bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Francisco Cervantes de Salazar’s Mexico City in 1554: A Dramaturgy of Conversion
Authors: López-Portillo José-Juan
Published: September 2021

The interplay between cities, theatricality and conversion becomes manifest in exclusive or semi-private spaces, such as classrooms and private studies. As this chapter illustrates, the rhetorical textbooks of Fernández Salazar sought to train students in the art of Rhetoric by performing didactic dialogues that took place against the background of colonial Mexico. In so doing, the textbooks linked Renaissance humanism to the transformation of urban, social, and religious spaces that followed the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.
Conversional Thinking and the London Stage
Authors: Wittek Stephen
Published: September 2021

This chapter begins to build a framework for understanding the relation between conversion and a key structure of early modern thought: theatrical performance. Taking early modern London as a specific focus, the analysis considers the embeddedness of conversional thinking within the city’s concentration of media resources, placing particular emphasis on the ability of theatrical affordances to facilitate creative experimentation and critical examination around received categories of identity. The central text under consideration is Dekker and Middleton’s The Honest Whore, but the analysis is also generally applicable to the theatrical culture and broader media environment of early modern London.
Introduction: A Narratological and Rhetorical Approach to Qur’ānic Stories
Authors: Ozgur Alhassen Leyla
Published: September 2021

This chapter discusses the approach of the book, focusing on the interaction of the text with the audience, and juxtaposing scholarship from different sociohistorical contexts in order to explore the performative dimensions of Qur’ānic narrative. It introduces the key narrative features of Qur’ānic stories that the book analyzes. The chapter explains how the book’s analysis is structured around the concept of tawḥīd, or the Oneness of God, in the Qur’ān: the Qur’ān is a theocentric text and narrative choices are made for maximum theocentric impact. The chapter explains the book’s approach to the Qur’ān as an event, a performance, a relationship and an act of revelation. The Introduction also discusses the layers of narration in Qur’ānic stories, and the Qur’ānic auto-intertextual patterns in which an image, a word or a phrase connects one Qur’ānic story to another. This chapter looks at the dynamic relationship between God, the Qur’ān, tafsīr, the characters in Qur’ānic stories, and the audience. This chapter introduces the overarching questions examined in the book, of how Qur’ānic stories withhold knowledge, create consonance and forge connections.
God, Families and Secrets in the Story of Sūrat Maryam 19:1–581
Authors: Ozgur Alhassen Leyla
Published: September 2021

This chapter uses literary analysis focusing on structure and theme in Sūrat Maryam 19:1–58, examining connections between the story and the non-narrative verses of the sura. It analyzes the structure of the story and the dramatic tension and irony in the subtextual juxtaposition of the signs for secrets maintained and secrets revealed in 19:1–58. In Sūrat Maryam 19:1–58, the story of Zakariyyā, Maryam and ‘Īsā flows into a number of stories of other characters. The first part of this chapter focuses on the formation of connections through the structure of the story. Then, it turns to the making of connections between the story and the non-narrative verses of the sura (19:59–98). Finally, it moves to the withholding of knowledge, in this case, through signs and secrets.
Evidence, Judgment and Remorse in Sūrat Yūsuf
Authors: Ozgur Alhassen Leyla
Published: September 2021

This chapter focuses on the idea that throughout Sūrat Yūsuf, the narrative style works to show that God is the ultimate judge, and humans are always lacking in their ability to judge others. The chapter develops this argument through an examination of judgment, remorse and evidence in the story, concepts that are prominent in the story. This chapter focuses on different ways that God the narrator withholds knowledge from the audience. First is the withholding of knowledge in the metatext, the introduction to the story. Next, the chapter moves to the story itself, a story that foregrounds the idea of guilt, evidence and proof, in terms of determining the truth. Finally, there are the issues of judgment and remorse, and the audience is again lacking in knowledge and made unable to judge the characters. These are deliberate narrative techniques that affirm what the Qur’ān states in other places: that God is omniscient and only God can judge people.
Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ and its Audience
Authors: Ozgur Alhassen Leyla
Published: September 2021

This chapter with an intertextual approach focuses on Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ, sometimes with a comparison with Mūsā’s story in Sūrat Ṭaha. In Sūrat al-Qaṣaṣ, there are new and sometimes exclusive details added to the story, including explanations of motives for actions. Although there are new details, there are also new mysteries. The first section of this chapter examines the creation of consonance between the text, the narrator, the audience and even characters through the addition of new details. The next section discusses the forging of connections between Qur’ānic verses. Finally, the chapter examines the withholding of knowledge through new mysteries. Here, it also looks at the larger concept of mysteries in the Qur’ān, and terms for them. It argues that through these narrative devices, God the narrator brings the audience closer to the text, the characters and to God, while also humbling the audience and constantly bringing them back to the text. This shows them their dependence on their Creator and on God’s word, the Qur’ān. At the same time, these narrative techniques affirm in the audience the belief that God is omniscient.
Introduction
Authors: Lev Efraim
Published: September 2021

