bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Feeding Neurons Integrate Metabolic and Reproductive States in Mice
Authors: Massa Megan G. , Scott Rachel L. , Cara Alexandra L. , Cortes Laura R. , Sandoval Norma P. , Park Jae W. , Ali Sahara , Velez Leandro M. , Tesfaye Bethlehem , Reue Karen , van Veen J. Edward , Seldin Marcus , Correa Stephanie M.
Published: January 2023

Trade-offs between metabolic and reproductive processes are important for survival, particularly in mammals that gestate their young. Puberty and reproduction, as energetically taxing life stages, are often gated by metabolic availability in animals with ovaries. How the nervous system coordinates these trade-offs is an active area of study. We identify somatostatin neurons of the tuberal nucleus (TNSST) as a node of the feeding circuit that alters feeding in a manner sensitive to metabolic and reproductive states in mice. Whereas chemogenetic activation of TNSSTneurons increased food intake across sexes, selective ablation decreased food intake only in female mice during proestrus. Interestingly, this ablation effect was only apparent in animals with a low body mass. Fat transplantation and bioinformatics analysis of TNSSTneuronal transcriptomes revealed white adipose as a key modulator of the effects of TNSSTneurons on food intake. Together, these studies point to a mechanism whereby TNSSThypothalamic neurons modulate feeding by responding to varying levels of circulating estrogens differentially based on energy stores. This research provides insight into how neural circuits integrate reproductive and metabolic signals, and illustrates how gonadal steroid modulation of neuronal circuits can be context-dependent and gated by metabolic status.
Wingless signaling promotes lipid mobilization through signal-induced transcriptional repression
Authors: Liu Mengmeng , Hemba-Waduge Rajitha-Udakara-Sampath , Li Xiao , Huang Xiahe , Liu Tzu-Hao , Han Xianlin , Wang Yingchun , Ji Jun-Yuan
Published: January 2023

Conserved Wnt/Wingless signaling plays pivotal roles in regulating normal development and energy metabolism in metazoans, and aberrant activation of Wnt signaling drives the pathogenesis of many diseases including cancer. However, the role of Wnt signaling in regulating cellular lipid homeostasis, particularly lipid mobilization, remains poorly understood. Here we show that canonical Wg signaling inhibits lipid accumulation inDrosophilalarval adipocytes by stimulating lipid catabolism while simultaneously inhibiting lipogenesis. Using a combination of RNA-sequencing and CUT&RUN assays, we identified a battery of Wg target genes encoding key factors required for lipogenesis (such asFASN1andAcCoS), lipolysis (such as lipid droplet-associated proteinsLsd-1andLsd-2), and fatty acid β-oxidation in the mitochondria and peroxisome (e.g.,CPT1andCRAT), most of which are directly repressed by active Wg signaling. Furthermore, lipid accumulation defects caused by active Wg signaling are rescued by either ectopically expressing Lsd-1 and Lsd-2 or depleting the transcriptional repressor Aef1, whose binding motif was identified in 52% of Wg signaling-repressed genes. These findings suggest that active Wg signaling reduces intracellular lipid accumulation by inhibiting lipogenesis and fatty acid β-oxidation and by promoting lipolysis and lipid mobilization, and Wg signaling-induced transcriptional repression play a prominent role in these converging mechanisms.
Polygenic adaptation dynamics in large, finite populations
Authors: Devi Archana , Jain Kavita
Published: January 2023

Although many phenotypic traits are determined by a large number of genetic variants, how a polygenic trait adapts in response to a change in the environment is not completely understood. In the framework of diffusion theory, we study the steady state and the adaptation dynamics of a large but finite population evolving under stabilizing selection and symmetric mutations when selection and mutation are moderately large. We find that in the stationary state, the allele frequency distribution at a locus is unimodal if its effect size is below a threshold effect and bimodal otherwise; these results are the stochastic analog of the deterministic ones where the stable allele frequency becomes bistable when the effect size exceeds a threshold. It is known that following a sudden shift in the phenotypic optimum, in an infinitely large population, selective sweeps at a large-effect locus are prevented and adaptation proceeds exclusively via subtle changes in the allele frequency; in contrast, we find that the chance of sweep is substantially enhanced in large, finite populations and the allele frequency at a large-effect locus can reach a high frequency at short times even for small shifts in the phenotypic optimum.
Epidemiologic transition of lung cancer mortality in Italy by sex, province of residence and birth cohort (1920-1929 to 1960-1969)
Authors: Catelan Dolores , Biggeri Annibale , Bucchi Lauro , Manno Valerio , Pappagallo Marilena , Stoppa Giorgia , Grippo Francesco , Frova Luisa , Zamagni Federica , Crialesi Roberta , Minelli Giada
Published: January 2023

