bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Taxonomic Novelties in Sapranthus (Annonaceae): a new large-sized species endemic to the mountain cloud forest of Central America
Authors: Ortiz-Rodriguez Andrés Ernesto , Linares José Ledis
Published: September 2023

Sapranthus (Annonaceae) is a Neotropical genus comprising ten small tree species, most of which inhabit the tropical dry forests of Mexico and Central America. Morphological characteristics of these species are quite variable and taxonomically informative, but the morphological affinities among them have not been studied. A multivariate cluster analysis was carried out to infer the morphological affinities among all species of Sapranthus, and to establish the position of a new species, S. pinedai, a shade tree used in the coffee plantations of Guatemala and El Salvador. This new species, illustrated and described herein, is recognized by a unique combination of features identified through comparisons with morphologically similar taxa, and a preliminary assessment of the conservation status of the new species was calculated. The results presented here show that Sapranthus forms four morphological groupings in two main clusters. The new species is more similar to S. microcarpus and S. campechianus, but differs from both species by its essentially glabrous leaves, short pedicels, fewer carpels, greater number of ovules per carpel, biseriate ovules, larger sessile fruits with a thick testa, and by its several lunate to wedge-shaped seeds. These morphological groupings provides new insights into the understanding of the sectional classification of the genus Sapranthus, the geographic distribution of its species, and the morphological affinity of the new species.
MiR-3529-3p from PDGF-BB-induced cancer-associated fibroblast-derived exosomes promotes the malignancy of oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: You Dingyun , Wang Yanghao , Xu Jianguo , Yang Rongqiang , Wang Weizhou , Wang Xiaofang , Cao Xue , Li Yiting , Yu Lifu , Wang Weihong , Shi Yanan , Zhang Changbin , Yang Hefeng , He Yongwen , Bian Li
Published: September 2023

Aims

This study aims to explore the role of exosomes from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) induced by PDGF-BB in promoting the malignancy of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and provide new insight into the mechanism of OSCC progression and its treatment.

Main methods

Exosomes were extracted from human oral mucosa fibroblasts (hOMFs) and CAFs. Differentially expressed miRNAs of exosomes between hOMFs and CAFs were analysed using high-throughput sequencing and self-programmed R software. Cal-27, a human tongue squamous carcinoma cell line, was treated with exosomes. Differentially expressed miRNAs between clinical cancer tissues and adjacent tissues and between hOMF and CAF exosomes were verified by qRT‒PCR. The effect of miR-3529-3p on Cal-27 cells was clarified by overexpressing or knocking down miR-3529-3p in Cal-27 cells. Sample expression and differentially expressed miRNA expression were compared between cancer and paracarcinoma tissues.

Key findings

We found that exosomes from CAFs (CAF-Exos) were internalized by tongue squamous carcinoma cells and promoted their proliferation, migration, invasion, and antiapoptotic effects. MiR-3529-3p was a significant differentially expressed miRNA between CAF-Exos and exosomes from hOMFs (hOMF-Exos). The overexpression of miR-3529-3p promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion and inhibited apoptosis of Cal-27 cells.

Significance

This study explores the role of PDGF-BB-induced CAFs in promoting malignancy in OSCC. This study will provide new insight into the mechanism of OSCC progression and its treatment.
Sensitivity Analysis Based New Numerical Approach with Green Function for Optimization
Authors: Topaloglu Ismail
Published: September 2023

In this study, sensitivity analysis based on a new numerical approach is developed for the three-dimensional structural optimization of high voltage system devices. It has been developed using Green’s theorem in a closed form to satisfy all boundary conditions and necessary conditions, including material and geometric dimensions. The developed sensitivity function and objective function are suitable for structural optimization of all electrostatic problems. The suitability and application of the developed function were made on the bushing. The changing geometry information was obtained from the developed sensitivity function as a result of the optimization. The analysis made with the classical design and the developed function were compared with each other. Optimization with the developed function has provided insulation and conductor size reduction. Experimental test devices before and after optimization process produced and tested. These results are presented in the study.
Methodological issues: gender related indices
Authors: Chakrabartty Satyendra Nath
Published: September 2023

Gender related Index (GRI) is a singled valued function combining selected dimensions containing different number of components. Measurement of multidimensional GRIs involves measurement issues for meaningful aggregations and comparisons over time and space. The paper proposes gender inequality through multiplicative aggregation ($${GRI}_{GM}$$

GRI

GM

) and gender similarity index (GSI) by cosine similarity, avoiding scaling, finding weights and satisfying desired properties. Inverse relationship derived between $${GRI}_{GM}$$

GRI

GM

and GSI. Each proposed index reduces level of substitutability, effect of outliers. Each facilitates aggregation of country-wise scores to find world average, statistical testing of equality of mean of two countries or mean of a country at two time-periods using Y-scores obtained from each measure by linear transformations where Y$$\in $$
∈
[0, 100] and Y$$\sim $$
∼
N ($$\mu , {\sigma }^{2})$$

μ
,

σ

2

)

