bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Financial protection and coping strategies in rural Uganda: an impact evaluation of community-based zero-interest healthcare loans
Authors: Nannini Maria , Biggeri Mario , Putoto Giovanni 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
In low- and middle-income countries, catastrophic health expenditures and economic hardship constitute a common risk for households’ welfare. Community health financing (CHF) represents a viable option to improve financial protection, but robust impact evaluations are needed to advance the debate concerning universal health coverage in informal settings. This study aims at assessing the impact of a CHF pilot programme and, specifically, of the initial phase involving zero-interest loans on health expenditures and coping strategies in a rural district of Uganda. The analysis relies on a panel household survey performed before and after the intervention and complemented by qualitative data obtained from structured focus group discussions. Exploiting an instrumental variable approach, we measured the causal effect of the intervention, and the main findings were then integrated with qualitative evidence on the heterogeneity of the programme’s impact across different household categories. We found that the intervention of zero-interest healthcare loans is effective in improving financial protection and longer-term welfare. Community perceptions suggested that the population excluded from the scheme is disadvantaged when facing unpredictable health costs. Among the enrolled members, the poorest seem to receive a greater benefit from the intervention. Overall, our study provides support for the positive role of community-based mechanisms to progress towards universal coverage and offers policy-relevant insights to timely design comprehensive health financing reforms.
Irregular Hodge Numbers for Rigid G2-Connections
Authors: Jakob Konstantin , Reiter Stefan 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Certain rigid irregular $G_2$-connections constructed by the 1st-named author are related via pullbacks along a finite covering and Fourier transform to rigid local systems on a punctured projective line. This kind of property was first observed by Katz for hypergeometric connections and used by Sabbah and Yu to compute irregular Hodge filtrations for hypergeometric connections. This strategy can also be applied to the aforementioned $G_2$-connections and we compute jumping indices and dimensions for their irregular Hodge filtrations.
Illicit innovation and institutional folding: From purity to naturalness in the Bavarian brewing industry
Authors: Glückler Johannes , Eckhardt Yannick 
Published: June 2021

AbstractWe take an institutional perspective to examine how innovation thrives under conditions of resistance. Specifically, we conceive illicit innovation as a process of successive institutionalization of a new practice in the face of contrary law. In the German federal state of Bavaria, the global movement of craft-beer brewing collides with a regional jurisdiction that prohibits precisely these brewing practices and instead protects the traditional institution of purity-brewing (Reinheitsgebot). Grounded on an embedded qualitative case study of brewers and industry representatives, we build a theory of institutional folding of new norms and practices over established ones. This way, creative brewers have succeeded in legitimizing new practices of naturalness-brewing (Natürlichkeitsgebot). Whereas the legal resistance has stimulated brewers to create an original counter-institution, the illicit innovation has also begun to change the institutional context of the beer industry in Bavaria.
On the economic geography of climate change
Authors: Peri Giovanni , Robert-Nicoud Frédéric 
Published: June 2021

AbstractClimate change is a defining challenge of our times. The five papers collected in this special issue provide foundations to well-informed policymaking by addressing two main themes of the economic geography of climate change. First, it brings effects that are heterogeneous across space. Some regions of the globe will lose more than others and some may even be better off as a result. Second, humans will have to adapt in order to survive. We emphasize how the lack of mobility could contribute to worsening the socioeconomic costs of climate change. This issue also considers alternative margins of adjustment, such as fertility, specialization and trade.
Opioid overprescription in adolescents and young adults undergoing hip arthroscopy
Authors: Hassan Mahad M , Rahman Omar F , Hussain Zaamin B , Burgess Stephanie L , Yen Yi-Meng , Kocher Mininder S 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Few studies have examined factors related to the increased consumption of opioids after hip arthroscopy in adolescents and young adults. This study sought to determine prescription patterns following hip arthroscopy in this population, and to determine clinical or surgical factors associated with increased post-operative opioid use. Daily post-operative opioid intake was obtained from pain-control logbooks of adolescents and young adults who underwent hip arthroscopy between January 2017 and 2020. Study outcomes were defined as the median total number of opioid tablets consumed, total days opioids were consumed, mean daily opioid consumption and the ratio of opioids prescribed post-operatively to consumed. Clinical and surgical factors were analyzed to determine any association with opioid consumption. Fifty-eight (20%) patients returned completed logbooks. Most patients (73%) were prescribed 30 oxycodone tablets. The median number of tablets consumed was 7 (range 0–41) over a median duration of 7 days (range 1–22). The median ratio of tablets consumed to prescribed was 20%. Increasing patient age at surgery was associated with increased total number of tablets consumed (r = 0.28, P = 0.04) and to the ratio of tablets consumed to prescribed (r = 0.30, P = 0.03). Patients who were prescribed more than 30 tablets consumed on average 7.8 more tablets than patients prescribed fewer (P = 0.003). Patients who underwent regional anesthesia consumed tablets for longer compared with those who did not (median, 10 versus 4 days; P = 0.03). After undergoing hip arthroscopy, adolescents and young adult patients are commonly overprescribed opioids, consuming on average only one-fifth of the tablets prescribed.
