bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Leaflet information by the local government on mental health during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in a rural area in Japan
Authors: Fukase Ryu , Murakami Masayasu , Ikeda Takaaki
Published: May 2023

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated infodemic increased depression and anxiety. Proper information can help combat the infodemic and promotes mental health; however, rural residents have more difficulties in getting correct information than urban residents.

Objective

To examine whether the information on COVID-19 provided by the local government maintained the mental health of rural residents in Japan.

Methods

A self-administered questionnaire survey of Okura Village (northern district of Japan) residents aged ≥16 years was conducted in October 2021. The main outcomes, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and anxiety were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale 7-item. Exposure was defined as whether the resident read the leaflet on COVID-19 distributed by the local government. The targeted maximum likelihood estimation was used to analyse the effect of leaflet reading on the main outcomes.

Results

A total of 974 respondents were analysed. Reading the leaflet was significantly lower risk for depressive symptoms relative risk (95% confidence interval): 0.64 (0.43–0.95). Meanwhile, no clear effects of leaflet reading were observed on mental distress and anxiety.

Conclusions

In rural areas with local governments, analogue information may be effective to prevent depression.
Machine Learning Models to Predict Future Frailty in Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The ELSA Cohort Study
Authors: Leme Daniel Eduardo da Cunha , de Oliveira Cesar
Published: May 2023

Background

Machine learning (ML) models can be used to predict future frailty in the community setting. However, outcome variables for epidemiologic data sets such as frailty usually have an imbalance between categories, that is, there are far fewer individuals classified as frail than as nonfrail, adversely affecting the performance of ML models when predicting the syndrome.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study with participants (50 years or older) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing who were nonfrail at baseline (2008–2009) and reassessed for the frailty phenotype at 4-year follow-up (2012–2013). Social, clinical, and psychosocial baseline predictors were selected to predict frailty at follow-up in ML models (Logistic Regression, Random Forest [RF], Support Vector Machine, Neural Network, K-nearest neighbor, and Naive Bayes classifier).

Results

Of all the 4 378 nonfrail participants at baseline, 347 became frail at follow-up. The proposed combined oversampling and undersampling method to adjust imbalanced data improved the performance of the models, and RF had the best performance, with areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve and the precision-recall curve of 0.92 and 0.97, respectively, specificity of 0.83, sensitivity of 0.88, and balanced accuracy of 85.5% for balanced data. Age, chair-rise test, household wealth, balance problems, and self-rated health were the most important frailty predictors in most of the models trained with balanced data.

Conclusions

ML proved useful in identifying individuals who became frail over time, and this result was made possible by balancing the data set. This study highlighted factors that may be useful in the early detection of frailty.
A surface NMR forward in a dot product
Authors: Griffiths Matthew P , Grombacher Denys , Kass Mason A , Vang Mathias Ø , Liu Lichao , Larsen Jakob Juul
Published: May 2023

The computation required to simulate surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) data increases proportionally with the number of sequences and number of pulses in each sequence. This poses a particular challenge to modelling steady-state SNMR, where suites of sequences are acquired, each of which require modelling 10–100 s of pulses. To model such data efficiently, we have developed a reformulation of surface NMR forward model, where the geometry of transmit and receive fields are encapsulated into a vector (or set of vectors), which we call B1-volume-receive (BVR) curves. Projecting BVR curve(s) along complimentary magnetization solutions for a particular sequence amounts to computing the full SNMR forward model. The formulation has the additional advantage that computations for increased transmitter current amounts to a relative translation between the BVR and magnetization solutions. We generate 1-D kernels using BVR curves and standard integration techniques and find the difference is within 2 per cent. Using BVR curves, a typical suite of steady-state kernels can be computed two orders of magnitude faster than previous approaches.
Gradient filtering regularization for 3-D MT inversion based on unstructured tetrahedral discretization
Authors: Rong Zhihao , Liu Yunhe , Yin Changchun , Ma Xinpeng , Wang Luyuan , Qiu Changkai , Zhang Bo , Ren Xiuyan , Su Yang
Published: May 2023

We propose a novel smoothing regularization scheme for 3-D magnetotelluric (MT) inversion based on unstructured tetrahedral discretization. Different from conventional methods that explicitly add smoothing constraints to model parameters, we choose to do the gradient filtering to smooth the model updates in an implicit way. By transforming the model into a constraint domain, the gradient of the objective function for the parameters in the new domain can be taken as a product of transpose of inverse transformation operator and the conventional gradient. Since the transpose of inverse transformation is designed to be an inverse distance interpolation operator for each tetrahedron, the data fitting term in the gradient can be smoothed in a filtering-like process. We compare our new strategy with the conventional explicit smoothing ones by testing on synthetic data for different noise levels, initial models and regularization factors. The numerical results show that suffering from the unequal volume and random centroid location of adjacent tetrahedrons, the inversion results of conventional methods often demonstrate scattered structures in slices. In contrast, our new method recovers the model in a smooth way and the convergence speed is largely improved. Finally, we adopt the USArray data for further testing and find that comparing to conventional inversion methods, our new strategy can provide more reliable underground structures with better data fitting.
Seismicity modulation due to hydrological loading in a stable continental region: a case study from the Jektvik swarm sequence in Northern Norway
Authors: Shiddiqi Hasbi Ash , Ottemöller Lars , Rondenay Stéphane , Custódio Susana , Gahalaut Vineet K , Yadav Rajeev K , Halpaap Felix , Gahalaut Kalpna
Published: May 2023

