bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Forensic efficiency and population genetic construction of Guizhou Gelao minority from Southwest China revealed by a panel of 23 autosomal STR loci
Authors: Chai Siyu , Li Shuhua , Zhu Ruxin , Luo Li , Chen Kaiqin , Lei Yinlei , Wan Weihong , Hu Xijie , Liu Shiquan , Chen Pengyu 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are the most common genetic markers in forensic and human population genetics due to their high polymorphism, rapid detection, and reliable genotyping. To adapt the rapid growth of forensic DNA database and solve problems in disputed cases, a panel of 23 autosomal STR loci with high discriminating ability was constructed recently. The Tai-Kadai-speaking Gelao is the most ancient indigenous minority in Guizhou province, however, the forensic efficiency and population genetic structure remain poorly explored. Here, 490 Guizhou Gelao individuals from Southwest China were genotyped with the panel of 23 STRs using the Huaxia Platinum Kit. A total of 265 alleles were screened. The combined discrimination power and the combined probability of paternity were 0.9999 and 0.9999, respectively. This indicated the 23 loci had higher discrimination power in Guizhou Gelao and could be applied to forensic practice. Comprehensive population structures with reference populations from China and abroad using the neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree (N-J tree), multidimensional scaling, principal component analysis and heatmap demonstrated that Guizhou Gelao was genetically closer to Guizhou Han than other populations. Moreover, our results showed that a complex phylogenetic model was influenced by ethnic, geographic, and linguistic factors.

Key points
How new nanotechnologies are changing the opioid analysis scenery? A comparison with classical analytical methods
Authors: Usman Muhammad , Baig Yawar , Nardiello Donatella , Quinto Maurizio 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, raw opium, and morphine have become a serious threat to the world population in the recent past, due to their increasing use and abuse. The detection of these drugs in biological samples is usually carried out by spectroscopic and/or chromatographic techniques, but the need for quick, sensitive, selective, and low-cost new analytical tools has pushed the development of new methods based on selective nanosensors, able to meet these requirements. Modern sensors, which utilize “next-generation” technologies like nanotechnology, have revolutionized drug detection methods, due to easiness of use, their low cost, and their high sensitivity and reliability, allowing the detection of opioids at trace levels in raw, pharmaceutical, and biological samples (e.g. blood, urine, saliva, and other biological fluids). The peculiar characteristics of these sensors not only have allowed on-site analyses (in the field, at the crime scene, etc.) but also they are nowadays replacing the gold standard analytical methods in the laboratory, even if a proper method validation is still required. This paper reviews advances in the field of nanotechnology and nanosensors for the detection of commonly abused opioids both prescribed (i.e. codeine and morphine) and illegal narcotics (i.e. heroin and fentanyl analogues).
Bootstrapping for parameter uncertainty in the space–time epidemic-type aftershock sequence model
Authors: Dutilleul P , Genest C , Peng R 
Published: January 2024

