bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Before the Next Flood
Authors: Conca Ken
Published: August 2024

This chapter summarizes lessons from the response to the floods in Ellicott City, a historic mill town in central Maryland that recently suffered two fatal flash flood disasters within 22 months. Lessons are drawn from three broad areas: (1) conflicts over the flood modeling and other forms of expert knowledge brought to bear on the case, which failed to stabilize knowledge and create public authority for contentious decisions; (2) the challenges of conducting a participatory dialogue that engaged the full range of stakeholders, allowed for deliberative dialogue, and managed conflicts; and (3) the difficulty of reconciling the different meanings that residents attached to the town’s history, and the tendency of actors beyond the watershed to instrumentalize the flood response for other purposes.
Multinomial data
Authors: Neuhäuser Markus , Ruxton Graeme D.
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses multinomial data where, in contrast to binomial data, observations can take more than two possible values. A single sample, but also two or more samples are considered. The observed data can be summarized in contingency tables. Different contingency tables are discussed depending on whether levels are ordered or unordered. The classical chi2 test, its exact version, the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test, and tests for trend and goodness of fit are introduced. To be precise, trend tests according to Chacko and Jonckheere-Terpstra are discussed. Confidence intervals and power calculations are also included. Example data and R code are given.
Fluency
Authors: Beal Jennifer S. , Dostal Hannah M. , Easterbrooks Susan R.
Published: August 2024

Chapter 6 delves into fluency and its related components and distinguishes between signed and spoken fluency in the context of reading. Fluency definitions are addressed, including sentence parsing, memory processing, prosody, and fluency development. Evidence-based strategies for teaching fluency are presented, such as explicit instruction, reading by meaningful units, repeated readings, etc. Five case vignettes demonstrate how to address the following during literacy instruction: translanguaging, word calling, visualizing and verbalizing, and negation and directionality in signed languages. The Signed Reading Fluency Rubric is included for educator use when assessing reading fluency in a signed language.
A Lesson in Cross-Cultural Pastoral
Authors: Gianferrari Filippo
Published: August 2024

Chapter 5 argues that Dante mirrored the selection of reading used in medieval language instruction by modeling some of Purgatorio’s central cantos (9–12, 28) on the Ecloga Theoduli. After reading, parsing, and memorizing the Disticha Catonis and Aesop, medieval pupils who advanced in the study of Latin grammar, often did so by reading the Ecloga Theoduli. My analysis shows that the Ecloga supplied a fitting precedent and model for Dante’s distinctive habit of placing episodes from Scripture side by side with ancient pagan myths, and for his representation of a river as the ultimate boundary that Virgil is not allowed to cross. The chapter goes on to argue that first in Paradiso 19 and then in his last work, the second Egloga to Giovanni del Virgilio, Dante obliquely criticizes the Ecloga Theoduli’s condemnation of ancient poetic wisdom.
Introduction
Authors: Poguntke Thomas , Hofmeister Wilhelm
Published: August 2024

The introductory chapter identifies a remarkable gap in the growing literature on the crisis of democracy and democratic backsliding, namely the discussion of the role of political parties in this process. While there is little doubt that parties play an essential role for modern democracy, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to possible failures of political parties or, likewise, to examples where parties have helped to augment democratic governance. Is it really true that parties are increasingly ‘ruling the void’, as the late Peter Mair famously wrote? Are they in danger of being sidelined by strong leaders? Or is technocracy waiting in the wings? The chapter formulates a number of research questions that guide the case studies dealing with countries around the globe.
Italian Parties and Party System(s)
Authors: Calossi Enrico , Pizzimenti Eugenio
Published: August 2024

The Italian party system has traditionally been considered as an outlier in the specialized literature. In fact, one can speak of different party systems depending on the observation point in time. However, a number of recurring features can be pinpointed when focusing on the so-called Second Republic: the instability of the format and mechanics of the political competition; the over-production of political reforms concerning the electoral rules and the public funding regimes; and the weakness and fluidity of party organizations. The aim of this chapter is to identify the main trajectories followed by the evolution of Italian politics from 1994 to 2018: in particular, we focus on the volatile ‘rules of the game’ as well as on the organizational features and the interaction between the main actors of the party system. As the data show, both institutional and agent-related inadequacies have undermined the legitimization and reliability of Italian democracy, paving the way to technocratic solutions and to the rise of anti-establishment parties.
The Portuguese Party System
Authors: Lobo Marina Costa
Published: August 2024

