bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Statin loading before coronary artery bypass grafting: a randomized trial
Authors: Liakopoulos Oliver J , Kuhn Elmar W , Hellmich Martin , Schlömicher Markus , Strauch Justus , Reents Wilko , Diegeler Anno , Thielmann Matthias , Wendt Daniel , Börgermann Jochen , Gummert Jan F , Stoppe Christian , Goetzenich Andreas , Martens Sven , Reichenspurner Hermann , Wippermann Jens , Reuter Hannes , Choi Yeong-Hoon , Wahlers Thorsten ,   for the StaRT-CABG Investigators
Published: April 2023

Aims

Evidence suggests that a high-dose statin loading before a percutaneous coronary revascularization improves outcomes in patients receiving long-term statins. This study aimed to analyse the effects of such an additional statin therapy before surgical revascularization.

Methods and results

This investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial was conducted from November 2012 to April 2019 at 14 centres in Germany. Adult patients (n = 2635) with a long-term statin treatment (≥30 days) who were scheduled for isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were randomly assigned to receive a statin-loading therapy or placebo at 12 and 2 h prior to surgery using a web-based system. The primary outcome of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) was a composite consisting of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and a cerebrovascular event occuring within 30 days after surgery. Key secondary endpoints included a composite of cardiac death and MI, myocardial injury, and death within 12 months. Non-statistically relevant differences were found in the modified intention-to-treat analysis (2406 patients; 1203 per group) between the statin (13.9%) and placebo groups (14.9%) for the primary outcome [odds ratio (OR) 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–1.18; P = 0.562] or any of its individual components. Secondary endpoints including cardiac death and MI (12.1% vs. 13.5%; OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.69–1.12; P = 0.300), the area under the troponin T-release curve (median 0.398 vs. 0.394 ng/ml, P = 0.333), and death at 12 months (3.1% vs. 2.9%; P = 0.825) were comparable between treatment arms.

Conclusion

Additional statin loading before CABG failed to reduce the rate of MACCE occuring within 30 days of surgery.
Legal Environment of Adverse Possession on Forestland and Empirical Evidence from the Past 200 Years
Authors: Sun Changyou , Wang Hui
Published: April 2023

Private forestland has become more fragmented in the United States. Management activities on forestland are usually infrequent compared with those on other types of land (e.g., farmland), which makes forestland prone to the claim of adverse possession. In this study, the legal environment of adverse possession as a method of acquiring title to forestland in the United States is examined. Statutes in fifty states as of November 2021 and 243 published legal cases from 1802 to 2021 are identified and analyzed. Content analysis reveals that state statutes have defined seventy-seven statutory periods, with an average of thirteen years. Empirical evidence from the cases discloses that quiet-title action has been the dominant lawsuit type, the activities by adverse possessors on forestland are mainly related to timber and tax payment, and actual use and the continuous period of possession are the most commonly examined elements. An adverse possessor without any title to the disputed land can use forestland, but the probability of receiving a title is small. When forest landowners have a portion of property rights of the disputed land, they have extensively used adverse possession as a legal tool to clean the title.
Continuum approximation of dyking with a theory for poro-viscoelastic–viscoplastic deformation
Authors: Li Yuan , Pusok Adina E , Davis Timothy , May Dave A , Katz Richard F
Published: April 2023

To reach Earth’s surface, magma must ascend from the hot, ductile asthenosphere through cold and brittle rock in the lithosphere. It does so via fluid-filled fractures called dykes. While the continuum mechanics of ductile asthenosphere is well established, there has been little theoretical work on the cold and brittle regime where dyking and faulting occurs. Geodynamic models use plasticity to model fault-like behaviour; plasticity also shows promise for modelling dykes. Here we build on an existing model to develop a poro-viscoelastic–viscoplastic theory for two-phase flow across the lithosphere. Our theory addresses the deficiencies of previous work by incorporating (i) a hyperbolic yield surface, (ii) a plastic potential with control of dilatancy and (iii) a viscous regularization of plastic failure. We use analytical and numerical solutions to investigate the behaviour of this theory. Through idealized models and a comparison to linear elastic fracture mechanics, we demonstrate that this behaviour includes a continuum representation of dyking. Finally, we consider a model scenario reminiscent of continental rifting and demonstrate the consequences of dyke injection into the cold, upper lithosphere: a sharp reduction in the force required to rift.
Stability of Tschirnhausen Bundles
Authors: Coskun Izzet , Larson Eric , Vogt Isabel
Published: April 2023

Let $\alpha \colon X \to Y$ be a general degree $r$ primitive map of nonsingular, irreducible, projective curves over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero or larger than $r$. We prove that the Tschirnhausen bundle of $\alpha $ is semistable if $g(Y) \geq 1$ and stable if $g(Y) \geq 2$.
Contested Strategic Cultures: Anglosphere Participation in the Coalition against ISIS
Authors: Massie Justin , Paquin Jonathan , Leclair Kamille
Published: April 2023

