that granted authority and the right to privacy to male heads of households within their domains.
Gendered War Mobilization, Culture, and Music in the Age of World Wars
Authors: Fauser Annegret
Published: November 2020

In the age of world wars, with the increasing spread of media technologies, music and the other audiovisual arts served as tools for propaganda, as means of commemoration, and as escapist entertainment. This chapter explores how art was instrumentalized in propaganda efforts, how gender intersected with musical composition and performance in both wars, how music’s semantic slipperiness made it a fascinating tool for transnational reinterpretation as notions of gender shifted in the interwar years, and how music intersected with technologies such as radio and film to construct gender roles considered appropriate by governments in the 1930s and during World War II, especially in the hands of the state apparatus.
Total Warfare, Gender, and the “Home Front” in Europe during the First and Second World Wars
Authors: Grayzel Susan R.
Published: November 2020

This chapter traces the fundamental transformation of the European civilian experience of war during the First and Second World Wars. It begins by interrogating the category of the home front at the moment of its entry into common parlance in World War I and looks at the incorporation of noncombatants into the waging of industrialized total war. It argues that gender was at the heart of this powerful change as civilian lives and spaces became targets of new modes of warfare and new forms of state intervention into domestic and everyday life. The chapter investigates civilian war work, the meanings of wartime violence, and especially the experience of occupation, the growth of state interest in monitoring sex to prevent the spread of venereal disease, and, above all, the expansion of state regulation in ways that militarized the home.
History and Memory of Female Military Service in the Age of World Wars
Authors: Hagemann Karen
Published: November 2020

During the First and Second World Wars, women’s wartime service became increasingly important for the functioning of the home front and battlefront in Britain, Germany, Russia, the United States, and other war-powers. Hundreds of thousands of women served in the militaries of the belligerents during World War II. Scholars estimate that the percentage of women in the Allied armed forces reached up to 2–3 percent. The number of women in military service in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was especially high, but only in the latter were they officially enlisted as soldiers. Despite their numbers and importance, until recently, mainstream historiography and public memory have largely ignored women’s military service. This chapter takes a closer, comparative look at women’s wartime service in the Age of the World Wars in history and memory and explains the paradox that while it was increasingly needed, it has long been downplayed and overlooked in public perception and memory in all war powers and across the ideological divide of the Cold War.
Gender, Demobilization, and the Reordering of Societies after the First and Second World Wars
Authors: Hagemann Karen
Published: November 2020

As industrialized total wars, the First and Second World Wars required the unprecedented involvement of civilians. After both wars had ended, the demobilization of large numbers of soldiers, medical staff and workers, the care for invalid veterans, war widows and orphans, and the relocation of millions of prisoners of war, displaced persons, expellees and refugees created immense political, social, and economic problems and challenges for the postwar societies, which also had to deal with the costs and wounds of war. This chapter explores the economic, social, and cultural demobilization and the reordering of societies after the First and Second World Wars with a gender perspective and focusses Britain, France, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States. With these belligerents, victorious and defeated nations, market-based and communist societies, and democratic and authoritarian political systems can be compared. The chapter demonstrates the importance of the gender relations for the reconstruction of the postwar social order. After both wars, in all these societies, despite their differences, it was mainly the families, particularly the women, who had to heal the wounds of war.
Northern Syria
Authors: Rousset Marie-Odile
Published: November 2020

Until the tragic events that have affected Syria since 2011, this country has been the subject of numerous archaeological research programs, a number of which have allowed for a better understanding of the Islamic period. Located on the crossroads of trade and military routes and geographically diverse, the history and culture of northern Syria has been impacted by the movements of peoples through the region and exhibits a distinct regionalism. This chapter gives an overview of the recent advances in the main areas on which Syrian fieldwork has focused: the early Islamic city, the development of the territory by the Umayyad elite, rural settlement, religion, and border defense. In each case, the author mentions only the most recent publications, within which the reader will find a further bibliography.
Central Islamic Lands
Authors: Walker Bethany J.
Published: November 2020