This chapter analyses changes to the Portuguese party system, with a special focus on the last three post-eurozone crisis bailout elections, held in 2015, 2019, and 2022. It begins with a brief characterization of the party system as well as the main features that may have contributed to its relative stability, including the comparatively high levels of abstention and institutional features. The parties’ main organizational features are presented, namely a formal mass organization, a large financial dependence on the state, and leader-centric logics. While the number of effective parties has barely changed in the period, in part due to an unexpected absolute majority win for the Socialists in 2022, some change did occur. For the first time since democratization, the Socialist Party formed a coalition of parliamentary incidence with parties to its left, the Communists and the Left Block, which lasted from 2015 to 2022. In addition, from 2019 onwards the fragmentation of the right has taken hold, which includes the entry to parliament of an extreme-right party, Chega. The latter has quickly become the third-largest party in parliament. Thus, in the post-eurozone crisis period, the Portuguese party system is witnessing a slow transformation which approximates it to other EU party systems.
Taiwan
Authors: Tan Alexander C.
Published: August 2024

Taiwan’s party system has significantly changed since 1949. It was a one-party state until liberalization began in 1987. By 1996, the Kuomintang (KMT) was the dominant party, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) serving as a competitive opposition party. In 2000, the DPP captured the presidency, but the KMT maintained legislative control until 2008 through the support of allied parties. Although smaller parties emerged, they struggled to gain significant voter support. From 2008, Taiwan remained a two-party system dominated by the KMT and the DPP. Since 2016, external events and the national identity cleavage further consolidated the dominance of the KMT and DPP. Smaller parties faced challenges in differentiating themselves and mobilizing voter support because of the restricted issue space. Taiwan’s electoral rules and executive design contribute to a two-party system, and while the national identity cleavage has shown some signs of shifting, the imbalance in party finance remains an internal threat to democracy.
Political Parties and Democracy in South Africa
Authors: Mattes Robert , Krönke Matthias , Lockwood Sarah
Published: August 2024

Nearly thirty years after the fall of apartheid, South African voters confront a party system that is still marked by the continued dominance of the governing African National Congress (ANC) and a field of small opposition parties, most of which still have their roots in the old regime or the struggle against it. Neither the ANC nor the opposition succeed in engaging large proportions of voters in election campaigns, and opposition parties generally fail to offer effective alternatives on the issues people care about most. Unsurprisingly, dissatisfied voters tend to exit the electorate rather than switch their vote, and voter turnout has declined by more than thirty percentage points over this period. Thus, South Africa’s parties have, collectively, weakened the country’s democratic experiment by failing to offer the country’s citizens a competitive electoral arena with effective choice.
Can the Parties be Helped?
Authors: Hofmeister Wilhelm
Published: August 2024

Political party assistance is part of the international cooperation to promote democracy. However, international party assistance has been repeatedly criticized as inefficient because it has not helped to strengthen parties in such a way that they really make an effective contribution to the consolidation of democracy. Even the problematic aspects of party development, such as internal conflicts and party splits, the lack of intra-party democracy, lack of programmatic sharpness, and mismanagement and corruption of party leaders, could not be prevented by party assistance. This chapter discusses fundamental and practical aspects of international cooperation with political parties, presents its instruments and the main sponsors, and describes the possibilities and limitations of party assistance. Based on his own experience, the author concludes by formulating recommendations on how international party cooperation can be made more coherent and efficient.
Labour Law and the Utopia of the Commons
Authors: Tomassetti Paolo
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the commons as a real utopia, contrasting their characteristics with the main justifications of labour law. Despite affinities being rooted in the common critique of the public-private divide, collaborative commons question the material premises and the main normative assumptions of labour law in both its individual and collective dimensions. Nonetheless, labour law scholars and the labour movement can learn a lot from the idea of justice in collaborative commons. Collaborative commons, and their grassroots normativity, are leading a renewed, more effective, and far more convincing twenty-first-century response to problems of labour and environmental justice; a response that retraces, under modern conditions, the early forms of solidarity that unions promoted at the onset of industrial capitalism.
The Codex Argenteus
Authors: Lock Charles , Snædal Magnus Hreinn
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses aspects of the history of the Codex Argenteus. The manuscript is described and the main events of its history are traced, with emphasis on uncertainties concerning its whereabouts before 1669. The essay addresses a news report, from 1968, suggesting a possible link between this manuscript and England. The second part of the chapter centres on Franciscus Junius’s editio princeps of the Codex Argenteus, printed in Dordrecht in 1665, and on a copy of the 1684 reprint owned by an English scholar, F. D. Wackerbarth. Junius’s edition was based not only on the original but on two copies, one attributed to a scribe named ‘Derrer’, who is identified here as the English antiquarian Simonds D’Ewes. The chapter concludes that Junius’s edition of the Codex Argenteus, long recognized as a founding work of philological scholarship, should also be assessed as a significant contribution to the emerging discipline of palaeography.
Linearization of adnominal possessives in Gothic
Authors: Ratkus Artūras
Published: August 2024