Space-time analysis of mortality risk is useful to evaluate the epidemiologic transitions at the subnational level. In this study, we analysed the death certificate records for lung cancer in Italy in 1995-2016, obtained from the Italian National Statistics Institute. Our objective was to investigate the spatio-temporal evolution of lung cancer mortality by sex and province of residence (n = 107) using the birth cohort as relevant time axis. We built space-time Bayesian models with space-time interactions. Among men (n = 554,829), mortality peaked in the 1920-1929 cohort, followed by a generalised decline. Among women (n = 158,619), we found novel original evidence for a peak in the 1955-1964 cohort, equivalent to a 35-year delay, with a downward trend being observed thereafter. Over time, the documented north-south decreasing mortality gradient has been replaced by a west-east decreasing gradient. Naples has become the province at highest risk in Italy, both among men and women. This pattern is consistent with an epidemiologic transition of risk factors for lung cancer to the south-west of the country and raises concerns, because 5-year age-standardised net survival from the disease in this geographic area is lower than in northern and central Italy. The variability of mortality rates among provinces has changed over time, with an increasing homogeneity for men and an opposite trend for women in the more recent birth cohorts. These unprecedented observations update substantially previous knowledge on lung cancer mortality in Italy.

What’s new?

The epidemiologic transition of lung cancer mortality in Italy (1995-2016) was studied using space-time Bayesian models with space-time interactions. Among men, mortality peaked in the 1920-1929 cohort, followed by a decline. Among women, novel evidence was found for a peak in the 1955-1964 cohort, equivalent to a 35-year delay, with a downward trend thereafter. The north-south decreasing gradient has been replaced by a west-east decreasing gradient, with Naples currently being the province at highest risk.
Keyphrase Identification Using Minimal Labeled Data with Hierarchical Contexts and Transfer Learning
Authors: Goli Rohan , Komatineni Keerthana , Alluri Shailesh , Hubig Nina , Min Hua , Gong Yang , Sittig Dean F. , Rennert Lior , Robinson David , Biondich Paul , Wright Adam , Nøhr Christian , Law Timothy , Faxvaag Arild , Weaver Aneesa , Gimbel Ronald , Jing Xia
Published: January 2023

Background

Interoperable clinical decision support system (CDSS) rules provide a pathway to interoperability, a well-recognized challenge in health information technology. Building an ontology facilitates creating interoperable CDSS rules, which can be achieved by identifying the keyphrases (KP) from the existing literature. Ontology construction is traditionally a manual effort by human domain experts, and the newly advanced natural language processing techniques, such as KP identification, can be a critical complementary automatic part of building ontology. However, KP identification requires human expertise, consensus, and contextual understanding for data labeling.

Methods

This paper presents a semi-supervised KP identification framework (long short-term memory-based encoders and the conditional random fields -based decoder models, BiLSTM-CRF) using minimal human labeled data based on hierarchical attention (i.e., at word, sentence, and abstract levels) over the documents and domain adaptation. We created synthetic labels for initial training and human-labeled data for fine-tuning. We also tested different options during NLP preprocessing and ML training to optimize the ML pipeline.

Results

Our method outperforms the prior neural architectures by learning through synthetic labels for initial training, document-level contextual learning, language modeling, and fine-tuning with limited gold standard label data. After comparison, we found that the BIO encoding schema performed slightly better than Blue, and domain adaptation techniques can improve the quality of synthetic labels. In addition, document-level context, pre-trained LM, and pre-trained WE all contributed to better model performance in our tasks. Add 2 to 4 human-labeled documents for every 100 synthetic labeled documents improves the model performance without exhausting human-labeled documents too quickly.

Conclusions

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first functional framework for the CDSS sub-domain to identify KPs, which is trained on limited human labeled data. It contributes to the general natural language processing (NLP) architectures in areas such as clinical NLP, where manual data labeling is challenging, and light-weighted deep learning models play an important role in real-time KP identification as a complementary approach to human experts’ effort.
KDM2B regulates hippocampal morphogenesis by transcriptionally silencing Wnt signaling in neural progenitors
Authors: Zhang Bo , Zhao Chen , Shen Wenchen , Li Wei , Zheng Yue , Kong Xiangfei , Wang Junbao , Wu Xudong , Liu Ying , Zhou Yan
Published: January 2023

The hippocampus plays major roles in learning and memory. Similar to other parts of the brain, the development of hippocampus requires precise coordination of patterning, cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration, with both cell-intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms involved. Here we genetically removed the chromatin-association capability of KDM2B - a key component of the variant Polycomb repressive complex 1 (PRC1) - in the progenitors of developing dorsal telencephalon (Kdm2bΔCxxC) to surprisingly discover that the size ofKdm2bΔCxxChippocampus, particularly the dentate gyrus, became drastically smaller with disorganized cellular components and structure.Kdm2bΔCxxCmice displayed prominent defects in spatial memory, motor learning and fear conditioning. The differentiation trajectory of the developingKdm2bΔCxxChippocampus was greatly delayed, with a significant amount of TBR2-expressing intermediate progenitors stuck along the migratory/differentiation path. Transcriptome and chromatin immunoprecipitation studies of neonatal hippocampi and their progenitors indicated that genes implicated in stemness maintenance, especially components of canonical Wnt signaling, could not be properly silenced by PRC1 and PRC2. Activating the Wnt signaling disturbed hippocampal neurogenesis, recapitulating the effect of KDM2B loss. Together, we unveiled a previously unappreciated gene repressive program mediated by KDM2B that controls progressive fate specifications and cell migration, hence morphogenesis of hippocampus during development.

