bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tobacco industry pricing strategies during recent tax adjustments in Mexico: evidence from sales data
Authors: Saenz-de-Miera Belen , Welding Kevin , Tseng Tuo-Yen , Grilo Graziele , Cohen Joanna E
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Previous studies have identified pricing strategies that the tobacco industry employs to try to minimise the impact of tobacco taxation, but these studies are mostly about high-income countries. This research examines industry price responses to a recent cigarette tax increase in Mexico, including in the capsule cigarette segment that has expanded rapidly in Latin America.

Methods

Data of cigarette prices and sales in Mexico between October 2018 and September 2021 licensed from NielsenIQ were used following a quasi-experimental design to analyse price changes after excise tax increases with fixed effect models by product. To explore heterogeneous responses, estimates were disaggregated by cigarette attributes such as presence of capsules and market segment. Differential shifting was also assessed.

Results

Increasing the tobacco tax from 2011MX$0.35(≈US$0.02) to 2020 MX$0.4944(≈US$0.0283) in January 2020 was associated with an overall 8% cigarette price increase in real terms. However, some cigarette types, including premium to discount segments, exhibited price increases larger than the tax increase, which reduced the relative price of ultra-low-priced cigarettes. Instead of a single hike, prices were gradually raised throughout the first months of 2020 for all cigarette types. A combination of both pricing strategies was employed for capsule cigarettes. The 2021 smaller tax adjustment for annual inflation was fully passed onto consumer, maintaining real prices constant.

Conclusions

The industry’s ability to raise prices more than the tax increase and manage these price increases smoothly suggests that there was room for larger tobacco tax increases in Mexico. Future developments on tobacco taxes could consider a fully specific tax structure or minimum taxes to mitigate the adverse effects of market segmentation and differential shifting.
Artificial stone silicosis: a UK case series
Authors: Feary Johanna , Devaraj Anand , Burton Matthew , Chua Felix , Coker Robina K , Datta Arnab , Hewitt Richard J , Kokosi Maria , Kouranos Vaslis , Reynolds Carl Jonathan , Ross Clare L , Smith Veronica , Ward Katie , Wickremasinghe Melissa , Szram Joanna
Published: August 2024

Silicosis due to artificial stone (AS) has emerged over the last decade as an increasing global issue. We report the first eight UK cases. All were men; median age was 34 years (range 27–56) and median stone dust exposure was 12.5 years (range 4–40) but in 4 cases was 4–8 years. One is deceased; two were referred for lung transplant assessment. All cases were dry cutting and polishing AS worktops with inadequate safety measures. Clinical features of silicosis can closely mimic sarcoidosis. UK cases are likely to increase, with urgent action needed to identify cases and enforce regulations.
Interrelationships between stress, eating attitudes, and metabolism in endurance athletes across a competitive season
Authors: Lundstrom Emily A. , De Souza Mary Jane , Don Prabhani Kuruppumullage , Williams Nancy I.
Published: August 2024

A competitive sport season represents a multidimensional stressor where physical and psychological stress may render an athlete susceptible to energy deficiency (ED). Downstream effects of ED can include a reduction in measured-to-predicted resting metabolic rate (RMRratio), indicating metabolic compensation. A pathway linking stress, eating attitudes, and metabolic compensation has not been explored. To test if sport-specific stress is associated with eating attitudes and metabolism in endurance athletes (18–22 years) at different phases of a competitive season, we assessed two groups of athletes: 26 swimmers (15 female and 11 male) during peak season (PEAK), and 26 runners (female) across pre- (PRE) and off-season (OFF). Stress (RESTQ-52), eating attitudes (cognitive restraint (CR), drive for muscularity (DM), and body dissatisfaction), and metabolism (RMRratio) were assessed. In PRE, sport-specific stress and CR were negatively correlated with RMRratio ( R = −0.58; p < 0.05, and R = −0.57; p < 0.05, respectively). In PEAK, sport-specific stress and DM were negatively correlated with RMRratio ( R = −0.64; p < 0.05; R = −0.40; p < 0.05, respectively). DM was positively related to sport-specific stress ( R = 0.55; p < 0.05). During OFF, there was no relation between RMRratio and sport-specific stress. In runners, there was a change in stress from PRE-to-OFF with highest reported stress during PRE ( p < 0.05) versus OFF. Regression analyses revealed that sport-specific stress and CR were significant predictors of RMRratio during PRE and PEAK ( p < 0.05), but not OFF ( p > 0.05). Associations between stress, eating attitudes, and metabolic compensation in endurance athletes during PRE and PEAK season suggest that during heavier training, metabolic compensation may be linked to upstream eating attitudes associated with sport-stressors.
Model-assisted estimation of domain totals, areas, and densities in two-stage sample survey designs
Authors: Andersen Hans-Erik , Ståhl Göran , Cook Bruce D. , Morton Douglas C. , Finley Andrew O.
Published: August 2024