The study of multinational military interventions highlights the importance of four major factors to account for combat participation in US-led coalitions: threat perceptions, alliance considerations, domestic politics, and strategic culture. The latter, however, has been overlooked or uncorroborated by major cross-national accounts of coalition warfare. Building on the fourth generation of scholars working on strategic culture as well as legislative studies scholarship, we propose and put to empirical test a conceptualization of strategic culture that focuses on force conceptions, foreign policy roles, and domestic contestation of self-representations. Through a longitudinal and systematic qualitative content analysis of parliamentary debates that took place in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia from August 2014 to December 2017, the article finds that force conception and domestic contestation are best associated with variation in allied participation in US-led combat operations. In contrast, foreign policy roles are not found to shed light on allied military participation. We conclude that more cross-national and within-case analyses of strategic culture hold the potential to contribute to our understanding of the peculiarities of coalition operations.
Comprehensive RNA-seq profiling to evaluate the rabbit mammary gland transcriptome after mastitis
Authors: Wu Yingjie , Zhao Lihua , Qin Yinghe
Published: April 2023

Mastitis is a relatively common disease in rabbit does. The aim of this study was to investigate a relationship between the severity of clinical signs and pathological observations and to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the mammary gland with mastitis versus healthy mammary gland. The result showed that rectal temperatures of the rabbits with both mild mastitis and severe mastitis were higher than that of control. Cell counting results showed that the somatic cell count (SCC) only in milk of the rabbit with severe mastitis was significantly higher than that in the control group. However, the number of heterophils in the histological sections of mammary glands with mild mastitis was significantly higher than that of control. A total of 1,096 DEGs between the control and mastitis mammary glands was identified by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). Gene ontology (GO) showed that most of up-regulated genes were enriched in terms such as response to stimulus, signal transduction, and cell communication. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that these genes were mostly enriched in the pathways such as Rap1 signaling pathway, proteoglycans in cancer, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. However, the downregulated genes were mainly enriched in metabolic processes and significantly involved in metabolic pathways. The data provides useful information to further dissect the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying rabbit mastitis, which is a prerequisite for designing effective intervention strategies.
Preferential deposition of dairy derived fatty acids in muscle tissue is partially due to the upregulation of CD36 in a low-birth-weight swine model
Authors: Wang Kun , She Yongbo , Mangat Rabban , Makarowski Alexander , Roy Bimol C , Bruce Heather L , Dyck Michael K , Richard Caroline , Proctor Spencer D
Published: April 2023

Metabolic syndrome is a worldwide health issue. Previous research has revealed that low-birth weight (LBW) swine fed a high-fat (HF) diet were susceptible to insulin resistance (IR) and developed a preferential intestinal lipid absorption, hypertriglyceridemia, and muscle steatosis. We hypothesized that fatty acid transporters such as CD36, FATP4, and FABP2 could potentially explain the development of these conditions. In addition, dairy-derived fatty acids have been shown to be valid biomarkers to assess dairy intake, which can be utilized to investigate muscle lipid deposition in LBW swine. The overall aim of this study was to delineate molecular transport candidates responsible for intestinal lipid absorption and muscle lipid deposition in LBW swine; and secondly to determine what dietary fatty acids might accumulate preferentially in pork muscle when consuming dairy products. At 5 weeks of age, normal birth weight (NBW) and LBW piglets were randomly assigned to three experimental diets: 1-chow diet, 2-HF diet, or 3-isocaloric HF diet supplemented with full fat dairy products. At 12 weeks of age, piglets were euthanized, and carcass, fasting plasma, biceps femoris and jejunum mucosal scrapings were collected. Results showed that HF-fed LBW swine exhibited early signs of IR (fasting glucose, P < 0.05; fasting insulin, P = 0.091; HOMA–IR, P = 0.086) compared with NBW–Chow, which were attenuated with increased dairy intake. Muscle samples from HF-fed LBW swine contained significantly more triglyceride compared to Chow-fed NBW swine (P < 0.05). Increased dairy intake significantly increased myristic acid (C14:0) and DPA (C22:5n3) relative to HF feeding alone (P < 0.05). All HF-fed LBW swine (regardless of dairy intake) exhibited an upregulation of CD36 expression (but not FABP2) compared with NBW littermates in both the small intestine and muscle (P < 0.05). Interestingly, increased dairy intake significantly increased the Canadian Lean Yield percentage in LBW swine fed an HF diet (P < 0.05). Findings from this study provide evidence on the mechanistic pathway of intestinal and muscle lipid metabolism in an innovative LBW swine model. We have also revealed that increasing dairy intake can enhance the incorporation of dietary long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids into pork, as well as increasing the predicted lean yield of the carcass.
Nutritional values of cottonseed meal from different sources fed to gestating and non-pregnant sows
Authors: Zhuo Yong , Zou Xiangyang , Wang Ya , Jiang Xuemei , Sun Mengmeng , Xu Shengyu , Lin Yan , Hua Lun , Li Jian , Feng Bin , Fang Zhengfeng , Che Lianqiang , Wu De
Published: April 2023

