bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural elucidation of the O-antigen polysaccharide from Escherichia coli O125ac and biosynthetic aspects thereof
Authors: Furevi Axel , Udekwu Klas I , Widmalm Göran
Published: September 2022

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O125, the cause of infectious diarrheal disease, is comprised of two serogroups, viz., O125ab and O125ac, which display the aggregative adherence pattern with epithelial cells. Herein, the structure of the O-antigen polysaccharide from E. coli O125ac:H6 has been elucidated. Sugar analysis revealed the presence of fucose, mannose, galactose and N-acetyl-galactosamine as major components. Unassigned 1H and 13C NMR data from one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments of the O125ac O-antigen in conjunction with sugar components were used as input to the CASPER program, which can determine polysaccharide structure in a fully automated way, and resulted in the following branched pentasaccharide structure of the repeating unit: →4)[β-d-Galp-(1 → 3)]-β-d-GalpNAc-(1 → 2)-α-d-Manp-(1 → 3)-α-l-Fucp-(1 → 3)-α-d-GalpNAc-(1→, where the side chain is denoted by square brackets. The proposed O-antigen structure was confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR chemical shift assignments and determination of interresidue connectivities. Based on this structure, that of the O125ab O-antigen, which consists of hexasaccharide repeating units with an additional glucosyl group, was possible to establish in a semi-automated fashion by CASPER. The putative existence of gnu and gne in the gene clusters of the O125 serogroups is manifested by N-acetyl-d-galactosamine residues as the initial sugar residue of the biological repeating unit as well as within the repeating unit. The close similarity between O-antigen structures is consistent with the presence of two subgroups in the E. coli O125 serogroup.
Resequencing worldwide spinach germplasm for identification of field resistance QTLs to downy mildew and assessment of genomic selection methods
Authors: Bhattarai Gehendra , Shi Ainong , Mou Beiquan , Correll James C
Published: September 2022

Downy mildew, commercially the most important disease of spinach, is caused by the obligate oomycete Peronospora effusa. In the past two decades, new pathogen races have repeatedly overcome the resistance used in newly released cultivars, urging the need for more durable resistance. Commercial spinach cultivars are bred with major R genes to impart resistance to downy mildew pathogens and are effective against some pathogen races/isolates. This work aimed to evaluate the worldwide USDA spinach germplasm collections and commercial cultivars for resistance to downy mildew pathogen in the field condition under natural inoculum pressure and conduct genome wide association analysis (GWAS) to identify resistance-associated genomic regions (alleles). Another objective was to evaluate the prediction accuracy (PA) using several genomic prediction (GP) methods to assess the potential implementation of genomic selection (GS) to improve spinach breeding for resistance to downy mildew pathogen. More than four hundred diverse spinach genotypes comprising USDA germplasm accessions and commercial cultivars were evaluated for resistance to downy mildew pathogen between 2017–2019 in Salinas Valley, California and Yuma, Arizona. GWAS was performed using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers identified via whole genome resequencing (WGR) in GAPIT and TASSEL programs; detected 14, 12, 5, and 10 significantly associated SNP markers with the resistance from four tested environments, respectively; and the QTL alleles were detected at the previously reported region of chromosome 3 in three of the four experiments. In parallel, PA was assessed using six GP models and seven unique marker datasets for field resistance to downy mildew pathogen across four tested environments. The results suggest the suitability of GS to improve field resistance to downy mildew pathogen. The QTL, SNP markers, and PA estimates provide new information in spinach breeding to select resistant plants and breeding lines through marker-assisted selection (MAS) and GS, eventually helping to accumulate beneficial alleles for durable disease resistance.
Help Me, Symbionts, You're My Only Hope: Approaches to Accelerate our Understanding of Coral Holobiont Interactions
Authors: Bove Colleen B , Ingersoll Maria Valadez , Davies Sarah W
Published: September 2022

Tropical corals construct the three-dimensional framework for one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, providing habitat to a plethora of species across taxa. However, these ecosystem engineers are facing unprecedented challenges, such as increasing disease prevalence and marine heatwaves associated with anthropogenic global change. As a result, major declines in coral cover and health are being observed across the world's oceans, often due to the breakdown of coral-associated symbioses. Here, we review the interactions between the major symbiotic partners of the coral holobiont—the cnidarian host, algae in the family Symbiodiniaceae, and the microbiome—that influence trait variation, including the molecular mechanisms that underlie symbiosis and the resulting physiological benefits of different microbial partnerships. In doing so, we highlight the current framework for the formation and maintenance of cnidarian–Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis, and the role that immunity pathways play in this relationship. We emphasize that understanding these complex interactions is challenging when you consider the vast genetic variation of the cnidarian host and algal symbiont, as well as their highly diverse microbiome, which is also an important player in coral holobiont health. Given the complex interactions between and among symbiotic partners, we propose several research directions and approaches focused on symbiosis model systems and emerging technologies that will broaden our understanding of how these partner interactions may facilitate the prediction of coral holobiont phenotype, especially under rapid environmental change.
The beginning of EU political advertising law: unifying democratic visions through the internal market
Authors: van Drunen Max Zeno , Helberger Natalie , Ó Fathaigh Ronan
Published: September 2022

