bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring Kinship in Anthropology and History: Surnames and Social Transformations in the Bolivian Andes
Authors: Sanabria Harry
Published: October 2022

This research note assesses how surnames in a Bolivian Quechua-speaking peasant community were transmitted and distributed from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth to show that parish register data can allow anthropologists to uncover the impact and significance of larger political, economic, and historical processes at the local level. I argue that patterns of surname transmission underwent a momentous shift between the early 1800s and the mid-1900s, from high percentages of illegitimate infants carrying their fathers' surname to virtually none doing so, an upshot of sweeping changes in sociocultural practices spawned by the revolution and agrarian reform in 1952 and 1953. This transformation in the allocation of patronyms to baptized infants reflected a new importance attached by both peasants and church officials to legitimate birth status and its coupling with genealogical reckoning via surname transmission. Such a coupling was important for peasants in order to cope with uncertainty and ambiguity in the midst of shifting and uncertain contexts structuring access to land and resources. It was also important for parish church officials, who probably thought it necessary to adhere more closely to national legal codes in a revolutionary setting.
The Crisis in Venezuelan Civil-Military Relations: From Punto Fijo to the Fifth Republic
Authors: Trinkunas Harold A.
Published: October 2022

For many who thought of Venezuela as a consolidated democracy, the 1992 coup attempts came as a complete surprise. Those familiar with the deterioration of its democratic regime, in contrast, were more surprised that the coups did not succeed. This article provides an institution-centered explanation of the puzzle of why the 1992 coup attempts occurred, why they failed, and why the Venezuelan military has remained quiescent in the years that followed. Institutions of civilian control created during the post-1958 “Punto Fijo” period, particularly those based on fragmenting the officer corps, prevented the collapse of the democratic regime in 1992. These same institutions allowed civilians to regain authority over the armed forces during the Rafael Caldera administration and have ensured the subordination of the armed forces to elected authorities to the present. It is also argued that the institutional basis for civilian control has been dismantled during the Fifth Republic, heightening the likelihood of future civil-military conflict and threatening regime stability.
Ecologically Noble Amerindians?: Cattle Ranching and Cash Cropping among Shuar and Colonists in Ecuador
Authors: Rudel Thomas K. , Bates Diane , Machinguiashi Rafael
Published: October 2022

Observers have argued that as indigenous peoples become more acculturated and their reserves more populous, they begin to exploit tropical rain forests much as colonists and other outsiders do. The history of changes in land use between 1950 and 1980 among the Shuar, an indigenous group in the Ecuadorian Amazon, would appear to support this convergence thesis. The Shuar began to clear land, plant pastures, and acquire cattle, much like their mestizo competitors for land. Using survey and remote-sensing data for a later period, from 1987 to 1997, we demonstrate that convergence has given way to divergence in land-use trends among the two groups. While mestizo smallholders throughout the region continue to rely on cattle ranching, Shuar smallholders close to roads have begun to reforest their lands and cultivate former garden crops like coffee and cacao as cash crops. These recent trends in Shuar land use suggest that even when Amerindians become more acculturated, they still maintain more biologically diverse landscapes than their mestizo neighbors.
Subalterns, Signifiers, and Statistics: Perspectives on Mexican Historiography
Authors: Knight Alan
Published: October 2022

This essay comments on the “new cultural history” of Mexico and the debate recently conducted between critics and protagonists of the genre in the Hispanic American Historical Review. After a scene-setting preamble, the essay consists of three substantive parts. First, in considering what the new cultural history is and what degree of novelty it might claim, the essay identifies and critiques seven features of the genre: its concern for subalterns, agency, political engagement, the reinsertion of politics, mentalities, texts, and interdisciplinary influences. Second, the essay addresses the style and semantics of the new cultural history, in particular its penchant for buzzwords and jargon. Third, the article turns to the major critic of the genre, Stephen Haber, and considers his preferred alternative (so-called scientific history). The essay argues that while Haber's critique is often persuasive, it is also in places misconceived, perhaps exaggerated, and tending toward a narrow positivism. Historiography, the essay unoriginally concludes, need not be falsely polarized between narrow positivism and fashionable postmodernism.
Escape from Terror: Violence and Migration in Post-Revolutionary Guatemala
Authors: Morrison Andrew R. , May Rachel A.
Published: October 2022

Violence has permeated the Central American landscape for much of its history. Of the Central American republics, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua have suffered most from violence in recent decades, and they are also the countries that have received the most scholarly attention. Recent analyses of violence have emerged from an array of disciplines ranging from ethnohistory to political economy and have focused on subjects as divergent as cold war politics and the problems of land tenure.
With All Due Respect: Popular Resistance to the Privatization of Communal Lands in Nineteenth-Century Michoacán
Authors: Purnell Jennie
Published: October 2022