Seismic swarms have been observed for more than 40 yr along the coast of Nordland, Northern Norway. However, the detailed spatio-temporal evolution and mechanisms of these swarms have not yet been resolved due to the historically sparse seismic station coverage. An increased number of seismic stations now allows us to study a nearly decade-long sequence of swarms in the Jektvik area during the 2013–2021 time window. Our analysis resolves four major groups of seismic events, each consisting of several spatial clusters, that have distinct spatial and temporal behaviours. Computed focal mechanism solutions are predominantly normal with NNE–SSW strike direction reflecting a near-vertical maximum principal stress and a NW–SE near-horizontal minimum principal stress, which are controlled by local NW–SE extension. We attribute the swarms to fluid-saturated fracture zones that are reactivated due to this local extension. Over the time period, the activity tends to increase between February and May, which coincides with the late winter and beginning of spring time in Norway. We hypothesize that the seismicity is modulated seasonally by hydrological loading from snow accumulation. This transient hydrological load results in elastic deformation that is observed at local Global Navigation Satellite System stations. The loading is shown to promote failure in a critically stressed normal faulting system. Once a segment is activated, it can then also trigger neighboring segments via stress transfer. Our new results point to a close link between lithosphere and hydrosphere contributing to the occurrence of seismic swarm activity in northern Norway.
Genetic architecture of plasma Alzheimer disease biomarkers
Authors: Bradley Joseph , Gorijala Priyanka , Schindler Suzanne E , Sung Yun J , Ances Beau ,   the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the Human Connectome Project, Ertekin-Taner Nilüfer , Younkin Steven , Golde Todd , Price Nathan , Bennett David , Gaiteri Christopher , De Jager Philip , Zhang Bin , Schadt Eric , Ehrlich Michelle , Haroutunian Vahram , Gandy Sam , Iijima Koichi , Noggle Scott , Mangravite Lara , Fernandez Maria V , Cruchaga Carlos
Published: May 2023

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) biomarker levels have identified novel genes implicated in disease risk, onset and progression. However, lumbar punctures have limited availability and may be perceived as invasive. Blood collection is readily available and well accepted, but it is not clear whether plasma biomarkers will be informative for genetic studies. Here we perform genetic analyses on concentrations of plasma amyloid-β peptides Aβ40 (n = 1,467) and Aβ42 (n = 1,484), Aβ42/40 (n = 1467) total tau (n = 504), tau phosphorylated (p-tau181; n = 1079) and neurofilament light (NfL; n = 2,058). GWAS and gene-based analysis was used to identify single variant and genes associated with plasma levels. Finally, polygenic risk score and summary statistics were used to investigate overlapping genetic architecture between plasma biomarkers, CSF biomarkers and AD risk. We found a total of six genome-wide significant signals. APOE was associated with plasma Aβ42, Aβ42/40, tau, p-tau181 and NfL. We proposed 10 candidate functional genes on the basis of 12 single nucleotide polymorphism-biomarker pairs and brain differential gene expression analysis. We found a significant genetic overlap between CSF and plasma biomarkers. We also demonstrate that it is possible to improve the specificity and sensitivity of these biomarkers, when genetic variants regulating protein levels are included in the model. This current study using plasma biomarker levels as quantitative traits can be critical to identification of novel genes that impact AD and more accurate interpretation of plasma biomarker levels.
4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) enhances drought tolerance of apple by regulating rhizosphere microbial diversity and root architecture
Authors: Zhang Dehui , He Jieqiang , Cheng Pengda , Zhang Yutian , Khan Abid , Wang Shicong , Li Zhongxing , Zhao Shuang , Zhan Xiangqiang , Ma Fengwang , Li Xuewei , Guan Qingmei
Published: May 2023

The dwarfing rootstocks-mediated high-density apple orchard is becoming the main practice management. Currently, dwarfing rootstocks are widely used worldwide, but their shallow root system and drought sensitivity necessitate high irrigation requirements. Here, the root transcriptome and metabolome of dwarfing (M9-T337, a drought-sensitive rootstock) and vigorous rootstocks (Malus sieversii, a drought-tolerant species, is commonly used as a rootstock) showed that a coumarin derivative, 4-Methylumbelliferon (4-MU), was found to accumulate significantly in the roots of vigorous rootstock under drought condition. When exogenous 4-MU was applied to the roots of dwarfing rootstock under drought treatment, the plants displayed increased root biomass, higher root-to-shoot ratio, greater photosynthesis, and elevated water use efficiency. In addition, diversity and structure analysis of the rhizosphere soil microbial community demonstrated that 4-MU treatment increased the relative abundance of putatively beneficial bacteria and fungi. Of these, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Streptomyces, and Chryseolinea bacterial strains and Acremonium, Trichoderma, and Phoma fungal strains known for root growth, or systemic resistance against drought stress, were significantly accumulated in the roots of dwarfing rootstock after 4-MU treatment under drought stress condition. Taken together, we identified a promising compound—4-MU, as a useful tool, to strengthen the drought tolerance of apple dwarfing rootstock.
Omics analyses in citrus reveal a possible role of RNA translation pathways and Unfolded Protein Response regulators in the tolerance to combined drought, high irradiance, and heat stress
Authors: Balfagón Damián , Zandalinas Sara I , dos Reis de Oliveira Tadeu , Santa-Catarina Claudete , Gómez-Cadenas Aurelio
Published: May 2023

