bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Rule of Law: Sociology or Normative Theory? An Afterword to Martti Koskenniemi’s Foreword
Authors: Straumann Benjamin 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Martti Koskenniemi is correct to view Hugo Grotius as a thinker committed to the rule of law. But there is a crucial difference between Grotius’ and Koskenniemi’s respective concepts of the rule of law. Grotius’ concept of the rule of law is normative and requires a moral cognitivist outlook. Koskenniemi, on the other hand, holds a sociological concept of the rule of law. Koskenniemi is correct that, for the rule of law to find its ‘normative voice’, Grotius may well be of help. For this normative voice to make itself heard, however, it will have to rise above the sceptical reduction of the rule of law to normatively inert sociological facts.
Sex Differences in the Association Between Pentraxin 3 and Cognitive Decline: The Cardiovascular Health Study
Authors: Miller Lindsay M , Jenny Nancy S , Rawlings Andreea M , Arnold Alice M , Fitzpatrick Annette L , Lopez Oscar L , Odden Michelle C 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Background
The importance of systemic inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein, in cognitive decline has been demonstrated; however, the role of vascular inflammation is less understood. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a novel marker of vascular inflammation.

Methods
We followed adults 65 and older, free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) for up to 9 years (n = 1,547) in the Cardiovascular Health Study. We evaluated the relationship between PTX3 and change in cognitive function, measured using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MSE), and incident cognitive impairment (3MSE &lt; 80). Mediation by CVD events, and effect modification by sex and apolipoprotein E ɛ4 allele (APOE4) were also examined.

Results
The average decline in 3MSE was 0.77 points per year. The association between PTX3 and change in 3MSE differed between women and men (p = .02). In the adjusted model, each standard deviation higher in PTX3 was associated with a 0.20 greater decline in 3MSE score per year in women over follow-up (95% CI: −0. 37, −0.03; p = .02), compared to no change in men (β = 0.07; 95% CI: −0.08, 0.22). CVD events had a minor effect on the associations. No effect modification by APOE4 was found, although we observed the association of PTX3 and cognitive impairment in women was attenuated and nonsignificant after adjustment for APOE4. There was a paradoxical protective association between PTX3 and reduced cognitive impairment in men, even after adjustment for APOE4.

Conclusions
We found that vascular inflammation was significantly associated with cognitive decline in older women, but not men.
Mutant huntingtin interacts with the sterol regulatory element-binding proteins and impairs their nuclear import
Authors: Di Pardo Alba , Monyror John , Morales Luis Carlos , Kadam Vaibhavi , Lingrell Susanne , Maglione Vittorio , Wozniak Richard W , Sipione Simonetta 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBrain cholesterol homeostasis is altered in Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG nucleotide repeat in the HTT gene. Genes involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids were shown to be downregulated shortly after the expression of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) in inducible HD cells. Nuclear levels of the transcription factors that regulate lipid biogenesis, the sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBP1 and SREBP2), were found to be decreased in HD models compared to wild-type, but the underlying causes were not known. SREBPs are synthesized as inactive endoplasmic reticulum-localized precursors. Their mature forms (mSREBPs) are generated upon transport of the SREBP precursors to the Golgi and proteolytic cleavage, and are rapidly imported into the nucleus by binding to importin β. We show that, although SREBP2 processing into mSREBP2 is not affected in YAC128 HD mice, mSREBP2 is mislocalized to the cytoplasm. Chimeric mSREBP2-and mSREBP1-EGFP proteins are also mislocalized to the cytoplasm in immortalized striatal cells expressing mHTT, in YAC128 neurons and in fibroblasts from HD patients. We further show that mHTT binds to the SREBP2/importin β complex required for nuclear import and sequesters it in the cytoplasm. As a result, HD cells fail to upregulate cholesterogenic genes under sterol-depleted conditions. These findings provide mechanistic insight into the downregulation of genes involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids in HD models, and have potential implications for other pathways modulated by SREBPs, including autophagy and excitotoxicity.
GPAT3 deficiency alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in a mouse model of severe congenital generalized lipodystrophy
Authors: Gao Mingming , Liu Lin , Wang Xiaowei , Mak Hoi Yin , Liu George , Yang Hongyuan 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy type 2 (BSCL2) is the most severe form of human lipodystrophy and is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the BSCL2/seipin gene. Exactly how seipin may regulate adipogenesis remains unclear. A recent study in vitro suggested that seipin may function to inhibit the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferases (GPATs), and increased GPAT activity may be responsible for the defective adipogenesis under seipin deficiency. Here we generated Seipin−/−Gpat3−/− mice, which had mild but significant recovery of white adipose tissue mass over Seipin−/− mice. The mass of brown adipose tissue (BAT) of the Seipin−/−Gpat3−/− mice was almost completely restored to normal level. Importantly, the Seipin−/−Gpat3−/− mice showed significant improvement in liver steatosis and insulin sensitivity over Seipin−/− mice, which is attributable to the increased BAT mass and to the enhanced browning of the subcutaneous fat of the Seipin−/−Gpat3−/− mice. Together, our results establish a functional link between seipin and GPAT3 in vivo and suggest that GPAT inhibitors may have beneficial effects on BSCL2 patients.
Surgery in drug use-associated infective endocarditis: long-term survival is negatively affected by recurrence
Authors: Rohn Vilem , Laca Branislav , Horn Milan , Vlk Lukas , Antonova Petra , Mosna Frantisek 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The prevalence of infectious endocarditis (IE) in intravenous drug users (IDUs) is increasing, and the number of patients who need surgery is also rising. Relatively little is known about the short-term and long-term outcomes of these operations.