Model-assisted, two-stage forest survey sampling designs provide a means to combine airborne remote sensing data, collected in a sampling mode, with field plot data to increase the precision of national forest inventory estimates, while maintaining important properties of design-based inventories, such as unbiased estimation and quantification of uncertainty. In this study, we present a comprehensive set of model-assisted estimators for domain-level attributes in a two-stage sampling design, including new estimators for densities, and compare the performance of these estimators with standard poststratified estimators. Simulation was used to assess the statistical properties (bias, variability) of these estimators, with both simple random and systematic sampling configurations, and indicated that (1) all estimators were generally unbiased and (2) the use of lidar in a sampling mode increased the precision of the estimators at all assessed field sampling intensities, with particularly marked increases in precision at lower field sampling intensities. Variance estimators are generally unbiased for model-assisted estimators without poststratification, while variance estimators for model-assisted estimators with poststratification were increasingly biased as field sampling intensity decreased. In general, these results indicate that airborne remote sensing data, collected as an intermediate level of sampling, can be used to increase the efficiency of national forest inventories in remote regions.
Efficient GNN Explanation via Learning Removal-based Attribution
Authors: Rong Yao , Wang Guanchu , Feng Qizhang , Liu Ninghao , Liu Zirui , Kasneci Enkelejda , Hu Xia
Published: August 2024

As Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have been widely used in real-world applications, model explanations are required not only by users but also by legal regulations. However, simultaneously achieving high fidelity and low computational costs in generating explanations has been a challenge for current methods. In this work, we propose a framework of GNN explanation named
L
e
A
rn
R
emoval-based
A
ttribution (LARA) to address this problem. Specifically, we introduce removal-based attribution and demonstrate its substantiated link to interpretability fidelity theoretically and experimentally. The explainer in LARA learns to generate removal-based attribution which enables providing explanations with high fidelity. A strategy of subgraph sampling is designed in LARA to improve the scalability of the training process. In the deployment, LARA can efficiently generate the explanation through a feed-forward pass. We benchmark our approach with other state-of-the-art GNN explanation methods on six datasets. Results highlight the effectiveness of our framework regarding both efficiency and fidelity. In particular, LARA is 3.1

\(\times\)

faster and achieves higher fidelity than the state-of-the-art method on the large dataset ogbn-arxiv (more than 160K nodes and 1M edges), showing its great potential in real-world applications. Our source code is available at
https://github.com/yaorong0921/LARA
.
Obfuscating Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Re-Encryption for Sensor Networks with Cloud Storage
Authors: Teng Minyu , Han Jingxuan , Xie Jintao , Gao Jiayao , Li Jiangfeng , Shi Yang
Published: August 2024

With the rapid growth of wireless sensor networks, secure data transmission, storage, and distribution in such networks has become an urgent demand. To defend against security risks such as data leakage, key compromise, and unauthorized misuse of data simultaneously, we propose a novel obfuscatable ciphertext-policy attribute-based re-encryption scheme with a specially designed obfuscator. The proposed scheme leverages program obfuscation to transform the re-encryption program codes into an unintelligible form and embed the private keys into the obfuscated implementation. Consequently, the proposed scheme protects data confidentiality and keeps the secrecy of the private key while providing fine-grained access control. Formal proofs for the security of the proposed re-encryption scheme and the obfuscator are provided. Extensive experiments have been conducted on representative platforms, including cloud servers, workstations, and embedded devices, to evaluate the computational efficiency and energy consumption of the scheme. Experimental results indicate that the scheme achieves high efficiency on various platforms and economical energy consumption on typical embedded devices with constrained resources.
Unexplored Frontiers: A Review of Empirical Studies of Exploratory Search
Authors: Medlar Alan , Kotkov Denis , Głowacka Dorota
Published: August 2024

This article reviews how empirical research of exploratory search is conducted. We investigated aspects of interdisciplinarity, study settings and evaluation methodologies from a systematically selected sample of 231 publications, including a total of 172 articles with empirical studies. Our results show that exploratory search is highly interdisciplinary, with the most frequently occurring publication venues including high impact venues in information science, information systems and human-computer interaction. However, taken in aggregate, the breadth of study settings investigated was limited. We found that a majority of studies (77%) focused on evaluating novel retrieval systems as opposed to investigating users' search processes. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of studies were based on scientific literature search (20.7%), a majority of which only considered searching for Computer Science articles. Study participants were generally from convenience samples, with 75% of studies composed exclusively of students and other academics. The methodologies used for evaluation were mostly quantitative, but lacked consistency between studies and validated questionnaires were rarely used. In discussion, we offer a critical analysis of our findings and suggest potential improvements for future exploratory search studies.
Report on the 4th Workshop on Reducing Online Misinformation through Credible Information Retrieval (ROMCIR 2024) at ECIR 2024
Authors: Petrocchi Marinella , Viviani Marco
Published: August 2024

The 4th Workshop on Reducing Online Misinformation through Credible Information Retrieval (ROMCIR 2024) was part of the Satellite Events of the 46th European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR 2024). ROMCIR served as a platform for discussions on accessing accurate information and addressing the issue of information disorder prevalent in the online landscape at that time. In general, the challenge is multifaceted, encompassing various types of information sources (e.g., websites, social media posts, ...) across different platforms and domains (e.g., fake news detection, health-related information retrieval, propaganda reduction). Additionally, in this edition, the critical need to assess the impact of generative models like Large Language Models (LLMs) on inadvertently amplifying misinformation and explore their potential role in supporting Information Retrieval Systems (IRSs) began to emerge. In this context, diverse approaches to the problem of access to truthful information found their place. Keynote speech and articles in this year's workshop mainly focused on themes such as health misinformation, multimedia and multimodal fact-checking, and information filtering to combat misinformation.

