bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting chemoresponsiveness in epithelial ovarian cancer patients using circulating small extracellular vesicle-derived plasma gelsolin
Authors: Gerber Emma , Asare-Werehene Meshach , Reunov Arkadiy , Burger Dylan , Le Tien , Carmona Euridice , Mes-Masson Anne-Marie , Tsang Benjamin K.
Published: October 2022

Background

Resistance to chemotherapy continues to be a challenge when treating epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), contributing to low patient survival rates. While CA125, the conventional EOC biomarker, has been useful in monitoring patients’ response to therapy, there are no biomarkers used to predict treatment response prior to chemotherapy. Previous workin vitroshowed that plasma gelsolin (pGSN) is highly expressed in chemoresistant EOC cell lines, where it is secreted in small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). Whether sEVs from tumour cells are secreted into the circulation of EOC patients and could be used to predict patient chemoresponsiveness is yet to be determined. This study aims to determine if sEV-pGSN in the circulation could be a predictive biomarker for chemoresistance in EOC.

Methods

Sandwich ELISA was used to measure pGSN concentrations from plasma samples of 96 EOC patients (primarily high grade serous EOC). sEVs were isolated using ExoQuick ULTRA and characterized using western blot, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and electron microscopy after which pGSN was measured from the sEVs. Patients were stratified as platinum sensitive or resistant groups based on first progression free interval (PFI) of 6 or 12 months.

Results

Total circulating pGSN was significantly decreased and sEV-pGSN increased in patients with a PFI ≤ 12 months (chemoresistant) compared to those with a PFI > 12 months (chemosensitive). The ratio of total pGSN to sEV-pGSN further differentiated these groups and was a strong predictive marker for chemoresistance (sensitivity: 73.91%, specificity: 72.46%). Predetermined CA125 was not different between chemosensitive and chemoresistant groups and was not predictive of chemoresponsiveness prior to treatment. When CA125 was combined with the ratio of total pGSN/sEV-pGSN, it was a significant predictor of chemoresponsiveness, but the test performance was not as robust as the total pGSN/sEV-pGSN alone.

Conclusions

Total pGSN/sEV-pGSN was the best predictor of chemoresponsiveness prior to treatment, outperforming the individual biomarkers (CA125, total pGSN, and sEV-pGSN). This multianalyte predictor of chemoresponsiveness could help to inform physicians’ treatment and follow up plan at the time of EOC diagnosis, thus improving patients’ outcomes.
Mechanistic insights into GTP-dependence and kinetic polarity of FtsZ filament assembly
Authors: Chakraborty Joyeeta , Poddar Sakshi , Dutta Soumyajit , Bahulekar Vaishnavi , Harne Shrikant , Srinivasan Ramanujam , Gayathri Pananghat
Published: October 2022

FtsZ, the tubulin homolog essential for bacterial cell division, assembles as Z-ring at the division site, and directs peptidoglycan synthesis by treadmilling. A key unanswered question is how FtsZ achieves its kinetic polarity that drives treadmilling. To obtain insights into fundamental features of FtsZ assembly dynamics independent of peptidoglycan synthesis, we report the characterization of FtsZ from the cell wall-less bacteria,Spiroplasma melliferum(SmFtsZ). SmFtsZ is a slower GTPase and has higher critical concentration (CC) for polymerization compared toEscherichia coliFtsZ (EcFtsZ). Analysis of the crystal structures of FtsZ structures reveal that the interaction of gamma phosphate of the nucleotide with the T3 loop leads to a peptide flip at Gly71. We propose that the flipped peptide conformation results in a key interaction that facilitates preferential binding of the N-terminal domain (NTD) of a GTP-bound FtsZ monomer to the C-terminal domain (CTD) exposed end of FtsZ filament. In FtsZs, a conformational switch from R- to T-state favors polymerization. We identified a residue, Phe224, located at the interdomain cleft of SmFtsZ, which is crucial for R- to T-state transition. The mutation F224M in SmFtsZ cleft resulted in higher GTPase activity and lower CC, whereas the corresponding M225F in EcFtsZ resulted in cell division defects inE. coli. Our results demonstrate that relative rotation of the domains is a rate-limiting step of polymerization. This step, in addition to the GTP-dependence of the T3 loop conformation, slows down the addition of monomers to the NTD-exposed end of filament in comparison to CTD end, thus explaining kinetic polarity.
Metabolic rewiring of mitochondria in senescence revealed by time-resolved analysis of the mitochondrial proteome
Authors: Kim Jun Yong , Atanassov Ilian , Dethloff Frederik , Kroczek Lara , Langer Thomas
Published: October 2022

Mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular senescence are hallmarks of aging. However, the relationship between these two phenomena remains incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated the rewiring of mitochondria upon development of the senescent state in human IMR90 fibroblasts. Determining the bioenergetic activities and abundance of mitochondria, we demonstrate that senescent cells accumulate mitochondria with reduced OXPHOS activity, resulting in an overall increase of mitochondrial activities in senescent cells. Time-resolved proteomic analyses revealed extensive reprogramming of the mitochondrial proteome upon senescence development and allowed the identification of metabolic pathways that are rewired with different kinetics upon establishment of the senescent state. Among the early-responding pathways, the degradation of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) was increased, while the one carbon-folate metabolism was decreased. Late-responding pathways include lipid metabolism and mitochondrial translation. These signatures were confirmed by metabolic tracing experiments, highlighting metabolic rewiring as a central feature of mitochondria in cellular senescence. Together, our data provide an unprecedentedly comprehensive view on the metabolic status of mitochondria in senescent cells and reveal how the mitochondrial proteome adapts to the induction of senescence.
Studying metal-protein interactions using fluorescent protein indicators
Authors: Rosenbaum Joel C. , Carlson Anne E.
Published: October 2022

Metals are widespread environmental toxins that disrupt normal cellular processes through their interactions with proteins and other macromolecules. In this study, we developed the metalsensitive fluorescent protein mseGFP as a ratiometric reporter capable of binding heavy metals. We found that mseGFP bound mercury and lead tightly but had substantially lower sensitivity to other metals. By comparison, the redox sensor roGFP2 functioned as a ratiometric indicator for transition metals, with the highest sensitivity for copper, followed by nickel and cobalt. mseGFP and roGFP2 could also report metal binding through fluorescence quenching, and we used this effect to measure high affinity interactions for both proteins with copper and iron. Crystal structure analysis of mseGFP complexed with phenylarsine oxide revealed an unexpected mode of heavy metal interaction, with mseGFP binding PAO with 2:2 stoichiometry. Glutathione strongly inhibited most metal interactions with the fluorescent protein reporters, but increased the affinity of arsenic and cadmium for mseGFP. When expressed in HEK293T cells, mseGFP reported uptake of mercury and phenylarsine oxide from surrounding media. Glutathione depletion enhanced binding of phenylarsine oxide to mseGFP in cells, validating the importance of glutathione in modulating metal-protein interactions.
Polycomb repression of Hox genes involves spatial feedback but not domain compaction or demixing
Authors: Murphy Sedona , Boettiger Alistair Nicol
Published: October 2022

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins modulate higher-order genome folding and play a critical role in silencing transcription during development. It is commonly proposed that PcG dependent changes in genome folding, which compact chromatin, contribute directly to repression by blocking binding of activating complexes and demixing repressed targets from non-repressed chromatin. To test this model we utilized Optical Reconstruction of Chromatin Architecture (ORCA) to trace the 3-dimensional folding of theHoxagene cluster, a canonical Polycomb target, allowing us to analyze thousands of DNA traces in single cells. In cell types ranging from embryonic stem cells to brain tissue, we find that PcG-bound chromatin frequently explores decompact states and partial mixing with neighboring chromatin, while remaining uniformly repressed, challenging the repression-by-compaction model. Using polymer physics simulations, we show that the flexible ensembles we observe can be explained by dynamic contacts mediated by multivalent interactions that are too weak to induce phase separation. Instead, these transient contacts contribute to accurate propagation of the epigenetic state without ectopic spreading or gradual erosion. We propose that the distinctive 3D organization of Polycomb chromatin, reflects a mechanism of “spatial feedback” required for stable repression.
Investigating cooperative strategies in low-carbon public–private partnership projects through evolutionary game
Authors: Zhu Jianbo , Shi Qianqian , Zhang Ce , Yuan Jingfeng , Li Qiming , Wang Xiangyu
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Promoting low-carbon in the construction industry is important for achieving the overall low-carbon goals. Public–private partnership is very popular in public infrastructure projects. However, different perceptions of low-carbon and behaviors of public and private sectors can hinder the realization of low-carbon in these projects. In order to analyze the willingness of each stakeholder to cooperate towards low-carbon goals, an evolutionary game model is constructed.

Design/methodology/approach

An evolutionary game model that considers the opportunistic behavior of the participants is developed. The evolutionary stable strategies (ESSs) under different scenarios are examined, and the factors that influence the willingness to cooperate between the government and private investors are investigated.

Findings

The results illustrate that a well-designed system of profit distribution and subsidies can enhance collaboration. Excessive subsidies have negative impact on cooperation between the two sides, because these two sides can weaken income distribution and lead to the free-riding behavior of the government. Under the situation of two ESSs, there is also an optimal revenue distribution coefficient that maximizes the probability of cooperation. With the introduction of supervision and punishment mechanism, the opportunistic behavior of private investors is effectively constrained.

Originality/value

An evolutionary game model is developed to explore the cooperation between the public sector and the private sector in the field of low-carbon construction. Based on the analysis of the model, this paper summarizes the conditions and strategies that can enable the two sectors to cooperate.
A relational perspective of schizophrenia at work
Authors: Khalid Afaf , Syed Jawad
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Despite a plethora of research on diversity and inclusion, workplace-related issues pertaining to individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) remain grossly underexplored. This paper seeks to develop a relational, multilevel perspective of issues and challenges faced by individuals with SCZ in the work and career.