The second chapter elaborate on some methodological aspects of the research such as prosopography, a detailed description of the main sources of this work (the Cairo Geniza and the main Arabic Muslim sources) and research difficulties. Moreover, this chapter includes a brief introduction to the study of medieval Arabic medicine and its practitioners.
Epilogue
Authors: Lev Efraim
Published: September 2021

The information that was gathered for the research of the current book has made it possible to discuss various issues regarding the lives of Jewish practitioners in the medieval Muslim world. This chapter presents several conclusions, some of which support (with historical evidence) previous scholars’ observations, while others are new and shed more light on the social issues and professional activities of this segment of medieval Jewish society living under Muslim regimes.
Methodism in Victorian Shetland
Authors: Bebbington David
Published: September 2021

Methodism arrived in Shetland in the 1820s, growing until 1866 and remaining relatively strong. It suffered from the handicaps of geography, the weather, poverty and the dictates of the fishing industry. Lay leadership was hard to find, ministers were overburdened, other denominations provided competition and emigration deprived the Methodist movement of talent. On the other hand, patronage, the work of James Loutit and the doctrines and institutions of Methodism provided advantages. Education and temperance drew in the young, the movement fitted into Shetland life and most fundamentally the Evangelical impulse and episodes of revival brought growth. Shetland Methodism became something exceptional: by far the most successful branch of the denomination in Scotland.
Church Dedications in Badenoch and Strathspey Revisited
Authors: Bardgett Frank D.
Published: September 2021

The article takes its start from Prof. G. Barrow's 1988–9 ‘Badenoch and Strathspey, 1130–1312. 2: The Church’, and looks again at the evidence for pre-parochial dedications to saints in the light of recent archaeology and historiography. Strong ecclesiastical affinity with an Irish or Gaelic style of Christianity can be observed. Different options for a Sitz im Leban for this Gaelic connection are discussed and the eighth century is proposed as a plausible context for when the dedications in this region developed. No account of the conversion of the region is attempted. Whatever the state of the church before the battle of Dun Nechtain in 685, thereafter the kings of Fortriu, a Pictish realm and hegemony with increasing Gaelic characteristics, relied heavily on the Gaelic churches of Argyll, Perthshire and Atholl to structure and resource Christianity in this area of their kingdom. Yet if resources came from the south, control was based to the north, where centres of power have been identified at Portmahomack, Rosemarkie, Burghead and Kinneddar.
Nepal’s Strategic Hedging Behaviour: 2008-2019
Authors: Dahal Gaurav Raja
Published: September 2021

Caught between the rising rival powers- India and China, Nepali foreign policy can be perceived as following the practice of strategic hedging where it is attempting to position itself in a way to maximize benefits while simultaneously defending against undesirable threats and dangers from both the rising powers. In the context of a small state like Nepal, strategic hedging implies consciously choosing to adopt mixed policies, which features both balancing and bandwagoning. This paper aims to understand how a ministate like Nepal formulates its foreign policy to address the power politics and applies economic pragmatism followed by smart power and nimble diplomacy to its advantage. This paper also aims to explain that strategic hedging can be followed by Nepal when there is an absence of immediate threat that might compel the state to ally with the power for protection. Through the lens of various realist theories, this paper analyzes that a mini state like Nepal can achieve its national interest and would either bandwagon with the rising power i.e., “China, or” it could try to balance against it supporting the current status quo i.e., India.
Engineered Fibroblast Extracellular Vesicles Attenuate Pulmonary Inflammation and Fibrosis in Bleomycin-Induced Lung Injury
Authors: Ibrahim Abdulrahman , Ciullo Alessandra , Li Chang , Akhmerov Akbarshakh , Peck Kiel , Jones-Ungerleider K. C. , Morris Ashley , Marchevsky Alberto , Marbàn Eduardo , Ibrahim Ahmed Gamal
Published: September 2021

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease for which no curative treatment exists. We have previously engineered dermal fibroblasts to produce extracellular vesicles with tissue reparative properties dubbed activated specialized tissue effector extracellular vesicles (ASTEX). Here, we investigate the therapeutic utility of ASTEX in vitro and in a mouse model of bleomycin-induced lung injury. RNA sequencing demonstrates that ASTEX are enriched in micro-RNAs (miRs) cargo compared with EVs from untransduced dermal fibroblast EVs (DF-EVs). Treating primary macrophages with ASTEX reduced interleukin (IL)6 expression and increased IL10 expression compared with DF-EV-exposed macrophages. Furthermore, exposure of human lung fibroblasts or vascular endothelial cells to ASTEX reduced expression of smooth muscle actin, a hallmark of myofibroblast differentiation (respectively). In vivo, intratracheal administration of ASTEX in naïve healthy mice demonstrated a favorable safety profile with no changes in body weight, lung weight to body weight, fibrotic burden, or histological score 3 weeks postexposure. In an acute phase (short-term) bleomycin model of lung injury, ASTEX reduced lung weight to body weight, IL6 expression, and circulating monocytes. In a long-term setting, ASTEX improved survival and reduced fibrotic content in lung tissue. These results suggest potential immunomodulatory and antifibrotic properties of ASTEX in lung injury.
Barrier to Gene Flow of Grey Mangrove Avicennia marina Populations in the Malay Peninsula as Revealed From Nuclear Microsatellites and Chloroplast Haplotypes
Authors: Triest Ludwig , Satyanarayana Behara , Delange Olga , Sarker Kishore Kumar , Sierens Tim , Dahdouh-Guebas Farid
Published: September 2021