Date
: 24 March 2024.

Website
: https://romcir.disco.unimib.it/.
Report on the Search Futures Workshop at ECIR 2024
Authors: Azzopardi Leif , Clarke Charles L. A. , Kantor Paul , Mitra Bhaskar , Trippas Johanne R. , Ren Zhaochun , Aliannejadi Mohammad , Arabzadeh Negar , Chandrasekar Raman , de Rijke Maarten , Eustratiadis Panagiotis , Hersh William , Huang Jin , Kanoulas Evangelos , Kareem Jasmin , Li Yongkang , Lupart Simon , Mekonnen Kidist Amde , Roegiest Adam , Soboroff Ian , Silvestri Fabrizio , Verberne Suzan , Vos David , Yang Eugene , Zhao Yuyue
Published: August 2024

The First Search Futures Workshop, in conjunction with the
Fourty-sixth European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR)
2024, looked into the future of search to ask questions such as:

• How can we harness the power of generative AI to enhance, improve and re-imagine Information Retrieval (IR)?

• What are the principles and fundamental rights that the field of Information Retrieval should strive to uphold?

• How can we build trustworthy IR systems in light of Large Language Models and their ability to generate content at super human speeds?

• What new applications and affordances does generative AI offer and enable, and can we go back to the future, and do what we only dreamed of previously?

The workshop started with seventeen lightning talks from a diverse set speakers. Instead of conventional paper presentations, the lightning talks provided a rapid and concise overview of ideas, allowing speakers to share critical points or novel concepts quickly. This format was designed to encourage discussion and introduce a wide range of topics within a short period, thereby maximising the exchange of ideas and ensuring that participants could gain insights into various future search areas without the deep dive typically required in longer presentations. This report, co-authored by the workshop's organisers and its participants, summarises the talks and discussions. This report aims to provide the broader IR community with the insights and ideas discussed and debated during the workshop - and to provide a platform for future discussion.

Date
: 24 March 2024.

Website
: https://searchfutures.github.io/.
Animal Linguistics
Authors: Suzuki Toshitaka N.
Published: August 2024

Animal linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that integrates animal behavior, linguistics, and cognitive science to explore issues such as (a) what animal signals mean, (b) what cognitive abilities are necessary for the production and understanding of these signals, and (c) how communication systems have evolved. Despite the traditional belief that language evolved through a single mutation in our ancestors, accumulating evidence suggests that many cognitive abilities underlying human language have also evolved in nonhuman animals. For example, several species of birds and nonhuman primates convey conceptual meanings through specific vocalizations and/or combine multiple meaning-bearing calls into sequences using syntactic rules. Using experimental paradigms inspired by cognitive science and linguistics, animal linguistics aims to uncover the cognitive mechanisms underlying animal language and explores its evolutionary principles. This review examines previous studies exploring the meanings and cognitive abilities underlying animal language and introduces key methodologies in this emerging field.
Communication—Serialization of Electrochemical Impedance Spectra to Forecast Low-Frequency Impedances via Deep Learning Neural Networks
Authors: Cui Chuanyu , Xu Long , Gu Ai , Yang Hao , Xia Dabiao , Lu Qi , Zhao Congcong , Guo Qixun
Published: August 2024

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy offers valuable insights into interfacial properties but acquiring low-frequency (LF) data can be time-consuming. This work explores time series analysis for forecasting LF impedance based on readily available high-frequency (HF) data. The time series methods like long-short term memory, convolutional neural network, and transformer were studied. Suitable neural network (NN) structure was proposed. The impact of forecasting window size was investigated to determine how much information was necessary for NN to establish useful connection. This approach holds promise for faster, more efficient, and insightful analysis of electrochemical systems.
Real‐World Accuracy of a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System after Radiologic Exposure
Authors: Tellez Siobhan , Hornung Lindsey , Smith Emily , Trout Andrew , Brady Samuel , Lowe Colleen , Courter Joshua , Abu-El-Haija Maisam , Elder Deborah
Published: August 2024

Background. The increasing use of continuous glucose monitor (CGM) necessitates a review of variables that impact accuracy and interrupt use. Manufacturer recommendations include removing CGMs before diagnostic imaging, such as X‐ray and computed tomography (CT). Early removal and replacement of CGM components present financial, clinical, and psychosocial burdens to the wearer and interrupt optimal management of diabetes for pediatric patients who receive a total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT). The study’s aim was to evaluate the effect of scatter dose exposure during X‐ray or CT if the CGM remained intact but outside the field of view (FoV). Materials and Methods. Participants were followed through the first 3 months after TPIAT surgery, managed diabetes with an insulin pump and CGM, and were routinely exposed to diagnostic imaging. Participants’ CGMs were unshielded by a protective apron during any X‐ray or CT procedures for the duration of the study period, and the transmitter was collected after expiration or removal. Glucometer data was collected from hospital records and home glucometer downloads. Mixed models were used to analyze absolute differences between matched CGM and glucometer values, and Clarke error grid analyses (EGA) were performed. Scatter dose exposure was derived using anthropomorphic phantoms and calculated retrospectively. Results. A total of 14 patients (median 12.2 years, 64% female) received a median of five diagnostic imaging procedures with a median cumulative scatter dose of 559 µGy. The absolute difference between the CGM and glucometer values was not significantly associated with the cumulative scatter dose (p = 0.17) or time from TPIAT (p = 0.24) when analyzed in a mixed model. Regardless of scatter dose exposure, time from TPIAT, or glucometer, ≥98% of glucose values fell within zones A and B on EGA. Conclusion. Scatter dose exposure from diagnostic imaging did not affect the clinical accuracy of CGM values for the duration of transmitter use. Leaving CGM components in place when not in the FoV during diagnostic imaging successfully mitigated interruptions to use and undue burden or cost to participants.
Hybrid Simulated Annealing‐Evaporation Rate‐Based Water Cycle Algorithm Application for Medical Image Enhancement
Authors: Woldamanuel Eyob Mersha
Published: August 2024