. Each index can be used for ranking and classification of countries. GSI can indicate current distance of a country from the goal of zero gender inequality. $${GRI}_{GM}$$

GRI

GM

can assess progress/decline in successive periods for women and separately for men. $${GRI}_{GM}$$

GRI

GM

is preferred for satisfaction of time-reversal test, easy identification of critical areas and contribution of the components or dimensions to the index. Empirical verification of the proposed indices and their properties including robustness could be taken as future studies.
Evaluation of an online research best practices training for community health workers and promotoras
Authors: Murphy Susan L. , Jay Gina M. , Samuels Elias M. , Eakin Brenda L. , Harper Alexandra E. , Piatt Gretchen A. , Trujillo Vanessa I. , Weeks-Norton Kristen L. , Striley Catherine W. , O’Leary Catina , Hahn Jordan , Watkins Daphne C. , Cottler Linda B. , Aguilar Gaxiola Sergio
Published: September 2023

Introduction:

Community health workers and promotoras (CHW/Ps) have a fundamental role in facilitating research with communities. However, no national standard training exists as part of the CHW/P job role. We developed and evaluated a culturally- and linguistically tailored online research best practices course for CHW/Ps to meet this gap.

Methods:

After the research best practices course was developed, we advertised the opportunity to CHW/Ps nationwide to complete the training online in English or Spanish. Following course completion, CHW/Ps received an online survey to rate their skills in community-engaged research and their perceptions of the course using Likert scales of agreement. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on open-ended response data.

Results:

104 CHW/Ps completed the English or Spanish course (n = 52 for each language; mean age 42 years SD ± 12); 88% of individuals identified as female and 56% identified as Hispanic, Latino, or Spaniard. 96%–100% of respondents reported improvement in various skills. Nearly all CHW/Ps (97%) agreed the course was relevant to their work, and 96% felt the training was useful. Qualitative themes related to working more effectively as a result of training included enhanced skills, increased resources, and building bridges between communities and researchers.

Discussion:

The CHW/P research best practices course was rated as useful and relevant by CHW/Ps, particularly for communicating about research with community members. This course can be a professional development resource for CHW/Ps and could serve as the foundation for a national standardized training on their role related to research best practices.
Ways of knowing the health of livestock populations: the age of surveys, 1928–65
Authors: Woods Abigail
Published: September 2023

This article advances historical understandings of health, veterinary medicine and livestock agriculture by examining how, in mid-twentieth-century Britain, the diseases of livestock were made collectively knowable. During this period, the state extended its gaze beyond a few, highly impactful notifiable diseases to a host of other threats to livestock health. The prime mechanism through which this was achieved was the disease survey. Paralleling wider developments in survey practices, it grew from small interwar beginnings into a hugely expensive, wide-ranging state veterinary project that created a new conception of the nation’s livestock as a geographical aggregation of animals in varying states of health. This article traces the disease survey’s entanglements with dairy cows, farming practices, veterinary professional politics and government agendas. It shows that far from a neutral reflection of reality, surveys both represented and perpetuated specific versions of dairy cow health, varieties of farming practice and visions of the veterinary professional role. At first, their findings proved influential, but over time they found it harder to discipline their increasingly complex human, animal and disease subjects, resulting in unconvincing representations of reality that led ultimately to their marginalization.
A comparison of the video head impulse test and the functional head impulse test in chronic unilateral vestibular loss
Authors: Kirazli Gulce , Erbek Hatice Seyra
Published: September 2023

Objective

To examine the correlation of video head impulse test, functional head impulse test and Dizziness Handicap Inventory results in patients with chronic unilateral vestibular loss, and to compare the results with healthy controls.

Methods

Forty-eight patients diagnosed with chronic unilateral vestibular loss and 35 healthy individuals, aged 18–65 years, were included. The video head impulse test, functional head impulse test and Dizziness Handicap Inventory were administered.

Results

A significant positive correlation was found between functional head impulse test and video head impulse test results for the study group in all semicircular canals (p < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between Dizziness Handicap Inventory, functional head impulse test and video head impulse test results (p > 0.05). The functional head impulse test and video head impulse test results of the control group were significantly higher than those of the study group in all semicircular canals planes (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

In chronic unilateral vestibular loss patients, with high head accelerations, the functional head impulse test indicates deterioration in vestibulo-ocular reflex functionality. It would be beneficial to include the video head impulse test and functional head impulse test in clinical practice as complementary tests in vestibulo-ocular reflex evaluation.
The Personal/Subpersonal Distinction Revisited: Towards an Explication
Authors: Dänzer Lars
Published: September 2023

