bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MicroRNAs as a clue to overcome breast cancer treatment resistance
Authors: Garrido-Cano Iris , Pattanayak Birlipta , Adam-Artigues Anna , Lameirinhas Ana , Torres-Ruiz Sandra , Tormo Eduardo , Cervera Raimundo , Eroles Pilar 
Published: September 2021

AbstractBreast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide. Despite the improvement in diagnosis and treatments, the rates of cancer relapse and resistance to therapies remain higher than desirable. Alterations in microRNAs have been linked to changes in critical processes related to cancer development and progression. Their involvement in resistance or sensitivity to breast cancer treatments has been documented by different in vivo and in vitro experiments. The most significant microRNAs implicated in modulating resistance to breast cancer therapies are summarized in this review. Resistance to therapy has been linked to cellular processes such as cell cycle, apoptosis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, stemness phenotype, or receptor signaling pathways, and the role of microRNAs in their regulation has already been described. The modulation of specific microRNAs may modify treatment response and improve survival rates and cancer patients’ quality of life. As a result, a greater understanding of microRNAs, their targets, and the signaling pathways through which they act is needed. This information could be useful to design new therapeutic strategies, to reduce resistance to the available treatments, and to open the door to possible new clinical approaches.
Was Adam Smith an economic geographer?
Authors: Ioannou Stefanos , Wójcik Dariusz 
Published: September 2021

AbstractEconomic geographers typically associate Adam Smith with the pin factory, the division of labour, and the ‘invisible hand’ of the market. We show that a closer reading of The Wealth of Nations reveals a much richer and broader range of ideas, which we illustrate by focusing on six themes: methodology, the role of physical geography and land in development, urban scale, institutions, commercial centres, and financial geography. On commercial centres, for example, Smith offers a vivid elaboration of what causes a ‘home bias’ in international trade. Similarly, in a largely neglected part of the book, Smith offers a thorough set of reflections as to what turned Amsterdam into the leading financial centre of Europe during the seventeenth century and eighteenth centuries. Overall, we argue that in all these themes and across them, Smith offers insights valuable to contemporary economic geography, making the Wealth of Nations worthy a place in an anthology of the discipline.
The influence of bearing surfaces on revisions due to dislocations in total hip arthroplasty
Authors: Castagnini Francesco , Bordini Barbara , Cosentino Monica , Ancarani Cristina , Mariotti Federica , Biondi Federico , Faldini Cesare , Traina Francesco 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
Introduction
Recurrent dislocations are still the most frequent reason for revision in total hip arthroplasty (THA). The impact of bearing surfaces on dislocations is still controversial. We hypothesized that: (1) bearing surfaces influence the revisions due to dislocations; (2) ceramic-on-ceramic reduced the revisions for dislocations in adjusted models; (3) Delta-on-Delta bearings reduced the revisions for dislocations in comparison to surfaces with cross-linked polyethylene.

Materials and methods
The regional arthroplasty registry was enquired about bearing surfaces and revisions for dislocations and instability. Unadjusted and adjusted rates were provided, including sex, age (<65 years or ≥65 years), head diameter (≤28 mm or >28 mm; <36 mm or ≥36 mm) as variables. 44,065 THAs were included.

Results
The rate of revisions for dislocations was significantly lower in ceramic-on-ceramic and metal-on-metal bearings (unadjusted rates). After adjusting for age, sex, and head size (36 and 28 mm), hard-on-hard bearings were protective (p < 0.05): ceramic-on-ceramic had a lower risk of revisions due to dislocation than ceramic-on-polyethylene (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.2 p = 0.0009). The rate of revisions for dislocation was similar in bearings with cross-linked polyethylene and Delta-on-Delta articulations, in unadjusted and adjusted models.

Conclusion
Bearings with conventional polyethylene were more predisposed to dislocations. Currently adopted bearings exerted no significant influence on revisions due to dislocations. These findings could be primarily related to wear, but due to the time distribution, soft tissue envelopes and surface tension may also play a role. Pre-clinical biomechanical evaluations and prospective matched cohort studies are required to draw definitive conclusions.
A simple and sensitive detection of the binding ligands by using the receptor aggregation and NMR spectroscopy: a test case of the maltose binding protein
Authors: Chae Young Kee , Um Yoonjin , Kim Hakbeom 
Published: September 2021