Visualizing medical images is difficult due to artifacts, poor local contrast, low soft tissue contrast, excessive noise levels, and a wide dynamic range. This has created a serious problem for physicians, resulting in unapproachable and inaccurate disease diagnoses. To circumvent this problem, this research proposes a medical image enhancement (MIE) approach based on the hybrid simulated annealing‐evaporation rate‐based water cycle algorithm (SA‐ERWCA). The ERWCA enhances distorted medical images by finding the best optimal solution for the transformation parameters according to the fitness function. The fitness function consists of three objective measurements, namely, entropy, number of edges, and sum of edge intensities. Due to its high potential for finding a globally optimal solution, SA is applied solely to determine the optimized initial population of the ERWCA, thereby enhancing its convergence characteristics. To simply put, the main objective of SA is to avoid premature convergence of the ERWCA. Thus, blending SA and ERWCA produces better‐quality medical images. The performance of the proposed algorithm was compared to histogram equalization (HE), low contrast stretching (LCS), contrast‐limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE), particle swarm optimization (PSO), accelerated PSO (APSO), and the water cycle algorithm (WCA). Along with the objective function fitness, seven full reference (FR) image quality assessment (IQA) metrics were implemented to evaluate image quality and compare performance. The findings of the present study showed that the proposed strategy outperforms all of the compared methods in terms of objective function fitness and perceptual visual IQA metrics such as the Harr wavelet‐based perceptual similarity index (HaarPSI), visual signal‐to‐noise ratio (VSNR), and information content weighted structural similarity index measure (IW‐SSIM). The suggested technique also exhibited better stability and faster convergence time to the optimum solution. Furthermore, the proposed approach outperformed others by avoiding premature convergence to the best solution and providing excellent optimization results with acceptable computational efficiency.
Optimizing Artificial Neural Network Learning Using Improved Reinforcement Learning in Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm
Authors: Lamjiak Taninnuch , Sirinaovakul Booncharoen , Kornthongnimit Siriwan , Polvichai Jumpol , Sohail Aysha
Published: August 2024

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are widely used machine learning techniques with applications in various fields. Heuristic search optimization methods are typically used to minimize the loss function in ANNs. However, these methods can lead the network to become stuck in local optima, limiting performance. To overcome this challenge, this study introduces an improved optimization approach, the improvement of reinforcement learning in the artificial bee colony (improved R‐ABC) algorithm, to enhance the optimization process for ANNs. The proposed method aims to overcome the limitations of heuristic search and improve the efficiency of weight adjustment in ANNs. This new approach enhances the discovery phase of the traditional R‐ABC by including the parameters of neighboring food sources, augmenting the search capabilities for finding the optimal solution. The performance of the improved R‐ABC was compared with ANNs utilizing backpropagation with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and Adam optimizers, as well as other swarm intelligence (SI) methods such as particle swarm optimization (PSO) and traditional R‐ABC. The results showed that both PSO and R‐ABC continuously improved the solutions across all benchmark datasets. In the iris dataset, all SI approaches consistently achieved F1‐scores exceeding 0.94, outperforming SGD and Adam. For the other datasets, the SI approach generally outperformed the other optimization methods. The results indicate that when the improved R‐ABC is applied to ANNs, it outperforms heuristic search optimization, especially as the network size expands. Although SGD and Adam achieved faster execution times with TensorFlow, the study suggests that using PSO and improved R‐ABC can improve model accuracy and efficiency. Advanced SI methods enhance the optimization process and increase the ability of ANNs to obtain optimal solutions. Enhanced R‐ABC and PSO algorithms can significantly improve ANN training performance and efficiency, especially in complex and high‐dimensional datasets.
An Unusual Presentation with Facial Hyperpigmentation on Escalation of the Dose of Sertraline
Authors: Dhungel Omkar , Amatya Indra Prasad , Sharma Pawan
Published: August 2024

Background. Hyperpigmentation is a common side effect of different drugs with many of these having a well‐explained mechanism and some even having a characteristic distribution. However, it is a rare side effect of sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), with only a few reported cases. In addition, there are no specific characteristics of the lesions or the risk factors. Case Summary. This is a case report of a 24‐year‐old male with panic disorder, who developed hyperpigmentation over the face after 5 days of increasing the dosage of sertraline to 100 mg/day. There were no other significant findings from the physical examination or investigations. The patient was treated as a case of sertraline‐induced hyperpigmentation, and the dose was reduced to 75 mg/day and maintained at 50 mg/day after 1 week along with tablet propranolol 20 mg/day. He was also prescribed tablet tranexamic acid 500 mg/day and sunscreen with sun protection factor 50. The hyperpigmentation disappeared within 2 months, and the medication was gradually tapered after 7 months of treatment. Conclusion. Hyperpigmentation is a rare but distressing side effect of sertraline. It is a potentially curable side effect if recognized early. Early recognition and intervention can decrease unnecessary investigations and treatment. There are limited studies highlighting this unusual adverse effect of this commonly used SSRI. Hence, further studies are needed to better understand various aspects of this condition including the characteristics, patients at risk, and possible management. The development of diagnostic and treatment guidelines would decrease the dilemma of identification and management.
Data from Medical Care Costs Associated with Cancer Survivorship in the United States
Authors: Mariotto Angela B. , Enewold Lindsey , Zhao Jingxuan , Zeruto Christopher A. , Yabroff K. Robin
Published: August 2024