The following text serves as an introduction to the chapters focused on the “central lands” of the Islamic world: the “Arab heartland,” Persia, and the territories of the Ottoman Empire. Long associated with the Holy Land, this region attracted the attention of archaeologists, geographers, antiquarians, and scholars of religion early on, with missions sent to explore and map the ruins of places associated with Biblical and extra-Biblical texts with greater frequency from the 19th century. Largely born out of Biblical and Classical archaeology, Islamic archaeology thus got an early start here, gradually shifting since the 1970s from the study of changes to the Late Antique city in the post-conquest era to that of larger landscapes and the rural sphere. Interest in the process and timing of Islamization has been a driving force in archaeological research in this region.
Ottoman Anatolia
Authors: Yenişehirlioğlu Filiz
Published: November 2020

The complex and varied geographical and political history of the Ottoman Empire ,has challenged the development and the diffusion of knowledge of Ottoman Archeology for many reasons .The character of a historical memory that has not prioritized research on this period was an important restraint. When research was done, the diversity of local languages in which it was published in post-ottoman states was hard to follow. The archaeology of Ottoman Anatolia is a developing area of study and research in Turkey and abroad. This chapter discusses its place within the general framework of the Ottoman Empire, the place of different academic views monitoring the research area after the foundation of the Turkish Republic, historiography of the archaeology of Ottoman Anatolia, and themes and areas of research concerning the archaeology of Ottoman Anatolia in our days.
Responding to the Opioid Epidemic: Educational Competencies for Pain and Substance Use Disorder from the Medical Schools of the University of California
Authors: Servis Mark , Fishman Scott M , Wallace Mark S , Henry Stephen G , Ziedonis Doug , Ciccarone Daniel , Knight Kelly R , Shoptaw Steven , Dowling Patrick , Suchard Jeffrey R , Shah Shalini , Singh Naileshni , Cedarquist Lynette C , Alem Navid , Copenhaver David J , Westervelt Marjorie , Willis Brigham C
Published: November 2020

Objective

The University of California (UC) leadership sought to develop a robust educational response to the epidemic of opioid-related deaths. Because the contributors to this current crisis are multifactorial, a comprehensive response requires educating future physicians about safe and effective management of pain, safer opioid prescribing, and identification and treatment of substance use disorder (SUD).

Methods

The six UC medical schools appointed an opioid crisis workgroup to develop educational strategies and a coordinated response to the opioid epidemic. The workgroup had diverse specialty and disciplinary representation. This workgroup focused on developing a foundational set of educational competencies for adoption across all UC medical schools that address pain, SUD, and public health concerns related to the opioid crisis.

Results

The UC pain and SUD competencies were either newly created or adapted from existing competencies that addressed pain, SUD, and opioid and other prescription drug misuse. The final competencies covered three domains: pain, SUD, and public health issues related to the opioid crisis.

Conclusions

The authors present a novel set of educational competencies as a response to the opioid crisis. These competencies emphasize the subject areas that are fundamental to the opioid crisis: pain management, the safe use of opioids, and understanding and treating SUD.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Treatment of Chronic Pain
Authors: Morales Mary E , Yong R Jason
Published: November 2020

Objective

To summarize the current literature on disparities in the treatment of chronic pain.

Methods

We focused on studies conducted in the United States and published from 2000 and onward. Studies of cross-sectional, longitudinal, and interventional designs were included.

Results

A review of the current literature revealed that an adverse association between non-White race and treatment of chronic pain is well supported. Studies have also shown that racial differences exist in the long-term monitoring for opioid misuse among patients suffering from chronic pain. In addition, a patient’s sociodemographic profile appears to influence the relationship between chronic pain and quality of life. Results from interventional studies were mixed.

Conclusions

Disparities exist within the treatment of chronic pain. Currently, it is unclear how to best combat these disparities. Further work is needed to understand why disparities exist and to identify points in patients’ treatment when they are most vulnerable to unequal care. Such work will help guide the development and implementation of effective interventions.
Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Chikungunya virus during the 2016 outbreak in Sergipe, northeastern Brazil
Authors: Jesus Myrela C S , Chagas Rynat D O , Santos Cliomar A , Santos Rafaela W F , Barros Gerlane S , La Corte Roseli , Batista Marcus V A , Storti-Melo Luciane M
Published: November 2020

Background

Chikungunya (CHIKV) is an arbovirus transmitted mainly by Aedes aegypti females. CHIKV has been highlighted as the pathogen with the greatest impact due to the high morbidity caused by the infection. In 2016, Brazil experienced an outbreak that affected almost 272 000 people. Here, we performed a molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the CHIKV circulating in 2016 in the state of Sergipe, Brazil.