Graphic Abstract

Loss of KDM2B-CxxC reduces repressive histone modifications – H2AK119ub and H3K27me3 - on key Wnt signal genes, hence leading to the block of their attenuation over time. Hampered differentiation and migration of hippocampal progenitors leads to hippocampal agenesis.
The impact of innovation news coverage on illiquid stocks: the case of US market
Authors: Fedorova Elena , Stepanov Valentin
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine stock market reactions to the news about innovations and other types of publications for illiquid stocks.

Design/methodology/approach

(1) The authors opt for machine learning techniques and expert analysis and propose their own lexicon of innovations based on the news articles published on the professional website; (2) the dataset consists of the data on 2,000 US companies for 6 years; (3) the text analysis including BERT and Top2 Vec models which are superior to Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) in information criteria allows for more accurate evaluation of news sentiment and idea; and (4) furthermore, random forest and gradient boosting were applied to increase validity of results and demonstrate factor importance.

Findings

(1) The paper presents theoretical findings adding to signalling theory and efficient market hypothesis for US illiquid stocks; (2) this study suggests that information on product innovations (unlike other types of innovations) has a direct and significant effect on the return of illiquid stocks; (3) the results also give evidence that under uncertainty innovation-related publications do not affect the return of illiquid stocks; and (4) the analysis of the news topics (narratives) demonstrates that only the narrative related to important corporate announcements has a positive impact on the return of illiquid stocks.

Originality/value

(1) The authors are the first to conduct a large-scale study of the impact of various information on the return of illiquid stocks; (2) the paper focuses on information on several types of innovations with regard to the return of illiquid stocks; (3) based on Top2 Vec model, this study identifies the key topics-narratives discussed by investors and assesses their impact on the return of illiquid stocks; and (4) as an information source, the authors use the sample comprising a total of 1.4m news articles released on the professional website for investors “Benzinga”.
Socio-economic effects of trade fairs on host cities from a citizens' perspective: The case of Thessaloniki, Greece
Authors: Kourkouridis Dimitris , Frangopoulos Yannis , Kapitsinis Nikolaos
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Trade fairs have crucial socio-economic, cultural and political impacts. This paper aims to explore these multi-faceted effects at the local level from a citizens' perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The economic, social, environmental and socio-cultural effects of trade fair activity are studied by employing the case study of Thessaloniki International Fair. These impacts are examined based on the views of people in the local community of the host area, conducting a fieldwork survey with questionnaires.

Findings

The analysis, based on descriptive statistics, factor analysis and induction statistics, indicates that the economic, environmental and socio-cultural effects of trade fair activity on the city are largely viewed positively by residents of Thessaloniki. Differences in representations of fair's impacts are evident in what specific groups, according to age, educational level and occupation, expect from trade fair activity.

Originality/value

While fairs' effects have been examined by studies in economics, sociology and politics, providing useful insights about the inter-linkages between trade fairs and host cities, they tend to pay little attention to citizens' perceptions on fairs' socio-economic implications. This paper enriches the literature on trade fairs' effects by adopting a citizens' perspective, being among the first studies to focus on representations, perceptions and views of residents of the host city to examine fairs' socio-economic implications.
International cooperation, production side emissions and environmental sustainability
Authors: Gani Azmat
Published: January 2023

Purpose

Rising greenhouse gases have contributed to global warming above the pre-industrial levels with detrimental effects on world climatic patterns. Extreme weather has inflicted drastic impacts, including loss of lives and livelihoods and economic disruption. However, collective international cooperation in adopting greenhouse gas emission mitigating measures can translate into long-run beneficial effects of improving environmental quality. This study examines if international environmental cooperation among the world's top ten polluters can reduce production side emissions.

Design/methodology/approach

The panel estimation procedure was applied to data from ten top polluting countries from 2000 to 2019.

Findings

The results revealed a statistically significant inverse association between a nation's commitments to international environmental treaties and carbon dioxide emissions. Other than confirming the environmental Kuznets curve effect, industrial intensification, international trade and law rule are other strong correlations of carbon dioxide emissions.

Research limitations/implications

The main policy implication is the urgency for the leaders of the world's top ten polluters to actively cooperate in developing and implementing new production-side carbon emission measures as well as the implementation and enforcement of existing international treaties to minimize further environmental damage and let the countries in the lower ranks of carbon emissions to enjoy the long-run benefits of the decarbonized world.

Originality/value

This study makes a new contribution to the environmental research literature by unfolding how collective global cooperation on environmental challenges can help reduce environmental damage in a coherent analytical framework.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at:https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0598
Decisions of pricing and delivery-lead-time in dual-channel supply chains with data-driven marketing using internal financing and contract coordination
Authors: Xu Senyu , Tang Huajun , Huang Yuxin
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to investigate how to introduce a financing scheme to tackle the manufacturer's capital constraint problem, discuss the effects of data-driven marketing (DDM) quality, cross-channel-return (CCR) rate and financing interest rate on the members' pricing and delivery-lead-time decisions and optimal performances, and analyzes `how to achieve the coordination within a dual-channel supply chain (DSC) by contract coordination.