This study set out to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of the nutrients and energy in six cottonseed meal (CSM) feedstuffs fed to pregnant and non-pregnant sows. The six types of CSM were: two expelled CSMs with crude protein (CP) levels of 40.67% and 44.64%, and four solvent-extracted CSMs with CP levels of 45.18%, 51.16%, 56.44%, and 59.63%. Fourteen gestating sows (at the fourth parity with body weights of 220.6 ± 18.4 kg at days 30 of gestation) and 14 non-pregnant sows (after the third parity with body weights of 219 ± 14.6 kg) were assigned to a replicated 7 × 3 Youden square design with seven diets and three periods. The seven diets included an entirely corn-based diet and six diets each containing 20.0% of the six CSMs tested. Each period included a 5-d acclimation to the experimental diets, followed by a 5-d period during which urine and feces were collected. Significant differences were found among the six CSM diets, regardless of reproductive stage, regarding 1) the ATTD of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (P < 0.05) and 2) the ATTD of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and CP and the gross energy (GE) (P < 0.01). Non-pregnant sows had a greater ATTD of OM and CP (P < 0.01) compared with gestating sows. The digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) of the six CSM samples ranged from 12.48 to 17.15 MJ/kg and 11.35 to 15.88 MJ/kg, respectively, for non-pregnant sows, and from 12.86 to 16.41 MJ/kg and 12.43 to 14.72 MJ/kg, respectively, for gestating sows. However, the DE, ME, and ME:DE ratios of each CSM were similar between gestating and non-pregnant sows. DE and ME were negatively correlated with NDF and ADF, respectively, but were positively corrected with CP level (P < 0.01). Collectively, the DE, ME, and nutrient digestibility of CSM varied greatly according to the chemical compositions, and CSMs with higher protein and lower fiber levels had greater DE and ME levels.
Factors affecting polyglycolic acid sheet engraftment success for covering mucosal defects from head and neck surgery
Authors: Kondo Akatsuki , Shinozaki Takeshi , Nishiya Yukio , Okano Wataru , Tomioka Toshifumi , Hayashi Ryuichi , Ogawa Rei , Matsuura Kazuto
Published: April 2023

Background

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets have been used with fibrin glue to cover extensive mucosal defects in oral and pharyngeal surgery; however, the sheets can fall off before wound healing is completed. Hence, prolonged fasting is often recommended in such patients. However, there are few studies on the factors that shape PGA sheet engraftment. We studied sheet engraftment rates considering these factors.

Methods

All consecutive cases of oral surgery in 2013–21 in which the defect was covered with fibrin glue and Neoveil® or Neoveil Nano® PGA sheets were identified. The loss of all sheets was defined as an engraftment failure. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify whether the PGA-sheet type, application site, defect size and postoperative fasting duration predicted engraftment.

Results

Overall, 137 patients were identified (mean age, 73 years; 57% male). The surgeries were conducted with Neoveil® in 66% of the patients; the most common site was the buccal mucosa (25%), and the mean defect size and fasting duration were 709 mm2 and 4 days, respectively. The engraftment rate was 76%. Neoveil Nano® PGA sheets were associated with a 2.8-fold better engraftment rate than Neoveil® (univariate: 87 vs. 70%, P = 0.032; multivariate: 95% confidence intervals = 1.067–7.410, P = 0.036). Other variables, including fasting duration, were not predictive of engraftment.

Conclusions

This is the largest case series of patients with head and neck cancer who underwent fibrin glue-PGA sheet defect coverage. The fasting duration did not influence engraftment. Therefore, early oral intake is not contraindicated in such patients.
A Descriptive Analysis of Collaboration and Funding of Articles in the Journal of Music Therapy, 1998–2021
Authors: Silverman Michael J , Levy Elijah , Neidorf Joseph , Neppl Jessica , Venzke Melissa
Published: April 2023

Music therapists may have strategic advantages for collaborative and interdisciplinary research. As such, there is a need to analyze authorship teams as well as funding in the premiere United States-based music therapy research journal. The purpose of this descriptive study was to analyze independent, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and funded research in the Journal of Music Therapy (JMT) from 1998 to 2021. We built a database of JMT articles from 1998 to 2021 and (1) counted the number of authors contributing to articles, (2) categorized articles as independent, collaborative, or interdisciplinary, and (3) counted the number of articles that received funding. From 1998 to 2021, there were 423 total articles that met our inclusion criteria published in JMT. Although two or more authors contributed to most papers, a high percentage of articles were published by single authors (n = 185, 43.74%). More articles were interdisciplinary (n = 162, 38.30%) than collaborative (n = 90, 21.28%). There was a trend for fewer independent articles in more recent years. Although most articles were not funded (n = 312, 73.76%), interdisciplinary articles were most likely to be funded (n = 72, 64.86% of funded articles) while independent articles were least likely to be funded (n = 17, 15.32% of funded articles). General trends indicate higher frequencies of funded papers in more recent years. Research articles published in JMT have become increasingly team-based, interdisciplinary, and funded. Implications regarding the future of music therapy research, Music Therapy Research 2025, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are provided.
Populus D-type cyclin gene PsnCYCD1;1 accelerates cell division and participates in secondary growth of vascular bundles
Authors: Zheng Tangchun , Dai Lijuan , Li Shuang , Liu Yi , Zhao Zhongnan , Yang Chuanping , Qu Guanzheng
Published: April 2023