This chapter investigates Gothic evidence for the adnominal placement of possessive pronouns and genitive forms of personal pronouns. It takes as its basis the Majority (Byzantine) Text of the Greek New Testament, while comparing deviations from this with Alexandrian Greek, pre-Vulgate Latin, and Latin Vulgate readings. An analysis of all Gothic possessives in both the Bible and minor Gothic fragments shows that 98% match the linearization in the source texts. Among the 2% that do not are seventeen instances where the Gothic possessive is unattested in the source texts. Of these, as many as thirteen appear to the right of the noun, suggesting that this represented the neutral order of attributive possessives in Gothic. This evidence agrees with that of the Deed of Naples and the Bologna fragments. As a whole, however, the surface evidence of Gothic word order indicates that both prenominal and postnominal positioning of possessives were acceptable.
Open doors for “brothers and sisters” in faith
Authors: Drewski Daniel , Gerhards Jürgen
Published: August 2024

Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world. Chapter 4 argues that at the heart of President Erdoğan’s and his governing Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) open-door policy lies an identity construction of Turkey, drawing on its Ottoman past and Islamic heritage. This framing blurs the current borders of the Turkish nation-state and includes Syrians as “brothers and sisters” in faith and former subjects of the Ottomans in defining the “we.” The government’s framing is contested by the opposition parties represented in the Grand National Assembly. For example, the Kemalist Republican People’s Party (CHP) rejects Erdoğan’s neo-Ottoman identity politics. It defines Turkish identity in terms of the modern Turkish nation-state of 1923 and believes the state should primarily provide for the welfare of its own citizens. Against this background, Syrian refugees are interpreted as an economic and cultural burden, as well as a security risk.
Recognition of States in International Law
Authors: Kilibarda Pavle
Published: August 2024

Although the recognition of States is a common occurrence in international relations and still retains a central position in discussions of international law, its nature and legal effects remain controversial well into the twenty-first century. Regardless of whether recognition is said to play a fundamental role in the creation of statehood or is denied any legal value at all, debates surrounding any case where statehood is disputed will sooner or later turn to the matter of recognition, or lack thereof, by other States. This book challenges the widespread view of statehood as an absolute or empirical fact and of recognition as merely declaratory in the creation of States as the primary and original persons of international law. Drawing upon a comparative analysis of contested States ranging from Palestine and Kosovo to Somaliland and Eastern Ukraine, it builds a normative theory of recognition that sets out the legal value and effects of this act in various situations, distinguishing between cases where statehood may be inferred from applicable rules of international law, those where it could only be explained by recognition, and those where the establishment of a State is prevented by international legal norms. In addition to discussing a range of issues related to recognition, this work provides an up-to-date overview of the most important international and domestic case-law and practice and includes reflections on various cases of contested statehood around the world.
Introduction
Authors: Kilibarda Pavle
Published: August 2024

Chapter 1 reflects on the persistent importance of the recognition of States in international law and international relations. It recalls the Great Debate between adherents of the constitutive and declaratory schools of thought on recognition and introduces the concept of opposability to ascertain the existence of statehood as a legal fact. The chapter explains the underlying logic of the book, which rejects the notion of statehood as an absolute category and recasts it in light of bilateral legal relations between States. It also provides an overview of the structure of the book and its methodology, describing the reasoning behind analysing recognition as an act–object–effects triptych.
Advancing Human Rights, Capabilities, and Non-Domination at Work
Authors: Mantouvalou Virginia
Published: August 2024

When considering the justification of labour law, it is typically said that there is inequality of bargaining power at work, as it is the employer who owns the means of production and this creates dependency of the workers making them vulnerable. As a result, there is a relation of submission and subordination, which can lead to injustice. This chapter focuses on three justifications for labour intervention, which have been influential in academic literature, that involve dignity and freedom, rather than distributive justice, and have been employed to justify the law of work: the capabilities approach, the idea of non-domination, and the concept of human rights. It argues that each of these frameworks provide insights which can support legal regulation and promote justice at work. However, to be fit for purpose they must have the structural inequality of power that characterizes free market employment relationships at the forefront of their considerations.
Protection Against Bullying
Authors: Yamada David C.
Published: August 2024

Workplace bullying, a term used to capture severe, generalized workplace harassment and abuse, entered the vocabulary of employment relations in the late 1980s. In 1993, Swedish enacted a workplace safety and health ordinance. Since then, there has been an expanding body of legislative enactments and proposals, administrative rules and regulations, and internal policies concerning workplace bullying. Growing understanding of the harm wrought by workplace bullying, different law and policy responses, and lack of consensus on preferred legal interventions assure us that this will be a developing area of workplace law for the foreseeable future. This chapter begins by defining workplace bullying and related behaviours, their frequency, and their impact on workers and workplaces. Next, it reviews a representative, global cross-section of workplace bullying protections, both enacted and proposed. On this foundation, it discusses underlying policy issues relevant to weighing legal interventions in this realm.
Posted Workers
Authors: Bogoeski Vladimir
Published: August 2024