AbstractBackground:
The prevalence of cancer survivorship is increasing. In this study, we provide contemporary population–based estimates and projections of the overall and site-specific cancer-attributable medical care costs in the United States.
Methods:
We identified survivors aged ≥65 years diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2012 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database and used 2007 to 2013 claims to estimate costs by cancer site, phases of care, and stage at diagnosis. Annualized average cancer-attributable costs for medical care (Medicare Parts A and B) and oral prescription drugs (Medicare Part D) were estimated by subtracting costs between patients with cancer and matched controls. Costs are reported in 2019 U.S. dollars. We combined phase-specific attributable costs with prevalence projections to estimate national costs from 2015 through 2030.
Results:
Overall annualized average costs were highest in the end-of-life–cancer death phase, followed by the initial and continuing phases (medical care: $105,500, $41,800, and $5,300 and oral prescription drugs: $4,200, $1,800, $1,100, respectively). There was considerable variation in costs by cancer site and stage. Overall national costs in 2015 were $183 billion and projected to increase 34% to $246 billion by 2030, based only on population growth.
Conclusions:
Phase of care cancer-attributable cost estimates by cancer site and stage are key inputs for simulation models and cost-effectiveness analyses.
Impact:
The national cancer-attributed medical care costs in the United States are substantial and projected to increase dramatically by 2030, due to population changes alone, reflecting the rising burden of cancer care among cancer survivors.

See the interview with Angela B. Mariotto, PhD, recipient of the 2024 CEBP Frederick P. Li Impact Award: https://vimeo.com/992980417
Supplemental Table 1 from Personalized ctDNA for Monitoring Disease Status in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Hanna Glenn J. , Dennis Michael J. , Scarfo Nicole , Mullin Michelle S. , Sethi Rosh K.V. , Sehgal Kartik , Annino Donald J. , Goguen Laura A. , Haddad Robert I. , Tishler Roy B. , Margalit Danielle N. , Uppaluri Ravindra , Schoenfeld Jonathan D. , Rettig Eleni M.
Published: August 2024

Supplemental Table 1. Impact of clinical features on pre-treatment ctDNA detectability.
Supplemental Figure 1 from Personalized ctDNA for Monitoring Disease Status in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Hanna Glenn J. , Dennis Michael J. , Scarfo Nicole , Mullin Michelle S. , Sethi Rosh K.V. , Sehgal Kartik , Annino Donald J. , Goguen Laura A. , Haddad Robert I. , Tishler Roy B. , Margalit Danielle N. , Uppaluri Ravindra , Schoenfeld Jonathan D. , Rettig Eleni M.
Published: August 2024

Supplemental Figure 1. Swimmer plot.
Genotype-Directed Synthetic Cytotoxicity of ATR Inhibition with Radiotherapy
Authors: Ng Victor , Sinha Sonali , Novaj Ardijana , Ma Jennifer , McDermott Niamh , Pei Xin , Longhini Ana Leda F. , Grimsley Helen , Gardner Rui , Rosen Ezra , Powell Simon N. , Pareja Fresia , Mandelker Diana , Khan Atif , Setton Jeremy , Roulston Anne , Morris Stephen , Koehler Maria , Lee Nancy , Reis-Filho Jorge , Riaz Nadeem
Published: August 2024

Purpose:

The importance of the DNA damage response in mediating effects of radiotherapy (RT) has galvanized efforts to target this pathway with radiosensitizers. Yet early clinical trials of this approach have failed to yield a benefit in unselected populations. We hypothesized that ataxia–telangiectasia mutated (Atm)–null tumors would demonstrate genotype-specific synergy between RT and an inhibitor of the DNA damage response protein ataxia–telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase.

Experimental Design:

We investigated the synergistic potential of the ATR inhibitor (ATRi) RP-3500 and RT in two Atm-null and isogenic murine models, both in vitro and in vivo. Staining of γ-H2AX foci, characterization of the immune response via flow cytometry, and tumor rechallenge experiments were performed to elucidate the mechanism of interaction. To examine genotype specificity, we tested the interaction of ATRi and RT in a Brca1-null model. Finally, patients with advanced cancer with ATM alterations were enrolled in a phase I/II clinical trial to validate preclinical findings.

Results:

Synergy between RP-3500 and RT was confirmed in Atm-null lines in vitro, characterized by an accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks. In vivo, Atm-null tumor models had higher rates of durable control with RT and ATRi than controls. In contrast, there was no synergy in tumors lacking Brca1. Analysis of the immunologic response indicated that efficacy is largely mediated by cell-intrinsic mechanisms. Lastly, early results from our clinical trial showed complete responses in patients.

