bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Semiparametric Estimation for Causal Mediation Analysis with Multiple Causally Ordered Mediators
Authors: Zhou Xiang 
Published: December 2021

AbstractCausal mediation analysis concerns the pathways through which a treatment affects an outcome. While most of the mediation literature focuses on settings with a single mediator, a flourishing line of research has examined settings involving multiple mediators, under which path-specific effects (PSEs) are often of interest. We consider estimation of PSEs when the treatment effect operates through K(≥ 1) causally ordered, possibly multivariate mediators. In this setting, the PSEs for many causal paths are not nonparametrically identified, and we focus on a set of PSEs that are identified under Pearl's nonparametric structural equation model. These PSEs are defined as contrasts between the expectations of 2K+1 potential outcomes and identified via what we call the generalized mediation functional (GMF). We introduce an array of regression-imputation, weighting and ‘hybrid’ estimators, and, in particular, two K + 2-robust and locally semiparametric efficient estimators for the GMF. The latter estimators are well suited to the use of data-adaptive methods for estimating their nuisance functions. We establish the rate conditions required of the nuisance functions for semiparametric efficiency. We also discuss how our framework applies to several estimands that may be of particular interest in empirical applications. The proposed estimators are illustrated with a simulation study and an empirical example.
THE DAWKINS CHALLENGE
Authors: Ruse Michael 
Published: December 2021

AbstractRichard Dawkins, in his The God Delusion, argued strongly for atheism. Alister McGrath picked up the challenge and argued that Dawkins is wrong and that his arguments are very weak. This article, part of a symposium honoring McGrath looks in detail at the God Delusion, and at two books by McGrath, Dawkins’ God, written before The God Delusion appeared but addressing the arguments of that book, and The Dawkins’ Delusion, co‐authored with his wife Joanna Collicutt McGrath that appeared after The God Delusion. It is argued that the debate is still timely and that sociological factors are extremely important.
Inclusion of Individuals With Overweight/Obesity in Physical Activity Settings
Authors: Rukavina Paul Bernard 
Published: December 2021

The deleterious effects of weight bias in physical activity spaces for children, adolescents, and adults are well documented. Different types of weight bias occur, and they interact at multiple levels within a person’s ecology, from the messaging of often unattainable sociocultural thin/muscular ideals and physical inequities (e.g., equipment not appropriate for body shapes and sizes) to interpersonal and public discriminatory comments. However, the most damaging is the internalization and application of negative weight-bias stereotypes by those with overweight and obesity to themselves. An imperative for social justice is now; there is great need to advocate for, provide support for, and design inclusive physical activity spaces to reduce weight bias so that all individuals feel welcome, accept their bodies, and are empowered to live a healthy, active lifestyle. To make this a reality, an interdisciplinary and preventive approach is needed to understand bias and how to minimize it in our spaces.
Serum folate status among blood donors in south-central China
Authors: Ma Yan , Deng Huan , He Mingdi , Yang Ru , Shen Gang 
Published: December 2021

Folate deficiency has been confirmed to be related to various diseases. Unfortunately, there are few reports on the folate status of Chinese adults. This study aims to evaluate the serum folate status of blood donors in south-central China. In this study, 248 blood donors were included. The information on subjects was collected by a brief questionnaire concerning alcohol consumption habits, smoking habits, fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. The serum folate concentration was measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The geometric mean serum folate concentration was 13.4[Formula: see text]nmol[Formula: see text]l[Formula: see text] (95% CI, 12.7–14.1). The prevalence of serum folate concentrations below 6.8[Formula: see text]nmol[Formula: see text]l[Formula: see text] was 5.2% (95% CI, 2.5–8.0). There were significant differences in serum folate concentrations with respect to sex (p-values < 0.05), age (p-values < 0.05), fruit and vegetable consumption (p-values < 0.05), and alcohol consumption habits (p-values < 0.05). The concentration of serum folate increased with age (p-values < 0.05) and fruit and vegetable consumption (p-values < 0.05). Individuals with an age of 30 years or younger were nearly 3.5 times as likely as those aged over 30 years to have an insufficient level of serum folate (OR = 3.48; 95% CI: 1.01–11.99). An age of 30 years or younger was a risk factor for folate deficiency. Most blood donors had sufficient serum folate concentrations in south-central China. National surveys of folate status should be implemented in China.
