bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Constructing an Industrial Divide: Western Union, AT&T, and the Federal Government, 1876–1971
Authors: Hochfelder David
Published: February 2008

An 1879 contract between Western Union and Bell partitioned the electrical communications industry between the telegraph and telephone markets. Historians typically view this contract as the start of both Western Union's decline and Bell's rise, and they have treated these as largely separate processes. This article argues instead that these processes were linked by a porous and shifting boundary between the two industries. Legal, technical, and regulatory factors interacted to shape this boundary over the next century. The 1879 contract failed to keep Bell out of long-distance communications, as Bell used its market power, geographic reach, and technological superiority to penetrate this boundary. Throughout much of the twentieth century, federal regulators and Western Union executives attempted to strengthen this divide through regulatory means. The attempt failed because AT&T controlled key telegraph technologies and had considerable market power. While regulators propped up Western Union as the only competitor to AT&T, by the 1960s it was offering only token competition.
Architectural Histories Entwined: The Rudra-Mahalaya/Congregational Mosque of Siddhpur, Gujarat
Authors: Patel Alka
Published: February 2008

The Rudra-mahalaya of Siddhpur, north Gujarat (India), was founded in the midtwelfth century ce to be the principal temple complex of the city. It was dedicated to an aspect of Siva, the dynastic deity of the Chaulukyas (ca. 950-1303/04), whose seventh ruler, Jayasimha Siddharaja (r. 1094-1144), commissioned the complex in ca. 1140. In about 1414, the complex was dismantled and reconfigured as the congregational mosque of the city by Ahmad Shah I (r. ca. 1410-44), the second sultan of the Muslim dynasty of the Muzaffarids. Due to its dual ritual function, the Rudra-mahalaya/congregational mosque has been divided into two separate scholarly discourses, namely those of the Islamic and temple architectures of South Asia. This work proposes certain methodological shifts surrounding the well documented phenomenon of architectural reuse in pre-Mughal India. The Rudra-mahalaya serves as an example of how the separate discourses of Islamic and temple architectures have privileged historical and historiographical ruptures, to the neglect of prominent continuities. Historiographically, the separation of these areas of study does not allow for the examination of the formal continuities between temples and Islamic buildings. Historically, the study of Indic and Islamic architectures as divergent cultural processes in South Asia does not bring out the modified but still palpable continuities in the social fabrics within which the buildings were embedded. By examining a complex such as the Rudramahalaya from both perspectives simultaneously, I hope to restore the historical importance of these continuities.
Styling Japan: The Case of Josiah Conder and the Museum at Ueno, Tokyo
Authors: Tseng Alice Y.
Published: February 2008

The public museum that opened in 1882 in Ueno Park, Tokyo, was conceived as the archetypal museum of Japan, serving to maintain and exhibit the nation's cultural assets, natural specimens, and industrial collections. In this article, I focus on the Ueno Museum's architecture, which was a product of the alliance between the English architect Josiah Conder (1852-1920) and his Japanese host, the nascent Meiji bureaucracy (1868-1912). As an institution of conspicuous national significance, it encompassed multiple layers of meaning both intended and projected. Many of the nuances of expression stemmed from the complexity of Japan's standing as a non-Western nation in a Western-centric world, as well as the particular patron-architect dynamic between the Japanese government and its foreign specialist. An examination of the formative stage of the museum through the various factors that propelled the design sheds light on the intricate process of cultural interchange and the underlying notions of progress and modernization in the late nineteenth century.
Boats, Bones, and Biface Bias: The Early Holocene Mariners of Eel Point, San Clemente Island, California
Authors: Cassidy Jim , Raab L. Mark , Kononenko Nina A.
Published: February 2008

By 8000 B.P., sea-mammal hunting and open-sea voyages were established at Eel Point, San Clemente Island, California. The early inhabitants of Eel Point depended heavily on sea-mammal hunting and shellfish collecting, rather than the intensive fishing that developed during the Late Holocene along the Southern California coast. Eel Point technological capabilities rivaled those of Late Holocene groups such as the Chumash Indians, including the ability to fabricate sophisticated watercraft. These data question traditional models of progressive maritime cultural development in coastal Southern California, and reveal the need for more empirical methods of assessing the seafaring capabilities of ancient maritime populations.
Land Use and an Archaeological Perspective on Socio-Natural Studies in the Wadi Al-Hasa, West-Central Jordan
Authors: Hill J. Brett
Published: February 2008

In recent years environmental archaeologists have emphasized evidence for human-caused degradation, and attention has been focused on the role of our discipline in debates over contemporary socioenvironmental problems. In a recent American Antiquity forum, van der Leeuw and Redman (2002) argue that current environmental research would benefit from an archaeological perspective on these problems, and that our discipline would benefit from more active engagement in the larger debate. I present research supporting the claim that archaeology has unique and compelling insights to offer socio-natural studies. I make arguments based on spatial statistical and GIS analyses of past land use in the Wadi al-Hasa, west-central Jordan, that environmental degradation in the form of soil erosion has been a problem for agropastoralists in that region for several millennia. Furthermore, I argue that an archaeological perspective on long-term patterns of land use provides information at a scale and resolution that makes it highly suitable for studies of human-environment dynamics. Archaeology's unique data and perspective create an opportunity to contribute in a more explicit manner to the study of contemporary environmental issues that currently lack long-term focus at a scale and resolution that is meaningful to humans.
"You Get Sawdust in Your Blood": "Local" Values and the Performance of Community in an Occupational Sport
Authors: Kruckemeyer Kate
Published: February 2008