SUMMARY
This paper proposes the use of the parametric bootstrap as a simple way of obtaining reliable confidence intervals for the parameters in the space–time epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model. Using an earthquake data catalogue spanning almost 20 yr of seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean off the shores of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada), the authors show through simulation that the confidence intervals based on asymptotic maximum-likelihood theory can sometimes be misleading. In contrast, confidence intervals based on empirical quantiles from bootstrap samples have reliable nominal coverage, provided that edge effects are properly taken into account, both in the bootstrap procedure and in simulation studies. An R package called ETASbootstrap, developed by the authors, facilitates the use of this resampling procedure.
Targeting the heparan sulfate-binding site of RAGE with monoclonal antibodies
Authors: Ong Chihyean , Li Miaomiao , Xu Ding 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Heparan sulfate (HS) plays its biological functions by interacting with hundreds of secreted extracellular and transmembrane proteins. Interaction with HS has been shown to be required for the normal function of many HS-binding proteins. Receptor for advanced glycation end-product (RAGE) is such a protein, whose activation requires HS-induced oligomerization. Using RAGE as an exemplary protein, we show here the workflow of a simple method of developing and characterizing mAbs that targets the HS-binding site. We found that HS-binding site of RAGE is quite immunogenic as 18 out of 94 anti-RAGE mAbs target various epitopes within the HS-binding site. Sequence analysis found that a common feature of anti-HS-binding site mAbs is the presence of abundant acidic residues (range between 6 to 11) in the complementarity determining region, suggesting electrostatic interaction plays an important role in promoting antigen-antibody interaction. Interestingly, mAbs targeting different epitopes within the HS-binding site blocks HS-RAGE interaction to different degrees, and the inhibitory effect is highly consistent among mAbs that target the same epitope. Functional assay revealed that anti-HS-binding site mAbs show different potency in inhibiting osteoclastogenesis, and the inhibitory potency does not have a simple correlation with the affinity and the epitope. Our study demonstrates that developing HS-binding site targeting mAbs should be applicable to most HS-binding proteins. By targeting this unique functional site, these mAbs might find therapeutic applications in treating various human diseases.
Factors affecting Accountable Care Organizations’ decisions to remain in or exit the Medicare Shared Savings Program following Pathways to Success
Authors: Ying Meiling , Forman Jane H , Murali Sitara , Gauntlett Lauren E , Krein Sarah L , Hollenbeck Brent K , Hollingsworth John M 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) is an alternative payment model launched in 2012, creating Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to improve quality and lower costs for Traditional Medicare patients. Most MSSP participants were expected to shift from bearing no financial risk to a 2-sided risk model (ie, bonus if spending reduced below historical benchmarks, penalty if not), yet fewer than 20% did. Therefore, in 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Pathways to Success program, which required shifting to a 2-sided model within 12 months. For the first time, more ACOs exited than entered the MSSP. To understand these participation decisions, we conducted qualitative interviews with ACO leaders. Pathways caused ACOs to reassess their potential shared savings vs losses, particularly in light of benchmarking methodology changes; reconsider perceived nonrevenue benefits; and reassess participation in the MSSP vs other programs. As ACOs, particularly those assuming downside risk, have contained costs and enhanced care quality, policymakers should strive to improve MSSP enrollment rates in downside-risk models through strategies that allow ACOs to achieve shared savings and deliver accountable care.
Characterization of novel mutations in the TEL-patch domain of the telomeric factor TPP1 associated with telomere biology disorders
Authors: Bertrand Alexis , Ba Ibrahima , Kermasson Laëtitia , Pirabakaran Vithura , Chable Noémie , Lainey Elodie , Ménard Christelle , Kallel Faten , Picard Capucine , Hadiji Sondes , Coolen-Allou Nathalie , Blanchard Elodie , de Villartay Jean-Pierre , Moshous Despina , Roelens Marie , Callebaut Isabelle , Kannengiesser Caroline , Revy Patrick 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures that protect the chromosome ends from degradation and fusion. Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex essential to maintain the length of telomeres. Germline defects that lead to short and/or dysfunctional telomeres cause telomere biology disorders (TBDs), a group of rare and heterogeneous Mendelian diseases including pulmonary fibrosis, dyskeratosis congenita, and Høyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome. TPP1, a telomeric factor encoded by the gene ACD, recruits telomerase at telomere and stimulates its activity via its TEL-patch domain that directly interacts with TERT, the catalytic subunit of telomerase. TBDs due to TPP1 deficiency have been reported only in 11 individuals. We here report four unrelated individuals with a wide spectrum of TBD manifestations carrying either heterozygous or homozygous ACD variants consisting in the recurrent and previously described in-frame deletion of K170 (K170∆) and three novel missense mutations G179D, L184R, and E215V. Structural and functional analyses demonstrated that the four variants affect the TEL-patch domain of TPP1 and impair telomerase activity. In addition, we identified in the ACD gene several motifs associated with small deletion hotspots that could explain the recurrence of the K170∆ mutation. Finally, we detected in a subset of blood cells from one patient, a somatic TERT promoter-activating mutation that likely provides a selective advantage over non-modified cells, a phenomenon known as indirect somatic genetic rescue. Together, our results broaden the genetic and clinical spectrum of TPP1 deficiency and specify new residues in the TEL-patch domain that are crucial for length maintenance and stability of human telomeres in vivo.
Five-year outcomes of surgical aortic valve replacement with a novel bovine pericardial bioprosthesis
Authors: Chen Jinmiao , Lv Minzhi , Fu Jiahui , He Chen , Guo Yingqiang , Tao Liang , Zhou Xinmin , Gu Tianxiang , Bartus Krzysztof , Wei Lai , Hong Tao , Wang Chunsheng 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The short-term performance of the Cingular bovine pericardial aortic valve was proven. This study evaluated its 5-year safety and haemodynamic outcomes.

