bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Allele frequency dynamics under sex-biased demography and sex-specific inheritance in a pedigreed jay population
Authors: Driscoll Rose M H , Beaudry Felix E G , Cosgrove Elissa J , Bowman Reed , Fitzpatrick John W , Schoech Stephan J , Chen Nancy 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Sex-biased demography, including sex-biased survival or migration, can alter allele frequency changes across the genome. In particular, we can expect different patterns of genetic variation on autosomes and sex chromosomes due to sex-specific differences in life histories, as well as differences in effective population size, transmission modes, and the strength and mode of selection. Here, we demonstrate the role that sex differences in life history played in shaping short-term evolutionary dynamics across the genome. We used a 25-year pedigree and genomic dataset from a long-studied population of Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) to directly characterize the relative roles of sex-biased demography and inheritance in shaping genome-wide allele frequency trajectories. We used gene dropping simulations to estimate individual genetic contributions to future generations and to model drift and immigration on the known pedigree. We quantified differential expected genetic contributions of males and females over time, showing the impact of sex-biased dispersal in a monogamous system. Due to female-biased dispersal, more autosomal variation is introduced by female immigrants. However, due to male-biased transmission, more Z variation is introduced by male immigrants. Finally, we partitioned the proportion of variance in allele frequency change through time due to male and female contributions. Overall, most allele frequency change is due to variance in survival and births. Males and females make similar contributions to autosomal allele frequency change, but males make higher contributions to allele frequency change on the Z chromosome. Our work shows the importance of understanding sex-specific demographic processes in characterizing genome-wide allele frequency change in wild populations.
Australian Reconciliation and the Enduring Invisibility of Whiteness
Authors: Hand Samara 
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACT
∞Reconciliation has emerged as one of the key goals of transitional justice and a favoured policy approach to address the racism, inequality and historical injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples in settler-colonial states. This article focuses on Australian reconciliation and argues that it has failed to critically engage with whiteness, limiting the potential of reconciliation to address the root causes of these issues. Drawing on critical whiteness studies and Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s concept of patriarchal white sovereignty, the article analyses the federal government’s push for constitutional recognition and demonstrates why reconciliation perpetuates the dispossession of Indigenous lands. The article also engages Michael Rothberg’s figure of the implicated subject to complicate the concept of whiteness and overcome the Indigenous/settler or victim/perpetrator binary. This article contributes to the field of transitional justice by advocating for a more explicit and critical examination of whiteness to advance justice in settler colonial contexts.
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: An Emerging Therapeutic Target to Improve Infectious Disease Outcomes
Authors: Meier Angela , Sakoulas George , Nizet Victor , Ulloa Erlinda R 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Neutrophils possess a diverse repertoire of pathogen clearance mechanisms, one of which is the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are complexes of histone proteins and DNA coated with proteolytic enzymes that are released extracellularly to entrap pathogens and aid in their clearance, in a process known as NETosis. Intravascular NETosis may drive a massive inflammatory response that has been shown to contribute to morbidity and mortality in many infectious diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, influenza, bacterial sepsis, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. In this review we seek to (1) summarize the current understanding of NETs, (2) discuss infectious diseases in which NET formation contributes to morbidity and mortality, and (3) explore potential adjunctive therapeutics that may be considered for future study in treating severe infections driven by NET pathophysiology. This includes drugs specifically targeting NET inhibition and US Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs that may be repurposed as NET inhibitors.
Efficacy of a Novel Affitoxin Targeting Major Outer Membrane Protein Against Chlamydia trachomatis In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Li Mingyang , Yang Jia , Zhou Luqi , Zhang Jing , Li Yang , Chen Jun , Dong Haiyan , Zhang Lifang , Zhu Shanli 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Targeted therapy is an attractive approach for treating infectious diseases. Affibody molecules have similar capability to antibodies that facilitate molecular recognition in both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Targeting major outer membrane protein (MOMP) for treating infection of Chlamydia trachomatis, one of the most common sexually transmitted pathogens, is a promising therapeutic approach. Previously, we have reported a MOMP-specific affibody (ZMOMP:461) from phage display library. Here, we first fused it with modified Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE38KDEL) and a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) to develop an affitoxin, Z461X-CPP. We then verified the addition of both toxin and CPPs that did not affect the affinitive capability of ZMOMP:461 to MOMP. Upon uptake by C trachomatis–infected cells, Z461X-CPP induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In an animal model, Z461X significantly shortened the duration of C trachomatis infection and prevented pathological damage in the mouse reproductive system. These findings provide compelling evidence that the MOMP-specific affitoxin has great potential for targeting therapy of C trachomatis infection.