The regulation of political advertising has traditionally been a sensitive issue—unsurprisingly so, as it determines if and how political actors can pay to communicate with voters. Given the differences between national electoral systems and the lack of a consensus on the best regulatory approach, until recently neither the EU, the Council of Europe nor the European Court of Human Rights laid out strict standards. Following mounting concerns over the impact of opaque and manipulative targeted advertising in the 2016 US election and Brexit referendum, the EU’s proposal for a regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising breaks with this trend. This article analyses how the proposal is set to regulate political advertising, and evaluates how the proposed regulation fits into the EU’s competences to regulate democratic processes and affects existing national legal frameworks. The article concludes by assessing the new roles the EU and the Member States assume in political advertising regulation.
Variation Instability Near Vacuum in One-Dimensional Isentropic Flow
Authors: Jenssen Helge Kristian
Published: September 2022

We consider instability of the total variation in shock-only solutions to the one-dimensional isentropic Euler system. The main results concern the possibility of immediate blowup in variation of the density field $\rho $ when the data approaches vacuum. In the case of an initially bounded velocity field, it is verified that immediate variation blowup in $\rho $ can occur whenever the adiabatic exponent satisfies $\gamma>3$, whereas no such instability occurs for $1<\gamma \leq 3$. When the initial velocity field is unbounded, variation blowup in $\rho $ can occur for any $\gamma>1$.
The Application of Competition Law to Labour Markets: Some Unresolved Issues
Authors: Maggiolino Mariateresa
Published: September 2022

In recent years, many have wondered about the application of antitrust law in labour markets. This article analyses both the theoretical premises that justify such intervention and the ways in which it should occur. In this respect, the article takes steps from the economic literature on monopsony in the attempt to ensure that the  logic that antitrust scholars customarily carry out in relation output markets applies in relation to labour markets as well.
A survey of automated methods for biomedical text simplification
Authors: Ondov Brian , Attal Kush , Demner-Fushman Dina
Published: September 2022

Objective

Plain language in medicine has long been advocated as a way to improve patient understanding and engagement. As the field of Natural Language Processing has progressed, increasingly sophisticated methods have been explored for the automatic simplification of existing biomedical text for consumers. We survey the literature in this area with the goals of characterizing approaches and applications, summarizing existing resources, and identifying remaining challenges.

Materials and Methods

We search English language literature using lists of synonyms for both the task (eg, “text simplification”) and the domain (eg, “biomedical”), and searching for all pairs of these synonyms using Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, ACL Anthology, and DBLP. We expand search terms based on results and further include any pertinent papers not in the search results but cited by those that are.

Results

We find 45 papers that we deem relevant to the automatic simplification of biomedical text, with data spanning 7 natural languages. Of these (nonexclusively), 32 describe tools or methods, 13 present data sets or resources, and 9 describe impacts on human comprehension. Of the tools or methods, 22 are chiefly procedural and 10 are chiefly neural.

Conclusions

Though neural methods hold promise for this task, scarcity of parallel data has led to continued development of procedural methods. Various low-resource mitigations have been proposed to advance neural methods, including paragraph-level and unsupervised models and augmentation of neural models with procedural elements drawing from knowledge bases. However, high-quality parallel data will likely be crucial for developing fully automated biomedical text simplification.
Translating and evaluating historic phenotyping algorithms using SNOMED CT
Authors: Elkheder Musaab , Gonzalez-Izquierdo Arturo , Qummer Ul Arfeen Muhammad , Kuan Valerie , Lumbers R Thomas , Denaxas Spiros , Shah Anoop D
Published: September 2022

Objective

Patient phenotype definitions based on terminologies are required for the computational use of electronic health records. Within UK primary care research databases, such definitions have typically been represented as flat lists of Read terms, but Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine—Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) (a widely employed international reference terminology) enables the use of relationships between concepts, which could facilitate the phenotyping process. We implemented SNOMED CT-based phenotyping approaches and investigated their performance in the CPRD Aurum primary care database.

Materials and Methods

We developed SNOMED CT phenotype definitions for 3 exemplar diseases: diabetes mellitus, asthma, and heart failure, using 3 methods: “primary” (primary concept and its descendants), “extended” (primary concept, descendants, and additional relations), and “value set” (based on text searches of term descriptions). We also derived SNOMED CT codelists in a semiautomated manner for 276 disease phenotypes used in a study of health across the lifecourse. Cohorts selected using each codelist were compared to “gold standard” manually curated Read codelists in a sample of 500 000 patients from CPRD Aurum.

Results

SNOMED CT codelists selected a similar set of patients to Read, with F1 scores exceeding 0.93, and age and sex distributions were similar. The “value set” and “extended” codelists had slightly greater recall but lower precision than “primary” codelists. We were able to represent 257 of the 276 phenotypes by a single concept hierarchy, and for 135 phenotypes, the F1 score was greater than 0.9.