The distinction between the personal and the subpersonal is often invoked in philosophy of psychology but remains surrounded by confusion. Building on recent work by Zoe Drayson, this paper aims to help further improve this situation by offering a satisfactory explication of the distinction that remains close to Dennett's original intentions. Reasons are offered for construing the distinction as applying to representational (as opposed to worldly) items, for not building contested theoretical assumptions into it, and for taking it to apply in the first instance to descriptive statements and only derivatively to explanations. An explication of the distinction that accords with these points is then developed, according to which the distinction should be drawn in terms of what personal and subpersonal-level statements are ‘transparently about’. The theoretical role of this explication is discussed, and potential objections are addressed.
INTERACTIVE EFFECTS PANEL DATA MODELS WITH GENERAL FACTORS AND REGRESSORS
Authors: Peng Bin , Su Liangjun , Westerlund Joakim , Yang Yanrong
Published: September 2023

This paper considers a model with general regressors and unobservable common factors. An estimator based on iterated principal component analysis is proposed, which is shown to be not only asymptotically normal, but under certain conditions also free of the otherwise so common asymptotic incidental parameters bias. Interestingly, the conditions required to achieve unbiasedness become weaker the stronger the trends in the factors, and if the trending is strong enough, unbiasedness comes at no cost at all. The approach does not require any knowledge of how many factors there are, or whether they are deterministic or stochastic. The order of integration of the factors is also treated as unknown, as is the order of integration of the regressors, which means that there is no need to pre-test for unit roots, or to decide on which deterministic terms to include in the model.
‘Legalists and Moralists’ in the Historic Portrayal of the Constitution of the Church of England
Authors: Doe Norman
Published: September 2023

The Enabling Act 1919 provided for a new National Church Assembly able to make Measures with the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament. The 1919 Act was without question a constitutional moment with far-reaching effects; and it was about law, not morals: legalists triumphed over moralists. However, it was just one stage in a much longer trajectory of thinking about the constitution of the Church of England. This article, which started life as a lecture to the Ecclesiastical Law Society's day conference on 2 April 2022, takes the story further back – and widens it. It presents the key elements of thinking about the constitution – accidents, continuity, change – in the works of English ecclesiastical lawyers – civilians, common lawyers and clerical jurists – from the Reformation to the Act of 1919. To what extent, if at all, in their understandings of the church constitution, were our historic ecclesiastical lawyers legalists, or moralists, or both? Was the ecclesiastical constitution itself simply a legal category, or did it, and its basics, also have a moral quality? This article explores these questions in relation to: (1) the nature, sources, and purposes of the constitution of the Church of England; (2) legislative, administrative and judicial power; and (3) the rights of the individual enforceable against the decisions of ecclesiastical government. This article is based on a paper delivered to the Ecclesiastical Law Society's 2022 day conference.
February to May 2023
Authors: Cranmer Frank
Published: September 2023

On 21 April, Dominic Raab resigned as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, to be replaced by Alex Chalk KC. On 8 May, The Times reported that the Bill of Rights Bill was to be dropped and that the Ministry of Justice had told its reporters that the new Justice Secretary had been ‘looking carefully’ at the Bill, while another Government source had described the Bill as a ‘complete mess’.
Forcing generalised quasirandom graphs efficiently
Authors: Grzesik Andrzej , Král’ Daniel , Pikhurko Oleg
Published: September 2023

We study generalised quasirandom graphs whose vertex set consists of$q$parts (of not necessarily the same sizes) with edges within each part and between each pair of parts distributed quasirandomly; such graphs correspond to the stochastic block model studied in statistics and network science. Lovász and Sós showed that the structure of such graphs is forced by homomorphism densities of graphs with at most$(10q)^q+q$vertices; subsequently, Lovász refined the argument to show that graphs with$4(2q+3)^8$vertices suffice. Our results imply that the structure of generalised quasirandom graphs with$q\ge 2$parts is forced by homomorphism densities of graphs with at most$4q^2-q$vertices, and, if vertices in distinct parts have distinct degrees, then$2q+1$vertices suffice. The latter improves the bound of$8q-4$due to Spencer.
Modeling the development of cognitive reserve in children: A residual index approach
Authors: Irani Zubin A. , Sheridan Andrew M. C. , Silk Timothy J. , Anderson Vicki , Weinborn Michael , Gavett Brandon E.
Published: September 2023

Objective:

To model cognitive reserve (CR) longitudinally in a neurodiverse pediatric sample using a residual index approach, and to test the criterion and construct validity of this index.

Method:

Participants were N = 115 children aged 9.5–13 years at baseline (MAge = 10.48 years, SDAge = 0.61), and n = 43 (37.4%) met criteria for ADHD. The CR index represented variance in Matrix Reasoning scores from the WASI that was unexplained by MRI-based brain variables (bilateral hippocampal volumes, total gray matter volumes, and total white matter hypointensity volumes) or demographics (age and sex).

Results:

At baseline, the CR index predicted math computation ability (estimate = 0.50, SE = 0.07, p < .001), and word reading ability (estimate = 0.26, SE = 0.10, p = .012). Longitudinally, change in CR over time was not associated with change in math computation ability (estimate = −0.02, SE = 0.03, p < .513), but did predict change in word reading ability (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p < .001). Change in CR was also found to moderate the relationship between change in word reading ability and white matter hypointensity volume (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.05, p = .045).