AbstractProtein-ligand interaction is one of the highlights of molecular recognition. The most popular application of this type of interaction is drug development which requires a high throughput screening of a ligand that binds to the target protein. Our goal was to find a binding ligand with a simple detection, and once this type of ligand was found, other methods could then be used to measure the detailed kinetic or thermodynamic parameters. We started with the idea that the ligand NMR signal would disappear if it was bound to the non-tumbling mass. In order to create the non-tumbling mass, we tried the aggregates of a target protein, which was fused to the elastin-like polypeptide. We chose the maltose binding proteinas a test case, and we tried it with several sugars, which included maltose, glucose, sucrose, lactose, galactose, maltotriose, and β-cyclodextrin. The maltose signal in the H-1 NMR spectrum disappeared completely as hoped around the protein to ligand ratio of 1:3 at 298 K where the proteins aggregated. The protein signals also disappeared upon aggregation except for the fast-moving part, which resulted in a cleaner background than the monomeric form. Since we only needed to look for a disappearing signal amongst those from the mixture, it should be useful in high throughput screening. Other types of sugars except for the maltotriose and β-cyclodextrin, which are siblings of the maltose, did not seem to bind at all. We believe that our system would be especially more effective when dealing with a smaller target protein, so both the protein and the bound ligand would lose their signals only when the aggregates formed. We hope that our proposed method would contribute to accelerating the development of the potent drug candidates by simultaneously identifying several binders directly from a mixture.
Applicant Reactions to Digital Selection Methods: A Signaling Perspective on Innovativeness and Procedural Justice
Authors: Folger Nicholas , Brosi Prisca , Stumpf-Wollersheim Jutta , Welpe Isabell M. 
Published: September 2021

AbstractResearch has shown that the use of digital technologies in the personnel selection process can have both positive and negative effects on applicants’ attraction to an organization. We explain this contradiction by specifying its underlying mechanisms. Drawing on signaling theory, we build a conceptual model that applies two different theoretical lenses (instrumental-symbolic framework and justice theory) to suggest that perceptions of innovativeness and procedural justice explain the relationship between an organization’s use of digital selection methods and employer attractiveness perceptions. We test our model by utilizing two studies, namely one experimental vignette study among potential applicants (N = 475) and one retrospective field study among actual job applicants (N = 335). With the exception of the assessment stage in Study 1, the positive indirect effects found in both studies indicated that applicants perceive digital selection methods to be more innovative. While Study 1 also revealed a negative indirect effect, with potential applicants further perceiving digital selection methods as less fair than less digitalized methods in the interview stage, this effect was not significant for actual job applicants in Study 2. We discuss theoretical implications for the applicant reactions literature and offer recommendations for human resource managers to make use of positive signaling effects while reducing potential negative signaling effects linked to the use of digital selection methods.
First Hitting Time of Brownian Motion on Simple Graph with Skew Semiaxes
Authors: Dassios Angelos , Zhang Junyi 
Published: September 2021

AbstractConsider a stochastic process that lives on n-semiaxes emanating from a common origin. On each semiaxis it behaves as a Brownian motion and at the origin it chooses a semiaxis randomly. In this paper we study the first hitting time of the process. We derive the Laplace transform of the first hitting time, and provide the explicit expressions for its density and distribution functions. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of our results.
Neutron computed laminography yields 3D root system architecture and complements investigations of spatiotemporal rhizosphere patterns
Authors: Rudolph-Mohr Nicole , Bereswill Sarah , Tötzke Christian , Kardjilov Nikolay , Oswald Sascha E. 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
Purpose
Root growth, respiration, water uptake as well as root exudation induce biogeochemical patterns in the rhizosphere that can change dynamically over time. Our aim is to develop a method that provides complementary information on 3D root system architecture and biogeochemical gradients around the roots needed for the quantitative description of rhizosphere processes.

Methods
We captured for the first time the root system architecture of maize plants grown in rectangular rhizotrons in 3D using neutron computed laminography (NCL). Simultaneously, we measured pH and oxygen concentration using fluorescent optodes and the 2D soil water distribution by means of neutron radiography. We co-registered the 3D laminography data with the 2D oxygen and pH maps to analyze the sensor signal as a function of the distance between the roots and the optode.

Results
The 3D root system architecture was successfully segmented from the laminographic data. We found that exudation of roots in up to 2 mm distance to the pH optode induced patterns of local acidification or alkalization. Over time, oxygen gradients in the rhizosphere emerged for roots up to a distance of 7.5 mm.