Design/methodology/approach

The research draws on the findings from in-depth, qualitative interviews with schizophrenic individuals, individuals’ family members, healthcare professionals and nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives.

Findings

The findings highlight the interconnected nature of multilevel issues faced by schizophrenic individuals and indicate that at the societal level, social stigma, economic conditions and inadequate government policies are the key challenges faced by them. At the organizational level workplace support and job suitability and design affect individuals’ employment. At the individual level, self-stigma affects the employability in a negative way whereas personal motivation and resilience, family and social support and realization of illness are the facilitating factors.

Originality/value

The study adds to disability and diversity literature by developing a relational perspective that holistically captures the issues faced by schizophrenic individuals and suggests that the work and employment-related issues may be simultaneously addressed at multiple levels.
Making a positive (or negative) first impression with small talk
Authors: Wiener Hillary J.D. , Flaherty Karen E. , Wiener Joshua
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to show that whether new customers respond well or poorly to small talk at the beginning of a service encounter depends on their relationship orientation, i.e. how exchange or communally oriented they are. The authors provide service providers with tactics to identify first-time customers’ relationship orientation or set customers’ small talk expectations and thus help them use small talk more effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine the effect of small talk and relationship orientation on customer intentions to use a service provider in three experiments and one cross-sectional survey. The scenario-based experiments show causality and the effect in online and in-person scenarios. The survey replicates the effect among current customers of a small business.

Findings

Communally oriented customers respond positively to small talk, but exchange-oriented customers respond negatively to it. Mediation analyses reveal this occurs because small talk differentially leads to initial feelings of rapport and impatience for people high (versus low) in relationship orientation.

Practical implications

Service providers should consider customers’ relationship orientation before starting a conversation with small talk. The authors find providers can identify exchange-oriented customers by their choice of meeting format (in-person v. video chat). Managers can also use marketing materials to attract customers with a specific relationship orientation or to set customer expectations for small talk in the interaction.

Originality/value

Prior research has largely shown benefits to small talk, but the authors show significant downsides for some customers and to the best of the authors’ knowledge are the first to show process evidence of why these drawbacks occur.
How resource-based state-owned enterprises manage collective labor relations: a comparative case study in China
Authors: Lu Jingfu , Wang Chuhong , Jiang Luan
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This study explores labor relations management behaviors of administrators and Party organizations in resource-based state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China based on social exchange theory and embeddedness theory. It builds up a process model for managing collective labor conflicts in resource-based SOEs in the Chinese context.

Design/methodology/approach

A comparative case study is conducted using two resource-based SOEs with similar backgrounds but differing in effectiveness of the management of collective labor conflicts. Data are collected from interviews, archival sources and a one-month participatory investigation.

Findings

The administrators and Party organizations of resource-based SOEs manage collective labor conflicts by means of human resource practices (HRPs) and Party organizations' boundary-spanning behaviors (PBSBs), respectively; foremen and unions perform a mediation role, especially under circumstances where administrators employ high-performance HRPs and PBSBs are closely integrated with the production process. The marketization of the “new danwei system” exerts a “provocation effect” but does not necessarily lead to collective labor conflicts. The root cause of conflicts lies in the inherent defects of specific HRPs and PBSBs, as well as the absence of the Simmelian tie in the social exchange interaction of actors.

Originality/value

First, this study develops a new construct of PBSBs for enterprises' Party organizations and explores its underlying mechanisms, which enriches the range of actors studied in the context of Chinese labor relations; Second, the authors develop a new dimension called “exemplification” building on the existing three-dimensional structure of boundary-spanning behaviors, which expands boundary-spanning theory. Third, the findings that Simmelian tie structure could better maintain the stability of labor relationship in the mediation process of labor-capital conflict management enrich the social exchange theory from the perspective of structure. Finally, this study deepens the existing research on HRPs by proposing a new explanation for disputes.
Examining tour guide humor as a driver of tourists’ positive word of mouth: a comprehensive mediation model
Authors: Fu Tianyu , Li Shuhao , XU Jie , Liu Min , Chen Guofu
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Tour guides often use humor to entertain tourists, but the process of tour guide humor (TGH) affecting tourists’ positive word of mouth (PWOM) remains unclear. To fill the gap, this study aims to investigate how TGH enhances tourists’ PWOM through perceived relationship investment, perceived wellness value and trust in tour guides.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive mediation model was proposed based on social exchange theory (SET). Data were obtained from 335 tour group tourists and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

Results present that TGH positively predicts tourists’ PWOM. Perceived relationship investment, perceived wellness value and trust in tour guides not only play mediating roles between TGH and tourists’ PWOM, respectively, but also jointly provide two sequential mediation paths (TGH → perceived relationship investment → trust in tour guides → tourists’ PWOM and TGH → perceived wellness value → trust in tour guides → tourists’ PWOM).