METHODS
This study is a retrospective analysis of our institutional results, focussing on risk factors for perioperative death, major adverse events and long-term survival. A total of 50 of the 66 (75.75%) patients had postoperative follow-up, and the mean follow-up time was 53.9 ± 9.66 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups depending on whether they were having their first operation or were being reoperated for recurrent IE.

RESULTS
From March 2006 to December 2015, a total of 158 patients underwent surgery for IE; 72 (45.6%) of them were identified as active IDUs. The operative mortality in IDUs was 8.33% (6 patients), with no significant difference between the 2 groups (P = 0.6569). Survival rates at 1 year, at 3 years and at the end of follow-up were 92%, 72% and 64%, respectively. There was significantly worse survival of patients with recurrent IE (log-rank test, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS
Although the short-term results of operation for IE in IDUs are good, long-term outcomes are not satisfactory. The survival of patients with recurrence of IE caused by return to intravenous drug use is significantly worse.
Use of E-values for addressing confounding in observational studies—an empirical assessment of the literature
Authors: Blum Manuel R , Tan Yuan Jin , Ioannidis John P A 
Published: December 2019

AbstractBackgroundE-values are a recently introduced approach to evaluate confounding in observational studies. We aimed to empirically assess the current use of E-values in published literature.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search for all publications, published up till the end of 2018, which cited at least one of two inceptive E-value papers and presented E-values for original data. For these case publications we identified control publications, matched by journal and issue, where the authors had not calculated E-values.ResultsIn total, 87 papers presented 516 E-values. Of the 87 papers, 14 concluded that residual confounding likely threatens at least some of the main conclusions. Seven of these 14 named potential uncontrolled confounders. 19 of 87 papers related E-value magnitudes to expected strengths of field-specific confounders. The median E-value was 1.88, 1.82, and 2.02 for the 43, 348, and 125 E-values where confounding was felt likely to affect the results, unlikely to affect the results, or not commented upon, respectively. The 69 case-control publication pairs dealt with effect sizes of similar magnitude. Of 69 control publications, 52 did not comment on unmeasured confounding and 44/69 case publications concluded that confounding was unlikely to affect study conclusions.ConclusionsFew papers using E-values conclude that confounding threatens their results, and their E-values overlap in magnitude with those of papers acknowledging susceptibility to confounding. Facile automation in calculating E-values may compound the already poor handling of confounding. E-values should not be a substitute for careful consideration of potential sources of unmeasured confounding. If used, they should be interpreted in the context of expected confounding in specific fields.
Grove Arctic Curves from Periodic Cluster Modular Transformations
Authors: George Terrence 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Groves are spanning forests of a finite region of the triangular lattice that are in bijection with Laurent monomials that arise in solutions of the cube recurrence. We introduce a large class of probability measures on groves for which we can compute exact generating functions for edge probabilities. Using the machinery of asymptotics of multivariate generating functions, this lets us explicitly compute arctic curves, generalizing the arctic circle theorem of Petersen and Speyer. Our class of probability measures is sufficiently general that the limit shapes exhibit all solid and gaseous phases expected from the classification of ergodic Gibbs measures in the resistor network model.
Whole-genome analysis of the potentially zoonotic Elizabethkingia miricola FL160902 with two new chromosomal MBL gene variants
Authors: Hu Ruixue , Zhang Qi , Gu Zemao 
Published: December 2019