METHODS
It enrolled 148 patients who underwent surgical aortic valve replacement with the Cingular bovine pericardial aortic valve between March 2016 and October 2017 in 5 clinical centres in China. Safety and haemodynamic outcomes were followed up to 5 years. The incidence of all-cause mortality, structural valve deterioration and reintervention was estimated by Kaplan–Meier analysis.

RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 67.7 [standard deviation (SD) 5.1] years, and 36.5% of patients were female. The mean follow-up was 5.3 (SD 1.2) years. Five-year freedom from all-cause mortality, structural valve deterioration and all-cause reintervention were 91.2%, 100% and 99.3%, respectively. At 5 years, the mean gradient and effective orifice area of all sizes combined were 14.0 (SD 5.5) mmHg and 1.9 (SD 0.3) cm2, respectively. For 19- and 21-mm sizes of aortic prostheses, the mean gradients and effective orifice area at 5 years were 17.5 (SD 7.0) mmHg and 1.6 (SD 0.2) cm2 and 13.7 (SD 6.7) mmHg and 1.8 (SD 0.3) cm2, respectively. The incidence of moderate or severe patient–prosthesis mismatch was 4.1% and 0.0% patients at 5 years, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The 5-year safety and haemodynamic outcomes of Cingular bovine pericardial aortic valve are encouraging. Longer-term follow-up is warranted to assess its true durability.
Risk predictors of race disparity in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: a propensity-matched analysis
Authors: Dokollari Aleksander , Sicouri Serge , Ramlawi Basel , Arora Rakesh C , Lodge Daniel , Wanamaker Kelly M , Hosseinian Leila , Erten Ozgun , Torregrossa Gianluca , Sutter Francis P 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to compare long-term prognosis after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting between white and black patients and to investigate risk factors for poorer outcomes among the latest.

METHODS
All consecutive 4766 black and white patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting between May 2005 and June 2021 at our institution were included. Primary outcomes were long-term incidence of all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in black versus white patients. A propensity-matched analysis was used 2 compare groups.

RESULTS
After matching, 459 patients were included in each black and white groups while groups were correctly balanced. The mean age was 70.4 vs 70.6 years old (P = 0.7) in black and white groups, respectively. Intraoperatively, mean operating room time and blood product transfusion, were higher in the black group while incidence of extubation in the operating room was higher in the white one. Postoperatively, hospital length of stay was higher in the black cohort. Thirty-day all-cause mortality was not different among groups. The median follow-up time was 4 years. Primary outcome of all-cause death was higher in the black versus the white, respectively. Major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events incidence was twice higher in the black compared to the white cohort (7.6% vs 3.7%, P = 0.013). Risk predictors for all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in blacks were creatinine level, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ejection fraction &lt;50% and preoperative atrial fibrillation.

CONCLUSIONS
Racial disparities persist in a high-volume centre. Despite no preoperative difference, black minority has a higher incidence of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.
Metabolomic Signatures Differentiate Immune Responses in Avian Influenza Vaccine Recipients
Authors: Howard Leigh M , Jensen Travis L , Goll Johannes B , Gelber Casey E , Bradley Matthew D , Sherrod Stacy D , Hoek Kristen L , Yoder Sandra , Jimenez-Truque Natalia , Edwards Kathryn , Creech C Buddy 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Background
Avian influenza viruses pose significant risk to human health. Vaccines targeting the hemagglutinin of these viruses are poorly immunogenic without the use of adjuvants.