Conclusions:

Evidence for the criterion validity of this CR index is encouraging, but somewhat mixed, while construct validity was evidenced through interaction between CR, brain, and word reading ability. Future research would benefit from optimization of the CR index through careful selection of brain variables for a pediatric sample.
Revisiting Knowledge-for-Development
Authors: Jacquet Pierre
Published: September 2023

The Knowledge-for-Development (K4D) approach has been characterized by a marked concentration of the production of research on development in developed countries. The underlying utilitarian approach to social science research misrepresents the nature and making of policy, raises entry barriers for developing country researchers, and focuses on the production of research to the detriment of its use. Using such research in developing countries requires informed debate, consideration of the local environment, and sufficient local research capacity. Foreign assistance should focus on research capacity building as a specific objective, distinct from the production and publication of research, with its own management, implementation, and monitoring. This is essential if the objective of the K4D approach, namely the better use of scientific knowledge to enhance the quality of policies, is to be achieved.
Is Using Trade Policy for Foreign Policy a ‘SNO Job’? On Linkage, Friend-Shoring, and the Challenges for Multilateralism
Authors: Wolfe Robert
Published: September 2023

Using trade policy to achieve foreign policy objectives, such as stable international relations, has a long history, from Kant to the founders of the GATT. Punishing enemies and rewarding ‘friends’ by granting or withholding market access is also not new, and sanctions or blockades are a venerable form of trade policy used as foreign policy. A more recent form is influencing the domestic policy of another country with non-commercial provisions in trade agreements. All these tools are based on linkage, on the assumption that a desired outcome can be achieved by interventions that would increase or decrease trade. The latest instance is so-called ‘friend-shoring’, which would in principle isolate enemies, although it will be difficult in practice and risks undermining multilateralism. The cost of these interventions is susceptible to economic analysis, even if the conclusion is that it is worth paying. Influenced by Alan Winters who referred to national security as a motivation for agriculture protection as a ‘so-called non-economic objective’ or SNO, I argue that using a trade policy tool for a foreign policy purpose as if there is no cost is a SNO job, an attempt to justify an intervention aimed at one objective by framing it as being valuable for another.
Climate Equivalence and International Trade
Authors: Lydgate Emily
Published: September 2023

This article examines a significant question in navigating trade and climate tension: how to recognize another country as having equivalent climate regulations. Such equivalence forms a core component of many proposed models of so-called climate clubs. Establishing equivalence between distinct national climate regulation regimes poses a unique challenge that draws upon both trade and environmental international cooperation. Drawing on existing proposals, I examine prospects for country-based cooperation through three models: ETS-linking, benchmarking of shared methods and minimum standards, and benchmarking of outcome duties. The analysis concludes that all models necessitate some trade-offs between the goals of rigorous oversight of climate objectives, inclusivity, and WTO compliance. Benchmarking of shared methods and minimum standards seems most feasible, and would provide a deeper level of integration between trade and climate cooperation, but necessitates a shift in how countries, particularly the EU, oversee regulatory compliance.
Exporting and Technology Adoption in Brazil
Authors: Cirera Xavier , Comin Diego , Cruz Marcio , Lee Kyung Min , Martins-Neto Antonio
Published: September 2023

There is limited evidence about the role that participating in international trade has on the diffusion of technologies. This paper analyzes the impact of exporting on firms’ adoption of technologies that are more sophisticated, using a novel dataset, the Firm-level Adoption of Technology (FAT) survey, that includes more than 1,500 firms from Brazil. The survey provides detailed information about the use of more than 300 technologies, combined with data from Brazil's census of formal workers (RAIS) and Brazil’s exports data from the Ministry of Trade. To address some critical endogeneity concerns, we apply a difference-in-differences estimation with multiple periods to examine the effects of entering export markets on technology adoption. We find that exporting has positive effects on firms’ likelihood of adopting advanced technologies in business functions related with business administration, production planning, supply chain management, and quality control, which are important to manage tasks associated to export activities.
The Bank, the Fund, and the GATT: Which Institution Most Supported Developing-Country Trade Reform?
Authors: Irwin Douglas A.
Published: September 2023

The 1980s and 1990s saw a policy revolution in developing countries in which many highly protected (if not closed) economies were opened to world trade. These reforms were largely undertaken unilaterally, but international economic institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization supported these efforts. This paper examines the ways in which these institutions promoted, or failed to promote, trade policy reform during this pivotal period.
Trade Policy, Openness, and Development: Essays in Honour of L. Alan Winters
Authors: Borchert Ingo , Hoekman Bernard
Published: September 2023

Alan Winters was the editor of the World Trade Review (WTR) from December 2008 to mid-2020. Launched in 2002 as a joint initiative of the WTO Secretariat and Cambridge University Press, the WTR has become the leading multidisciplinary journal in the field of international trade broadly defined. In the period during which Alan was editor of the journal, the number of issues grew from three to five, reflecting the significant increase in the number of quality submissions. The impact factor of the journal rose to 1.6 in 2020, an increase by 150%, above that of The World Economy, arguably the incumbent in the field when the WTR was created.
Measuring Support for Welfare Policies: Implications for the Effects of Race and Deservingness Stereotypes
Authors: Zhirkov Kirill , Lunz Trujillo Kristin , Myers C. Daniel
Published: September 2023