Methods

A partial region of the E1 gene of 16 CHIKV-positive samples from Sergipe State was amplified and sequenced.

Results

All sequences belonged to the East-Central-South-African genotype and three point mutations were verified. Two of them were silent mutations and one was a non-synonymous mutation, which changed lysine to threonine at position 211 in the E1 protein. This mutation was present in 81.2% of the sequences, as well as in other five Brazilian sequences from previous studies. This study found that CHIKV strains circulating in Sergipe during the 2016 outbreak belonged to two different haplotypes.

Conclusions

The strains circulating in Sergipe are phylogenetically close to other Brazilian samples circulating in the northeast and southeast of the country, as well as viruses circulating during the same period in Haiti, indicating the rapid spread of these haplotypes.
How to manage the COVID-19 pandemic? Surgeon’s perspective
Authors: Kunnuru Supreeth Kumar Reddy , Thiyagarajan Manuneethimaran , Kurmanadh Deepak V.S. , Vennugoal Rao Nandita P. , Venkataramanan Rishikesh
Published: November 2020

This current pandemic situation medical professionals are working like warriors. Day by day cases are increasing throughout the world although certain countries contained the spread. More than general population health care workers are under very high risk. The death rate in health care workers are increasing. Among these HCW, surgeons are in high risk category because of handling more aerosol generating procedure. There are many guidelines published by various organization. In this article we try to concise the recommendations for surgeons in various aspects. Elective cases can be prioritized bases on elective surgery acuity scale. Level 3 personal protective equipment are recommended for operation theaters. Even powered air purifying respirator will give better protection. Laparoscopy surgeries can be still done with smoke evacuator and low pressure settings. On the whole this current pandemic can be handled by surgeons with proper utilization of recommendations and protective measures.
Bone mineral density in women with deep infiltrating endometriosis who have undergone early bilateral oophorectomy
Authors: Gosset Anna , Escanes Claire , Pouilles Jean-Michel , Vidal Fabien , Tanguy Le Gac Yann , Plu-Bureau Geneviève , Trémollieres Florence A.
Published: November 2020

Objective:

To study bone mineral density (BMD) in women with and without pelvic deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) who underwent early bilateral oophorectomy (BO).

Methods:

A case-control study was performed in 83 women who underwent early BO before the age of 45 years, 31 for DIE and 52 for another clinical condition. All the women answered a standardized computer-assisted questionnaire to record their clinical and historical data and were medically examined. Lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry after early BO. Simultaneously, serum calcium, intact parathyroid, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and cross-linked C-telopeptide were also measured. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals [CI]) for endometriosis were calculated using logistic regression.

Results:

The mean lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs were significantly higher in women who underwent early BO for DIE than in those who underwent early BO for another clinical condition. After adjusting for age at BMD measurement, years since menopause, age at menarche and body mass index, odds ratio for endometriosis associated with a 1-SD increase in lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD was 2.59 (95% CI: 1.45-4.62) and 2.16 (95% CI: 1.23-3.81), respectively.

Conclusion:

Higher lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs are associated with an increase in the likelihood of pelvic DIE in women who underwent early BO. This might be expected to the extent that endometriosis is itself associated with enhanced estrogen status, although further studies are needed to confirm such a hypothesis. These findings suggest that BMD measurement could contribute to the hormonal management of surgical menopause in women with DIE.
Military transgender care
Authors: Seibert Diane C. , Keller Nathan , Zapor Logan , Archer Holly
Published: November 2020

Transgender individuals have a long-standing history of honorable service in the United States Military. However, politics have had an impact on their ability to openly serve in uniform as policies continually change rapidly with each new administration. This article describes the shifting political landscape of policies related to whether (or not) transgender individuals can serve in the military, and how this has affected the health care experiences of transgender individuals and the ability for nurse practitioners to provide quality health care to the transgender population serving on active duty.
Barotraumatic Blow-out Fracture of the Medial Orbital Wall by Nose Blowing
Authors: Kim Dong Hwi , Kim Na Rim , Ko Hyo Sun , Lee Jung Ho
Published: November 2020