The conflicts and affiliations that produce and define community can often be seen most clearly in performance. This article examines the way group identity is constructed around a multifaceted notion of localness at a woodchopping competition in northwestern Connecticut. As the immediate connection to logging as an occupation fades, community identity is enacted at a referential level defined here as a metaperformance-in this case a celebration engaged in by men and women, primarily from other trades, who nonetheless mobilize notions of logging tradition and history to enact a ulocaly) community with resonance in their suburban, postindustrial context.
Ovid's ‘Hecale’: Deconstructing Athens in theMetamorphoses
Authors: Gildenhard Ingo , Zissos Andrew
Published: February 2008

Scholars have long recognized a cultural tension inherent in the scheme of Ovid'sMetamorphoses: while most of themateriaof the epic is Greek, Rome is its triumphant narrative telos. The epic's Hellenic underpinnings have received abundant critical attention; rather less well documented and discussed is the subtle undercurrent ofRomanitasthat sustains Ovid's overarching cultural teleology throughout the poem. This Roman ‘cultural vector’ registers in all phases of the narrative, but nowhere more insistently than in the first two books: it is there that the poet brings the overall temporal and spatial thrust of his literary project — namely, to spin down acarmenfrom universal creation to contemporary Augustan times (‘ad mea … tempora’, 1.4) — most forcefully to the mind of his reader.
Plant molecular systematics in Latin America: status, realities, and perspectives
Authors: Michelangeli Fabián A. , Francisco–Ortega Javier , González Dolores , Jaramillo Alejandra , Ruiz Eduardo , Santiago Eugenio , Vovides Andrew P.
Published: February 2008

Molecular biology techniques have had a great impact in modern studies of biodiversity across the globe, and they have contributed significantly to our understanding of evolutionary relationships across all kingdoms. Protein and DNA sequence data have provided a seemingly endless amount of characters to be used in phylogenetic studies, and they have allowed comparisons across divergent groups for which it is very difficult to establish morphological homologies. Researchers in Latin America have not escaped this revolution, and in several institutions efforts have been made to begin utilizing them. Economical, social and political factors have both slowed and stimulated the development of molecular systematics and phylogenetics in Latin America. Even though the continent is not homogeneous, and these factors may differ from country to country, some general patterns do exist across the region. In the present document, we will attempt to summarize the status of molecular systematic studies throughout Latin America, analyze which factors have stimulated or slowed down its development, and we will conclude with some suggestions on how to improve the current state of affairs.
Phylogeny and evolution of grammitid ferns (Grammitidaceae): a case of rampant morphological homoplasy
Authors: Ranker Tom A. , Smith Alan R. , Parris Barbara S. , Geiger Jennifer M.O. , Haufler Christopher H. , Straub Shannon C.K. , Schneider Harald
Published: February 2008

We conducted phylogenetic analyses of the fern family Grammitidaceae using sequences from two cpDNA genes and from morphological characters. Data were obtained for 73 species from most recognized genera in the family. The genera Adenophorus, Ceradenia, Calymmodon, Cochlidium, Enterosora, and Melpomene were each strongly supported as being monophyletic. Other recognized genera that were not supported as monophyletic included Ctenopteris, Grammitis, Lellingeria, Micropolypodium, Prosaptia, and Terpsichore. Several previously unrecognized clades were identified, some of which are characterized by distinctive morphological features. Analyses of the distribution of morphological character states on our inferred phylogeny showed extremely high levels of homoplastic evolution for many different characters. Homoplasy for morphological characters was considerably greater than for molecular characters. Many of the characters that exhibited high levels of convergent or parallel evolution across the phylogeny are features that have been commonly used to circumscribe genera in this group (e.g., leaf blade dissection, various rhizome scale characters, and glandular paraphyses). Conversely, some of the characters that exhibited relatively low levels of homoplasy have either not been regarded as having taxonomic value or have been ignored (e.g., root insertion, rhizome scale sheen). Our data support a New World origin of Grammitidaceae, with Old World taxa generally being more evolutionarily derived. Several clades are either primarily Neotropical or primarily Paleotropical but also have a few members distributed in the opposite hemisphere. Thus, we postulate multiple, independent dispersal and colonization events in several lineages.
Monte Negro and the Urban Revolution in Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Balkansky Andrew K. , Rodríguez Verónica Pérez , Kowalewski Stephen A.
Published: February 2008

This paper is about Monte Negro’s origins, and how this site fits the emerging pattern in studies of Oaxacan urbanization including the Zapotec capital at Monte Albán. Our settlement data from a multivalley regional survey in the Mixteca Alta including Monte Negro allows comparison with other urban centers that we have surveyed. Monte Negro’s origins are due to internal settlement shifts, but occurred in the external context of widespread militarism and multiple urban transitions. Examination of local, regional, and macroregional settlement systems through time reveals variation in urban trajectories that current models were not designed to explain.
Opportunities for Advancement: Intra-Community Power Contests in the Midst of Political Decentralization in Terminal Classic Southeastern Mesoamerica
Authors: Urban Patricia , Schortman Edward
Published: February 2008