What are the relative contributions of stereotypes about the race and deservingness of welfare recipients to Americans’ opinions on welfare? A recent study employing a conjoint-experimental method finds that Americans’ stereotypes of welfare recipients as undeserving drive negative attitudes toward welfare, while stereotypes of welfare recipients as Black have little effect. However, this finding may be produced by the measure of welfare attitudes that includes questions implicating deservingness. We implement a conceptual replication of that study using different measures of welfare policy opinions that directly ask respondents about spending, both on welfare generally and on specific welfare programs. We show that when support for welfare is measured using the spending questions, stereotypes about race are significantly associated with opposition to welfare. These results have important implications for the debate on Americans’ opposition to welfare programs, as well as for the measurement of policy opinions in surveys.
Increasing Risks of Future Compound Climate Extremes With Warming Over Global Land Masses
Authors: Wu Haijiang , Su Xiaoling , Singh Vijay P.
Published: September 2023

Compound climate extremes (here referred to compound dry–hot events and compound pluvial–hot events) result in devastating disasters which threaten water‐food‐energy security. However, in a warming scenario, the risk of occurrence, the quantification of uncertainty, and associated drivers of compound climate extremes—particularly compound pluvial–hot events—have not been fully explored. By leveraging climate model large ensembles, it is revealed that the risk of compound climate extremes is projected to increase 2–3 times over most global land masses in future Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 forcing compared with historical forcing. Increased risks of compound climate extremes are mainly attributed to the changes in temperature and changes in dependence between precipitation and temperature, while the change in precipitation contributing to risk of these two compound climate extremes exhibits approximately spatial complementary. In the warming world, the hot spots of compound dry–hot extremes mainly lie in Europe, South Africa, and the Amazon, while those of compound pluvial–hot extremes mostly lie in the eastern USA, eastern and southern Asia, Australia, and central Africa. These findings help stakeholders and decision makers develop a package of climate change adaptation strategies to manage and mitigate the risk of compound climate extremes.
Overrepresentation of Historically Underserved and Socially Vulnerable Communities Behind Levees in the United States
Authors: Vahedifard Farshid , Azhar Mohammed , Brown Dustin C.
Published: September 2023

Infrastructure equity is an immediate concern with levees, constituting the backbone of the U.S. protection against flooding. Flooding patterns are exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change in several regions, posing a significant risk to the economy, safety, and well‐being of the nation. The evolving risk of flooding is shown to disproportionately affect historically underserved and socially vulnerable communities (HUSVCs). Here we compare the sociodemographic and socioeconomic composition of leveed and non‐leveed U.S. communities and show a substantial overrepresentation of HUSVCs in leveed areas at the state, regional, and national levels. Further, we analyze the proportion of communities designated as “disadvantaged” in leveed versus non‐leveed areas, revealing a substantially larger population of disadvantaged communities residing behind levees. Our analyses show that nationally, Hispanic are the most overrepresented population in leveed areas yielding a disparity percentage of 39.9%, followed by Native American (18.7%), Asian (17.7%), and Black (16.1%) communities. Communities characterized by low education, poverty, and disability exhibit a disproportionately higher presentation of 27.8%, 20.4%, and 5.4% in leveed areas across the U.S. In 43 states, disadvantaged communities are overrepresented behind levees, with a national disparity percentage of 40.6%. At the regional level, the highest disparity was observed in the Northeast (57.3%), followed by the West (51.3%), Southeast (38%), Midwest (29.2%), and Southwest (25%). The findings can enable decision‐ and policy‐makers to identify hotspots within HUSVCs that need to be prioritized for enhancing the integrity and climate adaptation of their levee systems.
A first-in-class fully modified version of miR-34a with outstanding stability, activity, and anti-tumor efficacy
Authors: Abdelaal Ahmed M. , Sohal Ikjot S. , Iyer Shreyas , Sudarshan Kasireddy , Kothandaraman Harish , Lanman Nadia A. , Low Philip S. , Kasinski Andrea L.
Published: September 2023

Altered by defects in p53, epigenetic silencing, and genomic loss, the microRNA miR-34a represents one of the most clinically relevant tumor-suppressive microRNAs. Without question, a striking number of patients with cancer would benefit from miR-34a replacement, if poor miR-34a stability, non-specific delivery, and delivery-associated toxicity could be overcome. Here, we highlight a fully modified version of miR-34a (FM-miR-34a) that overcomes these hurdles when conjugated to a synthetically simplistic ligand. FM-miR-34a is orders of magnitude more stable than a partially modified version, without compromising its activity, leading to stronger repression of a greater number of miR-34a targets. FM-miR-34a potently inhibited proliferation and invasion, and induced sustained downregulation of endogenous target genes for >120 h following in vivo delivery. In vivo targeting was achieved through conjugating FM-miR-34a to folate (FM-FolamiR-34a), which inhibited tumor growth leading to complete cures in some mice. These results have the ability to revitalize miR-34a as an anti-cancer agent, providing a strong rationale for clinical testing.
Predictive factors of medium-giant coronary artery aneurysms in Kawasaki disease
Authors: Jiang Saitong , Li Meng , Xu Kun , Xie Ying , Liang Piaohong , Liu Cong , Su Qiru , Li Boning
Published: September 2023

Background

We aimed to examine predictive measures for medium and giant coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) in Kawasaki disease (KD) patients.