Blow-out fracture is one of the most common facial bone fractures and mainly caused by blunt trauma, whereas barotraumatic causes are relatively rare. In this report, we present the case of a patient with an orbital medial wall blow out fracture caused by nose blowing. This case is unique in that the barotraumatic blow out fracture occurred in a patient without previous known risk factors, except that she had previously been operated on for orbital floor blow-out fracture. It is possible that barotraumatic orbital medial wall fracture occurred due to postoperative changes in the aerodynamics or shock-absorbing capacity of the paranasal sinuses. To prevent barotraumatic trauma in the orbital wall, patients undergoing surgery for orbital fractures should consider avoiding excessive nose blowing not only in the weeks after surgery, but for a sufficient period of time.
Botulinum Toxin Type-A for Lip Augmentation: “Lip Flip”
Authors: Teixeira Jeffrey C. , Ostrom Jonnae Y. , Hohman Marc H. , Nuara Michael J.
Published: November 2020

Over the last 10 years there has been an explosion in the number of minimally invasive procedures that patients undertake with increasing uses of botulinum neurotoxin type A for off label indications. One area of expansion over the past several years is the “Lip Flip” which involves injection of botulinum neurotoxin type A along the vermillion border to improve lip contour, eversion and fullness. While techniques and results for “gummy smile” and perioral vertical rhytids have been previously reported, minimal literature exists on this new trend, including whether such increased interest truly exists. Therefore, the authors aim to explore whether there is a rising trend regarding “lip flip” and report on clinical results from patients treated in our practice.
Modelling persistent Mycoplasma pneumoniae biofilm infections in a submerged BEAS-2B bronchial epithelial tissue culture model
Authors: Feng Monica , Burgess Amanda C. , Cuellar Rachel R. , Schwab Nathan R. , Balish Mitchell F.
Published: November 2020

Introduction. Infections with the respiratory pathogen

Mycoplasma pneumoniae

are often chronic, recurrent and resistant, persisting after antibiotic treatment.

M. pneumoniae

grown on glass forms protective biofilms, consistent with a role for biofilms in persistence. These biofilms consist of towers of bacteria interspersed with individual adherent cells.

Hypothesis/Gap Statement. A tissue culture model for

M. pneumoniae

biofilms has not been described or evaluated to address whether growth, development and resistance properties are consistent with persistence in the host. Moreover, it is unclear whether the

M. pneumoniae

cells in the biofilm towers and individual bacterial cells have distinct roles in disease.

Aim. We evaluated the properties of biofilms of

M. pneumoniae

grown on the immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B in relation to persistence in the host. We observed nucleation of biofilm towers and the disposition of individual cells in culture, leading to a model of how tower and individual cells contribute to infection and disease.

Methodology. With submerged BEAS-2B cells as a substrate, we evaluated growth and development of

M. pneumoniae

biofilms using scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. We characterized resistance to erythromycin and complement using minimum inhibitory concentration assays and quantification of colony forming units. We monitored biofilm tower formation using time-lapse microscopic analysis of host-cell-free

M. pneumoniae

cultures.

Results. Bacteria grown on host cells underwent similar development to those grown without host cells, including tower formation, rounding and incidence of individual cells outside towers. Erythromycin and complement significantly reduced growth of

M. pneumoniae

. Towers formed exclusively from pre-existing aggregates of bacteria. We discuss a model of the

M. pneumoniae

biofilm life cycle in which protective towers derive from pre-existing aggregates, and generate individual cytotoxic cells.

Conclusion

. M. pneumoniae can form protective biofilms in a tissue culture model, implicating biofilms in chronic infections, with aggregates of

M. pneumoniae

cells being important for establishing infections.
An Explainable Multi-Modal Neural Network Architecture for Predicting Epilepsy Comorbidities Based on Administrative Claims Data
Authors: Linden Thomas , de Jong Johann , Lu Chao , Kiri Victor , Haeffs Kathrin , Fröhlich Holger
Published: November 2020

1

Epilepsy is a complex brain disorder characterized by repetitive seizure events. Epilepsy patients often suffer from various and severe physical and psychological co-morbidities (e.g. anxiety, migraine, stroke, etc.). While general comorbidity prevalences and incidences can be estimated from epidemiological data, such an approach does not take into account that actual patient specific risks can depend on various individual factors, including medication. This motivates to develop a machine learning approach for predicting risks of future comorbidities for the individual epilepsy patient.