This chapter traces the developments of European Union (EU) integration and the legal structures that have co-produced and maintained posted labour as exploitable labour in Europe. It discerns three transformations of the European posted worker—from the early construction of posted workers as ‘cheap’ labour, through the failed attempt to socially embed posted labour through the Posted Workers Directive to the most recent attempt to come closer to equality at the workplace through the Revision of the Posted Workers Directive. The chapter outlines the consequences of the different legal and political choices around the framework regulating posted work not only for posted workers, but for the role of collectively organized labour in democratic governance overall.
Online Work
Authors: De Stefano Valerio
Published: August 2024

This chapter investigates the challenges and implications of online work, focusing specifically on online platform work and remote work within an employment relationship. The primary features of online platform work and the challenges they pose for labour and employment regulation are outlined, with an observation that research and legislation have primarily concentrated on offline platform work. The limitations of current regulations and legislative proposals are explored, and how they risk exacerbating the challenges affecting online platform work beyond its boundaries is discussed. The chapter concludes with some ideas for the way forward, emphasizing the need for a paradigm shift in legal thinking and policymaking towards future-proof labour protection regimes, which are more inclusive and universal, recognizing the prominence of remote work in our societies following the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Sustainable Law of Work?
Authors: Novitz Tonia
Published: August 2024

The emerging discourse of sustainable development is now shaping the future of law at work. This chapter begins by outlining the core normative values encompassed in the principle of sustainability. It then explores how ‘decent work’ has been incorporated into the 2030 Agenda which sets out ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs), including SDG 8. The chapter further examines the emphasis placed in the 2030 Agenda on procedural participatory entitlements and considers the implications of a vision of labour law in which no one is to be left behind. It is argued that it is vital to examine the connections and tensions between the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in contemporary labour markets, which requires more transparent debates regarding ‘just transitions’. In this context, wider ranging representation of those at work and protection of their collective action will be crucial for sustainability to be achieved.
Screening Piety
Authors: de Bruijn Petra
Published: August 2024

In the 20th century, Turkish film and television series became important mediators of societal and moral messages, mirroring Turkish sociopolitical developments regarding religion. This chapter provides a chronological overview of the depiction of religion—mainly Islam, but also other religions as well as secularism—in film and television series. It demonstrates how reflecting on religion in the Kemalist era until 1950 was mostly negative. Films about Islamic topics started to be produced when Islam slowly resurged in public life during the multiparty period. While television was under state control until the 1990s, representing religious issues was difficult. Most series provided a neutral position toward religion by not reflecting on it, and religious identifiers were scarce. Private broadcasting diversified the media landscape during the 1990s, and television series reflecting an Islamic worldview occurred. The emergence of international video-on-demand platforms provided opportunities for exploring sensitive themes such as the divide between Islamic and secular in Turkish society and the injustices done to Jews and Christians.
Agent-Based Modelling and Social Network Analysis
Authors: Campos Pedro
Published: August 2024

Social network analysis offers a powerful method for comprehending intricate systems created through agent-based computational models. Scholars contend that intricate agent networks have the capacity to grasp both the dynamics at an individual level and the overarching characteristics at a global level within a complex system. Consequently, they can contribute to a deeper comprehension of the underlying principles governing such systems. Within this endeavour, we undertake a comprehensive examination of the existing body of literature that establishes a connection between agent-based models and social network analysis. The focal aim of this exploration is to cater to the domain of management studies. We define a baseline for a network topology for a taxonomy of ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ characteristics of social interaction networks. We apply and extend this taxonomy for agent-based models and classify existing models in macro structures, macro patterns of interaction, micro interactions and multilayers, and micro level (clustering and local interaction). We also emphasize the learning methods for agent-based models of social networks.
Agent-Based Models as Digital Twins in Management Science
Authors: Mäs Michael
Published: August 2024

Leveraging advancements in data science, computational capabilities, and artificial intelligence, researchers are constructing so-called digital twins of complex systems as diverse as space vehicles, cars, supply chains, individual patients, power plants, and cities. These digital models, characterized by their high fidelity and grounded in large amounts of frequently updated empirical data, serve as potent instruments for predicting the dynamic behaviours of these complex systems. What is more, they facilitate experimentation with counterfactual scenarios, allowing to compare digital twins with counterfactual siblings. These experiments enable modellers to address research problems that would otherwise remain unanswered due to the unavailability of empirical data, often for practical or ethical considerations. This chapter scrutinizes the challenges associated with crafting digital twins of complex organizations, contending that both technical and ethical hurdles demand careful consideration. While digital twins serve as tools to enhance organizational performance for all stakeholders, they also harbour the potential to be leveraged in ways that may run counter to the interests of certain members within the organization. This chapter posits that the evaluation and potential resolution of these challenges present formidable research opportunities for organizational modellers, underscoring these obstacles as not only impediments but also as intriguing research problems to be addressed.
Principles of Social Cognition
Authors: Carlston Donal E. , Hugenberg Kurt , Johnson Kerri L.
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes how the cognitive revolution led to the emergence of social cognition, which has been defined in terms of five basic principles embodying emphases on cognitivism, information processing, process, generality/universality, and social issues. Each of these principles is discussed in term of its background, its influence, and its current status. The chapter concludes that, with modest alterations, these principles remain important in the early twenty-first century, both within social cognition and within the broader field of social psychology. However, the chapter also suggests that contemporary social cognition differs from its original conception. So, though social cognition lives on, and is more influential than ever, it is not the same social cognition that emerged in the 1970s.
Motivation and Performance
Authors: Miele David B. , Scholer Abigail A. , Higgins E. Tory
Published: August 2024