Environmental changes derived from global warming and human activities increase the intensity and frequency of stressful conditions for plants. Multiple abiotic factors acting simultaneously enhance stress pressure and drastically reduce plant growth, yield, and survival. Stress combination causes a specific stress situation that induces a particular plant response different to the sum of responses to the individual stresses. Here, by comparing transcriptomic and proteomic profiles to different abiotic stress combinations in two citrus genotypes, Carrizo citrange (Citrus sinensis × Poncirus trifoliata) and Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni), with contrasting tolerance to different abiotic stresses, we revealed key responses to the triple combination of heat stress, high irradiance and drought. The specific transcriptomic response to this stress combination in Carrizo was directed to regulate RNA metabolic pathways and translation processes, potentially conferring an advantage with respect to Cleopatra. In addition, we found endoplasmic reticulum stress response as common to all individual and combined stress conditions in both genotypes and identified the accumulation of specific groups of heat shock proteins (HSPs), such as small HSPs and HSP70s, and regulators of the unfolded protein response, BiP2 and PDIL2-2, as possible factors involved in citrus tolerance to triple stress combination. Taken together, our findings provide new insights into the acclimation process of citrus plants to multiple stress combination, necessary for increasing crop tolerance to the changing climatic conditions.
Appropriation and the rewriting of rights
Authors: Huckerby Jayne , Knuckey Sarah
Published: May 2023

The protective reach of human rights has expanded over time. However, some have argued that this expansion constitutes illegitimate rights inflation, and for some conservative stakeholders, the modern development of rights has been at odds with their positions on issues such as reproductive rights and marriage equality. Against this backdrop, the Trump Administration launched the Commission on Unalienable Rights in 2019 to “reexamine” rights. It might be expected that such an initiative would reject human rights. However, it embraced rights discourse, positioned it as central to US values and policy, and called on the United States to pursue rights with “renewed vigor.” This article offers a decoding of this apparent embrace. We argue that rather than renewing commitments to rights, the Commission appropriated human rights. It reworked the human rights canon from within by elevating some rights over others, and by narrowing rights in line with conservative takes on where rights come from, who they should protect, and which rights matter. This article offers a framework for analyzing how appropriation happens, and where and in what ways it is contested. We identify four core elements to appropriation and spaces for challenging it: messenger and motive legitimacy; process legitimacy; substantive legitimacy; and norm diffusion. This framework makes visible the sites and processes of appropriation under the cover of protecting rights, that in practice seek to roll back understandings of right and their sources. While the Commission was disavowed by the subsequent US administration, conservative efforts to redefine rights are ongoing—including through promotion of the Commission’s work—and share many of the same normative underpinnings of the Commission’s establishment and rollout. Making apparent the strategies and mechanisms of appropriation through this case-study therefore enables recognition of future conservative moves to appropriate rights and provides insights into how to resist such efforts.
Pre-pubertal accelerometer-assessed physical activity and timing of puberty in British boys and girls: the Millennium Cohort Study
Authors: Cheng Tuck Seng , Brage Soren , van Sluijs Esther M F , Ong Ken K
Published: May 2023

Background

Early puberty timing is associated with adverse health outcomes. We aimed to examine prospective associations between objectively measured physical activity and puberty timing in boys and girls.

Methods

In the UK Millennium Cohort Study, physical activity volume and intensities at 7 years were measured using accelerometers. Status of several pubertal traits and age at menarche were reported at 11, 14 and 17 years. Age at menarche in girls was categorized into tertiles. Other puberty traits were categorized into earlier or later than the median ages calculated from probit models, separately in boys and girls. Multivariable regression models, with adjustment for maternal and child characteristics including body mass index (BMI) at age 7 years as potential confounders, were performed to test the associations of total daily activity counts and fractions of activity counts across intensities (in compositional models) with puberty timing, separately in boys (n = 2531) and girls (n = 3079).

Results

Higher total daily activity counts were associated with lower risks for earlier (vs later) growth spurt, body hair growth, skin changes and menarche in girls, and more weakly with lower risks for earlier skin changes and voice breaking in boys (odds ratios = 0.80–0.87 per 100 000 counts/day). These associations persisted on additional adjustment for BMI at 11 years as a potential mediator. No association with puberty timing was seen for any physical activity intensity (light, moderate or vigorous).