In this work we use inpatient and outpatient administrative health claims data of around 19,500 US epilepsy patients. We suggest a dedicated multi-modal neural network architecture (Deep personalized LOngitudinal convolutional RIsk model - DeepLORI) to predict the time dependent risk of six common comorbidities of epilepsy patients. We demonstrate superior performance of DeepLORI in a comparison with several existing methods Moreover, we show that DeepLORI based predictions can be interpreted on the level of individual patients. Using a game theoretic approach, we identify relevant features in DeepLORI models and demonstrate that model predictions are explainable in the light of existing knowledge about the disease. Finally, we validate the model on independent data from around 97,000 patients, showing good generalization and stable prediction performance over time.
Identifying Cross-Cancer Similar Patients via a Semi-Supervised Deep Clustering Approach
Authors: Ay Duygu , Tastan Oznur
Published: November 2020

The treatment decisions for a cancer patient are typically based on the patient’s diagnosed cancer type. With the characterization of cancer tumors at the molecular level, there have been reports of patients being similar despite being diagnosed with different cancer types. Motivated from these observations, we aim at discoveringcross-cancerpatients, which we define as patients whose tumors are more similar to patient tumors diagnosed with another cancer type. We develop DeepCrossCancer to identify cross-cancer patients that always co-cluster with the other patient from another cancer type. The input to DeepCrossCancer is the transcriptomic profiles of the patient tumors, the age, and sex of the patient. To solve the clustering problem, we use a semi-supervised deep learning-based clustering method in which the clustering task is supervised by cancer type labels and the survival times of the patients. Applying the method to patient data from nine different cancers, we discover 20 cross-cancer patients that consistently co-cluster. By analyzing the predictive genes of the cross-cancer patients and other genomic information available for the patient such as somatic mutations and copy number variations, we identify striking genomic similarities across these patients providing support. The detection of cross-cancer patients opens up possibilities for transferring clinical decisions across patients at a single patient level. The source code is available atgithub.com/tastanlab/DeepCrossCancer
Vasopressin acts as a synapse organizer in limbic regions by boosting PSD95 and GluA1 expression
Authors: Zhang Limei , Padilla-Flores Teresa , Hernández Vito S. , Zetter Mario A. , Campos-Lira Elba , Escobar Laura I. , Millar Robert P. , Eiden Lee E.
Published: November 2020

Hypothalamic arginine vasopressin (AVP)-containing magnocellular neurosecretory neurons (AVPMNN) emit collaterals to synaptically innervate limbic regions influencing learning, motivational behaviour, and fear responses. Here, we characterize the dynamics of expression changes of two key determinants for synaptic strength, the postsynaptic density (PSD) proteins AMPAR subunit GluA1 and PSD scaffolding protein 95 (PSD95), in response toin vivomanipulations of AVPMNN neuronal activation state, or exposure to exogenous AVPex vivo. Both long term water deprivationin vivo, which powerfully upregulates AVPMNN metabolic activity, and exogenous AVP applicationex vivo, in brain slices, significantly increased GluA1 and PSD95 expression measured by western blot, in brain regions reportedly receiving direct ascending innervations from AVPMNN (i.e., ventral hippocampus, amygdala and lateral habenula). In contrast, the visual cortex, a region not observed to receive AVPMNN projections, showed no such changes. Ex vivo application of V1a and V1b antagonists to ventral hippocampal slices ablated the AVP stimulated increase in postsynaptic protein expression measured by western blot. Using a modified expansion microscopy technique, we were able to quantitatively assess the significant augmentation of PSD95 and GLUA1 densities in subcellular compartments inlocus coeruleus’ tyrosine hydroxylase immunopositive fibres, adjacent to AVP axon terminals. Our data strongly suggest that the AVPMNN ascending system plays a role in the regulation of the excitability of targeted neuronal circuits through upregulation of key post-synaptic density proteins corresponding to excitatory synapse.