Abstract

Objectives
Elizabethkingia is an emerging life-threatening pathogen in both humans and animals. We describe the whole-genome analysis of an Elizabethkingia miricola strain isolated from a diseased frog in China and investigate the molecular mechanism of carbapenem resistance in this pathogen.

Methods
WGS of E. miricola FL160902 was performed using single-molecule, real-time technology. A phylogenetic tree was generated by SNP analysis, comparing the genome of our strain with other E. miricola isolates of amphibian and human origins. Antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence-related genes were identified using the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) and the Virulence Factor Database (VFDB). Two putative carbapenemase genes were expressed in Escherichia coli to evaluate their contribution to antimicrobial resistance.

Results
The genome of E. miricola FL160902 consists of a 4 249 586 bp circular chromosome with 27 putative resistance genes and 38 predicted virulence-associated genes. Comparative genomic analysis demonstrated that the E. miricola strains of human and amphibian origins have similar virulence-associated gene profiles. In addition, all the amphibian isolates clustered together with one of the human isolates in the phylogenetic analysis. WGS revealed the presence of two novel MBL genes, designated blaBlaB-16 and blaGOB-19. Cloning of blaBlaB-16 and blaGOB-19 into E. coli DH5α resulted in increased MICs of most β-lactams, including imipenem, meropenem and ampicillin.