Thearticle explores popular opposition to the nineteenth-century liberallaws thatmandated privatization ofthecommunal lands held byIndian communities in Mexico. It argues that peasants in Michoactin responded to the reparto withacomplex mixtureof resistance, negotiation, andaccommodation in attempts to retain local control over the definition and distribution of property rights and to defend local religious and political institutions. The first section provides a briefoverview of liberal thinkingand legislation on the privatization of communal lands, highlighting the legal and ideological ambiguities and contradictions that provided opportunities for resistance and negotiation. The second section explores howand why peasants sooften opposed the reparto in Michoacdn, stressing the complex natureof popular resistance and state responses to it. Thethirdsection offers a briefoverview of nineteenth-century agrarian development in Michoactin as background for thetwo case studies of the politics of privatization at thelocal level. Zacapu peasants managed to delay thereparto for thirty-five years but ended up losing muchof theirlandto statetax officials and neighboring landowners. SanJuan Parangaricutiro successfully retained its substantial woodlands as communal property, evenas local mestizo elites appropriatedthe best of cultivated landas private property. Thearticle concludes with a comparative analysis of the liberal reparto in the two communities, linking the different outcomes to peasant partisanship in theagrarian andpolitical struggles of theMexican Revolution.
Mining Markets, Peasants, and Power in Nineteenth-Century Peru
Authors: Deustua José
Published: October 2022

“Jauja, rinconcito de mi valle.”

Andean folk song, Juan Bolívar

The military government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1975) coined the phrase, “¡Campesino, el patrón no comerá más de tu pobreza!” (“Peasant, the patrón will feed no more on your poverty”). Clearly a favorite slogan of the self-described “Peruvian Revolution,” this saying appeared frequently on posters and in newspaper notices. Although linked to Velasco's agrarian reform program and peasant organizations like the Confederación Nacional Agraria (CNA), which emerged from the plan, this aphorism was said to have originated with José Ga-Mejía,La reforma agraria en el Perú(Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1980). I take the agrarian reform process into consideration because of its impact on my generation, which experienced all of its effects intensely.
Quincentennial Publishing: An Ocean of Print
Authors: Block David
Published: October 2022

These contrasting pronouncements on Christopher Columbus's transatlantic navigation in 1492 crystalize the extreme division of opinion that characterized the recent quincentennial. The five-hundredth anniversary of Columbus's first voyage inspired among other things a world's fair, several replicas of the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, two feature films, and an opera. Commemoration of the event also inspired, in time-honored tradition, the publication of thousands of works dedicated to this major event. Thus although publishing technology is speeding along toward electronic rather than printed images, the fifth centennial of Columbus's voyage has been marked most significantly by the rolling of the presses.
“Growth With Equity” in Chile's New Democracy?
Authors: Weyland Kurt
Published: October 2022

The new democracy in Chile provides an interesting test case for two influential lines of thinking on Latin American political economy. Both these perspectives have claimed that the recently installed civilian regimes would find it exceedingly difficult to effect equity-enhancing change. One hypothesis has stressed the impediments posed by a capitalist free-market system to measures favoring the poor. The other has emphasized the obstacles presented by a transition to democracy that avoids a rupture with the preceding conservative dictatorship. Because the democratic government led by Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994) faced both types of constraints, it should have been particularly unlikely to achieve greater social fairness.
Environmentalism in Guatemala: When Fish Have Ears
Authors: Berger Susan A.
Published: October 2022

Environmentalism in Guatemala has emerged in conjunction with trends toward regional democratization and international economic globalization. These origins have helped form and continue to shape the organizational structure, membership, and policy orientation of the movement as well as its strategies and tactics for policy implementation. The ecology movement became closely associated with party politics during the democratization of the 1980s and eventually established an almost symbiotic relationship with the administration of the Partido Democracia Cristiana under Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo (1986-1990). But this early alliance with the Democracia Cristiana eventually weakened the movement's ability to make independent policy decisions and to protect itself from attacks by opposing parties. The relationship between the environmental movement and the state also reinforced the movement's dependence on international financing. These party and international connections have limited the organizational scope of the movement, with the result being that the ecological movement in Guatemala today remains small and urban-based and lacks a strong grassroots foundation.
What Is the Color of the Holy Spirit? Pentecostalism and Black Identity in Brazil
Authors: Burdick John
Published: October 2022

For the past twenty years, the organized black consciousness movement in Brazil has argued that Protestant Christianity is a highly assimilationist religion that pushes black converts to abandon their racial identity and seek incorporation into dominant white culture. The present study, based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro, challenges this view. By analyzing how Pentecostal churches address the issues of appearance, color, courtship, and womanhood, this research note argues that although evangelical Christianity involves a variety of beliefs that are incompatible with a strong ethnic identity, this religion also includes a range of ideas and practices that nourish rather than corrode black identity. The essay concludes by exploring the historic potential of several churches that have made the intersection of faith and race an explicit part of their agenda.
Ciudadanía, Derechos E Identidad
Authors: Jelin Elizabeth
Published: October 2022

El debate sobre la marginalidad en los años sesenta fue rico y complejo, tanto en orientaciones y posturas teóricas como en los estudios empíricos que generó. Creo que las posturas analíticas, que llevaban en sí mismas también posturas políticas y éticas a la vez, pueden sintetizarse en cuatro sentidos de la noción de marginalidad, y un quinto que fue tomando fuerza en las décadas siguientes. Quiero tomar cada una de ellos de manera sobresimplificada y comentar si y cómo sirven o se aplican en la actualidad, en el cambio de siglo.
The Strengths and Limits of the NGO Women's Movement Model: Shaping Nicaragua's Democratic Institutions
Authors: Ewig Christina
Published: October 2022