Prosecute Little Fish at the ICC
Authors: Ferdinandusse Ward , Whiting Alex 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
A central aim of international criminal tribunals since Nuremberg has been to prosecute those most responsible, the ‘big fish’, leaving smaller cases to national jurisdictions. The authors, who have both academic backgrounds as well as experience prosecuting international crimes in both international and domestic courts, argue that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should change course and expand its focus to include more ‘little fish cases’, bringing more cases overall and initiating them more quickly. Particular features of the ICC, namely its global reach and its ambition to promote national prosecutions, compel this change in strategy. For normative, strategic, and practical reasons, the ICC should bring smaller fish cases to enhance its credibility, functioning, and legitimacy, and to spur prosecutions by national authorities.
Favoritism towards High-Status Clubs: Evidence from German Soccer
Authors: Bose* Paul , Feess Eberhard , Mueller Helge 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBiases in legal decision-making are difficult to identify as type II errors (wrongful acquittals) are hardly observable and type I errors (wrongful convictions) are only observed for the subsample of subsequently exonerated convicts. Our data on the first German soccer league allow us to classify each referee decision accurately as correct, type I error or type II error. The potential bias we are interested in is favoritism toward clubs with higher long-term status, proxied by the ranking in the all-time table at the beginning of each session and by membership. Higher status clubs benefit largely from fewer type II errors. By contrast, the actual strength of clubs has no impact on referee decisions. We find no difference in type I errors and suggest anticipation of the bias as a potential explanation for the difference. We investigate several mechanisms potentially underlying our results; including career concerns and social pressure (JEL J00, M51, D81, D83).
History of the gas fuelling star formation in eagle galaxies
Authors: Scholz-Díaz Laura , Sánchez Almeida Jorge , Dalla Vecchia Claudio 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACT
Theory predicts that cosmological gas accretion plays a fundamental role fuelling star formation in galaxies. However, a detailed description of the accretion process to be used when interpreting observations is still lacking. Using the state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulation eagle, we work out the chemical inhomogeneities arising in the disc of galaxies due to the randomness of the accretion process. In low-mass systems and outskirts of massive galaxies, low metallicity regions are associated with enhanced star-formation, a trend that reverses in the centres of massive galaxies. These predictions agree with the relation between surface density of star formation rate and metallicity observed in the local spiral galaxies from the MaNGA survey. Then, we analyse the origin of the gas that produce stars at two key epochs, z ≃ 0 and z ≃ 2. The main contribution comes from gas already in the galaxy about 1 Gyr before stars are formed, with a share from external gas that is larger at high redshift. The accreted gas may come from major and minor mergers, but also as gravitationally unbound gas and from mergers with dark galaxies (i.e. haloes where more than 95  per cent of the baryon mass is in gas). We give the relative contribution of these sources of gas as a function of stellar mass (8 ≤ log [M⋆/M⊙] ≤ 11). Even at z = 0, some low-mass galaxies form a significant fraction of their total stellar mass during the last Gyr from mergers with dark galaxies.
Tomato E8 Encodes a C-27 Hydroxylase in Metabolic Detoxification of α-Tomatine during Fruit Ripening
Authors: Akiyama Ryota , Nakayasu Masaru , Umemoto Naoyuki , Kato Junpei , Kobayashi Midori , Lee Hyoung Jae , Sugimoto Yukihiro , Iijima Yoko , Saito Kazuki , Muranaka Toshiya , Mizutani Masaharu 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) contains α-tomatine, a steroidal glycoalkaloid that contributes to the plant defense against pathogens and herbivores through its bitter taste and toxicity. It accumulates at high levels in all the plant tissues, especially in leaves and immature green fruits, whereas it decreases during fruit ripening through metabolic conversion to the nontoxic esculeoside A, which accumulates in the mature red fruit. This study aimed to identify the gene encoding a C-27 hydroxylase that is a key enzyme in the metabolic conversion of α-tomatine to esculeoside A. The E8 gene, encoding a 2-oxoglutalate-dependent dioxygenase, is well known as an inducible gene in response to ethylene during fruit ripening. The recombinant E8 was found to catalyze the C-27 hydroxylation of lycoperoside C to produce prosapogenin A and is designated as Sl27DOX. The ripe fruit of E8/Sl27DOX-silenced transgenic tomato plants accumulated lycoperoside C and exhibited decreased esculeoside A levels compared with the wild-type (WT) plants. Furthermore, E8/Sl27DOX deletion in tomato accessions resulted in higher lycoperoside C levels in ripe fruits than in WT plants. Thus, E8/Sl27DOX functions as a C-27 hydroxylase of lycoperoside C in the metabolic detoxification of α-tomatine during tomato fruit ripening, and the efficient detoxification by E8/27DOX may provide an advantage in the domestication of cultivated tomatoes.