Design/methodology/approach

This work establishes a DSC model with DDM, and the offline retailer can provide internal financing to the capital-constrained online manufacturer. The demand under the price is determined based on DDM quality, customer channel preference and delivery lead time. Then, combined with the Stackelberg game, the optimal pricing and delivery-lead-time decisions are discussed under the inconsistent and consistent pricing strategies with decentralized and centralized systems. Furthermore, it designs a manufacturer-revenue sharing contract to coordinate the members under the two pricing strategies.

Findings

(1) The increase of DDM quality will reduce the delivery-lead-time under the inconsistent or consistent pricing strategy and will push the selling prices; (2) The growth of the CCR rate will raise selling prices and extend the delivery-lead-time under the decentralized decision; (3) Under price competition, the offline selling price is higher than the online selling price when customers prefer the offline channel and vice versa; (4) The retailer and the manufacturer can achieve a win-win situation through a manufacturer-revenue sharing contract.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the studies related to DSC by investigating pricing and delivery-lead-time decisions based on DDM, CCR, internal financing and supply chain contract and proposes some managerial implications.
Dissolving microneedles for effective and painless intradermal drug delivery in various skin conditions: A systematic review
Authors: De Decker Ignace , Logé Thomas , Hoeksema Henk , Speeckaert Marijn M. , Blondeel Phillip , Monstrey Stan , Claes Karel E. Y.
Published: January 2023

Intra‐ and transdermal administration of substances via percutaneous injection is effective but considered painful, and inconvenient in addition to bringing forth biohazardous waste material. In contrast to injection, topical drug application, which includes ointments, creams and lotions, increases the local drug load. Moreover, it has reduced side effects compared to systemic administration. However, the epidermis poses a barrier to high molecular weight substances, limiting the delivery efficiency. Dissolving microneedles (DMN) are hydrophilic, mostly polymer‐based constructs that are capable of skin penetration and were developed to provide painless and direct dermal drug delivery. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of the available clinical evidence for the use of DMN to treat various skin conditions. According to the PRISMA statement, a systematic search for articles on the use of DMN for dermatological indications was conducted on three different databases (Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane library). Only human clinical trials were considered. Qualitative assessment was done by two separate reviewers using the Cochrane risk of bias (RoB 2) and Chambers' criteria assessment tools. The search yielded 1090 articles. After deduplication and removal of ineligible records, 889 records were screened on title and abstract. Full text screening was done for 18 articles and ultimately 17 articles were included of which 15 were randomized controlled trials and two were case series. The quality assessment showed that the majority of included studies had low to no risk of bias. Clinical data supports that DMN are an excellent, effective, and pain free drug delivery method for multiple dermatological disorders including skin aging, hyperpigmentation, psoriasis, warts, and keloids by supplying a painless and effective vehicle for intradermal/intralesional drug administration. Microneedle technology provides a promising non‐ to minimally‐invasive alternative to percutaneous injection.
Plant attributes interact with fungal pathogens and nitrogen addition to drive soil enzymatic activities and their temporal variation
Authors: Nwe Thu Zar , Maaroufi Nadia I. , Allan Eric , Soliveres Santiago , Kempel Anne
Published: January 2023

Nitrogen enrichment can alter soil communities and their functioning directly, via changes in nutrient availability and stoichiometry, or indirectly, by changing plant communities or the abundance of consumers. However, most studies have only focused on one of these potential drivers and we know little about the relative importance of the different mechanisms (changes in nutrient availability, in plant diversity or functional composition or in consumer abundance) by which nitrogen enrichment affects soil functioning. In addition, soil functions could vary dramatically between seasons; however, they are typically measured only once during the peak growing season. We therefore know little about the drivers of intra‐annual stability in soil functioning.

In this study, we measured activities of β‐glucosidase and acid phosphatase, two extracellular enzymes that indicate soil functioning. We did so in a large grassland experiment which tested the effects, and relative importance, of nitrogen enrichment, plant functional composition and diversity, and foliar pathogen presence (controlled by fungicide) on soil functioning. We measured the activity of the two enzymes across seasons and years to assess the stability and temporal dynamics of soil functioning.

Overall β‐glucosidase activity was slightly increased by nitrogen enrichment over time but did not respond to the other experimental treatments. Conversely, plant functional diversity and interactions between plant attributes and fungicide application were important drivers of mean acid phosphatase activity. The temporal stability of both soil enzymes was differently affected by two facets of plant diversity: species richness increased temporal stability and functional diversity decreased it; however, these effects were dampened when nitrogen and fungicide were added.