Plant growth and development rely heavily on cyclins, which comprise an important class of cell division regulators. D-type cyclins (CYCDs) are responsible for the rate-limiting step of G1 cells. In the plant kingdom, despite the importance of CYCDs in herbaceous plants, there is little knowledge of these proteins in perennial woody plants. Here, the gene of a nucleus-localized cyclin, PsnCYCD1;1, was cloned from Populus simonii × P. nigra. PsnCYCD1;1 was highly expressed in tissues with active cell division, especially the leaf buds, and could be induced by sucrose and phytohormones. Moreover, overexpression of PsnCYCD1;1 in poplar could stimulate cell division, resulting in the generation of small cells and causing severe morphological changes in the vascular bundles, resulting in ‘S’-shaped tortuous stems and curled leaves. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis revealed that endogenous genes related to cell division and vascular cambium development were significantly up-regulated in the transgenic plants. In addition, using yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays PsnCDKA1, PsnICK3, and PsnICK5 were identified as proteins interacting with PsnCYCD1;1. Our study demonstrates that PsnCYCD1;1 accelerates plant cell division and participates in secondary growth of vascular bundles in poplar.
grgadget: an N-body TreePM relativistic code for cosmological simulations
Authors: Quintana-Miranda Eduardo , Monaco Pierluigi , Tornatore Luca
Published: April 2023

We present the merging of the Particle-Mesh (PM) relativistic gevolution code with the TreePM gadget-4 code, with the aim of studying general relativity effects in cosmology. Our code, called grgadget, is able to track the evolution of metric perturbations in the weak field limit by using gevolution’s implementation of a relativistic PM in the Poisson gauge. To achieve this, starting from gevolution, we have written a c++ library called libgevolution, which allows a code to access and use the same abstractions and resources that gevolution uses for its PM-only N-body simulations. The code works under the assumption that particle interactions at short distances can be approximated as Newtonian, so that we can combine the forces computed with a Newtonian Tree with those computed with a relativistic PM. The result is a TreePM simulation code that represents metric perturbations at the scales where they are relevant while resolving non-linear structures. We validate our code by closely matching gadget-4 forces, computed with the Tree switched off, with those computed with libgevolution in the Newtonian limit. With grgadget, we obtain a matter power spectrum that is compatible with Newtonian gadget-4 at small scales and contains GR features at large scales that are consistent with results obtained with gevolution. We demonstrate that, due to the better resolution of the highly non-linear regime, the representation of the relativistic fields sampled on the mesh improves with respect to the PM-only simulations.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission model in photodissociation regions – II. Application to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and fullerene emission in NGC 7023
Authors: Sidhu Ameek , Tielens A G G M , Peeters Els , Cami Jan
Published: April 2023

We present a charge distribution-based emission model that calculates the infrared spectrum of fullerenes (C60). Analysis of the modelled spectrum of C60 in various charge states shows that the relative intensity of the features in the 5–10 μm versus 15–20 μm can be used to probe the C60 charge state in interstellar spectra. We further used our model to simulate emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and C60 at five positions in the cavity of reflection nebula NGC 7023. Specifically, we modelled the 6.2/11.2 band ratio for circumcoronene and circumcircumcoronene and the 7.0/19.0 band ratio for C60 as a function of the ionization parameter γ. A comparison of the model results with the observed band ratios shows that the γ values in the cavity do not vary significantly, suggesting that the emission in the cavity does not originate from locations at the projected distances. Furthermore, we find that the C60-derived γ values are lower than the PAH-derived values by an order of magnitude. We discuss likely scenarios for this discrepancy. In one scenario, we attribute the differences in the derived γ values to the uncertainties in the electron recombination rates of PAHs and C60. In the other scenario, we suggest that PAHs and C60 are not co-spatial resulting in different γ values from their respective models. We highlight that experiments to determine necessary rates will be required in validating either one of the scenarios.
Influence of the substrate on the density and infrared spectra of the adsorbed methanol ice of different thicknesses using molecular dynamics simulation
Authors: Nag Shubhadeep , Majumdar Jeet , Sivaraman Bhalamurugan , Yashonath Subramanian , Maiti Prabal K
Published: April 2023