Investigating drivers of telecare acceptance to improve healthcare quality for independently living older adults
Authors: Lassar Walfried , Hertelendy Attila J 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Contemporary telecare systems facilitate the ability for older adults to age in place, keeping them out of residential care facilities and providing numerous quality-of-life advantages for both care receivers (CRs) and caregivers (CGs). However, despite the acceptance of digital health interventions among older adults and their CGs, telecare adoption has been slower than expected. This paper aimed to compare attitudes toward adopting telecare systems between CRs (aging adults) and their CGs (family/friends). Data were collected via an online survey. Respondents included aging adults concerned about their care (CRs) and older adults who cared for an aging loved one (CGs). Analysis of covariance and partial-least-squares techniques were used to examine the relationships between healthcare concerns for older adults, functional telecare benefits, and telecare acceptance. Concerns for healthcare status, mainly driven by CRs, positively impacted telecare acceptance. However, concerns for mental and physical stimulation had a negative relationship with telecare acceptance, while CGs showed a neutral relationship. Telecare’s ability to improve healthcare quality and cognitive stimulation positively impacted its acceptance. CGs mainly drove the impact of healthcare quality on telecare acceptance, while the relationship was not significant for CRs. CRs’ age reduced telecare acceptance, and higher educational levels of CGs increased telecare acceptance. We found significant differences in telecare acceptance and its drivers between CGs and CRs in the USA. In addition, we discerned that not all healthcare concerns or functional telecare characteristics influenced telecare acceptance equally between the two. Consequently, telecare providers must consider the different needs of constituencies interested in telecare to support the life quality of older adults.
Trading with Pariahs: North Korean Sanctions and the Challenge of Weaponized Interdependence
Authors: Preble Keith A , Willis Charmaine N 
Published: May 2024

AbstractWhy has North Korea avoided capitulating to economic sanctions pressures? We argue that economic sanctions have been ineffective and unsuccessful for three reasons: North Korea’s adeptness at evasion, other states’ unwillingness to enforce economic sanctions, and North Korea’s efforts to avoid panopticon effects via its diplomatic statecraft and policies that allow states to monitor and collect information on others. We contend that the implementation and enforcement of economic sanctions led North Korea to alter its trading network, reallocating trade to countries (or nodes) within its network willing to ignore international sanctions. As a result, these network shifts limited the ability of senders to weaponize the interdependence between them and North Korea effectively. We further highlight how North Korea conducts diplomatic statecraft in such a way that limits the impact of sanctions enforcing states from effectively monitoring it and limiting the impact of panopticon effects senders generate. To test our theory, we employ an ordinary least squares regression followed by social network analysis to understand how North Korea’s network of trade has adapted over time in the face of punishing economic sanctions. We find that states with greater diplomatic engagement enjoy better centrality than sanctions enforcing states. Also, economic sanctions at critical junctures induce changes to North Korea’s network over time with commercial imperatives to trade replaced by a North Korean near reliance on China. We further demonstrate that economic sanctions likely induce changes to the structure of the network as North Korea seeks to insulate itself from the impact of economic sanctions.
Machine learning and metagenomics identifies uncharacterized taxa inferred to drive biogeochemical cycles in a subtropical hypereutrophic estuary
Authors: Prabhu Apoorva , Tule Sanjana , Chuvochina Maria , Bodén Mikael , McIlroy Simon J , Zaugg Julian , Rinke Christian 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Anthropogenic influences have drastically increased nutrient concentrations in many estuaries globally, and microbial communities have adapted to the resulting hypereutrophic ecosystems. However, our knowledge of the dominant microbial taxa and their potential functions in these ecosystems has remained sparse. Here, we study prokaryotic community dynamics in a temporal–spatial dataset, from a subtropical hypereutrophic estuary. Screening 54 water samples across brackish to marine sites revealed that nutrient concentrations and salinity best explained spatial community variations, whereas temperature and dissolved oxygen likely drive seasonal shifts. By combining short and long read sequencing data, we recovered 2,459 metagenome-assembled genomes, proposed new taxon names for previously uncharacterised lineages, and created an extensive, habitat specific genome reference database. Community profiling based on this genome reference database revealed a diverse prokaryotic community comprising 61 bacterial and 18 archaeal phyla, and resulted in an improved taxonomic resolution at lower ranks down to genus level. We found that the vast majority (61 out of 73) of abundant genera (&gt;1% average) represented unnamed and novel lineages, and that all genera could be clearly separated into brackish and marine ecotypes with inferred habitat specific functions. Applying supervised machine learning and metabolic reconstruction, we identified several microbial indicator taxa responding directly or indirectly to elevated nitrate and total phosphorus concentrations. In conclusion, our analysis highlights the importance of improved taxonomic resolution, sheds light on the role of previously uncharacterised lineages in estuarine nutrient cycling, and identifies microbial indicators for nutrient levels crucial in estuary health assessments.