Contemporary mangrove forest areas took shape historically and their genetic connectivity depends on sea-faring propagules, subsequent settlement, and persistence in suitable environments. Mangrove species world-wide may experience genetic breaks caused by major land barriers or opposing ocean currents influencing their population genetic structure. For Malay Peninsula, several aquatic species showed strong genetic differentiation between East and West coast regions due to the Sunda shelf flooding since the Last Glacial Maximum. In this study genetic diversity and structure of Avicennia marina populations in Malay Peninsula were assessed using nuclear microsatellite markers and chloroplast sequences. Even though all populations showed identical morphological features of A. marina, three evolutionary significant units were obtained with nuclear and cytoplasmic markers. Avicennia marina along a 586 km stretch of the West coast differed strongly from populations along an 80 km stretch of the East coast featuring chloroplast capture of Avicennia alba in an introgressive A. marina. Over and above this expected East-West division, an intra-regional subdivision was detected among A. marina populations in the narrowest region of the Strait of Malacca. The latter genetic break was supported by an amova, structure, and barrier analysis whereas RST > FST indicated an evolutionary signal of long-lasting divergence. Two different haplotypes along the Western coast showed phylogeographic relationship with either a northern or a putative southern lineage, thereby assuming two Avicennia sources facing each other during Holocene occupation with prolonged separation in the Strait of Malacca. Migrate-n model testing supported a northward unidirectional stepping-stone migration route, although with an unclear directionality at the genetic break position, most likely due to weak oceanic currents. Low levels of genetic diversity and southward connectivity was detected for East coast Avicennia populations. We compared the fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) of Avicennia populations along the exposed coast in the East vs. the sheltered coast in the West. A majority of transects from both coastlines revealed no within-site kinship-based FSGS, although the remoteness of the open sea is important for Avicennia patches to maintain a neighborhood. The results provide new insights for mangrove researchers and managers for future in-depth ecological-genetic-based species conservation efforts in Malay Peninsula.
Is There a Diabetes–Kidney–Heart Continuum? Perspectives From the Results of the Cardiovascular and Renal Outcome Clinical Trials With SGLT2 Inhibitors
Authors: Bao Liwen , Gao Xiufang , Xie Kun , Li Yong
Published: September 2021

Heart failure is associated with a substantial risk of mortality and morbidity. Findings from recent cardiovascular outcome trials have shown promise for sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in preventing heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Notably, the benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors were consistent despite the presence of risk factors like atherosclerosis. Increasing evidence suggests that SGLT2 inhibitors may confer their cardioprotective effects through multiple mechanisms, ranging from improving cardiac and vascular performance to metabolism. The reduction of heart failure risk by SGLT2 inhibitors may also be attributed to the preservation of renal function. Indeed, renal insufficiency is a frequent comorbidity of patients with heart failure and T2DM; hence, the natriuretic and kidney protective effects offered by SGLT2 inhibitors may contribute to limiting adverse cardiac outcomes. In this article, we discuss the latest findings from the cardiovascular and renal outcome trials, paying special attention to the interlink between heart and kidney function, and how effective treatment of heart failure—irrespective of T2DM diagnosis—may require agents that offer both cardiac and renal protection.
New Imaging Signatures of Cardiac Alterations in Ischaemic Heart Disease and Cerebrovascular Disease Using CMR Radiomics
Authors: Rauseo Elisa , Izquierdo Morcillo Cristian , Raisi-Estabragh Zahra , Gkontra Polyxeni , Aung Nay , Lekadir Karim , Petersen Steffen E.
Published: September 2021

Background: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular disease are two closely inter-related clinical entities. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) radiomics may capture subtle cardiac changes associated with these two diseases providing new insights into the brain-heart interactions.

Objective: To define the CMR radiomics signatures for IHD and cerebrovascular disease and study their incremental value for disease discrimination over conventional CMR indices.

Methods: We analysed CMR images of UK Biobank's subjects with pre-existing IHD, ischaemic cerebrovascular disease, myocardial infarction (MI), and ischaemic stroke (IS) (n = 779, 267, 525, and 107, respectively). Each disease group was compared with an equal number of healthy controls. We extracted 446 shape, first-order, and texture radiomics features from three regions of interest (right ventricle, left ventricle, and left ventricular myocardium) in end-diastole and end-systole defined from segmentation of short-axis cine images. Systematic feature selection combined with machine learning (ML) algorithms (support vector machine and random forest) and 10-fold cross-validation tests were used to build the radiomics signature for each condition. We compared the discriminatory power achieved by the radiomics signature with conventional indices for each disease group, using the area under the curve (AUC), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and paired t-test for statistical significance. A third model combining both radiomics and conventional indices was also evaluated.