Conclusion
Neutron computed laminography allows for a three-dimensional investigation of root systems grown in laterally extended rhizotrons as the ones designed for 2D optode imaging studies. The 3D information on root position within the rhizotrons derived by NCL explained measured 2D oxygen and pH distribution. The presented new combination of 3D and 2D imaging methods facilitates systematical investigations of a wide range of dynamic processes in the rhizosphere.
What Are Grand Chambers for?
Authors: BOBEK Michal 
Published: September 2021

AbstractIn multi-panelled higher jurisdictions, a larger, extended formation of judges tends to be established within the court. It bears various names: the grand chamber, the extended chamber, the expanded composition, the reunion of several chambers, a court sitting en banc, an extended section or a division of a court. In larger but not too large jurisdictions, the same role is adopted by the plenary. For ease of reference, I shall refer to all such extended judicial formations with the generic name ‘grand chamber’.To bear the same name does not necessarily mean to perform the same function. As a Czech lawyer, I have always intuitively assumed that the role of such a body within an apex court is to unify the case law. In the Czech Republic, as well as in a number of other supreme continental jurisdictions for that matter, there tends to be only one reason for the presence of a grand chamber within a supreme court: to unify the diverging lines of case law and to set a clear line of precedent. However, that has never really been the job description, least of all the practice, of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘Court’). This begs the question: what may then be other structural reasons for the existence of such a body within an apex jurisdiction? What is the specific role, function, and ensuing justification for the Grand Chamber of the Court?This article offers some personal reflections on that question. It is structured as follows: it begins with a short comparative overview of some of the grand chambers within European (national) courts, overseas in the common law world, as well as at the European Court of Human Rights, in order to tease out the functional rationale for various types of extended judicial compositions within those systems (Part I). Next, two types of such functional justifications for grand chambers in the form of ideal models are identified (Part II). Finally, those justifications are then considered in light of the legislative design and the current practice of the Grand Chamber of the Court, before concluding with two modest suggestions (Part III).
Using mobile big data to support emergency preparedness and address economically vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
Authors: Gilbert Joanne , Adekanmbi Olubayo , Harrison Charlie 
Published: September 2021

AbstractWith the declaration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria in 2020, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) instigated a collaboration with MTN Nigeria to develop data-driven insights, using mobile big data (MBD) and other data sources, to shape the planning and response to the pandemic. First, a model was developed to predict the worst-case scenario for infections in each state. This was used to support state-level health committees to make local resource planning decisions. Next, as containment interventions resulted in subsistence/daily paid workers losing their income and ability to buy essential food supplies, NGF and MTN agreed a second phase of activity, to develop insights to understand the population clusters at greatest socioeconomic risk from the impact of the pandemic. This insight was used to promote available financial relief to the economically vulnerable population clusters in Lagos state via the HelpNow crowdfunding initiative. This article discusses how anonymized and aggregated mobile network data (MBD), combined with other data sources, were used to create valuable insights and inform the government, and private business, response to the pandemic in Nigeria. Finally, we discuss lessons learnt. Firstly, how a collaboration with, and support from, the regulator enabled MTN to deliver critical insights at a national scale. Secondly, how the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation and the GSMA COVID-19 Privacy Guidelines provided an initial framework to open the discussion and define the approach. Thirdly, why stakeholder management is critical to the understanding, and application, of insights. Fourthly, how existing relationships ease new project collaborations. Finally, how MTN is developing future preparedness by creating a team that is focused on developing data-driven insights for social good.
How to Develop the EU Justice Scoreboard into a Rule of Law Index: Using an Existing Tool in the EU Rule of Law Crisis in a More Efficient Way
Authors: Jakab András , Kirchmair Lando 
Published: September 2021

AbstractIn this Article we argue that rule of law indices are a powerful tool to detect ills in the rule of law of EU Member States. In order to explain how to improve the indices’ potential, we give a critical overview of the methodological issues of the four rule of law indices which we consider particularly instructive for our purpose. These are the indices provided by the Freedom House (“Freedom in the World,” FIW), the Bertelsmann Stiftung (“Bertelsmann Transformation Index,” BTI), the World Bank (“Worldwide Governance Indicators,” WGI), and the World Justice Project (“Rule of Law Index,” WJP RLI). After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of these indices, we turn to the EU Justice Scoreboard (EUJS). While the introduction of the EUJS in 2013 has already been an important step in order to lay the ground for an EU-wide analysis, in this Article we suggest how the EUJS should be further developed into a proper rule of law index by aggregating expert opinions into a single number. This would make the EUJS a significantly more useful tool in the ongoing EU rule of law crisis.
The “War” Against Covid-19: State of Exception, State of Siege, or (Constitutional) Emergency Powers?: The Italian Case in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Corradetti Claudio , Pollicino Oreste 
Published: September 2021