The fungicide effects on soil enzyme activities suggest that foliar pathogens can also affect below‐ground processes and the interacting effect of fungicide and plant diversity suggests that these plant enemies can modulate the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. The contrasting effects of our treatments on the mean versus stability of soil enzyme activities clearly show the need to consider temporal dynamics in below‐ground processes, to better understand the responses of soil microbes to environmental changes such as nutrient enrichment.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
STRETCH: Stinging tree exposures to Cairns Hospital
Authors: Young Ruth , Jackson Angela , Ryan Fiona , Little Mark
Published: January 2023

Objectives

To evaluate the burden of disease, investigate the treatment and response to treatment caused by exposure to stinging tree plants presenting to Cairns Hospital over a 3‐year period. Our secondary aim was to examine the benefit from treating such exposures with topical dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl).

Methods

A retrospective chart review of all patients presenting to Cairns ED over a 3‐year period because of stinging tree exposure. Symptoms, signs, treatment and outcomes were recorded.

Results

There were 48 presentations, all having immediate pain after contact with the stinging tree, with 87% describing the pain as moderate or severe. Nearly all were stung on limbs (96%). There were 13 different treatments prior to presentation. In hospital, 60% needed opioid analgesia and a median oral morphine dose equivalent of 15 mg. Of the 29 receiving HCl nine patients reported good relief or complete relief.

Conclusions

Stinging tree exposure results in significant presentations to the Cairns ED each year. Pain is immediate and severe and there are no clear first aid or definitive treatment recommendations. Further work is needed to ascertain the best first aid and definitive treatment including a formal trial of dilute HCl.
EndophyticPenicilliumspecies secretes mycophenolic acid that inhibits the growth of phytopathogenic fungi
Authors: Azar Neri , Liarzi Orna , Zavitan Maor , Samara Mohamed , Nasser Ahmed , Ezra David
Published: January 2023

The worldwide demand for reduced and restricted use of pesticides in agriculture due to serious environmental effects, health risks and the development of pathogen resistance calls for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. In the medical field, antibiotic‐resistant microorganisms have become a major threat to man, increasing mortality. Endophytes are endosymbiotic microorganisms that inhabit plant tissues without causing any visible damage to their host. Many endophytes secrete secondary metabolites with biological activity against a broad range of pathogens, making them potential candidates for novel drugs and alternative pesticides of natural origin. We isolated endophytes from wild plants in Israel, focusing on endophytes that secrete secondary metabolites with biological activity. We isolated 302 different endophytes from 30 different wild plants; 70 of them exhibited biological activity against phytopathogens. One biologically active fungal endophyte from the genusPenicillium, isolated from a squill (Urginea maritima) leaf, was further examined. Chloroform‐based extraction of its growth medium was similarly active against phytopathogens. High‐performance liquid chromatography separation followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis revealed a single compound—mycophenolic acid—as the main contributor to the biological activity of the organic extract.
Regulating the Market for Audit Services: A Game Theoretic Approach
Authors: Eleftheriou Konstantinos , Komarev Iliya , Klumpes Paul
Published: January 2023

We apply game theory to model how alternative mandatory audit firm rotation regimes can affect the strategic interaction between auditee and auditor firms, and analyze potential consequences on detection risk and impairment of auditor scepticism. The major results suggest that: (1) relative to an initial state with no rotation requirement but high probability for impaired auditor scepticism, imposing either short‐term or long‐term mandatory audit firm rotation will remove the threat to auditor scepticism and lead to higher audit fees and lower detection risk; (2) relative to long‐term mandatory audit firm rotation, imposing a short‐term rotation will lead to lower audit fees and higher detection risk, resulting from greater informational frictions. We further find that imposing supplementary regulatory instruments, such as increased regulatory scrutiny of the auditee and/or auditor, can be used to lower the detection risk and increase audit quality. We discuss implications of these findings for empirical research.
Genome‐wide association studies demonstrate the genes associated with perimysial thickness in ducks
Authors: Tang Hehe , Liu Dapeng , Zhang Huiling , Fan Wenlei , Hu Jian , Xu Yaxi , Guo Zhanbao , Huang Wei , Hou Shuisheng , Zhou Zhengkui
Published: January 2023

The thickness of the perimysium has an essential effect on the tenderness of the meat. However, the genetic basis underlying perimysial thickness has not been determined. The objective of this study was to explore the quantitative trait loci (QTL) that influence perimysial thickness in an F2 segregating population generated by Mallard × Pekin duck using the genome‐wide association study (GWAS) method. Two QTL identified in chromosomes 27 and 13 displayed significant associations with perimysial thickness traits at the genome‐wide level. The strongest association was the QTL located in chromosome 27, and this region had an effect on perimysial thickness and contained a promising candidate gene MAGI3 (Membrane‐associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing 3). Meanwhile, association analysis showed that the top SNP within the MAGI3 gene was also associated with intramuscular fat content traits, which showed that perimysial thickness was positively correlated with intramuscular fat content. The second strongest association was the QTL region of chromosome 13. SUCLG2 (Succinate‐CoA ligase GDP‐forming subunit beta) is proximal to the top SNP and stood out as another candidate gene. Furthermore, the Transposase‐Accessible Chromatin using Sequencing result showed that some key transcription factors (MYF5, MYOD1, KLF11) related to muscle development or energy metabolism might bind to the open regions of MAGI3 and SUCLG2. By analyzing the expression of different genotypes of the candidate gene, we speculate that different genotypes of MAGI3 may have an effect on breast muscle development, and then affect the thickness of the perimysium. This study maps two major genes of the duck breast muscle perimysial thickness trait, which helps to characterize muscle development and contributes to the genetic improvement of meat yield and quality in livestock.
Functional results and feasibility of a teleprehabilitation program in patients who are candidates for elective colorectal cancer surgery during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Authors: Lorca Luz Alejandra , Ribeiro Ivana Leao , Pizarro Marta , Martínez Mónica , Vivallos Jessica
Published: January 2023