Conclusions

More physical activity regardless of intensity may contribute to the avoidance of earlier puberty timing, independently of BMI, particularly in girls.
Characterization of 2 Novel Phosphodiesterase 2 Inhibitors Hcyb1 and PF-05180999 on Depression- and Anxiety-Like Behavior
Authors: Yan Yuqing , Zhao Yuhan , Lu Yue , Acharya Abhinav P , Wang Wei , Zhan Chang-Guo , Ye Jianghong , Du Fu , Zhu Xiongwei , Xu Ying
Published: May 2023

Background

Phosphodiesterase 2A (PDE2A) represents a novel target for new therapies addressing psychiatric disorders. To date, the development of PDE2A inhibitors suitable for human clinical evaluation has been hampered by the poor brain accessibility and metabolic stability of the available compounds.

Methods

Corticosterone (CORT)-induced neuronal cell lesion and restraint stress mouse model were used to measure the neuroprotective effect in cells and antidepressant-like behavior in mice.

Results

The cell-based assay showed that both Hcyb1 and PF were potent in protecting cells against stress hormone CORT insults by stimulating cAMP and cGMP signaling in hippocampal cells (HT-22). Administration of both compounds before treatment of CORT to cells increased cAMP/cGMP, VASP phosphorylation at Ser239 and Ser157, cAMP response element binding protein phosphorylation at Ser133, and brain derived neurotrophic factor BDNF expression. Further in vivo study showed that both Hcyb1 and PF displayed ­antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects against restraint stress as indicated by reduced immobility time in the forced swimming and tail suspension tasks as well as increased open arm entries and time spent in open arms and holes visit in elevated plus maze and hole-board tests, respectively. The biochemical study confirmed that these antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of Hcyb1 and PF were related to cAMP and cGMP signaling in the hippocampus.

Conclusions

The results extend the previous studies and validate that PDE2A is a tractable target for drug development in the treatment of emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Rigidity of Automorphic Galois Representations Over CM Fields
Authors: A’Campo Lambert
Published: May 2023

We show the vanishing of adjoint Bloch–Kato Selmer groups of automorphic Galois representations over CM fields. This proves their rigidity in the sense that they have no deformations that are de Rham. In order for this to make sense, we also prove that automorphic Galois representations over CM fields are de Rham themselves. Our methods draw heavily from the 10 author paper, where these Galois representations were studied extensively. Another crucial piece of inspiration comes from the work of P. Allen who used the smoothness of certain local deformation rings in characteristic $0$ to obtain rigidity in the polarized case.
Efficacy of favipiravir against influenza virus resistant to both baloxavir and neuraminidase inhibitors
Authors: Kiso Maki , Yamayoshi Seiya , Kawaoka Yoshihiro
Published: May 2023

Objectives

Widespread resistance of influenza viruses to neuraminidase (NA) inhibitor or polymerase inhibitor, baloxavir, is a major public health concern. The amino acid mutations R152K in NA and I38T in polymerase acidic (PA) are responsible for resistance to NA inhibitors and baloxavir, respectively.

Methods

We generated recombinant A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses possessing NA-R152K, PA-I38T or both mutations by using a plasmid-based reverse genetics system, characterized their virological properties in vitro and in vivo, and examined whether oseltamivir, baloxavir and favipiravir are effective against these mutant viruses.

Results

The three mutant viruses showed similar or superior growth kinetics and virulence to those of wild-type virus. Although oseltamivir and baloxavir blocked the replication of the wild-type virus in vitro, oseltamivir and baloxavir failed to suppress the replication of the NA-R152K and PA-I38T viruses in vitro, respectively. Mutant virus possessing both mutations grew in the presence of oseltamivir or baloxavir in vitro. Baloxavir treatment protected mice from lethal infection with wild-type or NA-R152K virus, but failed to protect mice from lethal infection with PA-I38T or PA-I38T/NA-R152K virus. Favipiravir treatment protected mice from lethal infection with all viruses tested, whereas oseltamivir treatment did not protect at all.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that favipiravir should be used to treat patients with suspected baloxavir-resistant virus infection.
Performance evaluation of the UMIC® Cefiderocol to determine MIC in Gram-negative bacteria
Authors: Dortet Laurent , Niccolai Claudia , Pfennigwerth Niels , Frisch Stefanie , Gonzalez Camille , Antonelli Alberto , Giani Tommaso , Hoenings Robert , Gatermann Soeren , Rossolini Gian Maria , Naas Thierry
Published: May 2023

Background

Cefiderocol is a catechol-substituted cephalosporin with potent in vitro activity against carbapenem-resistant (CR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). Cefiderocol susceptibility testing is complex because iron concentrations need to be taken into consideration. Here, we assessed the clinical performance of Bruker’s UMIC® Cefiderocol and corresponding iron-depleted CAMHB to determine MIC by broth microdilution (BMD) for clinically relevant GNB.