Research limitations/implications

The findings have practical value for tour guides and travel agencies to use TGH to improve tourists’ PWOM.

Originality/value

The major contribution is that a reciprocity-based framework rooted in SET was proposed to parse the complex process of TGH promoting tourists’ PWOM. Furthermore, this study enriches current knowledge by confirming that perceived wellness value is not only available in wellness tourism but can be experienced from TGH in mass tourism.
Service supply chain resilience: a social-ecological perspective on last-mile delivery operations
Authors: Lin Yong , Chen Anlan , Zhong Shuya , Giannikas Vaggelis , Lomas Carl , Worth Tracey
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Considering the last-mile delivery service supply chain as a social-ecological system rather than just a firm-based service system, this research exploit the COVID-19 pandemic disruption to investigate how the supply chain develops resilience from a viewpoint that integrates a social-ecological perspective with the traditional engineering one.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopt a multi-case study approach using qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews with executive-level managers from nine leading UK last-mile delivery companies. Data analysis is guided by a research framework which is developed by combining the social-ecological perspective with the structure–conduct–performance paradigm. This framework aids the investigation of the impacts of external challenges on companies' resilience strategies and practices, as well as performance, in response to disruptions.

Findings

The research identifies three distinct pathways to resilience development: stabilization, focussing on bouncing back to the original normal; adaptation, involving evolutionary changes to a new normal; transformation, involving revolutionary changes in pursuit of a new normal-plus. Three strategic orientations are identified as operating across these pathways: people orientation, digital orientation, and learning orientation.

Originality/value

In contrast to the manufacturing supply chain focus of most current research, this research concentrates on the service supply chain, investigating its resilience with a social-ecological perspective alongside the traditional engineering one.
Predictions on usefulness and popularity of online reviews: evidence from mobile phones for older adults
Authors: Shou Minghuan , Bao Xueqi , Yu Jie
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Online reviews are regarded as a source of information for decision-making because of the abundance and ready availability of information. Whereas, the sheer volume of online reviews makes it hard for consumers, especially the older adults who perceive more difficulties in reading reviews and obtaining information compared to younger adults, to locate the useful ones. The main objective of this study is to propose an effective method to locate valuable reviews of mobile phones for older adults. Besides, the authors also want to explore what characteristics of the technology older adults prefer. This will benefit both e-retailers and e-commerce platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

After collecting online reviews related to mobile phones designed for older adults from a popular Chinese e-commerce platform (JD Mall), topic modeling, term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), and linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) methods were applied to extract latent topics and uncover potential dimensions that consumers frequently referred to in their reviews. According to consumers' attitudes towards different popular topics, seven machine learning models were employed to predict the usefulness and popularity of online reviews due to their excellent performance in prediction. To improve the performance, a weighted model based on the two best-performing models was built and evaluated.

Findings

Based on the TF-IDF, topic modeling, and LIWC methods, the authors find that older adults are more interested in the exterior, sound, and communication functions of mobile phones. Besides, the weighted model (Random Forest: Decision Tree = 2:1) is the best model for predicting the online review popularity, while random forest performs best in predicting the perceived usefulness of online reviews.

Practical implications

This study’s findings can help e-commerce platforms and merchants identify the needs of the targeted consumers, predict reviews that will get more attention, and provide some early responses to some questions.

Originality/value

The results propose that older adults pay more attention to the mobile phones' exterior, sound, and communication function, guiding future research. Besides, this paper also enriches the current studies related to making predictions based on the information contained in the online reviews.
Value co-creation through branded apps: enhancing perceived quality and brand loyalty
Authors: Tran Trang , Taylor David G. , Wen Chao
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Branded applications (apps) are increasingly important in marketers' omnichannel strategies. They have not only changed the way customers purchase but also changed the way how companies interact with customers. Building on value co-creation literature, this research investigates consumer brand engagement's role in enhancing perceived quality and brand loyalty via value co-creation.

Design/methodology/approach

Using online survey data from 355 brand app users, a conceptual model is tested employing the partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results suggest that not only does branded app personalization drives brand co-creation (fully mediated by consumer brand engagement) but that this process also increases perceived quality and brand loyalty among users of branded apps.

Research limitations/implications

Data for the study are self-reported and thus may not accurately reflect actual attitudes and behaviors. In addition, respondents were students within the United States who, although representative of branded app users, may limit the generalizability of the study.

Practical implications

Knowing that branded apps can influence customers' perception of the quality and value of their apps, products and services, or even their associated brands, marketers and app designers should work together to provide a value co-creation platform through the apps to increase customers' personalized, engaging experience.