Methods

Patients who were diagnosed with KD from 2015 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical and laboratory data were compared between medium-giant group and non-medium-giant group.

Results

A total of 1331 KD patients were investigated, of whom 63 patients (4.7%) developed medium-giant CAA including 27 patients (2%) with giant CAA. Sex, age, fever duration, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance, platelet count, and albumin level independently predicted medium or giant CAA by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Male, age, duration of fever, IVIG resistance, platelet count, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were independent predictors for giant CAA. The two new scoring systems using these factors in identifying patients with medium-giant CAA and giant CAA had respectively sensitivities of 86.89% and 92.59%, and specificities of 81.65% and 87.93%. Validation in 2021 dataset (193 KD patients) showed comparable sensitivity and specificity to development dataset.

Conclusions

Male, age, fever duration, IVIG resistance, platelet count, albumin, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate might be significant predictors of medium and giant CAA. The sensitivity and specificity in our risk prediction model were higher than in previous research.

Impact

This is the first study to search for risk factors and establish a prediction model for the development of medium-giant CAA in the Chinese population using z-scores and absolute inner diameter values based on large sample sizes.

The sensitivity and specificity in our model were higher than in previous studies.

Our research could help clinicians better predict medium-giant CAA and choose more appropriate treatment.
Antarctic evidence for an abrupt northward shift of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies at 32 ka BP
Authors: Venugopal Abhijith U. , Bertler Nancy A. N. , Severinghaus Jeffrey P. , Brook Edward J. , Cortese Giuseppe , Lee James E. , Blunier Thomas , Mayewski Paul A. , Kjær Helle A. , Carter Lionel , Weber Michael E. , Levy Richard H. , Pyne Rebecca L. , Vandergoes Marcus J.
Published: September 2023

High-resolution ice core records from coastal Antarctica are particularly useful to inform our understanding of environmental changes and their drivers. Here, we present a decadally resolved record of sea-salt sodium (a proxy for open-ocean area) and non-sea salt calcium (a proxy for continental dust) from the well-dated Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) core, focusing on the time period between 40–26 ka BP. The RICE dust record exhibits an abrupt shift towards a higher mean dust concentration at 32 ka BP. Investigating existing ice-core records, we find this shift is a prominent feature across Antarctica. We propose that this shift is linked to an equatorward displacement of Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. Subsequent to the wind shift, data suggest a weakening of Southern Ocean upwelling and a decline of atmospheric CO2 to lower glacial values, hence making this shift an important glacial climate event with potentially important insights for future projections.
Large-scale assembly of isotropic nanofiber aerogels based on columnar-equiaxed crystal transition
Authors: Li Lei , Zhou Yiqian , Gao Yang , Feng Xuning , Zhang Fangshu , Li Weiwei , Zhu Bin , Tian Ze , Fan Peixun , Zhong Minlin , Niu Huichang , Zhao Shanyu , Wei Xiaoding , Zhu Jia , Wu Hui
Published: September 2023

Ice-templating technology holds great potential to construct industrial porous materials from nanometers to the macroscopic scale for tailoring thermal, electronic, or acoustic transport. Herein, we describe a general ice-templating technology through freezing the material on a rotating cryogenic drum surface, crushing it, and then re-casting the nanofiber slurry. Through decoupling the ice nucleation and growth processes, we achieved the columnar-equiaxed crystal transition in the freezing procedure. The highly random stacking and integrating of equiaxed ice crystals can organize nanofibers into thousands of repeating microscale units with a tortuous channel topology. Owing to the spatially well-defined isotropic structure, the obtained Al2O3·SiO2 nanofiber aerogels exhibit ultralow thermal conductivity, superelasticity, good damage tolerance, and fatigue resistance. These features, together with their natural stability up to 1200 °C, make them highly robust for thermal insulation under extreme thermomechanical environments. Cascading thermal runaway propagation in a high-capacity lithium-ion battery module consisting of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode, with ultrahigh thermal shock power of 215 kW, can be completely prevented by a thin nanofiber aerogel layer. These findings not only establish a general production route for nanomaterial assemblies that is conventionally challenging, but also demonstrate a high-energy-density battery module configuration with a high safety standard that is critical for practical applications.
Neutrophil metalloproteinase driven spleen damage hampers infection control of trypanosomiasis
Authors: Pham Hien Thi Thu , Magez Stefan , Choi Boyoon , Baatar Bolortsetseg , Jung Joohee , Radwanska Magdalena
Published: September 2023