Methods

MICs of cefiderocol for 283 GN clinical isolates were determined by BMD using iron-depleted CAMHB. Frozen panels were used as a reference. The concentration range of cefiderocol was 0.03–32 mg/L. The isolates, with different degrees of susceptibility to cefiderocol, included Enterobacterales (n = 180), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 49), Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 44) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 10).

Results

The rates of categorical agreement (CA), essential agreement (EA) and bias were calculated to evaluate the performance of the UMIC® Cefiderocol, as compared with the reference method. Overall, the UMIC® Cefiderocol showed 90.8% EA (95% CI: 86.9%–93.7%) with a bias of −14.5% and a CA of 90.1% (95% CI: 86.1%–93.1%). For Enterobacterales, the UMIC® Cefiderocol showed 91.7% EA (95% CI: 86.7%–94.9%) with a bias of −25.0% and a CA of 87.8% (95% CI: 82.2%–91.8%). For non-fermenters, the UMIC® Cefiderocol showed 89.3% EA (95% CI: 81.9%–93.9%) (not significantly different from 90.0%, Student t-test) with a bias of −3.9% and a CA of 94.2% (95% CI: 87.7%–97.3%).

Conclusions

UMIC® Cefiderocol is a valid method for the determination of cefiderocol MICs even if higher than expected discrepancies were observed with NDM-producing Enterobacterales, which presented in most cases MIC values close to the breakpoint.
A new regime for below threshold mergers in EU competition law? The Illumina/Grail and Towercast judgments
Authors: Mulder Jotte , Sauter Wolf
Published: May 2023

The Illumina/Grail and Towercast rulings of July 2022 and March 2023 create new avenues for the control of concentrations below the European Union (EU) and national turnover thresholds. These new avenues concern (i) a referral to the European Commission by a national competition authority (NCA) and (ii) a review under the EU provision on abuse of dominance by an NCA. In both cases, the rationale seems predominantly based on the need to have effective competition law oversight on the so-called killer acquisitions of emerging competitors and undertakings that aim to extend their dominance by acquiring existing (small but) effective or particularly innovative competitors. The obvious drawback of increasing possibilities of the ex-post merger control is that this comes at a cost to legal certainty and the one-stop-shop principle that has characterized the EU merger control so far. Especially the Towercast judgment calls into question the structure, purpose, and merits of merger control in the EU over the past 35 years. Looking forward, much will depend on how the NCAs and the European Commission will use their new-found powers; some reorganization of merger vetting procedures at the national level may be required. However, it appears likely that the system of merger control in the EU will come to focus more sharply on mergers that raise serious competitive concerns and less on providing a system of comprehensive administrative review, based mainly on size. This may also provide opportunities to rationalize the application of public enforcement capacity.
Predictive Analysis of Quality Markers of Atractylodis Rhizoma Based on Fingerprint and Network Pharmacology
Authors: Zhao Yanyun , Chang Xinxin , Gu Xian , Li Yang , Zheng Yuguang , Fang Huiyong
Published: May 2023

Background

Atractylodes chinensis (DC.) Koidz. (A. chinensis) is a perennial herbaceous plant that is widely used as a Chinese medicine herb for gastric diseases. However, the bioactive compounds of this herbal medicine have not been defined, and quality control is imperfect.

Objective

Although the method of quality evaluation method for A. chinensis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting has been reported in related papers, it remains unknown whether the chemical markers selected are representative of their clinical efficacy. To develop methods for qualitative analysis and improved quality evaluation of A. chinensis.

Method

In this study, HPLC was used to establish fingerprints and conduct similarity evaluation. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to reveal the differences of these fingerprints. Network pharmacology was used to analyze the corresponding targets of the active ingredients. Meantime, an active ingredient–target–pathway network was constructed to investigate the characteristics of the medical efficacy of A. chinensis and to predict potential Q-markers.

Results

Combining network pharmacological effectiveness and composition specificity with the Q-marker concept, atractylodin (ATD), β-eudesmol, atractylenolide Ι (AT-I) and atractylenolide III (AT-III) were predicted to be potential Q-markers of A. chinensis that showed anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anti-gastric, and antiviral effects by acting on 10 core targets and 20 key pathways.

Conclusions

The HPLC fingerprinting method established in this study is straightforward, and the identified four active constituents can be used as Q-markers of A. chinensis. These findings facilitate effective quality evaluation of A. chinensis and suggest this approach could be applied to evaluate the quality of other herbal medicines.