Microorganisms in subarctic soils are depleted of ribosomes under short-, medium-, and long-term warming
Authors: Söllinger Andrea , Ahlers Laureen S , Dahl Mathilde Borg , Sigurðsson Páll , Le Noir de Carlan Coline , Bhattarai Biplabi , Gall Christoph , Martin Victoria S , Rottensteiner Cornelia , Motleleng Liabo L , Breines Eva Marie , Verbruggen Erik , Ostonen Ivika , Sigurdsson Bjarni D , Richter Andreas , Tveit Alexander T 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Physiological responses of soil microorganisms to global warming are important for soil ecosystem function and the terrestrial carbon cycle. Here, we investigate the effects of weeks, years, and decades of soil warming across seasons and time on the microbial protein biosynthesis machineries (i.e. ribosomes), the most abundant cellular macromolecular complexes, using RNA:DNA and RNA:MBC (microbial biomass carbon) ratios as proxies for cellular ribosome contents. We compared warmed soils and non-warmed controls of 15 replicated subarctic grassland and forest soil temperature gradients subject to natural geothermal warming. RNA:DNA ratios tended to be lower in the warmed soils during summer and autumn, independent of warming duration (6 weeks, 8–14 years, and &gt; 50 years), warming intensity (+3°C, +6°C, and +9°C), and ecosystem type. With increasing temperatures, RNA:MBC ratios were also decreasing. Additionally, seasonal RNA:DNA ratios of the consecutively sampled forest showed the same temperature-driven pattern. This suggests that subarctic soil microorganisms are depleted of ribosomes under warm conditions and the lack of consistent relationships with other physicochemical parameters besides temperature further suggests temperature as key driver. Furthermore, in incubation experiments, we measured significantly higher CO2 emission rates per unit of RNA from short- and long-term warmed soils compared to non-warmed controls. In conclusion, ribosome reduction may represent a widespread microbial physiological response to warming that offers a selective advantage at higher temperatures, as energy and matter can be reallocated from ribosome synthesis to other processes including substrate uptake and turnover. This way, ribosome reduction could have a substantial effect on soil carbon dynamics.
Higher abundance of 2-dehydro-d-gluconate in the plasma of sub-fertile or infertile Bos taurus heifers
Authors: Marrella Mackenzie , Moorey Sarah E D , Campagna Shawn R , Sarumi Qudus , Biase Fernando H 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Infertility or subfertility impacts approximately 5% and 15% of dairy and beef heifers (Bos taurus), respectively. Heifers that do not produce a calf within an optimum window of time have a significant negative impact on the profitability and sustainability of the cattle industry. Selection of heifers based on their fertility potential remains a challenge yet to be resolved. Here, we tested the hypothesis that heifers of different fertility potential have differing metabolome signatures in their plasma. We obtained blood from Bos taurus heifers at their first artificial insemination and processed the samples to separate the plasma. The heifers were classified based on their reproductive outcome as fertile (pregnant and delivered a calf after their first artificial insemination (AI)) or sub-fertile (Angus heifers: no pregnancy after two AI and exposure to a bull; Holstein heifers: no pregnancy by the third AI). We tested the relative abundance of 140 metabolites obtained from 22 heifers (Angus fertile n = 5, Angus sub-fertile n = 7, Holstein fertile N = 5, Holstein sub-fertile N = 5). The metabolite 2-Dehydro-D-gluconate (C6H10O7) was significantly more abundant in the plasma of sub-fertile heifers in both breeds (1.4-fold, false discovery rate &lt; 0.1). In the context that a small proportion of circulating metabolites in the plasma were quantified in this study, the results show that the metabolomic profile in the blood stream may be associated with heifer fertility potential.
Comparative effectiveness and safety outcomes between denosumab and bisphosphonate in South Korea
Authors: Park ChulHyoung , Kim Chungsoo , Park Rae Woong , Jeon Ja Young 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Both bisphosphonates and denosumab are the mainstays of treatment for osteoporosis to prevent fractures. However, there are still few trials directly comparing the prevention of fractures and the safety of 2 drugs in the treatment of osteoporosis. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety between denosumab and bisphosphonates using a nationwide claims database. The database was covered with 10 million, 20% of the whole Korean population sampled by age and sex stratification of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in South Korea. Among 228 367 subjects who were over 50 yr of age and taking denosumab or bisphosphonate from January 2018 to April 2022, the analysis was performed on 91 460 subjects after 1:1 propensity score matching. The primary outcome was treatment effectiveness; total fracture, major osteoporotic fracture, femur fracture, pelvic fracture, vertebral fracture, adverse drug reactions; acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and atypical femoral fracture. Total fracture and osteoporotic major fracture, as the main outcomes of efficacy, were comparable in the denosumab and bisphosphonate group (HR 1.06, 95% CI, 0.98–1.15, P = .14; HR 1.13, 95% CI, 0.97–1.32, P = .12, respectively). Safety for acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and atypical femoral fracture also did not show any differences between the 2 groups. In subgroup analysis according to ages, the denosumab group under 70 yr of age had a significantly lower risk for occurrences of acute kidney injury compared to the bisphosphonate group under 70 yr of age (HR 0.53, 95% CI, 0.29–0.93, P = .03). In real-world data reflecting clinical practice, denosumab and bisphosphonate showed comparable effectiveness for total fractures and major osteoporosis fractures, as well as safety regarding acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and atypical femoral fracture.