Archaeologists traditionally investigate the emergence of complex sociopolitical formations at micro- and macroscales. As fruitful as these analyses have been, they ignore insights garnered from studying how the diverse members of individual communities contested for power and material resources during periods when former political capitals were in decline. Such volatile circumstances provide ample opportunities for those seeking power to experiment with novel political forms while their would-be subordinates maneuver to undermine these overweening ambitions. Site 128 in the Naco Valley, northwestern Honduras, witnessed these struggles during the Terminal Classic. Taking advantage of the waning power of the Naco Valley’s Late Classic rulers at La Sierra, magnates in this small community competed for control over clients and their labor. The resulting political configuration pitted corporate institutions against individual aggrandizers, each using a limited suite of valuable resources to capture the loyalty and labor of supporters. The inability of one faction to vanquish the other created an unstable situation ultimately undermined by unresolved tensions. Though studies of political decline usually highlight the falls of dynasties, there is much to be gained by studying those who scrambled, with varying success, to cobble together sociopolitical structures in the shadows of former states.
Scottish Factors and the Origins of the Second Amendment: Some Reflections on David Thomas Konig's Rediscovery of the Caledonian Background to the American Right to Arms
Authors: Uviller H. Richard , Merkel William G.
Published: February 2008

David Konig has written an important article that makes a welcome contribution to the rapidly evolving field of Second Amendment scholarship. In the essay that forms the focal piece of this forum, Konig argues that two rival, hotly contested interpretations of the Second Amendment fail to recapture the original meaning of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. To Konig, neither the individual rights nor the states' rights model of the Second Amendment accurately reflects the conceptual universe shared by the drafters and ratifiers of the Bill of Rights. Neither model (and particularly not the individual rights model), Konig maintains, would have made sense to the persons who left behind a now familiar and much-discussed documentary record related to the call for amendments to the Constitution in 1788, the drafting of the Bill of Rights in 1789, and its ratification in 1791.
Influence and Emulation in the Constitutional Republic of Letters
Authors: Konig David Thomas
Published: February 2008

I am glad that the Review has provided a Forum for advancing discussion of the “rapidly evolving field of Second Amendment scholarship,” as Richard Uviller and William Merkel so aptly describe it. The field is evolving so rapidly, in fact, that I had no chance to consult their excellent book on the subject when writing this article. Having now had the luxury—and great benefit—of reading it in preparing my reply to their comments, I can only cheer them on for the way that book and their remarks in the Forum advance the common goals we seek: to replace an ahistorical quotation-hunting with a meticulous examination of “the collateral expressions of the founders and their contemporaries to find the most likely purposes and assumptions underlying the text” of the Second Amendment.
A Profusion of Chancery Reform
Authors: Oldham James
Published: February 2008

The refrain that law and equity cannot peaceably cohabit the same court is familiar and persistent. In his 1790 treatise on contracts, Joseph Powell protested that blending law and equity was “subversive of first principles.” He claimed, “That a right in itself purely legal cannot be the proper subject of discussion in a jurisdiction purely equitable, and that a right purely equitable, cannot be the proper subject of a purely legal jurisdiction, are axioms that cannot be denied,” adding for good measure: “It is a proposition as self-evident as that black is not red, or white black.” Almost two centuries later, in a provocative 1974 essay called The Death of Contract, Grant Gilmore asserted that the legal doctrine of consideration in contract law and the equitable doctrine of promissory estoppel were like “matter and anti-matter,” and “The one thing that is clear is that these two contradictory propositions cannot live comfortably together: in the end one must swallow the other up.”
Piranesi in Petrograd: Sources, Strategies, and Dilemmas in Modernist Depictions of the Ruins (1918-1921)
Authors: Barskova Polina
Published: February 2008

It has long been common to interpret the mythology of St. Petersburg through the prism of eschatological prophecy. But what happens to the cultural tradition when the prophecy of doom comes to be experienced as reality, and predictions give way to reaction? How did the discourse of the end of Petersburg change when the legendary curse of Peter's estranged wife—“This city will be empty”—turned into the devastation of postrevolutionary Petrograd: violent, starved, frozen, and diseased? In this article Polina Barskova explores various cultural expressions of the urban crisis in the years just after 1917. These artistic reactions come from Viktor Shklovskii, Pavel Shillingovskii, Semen Pavlov, and Grigorii Kozintsev, among others. Here, the focus is on the tension between two impulses: to distance and aestheticize the ruins or to bring them closer to author and recipient, rendering these signs of urban disaster maximally incoherent and ugly. The article argues that the Petersburg authors use both strategies, as well as their hybrids.
Soviet Veterans as an Entitlement Group, 1945-1955
Authors: Edele Mark
Published: February 2008

The article explores processes of group integration and disintegration among Soviet veterans of World War II during the first postwar decade. Approaches that focus on generation, legal privilege, formal organization, social mobility, or ideological outlook miss the considerable sociocultural complexity of this group. Between the end of mass demobilization in 1948 and the foundation of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans in 1956, former soldiers were integrated neither as a generation nor as a status group with formal privileges and their own organization (as would be the case in later years). What held them together was instead a shared sense of entitlement based on wartime sacrifice. During the first postwar decade, therefore, Soviet veterans are best understood as an “entitlement group.” Only in the 1960s and 1970s was this entitlement group transformed into a status group that became one of the major pillars of the late Soviet order.
Febris Erotica: Aleksandr Herzen's Post-Romantic Physiology
Authors: Sobol Valeria
Published: February 2008