Recent blood transcriptomic analysis of rhodesiense sleeping sickness patients has revealed that neutrophil signature genes and activation markers constitute the top indicators of trypanosomiasis-associated inflammation. Here, we show that Trypanosoma brucei infection results in expansion and differentiation of four splenic neutrophil subpopulations, including Mki67+Birc5+Gfi1+Cebpe+ proliferation-competent precursors, two intermediate immature subpopulations and Cebpb+Spi1+Irf7+Mcl1+Csf3r+ inflammation reprogrammed mature neutrophils. Transcriptomic scRNA-seq profiling identified the largest immature subpopulation by Mmp8/9 positive tertiary granule markers. We confirmed the presence of both metalloproteinases in extracellular spleen homogenates and plasma. During infection, these enzymes digest extracellular matrix components in the absence of sufficient TIMP inhibitory activity, driving remodeling of the spleen follicular architecture. Neutrophil depletion prevents the occurrence of organ damage, resulting in increased plasma cell numbers and prolonged host survival. We conclude that trypanosomiasis-associated neutrophil activation is a major contributor to the destruction of the secondary lymphoid architecture, required for maintaining an efficient adaptive immune response.
Survey of open science practices and attitudes in the social sciences
Authors: Ferguson Joel , Littman Rebecca , Christensen Garret , Paluck Elizabeth Levy , Swanson Nicholas , Wang Zenan , Miguel Edward , Birke David , Pezzuto John-Henry
Published: September 2023

Open science practices such as posting data or code and pre-registering analyses are increasingly prescribed and debated in the applied sciences, but the actual popularity and lifetime usage of these practices remain unknown. This study provides an assessment of attitudes toward, use of, and perceived norms regarding open science practices from a sample of authors published in top-10 (most-cited) journals and PhD students in top-20 ranked North American departments from four major social science disciplines: economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. We observe largely favorable private attitudes toward widespread lifetime usage (meaning that a researcher has used a particular practice at least once) of open science practices. As of 2020, nearly 90% of scholars had ever used at least one such practice. Support for posting data or code online is higher (88% overall support and nearly at the ceiling in some fields) than support for pre-registration (58% overall). With respect to norms, there is evidence that the scholars in our sample appear to underestimate the use of open science practices in their field. We also document that the reported lifetime prevalence of open science practices increased from 49% in 2010 to 87% a decade later.
Identification of potent and selective N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors of Plasmodium vivax liver stage hypnozoites and schizonts
Authors: Rodríguez-Hernández Diego , Vijayan Kamalakannan , Zigweid Rachael , Fenwick Michael K. , Sankaran Banumathi , Roobsoong Wanlapa , Sattabongkot Jetsumon , Glennon Elizabeth K. K. , Myler Peter J. , Sunnerhagen Per , Staker Bart L. , Kaushansky Alexis , Grøtli Morten
Published: September 2023

Drugs targeting multiple stages of the Plasmodium vivax life cycle are needed to reduce the health and economic burdens caused by malaria worldwide. N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) is an essential eukaryotic enzyme and a validated drug target for combating malaria. However, previous PvNMT inhibitors have failed due to their low selectivity over human NMTs. Herein, we apply a structure-guided hybridization approach combining chemical moieties of previously reported NMT inhibitors to develop the next generation of PvNMT inhibitors. A high-resolution crystal structure of PvNMT bound to a representative selective hybrid compound reveals a unique binding site architecture that includes a selective conformation of a key tyrosine residue. The hybridized compounds significantly decrease P. falciparum blood-stage parasite load and consistently exhibit dose-dependent inhibition of P. vivax liver stage schizonts and hypnozoites. Our data demonstrate that hybridized NMT inhibitors can be multistage antimalarials, targeting dormant and developing forms of liver and blood stage.
Reliable bi-functional nickel-phosphate /TiO2 integration enables stable n-GaAs photoanode for water oxidation under alkaline condition
Authors: Arunachalam Maheswari , Kanase Rohini Subhash , Zhu Kai , Kang Soon Hyung
Published: September 2023

Hydrogen is one of the most widely used essential chemicals worldwide, and it is also employed in the production of many other chemicals, especially carbon-free energy fuels produced via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. At present, gallium arsenide represents the most efficient photoanode material for PEC water oxidation, but it is known to either be anodically photocorroded or photopassivated by native metal oxides in the competitive reaction, limiting efficiency and stability. Here, we report chemically etched GaAs that is decorated with thin titanium dioxide (~30 nm-thick, crystalline) surface passivation layer along with nickel-phosphate (Ni-Pi) cocatalyst as a surface hole-sink layer. The integration of Ni-Pi bifunctional co-catalyst results in a highly efficient GaAs electrode with a ~ 100 mV cathodic shift of the onset potential. In this work, the electrode also has enhanced photostability under 110 h testing for PEC water oxidation at a steady current density Jph > 25 mA·cm−2. The Et-GaAs/TiO2/Ni-Pi║Ni-Pi tandem configuration results in the best unassisted bias-free water splitting device with the highest Jph (~7.6 mA·cm−2) and a stable solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 9.5%.
Functionally distinct cancer-associated fibroblast subpopulations establish a tumor promoting environment in squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Schütz Sabrina , Solé-Boldo Llorenç , Lucena-Porcel Carlota , Hoffmann Jochen , Brobeil Alexander , Lonsdorf Anke S. , Rodríguez-Paredes Manuel , Lyko Frank
Published: September 2023