Conclusions

SNOMED CT provides an efficient way to define disease phenotypes, resulting in similar patient populations to manually curated codelists.
The Interpretation of Planning Policy: The Role of the Court
Authors: Mills Alistair
Published: September 2022

The interpretation of planning policy is important in English planning law both in theory and in practice but, nevertheless, it is under-examined in the literature. This article focuses on the question of the appropriate role of the court in relation to planning policy. Judges have an important role in promoting a consistent approach to policy, such that the guiding function of policy is enhanced. However, the distinction which is drawn between the interpretation and application of policy is too simplistic, as is a binary distinction between ‘broad’ and ‘specific’ planning policies. A better approach is to recognise that there are four types of questions which arise in the interpretation of policy, which this article sets out to explain.
Protocol of a randomized phase II/III study of gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel combination therapy versus modified FOLFIRINOX versus S-IROX for metastatic or recurrent pancreatic cancer: JCOG1611 (GENERATE)
Authors: Mizusawa Junki , Ohba Akihiro , Ozaka Masato , Katayama Hiroshi , Okusaka Takuji , Kobayashi Satoshi , Ikeda Masafumi , Terashima Takeshi , Sasahira Naoki , Okano Naohiro , Miki Ikuya , Kaneko Takashi , Mizuno Nobumasa , Todaka Akiko , Furukawa Masayuki , Kajiura Shinya , Kataoka Tomoko , Fukuda Haruhiko , Furuse Junji , Ueno Makoto ,   Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology Group of Japan Clinical Oncology Group
Published: September 2022

Gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel and combination chemotherapy with fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan and oxaliplatin are a standard treatment for metastatic or recurrent pancreatic cancer. Recent studies on metastatic pancreatic cancer have demonstrated promising results of modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan and oxaliplatin and S-1, irinotecan and oxaliplatin. A three-arm randomized phase II/III trial has been conducted since April 2019 to confirm the superiority of modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan and oxaliplatin and S-1, irinotecan and oxaliplatin over Gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel in patients with metastatic or recurrent pancreatic cancer. A total of 732 patients will be enrolled from 42 Japanese institutions within 5 years. The primary endpoint is the response rate in the S-1, irinotecan and oxaliplatin arm for phase II portion and overall survival for phase III portion. The secondary endpoints for phase III portion are progression-free survival, response rate, adverse events, serious adverse events and dose intensity. This trial is registered with the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials [https://jrct.niph.go.jp/], number jRCTs031190009.
Knockdown of hepatocyte Perilipin-3 mitigates hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis caused by hepatocyte CGI-58 deletion in mice
Authors: Bao Xinyu , Ma Xiaogen , Huang Rongfeng , Chen Jianghui , Xin Haoran , Zhou Meiyu , Li Lihua , Tong Shifei , Zhang Qian , Shui Guanghou , Deng Fang , Yu Liqing , Li Min-Dian , Zhang Zhihui
Published: September 2022

Comparative gene identification-58 (CGI-58), also known as α/β hydrolase domain containing 5, is the co-activator of adipose triglyceride lipase that hydrolyzes triglycerides stored in the cytosolic lipid droplets. Mutations in CGI-58 gene cause Chanarin–Dorfman syndrome (CDS), an autosomal recessive neutral lipid storage disease with ichthyosis. The liver pathology of CDS manifests as steatosis and steatohepatitis, which currently has no effective treatments. Perilipin-3 (Plin3) is a member of the Perilipin–ADRP–TIP47 protein family that is essential for lipid droplet biogenesis. The objective of this study was to test a hypothesis that deletion of a major lipid droplet protein alleviates fatty liver pathogenesis caused by CGI-58 deficiency in hepatocytes. Adult CGI-58-floxed mice were injected with adeno-associated vectors simultaneously expressing the Cre recombinase and microRNA against Plin3 under the control of a hepatocyte-specific promoter, followed by high-fat diet feeding for 6 weeks. Liver and blood samples were then collected from these animals for histological and biochemical analysis. Plin3 knockdown in hepatocytes prevented steatosis, steatohepatitis, and necroptosis caused by hepatocyte CGI-58 deficiency. Our work is the first to show that inhibiting Plin3 in hepatocytes is sufficient to mitigate hepatocyte CGI-58 deficiency-induced hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis in mice.
Lung Cancer Absolute Risk Models for Mortality in an Asian Population using the China Kadoorie Biobank
Authors: Warkentin Matthew T , Tammemägi Martin C , Espin-Garcia Osvaldo , Budhathoki Sanjeev , Liu Geoffrey , Hung Rayjean J
Published: September 2022

Background

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality globally. Early detection through risk-based screening can markedly improve prognosis. However, most risk models were developed in North American cohorts of smokers, whereas less is known about risk profiles for never-smokers, which represent a growing proportion of lung cancers, particularly in Asian populations.

Methods

Based on the China Kadoorie Biobank, a population-based prospective cohort of 512 639 adults with up to 12 years of follow-up, we built Asian Lung Cancer Absolute Risk Models (ALARM) for lung cancer mortality using flexible parametric survival models, separately for never and ever-smokers, accounting for competing risks of mortality. Model performance was evaluated in a 25% hold-out test set using the time-dependent area under the curve and by comparing model-predicted and observed risks for calibration.

Results

Predictors assessed in the never-smoker lung cancer mortality model were demographics, body mass index, lung function, history of emphysema or bronchitis, personal or family history of cancer, passive smoking, and indoor air pollution. The ever-smoker model additionally assessed smoking history. The 5-year areas under the curve in the test set were 0.77 (95% confidence interval = 0.73 to 0.80) and 0.81 (95% confidence interval = 0.79 to 0.84) for ALARM-never-smokers and ALARM-ever smokers, respectively. The maximum 5-year risk for never and ever-smokers was 2.6% and 12.7%, respectively.