This article explores Aleksandr Herzen's use of the lovesickness topos in his novelKto vinovat?(1847) in the context of the long literary and medical traditions of lovesickness and the specifically Russian situation of the 1840s. Valeria Sobol argues that Herzen was among the first Russian writers to exploit the semiotics and diagnostics of lovesickness in order to address the questions of human spirituality and the status of scientific knowledge. Given Herzen's frequentiy proclaimed antispiritualist and antidualist position and the novel's apparent anti-Romantic pathos, one would expect him to reject the essentially dualist notion of lovesickness as a “malady of the soul,” but the novel presents a far more complex picture. Herzen's struggle to reconcile the new scientific spirit of his age with the Romantic heritage reflects the transitional nature of the decade in which the novel was written.
Where Bobok Is Buried: The Theosophical Roots of Dostoevski's “Fantastic Realism”
Authors: Vinitsky Ilya
Published: February 2008

In addition to examining the ideological and artistic origins of Fedor Dostoevskii's portrayal of the underworld in his short “cemetery story” “Bobok” (1873), Ilya Vinitsky probes the theosophical context of Dostoevskii's “fantastic realism.” Vinitsky considers this story a programmatic “theosophical menippea” that artistically “voices” and “tests” Emanuel Swedenborgs doctrine of posthumous self-exposure of the wicked souls who are no longer restrained by “fear of the law, of the loss of reputation, of honor, and of life” and laugh shamelessly “at honesty and justice.” Vinitsky argues that Dostoevskii was interested in Swedenborg's spiritual psychologism as an epistemological method and contends that Swedenborg's interpretation of devils as former humans, with their “earthly” consciousness, inner sufferings, and memories, perfectly corresponded to Dostoevskii's symbolic anthropology. Vinitsky also proposes that the comic narrator of “Bobok” can be seen as a literary mask of Dostoevskii himself, who employs philosophical irony as a means of conveying a metaphysical message in the age of positivism and disbelief.
Performance at the Nexus of Gender, Power, and Desire: Reconsidering Bauman’sVerbal Artfrom the Perspective of Gendered Subjectivity as Performance
Authors: Sawin Patricia E.
Published: February 2008

Richard Bauman’s theory of performance has supported feminist work in folklore but proves incompatible with contemporary concepts of gendered subjectivity. Bauman’s combination of formalist and behaviorist perspectives paradoxically de-emphasized and undertheorized audience and emotion. The threat posed by women’s performance is better explained by exploring how performance constructs reciprocal positions for audience and performer, mobilizes desire, and motivates investment in gendered subject positions. Analysis of two stories Bessie Eldreth tells about audience response to her singing exemplifies the power of this gender-informed approach.
Social Isolation, Brain Food Cue Processing, Eating Behaviors, and Mental Health Symptoms
Authors: Zhang Xiaobei , Ravichandran Soumya , Gee Gilbert C. , Dong Tien S. , Beltrán-Sánchez Hiram , Wang May C. , Kilpatrick Lisa A. , Labus Jennifer S. , Vaughan Allison , Gupta Arpana
Published: April 2024

Importance

Perceived social isolation is associated with negative health outcomes, including increased risk for altered eating behaviors, obesity, and psychological symptoms. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of these pathways are unknown.

Objective

To investigate the association of perceived social isolation with brain reactivity to food cues, altered eating behaviors, obesity, and mental health symptoms.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional, single-center study recruited healthy, premenopausal female participants from the Los Angeles, California, community from September 7, 2021, through February 27, 2023.

Exposure

Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a food cue viewing task.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The main outcomes included brain reactivity to food cues, body composition, self-reported eating behaviors (food cravings, reward-based eating, food addiction, and maladaptive eating behaviors), and mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, positive and negative affect, and psychological resilience).

Results

The study included 93 participants (mean [SD] age, 25.38 [7.07] years). Participants with higher perceived social isolation reported higher fat mass percentage, lower diet quality, increased maladaptive eating behaviors (cravings, reward-based eating, uncontrolled eating, and food addiction), and poor mental health (anxiety, depression, and psychological resilience). In whole-brain comparisons, the higher social isolation group showed altered brain reactivity to food cues in regions of the default mode, executive control, and visual attention networks. Isolation-related neural changes in response to sweet foods correlated with various altered eating behaviors and psychological symptoms. These altered brain responses mediated the connection between social isolation and maladaptive eating behaviors (β for indirect effect, 0.111; 95% CI, 0.013-0.210; P = .03), increased body fat composition (β, −0.141; 95% CI, −0.260 to −0.021; P = .02), and diminished positive affect (β, −0.089; 95% CI, −0.188 to 0.011; P = .09).