Conclusions:

Genotype-directed radiosensitization with ATRi and RT can unleash significant therapeutic benefit and could represent a novel approach to develop more effective combinatorial synthetic cytotoxic RT-based treatments.

See related commentary by Schrank and Colbert, p. 5505
Dissecting Out a Rare Mutation, STAT: Features of STAT3-Mutant Myeloid Neoplasms
Authors: Hochman Michael J. , Frank David A.
Published: August 2024

The transcription factor STAT3 drives the expression of genes promoting cellular proliferation, survival, and pluripotency. The description of STAT3 mutations and their clinical correlates in myeloid neoplasms, such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, raises new insights into both the pathogenesis and the targeted therapy of these diseases.

See related article by Ye et al., p. 4681
Supplementary Table 1 from Molecular Pathways and Cellular Subsets Associated with Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Overlapping Immune-Related Myocarditis and Myositis
Authors: Siddiqui Bilal A. , Palaskas Nicolas L. , Basu Sreyashi , Dai Yibo , He Zhong , Yadav Shalini S. , Allison James P. , Sheth Rahul A. , Tummala Sudhakar , Buja Maximilian , Bhattacharjee Meenakshi B. , Iliescu Cezar , Rawther-Karedath Anishia , Deswal Anita , Wang Linghua , Sharma Padmanee , Subudhi Sumit K.
Published: August 2024

Baseline Clinical Characteristics
Figure 4 from FLT3/CD99 Bispecific Antibody–Based Nanoparticles for Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Authors: Ali Atham , Phan Alvin , Vaikari Vijaya , Park Mincheol , Pospiech Mateusz , Chu Ryan , Meng Yiting , MacKay John A. , Alachkar Houda
Published: August 2024

Antibody nanoworms FLT3-A192 and CD99-A192 induce apoptosis and cell death. A–D, Trypan blue staining detects a decrease in cell viability across different cell lines FLT3-ITD+/CD99+ AML cells (MV4-11, MOLM-13), FLT3−/CD99+ cells (U937), and FLT3WT+/CD99− (THP-1). In MV4-11, co-assembling CD99-A192 and FLT3-A192 further reduced viability compared to a combination “mixture” of/or single-targeted nanoworms. E and F, Greater levels of apoptosis (quadrant Q2) were observed by flow cytometry in MV4-11 cells treated with FLT3-A192, CD99-A192, and Co-Assembled formulations. G and H, In THP-1 cells levels of apoptosis did not change between the different treatment groups. I, The CCK-8 assay was used to quantify the dose-dependent cell viability in MV4-11 cells. Nonlinear curve fitting was used to estimate the IC50, which showed that Co-Assembled CD99-A192 and FLT3-A192 (0.2 μmol/L) was more potent than FLT3-A192 (1.7 μmol/L) and CD99-A192 (0.4 μmol/L) by itself. J, Effects of FLT3-A192, CD99-A192, and co-assembled in primary patient samples obtained from USC001 (FLT3-ITD+), USC100 (Refractory/Relapse FLT3-ITD+), USC109 (FLT3-ITD + at diagnosis), and healthy donors (HDs). Mean ± SD (n = 3).
DIVERSITY OF Citrus spp. FROM PENAJAM PASER UTARA, EAST KALIMANTAN BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS
Authors: Oktavianingsih Linda , Crisdayanti Noviana , Arif Muhammad Fauzi , Hendra Medi
Published: August 2024

ARTICLE HIGLIGHTS- This research is the first study to provide data on the diversity of Citrus spp. from North Penajam Paser Regency (IKN) area, East Kalimantan for further development and breeding program. - This research offers new information on the distribution of Citrus spp. from the North Penajam Paser Regency (IKN) area, East Kalimantan. - This research provides information on the phenetic relationships among Citrus spp. from the North Penajam Paser Regency (IKN) area, East Kalimantan, and the morphological characteristics that play the most significant role in their clustering.
ABSTRACTCitrus spp. is local Indonesian fruit with high diversity and widely distributed around Indonesia country. Diversity and relationship data of Citrus spp. from Penajam Paser Utara-East Kalimantan has never been studied before. This study aimed to provide the diversity and relationship data of Citrus spp. from Penajam Paser Utara using morphological characteristics which served as the basic data for further development and breeding. The research was conducted through observation and sampling, followed by characterization and scoring of morphological data, and lastly the data analysis. The research succeeded in finding 35 accessions of Citrus spp. consisting of C. limon “Jeruk Lemon”, C. suhuensis, “Jeruk Siam”, C. aurantiifolia “Jeruk Nipis”, C. sinensis “Jeruk Manis”, C. maxima “Jeruk Bali”, C. microcarpa “Jeruk Kalamansi”, and Citrus sp. "Jeruk Sunkist" spread in sub-district Penajam, Sepaku, Babulu, and Waru. The dendrogram to clustering Citrus spp. in PPU was divided into two large clusters. Cluster A was grouped based on the character of tree habitus, cordate leaf apex, entire leaf margin, pink mesocarp color, and seed absence. Cluster B was grouped based on the character of the shrubs habitus, acute and rounded leaf apex, crenate leaf margin, white to orange mesocarp color, and numerous seeds in the fruit. This diversity made Citrus spp. from Penajam Paser Utara had high potential value for further development through a plant breeding program.
BIODIVERSITY OF CELLULOLYTIC BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM FERMETODEGE FOR RUMINANTS
Authors: Isnawati  , Lisa Lisdiana  , Mahanani Tri Asri  , Guntur Trimulyono
Published: August 2024