In the interstellar medium, several complex organic molecules are found, and of these molecules, methanol is the simplest and the most ubiquitous one. By comparing the observed infrared (IR) spectra from astrochemical data, with laboratory experiments, one can deduce the composition and structure of these astrochemical ices. Computational studies are scarce, yet they could be greatly helpful in understanding the nature of these molecules. On that premise, the present study reports a molecular dynamics study of adsorbed methanol on the KBr substrate at 90 K and 130 K. After validating the potential parameters, two adsorbed phases differing in their thickness along the z-axis: 4 × 10 × 4 (4 layers) and 4 × 10 × 50 (50 layers) were simulated. Depending on this thickness, the IR spectra and density distribution functions were computed for the bottom and top 10 Å of the 4 layers of adsorbed methanol and the top, middle, and bottom 10 Å of the 50 layers of adsorbed methanol on the KBr substrate. The bottom 10 Å of the adsorbed phase exhibit considerable disorder. Additionally, the bands in the IR spectra of these bottom 10 Å show widening, referring to a heterogeneous environment. It is further reported that the slower heating and cooling of the adsorbed phase between 90 K and 130 K leads to a complete reversal of the changes seen in heating. Our findings here further clarify the recent observation of the amorphous phase of different astrochemical molecules seen at low temperatures and their crystalline phase seen at relatively higher temperatures.
Exotic baryons in hot neutron stars
Authors: Issifu A , Marquez K D , Pelicer M R , Menezes D P
Published: April 2023

We study the nuclear isentropic equation of state for a stellar matter composed of nucleons, hyperons, and Δ-resonances. We investigate different snapshots of the evolution of a neutron star, from its birth as a lepton-rich proto-neutron star in the aftermath of a supernova explosion to a lepton-poor regime when the star starts cooling to a catalysed configuration. We use a relativistic model within the mean-field approximation to describe the hot stellar matter and adopt density-dependent couplings adjusted by the DDME2 parameterization. We use baryon–meson couplings for the spin-1/2 baryonic octet and spin-3/2 decuplet determined in a unified manner relying on SU(6) and SU(3) symmetry arguments. We observe that Λ is the dominant exotic particle in the star at different entropies for both neutrino-free and neutrino-trapped stellar matter. For a fixed entropy, the inclusion of new particles (hyperons and/or delta resonances) in the stellar matter decreases the temperature. Also, an increase in entropy per baryon (1–2) with decreasing lepton number density (0.4–0.2) leads to an increase in stellar radii and a decrease in its mass due to neutrino diffusion. In the neutrino transparent matter, the radii decrease from entropy per baryon 2 to $T\, =\, 0$ without a significant change in stellar mass.
A needle in a haystack? Catching Population III stars in the epoch of reionization: I. Population III star-forming environments
Authors: Venditti Alessandra , Graziani Luca , Schneider Raffaella , Pentericci Laura , Di Cesare Claudia , Maio Umberto , Omukai Kazuyuki
Published: April 2023

Despite extensive search efforts, direct observations of the first [Population III (Pop III)] stars have not yet succeeded. Theoretical studies have suggested that late Pop III star formation is still possible in pristine clouds of high-mass galaxies, co-existing with Pop II stars, down to the epoch of reionization. Here, we re-assess this finding by exploring Pop III star formation in six 50 h−1 cMpc simulations performed with the hydrodynamical code dustyGadget. We find that Pop III star formation (∼10−3.4–10−3.2 M⊙ yr−1 cMpc−3) is still occurring down to z ∼ 6–8, i.e. well within the reach of deep JWST surveys. At these epochs, $\gtrsim\!{10}~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the rare massive galaxies with M⋆ ≳ 3 × 109 M⊙ are found to host Pop III stars, although with a Pop III/Pop II mass fraction $\lesssim\!0.1~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ . Regardless of their mass, Pop III-hosting galaxies are mainly found on the main sequence, at high star-formation rates, probably induced by accretion of pristine gas. This scenario is also supported by their increasing star-formation histories and their preferential location in high-density regions of the cosmic web. Pop III stars are found both in the outskirts of metal-enriched regions and in isolated, pristine clouds. In the latter case, their signal may be less contaminated by Pop IIs, although its detectability will strongly depend on the specific line of sight to the source, due to the complex morphology of the host galaxy and its highly inhomogeneous dust distribution.
On the hosts of neutron star mergers in the nearby Universe
Authors: Cavallo L , Greggio L
Published: April 2023

Recently, the characterization of binary systems of neutron stars has become central in various fields such as gravitational waves, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and the chemical evolution of galaxies. In this work, we explore possible observational proxies that can be used to infer some characteristics of the delay time distribution (DTD) of neutron star mergers (NSMs). We construct a sample of model galaxies that fulfils the observed galaxy stellar mass function, star formation rate versus mass relation, and the cosmic star formation rate density. The star formation history of galaxies is described with a log-normal function characterized by two parameters: the position of the maximum and the width of the distribution. We assume a theoretical DTD that mainly depends on the lower limit and the slope of the distribution of the separations of the binary neutron star systems at birth. We find that the current rate of NSMs ($\mathcal {R}=320^{+490}_{-240}$ Gpc−3 yr−1) requires that ∼0.3 per cent of neutron star progenitors lives in binary systems with the right characteristics to lead to an NSM within a Hubble time. We explore the expected relations between the rate of NSMs and the properties of the host galaxy. We find that the most effective proxy for the shape of the DTD of NSMs is the current star formation activity of the typical host. At present, the fraction of short-GRBs observed in star-forming galaxies favours DTDs with at least ${\sim}40~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of mergers within 100 Myr. This conclusion will be put on a stronger basis with larger samples of short-GRBs with host association (e.g. 600 events at z ≤ 1).
Bacterial Argonaute nucleases reveal different modes of DNA targeting in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Lisitskaya Lidiya , Kropocheva Ekaterina , Agapov Aleksei , Prostova Maria , Panteleev Vladimir , Yudin Denis , Ryazansky Sergei , Kuzmenko Anton , Aravin Alexei A , Esyunina Daria , Kulbachinskiy Andrey
Published: April 2023

Prokaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) are homologs of eukaryotic Argonautes (eAgos) and are also thought to play a role in cell defense against invaders. However, pAgos are much more diverse than eAgos and little is known about their functional activities and target specificities in vivo. Here, we describe five pAgos from mesophilic bacteria that act as programmable DNA endonucleases and analyze their ability to target chromosomal and invader DNA. In vitro, the analyzed proteins use small guide DNAs for precise cleavage of single-stranded DNA at a wide range of temperatures. Upon their expression in Escherichia coli, all five pAgos are loaded with small DNAs preferentially produced from plasmids and chromosomal regions of replication termination. One of the tested pAgos, EmaAgo from Exiguobacterium marinum, can induce DNA interference between homologous sequences resulting in targeted processing of multicopy plasmid and genomic elements. EmaAgo also protects bacteria from bacteriophage infection, by loading phage-derived guide DNAs and decreasing phage DNA content and phage titers. Thus, the ability of pAgos to target multicopy elements may be crucial for their protective function. The wide spectrum of pAgo activities suggests that they may have diverse functions in vivo and paves the way for their use in biotechnology.
DNA strand asymmetry generated by CpG hemimethylation has opposing effects on CTCF binding
Authors: Thomas Stacey L , Xu Ting-Hai , Carpenter Brittany L , Pierce Steven E , Dickson Bradley M , Liu Minmin , Liang Gangning , Jones Peter A
Published: April 2023

CpG methylation generally occurs on both DNA strands and is essential for mammalian development and differentiation. Until recently, hemimethylation, in which only one strand is methylated, was considered to be simply a transitory state generated during DNA synthesis. The discovery that a subset of CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) binding sites is heritably hemimethylated suggests that hemimethylation might have an unknown biological function. Here we show that the binding of CTCF is profoundly altered by which DNA strand is methylated and by the specific CTCF binding motif. CpG methylation on the motif strand can inhibit CTCF binding by up to 7-fold, whereas methylation on the opposite strand can stimulate binding by up to 4-fold. Thus, hemimethylation can alter binding by up to 28-fold in a strand-specific manner. The mechanism for sensing methylation on the opposite strand requires two critical residues, V454 and S364, within CTCF zinc fingers 7 and 4. Similar to methylation, CpG hydroxymethylation on the motif strand can inhibit CTCF binding by up to 4-fold. However, hydroxymethylation on the opposite strand removes the stimulatory effect. Strand-specific methylation states may therefore provide a mechanism to explain the transient and dynamic nature of CTCF-mediated chromatin interactions.
Phase-separated DropCRISPRa platform for efficient gene activation in mammalian cells and mice
Authors: Ma Shufeng , Liao Kaitong , Li Mengrao , Wang Xinlong , Lv Jie , Zhang Xin , Huang Hongxin , Li Lian , Huang Tao , Guo Xiaohua , Lin Ying , Rong Zhili
Published: April 2023

Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) plays a critical role in regulating gene transcription via the formation of transcriptional condensates. However, LLPS has not been reported to be engineered as a tool to activate endogenous gene expression in mammalian cells or in vivo. Here, we developed a droplet-forming CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) gene activation system (DropCRISPRa) to activate transcription with high efficiency via combining the CRISPR-SunTag system with FETIDR–AD fusion proteins, which contain an N-terminal intrinsically disordered region (IDR) of a FET protein (FUS or TAF15) and a transcription activation domain (AD, VP64/P65/VPR). In this system, the FETIDR–AD fusion protein formed phase separation condensates at the target sites, which could recruit endogenous BRD4 and RNA polymerase II with an S2 phosphorylated C-terminal domain (CTD) to enhance transcription elongation. IDR-FUS9Y>S and IDR-FUSG156E, two mutants with deficient and aberrant phase separation respectively, confirmed that appropriate phase separation was required for efficient gene activation. Further, the DropCRISPRa system was compatible with a broad set of CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins and ADs, including dLbCas12a, dAsCas12a, dSpCas9 and the miniature dUnCas12f1, and VP64, P65 and VPR. Finally, the DropCRISPRa system could activate target genes in mice. Therefore, this study provides a robust tool to activate gene expression for foundational research and potential therapeutics.
RNAcanvas: interactive drawing and exploration of nucleic acid structures
Authors: Johnson Philip Z , Simon Anne E
Published: April 2023