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that social isolation is associated with altered neural reactivity to food cues within specific brain regions responsible for processing internal appetite-related states and compromised executive control and attentional bias and motivation toward external food cues. These neural responses toward specific foods were associated with an increased risk for higher body fat composition, worsened maladaptive eating behaviors, and compromised mental health. These findings underscore the need for holistic mind-body–directed interventions that may mitigate the adverse health consequences of social isolation.
AI and agents
Authors: Hodjat Babak
Published: April 2024

Earlier this year, OpenAI released their GPTs framework, allowing users to set up Large Language Model (LLM)‐based personas, orchestrate them into a workflow and even offering their AI apps within an app store. This is the latest, and maybe the easiest to set up, in a string of agent‐based LLM orchestration platforms in the past year, harkening a new age of agent‐based engineering. But, like most breakthroughs, this one is also rooted in many years of research, and the reason the world is paying attention to it now is that, thanks to Generative AI and Large Language Models, we finally have artificial agents that are useful enough to scale to more serious problems.
Real‐world experience with eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab for generalized myasthenia gravis
Authors: Tokuyasu Daiki , Suzuki Shigeaki , Uzawa Akiyuki , Nagane Yuriko , Masuda Masayuki , Konno Shingo , Kubota Tomoya , Samukawa Makoto , Sugimoto Takamichi , Ishizuchi Kei , Oyama Munenori , Yasuda Manato , Akamine Hiroyuki , Onishi Yosuke , Suzuki Yasushi , Kawaguchi Naoki , Minami Naoya , Kimura Takashi , Takahashi Masanori P. , Murai Hiroyuki , Utsugisawa Kimiaki
Published: April 2024

Objective

Eculizumab and ravulizumab are complement protein C5 inhibitors, showing efficacy and tolerability for patients with anti‐acetylcholine receptor‐positive (AChR+) generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in phase 3 clinical trials and subsequent analyses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab for refractory AChR+ gMG patients in the real‐world experience.

Methods

Among the database of Japan MG registry survey 2021, we studied AChR+ gMG patients who received eculizumab. We also evaluated these patients who switched from eculizumab to ravulizumab. Responder was defined as an improvement of at least 3 points in MG‐ADL. We performed a questionnaire of preference between eculizumab and ravulizumab.

Results

Among 1,106 patients with AChR+ gMG, 36 patients (3%) received eculizumab (female 78%, mean age 56.0 years). Eculizumab was preferentially used in severe and refractory MG patients. The duration of eculizumab treatment was 35 months on average. MG‐ADL improved from 9.4 ± 4.9 to 5.9 ± 5.1, and 25 (70%) of the 36 gMG patients were responders. Postintervention status was markedly improved after the eculizumab treatment. Of 13 patients who did not continue eculizumab, 6 showed insufficiencies. Early onset MG was most effective. However, 15 patients switching from eculizumab to ravulizumab kept favorable response and tolerability. Questionnaire surveys showed preference for ravulizumab over eculizumab.

Interpretation

Eculizumab and switching to ravulizumab showed to be effective for refractory AChR+ gMG patients in clinical settings.
Potential Benefits of Statin Therapy in Reducing Osteoarthritis Risk: A Mendelian Randomization Study
Authors: Zhang Lili , Sui Laijian , Li Jing , Zhang Rui , Pan Weimin , Lv Teng
Published: April 2024

Objective

The purpose of this study was to determine the causal effect of statins on osteoarthritis (OA) risk using Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods

Single nucleotide polymorphism–based genome‐wide association analyses of statins were collected from the UK Biobank and FinnGen dataset, and OA data were collected from the UK Biobank and Arthritis Research UK Osteoarthritis Genetics (arcOGEN) study. Two‐sample MR analyses were performed using the inverse‐variance weighted (IVW) technique. MR‐Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode served as supplementary analyses. MR‐Egger regression, Cochran's Q test, and Mendelian Randomization Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier analysis were performed as sensitivity analyses. Hydroxymethylglutaryl‐coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) expression and OA risk were evaluated using summary data–based MR (SMR).

Results

MR analyses consistently supported a causal connection between statin use and OA risk. A causal effect was observed for atorvastatin (IVW: β = −2.989, P = 0.003) and rosuvastatin (IVW: β = −14.141, P = 0.006) treatment on hip OA. Meta‐analysis showed the association between atorvastatin and knee OA was statistically significant (odds ratio 0.15; P = 0.004). Simvastatin use exhibited a protective effect against knee (IVW: β = −1.056, P = 0.004) and hip OA (IVW: β = −1.405, P = 0.001). Statin medication showed a protective effect on hip OA (IVW: β = −0.054, P = 0.013). HMGCR correlated significantly with a reduced risk of knee OA (β = −0.193, PSMR = 0.017), rather than hip OA (β = 0.067, PSMR = 0.502), which suggested that statins' protective effect on OA may not be related to its lipid‐lowering effect.