Results: In all the study groups, radiomics signatures provided a significantly better disease discrimination than conventional indices, as suggested by AUC (IHD:0.82 vs. 0.75; cerebrovascular disease: 0.79 vs. 0.77; MI: 0.87 vs. 0.79, and IS: 0.81 vs. 0.72). Similar results were observed with the combined models. In IHD and MI, LV shape radiomics were dominant. However, in IS and cerebrovascular disease, the combination of shape and intensity-based features improved the disease discrimination. A notable overlap of the radiomics signatures of IHD and cerebrovascular disease was also found.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential value of CMR radiomics over conventional indices in detecting subtle cardiac changes associated with chronic ischaemic processes involving the brain and heart, even in the presence of more heterogeneous clinical pictures. Radiomics analysis might also improve our understanding of the complex mechanisms behind the brain-heart interactions during ischaemia.
Mitochondrial Respiration Defects in Single-Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Xu Xinxiu , Lin Jiuann-Huey Ivy , Bais Abha S. , Reynolds Michael John , Tan Tuantuan , Gabriel George C. , Kondos Zoie , Liu Xiaoqin , Shiva Sruti S. , Lo Cecilia W.
Published: September 2021

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) with single-ventricle (SV) physiology is now survivable with a three-stage surgical course ending with Fontan palliation. However, 10-year transplant-free survival remains at 39–50%, with ventricular dysfunction progressing to heart failure (HF) being a common sequela. For SV-CHD patients who develop HF, undergoing the surgical course would not be helpful and could even be detrimental. As HF risk cannot be predicted and metabolic defects have been observed in Ohia SV-CHD mice, we hypothesized that respiratory defects in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) may allow HF risk stratification in SV-CHD.

Methods: SV-CHD (n = 20), biventricular CHD (BV-CHD; n = 16), or healthy control subjects (n = 22) were recruited, and PBMC oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was measured using the Seahorse Analyzer. Respiration was similarly measured in Ohia mouse heart tissue.

Results: Post-Fontan SV-CHD patients with HF showed higher maximal respiratory capacity (p = 0.004) and respiratory reserve (p < 0.0001), parameters important for cell stress adaptation, while the opposite was found for those without HF (reserve p = 0.037; maximal p = 0.05). This was observed in comparison to BV-CHD or healthy controls. However, respiration did not differ between SV patients pre- and post-Fontan or between pre- or post-Fontan SV-CHD patients and BV-CHD. Reminiscent of these findings, heart tissue from Ohia mice with SV-CHD also showed higher OCR, while those without CHD showed lower OCR.

Conclusion: Elevated mitochondrial respiration in PBMCs is correlated with HF in post-Fontan SV-CHD, suggesting that PBMC respiration may have utility for prognosticating HF risk in SV-CHD. Whether elevated respiration may reflect maladaptation to altered hemodynamics in SV-CHD warrants further investigation.
Simulating the Transport and Dispersal of Volcanic Ash Clouds With Initial Conditions Created by a 3D Plume Model
Authors: Cao Zhixuan , Bursik Marcus , Yang Qingyuan , Patra Abani
Published: September 2021

Volcanic ash transport and dispersion (VATD) models simulate atmospheric transport of ash from a volcanic source represented by parameterized concentration of ash with height. Most VATD models represent the volcanic plume source as a simple line with a parameterized ash emission rate as a function of height, constrained only by a total mass eruption rate (MER) for a given total rise height. However, the actual vertical ash distribution in volcanic plumes varies from case to case, having complex dependencies on eruption source parameters, such as grain size, speed at the vent, vent size, buoyancy flux, and atmospheric conditions. We present here for the first time the use of a three-dimensional (3D) plume model based on conservation laws to represent the ash cloud source without any prior assumption or simplification regarding plume geometry. By eliminating assumed behavior associated with a parameterized plume geometry, the predictive skill of VATD simulations is improved. We use our recently developed volcanic plume model based on a 3D smoothed-particle hydrodynamic Lagrangian method and couple the output to a standard Lagrangian VATD model. We apply the coupled model to the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach. Our investigation reveals that initial particle distribution in the vertical direction, including within the umbrella cloud, has more impact on the long-range transport of ash clouds than does the horizontal distribution. Comparison with satellite data indicates that the 3D model-based distribution of ash particles through the depth of the volcanic umbrella cloud, which is much lower than the observed maximum plume height, produces improved long-range VATD simulations. We thus show that initial conditions have a significant impact on VATD, and it is possible to obtain a better estimate of initial conditions for VATD simulations with deterministic, 3D forward modeling of the volcanic plume. Such modeling may therefore provide a path to better forecasts lessening the need for user intervention, or attempts to observe details of an eruption that are beyond the resolution of any potential satellite or ground-based technique, or a posteriori creating a history of ash emission height via inversion.
How Much Pigment Should Flowers Have? Flowers With Moderate Pigmentation Have Highest Color Contrast
Authors: van der Kooi Casper J.
Published: September 2021