Single-Cell Analysis Unveils the Role of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Notch Signaling in Dormant Minimal Residual Disease
Authors: Janghorban Mahnaz , Yang Yuchen , Zhao Na , Hamor Clark , Nguyen Tuan M. , Zhang Xiang H.-F. , Rosen Jeffrey M. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Tumor dormancy is a stage in which residual cancer cells remain inactive, but regrowth of dormant cancer cells contributes to recurrence. The complex ecosystem in cancer that promotes cell survival and the factors that eventually overcome growth constraints and result in proliferation remain to be fully elucidated. Doing so may provide new insights and help identify novel strategies to prolong cancer dormancy and prevent disease recurrence. To dissect the molecular pathways and the microenvironments involved in regulation of dormancy, we utilized a novel immunocompetent transgenic model to study minimal residual disease and relapse. This model revealed a significant reorganization of cancer cell structures, stroma, and immune cells, with cancer cells showing dormant cell signatures. Single-cell RNA sequencing uncovered remodeling of myeloid and lymphoid compartments. In addition, the Jagged-1/Notch signaling pathway was shown to regulate many aspects of tumorigenesis, including stem cell development, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and immune cell homeostasis during minimal residual disease. Treatment with an anti–Jagged-1 antibody inhibited the Jagged-1/Notch signaling pathway in tumor cells and the microenvironment, delaying tumor recurrence. These findings uncover a cascade of regulatory changes in the microenvironment during dormancy and identify a therapeutic strategy to undercut these changes.

Significance:
Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis reveals dormancy-associated changes in immune and stromal cells and demonstrates a rationale to pursue Jagged-1/Notch pathway inhibition as a viable therapeutic strategy to reduce disease recurrence.
LncRNA Uc003xsl.1-Mediated Activation of the NFκB/IL8 Axis Promotes Progression of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Authors: Xu Ying , Ren Wei , Li Qingjian , Duan Chaohui , Lin Xiaorong , Bi Zhuofei , You Kaiyun , Hu Qian , Xie Ning , Yu Yunfang , Xu Xiaoding , Hu Hai , Yao Herui 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Aberrant activation of NFκB orchestrates a critical role in tumor carcinogenesis; however, the regulatory mechanisms underlying this activation are not fully understood. Here we report that a novel long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) Uc003xsl.1 is highly expressed in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and correlates with poor outcomes in patients with TNBC. Uc003xsl.1 directly bound nuclear transcriptional factor NFκB-repressing factor (NKRF), subsequently preventing NKRF from binding to a specific negative regulatory element in the promoter of the NFκB-responsive gene IL8 and abolishing the negative regulation of NKRF on NFκB-mediated transcription of IL8. Activation of the NFκB/IL8 axis promoted the progression of TNBC. Trop2-based antibody–drug conjugates have been applied in clinical trials in TNBC. In this study, a Trop2-targeting, redox-responsive nanoparticle was developed to systematically deliver Uc003xsl.1 siRNA to TNBC cells in vivo, which reduced Uc003xsl.1 expression and suppressed TNBC tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, targeting Uc003xsl.1 to suppress the NFκB/IL8 axis represents a promising therapeutic strategy for TNBC treatment.