Highlights

The fingerprints of Atractylodis rhizoma were organically combined with network pharmacology to further clarify its criteria for quality control.
Effects of aLactobacillusfermentation product on the fecal characteristics, fecal microbial populations, immune function, and stress markers of adult dogs
Authors: Koziol Samantha A , Oba Patricia M , Soto-Diaz Katiria , Steelman Andrew J , Suchodolski Jan S , Eckhardt Erik R M , Swanson Kelly S
Published: May 2023

The objective of this study was to measure the effects of a Lactobacillus fermentation product (LBFP) on fecal characteristics and microbiota, blood biomarkers, immune function, and serum oxidative stress markers of adult dogs. Thirty adult beagle dogs [23 M, 7 F; mean age = 8.47 ± 2.65 yr old; mean BW = 15.43 ± 4.17 kg] were used in a completely randomized design study. All dogs were fed a basal diet to maintain BW for 5 wk, followed by baseline blood and fecal sample collections. Dogs remained on the same diet, but then were randomly assigned to a placebo (dextrose) or LBFP supplement (Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus delbrueckii). Both treatments were dosed at 4 mg/kg BW via gelatin capsule for 5 wk (n = 15/treatment). Fecal and blood samples were collected at that time. Change from baseline data were analyzed using the Mixed Models procedure of SAS 9.4, with P < 0.05 being significant and P < 0.10 being trends. Most circulating metabolites and immunoglobulins (Ig) were unaltered by treatment, but LBFP-supplemented dogs had lower changes in serum corticosteroid isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (P < 0.05), alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.10), and IgM (P < 0.10) than controls. The change in fecal scores tended to be lower (P = 0.068) in LBFP-supplemented dogs than controls, signifying firmer feces in LBFP-supplemented dogs. Regarding the fecal microbiota, alpha diversity indicators tended to be higher (P = 0.087) in LBFP-supplemented dogs than controls. One fecal bacterial phylum (Actinobacteriota) was altered by treatments, with its relative abundance tending to have a greater (P < 0.10) increase in controls than LBFP-supplemented dogs. Fifteen bacterial genera were altered (P < 0.05 or P < 0.10) by treatments, including relative abundances of fecal Peptoclostridium, Sarcina, and Faecalitalea that had a greater (P < 0.05) increase in controls than LBFP-supplemented dogs. In contrast, relative abundances of fecal Faecalibaculum, Bifidobacterium, and uncultured Butyricicoccaceae had a greater (P ≤ 0.05) increase in LBFP-supplemented dogs than controls. After week 5, dogs underwent transport stress (45-min vehicle ride) to assess oxidative stress markers. The change in serum superoxide dismutase after transport had a greater (P < 0.0001) increase in LBFP-supplemented dogs than controls. Our data suggest that LBFP may provide benefits to dogs by stabilizing stool quality, beneficially shifting fecal microbiota, and protecting against oxidative damage when subjected to stress.
Measuring welfare in rearing piglets: test–retest reliability of selected animal-based indicators
Authors: Witt Johanna , Krieter Joachim , Wilder Thore , Czycholl Irena
Published: May 2023

The “Welfare Quality protocols” (WQP) were developed in 2009 as objective welfare assessment tools. The WQP are based on four welfare principles: 1) “good feeding”, 2) “good housing”, 3) “good health”, and 4) “appropriate behavior”. The included WQP-indicators were developed for growing pigs and are recommended for rearing piglets, although, to the authors’ knowledge, they have not been tested in this age class. Therefore, the present study tested selected indicators from different welfare assessment protocols with regard to test–retest reliability (TRR), consistency over time, in an on-farm study on rearing pigs. This allows to investigate whether the WQP-indicators developed for growing pigs can be recommended for rearing piglets and whether the additional indicators should be included in the WQP.

In total 28 selected pen- or individual-level indicators were used by one observer to assess the animal welfare of rearing piglets on three pig farms. Per batch 40 to 125 piglets were randomly selected and individually marked to record the weekly assessments. This procedure was repeated in three consecutive batches per farm and resulted in a total of 759 rearing piglets being assessed.

Spearman’s rank correlation co-efficient (RS), intraclass correlation co-efficient (ICC), and limits of agreement (LoA) were calculated to evaluate their TRR, especially if the TRR was influenced by the group of assessed animals (batch comparisons) or the age of the assessed piglets (age class comparisons). From the 28 indicators, 12 had a very low prevalence of <1% making an assumption about their TRR meaningless. From the pen level indicators, “sneezing” achieved acceptable TRR for both comparisons and “behavioral observations” (BO) achieved in general good values (e.g., “positive social behavior”: (RS: 0.34 to 0.89; ICC: 0.00 to 0.90; LoA ϵ [−2.93; 7.41] to ϵ [−18.9; 11.5]) for both comparisons (batch, age class). The WQP-indicators of sufficient TRR, such as “tail lesions”, “lameness”, “wounds on the body”, “human–animal-relationship test” and “BO”, cannot cover the four welfare principles adequately. In particular, problems remained with the welfare principles of “good feeding”, “good housing”, and partly “good health”. However, these grievances could be overcome by including further indicators from other sources outside the WQP which have acceptable to good results for TRR in this study, such as “back posture”, “ear lesions”, “normal behavior”, and “tail posture”.
Optimization of 13-tetradecenyl acetate sex pheromone for trapping Melanotus communis (Coleoptera: Elateridae)
Authors: Schoeppner Emma , Millar Jocelyn G , Kuhar Thomas P , Doughty Hélène , Cherry Ronald H , Hall Grace , Knowles Caitlin G , Williams Livy , Huseth Anders S
Published: May 2023