This article examines the political interactions in Nicaragua between the NGO-based feminist movement and government institutions on the issue of women's health in the mid-1990s. Analysis of the Nicaraguan feminist movement yields insight into the ability of NGO-based movements to influence state policy and into the strengths and limits of using NGOs as an institutional base on which to build a social movement. By defining the mechanisms of state-NGO interactions and analyzing the democratic potential of an NGO-based social movement, this article contributes to understanding of both NGOs and social movements in the context of newly democratic governments.
Historical Archives of the Republic of Panama
Authors: Meding Holger M.
Published: October 2022

Despite the significance of the Panama Canal in the maritime economy, the Republic of Panama has not yet been studied adequately, particularly its domestic archives. After a critique of existing historical writing on major Panamanian topics, problems, and deficiencies, this research note provides a brief history of the national archives in Panama and the most significant private collections. The coverage identifies the contents, subdivisions, and shortcomings of these archives as well as finding aids and catalogues. It also describes the most relevant published sources on the history of the Isthmian Republic, including government publications, periodicals and newspapers, and compilations.
Tribal land alienation and Adivasis’ struggle for autonomy: The case of Bhadrachalam Scheduled Area, Telangana, India
Authors: Benbabaali Dalel
Published: October 2022

Based on a case study of the Bhadrachalam Scheduled Area of Telangana, this article argues that the Adivasis of Central India seek autonomy as a response to their dispossession and to the accumulation of capital taking place in their resource-rich territories. The two main factors that have curtailed Adivasi autonomy through land alienation are analysed. The first is a process of agricultural colonization, wherein settlers belonging to agrarian dominant castes have moved into Adivasi territory and acquired tribal lands, thus dispossessing the original owners and reducing them to daily wage labourers. The second process is the industrialization of tribal areas where raw material is available and manpower is cheap, allowing for rapid accumulation through the exploitation of both nature and labour. Adivasis’ struggle for autonomy is therefore a way to reclaim control over their own resources and to preserve their distinct identity.
Arctic Survey Part I. Survey of Health Conditions and Medical and Hospital Services in the North West Territories
Authors: Wherrett G. J.
Published: October 2022

The Scope of the Survey. The survey was confined to the Mackenzie River District. The places visited were Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Hay River, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Arctic Red River, Fort McPherson, Aklavik, Yellowknife, and Port Radium. Fort Norman and Fort Rae were not visited, but information in regard to these was obtained from medical officers for these areas. All but one doctor in the area were interviewed. The hospitals and schools were visited and the authorities in charge were most co-operative in supplying information. Useful interviews were had with the clergy, R.C.M.P., R.C.C.S., Hudson Bay Company officials, independent traders, oil and mine operators, and many other residents of the Territories.
Arctic Survey Part II. Survey of Education in the Mackenzie District
Authors: Moore Andrew
Published: October 2022

The duties assigned to the writer, as his part in the project of the Canadian Social Science Research Council for the study of the Canadian Arctic, were: (a) to visit Indian Residential and Day Schools as well as non-denominational schools for children who are not wards of the Dominion Government; (b) to survey all educational facilities and activities; (c) to make recommendations for improving educational services. In pursuing this assignment during the months of July and August, 1944, the localities were visited in the following order: (a) Fort Smith, (b) Norman Wells, (c) Arctic Red River, (d) Aklavik, (e) Fort McPherson, (f) Fort Good Hope, (g) Fort Simpson, (h) Fort Providence, (i) Hay River, (j) Fort Resolution, (k) Yellowknife, (l) Port Radium. Thanks to a very complete list of key people provided by the Department of Mines and Resources, it was possible to meet those who knew most about the matters under investigation and who, without exception, were most cooperative and anxious to provide all relevant information and all possible assistance.
Data-driven model predictive control of underactuated ships with unknown dynamics in confined waterways
Authors: Li Shijie , Xu Chengqi , Liu Jialun
Published: October 2022

Inland waterway transportation is one of the most important means to transport cargo in rivers and canals. To facilitate autonomous navigation for ships in inland waterways, this paper proposes a data-driven approach for predictions and control of underactuated ships with unknown dynamics, which integrates model predictive control (MPC) with an iterative learning control (ILC) scheme. In each iteration, kernel-based linear regressors are used to identify the relations between the evolution of ship states and control inputs based on the stored data from previous iterations and the collected data during operation, so as to build the system prediction model. The data are dynamically used to fix the prediction model over iterations, as well as to improve the controller performance until it converges. The proposed approach does not require prior knowledge regarding the hydrodynamic coefficients and ship parameters, but learns from the data instead. In addition, it exploits the advantages of MPC in handling constraints with minimised overall cost. Simulation results show that the controller could start from a nominal, linear data-driven ship model and then learn to reduce the path-following errors based on the data obtained over iterations.
Störungsspezifische und transdiagnostische Veränderung der Inflammationsaktivität bei psychischen Störungen
Authors: Matits Lynn , Gumpp Anja Maria , Kolassa Iris-Tatjana , Behnke Alexander , Mack Matthias
Published: October 2022