Conclusion

This MR study provides compelling evidence that statin treatment may be a protective factor for OA. Further research is required to clarify its underlying mechanism.
Strengthening and Toughening of the Co34Cr32Ni27Al3.5Ti3.5 Alloy Through Coherent L12 Nanoprecipitates
Authors: Li Leilei , Song Kaikai , Gao Qingwei , Zhou Changshan , Wang Yaocen , Bai Xiaojun , Cao Chongde
Published: April 2024

Herein, the L12‐strengthened Co34Cr32Ni27Al3.5Ti3.5 medium‐entropy alloy (MEA) with outstanding strength and ductility is developed through cold rolling and annealing (CRA). The CRA promotes the formation of coherent L12 nanoprecipitates in the matrix and precipitates inside the grains (Ti‐rich phases), resulting in dislocation sliding and multiplication during deformation. The as‐cast sample exhibits low yield strength (YS) of ≈498.5 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of ≈820.5 MPa, and uniform elongation (UE) of ≈29.8%. After cold rolling and annealing, the YS, UTS, and UE are significantly increased to ≈678.4, ≈1109.3 MPa, and ≈44.5%, respectively. The excellent mechanical performance results from dislocation strengthening and precipitation strengthening of the L12 phase. The trade‐off of strength‐ductility is resolved by achieving an appropriate balance between the hard phase rich in L12/Ti and the soft face‐centered cubic phase. This finding demonstrates that the CRA method can be used to create coherent L12 nanoprecipitates that are beneficial for strong and ductile MEA. This work provides a broader perspective for CoCrNi‐based MEAs with high performance in the future.
Recent Trends of Bioanalytical Sensors with Smart Health Monitoring Systems: From Materials to Applications
Authors: Vo Thi Sinh , Hoang Trung , Vo Tran Thi Bich Chau , Jeon Byounghyun , Nguyen Vu Hoang , Kim Kyunghoon
Published: April 2024

Smart biosensors attract significant interest due to real‐time monitoring of user health status, where bioanalytical electronic devices designed to detect various activities and biomarkers in the human body have potential applications in physical sign monitoring and health care. Bioelectronics can be well integrated by output signals with wireless communication modules for transferring data to portable devices used as smart biosensors in performing real‐time diagnosis and analysis. In this review, the scientific keys of biosensing devices and the current trends in the field of smart biosensors, (functional materials, technological approaches, sensing mechanisms, main roles, potential applications and challenges in health monitoring) will be summarized. Recent advances in the design and manufacturing of bioanalytical sensors with smarter capabilities and enhanced reliability indicate a forthcoming expansion of these smart devices from laboratory to clinical analysis. Therefore, a general description of functional materials and technological approaches used in bioelectronics will be presented after the sections of scientific keys to bioanalytical sensors. A careful introduction to the established systems of smart monitoring and prediction analysis using bioelectronics, regarding the integration of machine‐learning‐based basic algorithms, will be discussed. Afterward, applications and challenges in development using these smart bioelectronics in biological, clinical, and medical diagnostics will also be analyzed. Finally, the review will conclude with outlooks of smart biosensing devices assisted by machine learning algorithms, wireless communications, or smartphone‐based systems on current trends and challenges for future works in wearable health monitoring.
Retrosynthetic Life Cycle Assessment: A Short Perspective on the Sustainability of Integrating Thermoplastics and Artificial Intelligence Into Composite Systems
Authors: Yaghoubi Vahid , Kumru Baris
Published: April 2024

Over the past 30 years, the polymer composite industry has flourished, producing advanced structural materials for the aviation, energy, and transportation sectors. However, the use of crosslinked thermoset matrices has been linked to significant end‐of‐life challenges, presenting a critical issue for the industry. Moreover, the industry is characterized by numerous labor‐intensive processes. In alignment with Industry 4.0 principles, two major routes have been identified to enhance sustainability: the utilization of high‐performance thermoplastic matrices and the integration of artificial intelligence in manufacturing. Nevertheless, there are substantial concerns regarding the life cycle assessment of these technologies, which are not accounted for in the initial calculations, including the environmental footprint of polymer synthesis and energy requirements for training AI. This perspective aims to address potential and significant CO2 emissions from chemical feedstocks and the high computing requirements of these new technologies.
Ionic Liquid Coating‐Driven Nanoparticle Delivery to the Brain: Applications for NeuroHIV
Authors: Hamadani Christine M. , Mahdi Fakhri , Merrell Anya , Flanders Jack , Cao Ruofan , Vashisth Priyavrat , Dasanayake Gaya S. , Darlington Donovan S. , Singh Gagandeep , Pride Mercedes C. , Monroe Wake G. , Taylor George R. , Hunter Alysha N. , Roman Gregg , Paris Jason J. , Tanner Eden E. L.
Published: April 2024

Delivering cargo to the central nervous system (CNS) remains a pharmacological challenge. For infectious diseases such as HIV, the CNS acts as a latent reservoir that is inadequately managed by systemic antiretrovirals (ARTs). ARTs thus cannot eradicate HIV, and given CNS infection, patients experience neurological deficits collectively referred to as “neuroHIV”. Herein, the development of bioinspired ionic liquid‐coated nanoparticles (IL‐NPs) for in situ hitchhiking on red blood cells (RBCs) is reported, which enables 48% brain delivery of intracarotid arterial‐ infused cargo. Moreover, IL choline trans‐2‐hexenoate (CA2HA 1:2) demonstrates preferential accumulation in parenchymal microglia over endothelial cells post‐delivery. This study further demonstrates successful loading of abacavir (ABC), an ART that is challenging to encapsulate, into IL‐NPs, and verifies retention of antiviral efficacy in vitro. IL‐NPs are not cytotoxic to primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the CA2HA 1:2 coating itself confers notable anti‐viremic capacity. In addition, in vitro cell culture assays show markedly increased uptake of IL‐NPs into neural cells compared to bare PLGA nanoparticles. This work debuts bioinspired ionic liquids as promising nanoparticle coatings to assist CNS biodistribution and has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of cargos (i.e., drugs, viral vectors) through compartmental barriers such as the blood‐brain‐barrier (BBB).
Passive Self‐Sustained Thermoelectric Devices Powering the 24 h Wireless Transmission via Radiation‐Cooling and Selective Photothermal Conversion
Authors: Liu Kai , Ma Yaoguang , Li Yuzheng , Wu Yunxiao , Fu Chenguang , Zhu Tiejun
Published: April 2024