Conclusions

This study is among the first to develop risk models specifically for Asian populations separately for never and ever-smokers. Our models accurately identify Asians at high risk of lung cancer death and may identify those with risks exceeding common eligibility thresholds who may benefit from screening.
Multiple photoionization for the 2s subshell in the iron atom
Authors: Kučas Sigitas , Kynienė Aušra , Masys Šarūnas , Jonauskas Valdas
Published: September 2022

Multiple photoionization is analysed as a result of radiative and Auger cascade following ionization by photon from the 2s subshell. The study includes 34 levels of the 3d64s2 configuration of the Fe atom. The multiple-photoionization cross-sections from the levels of the ground configuration to the generated ions and their configurations are analysed. This study demonstrates that the photoionization of the 2s subshell produces mainly states of the Fe5+ ion. The highest charge state produced by the photoionization equals Fe6+. The difference of the ion yields from the investigated levels of the iron atom reaches ∼ 4% for the Fe 5+ and Fe6+ ions. Main branches of the cascade decay are identified in the study. It is determined that the two strongest branches of the cascade lead to states of the Fe5+ ion.
The recurrent nova U Scorpii from the 2010.1 to 2022.4 eruptions; the missed eruption of 2016.78 ± 0.10 and the critical complex period changes
Authors: Schaefer Bradley E
Published: September 2022

U Sco is a recurrent nova with 11 observed eruptions, most recently in 2010.1 and 2022.4. I report on my program (running since 1989) of measuring eclipse times and brightnesses of U Sco in quiescence, from 2010 to 2022. The orbital period suddenly increased by +22.4 ± 1.0 parts-per-million across the 2010.1 eruption. This period change is greater than the near-zero period change (+3.9 ± 6.1 parts-per-million) across the 1999.2 eruption. This period change cannot come from any of the usual mechanisms, whereas the one remaining possibility is that the period changes are dominated by the little-known mechanism of the nova ejecting asymmetric shells. From 2010.1 to 2016.78, the O − C curve showed a steady period change that was large, with $\dot{P}$ = (−21.0 ± 3.2) × 10−9. This is greatly higher than the steady period changes in the two previous inter-eruption intervals (−3.2 ± 1.9 and −1.1 ± 1.1 × 10−9). This large, variable, and negative $\dot{P}$ apparently comes from magnetic braking of the companion star’s rotation. Starting in 2016.9 ± 0.6, the O − C curve showed a strong kink that is a unique characteristic of the sudden period change (+35.4 ± 7.1 parts-per-million) across a nova event. The brightness in quiescence after 2010.4 shows that the white dwarf accreted the trigger mass for the next nova event in the year 2017.1 ± 0.6. Photometric records show the only possible time for the eruption to peak (such that its total duration of 60 d was undetectable by any observation) is during a 75-d interval inside the 2016 solar gap, thus constraining the missed eruption to 2016.78 ± 0.10.
Signature of a chemical spread in the open cluster M37
Authors: Griggio M , Salaris M , Cassisi S , Pietrinferni A , Bedin L R
Published: September 2022

Recent Gaia photometry of the open cluster M37 has disclosed the existence of an extended main sequence turn-off – like in Magellanic clusters younger than about 2 Gyr – and a main sequence that is broadened in colour beyond what is expected from the photometric errors, at magnitudes well below the region of the extended turn-off, where neither age differences nor rotation rates (the candidates to explain the extended turn-off phenomenon) are expected to play a role. Moreover, not even the contribution of unresolved binaries can fully explain the observed broadening. We investigated the reasons behind this broadening by making use of synthetic stellar populations and differential colour–colour diagrams, using a combination of Gaia and Sloan filters. From our analysis, we have concluded that the observed colour spread in the Gaia colour–magnitude diagram can be reproduced by a combination of either a metallicity spread $\Delta \rm [Fe/H] \sim 0.15$ plus a differential reddening across the face of the cluster spanning a total range ΔE(B − V) ∼ 0.06, or a spread of the initial helium mass fraction ΔY ∼ 0.10 plus a smaller range of reddening ΔE(B − V) ∼ 0.03. High-resolution differential abundance determinations of a sizeable sample of cluster stars are necessary to confirm or exclude the presence of a metal abundance spread. Our results raise the possibility that also individual open clusters, like globular clusters and massive star clusters, host stars born with different initial chemical compositions.
Complex organic molecules formation in cold cores on stochastically heated grains
Authors: Chen Long-Fei , Chang Qiang , Wang Yao , Li Di
Published: September 2022