Zusammenfassung: Theoretischer Hintergrund: Empirische Befunde deuten vermehrt auf eine erhöhte Entzündungsaktivität im Zusammenhang mit psychischen Störungen hin. Inwieweit sich inflammatorische Veränderungen über Störungen hinweg unterscheiden bzw. ob Inflammation ein transdiagnostisches Korrelat psychischer Störungen darstellt, ist bisher jedoch noch nicht eindeutig beantwortet. Fragestellung: Liegen spezifische inflammatorische Marker (z. B. Zytokine) über psychische Störungen hinweg verändert vor und/oder gibt es störungsspezifische Zytokinveränderungen bei Major Depression (MDD), Bipolarer Störung, Schizophrenie und Angststörungen inkl. Posttraumatischer Belastungsstörung (PTBS). Methode: Basierend auf einer Literaturrecherche werden aktuelle metaanalytische Befunde, die Studien bei Patient_innen mit MDD, Bipolarer Störung, Schizophrenie oder Angststörungen inkl. PTBS im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollen betrachten, zusammengetragen und vergleichend dargestellt. Ergebnisse: Aktuelle Evidenz verweist relativ konsistent auf Veränderungen des Immunsystems, wobei v. a. das Zytokin Interleukin (IL–) 6 und das C-reaktive Protein (CRP) störungsübergreifend leicht erhöht sind. Schlussfolgerungen: Perspektivisch könnten Patient_innen mit chronisch inflammatorischen Erkrankungen und psychischen Störungen von psychotherapiebegleitenden antiinflammatorischen Maßnahmen wie bspw. körperlicher Aktivität, antiinflammatorischer Ernährung und Entspannungsverfahren profitieren.
Dispersion Processes in Weakly Dissipative Tidal Channels
Authors: De Leo A. , Tambroni N. , Stocchino A.
Published: October 2022

We report the results of an extensive experimental campaign dedicated to the analysis of turbulent dispersion owing to the circulations in tidal environments, characterized by a tidal inlet and a channel with lateral tidal flats. We focus on weakly‐convergent and weakly‐dissipative estuaries or tidal embankments, where the internal waters communicate with the open sea through an inlet mouth. Tides are reproduced as single or multiple harmonics waves. Particle Image Velocimetry is employed to measure two‐dimensional surface velocity fields. Large‐scale macro‐vortices, generated by vortex shedding during the flood phase from the inlet barrier, tend to occupy the entire tidal flats width and are completely flushed out during the ebb phase. In all experiments, an intense residual current, with shape influenced by the large‐scale flood vortices, is observed. The presence of large‐scale vortices and of a residual current strongly influences the Lagrangian auto‐correlation functions and the corresponding absolute dispersion time evolution. Looping auto‐correlations are the signature of both periodic forcing and vortices, ultimately, leading to super diffusive regimes. An asymptotic Brownian regime is always found for the investigated range of parameters allowing for an estimate of the horizontal dispersion coefficients which turn out to decrease with the friction parameter and tend to be enhanced when the semi‐diurnal constituents prevail. Finally, multiple particle statistics show multiple regimes depending on particle separations, compared to a typical injection length scale that seems to coincide with the inlet mouth dimension.
The relationship of adverse childhood experiences, hair cortisol, C-reactive protein, and polygenic susceptibility with older adults’ psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Taylor Katie S. , Steptoe Andrew , Iob Eleonora
Published: October 2022

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to poorer mental health outcomes, and growing evidence implicates biological and genetic pathways from early adversity to psychopathology. However, little is known about the relationship of ACEs and their underlying biological and genetic mechanisms with older people’s mental health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We tested the associations of ACEs, hair cortisol, C-reactive protein (CRP), and polygenic scores (PGS) with depression, anxiety, and loneliness among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for the potential interplay of ACEs with biological and genetic risk markers. Data were drawn from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a prospective cohort study of older adults living in England. Retrospective information on ACEs were collected in 2006/7, while CRP and hair cortisol were measured at wave 6 (2012/13). Psychological distress was assessed before the pandemic (2018–19) and at two COVID-19 assessments in 2020 (June-July and November-December). Associations were tested on 2050 participants using linear/logistic regression models adjusted for pre-pandemic outcome measures and mixed-effect models to assess changes before and during the pandemic. The results showed that ACEs were associated with higher levels of depression (OR = 2.55[95%CI:1.81,3.59]) anxiety (OR = 1.84[95%CI:1.13,3.01]), and loneliness (b = 0.28[95%CI:0.14,0.42]) during the pandemic. Hair cortisol was related to an increased risk of depression (OR = 1.15[95%CI:1.04,1.26]), and CRP was associated with greater loneliness scores (b = 0.16[95%CI:0.03,0.30]). The relationship between cortisol and psychological distress was larger among participants with ACEs (e.g., ORdepression = 1.07[95%CI:1.00,1.14]). Further, individuals with high CRP experienced greater increases in feelings of loneliness from before to during the pandemic, compared to those with lower CRP levels (interaction effect=0.23; 95%CI:0.1–0.37). Individuals with 2+ ACEs experienced greater increases in depressive symptoms compared to those with none (interaction effect=2.09; 95%CI:1.1–3.98). Higher levels of hair cortisol were also related to worse changes in depressive symptoms across timepoints (interaction effect=1.84;95%CI:1.41–2.41). These results highlight the lasting impact of biosocial vulnerabilities on older adults’ mental health responses to new environmental stressors. They also implicate biological mechanisms in the pathophysiology of later-life psychological distress.
Taste perception and food preferences in patients with diabetic foot ulcers before and after hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Authors: Hartman-Petrycka Magdalena , Knefel Grzegorz , Lebiedowska Agata , Nowak Mariusz , Błońska-Fajfrowska Barbara
Published: October 2022