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a serious public health problem due to its high incidence and metastatic potential. It may progress from actinic keratosis (AK), a precancerous lesion, or the in situ carcinoma, Bowen’s disease (BD). During this progression, malignant keratinocytes activate dermal fibroblasts into tumor promoting cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), whose origin and emergence remain largely unknown. Here, we generate and analyze >115,000 single-cell transcriptomes from healthy skin, BD and cSCC of male donors. Our results reveal immunoregulatory and matrix-remodeling CAF subtypes that may derive from pro-inflammatory and mesenchymal fibroblasts, respectively. These CAF subtypes are largely absent in AK and interact with different cell types to establish a pro-tumorigenic microenvironment. These findings are cSCC-specific and could not be recapitulated in basal cell carcinomas. Our study provides important insights into the potential origin and functionalities of dermal CAFs that will be highly beneficial for the specific targeting of the cSCC microenvironment.
Resonant perovskite solar cells with extended band edge
Authors: Feng Jiangang , Wang Xi , Li Jia , Liang Haoming , Wen Wen , Alvianto Ezra , Qiu Cheng-Wei , Su Rui , Hou Yi
Published: September 2023

Tuning the composition of perovskites to approach the ideal bandgap raises the single-junction Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit of solar cells. The rapid development of narrow-bandgap formamidinium lead triiodide-based perovskites has brought perovskite single-junction solar cell efficiencies up to 26.1%. However, such compositional engineering route has reached the limit of the Goldschmidt tolerance factor. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a resonant perovskite solar cell that produces giant light absorption at the perovskite band edge with tiny absorption coefficients. We design multiple guide-mode resonances by momentum matching of waveguided modes and free-space light via Brillouin-zone folding, thus achieving an 18-nm band edge extension and 1.5 mA/cm2 improvement of the current. The external quantum efficiency spectrum reaches a plateau of above 93% across the spectral range of ~500 to 800 nm. This resonant nanophotonics strategy translates to a maximum EQE-integrated current of 26.0 mA/cm2 which is comparable to that of the champion single-crystal perovskite solar cell with a thickness of ~20 μm. Our findings break the ray-optics limit and open a new door to improve the efficiency of single-junction perovskite solar cells further when compositional engineering or other carrier managements are close to their limits.
A deep learning-based stripe self-correction method for stitched microscopic images
Authors: Wang Shu , Liu Xiaoxiang , Li Yueying , Sun Xinquan , Li Qi , She Yinhua , Xu Yixuan , Huang Xingxin , Lin Ruolan , Kang Deyong , Wang Xingfu , Tu Haohua , Liu Wenxi , Huang Feng , Chen Jianxin
Published: September 2023

Stitched fluorescence microscope images inevitably exist in various types of stripes or artifacts caused by uncertain factors such as optical devices or specimens, which severely affects the image quality and downstream quantitative analysis. Here, we present a deep learning-based Stripe Self-Correction method, so-called SSCOR. Specifically, we propose a proximity sampling scheme and adversarial reciprocal self-training paradigm that enable SSCOR to utilize stripe-free patches sampled from the stitched microscope image itself to correct their adjacent stripe patches. Comparing to off-the-shelf approaches, SSCOR can not only adaptively correct non-uniform, oblique, and grid stripes, but also remove scanning, bubble, and out-of-focus artifacts, achieving the state-of-the-art performance across different imaging conditions and modalities. Moreover, SSCOR does not require any physical parameter estimation, patch-wise manual annotation, or raw stitched information in the correction process. This provides an intelligent prior-free image restoration solution for microscopists or even microscope companies, thus ensuring more precise biomedical applications for researchers.
Entanglement in the quantum phases of an unfrustrated Rydberg atom array
Authors: O’Rourke Matthew J. , Chan Garnet Kin-Lic
Published: September 2023

Recent experimental advances have stimulated interest in the use of large, two-dimensional arrays of Rydberg atoms as a platform for quantum information processing and to study exotic many-body quantum states. However, the native long-range interactions between the atoms complicate experimental analysis and precise theoretical understanding of these systems. Here we use new tensor network algorithms capable of including all long-range interactions to study the ground state phase diagram of Rydberg atoms in a geometrically unfrustrated square lattice array. We find a greatly altered phase diagram from earlier numerical and experimental studies, revealed by studying the phases on the bulk lattice and their analogs in experiment-sized finite arrays. We further describe a previously unknown region with a nematic phase stabilized by short-range entanglement and an order from disorder mechanism. Broadly our results yield a conceptual guide for future experiments, while our techniques provide a blueprint for converging numerical studies in other lattices.