Originality/value

Although various relationships between personalization, engagement and co-creation have been studied, along with their impact on loyalty and perceived value, the interaction between these factors is not widely understood. The study examines these interactions in the context of branded apps, through the service-dominant logic perspective.
Effects of elevated CO2 and warming on the root‐associated microbiota in an agricultural ecosystem
Authors: Gao Ke , Mao Zhenbo , Meng Enxi , Li Jie , Liu Xiaoyu , Zhang Yingying , Zhang Long , Wang Guangli , Liu Yuan
Published: October 2022

Plant root‐associated microbial communities profoundly affect plant nutrition and productivity. Although elevated atmospheric CO2 and warming affect above‐ and belowground plant processes, it remains unclear how root‐associated microbial communities respond to elevated CO2 and warming. In this study, an open‐air field experiment was conducted to assay the interactive effects of elevated CO2 (500 ppm) and warming (+2°C) on the root‐associated microbiota and soil enzyme activities in a rice–wheat rotation ecosystem. The results revealed that elevated CO2 significantly increased rhizosphere soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen contents. In addition, glucosidase, β‐xylosidase, and phosphatase activities significantly increased. The richness and Shannon diversity indices were significantly higher in rhizosphere soil than in root endosphere. Elevated CO2 and warming significantly impacted the rhizosphere soil microbiota and altered their composition by changing the relative abundance of some specific groups. Soil pH, SOC, and available potassium content significantly altered the dominant bacterial phyla in the rhizosphere. SOC affected root endophytic bacterial phyla. Bacterial and fungal genera were significantly correlated with soil variables in the rhizosphere than in the root endosphere. These results indicate that microbial communities in the rhizosphere are more sensitive to elevated CO2 and warming than those in the root endosphere.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and the Paradox of UK Government Control of the Active Travel Agenda
Authors: Dudley Geoffrey , Banister David , Schwanen Tim
Published: October 2022

Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are designed to remove motorised traffic from residential streets, while leaving them permeable to pedestrians and cyclists, and they have become a popular means to promote active travel. During the recent pandemic, the government introduced the Active Travel Fund in England to facilitate the rapid implementation of LTNs, but this also resulted in a powerful top‐down control element. This in turn has resulted in a paradox where funding is contingent on certain conditions being met, but insufficient and changing guidance has been given to the local authorities charged with implementation. This article outlines this highly unpredictable process, the controversies and the uncertain implementation through the development of the LTN process in England and the experience of Oxford, where many of the issues are currently being confronted.
Struggling, helping and adapting: Crowdfunding motivations and outcomes during the early US COVID‐19 pandemic
Authors: Kenworthy Nora , Jung Jin‐Kyu , Hops Emily
Published: October 2022

During the early months of COVID‐19, many people in the US turned to charitable crowdfunding to seek and provide assistance. Little is known about the needs, hopes or experiences that motivated US pandemic crowdfunding and how these were correlated with campaign success. This study uses a mixed‐methods data analysis of a randomised cluster sample of 919 US GoFundMe campaigns during the first 7 months of the pandemic. Overall, most campaigns performed poorly, and 38% got no donations at all. The largest proportion of campaigns aimed to address individual, acute financial struggles, often arising from considerable challenges accessing or qualifying for government assistance. These campaigns, as well as those involving campaigners and beneficiaries of colour, tended to be least successful. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed three key crowdfunding motivations that reflect individualistic, agentive responses to the pandemic: struggling, helping and adapting. These motivations reveal a shift away from social suffering and collective mobilisation and towards largely individualised efforts of survival as digital crowdfunding becomes a key domain of crisis response. Crowdfunding platforms are playing an increasingly important role in mediating and influencing individual and collective responses to crisis, which has important political ramifications for how societies perceive and address health emergencies.
Sweet Femininities: Women and the Confectionery Trade in Eighteenth‐Century Barcelona
Authors: Manzanares Mileo Marta
Published: October 2022

This article examines the intersections between sweetness, femininity and the confectionery trade in eighteenth‐century Barcelona, at a time of growing consumption of sugar and slavery. Drawing on a range of underexplored archival material, this study traces the stories of women of different social groups, namely, elite housewives, nuns and tradeswomen who engaged with the production and trade of sweets in ingenious ways. This article argues that in the period when women were culturally diminished through their portrayals as ‘sweet’ and barred by guild structures, many women exercised social and economic agency in the confectionery trade in Barcelona.
Impacts of a nutrient trading plan on stream water quality in Sugar Creek, Ohio
Authors: Miller Samuel A. , Lyon Steve W. , Moore Richard H.
Published: October 2022