Objective

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on taste perception and food preferences in patients with diabetic foot ulcers.

Methods

The study involved 75 healthy people (Group C) and 23 patients with diabetic foot ulcers before HBOT (Group Db) and after 25–30 HBOT treatments (Group Da) (2.5 ATA, 87 min). The sip and spit method was used to examine the taste perception for 5 basic flavours. Food preferences were studied using photographs of dishes.

Results

The recognition thresholds in Group C were lower than in Group Db for 5 basic flavours. The taste intensity in Group C was higher than in Group Db for: 0.1% and 1.0% monosodium glutamate, 0.02% citric acid, and 0.002% quinine hydrochloride. The hedonic response in Group C was more negative than in Group Db for: 0.18% sodium chloride, 0.3% monosodium glutamate and 0.1% citric acid. The pleasure derived from eating in Group C was lower than in Group Db for sour and salty products. The recognition thresholds in Group Db were higher than in Group Da for umami and sour. The taste intensity in Group Db was lower than in Group Da for: 0.1%, 0.3% and 1.0% monosodium glutamate. The pleasure derived from eating in Group Db was higher than in Group Da for chocolate and crisps.

Conclusions

In people with diabetic foot ulcers, an impaired all 5 basic tastes occurred with different food preferences compared to healthy people. HBOT causes beneficial changes resulting in increased sensitivity to umami and sour taste as well as a decrease in the pleasure derived from eating chocolate and crisps.
Genome engineering for estrogen receptor mutations reveals differential responses to anti-estrogens and new prognostic gene signatures for breast cancer
Authors: Harrod Alison , Lai Chun-Fui , Goldsbrough Isabella , Simmons Georgia M. , Oppermans Natasha , Santos Daniela B. , Győrffy Balazs , Allsopp Rebecca C. , Toghill Bradley J. , Balachandran Kirsty , Lawson Mandy , Morrow Christopher J. , Surakala Manasa , Carnevalli Larissa S. , Zhang Pei , Guttery David S. , Shaw Jacqueline A. , Coombes R. Charles , Buluwela Lakjaya , Ali Simak
Published: October 2022

Mutations in the estrogen receptor (ESR1) gene are common in ER-positive breast cancer patients who progress on endocrine therapies. Most mutations localise to just three residues at, or near, the C-terminal helix 12 of the hormone binding domain, at leucine-536, tyrosine-537 and aspartate-538. To investigate these mutations, we have used CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome engineering to generate a comprehensive set of isogenic mutant breast cancer cell lines. Our results confirm that L536R, Y537C, Y537N, Y537S and D538G mutations confer estrogen-independent growth in breast cancer cells. Growth assays show mutation-specific reductions in sensitivities to drugs representing three classes of clinical anti-estrogens. These differential mutation- and drug-selectivity profiles have implications for treatment choices following clinical emergence of ER mutations. Our results further suggest that mutant expression levels may be determinants of the degree of resistance to some anti-estrogens. Differential gene expression analysis demonstrates up-regulation of estrogen-responsive genes, as expected, but also reveals that enrichment for interferon-regulated gene expression is a common feature of all mutations. Finally, a new gene signature developed from the gene expression profiles in ER mutant cells predicts clinical response in breast cancer patients with ER mutations.
Single-cell dissection of remodeled inflammatory ecosystem in primary and metastatic gallbladder carcinoma
Authors: Wang Xiang , Liu Chunliang , Chen Jianan , Chen Lei , Ren Xianwen , Hou Minghui , Cui Xiuliang , Jiang Youhai , Liu Erdong , Zong Yali , Duan Anqi , Fu Xiaohui , Yu Wenlong , Zhao Xiaofang , Yang Zhao , Zhang Yongjie , Fu Jing , Wang Hongyang
Published: October 2022