AbstractIs the Covid-19 pandemic changing the constitutional-power structures of our democracies? Is this centennial public health emergency irreversibly constraining our liberties? The paper examines recent state-measures of containment during the initial phase of spread of the Covid-19 crisis. It compares primarily the Italian scenario with the Chinese and the American one. It asks whether the measures adopted particularly in the Italian case (known as DPCMs) amount to a state of exception or to a use of emergency powers. Cognizant of the authoritarian risks in severed enjoyments of constitutional rights, the authors conclude that this is not what occurred in the case of solid democracies. At the level of governmental analysis, the “decree” strategy of the Italian DPCMs allude to paternalistic forms of power-exercise that empty the self-determining prerogative of the parliament.
Best Efforts in the Taxonomy of Obligation – The Case of the EU Vaccine Contracts
Authors: Schanze Erich 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThe purchase of Covid-19 vaccines by the EU Commission as agent for the Member States has caused substantial political discussion, including a lawsuit against the producer AstraZeneca in Brussels in 2021. The article looks at these purchase contracts as examples for a problematic use of “best efforts“ clauses in commercial contracting, considering some key jurisdictions. The clauses are discussed from a drafting perspective, including their function and their theoretical background in comparative law. It concludes with a primer for the drafting process, looking at some basic contracting schemes for softening or intensifying obligations.
Judicial Dialogue in Social Media Cases in Europe: Exploring the Role of Peers in Judicial Adjudication
Authors: Psychogiopoulou Evangelia 
Published: September 2021

AbstractThis Article aims to examine the social media jurisprudence of national courts in a selected set of EU Member States by focusing on judicial dialogue specifically via references to the case law of other courts. Do judges in social media cases engage with the case law of peers, and if so how and to what extent? The analysis investigates whether national judges draw on the jurisprudence of higher domestic courts, foreign courts and/or European supranational courts—the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)—and explores the use of such jurisprudence. It is based on 147 cases from the constitutional and/or supreme courts of Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Although judicial dialogue is generally limited in the cases under study, the analysis illustrates the different ways in which courts interact with the rulings of peers and informs on the latter’s contribution to judicial assessment.
First reported nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a hospital-based laundry facility
Authors: Goldenfeld Miki , Zuckerman Neta , Amit Sharon , Tal Ilana , Hasson Sabrina , Gefen-Halevi Shiraz , Biber Asaf , Mor Orna , Regev-Yochay Gili 
Published: September 2021

Abstract
Nosocomial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks among health care workers have been scarcely reported so far. This report presents the results of an epidemiologic and molecular investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak among laundromat facility workers in a large tertiary centre in Israel. Following the first three reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 among laundromat workers, all 49 laundromat personnel were screened by qRT-PCR tests using naso- and oropharingeal swabs. Epidemiologic investigations included questionnaires, interviews and observations of the laundromat facility. Eleven viral RNA samples were then sequenced, and a phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGAX.
The integrated investigation defined three genetic clusters and helped identify the index cases and the assumed routes of transmission. It was then deduced that shared commute and public showers played a role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission in this outbreak, in addition to improper PPE use and social gatherings (such as social eating and drinking). In this study, we present an integrated epidemiologic and molecular investigation may help detect the routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, emphasising such routes that are less frequently discussed. Our work reinforces the notion that person-to-person transmission is more likely to cause infections than environmental contamination (e.g. from handling dirty laundry).
Differences in seed germination response of two populations of Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel to a set of GR24 concentrations and durations of stimulation
Authors: Gibot-Leclerc Stéphanie , Connault Manon , Perronne Rémi , Dessaint Fabrice 
Published: September 2021

AbstractPhelipanche ramosa is a major weed holoparasite characterized by a broad host range with a suboptimal development on numerous hosts, suggesting inter- or intra-species specificities. Seeds of P. ramosa germinate after exposure to exogenous chemicals exuded by surrounding host roots such as strigolactones, the concentrations of these germination stimulants varying between hosts. In France, P. ramosa is characterized by genetically differentiated populations presenting varying germination rates and a host specificity. The objective of our study was to investigate the sensitivity of seeds of two P. ramosa populations harvested on tobacco and oilseed rape, to a set of GR24 concentrations, a synthetic strigol analogue. The assessment of the germination rate was based on in vitro experiments. Seeds of P. ramosa were placed in Petri dishes with various concentrations of GR24. The cumulative number of germinated seeds of P. ramosa was counted several times after application of the treatment. Cumulative germination curves were analysed using a three-parameter log-logistic model and a time-to-event approach. The results show that the germination rate of P. ramosa seeds depends on the GR24 concentration and the duration of stimulation, but also that the response to these two factors varies greatly according to the origin of the P. ramosa seeds. The difference in germination speed between P. ramosa populations further shows distinct responses at the intraspecific level, thus suggesting that the specialization of P. ramosa probably occurs at least from the first stage of the holoparasite cycle.