Motivation researchers within the field of social cognition often examine types of motivation that are thought to be qualitatively distinct (e.g., autonomous vs. controlled regulation, promotion vs. prevention focus, and locomotion vs. assessment orientation). Research suggests that the benefits of one type of motivation relative to another depend on the demands of the task and the context in which it is situated (termed task–motivation fit). However, there is yet to be a detailed account of what makes a particular type of motivation qualitatively distinct from other types of motivation or to explain whether these different motivations are always mutually exclusive. To address these issues and to explore the psychological mechanisms that may underlie task–motivation fit, this chapter outlines a speculative framework for investigating motivational trade-offs that draws on concepts from dynamic systems theory. It also explores the implications of this framework for research on metamotivational self-regulation.
Social Cognition and Access to Justice
Authors: Quintanilla Victor D.
Published: August 2024

While the promise of equal justice for all is lauded, the reality of the American civil justice system falls far short of this ideal. For most low-income and many middle-income people, the inability to secure representation renders our civil justice system inaccessible and, at worst, oppressive. This chapter speaks to how research on social cognition can be harnessed to promote access to justice and explores the theory that legal professionals in the American civil justice system unreflectively engage in a social categorization process in which they socially construct unrepresented persons into pro se parties. This chapter discusses how judges and lawyers do unrepresented status by imputing stereotypes, schemas, biases, expectancies, and labels about pro se parties onto unrepresented persons who encounter the civil justice system. The chapter emphasizes understanding this process of social construction taking place in interactions among judges, lawyers, and unrepresented persons within the civil justice system.
Abstract 1: A Brand-New Sourcing to Maximize Ethnic Diversity in Neonatal Stem Cell Collections and Correlated HLA Deep Understanding. Both to Improve Unrelated Cord Blood Units Inventory Efficiency and Biodata Based Drug Research
Authors: Nouzies Didier
Published: August 2024

Introduction

AfricaCord© by CORDSAVINGS Switzerland, is an initiative to secure genetic diversity for neonatal stem-cell therapeutics and research aiming to be an actual reservoir for cell therapies and a cutting-edge BIO+DATA support for new drug discovery.

A Swiss-Kenya unique private-public partnership consisting first to harvest cord blood and neonatal tissues units in public hospital on Kenyan side then to have them sent, processed then stored at CORDSAVINGS Swiss laboratory.

Objectives

(1) Therapeutic:

- at worldwide scale, improve public cbu repositories efficiency in particular among ethnic minorities thanks to a virgin source of HLA polymorphisms coming from cradle of humankind

- at African scale, to target sickle cell anemia and newborn morbidity

NGS sequencing of both of mother and newborn will allow systematic NIMA analysis to improve cbu stock release rates.

(2) Research:

again thanks to mother+newborn NGS, reveal genes variants that contribute to diseases and still not found in previous caucasian-origin-centric studies (infectious diseases in particular, as specific homozygous HLA alleles combinations are known as associated with certain protections or susceptibility).

Results

Methods & Results:

- in 2023, after signing MoU with targeted Kenyan county and got set of authorizations at local and national level, we conducted a bio-logistic oriented feasibility study in order to prove first that whole chain can work from local biocollection to storage in Switzerland while fulfilling satisfactory medico-technical criteria

- next stage: a 1’500 “Therapeutic-grade” cbu collection (additional 2’000 “R&D-high-grade” samples) to be sent to Switzerland for process and storage

- Joint-Venture with Kenyan public authorities for having a complementary laboratory locally

- optionally, to handle part of brand-new public hospital of the county to establish a Pan-African expertise center in SC therapies for newborns and SCA along with top-range HLA-centric R&D specialty

Discussion

Cbu based HSC therapies, currently at its worrisome bottom, hopefully to be revitalized by AfricaCord©.

Regarding research, academic interest should be high (SC oriented clinical trials, population genetics departments etc.).

To lead to cooperations with biotech-pharma seeking for straightforward and regular tools flow to improve their knowledge of genomic determinants of health and thus facilitate their drug discovery and translational research.
Abstract 4: Cord Blood Unit: Many Treatment Opportunities for Many Patients
Authors: Tancredi Giuseppa , Migliore Massimiliano , Amorini Maria , Lucia Anna Di , Giarratana Rosamaria , Rizzuto Luigi , Gallerano Pasquale
Published: August 2024

Introduction

The Sicily Cord Blood Bank (Italy) is connected to 43 birth centers that collect cord blood unit (SCO) for solidarity purposes.