Two-dimensional drawing of nucleic acid structures, particularly RNA structures, is fundamental to the communication of nucleic acids research. However, manually drawing structures is laborious and infeasible for structures thousands of nucleotides long. RNAcanvas automatically arranges residues into strictly shaped stems and loops while providing robust interactive editing features, including click-and-drag layout adjustment. Drawn elements are highly customizable in a point-and-click manner, including colours, fonts, size and shading, flexible numbering, and outlining of bases. Tertiary interactions can be drawn as draggable, curved lines. Leontis-Westhof notation for depicting non-canonical base-pairs is fully supported, as well as text labels for structural features (e.g. hairpins). RNAcanvas also has many unique features and performance optimizations for large structures that cannot be correctly predicted and require manual refinement based on the researcher's own analyses and expertise. To this end, RNAcanvas has point-and-click structure editing with real-time highlighting of complementary sequences and motif search functionality, novel features that greatly aid in the identification of putative long-range tertiary interactions, de novo analysis of local structures, and phylogenetic comparisons. For ease in producing publication quality figures, drawings can be exported in both SVG and PowerPoint formats. URL: https://rnacanvas.app.
The New Testament and Creation Care
Authors: Saunders Stanley P.
Published: April 2023

Generations of readers have assumed that the New Testament materials are concerned primarily with human salvation, usually understood as escape from earth to heaven, accompanied in some scenarios by the destruction of the earth. This version of the “end” of the biblical story provides no foundation for a meaningful Christian response to the widespread environmental crises we face today. Awareness of the anthropocentric cast of Christian worldviews and growing recognition of the severity of the crises has demanded new approaches to the New Testament. The scholarly discussion of the New Testament and the care of creation is a relatively new area of research, still in its adolescence, but three decades of concerted research is now affirming that the New Testament is far more deeply grounded in the soil of the biblical story of creation than we once imagined. Discussion of the Bible and the environment has thus far been led by the work of two collaboratives, the Earth Bible Project under the leadership of Norman C. Habel in Australia, and the interdisciplinary research group funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK grant at the University of Exeter (“the Exeter Group”), led by David G. Horrell. The Earth Bible project has been the more prolific and often the more daring in drawing upon approaches from feminist and postcolonial criticism. At the same time, a growing number of scholars are making attempts to reconstruct the outlines of a biblical narrative, running from Genesis to Revelation, that links the end or resolution of the story (eschatology) more clearly with its beginning (protology). A meaningful resolution of the biblical story must address such issues as the meaning and proper exercise of “dominion,” as well as divine and human roles in the reconciliation of earth and heaven. After surveying overviews and reviews of the literature on hermeneutical issues and eschatology, entries will follow the canonical order of the New Testament documents, then touch on recent studies of food and water and the relations between humans and animals.
Intercultural Dialogue
Authors: Haydari Nazan
Published: April 2023

Intercultural dialogue (ICD) as a concept and a focal point of discussion has appeared in a limited number of research areas since in the 1980s when multiculturalism was introduced as an alternative to assimilation-oriented policies in many societies. In the 2000s, interculturalism emerged as a response to challenges induced by globalization and transnational migration, and transculturality has (re)appeared to address the complexity in the formation of cultures. ICD was framed as an alternative cultural policy to address increasing cultural diversity. Several international organizations, including UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations, have set intercultural dialogue as a key priority for cultural diversity management reflecting increasing interest in intercultural dialogue in policymaking contexts. For example, The Council of Europe’s White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue: Living Together As Equals in Dignity was released in 2008 and the year 2008 was announced as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. While ICD is often perceived as a practical tool of interculturalism, a significant effort has taken place during the last decade to characterize it as a significant transdisciplinary research area. Several edited collections and special journal issues reflect these efforts. While a lack of clarity about the theoretical contributions of ICD continues, growing debates over multiculturalism, interculturalism, and transculturality in recent years have created a significant space within which the theoretical and conceptual contributions of ICD can be re-evaluated, and its definitions expanded. Critical perspectives on the adaptation of ICD into a cultural policy framework brings its instrumentalization process into discussion. While the etymological roots of dialogue back in Greek, Latin, and Plato point to the fluidity and the complexity of the concept, the literature on the meta-analysis of ICD research maps out theoretical and conceptual terrain of the field. The research emphasizing the multilayered and complex dynamics of ICD (e.g., intractable conflict cases and peacebuilding efforts) introduces new lines of inquiry and analytical frameworks in the reconceptualization of ICD. ICD is an expanding transdisciplinary research area with significant potential contributions to communication studies. While research on variety of concepts, such as intercultural competence, mediation, and interaction, contributes to the field of intercultural dialogue, they are not included in this section.
United Nations and Communication
Authors: Bouchard Caroline
Published: April 2023