Significance:
These findings identify an epigenetic-driven NFκB/IL8 cascade initiated by a lncRNA, whose aberrant activation contributes to tumor metastasis and poor survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
p16 Represses DNA Damage Repair via a Novel Ubiquitin-Dependent Signaling Cascade
Authors: Molkentine David P. , Molkentine Jessica M. , Bridges Kathleen A. , Valdecanas David R. , Dhawan Annika , Bahri Reshub , Hefner Andrew J. , Kumar Manish , Yang Liangpeng , Abdelhakiem Mohamed , Pifer Phillip M. , Sandulache Vlad , Sheth Aakash , Beadle Beth M. , Thames Howard D. , Mason Kathryn A. , Pickering Curtis R. , Meyn Raymond E. , Skinner Heath D. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma driven by human papillomavirus (HPV) is more sensitive to DNA-damaging therapies than its HPV-negative counterpart. Here, we show that p16, the clinically used surrogate for HPV positivity, renders cells more sensitive to radiotherapy via a ubiquitin-dependent signaling pathway, linking high levels of this protein to increased activity of the transcription factor SP1, increased HUWE1 transcription, and degradation of ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) and TRIP12. Activation of this pathway in HPV-positive disease led to decreased homologous recombination and improved response to radiotherapy, a phenomenon that can be recapitulated in HPV-negative disease using USP7 inhibitors in clinical development. This p16-driven axis induced sensitivity to PARP inhibition and potentially leads to “BRCAness” in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells. Thus, these findings support a functional role for p16 in HPV-positive tumors in driving response to DNA damage, which can be exploited to improve outcomes in both patients with HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC.

Significance:
In HPV-positive tumors, a previously undiscovered pathway directly links p16 to DNA damage repair and sensitivity to radiotherapy via a clinically relevant and pharmacologically targetable ubiquitin-mediated degradation pathway.
The Story of Violence in America
Authors: Jackson Kellie Carter 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
American history is characterized by its exceptional levels of violence. It was founded by colonial occupation and sustained by an economy of enslaved people who were emancipated by a Civil War with casualties rivaling any conflict of nineteenth-century Western Europe. Collective violence continued against African Americans following Reconstruction, and high levels of lethal violence emerged in American cities in the twentieth-century postwar period. What explains America's violent exceptionalism? How has structural violence against African Americans become ingrained in American culture and society? How has it been codified by law, or supported politically? Can we rectify and heal from our violent past?
Faces of the Aftermath of Visible & Invisible Violence & Loss:
Radical Resiliency of Justice & Healing
Authors: Jones Barbara L. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
As a victim/cosurvivor, my experiences with the criminal justice system have called me to confront hard truths and the brutal facts of coming to terms with death, life, meaning, responsibility, and healing in innumerable ways. The real and tangible balance as a practitioner, victim, and healer are oftentimes disconnected from theory, practice, and life and death experiences. What does it mean to be human in the processes of restoration and reconciliation while hosting complexities, contradictions, and complacencies that all too often reduce victims/cosurvivors to being forgotten, dismissed, and neglected within the criminal justice system? Why do communities of people who long for and deserve trauma-informed interconnectedness, restoration, healing, and reconciliation continue to suffer from the absence of them? My multidimensional perspective as a victim and advocate grapples with my role as a practitioner as it relates to bodies of evidence, theories, best practices, and justice policies.
Recognition, Repair & the Reconstruction of “Square One”
Authors: Ward Geoff K. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
The concept of a “square one” in societal organization is a curious thing, and challenging analytic, given the stubborn presence of the past. Even if not meant literally, the Square One Project, like much of the polity, envisions a new starting point, where social policy and practice might turn in a more equitable and inclusive direction. Yet we must grapple with what this restarting point is, in a sociological rather than political sense, and how the present can reasonably be conceived–and actively reconfigured–as an opportunity to start over. I argue that the Square One Project imagines yet another societal reconstruction, in which attending to old and more recent histories of racial violence remains critical to achieving a sustainable vision and practice of equal and legitimate justice. To that end, I encourage a wide-ranging array of efforts under the banner of monumental antiracism to prepare the ground for square one justice.