The representation dynamic and the “normalization” of group differences
Authors: Carvalho Jean-Paul , Pradelski Bary S R 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Intergroup inequality has been linked to differing norms of economic participation among groups. We present a theory of endogenous identity-specific norms in which the larger a group’s representation in an economic activity, the more the activity is deemed “normal” or “appropriate” for its members. This representation dynamic can arise from behavioral heuristics or be created by informational technologies such as generative artificial intelligence. Through it, the economic underrepresentation of a group becomes “normalized,” resulting in more severe inequality than in standard models. Equality of opportunity almost never results in equal outcomes, even when groups have the same productivity. Minorities and historically marginalized groups tend to be underrepresented. However, minorities with greater productivity and/or weaker group identification can become overrepresented, and even dominant. When there are multiple career stages, underrepresentation can escalate at senior levels long after “glass ceilings” have disappeared. Underrepresentation disappears as economic returns rise and/or group identification weakens.
Eosinophil specialization is regulated by exposure to the esophageal epithelial microenvironment
Authors: Dunn Julia L M , Szep Andrea , Gonzalez Galan Emily , Zhang Simin , Marlman Justin , Caldwell Julie M , Troutman Ty D , Rothenberg Marc E 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Distinct subsets of eosinophils are reported in inflammatory and healthy tissues, yet the functions of uniquely specialized eosinophils and the signals that elicit them, particularly in eosinophilic esophagitis, are not well understood. Herein, we report an ex vivo system wherein freshly isolated human eosinophils were cocultured with esophageal epithelial cells and disease-relevant proinflammatory (IL-13) or profibrotic (TGF-β) cytokines. Compared with untreated cocultures, IL-13 increased expression of CD69 on eosinophils, whereas TGF-β increased expression of CD81, CD62L, and CD25. Eosinophils from IL-13–treated cocultures demonstrated increased secretion of GRO-α, IL-8, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor and also generated increased extracellular peroxidase activity following activation. Eosinophils from TGF-β–treated cocultures secreted increased IL-6 and exhibited increased chemotactic response to CCL11 compared with eosinophils from untreated or IL-13–treated coculture conditions. When eosinophils from TGF-β–treated cocultures were cultured with fibroblasts, they upregulated SERPINE1 expression and fibronectin secretion by fibroblasts compared with eosinophils that were cultured with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor alone. Translational studies revealed that CD62L was heterogeneously expressed by eosinophils in patient biopsy specimens. Our results demonstrate that disease-relevant proinflammatory and profibrotic signals present in the esophagus of patients with eosinophilic esophagitis cause distinct profiles of eosinophil activation and gene expression.
Demodex folliculorum (Trombidiformes: Demodecidae) infestation in medical students with facial dermatoses and healthy groups
Authors: Edalatkhah Hasan , Izadi Behrang , Nazari Maryam , Solgi Rahmat , Amani Ghayum Saeideh , Mohammadi-Ghalehbin Behnam , Moradi-Asl Eslam , Asfaram Shabnam , Azghani Peyman , Heidari Zahra 
Published: May 2024

Abstract
Demodex folliculorum (Simon, 1842) has been associated with various dermatological conditions. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of Demodex infestation in medical students with facial dermatoses compared with healthy medical students serving as controls. A total of 250 participants were enrolled, including 150 individuals with facial dermatoses and 100 healthy controls. Sampling was performed based on the standardized skin surface biopsy method. Demographic characteristics, specifically gender and age, were not statistically different between the patient and control groups. Among the facial dermatosis patients, 25 out of 150 (16.6%) were found to have Demodex infestation, while only three out of the 100 healthy controls (3%) exhibited infestations. The only identified species was D. folliculorum. The rates of Demodex infestation were significantly higher in the patients compared to the control groups. These findings indicate a higher prevalence of Demodex infestation among medical students with facial dermatosis, particularly in those diagnosed with folliculitis, acne vulgaris, and inflammatory papule, when compared to healthy controls. A better understanding of the relationship between D. folliculorum infestation and these dermatological conditions may lead to improved diagnostic and treatment strategies in the future.