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is the most common biliary tract malignancy with the lowest survival rate, primarily arising from chronic inflammation. To better characterize the progression from inflammation to cancer to metastasis, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing across samples of 6 chronic cholecystitis, 12 treatment-naive GBCs, and 6 matched metastases. Benign epithelial cells from inflamed gallbladders displayed resting, immune-regulating, and gastrointestinal metaplastic phenotypes. A small amount of PLA2G2A+ epithelial cells with copy number variation were identified from a histologically benign sample. We validated significant overexpression of PLA2G2A across in situ GBCs, together with increased proliferation and cancer stemness in PLA2G2A-overexpressing GBC cells, indicating an important role for PLA2G2A during early carcinogenesis. Malignant epithelial cells displayed pervasive cancer hallmarks and cellular plasticity, differentiating into metaplastic, inflammatory, and mesenchymal subtypes with distinct transcriptomic, genomic, and prognostic patterns. Chronic cholecystitis led to an adapted microenvironment characterized by MDSC-like macrophages, CD8+ TRM cells, and CCL2+ immunity-regulating fibroblasts. By contrast, GBC instigated an aggressive and immunosuppressive microenvironment, featured by tumor-associated macrophages, Treg cells, CD8+ TEX cells, and STMN1+ tumor-promoting fibroblasts. Single-cell and bulk RNA-seq profiles consistently showed a more suppressive immune milieu for GBCs with inflammatory epithelial signatures, coupled with strengthened epithelial-immune crosstalk. We further pinpointed a subset of senescence-like fibroblasts (FN1+TGM2+) preferentially enriched in metastatic lesions, which promoted GBC migration and invasion via their secretory phenotype. Collectively, this study provides comprehensive insights into epithelial and microenvironmental reprogramming throughout cholecystitis-propelled carcinogenesis and metastasis, laying a new foundation for the precision therapy of GBC.
Collagenolysis-dependent DDR1 signalling dictates pancreatic cancer outcome
Authors: Su Hua , Yang Fei , Fu Rao , Trinh Brittney , Sun Nina , Liu Junlai , Kumar Avi , Baglieri Jacopo , Siruno Jeremy , Le Michelle , Li Yuhan , Dozier Stephen , Nair Ajay , Filliol Aveline , Sinchai Nachanok , Rosenthal Sara Brin , Santini Jennifer , Metallo Christian M. , Molina Anthony , Schwabe Robert F. , Lowy Andrew M. , Brenner David , Sun Beicheng , Karin Michael
Published: October 2022

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly desmoplastic, aggressive cancer that frequently progresses and spreads by metastasis to the liver1. Cancer-associated fibroblasts, the extracellular matrix and type I collagen (Col I) support2,3 or restrain the progression of PDAC and may impede blood supply and nutrient availability4. The dichotomous role of the stroma in PDAC, and the mechanisms through which it influences patient survival and enables desmoplastic cancers to escape nutrient limitation, remain poorly understood. Here we show that matrix-metalloprotease-cleaved Col I (cCol I) and intact Col I (iCol I) exert opposing effects on PDAC bioenergetics, macropinocytosis, tumour growth and metastasis. Whereas cCol I activates discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1)–NF-κB–p62–NRF2 signalling to promote the growth of PDAC, iCol I triggers the degradation of DDR1 and restrains the growth of PDAC. Patients whose tumours are enriched for iCol I and express low levels of DDR1 and NRF2 have improved median survival compared to those whose tumours have high levels of cCol I, DDR1 and NRF2. Inhibition of the DDR1-stimulated expression of NF-κB or mitochondrial biogenesis blocks tumorigenesis in wild-type mice, but not in mice that express MMP-resistant Col I. The diverse effects of the tumour stroma on the growth and metastasis of PDAC and on the survival of patients are mediated through the Col I–DDR1–NF-κB–NRF2 mitochondrial biogenesis pathway, and targeting components of this pathway could provide therapeutic opportunities.
Inferring and perturbing cell fate regulomes in human brain organoids
Authors: Fleck Jonas Simon , Jansen Sophie Martina Johanna , Wollny Damian , Zenk Fides , Seimiya Makiko , Jain Akanksha , Okamoto Ryoko , Santel Malgorzata , He Zhisong , Camp J. Gray , Treutlein Barbara
Published: October 2022

Self-organizing neural organoids grown from pluripotent stem cells1–3combined with single-cell genomic technologies provide opportunities to examine gene regulatory networks underlying human brain development. Here we acquire single-cell transcriptome and accessible chromatin data over a dense time course in human organoids covering neuroepithelial formation, patterning, brain regionalization and neurogenesis, and identify temporally dynamic and brain-region-specific regulatory regions. We developed Pando—a flexible framework that incorporates multi-omic data and predictions of transcription-factor-binding sites to infer a global gene regulatory network describing organoid development. We use pooled genetic perturbation with single-cell transcriptome readout to assess transcription factor requirement for cell fate and state regulation in organoids. We find that certain factors regulate the abundance of cell fates, whereas other factors affect neuronal cell states after differentiation. We show that the transcription factor GLI3 is required for cortical fate establishment in humans, recapitulating previous research performed in mammalian model systems. We measure transcriptome and chromatin accessibility in normal or GLI3-perturbed cells and identify two distinct GLI3 regulomes that are central to telencephalic fate decisions: one regulating dorsoventral patterning with HES4/5 as direct GLI3 targets, and one controlling ganglionic eminence diversification later in development. Together, we provide a framework for how human model systems and single-cell technologies can be leveraged to reconstruct human developmental biology.
Statistical inference using GLEaM model with spatial heterogeneity and correlation between regions
Authors: Tan Yixuan , Zhang Yuan , Cheng Xiuyuan , Zhou Xiao-Hua
Published: October 2022