Knowing What We Want: A Decent Society, A Civilized System of Justice & A
Condition of Dignity
Authors: Simon Jonathan 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Human dignity as a value to guide criminal justice reform emerged strikingly in the 2011 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Plata. But with Justice Kennedy retired and courts generally reluctant to go far down the road to practical reforms, its future lies in the political realm shaping policy at the local, state, and national levels. For human dignity to be effective politically and in forming policy, we need a vocabulary robust enough to convey a positive vision for the penal state. In this essay, I discuss three concepts that can provide more precision to the potential abstractness of human dignity, two of which the Supreme Court has regularly used in decisions regarding punishment: the idea of a “decent society,” the idea of a “civilized system of justice,” and the idea of a “condition of dignity.” In brief, without a much broader commitment to restoring a decent society, and to civilizing our justice and security systems, there is little hope that our police stations, courts, jails, and prisons will provide a condition of dignity to those unfortunate enough to end up in them.
Nationalist Backlash Against Foreign Climate Shaming
Authors: Spektor Matias , Mignozzetti Umberto , Fasolin Guilherme N. 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Should international pro-climate actors speak up against climate rogues, or do foreign critics risk igniting nationalist backlash against global environmental norms and institutions? We explore naming and shaming dynamics in global climate politics by fielding survey experiments to nationally representative samples in Brazil. Our results show that nationalism moderates public reactions to foreign climate shaming: individuals who are highly attached to their nation are more likely to reject international criticism than their lowly attached peers. Contrary to existing expectations, however, we find that nationalist publics express little support for virulent defiance against foreign critics. Our findings hold irrespective of the source of criticism and the nature of the critical message. These results sound a cautionary note on the belief that liberal internationalists should tread carefully so as not to unadvisedly unleash nationalist pushback. Although foreign climate criticism may bump up against nationalist sentiment in climate rogues, it will not necessarily fuel an all-out backlash against the global environmental regime.
Lu Märten: Four Texts
Authors: Märten Lu 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This article collects four texts written by German feminist-materialist art historian Lu Märten (1879–1970): “Artistic Aspects of Labor in Old and New Times” Published in 1903 in the social-democratic journal Die Zeit at a time when Märten dedicated the majority of her writings on form to feminist perspectives on housing and reproduction. It is her first systematic essay on what will become a central concern of her own “life-work,” namely, the question of how to break open the capitalized division between “productive labor” and what Märten calls “social-personal” work. Märten thus sketches an understanding of labor outside of its capitalist determinations and notions of progressive temporality. Essence and Transformation of Forms (Arts) This text appeared in 1924 in the journal Arbeiterliteratur. Its immediate objective was to explain the aim of her similarly titled book to a proletarian audience. In this short summary, Märten emphasizes the importance of ethnography for her project. Rather than isolating forms from their social surroundings, as was traditional in art history, the practice of viewing forms ethnographically allows their origins to be seen in a broader framework of social-collective materialities and vital needs. Märten argues that this shift in perspective could be an aid de-fetishizing workerss relationships with the object world. “Art and Proletariat” This was first published in 1925 in Franz Pfemfert's Die Aktion and later that year reprinted in Czech translation in Pásmo, a magazine run by the revolutionary artist collective Devětsil. The article argues that the notion of “proletarian art” is politically and systematically pointless given that “art” is merely the historically specific, impoverished manifestation of form under the conditions of industrial capitalism. In place of art, Märten draws on the notion of “classless form” in order to imagine a monist state of form beyond the divisions of class, gender, and species. “Workers and Film” Written in 1928, this text was not printed during Märten's lifetime, instead serving as a script for a radio broadcast, as was the case for most of her published and unpublished texts on film. Almost a decade before Walter Benjamin's Artwork essay (1936), Märten's “Workers and Film,” along with numerous other articles and radio broadcasts, addressed strikingly similar questions, yet under profoundly different premises. In Märten's synthetic understanding of a monist material culture of people and things, film promised to actualize a technologically mediated monism for the industrial age.