ARTICLE HIGLIGHTS- Fermetodege as a source of cellulolytic bacteria that degrade cellulosic materials.- Enhances ruminant feed by improving palatability and digestibility.- Utilizes water hyacinth, reducing invasive plant spread and supporting ecosystems.- Bioprospecting reveals new bacteria for effective fermentation starter development.ABSTRACTFermetodege is a name of fermented ruminant feed produced from free heavy metals water hyacinth, rice bran, and corn cobs. Its quality, as well as the fermentation process, are affected by numerous factors, such as the diversity, evenness, and dominance of indigenous cellulolytic bacterial species. A proper understanding of these influential factors is needed to improve the quality of the fermented feed. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the diversity, evenness, and dominance of cellulolytic bacteria isolated from fermetodege. The cellulolytic activity of the isolates was tested by observing their growth on the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) media. Isolates with cellulolytic activity formed a clear zone after the colonies were soaked with 0.1% Congo red and rinsed with 1 M NaCl. The Shannon-Weiner's diversity and evenness indexes, as well as Simpson's species dominance, were then calculated. The result showed that the Shannon-Weiner’s diversity index ranged from 0.6849 to 1.8173, and it was categorized as medium. The evenness index was between 0.7778 and 0.9983, which indicates a stable distribution of species. Meanwhile, the Simpson’s species dominance ranged from 0.1835 to 0.5082, which implies that none of the species was dominant. These results show that fermetodege is potentially a source of bacterial isolates and can be used as a fermentation consortium starter.
INFLUENCE OF TAURINE ON LARVAL EYE DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GOLDEN RABBITFISH (Siganus guttatus)
Authors: Darsiani  , Setiawati Mia , Jusadi Dedi , Suprayudi Muhammad Agus , Laining Asda
Published: August 2024

ARTICLE HIGLIGHTS- Taurine improves eye development in golden rabbitfish larvae- Enhanced growth performance with taurine-enriched rotifers- Taurine positively impacts fish eye and body growthABSTRACTGolden rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus) is an emerging species for aquaculture industry, despite constrains faced on commercial scale of seed production due to the high mortality during the first-feeding stage. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of taurine through enrichment of rotifers as live-feed on eye development and growth performance of larval golden rabbitfish. Observation of eye development was carried out by measuring eye diameter of the larva and development of the retina based on histology assessment. Growth performance was measured for absolute growth and fin development of the larvae and survival rate. The results showed that taurine-enriched rotifer generally provided better performances for eye development and growth of larval golden rabbitfish compared with control (without taurine). Increase of taurine dose up to 0.050 g/L resulted in an increase of eye diameter, absolute growth, fin development and survival rate. Further increased increment of the taurine tended to decrease the values of the measured parameters. The eye diameter of larval golden rabbitfish fed with 0.050 g/L taurine-enriched rotifer was significantly wider (106.1±9.8 µm) (P < 0.05) compared with control (58.2±14.3 µm), but did not significantly differ from other doses of taurine (P > 0.05). Body width of larvae fed with 0.050 g/L taurine-enriched rotifer was significantly higher (127.3±14.6 µm) (P < 0.05) compared with control (98.8±18.3 µm). In regard to eye development, growth performances (total length, fin development and survival rate), dose of taurine for rotifer enrichment fed to larval golden rabbitfish Siganus guttatus was 0.050 g/L.
Existing Conditions of Gastropod Communities in Areas Affected by Nickel Mining Overburden in the Mangrove Ecosystem of Dawi-Dawi, Southeast Sulawesi
Authors: Fajar Purnama Muhammad , Prayitno Slamet Budi , Muskananfola Max Rudolf , Suryanti Suryanti
Published: August 2024

ARTICLE HIGLIGHTS- Nickel mining activities significantly impacted the ecological integrity of the Pomalaa coastal area in Southeast Sulawesi, particularly in the mangrove ecosystem.- The exposure of overburden waste in the mangrove ecosystem has led to the loss of important gastropod species and a decline in population of surviving species- The low population of gastropod species in nickel mining impact areas indicates extensive environmental damage caused by these activities.ABSTRACTGastropod resources in the Dawi-Dawi mangrove ecosystem, Southeast Sulawesi are greatly influenced by the input of overburden waste (sediment) from nickel mining activities. This condition has been going on for the last 2 decades and has degraded the habitat and structure of the gastropod community. The upstream connectivity (the existing nickel mining area) and the Dawi-Dawi River estuary mean that the mangrove forest (estuary) in this area is continuously affected by (massive) overburden runoff. This research was carried out in June-August in the mangrove ecosystem of Dawi-Dawi Village, Southeast Sulawesi Province. This research aims to determine the existing condition of mangrove gastropods affected by overburden. This research began by conducting initial observations in the field, to identify mangrove ecosystems affected by overburden. research stations were determined using a purposive sampling technique (targeted) and sampling gastropods using a simple random sampling method. The ecological index of the mangrove gastropod community affected by overburden shows a tendency for a medium diversity index (H'=1.81), low species richness (R=1.42), high evenness (E=1.12), and no dominance of certain species (C=0.19). The gastropod species found are typical types that make up the mangrove fauna, namely Terebralia sulcata, Terebralia palustris, Faunus ater, Telescopium telescopium, Hebra nigra, and several taxa (genus) of climbing Littoraria snails (periwinkle) which are found in the roots, stems and leaves of mangroves. The abundance of gastropods obtained was also very low, namely around 0-12 Ind./m2. At some points (rarely) schools of small snails of the type T. sulcata (5-21 Ind./m2) are sometimes found. This research shows de facto that overburden waste eliminates (survival) or reduces the diversity and richness of gastropod species (ecological index) in the mangrove ecosystem of Dawi-Dawi.
Race and Sex Differences in the Association of Bystander CPR for Cardiac Arrest
Authors: Chan Paul S. , Girotra Saket , Blewer Audrey , Kennedy Kevin F. , McNally Bryan F. , Benoit Justin L. , Starks Monique A. ,   the CARES Surveillance Group
Published: August 2024