Supported by grants

UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT-IN200121 & CONACYT-CB-238744 (LZ); CONACYT A1-S-8731 (LIE); MH002386, NIMH, NIH, USA (LEE)
Comparative analysis of the clinical presentations, cardiovascular and laboratory findings and treatment of heart failure with preserved and reduced ejection fractions in Cameroon: a multicenter cross-sectional study
Authors: Boombhi Jérôme , Bele Antoin , Temgoua Mazou N , Hamadou Ba , Tochie Joel Noutakdie , Tchapmi Donald , Nganou Chris-Nadège , Mfeukeu-Kuaté Liliane , Menanga Alain , Kingue Samuel
Published: November 2020

Background

Contrarily to past concepts, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has become more prevalent than heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Our objective was to study the clinical, cardiovascular and laboratory findings and therapeutic aspects of HFpEF, compared with those of HFrEF in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Method

This was an analytical cross-sectional study carried-out at the Central Hospital, General Hospital and Military Hospital of Yaounde, from January to April 2018 (4 months). 201 patients aged at least 18 years old with an echocardiography confirmed diagnosis of heart failure were been enrolled. We excluded 12 patients because they had a congenital ventricular septal defect (2), chronic cor pulmonale (4), mitral stenosis (5), and pericarditis (1).

Results

We found that 45.5% of our patients had HFpEF whereas 37.5% had HFrEF. Patients with HFpEF were older and had a significantly higher incidence of hypertension and obesity. HFrEF was significantly more associated with congestive symptoms than HFpEF. The S3 gallop was significantly more present in patients with HFrEF. Patients with HfpEF had significantly higher rate of atrial fibrillation. Furosemide, spironolactone and digoxin were significantly used more frequently in patients with HFrEF.

Conclusion

HFpEF is the most frequent form of heart failure in the hospital setting in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Patients with HFpEF were significantly older and more affected by hypertension and obesity than those with HFrEF. Cardiac ultrasound is indispensable to differentiate between the two entities for better management.
Alternative splicing liberates a cryptic cytoplasmic isoform of mitochondrial MECR that antagonizes influenza virus
Authors: Baker Steven F. , Meistermann Helene , Tzouros Manuel , Baker Aaron , Golling Sabrina , Polster Juliane Siebourg , Ledwith Mitchell P. , Gitter Anthony , Augustin Angelique , Javanbakht Hassan , Mehle Andrew
Published: November 2020

Viruses must balance their reliance on host cell machinery for replication while avoiding host defense. Influenza A viruses are zoonotic agents that frequently switch hosts, causing localized outbreaks with the potential for larger pandemics. The host range of influenza virus is limited by the need for successful interactions between the virus and cellular partners. Here we used immuno-competitive capture-mass spectrometry to identify cellular proteins that interact with human- and avian-style viral polymerases. We focused on the pro-viral activity of heterogenous nuclear ribonuclear protein U-like 1 (hnRNP UL1) and the anti-viral activity of mitochondrial enoyl CoA-reductase (MECR). MECR is localized to mitochondria where it functions in mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFAS). While a small fraction of the polymerase subunit PB2 localizes to the mitochondria, PB2 did not interact with full-length MECR. By contrast, a minor splice variant produces cytoplasmic MECR (cMECR) that interacts with PB2. cMECR binds the viral polymerase and suppresses viral replication by blocking assembly of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs). MECR ablation through genome editing or drug treatment is detrimental for cell health, creating a generic block to virus replication. Using the yeast homolog Etr1 to supply the metabolic functions of MECR in MECR-null cells, we showed that specific antiviral activity is independent of mtFAS and lies solely within cMECR. Thus, alternative splicing produces a cryptic antiviral protein that is embedded within a key metabolic enzyme.
Age-dependent increase in α-tocopherol and phytosterols in maize leaves exposed to elevated ozone pollution
Authors: Wedow Jessica M. , Burroughs Charles H. , Rios Acosta Lorena , Leakey Andrew D.B. , Ainsworth Elizabeth A.
Published: November 2020