Floral pigments are a core component of flower colors, but how much pigment a flower should have to yield a strong visual signal to pollinators is unknown. Using an optical model and taking white, blue, yellow and red flowers as case studies, I investigate how the amount of pigment determines a flower’s color contrast. Modeled reflectance spectra are interpreted using established insect color vision models. Contrast as a function of the amount of pigment shows a pattern of diminishing return. Low pigment amounts yield pale colors, intermediate amounts yield high contrast, and extreme amounts of pigment do not further increase, and sometimes even decrease, a flower’s color contrast. An intermediate amount of floral pigment thus yields the highest visibility, a finding that is corroborated by previous behavioral experiments on bees. The implications for studies on plant-pollinator signaling, intraspecific flower color variation and the costs of flower color are discussed.
Agricultural Fast Food: Bats Feeding in Banana Monocultures Are Heavier but Have Less Diverse Gut Microbiota
Authors: Alpízar Priscilla , Risely Alice , Tschapka Marco , Sommer Simone
Published: September 2021

Habitat alteration for agriculture can negatively affect wildlife physiology and health by decreasing diet diversity and increasing exposure to agrochemicals for animals foraging in altered landscapes. Such negative effects may be mediated by the disruption of the gut microbiota (termed dysbiosis), yet evidence for associations between habitat alteration, wildlife health, and the gut microbiota remains scarce. We examine the association between management intensity of banana plantations and both the body condition and gut microbiota composition of nectar-feeding bats Glossophaga soricina, which commonly forage within banana plantations across Latin America. We captured and measured 196 bats across conventional monocultures, organic plantations, and natural forests in Costa Rica, and quantified gut microbiome bacterial phylogenetic diversity using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We found that gut microbiota from bats foraging in conventional monocultures were overall less phylogenetically diverse than those from bats foraging in organic plantations or natural forests, both of which were characterized by diverse bacterial assemblages and individualized microbiota. Despite lower diversity, co-occurrence network complexity was higher in conventional monocultures, potentially indicating altered microbial interactions in agricultural landscapes. Bats from both organic and conventional plantations tended to be larger and heavier than their forest counterparts, reflecting the higher food supply. Overall, our study reveals that whilst both conventional monocultures and organic plantations provide a reliable food source for bats, conventional monocultures are associated with less diverse and potentially dysbiotic microbiota, whilst organic plantations promote diverse and individualized gut microbiota akin to their natural forest-foraging counterparts. Whilst the long-term negative effects of anthropogenically-altered microbiota are unclear, our study provides further evidence from a novel perspective that organic agricultural practices are beneficial for wildlife health.
A Unified Framework for Inattention Estimation From Resting State Phase Synchrony Using Machine Learning
Authors: Wang Xun-Heng , Li Lihua
Published: September 2021

Inattention is one of the most significant clinical symptoms for evaluating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous inattention estimations were performed using clinical scales. Recently, predictive models for inattention have been established for brain-behavior estimation using neuroimaging features. However, the performance of inattention estimation could be improved for conventional brain-behavior models with additional feature selection, machine learning algorithms, and validation procedures. This paper aimed to propose a unified framework for inattention estimation from resting state fMRI to improve the classical brain-behavior models. Phase synchrony was derived as raw features, which were selected with minimum-redundancy maximum-relevancy (mRMR) method. Six machine learning algorithms were applied as regression methods. 100 runs of 10-fold cross-validations were performed on the ADHD-200 datasets. The relevance vector machines (RVMs) based on the mRMR features for the brain-behavior models significantly improve the performance of inattention estimation. The mRMR-RVM models could achieve a total accuracy of 0.53. Furthermore, predictive patterns for inattention were discovered by the mRMR technique. We found that the bilateral subcortical-cerebellum networks exhibited the most predictive phase synchrony patterns for inattention. Together, an optimized strategy named mRMR-RVM for brain-behavior models was found for inattention estimation. The predictive patterns might help better understand the phase synchrony mechanisms for inattention.
Indigenous Ancestry and Admixture in the Uruguayan Population
Authors: Spangenberg Lucía , Fariello María Inés , Arce Darío , Illanes Gabriel , Greif Gonzalo , Shin Jong-Yeon , Yoo Seong-Keun , Seo Jeong-Sun , Robello Carlos , Kim Changhoon , Novembre John , Sans Mónica , Naya Hugo
Published: September 2021