Corn wireworm, Melanotus communis Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Elateridae), is an economically important larval pest of root and tuber crops in the United States. Previous work to estimate field-level abundance of M. communis has focused on grain-based larval baits placed in soil. However, this sampling method is labor intensive and may not estimate population size accurately. Recent discovery of the M. communis sex pheromone, 13-tetradecenyl acetate, provides a new method to monitor this pest during the adult stage. Early studies with this pheromone showed that different trapping methods might enhance catch and improve trap servicing. We hypothesized that placing lures on elevated traps would increase M. communis capture relative to the in-ground pitfall trapping that is currently used. We had 2 objectives for this study: (a) to compare pheromone captures among in-ground pitfall traps, on-ground pitfalls, elevated pitfalls (1 m), or elevated sticky cards (1 m) and (b) test lure longevity by aging the lures outdoors at 8-, 6-, 4-, 2-, and 0-wk intervals prior to trap deployment in the field. Experiments were conducted in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida during the 2021 and 2022 field seasons. Results highlight large variation in M. communis abundance across the 4 states. We showed that 1 m elevated pheromone traps caught the most beetles. The age of the lure prior to deployment had a significant effect on trap catch. The lures that were aged for fewer weeks attracted significantly more beetles, with 0- and 2-wk-old lures capturing the greatest numbers.
CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3 mediate thiamethoxam resistance in field whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera:Aleyrodidae)
Authors: Yang Jing , Fu Buli , Gong Peipan , Zhang Chengjia , Wei Xuegao , Yin Cheng , Huang Mingjiao , He Chao , Du Tianhua , Liang Jinjin , Liu Shaonan , Ji Yao , Xue Hu , Wang Chao , Hu Jinyu , Du He , Zhang Rong , Yang Xin , Zhang Youjun
Published: May 2023

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are well-known for their crucial roles in the detoxification of xenobiotics. However, whether CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3, 2 genes from our Bemisia tabaci (B. tabaci) MED/Q genome data were associated with detoxification metabolism and confer resistance to thiamethoxam is unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3 in mediating whitefly thiamethoxam resistance. Our results showed that mRNA levels of CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3 were up-regulated after exposure to thiamethoxam. Transcriptional levels of 2 genes were overexpressed in laboratory and field thiamethoxam resistant strains by RT-qPCR. These results indicate that the enhanced expression of CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3 appears to confer thiamethoxam resistance in B. tabaci. Moreover, linear regression analysis showed that the expression levels of CYP6CX2 and CYP6CX3 were positively correlated with thiamethoxam resistance levels among populations. The susceptibility of whitefly adults was markedly increased after silencing 2 genes by RNA interference (RNAi) which further confirming their major role in thiamethoxam resistance. Our findings provide information to better understand the roles of P450s in resistance to neonicotinoids and suggest that these genes may be applied to develop target genes for sustainable management tactic of agricultural pests such as B. tabaci.
Ethnic Conflict and the Informational Dividend of Democracy
Authors: Laurent-Lucchetti Jérémy , Rohner Dominic , Thoenig Mathias
Published: May 2023

Prevailing theories of democracy focus on class conflict. In contrast, we study democratic transition when ethnic tensions are more salient than the poor/rich divide, building a model where (i) ethnic groups negotiate about allocating the economic surplus and (ii) military and political mobilizations rest on the unobserved strength of ethnic attachment. Free and fair elections elicit information and restore inter-ethnic bargaining efficiency. Autocrats can rationally choose democratic transition, even if they risk losing power, as elections reduce the opposition’s informational rent. The predictions of our framework are consistent with novel country-level and ethnic group-level panel correlational evidence on democratization in the post-decolonization period.
Wounded Healers: Abortion and the Affective Practices of Pro-Life Health Care
Authors: Licskai Megann
Published: May 2023

For some post-Roe abortion providers, the emotional cost of their abortion practice was untenable. By the 1980s, former abortion providers had become prominent anti-abortion advocates. Although physicians such as Beverly McMillan grounded their pro-life conversions in medical technologies and “fetological” research, affective connections to the fetus animated their activism. McMillan explained that through abortion practice, the medical profession – her vocation – had gone astray, and her pro-life activism was the cure to the resulting emotional damage. For these physicians, emotional well-being could only be recovered through principled attempts to right the perceived wrongs of the medical profession. Another group of emotionally-engaged pro-life health workers emerged from their pasts as abortion patients. Myriad post-abortion narratives followed the same trajectory: the woman reluctantly underwent an abortion, and was subsequently plagued by apathy, depression, grief, guilt, and substance-use disorders. Pro-life research came to understand this cluster of symptoms as Post-abortion Syndrome (PAS). Some women, such as Susan Stanford-Rue, opted to heal from their pain by becoming PAS counselors. Just as the “reformed” physicians combined their affective experiences with their medical expertise to argue against abortion, the counselors merged emotion and psychiatric language to redefine what it meant to be an “aborted woman” and therefore a PAS counselor. Examining pro-life publications, Christian counseling manuals, and activist speeches, this article argues that, for these activists, science and technology provided the rationale to make abortion unthinkable, but it was the activists’ emotional framework that made this rationale pro-life in the first place.
Estimating SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence
Authors: Rosin Samuel P , Shook-Sa Bonnie E , Cole Stephen R , Hudgens Michael G
Published: May 2023