We investigate the roles of stochastic grain heating in the formation of complex organic molecules (COMs) in cold cores, where COMs have been detected. Two different types of grain-size distributions are used in the chemical models. The first one is the MRN distribution, and the second one considers grain coagulation to study its effects on the chemical evolution in these environments. The macroscopic Monte Carlo method is used to perform the two-phase chemical model simulations. We find that (1) grain coagulation can affect certain gas-phase species, such as CO2 and N2H+, in the cold core environments, which can be attributed to the volatile precursors originating from the small grains with temperature fluctuations; (2) grains with radii around 4.6 × 10$^{-3}\, \mu$m contribute most to the production of COMs on dust grains under cold core conditions, while few species can be formed on even smaller grains with radii less than 2 × 10$^{-3}\, \mu$m; (3) COMs formed on stochastically heated grains could help explain the observed abundances of gas-phase COMs in cold cores.
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): probing galaxy-group correlations in redshift space with the halo streaming model
Authors: Hang Qianjun , Peacock John A , Alam Shadab , Cai Yan-Chuan , Kraljic Katarina , van Daalen Marcel , Bilicki M , Holwerda B W , Loveday J
Published: September 2022

We have studied the galaxy-group cross-correlations in redshift space for the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) Survey. We use a set of mock GAMA galaxy and group catalogues to develop and test a novel ‘halo streaming’ model for redshift-space distortions. This treats 2-halo correlations via the streaming model, plus an empirical 1-halo term derived from the mocks, allowing accurate modelling into the non-linear regime. In order to probe the robustness of the growth rate inferred from redshift-space distortions, we divide galaxies by colour, and divide groups according to their total stellar mass, calibrated to total mass via gravitational lensing. We fit our model to correlation data, to obtain estimates of the perturbation growth rate, fσ8, validating parameter errors via the dispersion between different mock realizations. In both mocks and real data, we demonstrate that the results are closely consistent between different subsets of the group and galaxy populations, considering the use of correlation data down to some minimum projected radius, rmin. For the mock data, we can use the halo streaming model to below $r_{\rm min} = 5{\, h^{-1}\, \rm Mpc}$, finding that all subsets yield growth rates within about 3 per cent of each other, and consistent with the true value. For the actual GAMA data, the results are limited by cosmic variance: fσ8 = 0.29 ± 0.10 at an effective redshift of 0.20; but there is every reason to expect that this method will yield precise constraints from larger data sets of the same type, such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) bright galaxy survey.
Eccentric debris belts reveal the dynamical history of the companion exoplanet
Authors: Rodet Laetitia , Lai Dong
Published: September 2022

In recent years, a number of eccentric debris belts have been observed in extrasolar systems. The most common explanation for their shape is the presence of a nearby eccentric planetary companion. The gravitational perturbation from such a companion would induce periodic eccentricity variations on the planetesimals in the belt, with a range of precession frequencies. The overall expected shape is an eccentric belt with a finite minimum width. However, several observed eccentric debris discs have been found to exhibit a narrower width than the theoretical expectation. In this paper, we study two mechanisms that can produce this small width: (i) the protoplanetary disc can interact with the planet and/or the planetesimals, slowly driving the eccentricity of the former and damping the eccentricities of the latter; and (ii) the companion planet could have gained its eccentricity stochastically, through planet–planet scatterings. We show that under appropriate conditions, both of these scenarios offer a plausible way to reduce the minimum width of an eccentric belt exterior to a perturbing planet. However, the effects of protoplanetary discs are diminished at large separations (a > 10 au) due to the scarcity of gas and the limited disc lifetime. These findings suggest that one can use the shape and width of debris discs to shed light on the evolution of extrasolar systems, constraining the protoplanetary disc properties and the prevalence of planet–planet scatterings. Further observations of debris-harbouring systems could confirm whether thin debris belts are a common occurrence, or the results of rare initial conditions or evolutionary processes.
Genealogy as Meditation and Adaptation with theHan Feizi
Authors: Wilson Lee
Published: September 2022

This paper focuses on an early Chinese conception of genealogical argumentation in the late Warring States text Han Feizi and a possible response it has to the problem of genealogical self-defeat as identified by Amia Srinivasan (2015)—i.e., the genealogist cannot seem to support their argument with premises their interlocutor or they themselves can accept, given their own argument. The paper offers a reading of Han Fei’s genealogical method that traces back to the meditative practice of an earlier Daoist text the Zhuangzi and its communicative strategy, providing a conception of genealogy aimed at undoing fixations on political systems in order to bring about a more adaptive state—specifically, genealogy that does not require epistemological commitment to its premises.
Is Heidegger’s History of Being a Genealogy?
Authors: Golob Sacha
Published: September 2022

This paper argues that Heidegger’s ‘history of being’ is a debunking narrative, characterised by both analogies and disanalogies to genealogy, at least in its Nietzschean form. I begin by defining such narratives in terms of non-truth-tropic explanation. In §2, I argue, contra Foucault, that the debate is not best approached via the idea of an “origin” or “Ursprung.” Instead, having flagged some classic features of at least Nietzschean genealogy (§3), I examine two case studies from Heidegger’s ‘history of being’. The first, I argue, is not a debunking history (§4). The second is and its target is ironically Nietzsche himself (§5). I highlight Heidegger’s psychological and epistemic claims, and I draw a comparison with MacIntyre’s discussion of ‘dead-end’ problems. I conclude that Heidegger’s history of being is a debunking history, but not a genealogy, at least in the Nietzschean sense: amongst other things, Heidegger’s method differs in its stance on truth and on the role of polemical writing (§6).
Metallomics analysis for early assessment and individualized intervention of neurodevelopmental disorders
Authors: Yasuda Hiroshi , Tsutsui Toyoharu
Published: September 2022