The Amerindian group known as the Charrúas inhabited Uruguay at the timing of European colonial contact. Even though they were extinguished as an ethnic group as a result of a genocide, Charrúan heritage is part of the Uruguayan identity both culturally and genetically. While mitochondrial DNA studies have shown evidence of Amerindian ancestry in living Uruguayans, here we undertake whole-genome sequencing of 10 Uruguayan individuals with self-declared Charruan heritage. We detect chromosomal segments of Amerindian ancestry supporting the presence of indigenous genetic ancestry in living descendants. Specific haplotypes were found to be enriched in “Charrúas” and rare in the rest of the Amerindian groups studied. Some of these we interpret as the result of positive selection, as we identified selection signatures and they were located mostly within genes related to the infectivity of specific viruses. Historical records describe contacts of the Charrúas with other Amerindians, such as Guaraní, and patterns of genomic similarity observed here concur with genomic similarity between these groups. Less expected, we found a high genomic similarity of the Charrúas to Diaguita from Argentinian and Chile, which could be explained by geographically proximity. Finally, by fitting admixture models of Amerindian and European ancestry for the Uruguayan population, we were able to estimate the timing of the first pulse of admixture between European and Uruguayan indigenous peoples in approximately 1658 and the second migration pulse in 1683. Both dates roughly concurring with the Franciscan missions in 1662 and the foundation of the city of Colonia in 1680 by the Spanish.
The Role of B Cells in Adult and Paediatric Liver Injury
Authors: Patel Arzoo M. , Liu Yuxin S. , Davies Scott P. , Brown Rachel M. , Kelly Deirdre A. , Scheel-Toellner Dagmar , Reynolds Gary M. , Stamataki Zania
Published: September 2021

B lymphocytes are multitasking cells that direct the immune response by producing pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines, by presenting processed antigen for T cell activation and co-stimulation, and by turning into antibody-secreting cells. These functions are important to control infection in the liver but can also exacerbate tissue damage and fibrosis as part of persistent inflammation that can lead to end stage disease requiring a transplant. In transplantation, immunosuppression increases the incidence of lymphoma and often this is of B cell origin. In this review we bring together information on liver B cell biology from different liver diseases, including alcohol-related and metabolic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary and primary sclerosing cholangitis, viral hepatitis and, in infants, biliary atresia. We also discuss the impact of B cell depletion therapy in the liver setting. Taken together, our analysis shows that B cells are important in the pathogenesis of liver diseases and that further research is necessary to fully characterise the human liver B cell compartment.
Substantial Sub-Surface Chlorophyll Patch Sustained by Vertical Nutrient Fluxes in Fram Strait Observed With an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
Authors: Tippenhauer Sandra , Janout Markus , Chouksey Manita , Torres-Valdes Sinhue , Fong Allison , Wulff Thorben
Published: September 2021

We present results from a coordinated frontal survey in Fram Strait in summer 2016 using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) combined with shipboard and zodiac-based hydrographic measurements. Based on satellite information, we identified a front between warm Atlantic Water and cold Polar Water. The AUV, equipped with oceanographic and biogeochemical sensors, profiled the upper 50 m along a 10 km-long cross-front oriented transect resulting in a high-resolution snapshot of the upper ocean. The transect was dominated by a 6 km-wide, 10 m-thick subsurface patch of high chlorophyll, located near the euphotic depth within a band of cold water. Nitrate was depleted in the surface, but abundant below the pycnocline. Potential vorticity and Richardson number estimates indicate conditions favorable for vertical mixing, which indicates that the high chlorophyll patch may have been sustained by upward nitrate fluxes. Our observations underline the complex hydrographic and biogeochemical structure in a region featuring fronts and meanders, and further underline the patchy and small-scale nature of subsurface phytoplankton blooms potentially fueled by submesoscale dynamics, which are easily missed by traditional surveys and satellite missions.
Robots Versus Humans: Automated Annotation Accurately Quantifies Essential Ocean Variables of Rocky Intertidal Functional Groups and Habitat State
Authors: Bravo Gonzalo , Moity Nicolas , Londoño-Cruz Edgardo , Muller-Karger Frank , Bigatti Gregorio , Klein Eduardo , Choi Francis , Parmalee Lark , Helmuth Brian , Montes Enrique
Published: September 2021

Standardized methods for effectively and rapidly monitoring changes in the biodiversity of marine ecosystems are critical to assess status and trends in ways that are comparable between locations and over time. In intertidal and subtidal habitats, estimates of fractional cover and abundance of organisms are typically obtained with traditional quadrat-based methods, and collection of photoquadrat imagery is a standard practice. However, visual analysis of quadrats, either in the field or from photographs, can be very time-consuming. Cutting-edge machine learning tools are now being used to annotate species records from photoquadrat imagery automatically, significantly reducing processing time of image collections. However, it is not always clear whether information is lost, and if so to what degree, using automated approaches. In this study, we compared results from visual quadrats versus automated photoquadrat assessments of macroalgae and sessile organisms on rocky shores across the American continent, from Patagonia (Argentina), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Gorgona Island (Colombian Pacific), and the northeast coast of the United States (Gulf of Maine) using the automated software CoralNet. Photoquadrat imagery was collected at the same time as visual surveys following a protocol implemented across the Americas by the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) Pole to Pole of the Americas program. Our results show that photoquadrat machine learning annotations can estimate percent cover levels of intertidal benthic cover categories and functional groups (algae, bare substrate, and invertebrate cover) nearly identical to those from visual quadrat analysis. We found no statistical differences of cover estimations of dominant groups in photoquadrat images annotated by humans and those processed in CoralNet (binomial generalized linear mixed model or GLMM). Differences between these analyses were not significant, resulting in a Bray-Curtis average distance of 0.13 (sd 0.11) for the full label set, and 0.12 (sd 0.14) for functional groups. This is the first time that CoralNet automated annotation software has been used to monitor “Invertebrate Abundance and Distribution” and “Macroalgal Canopy Cover and Composition” Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) in intertidal habitats. We recommend its use for rapid, continuous surveys over expanded geographical scales and monitoring of intertidal areas globally.
Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds for Identifying Patients With Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis
Authors: Li Zheng-Tu , Zeng Pei-Ying , Chen Zhao-Ming , Guan Wei-Jie , Wang Tong , Lin Ye , Li Shao-Qiang , Zhang Zhi-Juan , Zhan Yang-Qing , Wang Ming-Die , Tan Guo-Bin , Li Xue , Ye Feng
Published: September 2021