95% of SCO units collected and not suitable for transplant use (HSC < 2 x 106 and TNC < 1200 x 106) can be recovered with the production of erythrocytes from leucodepleted cord blood (CB-RBC), platelets-poor plasma (CB-PPP) and platelet-rich plasma (CB-PC) usable for clinical use.

Objectives

Cord Blood units can be used for different applications to care many patients and to explore new lines of research.

Methods

SCO units suitable for clinical use with a volume > 40 ml and platelet > 150 x 109/L were subjected to fractionation using validated method and locally available equipment and commercial BioNest ABC and EF medical devices.

SCO units were double centrifuged to obtain CB-PC, CB-PPP and CB-RBC.

CB-RBCs were diluted with saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol (SAG-M) solution, leucodepleted by filtration and stored at 2-6°C.

The CB-RBC units produced have a hemolysis rate of 0.35% in 96.6% units, an average volume of 54.63 ml, an average HT of 57.7%, a count of total residual WBC < 1 x 106 for unit in the 98.9% of total units.

Results

In 2022-2023, a total of 3270 SCO units were withdrawn from 43 birth centers.

98 units were cryopreserved and made available for transplant purposes.

A total of 230 CB-RBC units (7%), 1829 CB-PC units and 1829 CB-PPP units useful for clinical use (production of eye drops, platelet gel and transfusion in premature newborns) were produced.

Discussion

The benefits of treatment with blood components for non trasfusion and trasfusion use with Cord Blood Unit collected are now known and consolidated in the scientific litterature for many therapeutic indications. For extensive use, it is desirable to undertake an intensive collection program in all birth centers to include new units in the inventories with a high number of HSCs and TNCs useful for transplantation and blood components for non-transfusion and transfusion use for the benefit of patients and with economic return to support the costs of the Cord Blood Banks.
Abstract 7: Influence of Long-term Storage of Cryopreserved Automated Volume-Reduced Cord Blood Units Until 20 Years: Analysis From Barcelona Cord Blood Bank, Spain.
Authors: Castillo Nerea , Azqueta Carmen , Valdivia Elena , Garcia-Buendia Ana , Maroto Jesus , Martorell Lluis , Farssac Elisenda , Rubio Nuria , Querol Sergio , Fernandez-Sojo Jesus
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Barcelona Cord Blood Bank (BCBB) program started for CB units (CBU) donations in 1991. In 2002, Automated Volume-Reduced method was introduced applying the closed System (Sepax®, Cytiva). In order to ensure the quality of cryopreserved units after long-term storage, CBB programs evaluate cell recovery, progenitor cells functionality such as viability and Colony forming unit (CFU), and myeloid recovery after cord blood transplant (CBT).

Objectives

This retrospective study investigated quality parameters of CBUs stored for 1-20 years processed by automated volume-reduced and cryopreserved and stored in Bioarchive® system, (Thermogenesis) showing the effect of cryopreservation on variables measured both pre- and post-thaw. Additionally, we analyzed engraftment after CBT transplantation according to CBU time storage.

Methods

CBUs used for transplantation between2002 to 2022 were included in the study. To evaluate the influence of long-term storage of cryopreserved CBUs, Kruskal-Wallis correlation test between quality variables was performed. We studied correlation between pre-cryopreservation and post-thaw values (recovery) of TNC and CD34+ counts, CD45+ and CD34+ viability, CFU and CFU-FM counts. Additionally, myeloid engraftment was evaluated categorizing whole population in 3 groups according CBU storage duration: short-term (≤ 2 years), medium-term (> 2 and ≤ 5 years) and long-term (> 5 years).

Results

A total of 1577 CBUs with a median of 3.9 (range 1.3-20 years) of cryopreservation storage were evaluated. The median of TNC and CD34+ recovery, CD45+ and CD34+ recovery, CFU and CFU-GM recovery were 81.7%, 79.9%, 54.4%, 73.3%, 58.2% and 26.5%, respectively. Analysis demonstrated a non-significance decreased in CD34+ counts recovery, infused CD34 + 7AAD-viability and CFU-GM counts (P = 0.12, P = 0.28 and P = 0.96, Figure 1), respectively. Neutrophil engraftment at 42 days after CBT was found significantly faster for short-term stored CBUs (98%; CI95%, 96-99%, P = 0.015, Figure 1). No significance difference was found in platelet engraftment at 60 days between CBUs storage time groups (P = 0.5).