The children today are in the midst of the epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders. In this metallomics study for the scalp hair samples of total 2550 children with autistic disorders (2108 males and 442 females aged 0–15 years), it was demonstrated that near one-half of the infantile individuals aged 0–3 years are suffering from zinc deficiency and toxic metal burdens. Zinc level correlated closely to the index of zinc/iron ratio more than zinc/copper ratio. Furthermore, there were significant relationships between zinc deficiency and toxic metal burdens such as lead and aluminum, which were inversely associated with not only zinc level but also zinc/iron ratio with higher regression coefficients of r = −0.486 and −0.551 (P < 0.00001), respectively. High-significant inverse association was detected between zinc and molybdenum concentration (r = −0.509) and also between zinc/iron ratio and molybdenum (r = −0.548). These findings suggest that infantile zinc deficiency relates to the high burdens of not only toxic but also some essential metals such as molybdenum, iron, and manganese and that these various mineral imbalances play principal roles in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. We expect that the early assessment and intervention of the mineral imbalances (or dis-homeostasis) in individual child open an avenue for evidence-based individualized treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders and also of the comorbid immune disorders, in near future.
Synchrotron XFM tomography for elucidating metals and metalloids in hyperaccumulator plants
Authors: Spiers Kathryn M , Brueckner Dennis , Garrevoet Jan , Falkenberg Gerald , van der Ent Antony
Published: September 2022

Visualizing the endogenous distribution of elements within plant organs affords key insights in the regulation of trace elements in plants. Hyperaccumulators have extreme metal(loid) concentrations in their tissues, which make them useful models for studying metal(loid) homeostasis in plants. X-ray-based methods allow for the nondestructive analysis of most macro and trace elements with low limits of detection. However, observing the internal distributions of elements within plant organs still typically requires destructive sample preparation methods, including sectioning, for synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM). X-ray fluorescence microscopy-computed tomography (XFM–CT) enables “virtual sectioning” of a sample thereby entirely avoiding artefacts arising from destructive sample preparation. The method can be used on frozen-hydrated samples, as such preserving “life-like” conditions. Absorption and Compton scattering maps obtained from synchrotron XFM–CT offer exquisite detail on structural features that can be used in concert with elemental data to interpret the results. In this article we introduce the technique and use it to reveal the internal distribution of hyperaccumulated elements in hyperaccumulator plant species. XFM–CT can be used to effectively probe the distribution of a range of different elements in plant tissues/organs, which has wide ranging applications across the plant sciences.
The nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) controls translation initiation in cis by recruiting nucleolin to the encoding mRNA
Authors: Zheng Alice J L , Thermou Aikaterini , Daskalogianni Chrysoula , Malbert-Colas Laurence , Karakostis Konstantinos , Le Sénéchal Ronan , Trang Dinh Van , Tovar Fernandez Maria C , Apcher Sébastien , Chen Sa , Blondel Marc , Fahraeus Robin
Published: September 2022

Protein aggregates and abnormal proteins are toxic and associated with neurodegenerative diseases. There are several mechanisms to help cells get rid of aggregates but little is known on how cells prevent aggregate-prone proteins from being synthesised. The EBNA1 of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) evades the immune system by suppressing its own mRNA translation initiation in order to minimize the production of antigenic peptides for the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I pathway. Here we show that the emerging peptide of the disordered glycine–alanine repeat (GAr) within EBNA1 dislodges the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) from the ribosome. This results in the recruitment of nucleolin to the GAr-encoding mRNA and suppression of mRNA translation initiation in cis. Suppressing NAC alpha (NACA) expression prevents nucleolin from binding to the GAr mRNA and overcomes GAr-mediated translation inhibition. Taken together, these observations suggest that EBNA1 exploits a nascent protein quality control pathway to regulate its own rate of synthesis that is based on sensing the nascent GAr peptide by NAC followed by the recruitment of nucleolin to the GAr-encoding RNA sequence.
The predictive value of partialMGMTpromoter methylation for IDH-wild-type glioblastoma patients
Authors: Torre Matthew , Wen Patrick Y , Iorgulescu J Bryan
Published: September 2022

Background

Glioblastoma patients with hypermethylation of the O6-methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) gene promoter have significantly improved survival when treated with temozolomide compared to patients with unmethylation of the MGMT promoter. However, the prognostic and predictive significance of partial MGMT promoter methylation is unclear.

Methods

The National Cancer Database was queried for patients newly diagnosed in 2018 with histopathologically confirmed isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma. The overall survival (OS) associated with MGMT promoter methylation status was assessed using multivariable Cox regression with Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (P < .008 was significant).