Background: Diagnosing chronic pulmonary aspergillosis is a major challenge in clinical practice. The development and validation of a novel, sensitive and specific assay for diagnosing chronic pulmonary aspergillosis is urgently needed.

Methods: From April 2018 to June 2019, 53 patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), 32 patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and 48 healthy controls were recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. Clinical characteristics and samples were collected at enrollment. All exhaled breath samples were analyzed offline using thermal desorption single-photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry; to analyze the metabolic pathways of the characteristic volatile organic compounds, serum samples were subjected to ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography.

Results: We identified characteristic volatile organic compounds in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, which mainly consisted of phenol, neopentyl alcohol, toluene, limonene and ethylbenzene. These compounds were assessed using a logistic regression model. The sensitivity and specificity were 95.8 and 96.9% for discriminating patients in the CPA group from those in the CAP group and 95.8 and 97.9% for discriminating patients in the CPA group from healthy controls, respectively. The concentration of limonene (m/z 136) correlated significantly positively with anti-Aspergillus fumigatus IgG antibody titers (r = 0.420, P < 0.01). After antifungal treatment, serum IgG and the concentration of limonene (m/z 136) decreased in the subgroup of patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.

Conclusions: We identified VOCs that can be used as biomarkers for differential diagnosis and therapeutic response prediction in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.
Dedifferentiated Central Chondrosarcoma: A Clinical, Histopathological, and Immunohistochemical Analysis of 57 Cases
Authors: Gong Li-Hua , Su Yong-Bin , Zhang Wen , Liu Wei-Feng , Dong Rong-Fang , Sun Xiao-Qi , Zhang Ming , Ding Yi
Published: September 2021

Dedifferentiated central chondrosarcoma (DCCS) is a rare cartilage tumor with invasive biological behavior and a poor prognosis. To better understand the morphological characteristics of this type of tumor and its internal mechanism of dedifferentiation, we retrospectively analyzed 57 cases of DCCS. A total of 29 female and 28 male patients were included, ranging in age from 20 to 76 years, with a median age of 54 years. Fifty-seven cases of DCCS occurred in the pelvis (n = 29), femur (n = 17), scapula (n = 4), tibia (n = 2), humerus (n = 2), metatarsals (n = 1), fibula (n = 1), and radius (n = 1). Radiologically, DCCS had two different appearances on imaging, with an area showing calcifications of the cartilage forming the tumor juxtaposed to a lytic area with a highly aggressive, non-cartilaginous component. Histopathologically, the distinctive morphological features consisted of two kinds of defined components: a well-differentiated cartilaginous tumor and non-cartilaginous sarcoma. The cartilaginous components included grade 1 (n = 38; 66.7%) and grade 2 (n = 19; 33.3%) cartilage. The sarcoma components included those of osteosarcoma (n = 29; 50.9%), undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (n = 20; 35.1%), rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 3; 5.2%), fibrosarcoma (n = 2; 3.5%), spindle cell sarcoma (n = 2; 3.5%) and angiosarcoma (n = 1; 1.8%). Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of p53 and RB in the sarcoma components was significantly higher than that in the cartilaginous components, suggesting that these factors play roles in the dedifferentiation process of chondrosarcoma. DCCS is a highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Except for the patients who were lost to follow-up, most of our patients died.
Creation of a New Explosive Injury Equipment to Induce a Rabbit Animal Model of Closed Globe Blast Injury via Gas Shock
Authors: Liu Yuanyuan , Yang Tiantian , Yu Jinguo , Li Mengxuan , Li Jianan , Yan Hua
Published: September 2021