Functionalizing Protein‐based Materials with Biomolecules
Authors: Bondos Sarah , Howell David , Tsai Shang‐Pu , Bayless Kayla 
Published: June 2021

The development of materials with diverse mechanical and functional properties enables a broad range of applications. For materials composed of protein, well‐established molecular biology techniques can theoretically be used to alter the mechanical and functional properties of materials. However, repetition of amino acid sequences in the constituent proteins can complicate engineering the mechanical properties. Furthermore, most protein‐based materials are assembled under denaturing conditions, thus precluding incorporation of full‐length proteins in an active state. Our lab discovered that the Drosophila melanogaster transcription factor Ultrabithorax (Ubx) hierarchically self‐assembles into novel, ordered biomaterials, ranging from nanoscale fibrils to macroscale fibers, films, meshes. These materials are stabilized by specific dityrosine bonds that spontaneously form during assembly. The location of the participating tyrosines in unique sequence motifs enables the reliable tuning of the materials by mutagenesis to be either weaker or stronger. Because Ubx materials rapidly form in mild, aqueous buffers, a surprisingly wide variety of proteins can be incorporated via gene fusion without harming either materials assembly or the function of the appended protein. As one example, when Ubx is fused to angiogenic growth factors, the resulting fibers control cell signaling and cell behavior in vitro, and can instigate and guide blood vessel formation in vivo. Ubx materials provide an inexpensive and facile platform for customizing materials for a variety of applications.Support or Funding InformationNSFTed Nash Long Life FoundationThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
Spatiotemporal Phytochrome‐Dependent Regulation of Photosynthesis and Growth
Authors: Montgomery Beronda L. 
Published: June 2021

Photosynthetic organisms depend upon light for carbon fixation and production of reductant. Thus, the ability of these organisms to adapt to changes in the photoenvironment is critical. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms have diverse mechanisms for light perception and exhibit numerous developmental, physiological, and metabolic photoresponses. Notably, light exposure results in distinct responses in specific plant tissues during photomorphogenesis. Light promotes growth of cotyledons and leaves, as well as development and elongation of roots, whereas light inhibits elongation of hypocotyls. Phytochromes are one of the most well‐known plant photoreceptors coordinating the aforementioned tissue‐ and organ‐specific plant responses. In prior molecular genetic studies, we used targeted phytochrome depletion to probe the physiological roles and biochemical mechanisms of spatial‐specific aspects of phytochrome signaling and the molecular bases of distinct aspects of photomorphogenesis. Localized pools of phytochromes regulate key factors that control hypocotyl elongation and coordinate nuclear and plastid genome expression in the development and differentiation of plastids required for the establishment of photosynthesis. The latter includes phytochrome‐dependent regulation of the expression of sigma (SIG) factor genes, which encode proteins involved in novel spatiotemporal aspects of photomorphogenesis and previously undescribed mechanistic aspects of coordinating expression of nuclear and plastid genomes. My laboratory is investigating specific roles of phytochromes and phytochrome‐dependent effectors in anterograde regulation of SIG expression. We are also identifying and characterizing factors that function downstream of SIG2 in the regulation of SIG2‐specific photomorphogenic and photosynthetic phenotypes. Results from our studies are significantly expanding our knowledge of the regulation of spatial‐specific phytochrome responses, which impacts distinct aspects of growth and development and our understanding of the light signaling mechanisms which coordinate gene expression in the nucleus and chloroplasts, thereby impacting the capacity for photosynthesis, other plastid‐related functions, and photomorphogenesis.Support or Funding InformationResearch in the lab of B.L.M. on phytochrome‐dependent signaling in plants is supported by the National Science Foundation (grant no. MCB‐1515002) and by infrastructure support from the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy(grant no. DE‐FG02‐91ER20021).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
Mechanosensitive TRPV4 Channel is Involved in Fibrotic Transdifferentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells
Authors: Tamiya Shigeo , McDonald Kevin , Ueda Shunichiro 
Published: June 2021