Aim

To assess the value of a prehabilitation program adapted to the current COVID‐19 pandemic using a teleprehabilitation modality in a public Latin American hospital.

Methods

The medical records of candidates for elective colorectal cancer surgery (CRC) and who completed a teleprehabiltation program were analyzed. Sociodemographic, clinical, and functional variables were analyzed, such as cardiorespiratory capacity with the sit‐to‐stand test (STST), independence in activities of daily living with the Barthel index, balance with the five‐times STST (FSTST) and fatigue with Brief Inventory Fatigue (BFI). The feasibility of the program was analyzed in terms of recruitment, retention, user satisfaction, and reporting of adverse events.

Results

Of 107 people recruited, 57 completed the program (54%, 68.78 ± 12.36 years). There was a significant difference in the BFI, FSTST, and STS 1‐min scores after the intervention (p < .01), with an effect size (Cliff's delta) that varied between −.13 and .21. There were no differences in the Barthel index score. In relation to the viability of the program, 99% of patients referred for surgery could be recruited into the program, with 53% retention. Regarding user satisfaction with the program, seven items (77.7%) were rated as “very satisfied,” and two items (22.3%) as “satisfied.” No adverse events were recorded.

Conclusion

The structured prehabilitation program adapted to teleprehabilitation for CRC candidates for surgery was effective in optimizing functional results prior to surgery and was feasible to implement in a public hospital with limited resources during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
The sodium new houttuyfonate suppresses NSCLC via activating pyroptosis through TCONS‐14036/miR‐1228‐5p/PRKCDBP pathway
Authors: Jiang Rilei , Lu Bing , Feng Fanchao , Li Qian , Chen Xiaolei , Cao Shibing , Pan Zhaoxia , Deng Zhengming , Zhou Yufei , Liu Ping , Xu Jiatuo
Published: January 2023

Several studies have suggested the potential value of Houttuynia cordata as a therapeutic agent in lung cancer, but direct evidence is still lacking. The study aimed to determine the regulatory impact of a major H. cordata constituent derivative (sodium new houttuyfonate [SNH]) on lncRNA networks in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to identify new potential therapeutic targets. After exposing NSCLC cells to SNH, we analysed the following: cell death (via flow cytometry, TUNEL and ASC speck formation assays), immune factors (via ELISA), gene transcription (via RT‐qPCR), subcellular localisation (via FISH), gene–gene and gene‐protein interactions (via dual‐luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays, respectively) and protein expression and distribution (via western blotting and immunocytochemistry or immunohistochemistry). In addition, statistical analysis (via one‐way ANOVA or unpaired t‐tests) was performed. Exposure to SNH promoted NSCLC cell pyroptosis, concomitant with significant up‐regulation of TCONS‐14036, a novel lncRNA. Mechanistic research demonstrated that TCONS‐14036 functions as a competing endogenous (ce)RNA by sequestering microRNA (miR)‐1228‐5p, thereby up‐regulating PRKCDBP‐encoding transcript levels. Indeed, PRKCDBP promoted pyroptosis by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome, resulting in CASP1, IL‐1β and GSDMD cleavage. Our findings elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of SNH to suppress NSCLC growth through activation of pyroptosis via the TCONS‐14036/miR‐1228‐5p/PRKCDBP pathway. Thus, we identify a new potential therapeutic targets for NSCLC.
Safety and tolerability of semaglutide across the SUSTAIN and PIONEER phase IIIa clinical trial programmes
Authors: Aroda Vanita R. , Erhan Umut , Jelnes Peter , Meier Juris J. , Abildlund Morten Tind , Pratley Richard , Vilsbøll Tina , Husain Mansoor
Published: January 2023

Aim

Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists improve glycaemic control: some are now available as oral and subcutaneous formulations, and some have indications for reducing cardiovascular risk. The expanded scope for these therapies warrants comprehensive safety evaluations. We report the safety/tolerability of subcutaneous and oral semaglutide from the SUSTAIN and PIONEER clinical trial programmes, respectively.

Materials and methods

Adverse events (AEs) from 16 randomized placebo‐ or active‐controlled phase IIIa trials in patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 11 159) including once‐weekly subcutaneous semaglutide (n = 3150; SUSTAIN trials) or once‐daily oral semaglutide (n = 4116; PIONEER trials) were analysed. Data pools were analysed for each programme, with separate analyses of cardiovascular outcomes trials (CVOTs; n = 6480).