BACKGROUND:

Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with higher survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but whether its association with survival differs by patients’ sex and race and ethnicity is less clear.

METHODS:

Within a large US registry, we identified 623 342 nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrests during 2013 to 2022 for this observational cohort study. Using hierarchical logistic regression, we examined whether there was a differential association between bystander CPR and survival outcomes by patients’ sex and race and ethnicity, overall and by neighborhood strata.

RESULTS:

Mean age was 62.1±17.1 years, and 35.9% were women. Nearly half of patients (49.8%) were non-Hispanic White; 20.6% were non-Hispanic Black; 7.3% were Hispanic; 2.9% were Asian; and 0.4% were Native American. Overall, 58 098 (9.3%) survived to hospital discharge. Although bystander CPR was associated with higher survival in each race and ethnicity group, the association of bystander CPR compared with patients without bystander CPR in each racial and ethnic group was highest in individuals who were White (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.33 [95% CI, 1.30–1.37]) and Native American (adjusted OR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.02–1.90]) and lowest in individuals who were Black (adjusted OR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.04–1.14];
P
interaction
<0.001). The adjusted OR for bystander CPR compared with those without bystander CPR for Hispanic patients was 1.29 (95% CI, 1.20–1.139), for Asian patients, it was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.12–1.42), and for those of unknown race, it was 1.31 (95% CI, 1.25–1.36). Similarly, bystander CPR was associated with higher survival in both sexes, but its association with survival was higher in men (adjusted OR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.31–1.38]) than women (adjusted OR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.12–1.19];
P
interaction
<0.001). The weaker association of bystander CPR in Black individuals and women was consistent across neighborhood race and ethnicity and income strata. Similar results were observed for the outcome of survival without severe neurological deficits.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although bystander CPR was associated with higher survival in all patients, its association with survival was weakest for Black individuals and women with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
On the Religious and the Secular in Nineteenth-Century Buganda
Authors: Zoanni Tyler
Published: August 2024

The case of nineteenth-century Buganda opens up a number of assumptions within scholarship about religion, secularity, and politics in African history. Although much scholarship focuses on European colonizers introduced alien categories such as religion and imposed distinctions between religion and politics, this paper foregrounds a different set of historical transformations in what is now Uganda – transformations that ultimately increased rather than diminished connections between the exercise of political power and markedly religious convictions. Along the way, it locates some of the most important pieces of this story in ‘the precolonial’. This allows the paper to trace the emergence of the category of religion, as well as analyze the sense in which it is meaningful to think of precolonial Buganda as secular at a particular moment. In so doing, the paper puts an African story in dialogue with wider conversations on the secular.
Towards an African Theology of the Lord’s Supper that is more than a Miracle Meal
Authors: Amarkwei Charles
Published: August 2024

The Lord’s Supper is viewed as a miracle meal by African Pentecostals. However, it is suggested that a miracle notion only partly conveys the meaning embedded in the Lord’s Supper. The study adds that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ritual that involves spiritual and mystical participation in God’s economy by grace through faith in Jesus Christ in the Spirit. Admission to the Lord’s Supper should be based on faith in Jesus Christ and a preparation process that includes instruction, baptism, confirmation, and regular penitential prayer such as the ‘speaking’. The essay argues that infants can partake in the Lord’s Supper based on the faith of their parents or guardians, while children of responsible age can participate if they go through the confirmation rite. The discussion covers church governance principles and suggests that limiting the covenantal rights of offending members is just insofar as the church remains an ethical institution.
Can a Missional Ecclesiology Be Sacramental?
Authors: Worthen Jeremy
Published: August 2024

‘Missional’ accounts of ecclesiology, developed in the light of the theology of missio Dei since the 1950s, include some that carry a sacramental emphasis, treating the dominical sacraments as primary for the church’s being and also recognized continuity in the ordering of ministry as integral to this sacramental identity. Nonetheless, continuing tensions are evident in the literature on missional ecclesiology and in controversies around church policy and practice. One factor here is an underlying contrast between an approach that locates the church’s participation in the missio Dei in its action towards the world and another that puts the weight instead on its sustaining a distinctive form of being-in-relationship. Treating the relation between gospel, communication and communion as the critical theological framework for articulating the church’s participation in the missio Dei, the article proposes that this can support an ecclesiology that, constructively addressing this contrast, is both thoroughly missional and deeply sacramental.