Conclusions
We identified two chromosomal MBL gene variants, named blaBlaB-16 and blaGOB-19 in an amphibian E. miricola isolate, which was considered potentially zoonotic based on phylogenetic analysis and virulence-associated gene comparison. This study highlights the importance of E. miricola as a potential zoonotic pathogen and a reservoir of MDR genes.
1 Assessing the predictive adequacy of simple and complex mathematical models
Authors: Tedeschi Luis O 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
The establishment of credibility for a mathematical model’s (MM) predictive ability is an essential component for improving the MM because it stimulates the evolutionary thinking (i.e., the next generation of the model) of mental conceptualizations, assumptions, and boundaries of the MM. Its predictive adequacy is commonly assessed through its ability to precisely or accurately predict observed (real) values. The precision component measures how closely the model predicted values are of each other or whether a defined pattern of predictions exists. The accuracy component, on the other hand, measures how closely the average of the model predicted values are to the actual (true) average. Many statistics exist to determine precision and accuracy of MM such as mean bias, resistant coefficient of determination, coefficient of determination, modeling efficiency, concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), the mean square error of prediction, Kleijnen’s statistic (regression of the difference between predicted and observed on their sum), and Altman and Bland’s limits of agreement statistics among many more. However, for complex models that use skewed data or repeated data in which the data is not independent (e.g., multiple measurements on the same subject), simple statistics may not suffice. For instance, four methods to compute CCC exist (moment, variance components, U-statistics, and generalized estimating equations—GEE), but only the last two methods are resilient to lightly skewed data. Another type of complexity arises when meta-analytical approaches are used at the model development phase or the model evaluation phase. In general, meta-analytical approaches remove errors (i.e., variation) associated with random variables that are believed to be known. Under these circumstances, MM tends to overperform (i.e., they have greater predictive adequacy) and their future performance may be deceitful when trying to forecast at scenarios in which the random variable(s) is(are) indeterminable or unquantifiable.
197 Gene-regulation control of muscle fatigue during transportation with rumen-protected methionine supplementation
Authors: Alfaro Gaston F , Moisá Sonia J , Rodning Soren P , Novak Taylor E 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Different participants generally located distant among them compose the U.S. beef production chain, therefore shipping is required for cattle at least once in their lifespan. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Rumen-Protected Methionine (RPM) supplementation on muscle fatigue gene network, creatine synthesis (CKM), and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) metabolism after a transportation simulation in a 1.7-miles oval test track. Angus heifers (n = 18) were stratified by body weight (408 ± 64 kg; BW) and randomly assigned to dietary treatments: 1) control diet (CTRL), and 2) control diet + rumen-protected methionine (RPM). After a successful adaptation period to Calan gates, animals received a common diet of Bermuda hay ad libitum and a soy hulls and corn gluten feed based supplement. After 45 days under supplementation, animals were loaded onto a 32 × 7 ft. trailer and transported for 22 hours. Skeletal muscle biopsies, BW and blood samples were obtained on day 0 (Baseline), 43 (Pre-transport, “PRET”), and 45 (Post-transport, “POST”). Heifer’s average daily gain did not differ between Baseline and PRET (P = 0.41). Control heifer’s shrink was 8% of BW while RPM heifers shrink was 10% (P = 0.29). Cortisol level decreased after transportation, but no differences were observed between treatments (P = 0.94). Messenger RNA was extracted from skeletal muscle tissue and gene expression analysis was performed by RT-qPCR. Results showed that AHCY (Creatine synthesis pathway), SSPN (Sarcoglycan complex), DNMT3A (DNA Methylation), and SOD2 (Oxidative Stress-ROS) were upregulated (P &lt; 0.05) in CTRL between baseline and PRET and, decreased between PRET and POST (P &lt; 0.05) while they remained constant for RPM. Furthermore, CKM was not affected by treatments (P = 0.11). In conclusion, muscle fatigue related genes were not affected by RPM. Although, RPM could affect ROS production, after a long-term transportation.
39 Reproductive challenges of cattle adapted to tropical and subtropical environments
Authors: Pohler Ky , Reese Sydney T , Franco Gessica Aruajo , Filho Ramiro Oliveira , Montero Lohana Fernandez , Melo Gabriela Dalmaso de , Moraes Ana 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