Results

In the phase IIIa pools, gastrointestinal disorders were reported in 41.9%/39.1% of patients with subcutaneous/oral semaglutide, respectively (most prevalent during initiation/escalation) versus 22.0%/24.8% with comparators. Rates of kidney disorders, acute pancreatitis, malignant neoplasms, hypoglycaemia, diabetic retinopathy, heart failure and other cardiovascular events were similar for semaglutide versus comparators. Cholelithiasis incidence was higher with subcutaneous and oral semaglutide versus placebo. Diabetic retinopathy incidence was higher with subcutaneous semaglutide versus placebo in SUSTAIN 6. Small pulse rate increases occurred with both formulations; there was no increased rate of arrhythmias. Fatal AE incidence was similar between semaglutide and comparators. Versus placebo, CVOTs showed a reduced risk of major adverse cardiovascular events with subcutaneous semaglutide and non‐inferiority criteria were met with oral semaglutide.

Conclusions

The most common AEs with semaglutide were gastrointestinal disorders, which decreased with continued therapy. These comprehensive safety/tolerability data may better inform patient selection and guidance in care.
Insider trading in multinational firms
Authors: Alldredge Dallin M. , Blank D. Brian
Published: January 2023

We explore insider trading at multinational firms and find multinational firm insiders make larger trades followed by larger abnormal returns relative to those at domestic firms. Multinational firm insiders profitably purchase underpriced, value stocks with low past returns. They trade more profitably, not only because of market pricing opportunities, but also because of the advantageous timing of informed trades before earnings announcements. Insider trading profits are highest at multinational firms with foreign sales in regions culturally and linguistically distinct from the United States. These findings are consistent with opportunistic insiders strategically profiting from difficult to process foreign information.
Label informed hierarchical transformers for sequential sentence classification in scientific abstracts
Authors: Tokala Yaswanth Sri Sai Santosh , Aluru Sai Saketh , Vallabhajosyula Anoop , Sanyal Debarshi Kumar , Das Partha Pratim
Published: January 2023

Segmenting scientific abstracts into discourse categories like background, objective, method, result, and conclusion is useful in many downstream tasks like search, recommendation and summarization. This task of classifying each sentence in the abstract into one of a given set of discourse categories is called sequential sentence classification. Existing machine learning‐based approaches to this problem consider the content of only the abstract to obtain the neural representation of each sentence, which is then labelled with a discourse category. But this ignores the semantic information offered by the discourse labels themselves. In this paper, we propose LIHT, Label Informed Hierarchical Transformers – a method for sequential sentence classification that explicitly and hierarchically exploits the semantic information in the labels to learn label‐aware neural sentence representations. The hierarchical model helps to capture not only the fine‐grained interactions between the discourse labels and the words in the abstract at the sentence level but also the potential dependencies that may exist in the label sequence. Thus, LIHT generates label‐aware contextual sentence representations that are then labelled with a conditional random field. We evaluate LIHT on three publicly available datasets, namely, PUBMED‐RCT, NICTA‐PIBOSO and CSAbstract. The incremental gain in F1‐score in all the three cases over the respective state‐of‐the‐art approaches is around . Though the gains are modest, LIHT establishes a new performance benchmark for this task and is a novel technique of independent interest. We also perform an ablation study to identify the contribution of each component of LIHT in the observed performance, and a case study to visualize the roles of the different components of our model.
Response of nitrate leaching to no‐tillage is dependent on soil, climate, and management factors: A global meta‐analysis
Authors: Li Jinbo , Hu Wei , Chau Henry Wai , Beare Mike , Cichota Rogerio , Teixeira Edmar , Moore Tom , Di Hong , Cameron Keith , Guo Jing , Xu Lingying
Published: January 2023

No tillage (NT) has been proposed as a practice to reduce the adverse effects of tillage on contaminant (e.g., sediment and nutrient) losses to waterways. Nonetheless, previous reports on impacts of NT on nitrate () leaching are inconsistent. A global meta‐analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis that the response of leaching under NT, relative to tillage, is associated with tillage type (inversion vs non‐inversion tillage), soil properties (e.g., soil organic carbon [SOC]), climate factors (i.e., water input), and management practices (e.g., NT duration and nitrogen fertilizer inputs). Overall, compared with all forms of tillage combined, NT had 4% and 14% greater area‐scaled and yield‐scaled leaching losses, respectively. The leaching under NT tended to be 7% greater than that of inversion tillage but comparable to non‐inversion tillage. Greater leaching under NT, compared with inversion tillage, was most evident under short‐duration NT (<5 years), where water inputs were low (<2 mm day−1), in medium texture and low SOC (<1%) soils, and at both higher (>200 kg ha−1) and lower (0–100 kg ha−1) rates of nitrogen addition. Of these, SOC was the most important factor affecting the risk of NO3− leaching under NT compared with inversion tillage. Globally, on average, the greater amount of NO3− leached under NT, compared with inversion tillage, was mainly attributed to corresponding increases in drainage. The percentage of global cropping land with lower risk of NO3− leaching under NT, relative to inversion tillage, increased with NT duration from 3 years (31%) to 15 years (54%). This study highlighted that the benefits of NT adoption for mitigating leaching are most likely in long‐term NT cropping systems on high‐SOC soils.
Assessing and improving the transferability of current global spatial prediction models
Authors: Ludwig Marvin , Moreno‐Martinez Alvaro , Hölzel Norbert , Pebesma Edzer , Meyer Hanna
Published: January 2023