The rapid development of the Internet of Things has triggered a huge demand for self‐sustained technology that can provide a continuous electricity supply for low‐power electronics. Here, a self‐sustained power supply solution is demonstrated that can produce a 24 h continuous and unipolar electricity output based on thermoelectric devices by harvesting the environmental temperature difference, which is ingeniously established utilizing radiation cooling and selective photothermal conversion. The developed prototype system can stably maintain a large temperature difference of about 1.8 K for a full day despite the real‐time changes in environmental temperature and solar radiation, thereby driving continuous electricity output using the built‐in thermoelectric device. Specifically, the large output voltage of >102 mV and the power density of >4.4 mW m−2 could be achieved for a full day, which are outstanding among the 24 h self‐sustained thermoelectric devices and far higher than the start‐up values of the wireless temperature sensor and also the light‐emitting diode, enabling the 24 h remote data transmission and lighting, respectively. This work highlights the application prospects of self‐sustained thermoelectric devices for low‐power electronics.
Ion‐Exchange‐Induced Phase Transition Enables an Intrinsically Air Stable Hydrogarnet Electrolyte for Solid‐State Lithium Batteries
Authors: Cui Chenghao , Bai Fan , Yang Yanan , Hou Zhiqian , Sun Zhuang , Zhang Tao
Published: April 2024

Inferior air stability is a primary barrier for large‐scale applications of garnet electrolytes in energy storage systems. Herein, a deeply hydrated hydrogarnet electrolyte generated by a simple ion‐exchange‐induced phase transition from conventional garnet, realizing a record‐long air stability of more than two years when exposed to ambient air is proposed. Benefited from the elimination of air‐sensitive lithium ions at 96 h/48e sites and unobstructed lithium conduction path along tetragonal sites (12a) and vacancies (12b), the hydrogarnet electrolyte exhibits intrinsic air stability and comparable ion conductivity to that of traditional garnet. Moreover, the unique properties of hydrogarnet pave the way for a brand‐new aqueous route to prepare lithium metal stable composite electrolyte on a large‐scale, with high ionic conductivity (8.04 × 10−4 S cm−1), wide electrochemical windows (4.95 V), and a high lithium transference number (0.43). When applied in solid‐state lithium batteries (SSLBs), the batteries present impressive capacity and cycle life (164 mAh g−1 with capacity retention of 89.6% after 180 cycles at 1.0C under 50 °C). This work not only designs a new sort of hydrogarnet electrolyte, which is stable to both air and lithium metal but also provides an eco‐friendly and large‐scale fabrication route for SSLBs.
Temperature Effect on GaN Threshold Displacement Energy Under Low‐Energy Electron Beam Irradiation
Authors: Guo Pengsheng , Song Chengzhen , Wu Yu‐Ning , Chen Shiyou
Published: April 2024

Using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), the cascade collision process in GaN irradiated by low‐energy electron beam and the temperature effect on the threshold displacement energy (TDE) are investigated. The temperature effect of the TDE is found to exhibit different patterns for Ga and N primary knock‐on atoms (PKAs). In the considered energy range of initial kinetic energy (40 to 80 eV), displacements induced by Ga PKA show high uncertainty, i.e., the TDE energy strongly depends on the initial configurations, and kinetic energies higher than TDE does not ensure the displacements that form defects. On the contrary, temperature shows relatively small effect on its TDE and displacement induced by N PKAs, which can essentially occur when the PKA kinetic energy is higher than the TDE. Such different effects are possibly due to the different atomic radii of the two elements and the different energy barriers to overcome. Ga PKAs, which have larger atomic radii, are relatively difficult to stabilize in the crystal and tend to relax to its original position with the assistance of thermal vibrations, and vice versa for N PKAs. The simulation results provide a new understanding of TDE and the cascade collisions of PKAs in GaN at finite temperatures, which can be instructive for improving the radiation resistance of GaN devices.
In Situ Growth of (−201) Fiber‐Textured β‐Ga2O3 Semiconductor Tape for Flexible Thin‐Film Transistor
Authors: Tang Xiao , Zhao Yue , Li Kuang‐Hui , Liu Chen , Faber Hendrik , Babatain Wedyan , Liao Che‐Hao , Yuvaraja Saravanan , Khandelwal Vishal , Chettri Dhanu , Cao Haicheng , Lu Yi , Wang Chuanju , Anthopoulos Thomas D. , Zhang Xixiang , Li Xiaohang
Published: April 2024