Results

Three thousand eight hundred twenty-five newly diagnosed IDH-wildtype glioblastoma patients were identified. The MGMT promoter was unmethylated in 58.7% (n = 2245), partially methylated in 4.8% (n = 183), hypermethylated in 3.5% (n = 133), and methylated not otherwise specified (NOS; likely consisting predominantly of hypermethylated cases) in 33.0% (n = 1264) of cases. Among patients that received first-line single-agent chemotherapy (ie likely temozolomide), compared to partial methylation (referent), MGMT promoter unmethylation was associated with worse OS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.94; 95% confidence interval [95 CI]: 1.54–2.44; P < .001) in multivariable Cox regression adjusted for major prognostic confounders. In contrast, a significant OS difference was not observed between partially methylated promoters and either hypermethylated (HR 1.02; 95 CI: 0.72–1.46; P = .90) or methylated NOS (HR 0.99; 95 CI: 0.78–1.26; P = .93) promoters. Among IDH-wildtype glioblastoma patients who did not receive first-line chemotherapy, MGMT promoter methylation status was not associated with significant differences in OS (P = 0.39–0.83).

Conclusions

Compared to MGMT promoter unmethylation, partial methylation was predictive of improved OS among IDH-wildtype glioblastoma patients treated with first-line single-agent chemotherapy—supporting the use of temozolomide therapy in these patients.
Neuro-oncology at the American Society for Clinical Oncology 2022 Annual Meeting
Authors: Lukas Rimas V , Chmura Steven J , Parney Ian F , Mammoser Aaron , Smith Sonali M , Li Jing
Published: September 2022

In the following brief report, we highlight the advances in the neuro-oncology space from the ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting. We put into context the phase 2 and 3 trials and how these may alter the standard of care going forward. In addition, we highlight some other earlier work that will lead to future and potentially practice-changing trials.
Pre-adolescence: Social Status and the Heterosexual Market
Authors: Eckert Penelope
Published: September 2022

Pre-adolescence is a passage from a normatively asexual childhood to a normatively heterosexual adolescence. This is a collective passage, in which the gender binary is re-inscribed in the age cohort as part of a larger construction of a peer-based social order. Same-sex friendship groups merge into male and female constituencies, creating a “popular crowd” aiming to lead their peers into adolescent practices. Central to these practices is the development of a “heterosexual market” in which individuals accrue value as a function of their participation in heterosexual practice and in the vast indexical activity that supports it. Based on ethnographic work in two very different elementary schools in Northern California, this chapter examines the selective adoption of variation tied to sound change in progress as cultural capital in this market. Among other things, it shows that the nature of the market and of the indexical practice is articulated by difference in class and ethnicity across the cohort.
Talk About Intimate Subjects
Authors: Gaudio Rudolf P.
Published: September 2022

Ethnographic research is to a great extent a process of language socialization. Like children and other neophytes, ethnographers learn how to use language to participate in the social worlds they are studying. For scholars of language, gender, and sexuality, this ideally entails developing communicative competence as gendered and sexual subjects: we learn how people talk, and don’t talk, about gender and sex. This chapter describes how long-term participant-observation, the core ethnographic research method, allowed the author to come to a (partial) appreciation of the language and subjectivities articulated by Hausa-speaking men in northern Nigeria, who saw themselves as “feminine” and/or enjoyed sex with other men. Using examples of miscommunication that occurred at different stages of fieldwork, the chapter illustrates how the time and attention required for ethnographic research can contribute to nuanced understandings of language, gender, and sexuality in particular cultural contexts.
Medical Sociology in Africa
Authors: Pearce Tọ́lá Olú
Published: September 2022

This chapter reviews the growth and concerns of medical sociology on the African continent. To understand the past and ongoing research, it foregrounds the sociological thesis that context matters. Local and global sociopolitical contexts always impact people’s health. After colonial rule, health became a “development” issue because Africa had long been defined by doctors, missionaries, explorers, and anthropologists as the “dark continent,” weighed down by disease. The chapter draws attention to Africa’s historical position being devalued and exploited and to the promising scholarship being done on Indigenous theories and healing systems. Both have a bearing on an emerging feature of research on the continent: the interest in constructing appropriate concepts and analytical frameworks for Africa. The focus is on four broad areas: African contributions to analytical tools in medical sociology, African healing systems, epidemiological studies, and policy and health reforms.
The latest breakthrough on NLRP6 inflammasome
Authors: Li Runzhi , Zan Yang , Sui Kaiwen , Zhu Shu
Published: September 2022

NLRP6, a Nod-like receptor family member, has been shown to affect intestinal homeostasis and microbial colonization through organizing a huge protein complex called inflammasome. NLRP6 inflammasome promotes the cleavage and secretion of inflammatory cytokines or the cleavage of pore-forming Gasdermin D to initiate the inflammatory cell death called pyroptosis, which plays important roles in responding to pathogen invasion. However, questions about the ligand(s) that trigger NLRP6 inflammasome activation, or the mechanisms that how a ligand triggers NLRP6 inflammasome assembly, are emerging. In this mini-review, we summarize the current understandings of ligand recognition of NLRP6, the role of liquid-liquid phase separation in NLRP6 inflammasome assembly, and potential links with human health and diseases.
Changes in public–police cooperation following the murder of George Floyd
Authors: Brantingham P Jeffrey , Mohler George , MacDonald John
Published: September 2022