Discussion

Most quality parameters results evaluating CBUs demonstrated no significance decrease up to 20 years of cryopreservation meaning likely successful clinical transplantation of CBUs following long-term storage. Long-term cryopreserved CBUs continue to fulfil release FACT-Netcord requirements.
Abstract 10: Effect of Human Fetal Hemoglobin on Reactive Oxygen Species in DMSO Cryopreserved Cord Blood Progenitors Post Thaw
Authors: Zeeshan Waleed , Akabutu Heather , Akabutu John
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Cord blood processing and cryopreservation have emerged as pivotal techniques in regenerative medicine, facilitating the extraction and long-term preservation of stem cells for therapeutic applications. Maximizing cell viability and count post-rejuvenation is paramount for the success of cryopreserved cell-based therapies. However, challenges persist in achieving optimal rejuvenation of cryopreserved cells, necessitating innovative approaches.

Objectives

In this study, we investigated the potential of Human Fetal Hemoglobin (HFH) supplementation to enhance the rejuvenation of cryopreserved cells post thaw. Utilizing the CCBR’s double centrifugation technique, cord blood samples were processed to extract stem cells and leukocytes. Subsequently, samples were cryopreserved after the addition of DMSO and divided into experimental groups supplemented with HFH and control groups. Flow cytometry was employed to assess cell viability and counts, focusing on leukocytes (LC) and CD34-marked stem cells.

Methods

The Moxiflow cytometer was utilized for cell counting per the Coulter principle. We determined viability using propidium iodide staining. Biolegend anti-human CD34 antibody clone 581 was used for CD34 count.

Results

Preliminary findings suggest a notable increase in cell viability and count in HFH-supplemented samples compared to controls. In one sample, we observed 3.08x10^6 cells/mL CD34 (Viability 99.8%), 8.03x10^6 cells/mL LC count (Viability 100%) in HFH-supplemented samples, compared to 1.61x10^4 cells/mL CD34 (Viability 100%), 3.68x10^5 cells/mL LC count (Viability 100%) in controls. Similar results were observed in an additional sample. These results indicate the potential of HFH supplementation in augmenting the rejuvenation of cryopreserved cells, thus improving the efficacy of cell-based therapies.

Discussion

We hypothesize that HFH exerts its effects by mitigating oxygen radical-induced cell damage, thereby facilitating glucose uptake for enhanced glycolysis and ATP production. We believe the robust glycolytic activity triggers the activation of proliferating pathways in the mitochondria, generating additional ATP. Concurrently, reactive oxygen radicals produced during this process are potentially quenched by the presence of HFH, ensuring cellular integrity and function.

These preliminary findings underscore the significance of HFH supplementation as a promising strategy to enhance the effectiveness of cryopreserved cell-based therapies. Further investigation into the underlying mechanisms and clinical validation of this approach are warranted to fully exploit its therapeutic potential and translate it into clinical practice.

Moxiflow Results
Abstract 16: Tissue Engineering Approach Using Heterogeneous Hydrogel Combined with Umbilical Cord Derived Multipotent Stem Cells for the Consequences Military Spinal Cord Injury Neurosurgical Treatment (Case Report)
Authors: Petriv Taras , Rybachuk Oksana , Vorodi Milan , Zarovna Halyna , Luzan Boris , Medvediev Volodymyr , Tsymbaliuk Vitaliy
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Military spinal cord injury is a severe injury, accompanied by high mortality and profound disability. Such injuries are usually penetrating, complex, infected, require intensive treatment at the initial stages and complex reconstructive neurosurgical interventions at later stages. This problem is especially relevant for Ukraine now, during the russian attack.

Objectives

The objective of the study was to investigate the short-term effect and safety of tissue engineering approach using umbilical cord arteries derived multipotent stem cells (UCA-MSCs) and heterogenous hydrogel for the consequences of military spinal cord injury neurosurgical treatment.

Methods

Patient B, the soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine, born on 1984, was wounded on 07/27/22 during a battle near Bakhmut. At 07/28/22 spinal cord decompression and fixation surgery was performed at the lower thoracic level (Th10). The patient had lower paraplegia (ASIA A), and neurogenic bladder. Complete anatomical and functional spinal cord transection below the Th10 level was confirmed. The patient was offered treatment in the frame of a research program "To investigate the effectiveness of regenerative cell technologies in the neurosurgical treatment of patients with demyelinating diseases of the CNS and cerebral palsy. № 0119U000112". UCA-MSCs for this case were isolated from a healthy human umbilical cord and had characteristics according to the minimal criteria of MSC. The hydrogel (poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide]) is a commercial preparation synthesized in the laboratory of E. Pinet (FISO Technologies Inc., Quebec, Canada) by heterogeneous polymerization and association. 12/06/23 operation was performed: myeloradiculolysis, excision of areas of the glial scar of the spinal cord and filling of the defect with a heterogeneous hydrogel combined with UCA-MSCs.

Results

On the 6th months of observation, the patient has no infectious and inflammatory complications, and elements of deep sensitivity appeared in the proximal areas of the buttocks. No adverse effects during the observation period were recorded.