Tropospheric ozone is a major air pollutant that significantly damages crop production around the world. Crop metabolic responses to rising chronic ozone stress have not been well-studied in the field, especially in C4crops. In this study, we investigated the metabolomic profile of leaves from two diverse maize (Zea mays) inbred lines and the hybrid cross during exposure to season-long elevated ozone (~100 nL L−1) in the field using free air concentration enrichment (FACE) to identify key biochemical responses of maize to elevated ozone. Senescence, measured by loss of chlorophyll content, was accelerated in the hybrid line, B73 x Mo17, but not in either inbred line (B73 or Mo17). Untargeted metabolomic profiling further revealed that inbred and hybrid lines of maize differed in metabolic responses to ozone. A significant difference in the metabolite profile of hybrid leaves exposed to elevated ozone occurred as leaves aged, but no age-dependent difference in leaf metabolite profiles between ozone conditions was measured in the inbred lines. Phytosterols and α-tocopherol levels increased in B73 x Mo17 leaves as they aged, and to a significantly greater degree in elevated ozone stress. These metabolites are involved in membrane stabilization and chloroplast reactive oxygen species (ROS) quenching. The hybrid line also showed significant yield loss at elevated ozone, which the inbred lines did not. This suggests that the hybrid maize line was more sensitive to ozone exposure than the inbred lines, and up-regulated metabolic pathways to stabilize membranes and quench ROS in response to chronic ozone stress.
An integrative analysis of genomic and exposomic data for complex traits and phenotypic prediction
Authors: Zhou Xuan , Lee S. Hong
Published: November 2020

Complementary to the genome, the concept of exposome has been proposed to capture the totality of human environmental exposures. While there has been some recent progress on the construction of the exposome, few tools exist that can integrate the genome and exposome for complex trait analyses. Here we propose a linear mixed model approach to bridge this gap, which jointly models the random effects of the two omics layers on phenotypes of complex traits. We illustrate our approach using traits from the UK Biobank (e.g., BMI & height for N ∼ 35,000) with a small fraction of the exposome that comprises 28 lifestyle factors. The joint model of the genome and exposome explains substantially more phenotypic variance and significantly improves phenotypic prediction accuracy, compared to the model based on the genome alone. The additional phenotypic variance captured by the exposome includes its additive effects as well as non-additive effects such as genome-exposome (gxe) and exposome-exposome (exe) interactions. For example, 19% of variation in BMI is explained by additive effects of the genome, while additional 7.2% by additive effects of the exposome, 1.9% by exe interactions and 4.5% by gxe interactions. Correspondingly, the prediction accuracy for BMI, computed using Pearson’s correlation between the observed and predicted phenotypes, improves from 0.15 (based on the genome alone) to 0.35 (based on the genome & exposome). We also show, using established theories, integrating genomic and exposomic data is essential to attaining a clinically meaningful level of prediction accuracy for disease traits. In conclusion, the genomic and exposomic effects can contribute to phenotypic variation via their latent relationships, i.e. genome-exposome correlation, and gxe and exe interactions, and modelling these effects has a great potential to improve phenotypic prediction accuracy and thus holds a great promise for future clinical practice.
Evaluating urban greening scenarios for urban heat mitigation: a spatially-explicit approach
Authors: Bosch Martí , Locatelli Maxence , Hamel Perrine , Jaligot Rémi , Chenal Jérôme , Joost Stéphane
Published: November 2020

Urban green infrastructure, especially trees, are widely regarded as one of the most effective ways to reducing urban temperatures in extreme heat events, and alleviate its adverse impacts on human health and well-being. Nevertheless, urban planners and decision-makers are still lacking methods and tools to spatially evaluate the cooling effects of urban green spaces and exploit them to assess greening strategies at the urban agglomeration scale. This article introduces a novel spatially-explicit approach to simulate urban greening scenarios by increasing the tree canopy cover in the existing urban fabric, and evaluating their heat mitigation potential. The latter is achieved by applying the InVEST urban cooling model to the synthetic land use/land cover maps generated for the greening scenarios. A case study in the urban agglomeration of Lausanne, Switzerland, illustrates the development of tree canopy scenarios following distinct spatial distribution strategies. The spatial pattern of the tree canopy strongly influences the human exposure to the highest temperatures, and small increases in the abundance of tree canopy cover with the appropriate spatial configuration can have major impacts on human health and well-being. The proposed approach supports urban planning and the design of nature-based solutions to enhance climate resilience.
Predicting interchain contacts for homodimeric and homomultimeric protein complexes using multiple sequence alignments of monomers and deep learning
Authors: Quadir Farhan , Roy Raj , Halfmann Randal , Cheng Jianlin
Published: November 2020