High‐temperature in situ growth of Ga2O3 thin film on flexible substrates for flexible/portable electronic devices is never realized because the conventional polymer substrates cannot meet the thermal‐stability requirements. In the research, for the first time, Ga2O3 thin films are directly grown on SiOx/Al2Ox buffered Hastelloy substrates. With pulsed laser deposition under high temperature, as‐grown Ga2O3 thin films have a fabric texture with a preferred out‐of‐plane orientation along (−201) and a good field‐effect mobility of 18.07 cm2 V−1 s−1. The Ga2O3 coated tape is patterned with transistor arrays and exhibited good performance homogeneity. The representative transistor devices have a threshold voltage of ≈−2.75 V and a breakdown voltage of 116 V measured under a −20 V gate voltage. Moreover, the tape transistors also have good mechanical robustness. The transistors’ good electrical performance, high uniformity, and mechanical robustness suggest that the in situ deposition technique using Hastelloy tape is promising for fabricating various flexible Ga2O3 channeled electronic circuits. Furthermore, it is believed that this technique can be extended to other flexible semiconductor devices that require high‐temperature processing.
Subcellular dynamics of ethylene signaling drive plant plasticity to growth and stress
Authors: Chien Yuan‐Chi , Yoon Gyeong Mee
Published: April 2024

Volatile compounds, such as nitric oxide and ethylene gas, play a vital role as signaling molecules in organisms. Ethylene is a plant hormone that regulates a wide range of plant growth, development, and responses to stress and is perceived by a family of ethylene receptors that localize in the endoplasmic reticulum. Constitutive Triple Response 1 (CTR1), a Raf‐like protein kinase and a key negative regulator for ethylene responses, tethers to the ethylene receptors, but undergoes nuclear translocation upon activation of ethylene signaling. This ER‐to‐nucleus trafficking transforms CTR1 into a positive regulator for ethylene responses, significantly enhancing stress resilience to drought and salinity. The nuclear trafficking of CTR1 demonstrates that the spatiotemporal control of ethylene signaling is essential for stress adaptation. Understanding the mechanisms governing the spatiotemporal control of ethylene signaling elements is crucial for unraveling the system‐level regulatory mechanisms that collectively fine‐tune ethylene responses to optimize plant growth, development, and stress adaptation.
Soluble klotho induces the heat shock factor 1 through EGR1 expression
Authors: Kim Soo‐A , Toan Nguyen Khanh , Ahn Sang‐Gun
Published: April 2024

Klotho is an antiaging protein that has multiple functions. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether soluble klotho plays a role in cellular stress response pathways. We found that klotho deficiency (kl−/−) largely decreased HSF1 levels and impaired heat shock protein expression. Interestingly, recombinant soluble klotho‐induced HSF1 and HSPs such as HSP90, HSP70, and HSP27 in kl−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). Soluble Klotho treatment also induced cell proliferation and HSF1 promoter activity in MEF kl−/− cells in a concentration‐dependent manner. Furthermore, using point mutagenesis, we identified regulatory/binding sites of transcription factors EGR1 regulated by soluble klotho in the HSF1 promoter. Taken together, our findings unravel the molecular basis of klotho and provide molecular evidence supporting a direct interaction between soluble klotho and HSF1‐mediated stress response pathway.
Household income and health‐related quality of life in children receiving treatment for acute myeloid leukemia: Potential impact of selection bias in health equity research
Authors: Newman Haley , Li Yimei , Huang Yuan‐Shung V. , Elgarten Caitlin W. , Myers Regina M. , Ruiz Jenny , Zheng Daniel J. , Leahy Alison Barz , Aftandilian Catherine , Arnold Staci D. , Bona Kira , Gramatges M. Monica , Heneghan Mallorie B. , Maloney Kelly W. , Modi Arunkumar J. , Mody Rajen J. , Morgan Elaine , Rubnitz Jeffrey , Winick Naomi , Wilkes Jennifer J. , Seif Alix E. , Fisher Brian T. , Aplenc Richard , Getz Kelly D.
Published: April 2024

Objective

Examine the influence of household income on health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) among children with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Design

Secondary analysis of data prospectively collected from pediatric patients receiving treatment for AML at 14 hospitals across the United States.

Exposure

Household income was self‐reported on a demographic survey. The examined mediators included the acuity of presentation and treatment toxicity.

Outcome

Caregiver proxy reported assessment of patient HRQOL from the Peds QL 4.0 survey.

Result

Children with AML (n = 131) and caregivers were prospectively enrolled to complete PedsQL assessments. HRQOL scores were better for patients in the lowest versus highest income category (mean ± SD: 76.0 ± 14 household income <$25,000 vs. 59.9 ± 17 income ≥$75,000; adjusted mean difference: 11.2, 95% CI: 2.2–20.2). Seven percent of enrolled patients presented with high acuity (ICU‐level care in the first 72 h), and 16% had high toxicity (any ICU‐level care); there were no identifiable differences by income, refuting mediating roles in the association between income and HRQOL. Enrolled patients were less likely to be Black/African American (9.9% vs. 22.2%), more likely to be privately insured (50.4% vs. 40.7%), and more likely to have been treated on a clinical trial (26.7% vs. 18.5%) compared to eligible unenrolled patients not enrolled. Evaluations of potential selection bias on the association between income and HRQOL suggested differences in HRQOL may be smaller than observed or even in the opposing direction.

Conclusions

While primary analyses suggested lower household income was associated with superior HRQOL, differential participation may have biased these results. Future studies should partner with patients/families to identify strategies for equitable participation in clinical research.