A better understanding of various patterns in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread in different parts of the world is crucial to its prevention and control. Motivated by the previously developed Global Epidemic and Mobility (GLEaM) model, this paper proposes a new stochastic dynamic model to depict the evolution of COVID-19. The model allows spatial and temporal heterogeneity of transmission parameters and involves transportation between regions. Based on the proposed model, this paper also designs a two-step procedure for parameter inference, which utilizes the correlation between regions through a prior distribution that imposes graph Laplacian regularization on transmission parameters. Experiments on simulated data and real-world data in China and Europe indicate that the proposed model achieves higher accuracy in predicting the newly confirmed cases than baseline models.
Benthic animal-borne sensors and citizen science combine to validate ocean modelling
Authors: Lavender Edward , Aleynik Dmitry , Dodd Jane , Illian Janine , James Mark , Smout Sophie , Thorburn James
Published: October 2022

Developments in animal electronic tagging and tracking have transformed the field of movement ecology, but interest is also growing in the contributions of tagged animals to oceanography. Animal-borne sensors can address data gaps, improve ocean model skill and support model validation, but previous studies in this area have focused almost exclusively on satellite-telemetered seabirds and seals. Here, for the first time, we develop the use of benthic species as animal oceanographers by combining archival (depth and temperature) data from animal-borne tags, passive acoustic telemetry and citizen-science mark-recapture records from 2016–17 for the Critically Endangered flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius) in Scotland. By comparing temperature observations to predictions from the West Scotland Coastal Ocean Modelling System, we quantify model skill and empirically validate an independent model update. The results from bottom-temperature and temperature-depth profile validation (5,324 observations) fill a key data gap in Scotland. For predictions in 2016, we identified a consistent warm bias (mean = 0.53 °C) but a subsequent model update reduced bias by an estimated 109% and improved model skill. This study uniquely demonstrates the use of benthic animal-borne sensors and citizen-science data for ocean model validation, broadening the range of animal oceanographers in aquatic environments.
The relationship between pre-operative psoas and skeletal muscle parameters and survival following endovascular aneurysm repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Bradley N. A. , Roxburgh C. S. D. , McMillan D. C. , Guthrie G. J. K.
Published: October 2022

Sarcopenia is characterised by chronically reduced skeletal muscle volume and function, and is determined radiologically by psoas and skeletal muscle measurement. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to examine the relationship between pre-operative CT-derived psoas and skeletal muscle parameters and outcomes in patients undergoing EVAR and F/B-EVAR for aortic aneurysm. The MEDLINE database was interrogated for studies investigating the effect of pre-operative CT-diagnosed sarcopenia on outcomes following EVAR and F/B-EVAR. The systematic review was carried out in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The primary outcome was overall mortality. RevMan 5.4.1 was used to perform meta-analysis. PROSPERO Database Registration Number: CRD42021273085. Ten relevant studies were identified, one reporting skeletal muscle parameters, and the remaining nine reporting psoas muscle parameters, which were used for meta-analysis. There were a total of 2563 patients included (2062 EVAR, 501 F/B-EVAR), with mean follow-up ranging from 25 to 101 months. 836 patients (33%) were defined as radiologically sarcopenic. In all studies, the combined HR for all-cause mortality in sarcopenic versus non-sarcopenic patients was 2.61 (1.67–4.08), p < .001. Two studies reported outcomes on patients undergoing F/B-EVAR; the combined HR for all-cause mortality in sarcopenic versus non-sarcopenic patients was 3.08 (1.66–5.71), p = .004. Radiological sarcopenia defined by psoas or skeletal muscle parameters was associated with inferior survival in patients undergoing both EVAR and F/B-EVAR. Current evidence is limited by heterogeneity in assessment of body composition and lack of a consensus definition of radiological sarcopenia.
Influence of scan direction on subfoveal choroidal vascularity index using optical coherence tomography
Authors: Kim Yung Hui , Jin Hyung Nam , Kim Hyun Jee , Lee Jong Hoon , Ji Yong-Sok
Published: October 2022