On Black Affective Forms: A Conversation with Garrett Bradley
Authors: Copeland Huey 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
In this conversation—recorded in 2019 for the artist's first solo museum exhibition—New Orleans–based Garrett Bradley discusses her filmic work as well as its relationship to institutional archives and personal communities with art historian Huey Copeland. What emerges is a critical account of Bradley's evolving Black feminist practice—its inspirations, antecedents, and analogues—which puts pressure on filmic conventions to move toward an “affective resymbolization” of America's racial imaginaries and the means through which they might be contested, shared, and visualized for audiences on all sides of the color line.
Art Communities at Risk: On Slovenia
Authors: Badovinac Zdenka 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
“Art Communities At Risk: Slovenia” talks about how it is somehow easier to take a moral than a political position in times of crisis today—and how political manipulations often hide under seemingly moral attitudes. The author analyzes these issues against the background of growing authoritarian forces in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Slovenia, which saw the rise of covid-19 and Janez Janša as prime minister at the same time. Janša's government systematically ignores professional competencies in cultural institutions as well as in science, especially in relation to the epidemic.The voice of experts in the field of culture is ignored, and this is precisely because their specialized knowledge is not neutral. In a time when the space for free speech is shrinking, the need for a clear positioning becomes even more pressing. The author discusses the exhibition Bigger than Myself / Heroic Voices from Ex-Yugoslavia, which she curated for Rome's MAXXI museum last summer. The work shown there addressed Yugoslav emancipatory histories in relation to the issues of particular urgency today: global capitalism, the posthuman condition, and the return of authoritarianism, in particular. The Slovenian authorities took a hostile attitude towards the exhibition, not only because it presented critical voices from the region but also because artists from the former Yugoslavia were presented there, who, according to Slovenian right-wingers, are no longer worthy of participating in national cultural projects. Concerning the example of what is happening in Slovenia today, the essay asks why there has been such a strong turn to the right in Central and Eastern Europe, which is reviving “traditional” morality, patriarchy, and nationalism and engaging in political interference in cultural institutions. The current governments of Slovenia and other countries in the region want to get rid of the critical voices of left-wing experts in culture by favoring ostensibly neutral experts. It removes from important positions all those it considers to be leftists and replaces them with its own people in order to seemingly strike a balance between the various political options. This balancing act and new “neutrality,” however, are just one of the modern disguises of acute authoritarianism in Eastern Europe.
Further to the Pre-Muḥammadan Allāh
Authors: Al-Azmeh Aziz 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This article is concerned with the divinity of Allāh before Muḥammad. It is focussed on narrow and broad issues of method, and particularly on inferential evidence for the incidence and nature of this divinity on the evidence of Arabic poetry. It casts a critical look on retrojection Islamic theological concepts to the interpretation of earlier Arabic poetry, and proposes that the now common notion of “pagan monotheism” refers to no actually existing form of religious practice among pre-Muḥammadan Arabs. It reaffirms the salience of polytheism among the Arabs, and the pertinence of concrete historical evidence and of an anthropological sensibility in this domain.
La présente étude porte sur une divinité nommée Allāh avant Muḥammad. Elle se concentre sur la question méthodologique des témoignages poétiques, sur l’envergure et la nature de cette divinité, et sur le contexte plus général des questions de méthode. Elle jette un regard critique sur la projection a posteriori des notions théologiques islamiques dans le cadre des analyses déductives fondées sur la matière poétique. Elle propose que l’idée, bien répandue dans des milieux universitaires, des « monothéistes païens » parmi les Arabes ne fait pas référence à la réalité historique des pratiques religieuses des Arabes avant Muḥammad. Elle souligne l’importance du polythéisme chez les Arabes et la pertinence décisive des données historiques concrètes et d’une sensibilité anthropologique dans ce domaine.