In the early 2000s, a phosphorus nutrient trading plan (NTP) requiring best management practices (BMPs) to be installed as pollution abatement strategies to offset phosphorus waste from the Alpine Cheese Company was implemented in four subwatersheds of Sugar Creek in northeast Ohio. To assess the impacts of the Alpine NTP, 49 sites were sampled approximately biweekly from 2010 to 2018 for phosphate, total phosphorus, nitrate, ammonia, and total nitrogen. In addition, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency conducted stream health surveys at 21 sites before and after the BMPs were implemented. This study evaluated the potential impact of 68 BMPs implemented under the NTP on the observed changes in nutrient concentrations and stream health indicators. Most nutrient concentrations observed during high discharge conditions showed significant declines from 2010 to 2018 for all subwatersheds, which was most likely due to BMPs that reduced erosion and surface runoff. However, there were fewer significant declines and some significant increases in nutrient levels during low discharge conditions, suggesting a possible contribution from legacy nutrient sources. Most sites reported increases in stream health indicators, but many streams are still below recommended levels. Collectively, the installation of BMPs and decreases in nutrient concentrations observed during high discharge conditions can be attributed to the NTP and likely contributed to improved stream health.
A critical review of front‐loading: A maladaptive drinking pattern driven by alcohol's rewarding effects
Authors: Ardinger Cherish E. , Lapish Christopher C. , Czachowski Cristine L. , Grahame Nicholas J.
Published: October 2022

Front‐loading is a drinking pattern in which alcohol intake is skewed toward the onset of reward access. This phenomenon has been reported across several different alcohol self‐administration protocols in a wide variety of species, including humans. The hypothesis of the current review is that front‐loading emerges in response to the rewarding effects of alcohol and can be used to measure the motivation to consume alcohol. Alternative or additional hypotheses that we consider and contrast with the main hypothesis are that: (1) front‐loading is directed at overcoming behavioral and/or metabolic tolerance and (2) front‐loading is driven by negative reinforcement. Evidence for each of these explanations is reviewed. We also consider how front‐loading has been evaluated statistically in previous research and make recommendations for defining this intake pattern in future studies. Because front‐loading may predict long‐term maladaptive alcohol drinking patterns leading to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD), several future directions are proposed to elucidate the relationship between front‐loading and AUD.
Global warming facilitates the nesting of the loggerhead turtle on the Mediterranean coast of Spain
Authors: Cardona L. , San Martín J. , Benito L. , Tomás J. , Abella E. , Eymar J. , Aguilera M. , Esteban J. A. , Tarragó A. , Marco A.
Published: October 2022

The ranges of many species are shifting poleward as global warming intensifies, but this process might be less intense in philopatric species, i.e. those with the tendency to reproduce at their natal sites. Marine turtles are highly philopatric and their vulnerability to global warming is exacerbated by a life history combining delayed sexual maturity, temperature‐dependent sex determination and low embryo survival at high incubation temperature. Detection of nesting events of loggerhead turtles in the Western Mediterranean Sea has increased largely during the first two decades of the 21st century, which could be a response to global warming or the result of increased sampling effort. The deployment of temperature data loggers at 52 beaches scattered along the Mediterranean coast of Spain demonstrated that sand temperature is currently high enough to allow the incubation of loggerhead turtles clutches in most Spanish beaches. However, the reconstruction of sand temperature from 1950 to 2019 revealed that thermal conditions suitable for the regular nesting of loggerhead turtles have existed in Spanish beaches only since 2010, although sporadic nesting was possible previously in exceptionally warm years. The future establishment of a self‐sustained population would probably require further increases in temperature, to ensure a female‐biased offspring production, but the process might be jeopardized by increased erosion and beach flooding resulting from sea level rise.
An assessment of what Hans Asperger knew about child euthanasia in Vienna during the Nazi occupation
Authors: Tatzer Ernst , Maleczek Werner , Waldhauser Franz
Published: October 2022

Aim

Hans Asperger is probably best known for Asperger syndrome. However, he has been accused of knowingly and willingly participating in the National Socialist Child Euthanasia programme by referring patients to the Am Spiegelgrund children's home in Vienna. This later became notorious for euthanising disabled children. We investigated those allegations.

Methods

Clinicians and historians examined original documents and transcripts related to Asperger's referrals from the Viennese Therapeutic Pedagogy Unit, and corresponding Am Spiegelgrund admissions, up to 25 March 1943, when he was drafted.

Results

Asperger referred 13 children to Am Spiegelgrund. Eleven survived and apparently received adequate care that allowed them to achieve positive developments, but two girls died. Asperger referred these two girls during June and October 1941, before most of the deaths at Am Spiegelgrund occurred and before its euthanasia programme became public knowledge. Our detailed investigation of the medical records, Unit referral practices and Am Spiegelgrund provided no evidence that Asperger knew about the euthanasia programme at the time of the referrals. One death was probably due to euthanasia, but the other was less clear.

Conclusion

There was no evidence that Asperger knew about the euthanasia programme when he referred two patients who died at Am Spiegelgrund.
Five‐year corneal cross‐linking outcomes: A Save Sight Keratoconus Registry Study
Authors: Ferdi Alex C. , Kandel Himal , Nguyen Vuong , Tan Jeremy , Arnalich‐Montiel Francisco , Abbondanza Marco , Watson Stephanie L.
Published: October 2022

Background

We aimed to determine the long‐term outcomes of epithelium‐off cross‐linking (CXL) in keratoconus patients.