Methods
Twenty healthy men and women (18–49 years of age) were randomized to receive 2 doses of inactivated influenza A/H5N1 vaccine alone (IIV) or with AS03 adjuvant (IIV-AS03) 1 month apart. Urine and serum samples were collected on day 0 and on days 1, 3, and 7 following first vaccination and subjected to metabolomics analyses to identify metabolites, metabolic pathways, and metabolite clusters associated with immunization.

Results
Seventy-three differentially abundant (DA) serum and 88 urine metabolites were identified for any postvaccination day comparison. Pathway analysis revealed enrichment of tryptophan, tyrosine, and nicotinate metabolism in urine and serum among IIV-AS03 recipients. Increased urine abundance of 4-vinylphenol sulfate on day 1 was associated with serologic response based on hemagglutination inhibition responses. In addition, 9 DA urine metabolites were identified in participants with malaise compared to those without.

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that tryptophan, tyrosine, and nicotinate metabolism are upregulated among IIV-AS03 recipients compared with IIV alone. Metabolites within these pathways may serve as measures of immunogenicity and may provide mechanistic insights for adjuvanted vaccines.

Clinical Trials Registration
NCT01573312.
Association of Oral Microbiome With Oral Human Papillomavirus Infection: A Population Study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009–2012
Authors: Feng Xinyi , Patel Eshan U , White Jodie L , Li Shilan , Zhu Xianming , Zhao Ni , Shi Jianxin , Park Daniel E , Liu Cindy M , Kaul Rupert , Prodger Jessica L , Quinn Thomas C , Grabowski M Kate , Tobian Aaron A R 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Background
Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the oral microbiome are associated with oropharyngeal cancer. However, population-based data on the association of oral microbiome with oral HPV infection are limited.

Method
A cross-sectional analysis of 5496 20–59-year-old participants in the 2009–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was performed. Associations with oral HPV infection were assessed using multivariable logistic regression for oral microbiome α-diversity (within-sample diversity), and using principal coordinate analysis and permutational multivariate analysis of variance for β-diversity (between-sample heterogeneity).

Results
Overall, for α-diversity, a lower number of observed amplicon sequence variants (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.996; 95% confidence interval [CI] = .992–.999) and reduced Faith's phylogenetic diversity (aOR = 0.95; 95% CI = .90–.99) were associated with high-risk oral HPV infection. β-diversity showed differentiation of oral microbiome community by high-risk oral HPV infection as measured by Bray-Curtis dissimilarity (R2 = 0.054%; P = .029) and unweighted UniFrac distance (R2 = 0.046%; P = .045). There were differential associations when stratified by sex.

Conclusions
Both oral microbiome α-diversity and β-diversity were marginally associated with oral HPV infection. Longitudinal studies are needed to characterize the role of the microbiome in the natural history of oral HPV infection.
Blue Black Ecstasy: Ellen Gallagher’s Watery Ecstatic, Oceanic Feeling, and Mysticism in the Flesh
Authors: Bakker Justine M 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Since 2001, visual artist Ellen Gallagher has been working on “Watery Ecstatic,” an ongoing, expansive project that depicts real and imaginary underwater life through drawings, films, reliefs, and paintings. Thus far, this series—indeed, Gallagher’s oeuvre—has not been studied by scholars of religion. Arguing that the series provokes an extended conversation about mysticism, (para)religion, and constructions of blackness, humanness, and animality, this article addresses this lacuna. Placing the series in conversation with Sigmund Freud and Fred Moten, I argue that “Watery Ecstatic” displays a particular kind of mysticism that I call blue black mysticism: an experience of sociality that, in and through the oceanic, refuses the categorical distinctions and modes of identification that ground and mark normative and racialized ideations of humanness and subjectivity. I suggest, further, that blue black mysticism, because it engages the alterity of the ocean, offers a prime site to trouble the racialized, hierarchical boundary between human and nonhuman animals.
Successful prophylaxis of ESBL Enterobacteriaceae repetitive urinary tract infections with subcutaneous temocillin: a case report
Authors: Delpierre Eloïse , Lanoix Jean-Philippe 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Temocillin is an antibiotic belonging to the β-lactam family, introduced in 1988 but soon forgotten because of its narrow spectrum. Recently, it has been repurposed for its effectiveness against ESBL Enterobacteriaceae, and represents an alternative of choice to carbapenems due to its limited impact on the microbiota.