We investigated the influence of scan direction on subfoveal choroidal vascularity index (CVI) measurements using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in young healthy subjects. Seventy-eight eyes of 41 healthy volunteers were included. Choroidal structures were obtained using SD-OCT with enhanced depth imaging (EDI) through radial scans at the center of the macula. The subfoveal choroidal images in the horizontal (0°), 45°, vertical (90°) and − 45° directions were recorded and CVIs were analyzed according to their respective directions using image binarization. Additionally, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), and axial eye length were measured. The SFCT and subfoveal CVI showed a negative correlation but were only significant for the 45° scan (Pearson’s r = − 0.262, P = 0.021). The axial eye length and subfoveal CVI had no significant correlation in any direction (all P > 0.05). In the Bland–Altman plot, the subfoveal CVI measurement showed high agreement among the four scan directions. When the SFCT was ≥ 300 µm, there was no difference in the measured values of the subfoveal CVI among the four scan directions; however, when the SFCT was < 300 µm, there was a significant difference in subfoveal CVI among the scan directions (one-way analysis of variance, F = 4.685, P = 0.004). In subfoveal CVI measurement, it is considered that the horizontal (0°) scan can represent the vertical (90°) or oblique (45°, − 45°) scans. However, when the SFCT is thinner, the subfoveal CVI in each direction of radial scan may vary significantly. Hence, caution is required in the interpretation.
Chimpanzees organize their social relationships like humans
Authors: Escribano Diego , Doldán-Martelli Victoria , Cronin Katherine A. , Haun Daniel B. M. , van Leeuwen Edwin J. C. , Cuesta José A. , Sánchez Angel
Published: October 2022

Human relationships are structured in a set of layers, ordered from higher (intimate relationships) to lower (acquaintances) emotional and cognitive intensity. This structure arises from the limits of our cognitive capacity and the different amounts of resources required by different relationships. However, it is unknown whether nonhuman primate species organize their affiliative relationships following the same pattern. We here show that the time chimpanzees devote to grooming other individuals is well described by the same model used for human relationships, supporting the existence of similar social signatures for both humans and chimpanzees. Furthermore, the relationship structure depends on group size as predicted by the model, the proportion of high-intensity connections being larger for smaller groups.
A comparative study on the analysis of hemodynamics in the athlete’s heart
Authors: Gülan Utku , Rossi Valentina A. , Gotschy Alexander , Saguner Ardan M. , Manka Robert , Brunckhorst Corinna B. , Duru Firat , Schmied Christian M. , Niederseer David
Published: October 2022

The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of the athlete’s heart are still poorly understood. To characterize the intracavitary blood flows in the right ventricle (RV) and right-ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in 2 healthy probands, patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and 2 endurance athletes, we performed 4D-MRI flow measurements to assess differences in kinetic energy and shear stresses. Time evolution of velocity magnitude, mean kinetic energy (MKE), turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and viscous shear stress (VSS) were measured both along the whole RV and in the RVOT. RVOT regions had higher kinetic energy values and higher shear stresses levels compared to the global averaging over RV among all subjects. Endurance athletes had relatively lower kinetic energy and shear stresses in the RVOT regions compared to both healthy probands and ARVC patients. The athlete’s heart is characterized by lower kinetic energy and shear stresses in the RVOT, which might be explained by a higher diastolic compliance of the RV.
Identifying patients at risk of unplanned re-hospitalisation using statewide electronic health records
Authors: Brankovic Aida , Rolls David , Boyle Justin , Niven Philippa , Khanna Sankalp
Published: October 2022

Preventing unplanned hospitalisations, including readmissions and re-presentations to the emergency department, is an important strategy for addressing the growing demand for hospital care. Significant successes have been reported from interventions put in place by hospitals to reduce their incidence. However, there is limited use of data-driven algorithms in hospital services to identify patients for enrolment into these intervention programs. Here we present the results of a study aiming to develop algorithms deployable at scale as part of a state government’s initiative to address rehospitalizations and which fills several gaps identified in the state-of-the-art literature. To the best of our knowledge, our study involves the largest-ever sample size for developing risk models. Logistic regression, random forests and gradient boosted techniques were explored as model candidates and validated retrospectively on five years of data from 27 hospitals in Queensland, Australia. The models used a range of predictor variables sourced from state-wide Emergency Department(ED), inpatient, hospital-dispensed medications and hospital-requested pathology databases. The investigation leads to several findings: (i) the advantage of looking at a longer patient data history, (ii) ED and inpatient datasets alone can provide useful information for predicting hospitalisation risk and the addition of medications and pathology test results leads to trivial performance improvements, (iii) predicting readmissions to the hospital was slightly easier than predicting re-presentations to ED after an inpatient stay, which was slightly easier again than predicting re-presentations to ED after an EDstay, (iv) a gradient boosted approach (XGBoost) was systematically the most powerful modelling approach across various tests.
Sound transmission loss of double-walled sandwich cross-ply layered magneto-electro-elastic plates under thermal environment
Authors: Refahati Nima , Jearsiripongkul Thira , Thongchom Chanachai , Saffari Peyman Roodgar , Saffari Pouyan Roodgar , Keawsawasvong Suraparb
Published: October 2022

This study offers a comprehensive investigation into the parameters affecting the sound transmission characteristics of a double-walled sandwich magneto-electro-elastic cross-ply layered plate resting on viscoelastic medium in thermal environment. To this end, the walls of this sandwich structure are modeled based on the assumptions of the first-order shear deformation theory. The governing equations are derived via a coupled set of equations targeting vibration and acoustic aspects of the problem after the application of Hamilton’s principle. The obtained equations are then solved by the implementation of double Fourier series and the second velocity potential, giving an accurate estimation of sound transmission loss under initial magnetic and electric potentials, variations of temperature, ply angle, acoustic cavity depth, incident angle of sound waves, and viscoelastic parameters.