To establish a rabbit animal model of closed globe blast injury with an application of self-developed explosive injury equipment, we tend to explore the anatomic and pathological changes of eyes under different gas pressure. The device comprises of high-pressure air source compression pump, air channel, and gas shock. There were 36 healthy bluish blue rabbits exposed to one of five blast pressures (500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, and 5,000 Kpa). Slit lamp microscope, B-mode ultrasonography, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and intraocular pressure (IOP) examination were performed at 0-, 1-, 3-, and 7-days post exposure, while gross histopathology was assessed with H&E stain at 7 days. The contralateral eyes and non-blast exposed rabbits were used as controls. Definitive evidence of closed globe blast injury was obtained. Corneal edema and hyphema were observed in the models under all pressures with no full-thickness globe injury, or lens rupture, as the severity was pressure independent. There was no obvious retinal abnormality on B ultrasound or OCT scan, while light vitreous hemorrhage, commotio retinae, and heavy retinal pigmentation presented on one eye, respectively, in the eyes exposed to 5,000 Kpa. Increased retinal thickness with disorganizations on the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer and RGC apoptosis in groups under higher pressure (>500 Kpa). IOP of injured eyes were statistically decreased at day 1 and 7 post injury (p < 0.05). Conclusively, the rabbit animal model induced by self-developed equipment could mimic the clinical features of closed ocular blast injury successfully that was feasible and easy to operate. This will be a new rabbit animal model for investigating mechanisms and new therapeutic interventions of closed globe blast injury in the future.
High Endurance Elite Athletes Show Age-dependent Lower Levels of Circulating Complements Compared to Low/Moderate Endurance Elite Athletes
Authors: Al-Muraikhy Shamma , Ramanjaneya Manjunath , Dömling Alexander S. , Bettahi Ilham , Donati Francesco , Botre Francesco , Abou-Samra Abdul-Badi , Sellami Maha , Elrayess Mohamed A
Published: September 2021

Introduction: Aerobic exercise activates the complement system in the peripheral blood. However, the effect of age and high intensity endurance training on the levels of circulating complements and sassociated inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress markers and cellular aging remains unknown.

Methods: In this study, serum samples from 79 elite athletes who belong to high (n = 48) and low/moderate (n = 31) endurance sports and two age groups (below 30 years old, n = 53, and above 30 years old, n = 26) were profiled for 14 complements. Linear models were used to assess differences in complements levels between sport and age groups. Spearmann’s correlation was used to assess the relationship among detected complements and proinflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress markers and telomere lengths.

Results: High endurance elite athletes exhibited significantly lower levels of circulating C2, C3b/iC3b and adipsin complements than their age-matched low/moderate endurance counterparts. Levels of C2, adipsin and C3b/iC3b were positively correlated with most detected complements, the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-22 and the anti-oxidant enzyme catalase. However, they were negatively correlated with telomere length only in younger elite athletes regardless of their sport groups. Furthermore, high endurance elite athletes showed significantly lower concentrations of C3b/iC3b, C4b, C5, C5a, C1q, C3, C4, factor H and properdin in younger athletes compared to their older counterparts.

Conclusion: Our novel data suggest that high endurance elite athletes exhibit age-independent lower levels of circulating C2, C3b/iC3b and adipsin, associated with lower inflammatory, oxidative stress and cellular aging, as well as lower levels of 10 other complements in younger athletes compared to older counterparts. Assessing the effect of various levels of endurance sports on complements-based immune response provides a better understanding of exercise physiology and pathophysiology of elite athletes.
Online Food Frequency Questionnaire From the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais (CUME Project, Brazil): Construction, Validity, and Reproducibility
Authors: Azarias Heloísa Gambarelli de Araújo , Marques-Rocha José Luiz , Miranda Aline Elizabeth da Silva , dos Santos Luana Caroline , Gomes Domingos Ana Luíza , Hermsdorff Helen Hermana Miranda , Bressan Josefina , Oliveira Fernando Luiz Pereira de , Leal Arieta Carla Gualandi , Pimenta Adriano Marçal
Published: September 2021

Background: The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is usually used in epidemiological studies to assess food consumption. However, the FFQ must have good accuracy, requiring its validation and reproducibility for the target population. Thus, this study aimed to describe the construction of the online Food Frequency Questionnaire (oFFQ) used at the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais (CUME project, Brazil) and evaluate its validity and reproducibility.

Methods: The oFFQ was answered two times in 1 year (March/August 2018—March/April 2019; n = 108 participants—reproducibility), and four 24-h dietary recalls (24hRs) were applied in two seasons of the southern hemisphere [two 24hRs in autumn (March/June 2018) and two 24hRs in winter (August/September 2018); n = 146 participants—validity]. To assess the validity and reproducibility, the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were estimated.

Results: The oFFQ had 144 food items separated into eight groups (dairy products; meat and fish; cereals and legumes; fruits; vegetables; fats and oils; drinks; other foods). In assessing the validity, ICCs for energy and macronutrients were considered moderate, ranging from 0.41 (energy) to 0.59 (protein), while the ICCs for micronutrients were considered low to moderate, ranging from 0.25 (fibers) to 0.65 (vitamin B6). Regarding reproducibility assessment, ICCs for energy and all the assessed items were considered moderate to excellent, ranging from 0.60 (vegetables) to 0.91 (vitamin E and retinol).

Conclusions: The self-reported oFFQ had satisfactory validity and reproducibility. So, it can be used to analyze the association between food consumption and chronic diseases in the participants of the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais (CUME project—Brazil).