Methods

An observational registry study from 41 centres across 5 countries was carried out. Primary outcomes included the mean change in visual acuity (VA), Kmax, K2, and thinnest corneal thickness (TCT) at 1–5 years. Secondary outcomes included the percentage of eyes with worsening, stable and improving outcomes.

Results

There were 976 eyes of 794 patients with 1‐year of complete follow‐up, 501 eyes with 2‐years, 355 with 3‐years, 235 with 4‐years and 162 with 5‐years. There was a significant improvement in mean VA from baseline by 3.7 logMAR letters (p < 0.001) in year 1, and 6.9 (p < 0.001) in year 5. Mean Kmax decreased by 1.2 dioptres (D;p < 0.01) in year 1. During subsequent years the Kmax flattening appeared sustained but this was not statistically significant. K2 flattened significantly from baseline in year 1 and then remained stable. At 1 year, 4.1% patients were poor responders to CXL in terms of VA, losing ≥15 letters. The proportion of the poor responders remained unchanged: 4.9% at 5‐years. The proportion of poor responders in terms of Kmax remained similar: 5.9% steepening by ≥2D at 1‐year and 7.5% at 5‐years. The proportion of K2 poor responders remained stable with 4.7% steepening by ≥2D at 1‐year and 5.8% at 5‐years.

Conclusions

Cross‐linking is effective at stabilising keratoconus up to 5 years in most patients. However, a small proportion of eyes failed to stabilise and had reduced vision.
Learning in and beyond the classroom: Communities of practice in education support for separated children
Authors: Grant Maggie , Burns Andrew , Lucas Siân E.
Published: October 2022

Separated children, seeking protection in a new country unaccompanied by parents or customary caregivers, have the right to education yet many face difficulties accessing appropriate provision. We analysed data from Scotland across different types of provision: one specialist programme for separated children and four areas providing a mixture of mainstream and adapted classes. Drawing on situated learning theory and the concept of communities of practice, we argue that supporting these learners requires collaborations with them and across professional boundaries. While highly effective communities of practice can and do develop organically, a coordinated approach to expanding them could bring additional benefits.
Association between smoking and Schneiderian membrane perforation during maxillary sinus floor augmentation: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Wang Xia , Ma Siyuan , Lin Linni , Yao Qianqian
Published: October 2022

Objective

To estimate the association between smoking and Schneiderian membrane perforation in sinus floor augmentation.

Materials and methods

Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Data were extracted by two authors independently. The inclusion criteria were the (1) age of patients >18, (2) the number of participants >10, and (3) smoking and the patients of Schneiderian membrane perforation were accurately recorded. The risk of bias was assessed by the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS). Statistics analyses were conducted using Reman5.4.1 and Stata (15.0). The association of Schneiderian membrane perforation with smoking habits during maxillary sinus floor elevation was expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CIs). And the I2 statistic was used to estimate statistical heterogeneity. The funnel plot and Egger's tests were used to evaluate the reliability and stability of the results.

Results

Of 1463 articles screened, nine studies were included in our systematic review, and eight were synthesized for meta‐analysis. Eight were retrospective observational studies and one was a clinical trial, with a total of 1424 patients included. The nine studies were proved as high quality according to the NOS. There was no significant publication bias in the studies (p = 0.827). A random‐effects model was used because of differences in the adopted methodologies (p = 0.39, I2 = 5%). During maxillary sinus augmentation, smoking and Schneiderian membrane perforation were associated (odds ratios, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.10–2.25]).

Conclusion

Smoking increased the risk of membrane perforation in maxillary sinus floor augmentation. Our evaluation was limited by the poor reporting of the number of cigarettes smoked per day (PROSPERO number was CRD42022306570).
An efficient credit card fraud detection approach using cost‐sensitive weak learner with imbalanced dataset
Authors: Singh Ajeet , Jain Anurag
Published: October 2022

The usage of credit cards is increasing in the digitization era to purchase goods online or offline, and the number of fraudulent credit card transactions has also increased. Fraudulent transaction detection is a big issue in the credit card domain because the data set is highly imbalanced. The performance of traditional classification techniques has decreased due to this issue. Therefore, a dynamic fraud detection system is required to overcome this issue. This article proposes an efficient cost‐sensitive weak learner approach with a bagging and random forest classifier (CSWLB) to minimize misclassification problems and overcome the class imbalance issue. The proposed CSWLB approach is included in an adaptive algorithmic method (cost‐sensitive) with two weak learner ensembles (bagging‐random forest), which assigns high weight to the fraudulent transactions using the cost‐sensitive learning classifier and generates weight bags using a bagging ensemble classifier. Therefore, the random forest classifier has been implemented on the weight bags to improve classification accuracy. The proposed approach's effectiveness and efficiency have been computed on the Brazilian credit card data set. Its results have been compared with sampling, cost‐sensitive, and machine learning techniques. The proposed CSWLB approach obtained 765 total costs and 97.361% accuracy. The experimental results show that the proposed approach has outperformed compared to other techniques.
Clinical, pathological, and molecular correlation of folliculocystic and collagen hamartoma: A new potential diagnostic criterion for tuberous sclerosis complex?
Authors: Apam‐Garduño David , Cazarín‐Barrientos Jorge , Hernández‐Martínez Nancy Leticia , Reyna‐Fabián Miriam Erandi , Magaña Mario , Alcántara‐Ortigoza Miguel Angel , González‐del Angel Ariadna , Rivera‐Vega María Refugio
Published: October 2022