In the coming decades, tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including southern United States, southeast Asia, India, parts of Africa and Central and South America, will experience both the greatest increases in population and demands for beef. Potential for expansion of beef production in these areas is considerable due to abundance and low cost of forages that are a non-competitive food source for humans; however, research efforts must emphasize cattle efficiency to maximize sustainability of the cattle industry. Raising tropically adapted cattle in these regions present unique opportunities and challenges that differ from strategies used in production of the predominant B. taurus cattle common in temperate regions of the globe. Despite the physiological differences between B. taurus and B. indicus cattle including reproductive physiology, nutritional requirements, social behavior, digestive system, and body composition, strategies developed in B. taurus cattle are commonly used for B. indicus production. Hence, a fundamental step to meet the increasing global demand for protein while addressing environmental stewardship is to identify these physiological, social and nutrient requirement differences to develop, and disseminate management practices tailored to optimizing production efficiency of B. indicus-influenced cattle reared in subtropical/tropical regions of the planet. From a reproductive management perspective, tropically adapted cattle present several challenges including increased age at puberty, increased postpartum anestrous period and managed in an extensive system. Additionally, reproductive failures post pregnancy establishment are known to be greater in B. indicus cattle in tropical/subtropical regions, although the exact reasons for this outcome have not been identified and addressed. This talk will focus on recent research and strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of reproductive inefficiency in tropically adapted cattle.
213 Genomic selection of carcass quality traits in crossbred pigs using a reference population
Authors: Bergamaschi Matteo , Maltecca Christian , Schwab Clint , Fix Justin , Tiezzi Francesco 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
The objective of this work was to evaluate the predictive ability of different models applied to carcass traits in crossbred pigs. The pigs were divided in 2 finishing flows: A=36,110 and B=95,041 animals, and were progeny of 386 sires (almost entirely genotyped with the 60k SNP chip). In flow A, individuals were housed into single-sire single-gender pens, and split-marketing on a pen basis was applied. In flow B, individuals were kept in standard commercial conditions and split-marketing on an individuals basis was applied. A dataset containing individual records of three carcass traits: back-fat (BF), loin depth (LD), and carcass daily gain (CACG) was used. Data from flow A were divided into training and validation sets on the basis of contemporary groups (8 in training and 1 in testing). Variance components and solutions were obtained using the BLUPF90 suite of programs. Models included fixed effects (dam line, sow parity, sex, cross fostering, and contemporary group) and random effects (additive genetic, batch, litter, and residual). Models tested were univariate vs multivariate and pedigree vs single-step. The addition of flow B records to the training set was evaluated, by including or excluding these records. Heritabilities were 0.68±0.023 for BF, 0.47±0.018 for LD, and 0.55±0.023 for CACG. CACG gain was correlated with BF (0.43±0.029) and LD (0.39±0.03). Low genetic correlation was found between BF and LD (0.17±0.034). Prediction accuracies were 0.39±0.05, 0.17±0.06, and 0.13±0.03 for BF, LD, and CACG respectively. The mean accuracy of BF, LD, and CG increased (~6%) when records from flow B were included in the training set, whereas the increase of accuracy between models (univariate vs multivariate) was not significant. The inclusion of sire genotypes did not improve prediction accuracy significantly. Based on these results, the prediction of carcass quality traits in crossbred pigs is possible.
221 Effect of age and rut period on the semen quality in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)
Authors: Nikitkina Elena , Musidray Artem , Krutikova Anna , Timofeeva Svetlana , Plemyashov Kirill , Anipchenko Polina , Goncharov Vasilii 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Reindeer herding is a traditional activity of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Assisted reproductive technology in reindeer herding are under development. This is due to the difficulty of collecting reindeer sperm (Rangifer tarandus) in the Arctic. The aim of the work was to study the influence of age and rut period on the quality of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) sperm. Semen was collected in Taimyr in autumn 2017, 2018. Ejaculate volume, total (TM) and progressive motility (PM) and sperm concentration were evaluated. TM, PM and sperm concentration were measured by CASA (computer-assisted semen analysis). Sperm was not found in caudae epididymidae in males at the age of six months. The sperm was collected only from caudae epididymidae from males aged 1.5 and 2.5 years. Collecting of ejaculated semen is possible in males from 3.5 years of age. The volume of ejaculate increased from 0.3±0.09 ml (mean±SD) at the age of 3.5 years to 0.7±0.09 ml at the age of 5.5 years and older (P &lt; 0.05). Concentration of cells increased by 2 times in older males. It is known that reindeer sperm can be collected only during the rut. At the beginning and end of the rut, the collection of sperm by electroejaculation was not always successful, sperm was collected in 3 of 10 cases, while in the middle of the rut in 9 of 10 cases. There was no significant effect of the rut period on the ejaculate volume and sperm concentration. The lowest TM (51.1±2.16%) and PM (33.5±7.90%) were at the beginning of the rut, the highest at the end (73.0±5.02% and 59.0 ± 6,30%) (P &lt; 0.01). Thus, the effect of age and rutting period on the reindeer sperm was observed. Authors acknowledge financial support from Russian Science Foundation, Grant No:17-16-01023.