Governments and public health authorities use seroprevalence studies to guide responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seroprevalence surveys estimate the proportion of individuals who have detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. However, serologic assays are prone to misclassification error, and non-probability sampling may induce selection bias. In this paper, non-parametric and parametric seroprevalence estimators are considered that address both challenges by leveraging validation data and assuming equal probabilities of sample inclusion within covariate-defined strata. Both estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal, and consistent variance estimators are derived. Simulation studies are presented comparing the estimators over a range of scenarios. The methods are used to estimate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence in New York City, Belgium, and North Carolina.
Causal inference with invalid instruments: post-selection problems and a solution using searching and sampling
Authors: Guo Zijian
Published: May 2023

Instrumental variable methods are among the most commonly used causal inference approaches to deal with unmeasured confounders in observational studies. The presence of invalid instruments is the primary concern for practical applications, and a fast-growing area of research is inference for the causal effect with possibly invalid instruments. This paper illustrates that the existing confidence intervals may undercover when the valid and invalid instruments are hard to separate in a data-dependent way. To address this, we construct uniformly valid confidence intervals that are robust to the mistakes in separating valid and invalid instruments. We propose to search for a range of treatment effect values that lead to sufficiently many valid instruments. We further devise a novel sampling method, which, together with searching, leads to a more precise confidence interval. Our proposed searching and sampling confidence intervals are uniformly valid and achieve the parametric length under the finite-sample majority and plurality rules. We apply our proposal to examine the effect of education on earnings. The proposed method is implemented in the R package RobustIV available from CRAN.
Going north: adaptation of soybean to long-day environments
Authors: Vollmann Johann , Škrabišová Mária
Published: May 2023

This article comments on:

Zhu X, Leiser WL, Hahn V, Würschum T. 2023. The genetic architecture of soybean photothermal adaptation to high latitudes. Journal of Experimental Botany 74,2987–3002
Migration and urban space in a small town in Catalonia: the contested neighbourhood
Authors: Lundsteen Martin
Published: May 2023

While much contemporary analysis of social problems in disadvantaged neighbourhoods have ignored the deep connections between everyday interactions in space and the structural tensions due to ethnic, racial, class, and gender inequalities that underlie them, this article offers a critical analysis of the groupings put into practice locally in relation to space. Through an ethnography carried out in Salt, a semi-rural Catalan town, this article analyses the emergence and functioning of exclusionary visions on a super-diverse neighbourhood. It does so through a multi-dimensional analysis of the historical macro and micro processes of how resentment towards newcomers emerged in town. Through a mixture of method, such as a review of newspaper clippings from 2000 to 2013, 40 interviews, and participant observation carried out between 2011 and 2014, we see how the much-liked idea of a ‘welcoming town’ promoted by the city council, collides with the lived reality, where many Spanish nationals order the Centre neighbourhood in terms of ‘those from outside’ and ‘the ones from here’. These divisions might easily cross boundaries of ethnicity and culture, and mainly refer to the temporal settlement of the inhabitants. However, in this case they coincide with the grouping of the long-established residents, former migrants from other parts of Spain and Catalans, in contrast to the newly arrived ‘migrants’. This way, we see how social inequalities among residents foster internal divisions expressed through or in a competition over space, that is, residence and use of public space, while at the same time it structures the social understanding of them.
Brief Comparative Analysis of Trauma Care Specialties in Europe and the United States
Authors: Biedrzycki Christopher D , Bergmann Harald P , Remick Kyle N , Qasim Zaffer , Baker Jay B
Published: May 2023

Understanding the variation in training and nuances of trauma provider practice between the countries in Europe and the United States is a daunting task. This article briefly reviews the key specialties of trauma care in Europe including emergency medical services (EMS), emergency medicine, anesthesia, trauma surgery, and critical care. The authors hope to inform U.S. military clinicians and medical planners of the major differences in emergency and trauma care that exist across Europe. Emergency medicine exists as both a primary specialty and a subspecialty across Europe, with varying stages of development as a specialty in each country. There is heavy physician involvement in EMS in much of Europe, with anesthesiologists having additional EMS training typically providing prehospital critical care. Because of the historical predominance of blunt trauma in Europe, in many countries, trauma surgery is a subspecialty with initial orthopedic surgery training versus general surgery. Intensive care medicine has various training pathways across Europe, but there have been great advances in standardizing competency requirements across the European Union. Finally, the authors suggest some strategies to mitigate the potential negative consequences of joint medical teams and how to leverage some key differences to advance life-saving medical interoperability across the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Solomon
Authors: Cordova Justin C
Published: May 2023

An anesthesiology resident at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center uses poetry to reflect upon the challenges of treating chronic illness in the setting of correctional healthcare. The poem was written to commemorate the patient’s birthday, which he spent in the prison hospital being treated for primary biliary cholangitis.