Folliculocystic and collagen hamartoma (FCCH) is a rare entity with only 18 reported cases worldwide. Of them, most are found in patients diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). FCCH has distinctive histopathologic features, including collagen deposition in the dermis, perifollicular fibrosis, and comedones with keratin‐containing cysts lined by infundibular epithelium. We report three patients with a definitive TSC clinical diagnosis in whom clinical, histopathologic, and molecular features were studied to establish if there exists a genotype–phenotype correlation. The molecular results showed different heterozygous pathogenic variants (PV) in TSC2 in each patient: NM_000548.4:c.5024C>T, NG_005895.1:c.1599+1G>T, and NM_000548.4:c.2297_2298dup, to our knowledge; the latter PV has not been reported in public databases. The same PVs were identified as heterozygous in the tumor tissue samples, none of which yielded evidence of a TSC2 second hit. Because all FCCH patients with available molecular diagnosis carry a pathogenic genotype in TSC1 or TSC2, we suggest that FCCH should be considered as a new and uncommon diagnostic manifestation in the TSC consensus international diagnostic criteria. The early recognition of FCCH by clinicians could prompt the identification of new TSC cases. Interestingly, our molecular findings suggest that one of the patients described herein is a probable case of somatic mosaicism.
Projecting species distributions using fishery‐dependent data
Authors: Karp Melissa A. , Brodie Stephanie , Smith James A. , Richerson Kate , Selden Rebecca L. , Liu Owen R. , Muhling Barbara A. , Samhouri Jameal F. , Barnett Lewis A. K. , Hazen Elliott L. , Ovando Daniel , Fiechter Jerome , Jacox Michael G. , Pozo Buil Mercedes
Published: October 2022

Many marine species are shifting their distributions in response to changing ocean conditions, posing significant challenges and risks for fisheries management. Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to project future species distributions in the face of a changing climate. Information to fit SDMs generally comes from two main sources: fishery‐independent (scientific surveys) and fishery‐dependent (commercial catch) data. A concern with fishery‐dependent data is that fishing locations are not independent of the underlying species abundance, potentially biasing predictions of species distributions. However, resources for fishery‐independent surveys are increasingly limited; therefore, it is critical we understand the strengths and limitations of SDMs developed from fishery‐dependent data. We used a simulation approach to evaluate the potential for fishery‐dependent data to inform SDMs and abundance estimates and quantify the bias resulting from different fishery‐dependent sampling scenarios in the California Current System (CCS). We then evaluated the ability of the SDMs to project changes in the spatial distribution of species over time and compare the time scale over which model performance degrades between the different sampling scenarios and as a function of climate bias and novelty. Our results show that data generated from fishery‐dependent sampling can still result in SDMs with high predictive skill several decades into the future, given specific forms of preferential sampling which result in low climate bias and novelty. Therefore, fishery‐dependent data may be able to supplement information from surveys that are reduced or eliminated for budgetary reasons to project species distributions into the future.
New insights into cholesterol‐mediated ERRα activation in breast cancer progression and pro‐tumoral microenvironment orchestration
Authors: Brindisi Matteo , Frattaruolo Luca , Fiorillo Marco , Dolce Vincenza , Sotgia Federica , Lisanti Michael P. , Cappello Anna Rita
Published: October 2022

Breast cancer remains the greatest cause of cancer‐related death in women worldwide. Its aggressiveness and progression derive from intricate processes that occur simultaneously both within the tumour itself and in the neighbouring cells that make up its microenvironment. The aim of the present work was firstly to study how elevated cholesterol levels increase tumour aggressiveness. Herein, we demonstrate that cholesterol, by activating ERRα pathway, promotes epithelium‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer cells (MCF‐7 and MDA‐MB‐231) as well as the release of pro‐inflammatory factors able to orchestrate the tumour microenvironment. A further objective of this work was to study the close symbiosis between tumour cells and the microenvironment. Our results allow us to highlight, for the first time, that breast cancer cells exposed to high cholesterol levels promote (a) greater macrophages infiltration with induction of an M2 phenotype, (b) angiogenesis and endothelial branching, as well as (c) a cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) phenotype. The effects observed could be due to direct activation of the ERRα pathway by high cholesterol levels, since the simultaneous inhibition of this pathway subverts such effects. Overall, these findings enable us to identify the cholesterol‐ERRα synergy as an interesting target for breast cancer treatment.