Aim

Global‐scale maps of the environment are an important source of information for researchers and decision makers. Often, these maps are created by training machine learning algorithms on field‐sampled reference data using remote sensing information as predictors. Since field samples are often sparse and clustered in geographic space, model prediction requires a transfer of the trained model to regions where no reference data are available. However, recent studies question the feasibility of predictions far beyond the location of training data.

Innovation

We propose a novel workflow for spatial predictive mapping that leverages recent developments in this field and combines them in innovative ways with the aim of improved model transferability and performance assessment. We demonstrate, evaluate and discuss the workflow with data from recently published global environmental maps.

Main conclusions

Reducing predictors to those relevant for spatial prediction leads to an increase of model transferability and map accuracy without a decrease of prediction quality in areas with high sampling density. Still, reliable gap‐free global predictions were not possible, highlighting that global maps and their evaluation are hampered by limited availability of reference data.
The power of story: Understanding gendered dimensions of mobility among Tucson refugees
Authors: Clark Sarah , Myadar Orhon
Published: January 2023

The paper focuses on the power of a single story to bring the human contexts and circumstances that shape refugees' post‐resettlement lives to the forefront. Through an ethnographic example, the article brings attention to the lived experience of refugees and dismantles gendered tropes that are rooted in Western and white feminist theoretical frameworks. We do so through the prism of mobility‐related challenges that refugees experience after resettlement. By focusing on the narrow topic of mobility, we hope to illuminate the uniqueness of each individual's journey in navigating one's post‐resettlement life in the United States.
Permeability and corrosion resistance of porous SiOC‐bonded SiC ceramics prepared by the preceramic polymer
Authors: Yang Minghui , Zhang Junzhan , Zhang Ying , Sun Wenjing , Shi Zongmo
Published: January 2023

Porous SiC ceramics have been used in high temperature flue gas filtration fields because of their excellent properties such as high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and long service time. This work reports the porous SiOC‐bonded SiC ceramics prepared at low temperature. The properties of porous SiC ceramics were first investigated with silicone resin content from 10 to 25 wt%, and then the effects of different pore‐forming agent contents on the behaviors of porous SiC ceramics were discussed by adjusting poly (methyl methacrylate) PMMA microbeads from 5 to 20 wt%. The prepared porous SiC ceramics showed apparent porosity from 17.3% to 57.7%, compressive strength from 6 to 216 MPa, and Darcy permeability k1 ranging from 7.02 × 10−14 to 1.45 × 10−12 m2. The corrosion behavior of porous SiC ceramics was investigated in acidic and alkaline media. The porous SiC ceramics showed better corrosion resistance in acidic solutions.
Is the clinical performance of internal conical connection better than internal non‐conical connection for implant‐supported restorations? A systematic review with meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Rodrigues Vitor Venâncio Moreira , Faé Daniele Sorgatto , Rosa Cleber Davi Del Rei Daltro , Bento Victor Augusto Alves , Lacerda Mariane Floriano Lopes Santos , Pellizzer Eduardo Piza , Lemos Cleidiel Aparecido Araujo
Published: January 2023

Purpose

To evaluate bone loss, prosthodontics and biological complications, and implant survival rates of internal conical connections (ICC) compared with internal non‐conical connection (INCC) implants.

Methods

The systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021237170). Meta‐analysis was performed using standardized mean difference (SMD) for bone loss and risk ratio (RR) for implant survival and complication rates. Risk of bias analysis was evaluated using RoB 2.0, whereas the GRADE tool was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence. A systematic search of the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, and ProQuest databases was performed independently by two reviewers for articles published up to March 2022. The search criteria had no language or publication date restrictions. Handsearching analysis was performed in the reference list of potential articles.

Results

Twelve randomized clinical trials, including 678 patients and 1006 implants (ICC [n = 476]; INCC [n = 530]), were included. Meta‐analysis revealed that ICC demonstrated a lower risk for marginal bone loss (SMD: −0.80 mm; p = 0.004) and prosthodontics complications (RR: 0.16; p = 0.01) than INCC. However, both internal connections demonstrated no significant difference in implant survival rates (RR: 0.54; p = 0.10) and biological complications (RR: 0.90; p = 0.82). The overall risk of bias revealed some concerns and a low risk of bias for most of the included studies. However, the certainty of evidence of outcomes was considered low to moderate.

Conclusion

ICC may be considered a more favorable treatment option than INCC owing to greater preservation of peri‐implant bone tissue and a lower probability of prosthodontics complications. However, well‐conducted studies with long‐term follow‐up are warranted.