The murder of George Floyd triggered a broad social response and noticeable shift in public opinion of policing. Since policing is dependent upon public cooperation, a question is whether the shift in opinion had an effect on police calls-for-service. Data from Los Angeles and New York City are evaluated using a regression discontinuity design. Violent crime, property crime, and quality-of-life disorder calls are analyzed to address differences in reporting norms. The role of racial–ethnic composition of local areas is assessed by examining census tracts where the majority of the residential population is Asian, Black, Hispanic, or White. Following the murder of George Floyd, in New York City violent crime, property crime, and quality-of-life calls all increased significantly. In Los Angeles, quality-of-life calls for service decreased significantly. The increase in violent crime calls observed in New York was greatest in areas where the majority of residents are Black, whereas the increase in property crime calls was the greatest in areas where a majority of residents are White. The decrease in quality-of-life calls observed in Los Angeles was in areas where the majority of residents are White. In both cases, the effect was relatively short-lived.
OTC Intermediaries
Authors: Eisfeldt Andrea L , Herskovic Bernard , Rajan Sriram , Siriwardane Emil
Published: September 2022

We study the effect of dealer exit on prices and quantities in a model of an over-the-counter market featuring a core-periphery network with bilateral trading costs. The model is calibrated using regulatory data on the entire U.S. credit default swap (CDS) market between 2010 and 2013. Prices depend crucially on the risk-bearing capacity of core dealers, yet unlike standard models featuring a dealer sector, we allow for heterogeneity in dealer risk-bearing capacity. This heterogeneity is quantitatively important. Depending on how well dealers share risk, the exit of a single dealer can cause credit spreads to rise by 8 $\%$ to 24$\%$.
New Perspectives on Insurance
Authors: Koijen Ralph S J , Yogo Motohiro
Published: September 2022

This special issue originates from a dual submission conference with the NBER Insurance Working Group and the Corporate Finance Program in 2020. It brings a broader perspective on important frictions in insurance markets, including trust between insurers and policyholders, conflicts of interest among brokers, suboptimal policyholder behavior, and risk-based capital regulation. Several developments in the economy and the academic literature have provided an impetus for new perspectives, including the growth of savings products with minimum return guarantees, the global financial crisis, and intermediary asset pricing. We conclude with an overview of research questions that are promising for further exploration.
LOW DOSE-RATE RADIATION-SPECIFIC ALTERATIONS FOUND IN A GENOME-WIDE GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE MOUSE LIVER
Authors: Fujikawa Katsuyoshi , Sugihara Takashi , Tanaka Satoshi , Tanaka Ignacia , Nakamura Shingo , Nakamura-Murano Masako , Murano Hayato , Komura Jun-ichiro
Published: September 2022

Life span shortening and increased incidences of cancer and non-cancer diseases were observed in B6C3F1 mice irradiated with gamma-rays at a low dose-rate (LDR) of 20 mGy/d for 400 d. A genome-wide gene expression profiling of livers from mice irradiated at a LDR (20 mGy/d, 100–400 d) was performed. LDR radiation affected specific pathways such as those related to lipid metabolism, e.g. ‘Cholesterol biosynthesis’ and ‘Adipogenesis’ in females irradiated for 200 and 300 d at 20 mGy/d, with increased expression of genes encoding cholesterol biosynthesis enzymes (Cyp51, Sqle, Fdps) as age and radiation dose increased. No significant alterations in the expression of these genes were observed in male mice exposed similarly. However, the genes encoding adipogenesis regulators, Srebf1 and Pparg, increased with age and radiation dose in both sexes. Comparison between LDR-irradiated and medium dose-rate (400 mGy/d) male mice revealed quite different gene expression profiles. These results seem to be consistent with the increased incidence of fatty liver and obesity in female mice exposed to LDR radiation and suggest that metabolism is an important target of LDR radiation.
MODELING OF TEMPORAL AND VERTICAL CHANGES IN 137Cs CONCENTRATION IN LAKE ONUMA
Authors: Akasaki Kentaro , Semba Taisei , Suetomi Eiichi , Okada Yukiko , Suzuki Kyuma , Watanabe Shun , Hatano Yuko
Published: September 2022

According to the observed data of the activity concentration of $^{137}$Cs in Lake Onuma on Mount. Akagi, located in Gunma Prefecture, the decrease of the activity concentration slowed down since 2 years after the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In the present study, we applied the time fractional diffusion equation to reproduce long-term changes in the time series of the activity concentration. In addition, we also reproduced the vertical distribution of the activity concentration with the parameter values, estimated by the time series data. We found that the model fit the observed data well for both time series and vertical distribution.
IODINE ABSORPTION BY APPLE LEAF SURFACES
Authors: Yanai Masumi , Kawabata Hitoshi , Takaku Yuichi
Published: September 2022

Apple is an important agricultural product in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, where the first commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant is currently under construction. As the behavior of radioiodine deposited on the surface of apple leaves is not well known, we studied the absorption and transfer to fruit of stable iodine applied onto the leaf surface. Droplets of NaI solution were applied to the leaf surface $\sim$86–89 days after flowering. The leaves were collected periodically and washed with detergent solution, followed by determination of iodine amounts absorbed or remaining on the leaf surface. Subsequently, iodine levels were determined separately for each part of the apple tree. Our results indicated that iodine applied on the surface of the leaf was absorbed and accumulated inside the leaf, but the transfer of absorbed iodine to the fruit was negligible; hence, iodine was less likely to accumulate in the fruit.