Patient
We present here a successful case of antibiotic prophylaxis of recurrent ESBL urinary tract infections with subcutaneously administered temocillin.

Conclusions
Temocillin is rarely administered subcutaneously and even more rarely in prophylactic situations. However, its tolerance profile and low impact on the microbiota should help reconsideration of its use in particular cases like this one.
Urine Immunofixation Electrophoresis for Diagnosis of Monoclonal Gammopathy: Evaluation of Methods for Urine Concentration
Authors: Ye Mon May , Ufondu Obiora , Mortley Shanee , Bollag Roni J , Singh Gurmukh 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Background
Examination of urine by immunofixation electrophoresis (UIFE) is one of the tests recommended for screening and monitoring of monoclonal gammopathies, especially multiple myeloma. Unlike the serum free light chain measurement, a positive result on urine immunofixation is diagnostic for monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains. Urine is usually concentrated, generally by membrane filtration, prior to electrophoresis.

Methods
Alternative methods to membrane filtration for urine concentration were examined. Residual urine specimens submitted for urine protein electrophoresis were concentrated by precipitation of the proteins by ammonium sulfate salt precipitation, precipitation with ethanol and acetonitrile, and by desiccation. The concentrated specimens were subjected to immunofixation electrophoresis using antisera to free light chains (FLC). The results were compared with those from conventional immunofixation electrophoresis using specimens concentrated by membrane filtration.

Results
Ammonium sulfate, ethanol, and acetonitrile precipitation results were less than satisfactory. Concentration by desiccation provided results comparable, if not better than, those by membrane filtration and conventional UIFE. The cost of desiccation is minimal compared to more than $5.00/specimen cost of concentration by membrane filtration. The differences in the results with conventional UIFE and the method described here are likely due to (a) variability in the reactivity of different antisera to free monoclonal light chains, and (b) obscuration of monoclonal free light chains by co-migration with intact immunoglobulin monoclonal proteins.

Conclusions
Concentrating urine by desiccation for immunofixation electrophoresis is technically simple, inexpensive, and provides results comparable to concentrating by membrane filtration. Using FLC provides a more sensitive assay than using conventional antisera.
International Nuclear Security Law: The Use of ‘Soft Law’
Authors: Fukui Yasuhito 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
International nuclear security law includes treaties such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its amendment (A/CPPNM), as well as a series of soft law instruments, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Nuclear Security Series (NSS). These treaties and law instruments function as guidelines providing policy direction and ensuring that the various nuclear facilities are properly protected. Traditionally, soft law has been typified by its flexibility and normativity. However, within the field of nuclear security law, nuclear security is mainly assessed using instruments that are properly implemented by relevant regulatory authorities or operators (in the case of soft law instruments), and regulatory bodies are given the authority to order operators to comply with mandatory instruction on the level of municipal law. This delegation of authority is necessitated by the potentially serious consequences of nuclear and radioactive material, as well as the associated facilities and activities. When the provisions of such instruments are transposed into municipal law, they somewhat function as hard laws despite having originated in international soft law. This is because nuclear security is a sensitive topic intimately related to national security. In conclusion, this unique combination of legally binding instruments and non-legally binding ones, which are often converted into legally binding documents as per municipal law in the case of Japan, enables robust control over nuclear security while also providing sufficient flexibility to ensure that a variety of nuclear facilities can fully adapt to the conditions required to protect these facilities.