Sustained presence of myofibroblasts during wound healing can cause fibrosis. Within the eye, transdifferentiation of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to myofibroblasts have been implicated as a key event leading to fibrotic scarring of the retina. While TGF‐beta signaling has been shown to play key roles in this process, inhibition of this pathway can result in undesirable side‐effects by preventing physiological function of this multifaceted cytokine. Therefore, identification of other pathways/molecules that could potentially be targeted to prevent fibrotic scarring is warranted. In this study, roles of mechanosensitive channel TRPV4, which has been implicated to play roles in several fibrotic diseases, and its downstream effector MLCK in myofibroblast transdifferentiation of RPE cells as well as matrix contraction, a key phenomenon of retinal scarring, were examined.Primary cultured porcine RPE cells were used to assess matrix contraction. Cells were cultured with media containing TGF‐beta on collagen matrices in the presence or absence of TRPV4 inhibitor HC‐067047 or MLCK inhibitor ML‐7. Collagen matrices with attached cells were released from 24 well plates and contraction was assessed as change in size of matrices. Cells on these matrices were then lysed to examine the expression of myofibroblast marker protein tropomyosin 1 (TPM1) as well as TRPV4 by western blot analyses.TGF‐beta treatment significantly increased collagen matrix contraction by cultured RPE cells compared to untreated controls. TGF‐beta treatment did not significantly affect TRPV4 expression. Inhibitors for TRPV4 and MLCK significantly reduced matrix contraction as well as TPM1 expression. These data implicate that TRPV4 signaling pathway, while not directly regulated by TGF‐beta, is involved in myofibroblast transdifferentiation of RPE cells and subsequent fibrotic contraction of the matrix.Support or Funding InformationResearch to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Grant, DoD Award No. W81XWH‐15‐1‐0298This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
What can protein methylation tell us about histones, ribosomes, translation factors and the biology of cancer and aging?
Authors: Clarke Steven G. 
Published: June 2021

The chemical diversity of proteins is enhanced by posttranslational methylation of most of the 20 major ribosomally‐incorporated amino acids. The most abundant of these modifications occur at the side chains of lysine and arginine residues, although methylation is also known for histidine, glutamine, asparagine, glutamate, cysteine, and methionine residues, as well as for the alpha‐amino groups of several N‐terminal residues and the alpha‐carboxyl groups of leucine and isoprenylcysteine C‐terminal residues. Methylation reactions also can tag age‐damaged D‐aspartyl and L‐isoaspartyl residues for repair reactions.Protein arginine methylation in mammalian cells is largely catalyzed by the nine members of the PRMT family. We have focused our work on the PRMT5 and PRMT9 species that catalyze symmetric dimethylarginine formation, as well as the PRMT7 species that only catalyzes monomethylarginine formation. PRMT9 appears to be specific for the modification of the SF3B2 splicing factor, whereas PRMT5 and PRMT7 appear to have many physiological substrates, including histones. The latter methylation reactions represent a crucial part of the histone code, and recognition of these methylated residues by protein interaction domains modulates transcription. We have recently explored crosstalk between PRMT5 and PRMT7 in the modification of histone H4. In in vitro experiments using a peptide corresponding to the N‐terminal 21 amino acid residues of histone H4, we showed that the activity of the PRMT5 enzyme at the arginine‐3 residue is greatly enhanced by PRMT7‐dependent methylation of arginine‐17 and/or arginine‐19. These experiments provide evidence that PRMTs can cooperate with each other to affect the final degree of protein modification and epigenetic control. Surprisingly, PRMT7 has very little activity in vitro at 37 °C; it is most active between 10 and 20 °C. This result suggests that PRMT7 may respond to cold stress in the organism.Methylation reactions, including modification at arginine residues, can occur predominately on proteins of the translational apparatus. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, some 51 of the approximately 70 methyltransferases modify rRNA (13 enzymes), mRNA (2 enzymes), tRNA (16 enzymes), translation factors (10 enzymes), and ribosomal proteins (10 enzymes). Of particular interest, we have shown that the Sfm1, Hpm1, Rkm3, and Rkm4 enzymes modify arginine, histidine, and lysine residues buried deep within the ribosome; these modified residues may function in protein–RNA interactions rather than protein–protein interactions.Support or Funding InformationThis work is funded by the National Science Foundation Grant MCB‐1714569.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.