Deep learning methods that achieved great success in predictingintrachainresidue-residue contacts have been applied to predictinterchaincontacts between proteins. However, these methods require multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) of a pair of interacting proteins (dimers) as input, which are often difficult to obtain because there are not many known protein complexes available to generate MSAs of sufficient depth for a pair of proteins. In recognizing that multiple sequence alignments of a monomer that forms homomultimers contain the co-evolutionary signals of both intrachain and interchain residue pairs in contact, we applied DNCON2 (a deep learning-based protein intrachain residue-residue contact predictor) to predict both intrachain and interchain contacts for homomultimers using multiple sequence alignment (MSA) and other co-evolutionary features of a single monomer followed by discrimination of interchain and intrachain contacts according to the tertiary structure of the monomer. Allowing true-positive predictions within two residue shifts, the best average precision was obtained for the Top-L/10 predictions of DNCON2: 22.9% for homodimers, and 17.0% for higher order homomultimers. In some instances, especially where interchain contact densities are high, the approach predicted interchain contacts with 100% precision. We show that the predicted contacts can be used to accurately construct the structure of some complexes. Our experiment demonstrates that monomeric multiple sequence alignments can be used with deep learning to predict interchain contacts of homomeric proteins.
Characterization of theCannabis sativaglandular trichome proteome
Authors: Conneely Lee J. , Mauleon Ramil , Mieog Jos , Barkla Bronwyn J. , Kretzschmar Tobias
Published: November 2020

Cannabis sativahas been cultivated since antiquity as a source of fibre, food and medicine. The recent resurgence ofCannabisas a cash crop is mainly driven by the medicinal and therapeutic properties of its resin, which contains compounds that interact with the human endocannabinoid system. Compared to other medicinal crops of similar value, however, little is known about the biology ofC. sativa. Glandular trichomes are small hair-like projections made up of stalk and head tissue and are responsible for the production of the resin inC. sativa.Trichome productivity, as determined byCannabis sativaresin yield and composition, is only beginning to be understood at the molecular level. In this study the proteomes of glandular trichome stalks and heads, were investigated and compared to the proteome of the whole flower tissue, to help elucidateCannabis sativaglandular trichome biochemistry. The data suggested that the floral tissue acts as a major source of carbon and energy to the glandular trichome head sink tissue, supplying sugars which drive secondary metabolite biosynthesis in the glandular trichome head; the location of the secretory cells. The trichome stalk seems to play only a limited role in secondary metabolism and acts as both source and sink.
A multiregional assessment of transnational pathways of introduction
Authors: McGrannachan Chris M. , Pagad Shyama , McGeoch Melodie A.
Published: November 2020

Information on the pathways by which alien taxa are introduced to new regions is vital for prioritising policy and management responses to invasions. However, available datasets are often compiled using disparate methods, making comparison and collation of pathway data difficult. Using a standardised framework for recording and categorising pathway data can help to rectify this problem and provide the information necessary to develop indicators for reporting on alien introductions. We combine the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Pathways Categorisation Scheme (CPC) with data compiled by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) to report on multiregional trends on alien introduction pathways over the past 200+ years. We found a significant increase in the documented number of multiregional alien introduction events across all pathways of the CPC’s three hierarchical levels. The ‘escape’ pathway is the most common documented pathway used by alien taxa. Transport stowaways via shipping-related vectors are a rapidly increasing contribution to alien introductions. Most alien introduction events were of unknown pathway origin, highlighting the challenge of information gaps in pathway data and reiterating the need for standardised information-gathering practices. Combining the CPC framework with alien introduction pathways data will standardise pathway information and facilitate the development of global indicators of trends in alien introductions and the pathways they use. These indicators have the potential to inform policy and management strategies for preventing future biological invasions and can be downscaled to national and regional levels that are applicable across taxa and ecosystems.