The United Nations (UN) was created at the end of the Second World War to maintain international peace and security and foster cooperation among nations on human rights issues as well as social and economic progress. Although for some observers the creation of the organization was more about balancing great powers than achieving these purposes, the UN has through the years become a complex system involving a multitude of actors and entities. It has also widened its area of activities to tackle issues such as climate change and sustainable development. As the largest and most well-known international organization, the UN has been the subject of a vast number of scholarly works from various fields (international relations, international law, development studies, etc.). The scholarship focusing on the communication facets of the UN system, however, has not attracted as much academic attention as other topics. Yet, communication activities constitute significant aspects of the UN and its work. The organization has always believed that to realize its purposes, it needed to publicly promote what it is and what it does as an organization. The UN and, more particularly two of its entities, UNESCO, the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN’s specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), have been at the center of debates surrounding the international governance of international communication issues. In addition, the UN is a prominent forum for intercultural communications due to its nature and roles. Communication issues also constitute a central aspect of the UN’s work in three areas: maintaining peace and security, promoting human rights, and addressing climate change. More recently, new technologies have affected communication processes in the UN system. The growing use of digital tools, such as social media platforms, has transformed interactions within the organization and the ways the UN communicates its messages to various audiences. It has also generated debates on the digital divide and new international security concerns. In addition, the organization has increasingly turned to new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to help it achieve its mandates. The scholarship reviewed here covers these various issues. As communication is an interdisciplinary field of study, the literature about the UN and communication encompasses different conceptual and theoretical perspectives. Only works in English have been included in this article. Nonetheless, it should be acknowledged that numerous studies on these different topics have also been published in other languages including in other UN official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish).
Law in Late Imperial China
Authors: Dykstra Maura
Published: April 2023

This bibliography builds on the scholarship and historiographical trends summarized in Geoffrey MacCormack’s overview of Western-language scholarship, in the Oxford Bibliographies article “Traditional Chinese Law,” by focusing on the sources used to study late imperial law, rather than scholarship about the law. As such, it is designed for the intermediate or advanced student interested in using historical sources to study Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) legal institutions. It provides some points of entry to a field that has expanded rapidly since the turn of the twenty-first century. Beyond the boom of interest in local archives, the field has benefitted from a serious increase in the collection and cataloging of a variety of materials, ranging from magistrate manuals to local caches of contracts and other legal sources. The rapid expansion and discovery of available sources has spurred a renewed interest in the institutions, documents, practices, and nuances of late imperial law. These fields of scholarship and the sources that support them are the main focus of this bibliography, which assumes that readers will be most comfortable reading in English but are capable of tackling both primary sources and scholarship in Chinese. Where available, digital versions of texts are provided for ease of access. Many of these digital versions are scans of original materials or carefully checked scholarly transcriptions. Scholars using these digital sources should be aware, when they are using transcribed texts, that, unless otherwise stated, they may have been generated using optical character recognition (OCR) technology and therefore may contain errors. Checking transcribed texts against images of original prints is, therefore, recommended. For the purposes of this bibliography, “Late Imperial Law” refers to the legal statutes, sub-statutes, regulations, and administrative conventions governing the administration of the Ming and Qing empires and the lives of the commoners living within their boundaries. For these reasons, although legal texts and institutions for ruling non-commoner populations (such as non-Han in tusi jurisdictions, subjects in colonial jurisdictions, members of the imperial house, or members of the massive military apparatus, etc.) exist in abundance, these types of law have been excluded from discussion because they were, in the Ming and Qing, distinct from governing the commoner population and deserve their own specialized treatment.
Palace Architecture in Premodern China (Ming-Qing)
Authors: Campbell Aurelia
Published: April 2023

The majority of scholarship on palace architecture from the Ming and Qing dynasties concentrates on the Forbidden City (Zijincheng 紫禁城) in Beijing. This palace served as the emperor’s primary residence and seat of power for more than five centuries, from the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the end of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Most of the current buildings date to the Qing dynasty and are continuously refurbished (if not entirely rebuilt) to keep them in pristine shape for the millions of tourists who visit the palace, now a museum, annually. The two most prolific publishers of Chinese-language scholarship on the architecture of the Forbidden City are the academic press associated with the palace, Gugong chubanshe 故宮出版社 (formerly Zijincheng chubanshe 紫禁城出版社) and Zhongguo jianzhu gongye chubanshe 中國建築工業出版社, which publishes extensively on premodern Chinese architecture. While English-language scholarship on the Forbidden City’s architecture is still scant, it has been growing in recent years alongside the more general expansion of the field of Ming and Qing architectural history. The summer palaces of the Qing emperors—Bishu shanzhuang 避暑山莊 (“Mountain Estate to Escape the Heat”) in Chengde, Hebei; Yuanming Yuan 圓明園 (“Garden of Perfect Brightness”) and Yihe Yuan 頤和園 (“Garden of Preserving Harmony”), located northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing—have also generated a great deal of scholarship in recent years. Because much of the early architecture at both Bishu shanzhuang and Yuanming Yuan no longer survives, scholars have devoted much of their attention to trying to understand the architectural histories of these sites through textual evidence, visual documentation, archaeology, and new digital technologies. Much more so than the Forbidden City, the Qing summer palaces incorporate natural landscape elements such as lakes, islands, forests, and grasslands into their designs, and therefore have been examined from the angle of landscape studies in addition to architectural history.