Discussion

More cases are needed to determine this method's safety and effectiveness, but early results are promising. A careful selection of patients is necessary for the use of this method, namely: confidence in the complete anatomical and functional transection of the spinal cord and the patient's informed consent for treatment.
Genomic correlates of the response to first-line PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer
Authors: Jiang Tao , Chen Jian , Wang Haowei , Wu Fengying , Chen Xiaoxia , Su Chunxia , Zhang Haiping , Zhou Fei , Yang Ying , Zhang Jiao , Sun Huaibo , Zhang Henghui , Zhou Caicun , Ren Shengxiang
Published: August 2024

Background:

Programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade plus chemotherapy has become the new first-line standard of care for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Yet not all NSCLC patients benefit from this regimen. This study aimed to investigate the predictors of PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy in untreated advanced NSCLC.

Methods:

We integrated clinical, genomic, and survival data from 287 patients with untreated advanced NSCLC who were enrolled in one of five registered phase 3 trials and received PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. We randomly assigned these patients into a discovery cohort (n = 125), a validation cohort (n = 82), and a control cohort (n = 80). The candidate genes that could predict the response to PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy were identified using data from the discovery cohort and their predictive values were then evaluated in the three cohorts. Immune deconvolution was conducted using transcriptome data of 1014 NSCLC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset.

Results:

A genomic variation signature, in which one or more of the 15 candidate genes were altered, was correlated with significantly inferior response rates and survival outcomes in patients treated with first-line PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy in both discovery and validation cohorts. Its predictive value held in multivariate analyses when adjusted for baseline parameters, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression level, and tumor mutation burden. Moreover, applying both the 15-gene panel and PD-L1 expression level produced better performance than either alone in predicting benefit from this treatment combination. Immune landscape analyses revealed that tumors with one or more variation in the 15-gene panel were associated with few immune infiltrates, indicating an immune-desert tumor microenvironment.

Conclusion:

These findings indicate that a 15-gene panel can serve as a negative prediction biomarker for first-line PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC.
Subcutaneous versus intravenous infliximab therapy – a real-world study: toward higher drug concentrations
Authors: Ferreira Ana Isabel , Lima Capela Tiago , Arieira Cátia , Xavier Sofia , Cotter José
Published: August 2024

Background

Recently, a formula of subcutaneous infliximab (SC-IFX) has been approved for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), demonstrating a better pharmacokinetic and immunogenic profiles, compared to intravenous infliximab (IV-IFX), with similar efficacy and safety.

Aim

The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical, biochemical, and pharmacological outcomes of IBD patients in clinical remission, who switched from IV-IFX to SC-IFX, with a follow-up period of 6 months.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study, including IBD patients in clinical remission, previously medicated with IV-IFX, who switched to SC-IFX 120 mg every other week. Biochemical parameters were evaluated before the switch and 6 months after, namely infliximab serum concentrations, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and fecal calprotectin.

Results

Included 41 patients in clinical remission, 32 with Crohn’s disease (78.0%) and 9 with ulcerative colitis (22.0%). All patients maintained clinical remission during the 6 months after the switch, with a treatment persistence rate of 100%, and no patients requiring corticosteroid therapy, switching back to IV-IFX, or IBD-related hospitalization. The mean infliximab serum concentrations were significantly higher after 6 months of SC-IFX (17.3 ± 6.6 vs. 9.1 ± 5.5 µg/ml, P < 0.001). However, there were no differences between values of ESR, CRP, and fecal calprotectin, before and after the switch (P = 0.791, P = 0.246, and P = 0.639). Additionally, none of the patients developed antibodies to infliximab.

Conclusion

Switching from IV-IFX to SC-IFX in IBD patients in clinical remission is effective and leads to higher infliximab serum concentrations, regardless of the combination with immunomodulatory therapy.
Changes in gene expression due to aging in the hypothalamus of mice
Authors: Narukawa Masataka , Saito Yoshikazu , Kasahara Yoichi , Asakura Tomiko , Misaka Takumi
Published: August 2024

Aging generally affects food consumption and energy metabolism. Since the feeding center is located in the hypothalamus, it is a major target for understanding the mechanism of age-related changes in eating behavior and metabolism. To obtain insight into the age-related changes in gene expression in the hypothalamus, we investigated genes whose expression changes with age in the hypothalamus. A DNA microanalysis was performed using hypothalamus samples obtained from young (aged 24 weeks) and old male mice (aged 138 weeks). Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was performed using the identified differentially expressed genes. We observed that the expression of 377 probe sets was significantly altered with aging (177 were upregulated and 200 were downregulated in old mice). As a result of the GO analysis of these probe sets, 16 GO terms, including the neuropeptide signaling pathway, were obtained. Intriguingly, although the food intake in old mice was lower than that in young mice, we found that several neuropeptide genes, such as agouti-related neuropeptide (Agrp), neuropeptide Y (Npy), and pro-melanin-concentrating hormone (Pmch), all of which promote food intake, were upregulated in old mice. In conclusion, this suggests that the gene expression pattern in the hypothalamus is regulated to promote food intake.