bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Global Norms, Informed Consensus, and Hypocrisy in Bioethics
Authors: Harris John 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It has been said that morality is the science of the good. If it is, then surely ethics is the study of that science. Usually ‘ ‘moral and ethical ‘ ‘ are words that are linked almost as synonyms, and few would be able to articulate any supposed differences between them. I shall continue this somewhat lazy tradition and try to say something about moral and/or ethical decision- making. This chapter has two central themes. The first is the nature of ethical reasoning; the second will concern some of the main influences or pressures upon the way in which we do that reasoning in contemporary society.
Integer Programming Methods for Reserve Selection and Design
Authors: Haight Robert G , Snyder Stephanie A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
How many nature reserves should there be? Where should they be located? Which places have highest priority for protection? Conservation biologists, economists, and operations researchers have been developing quantitative methods to address these questions since the 1980s. The first formulations (Kirkpatrick 1983; Margules et al. 1988; Chapters 3 and 19) focused on species protection and efficiency – select the minimum number of reserves from a list of candidate sites to represent all species – and were solved using iterative heuristics, which guarantee only an approximation of the optimal solution (Chapter 5). Researchers later formulated the problem as a 0–1 linear integer programming (IP) model and found mathematically proven optimal solutions using the branch and bound (B&B) method available in commercial optimization software (Saetersdal et al. 1993; Underhill 1994). The main advantage of formulating a reserve selection problem as an IP model is the availability of solution methods such as B&B that guarantee finding the optimal solution. Researchers quickly recognized this advantage and have formulated reserve selection problems with a remarkable array of objectives and constraints.
Accounting for Habitat Dynamics in Conservation Planning
Authors: Possingham Hugh P , Moilanen Atte , Wilson Kerrie A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The ‘conservation prioritization problem’ has traditionally been formulated as a static problem (Chapter 3). This involves determining the priority of different planning units under the assumption that most of the high-priority planning units will eventually be added to the reserve network, and the low priority planning units will not. Such an approach can be valid, especially in marine systems or in areas where a single entity has property rights over the entire region of interest, for example, the government. However a static approach does not accurately represent the conservation system if system attributes change before the conservation plan can be fully implemented, which is frequently the case for terrestrial conservation planning (McDonaldMadden et al. 2008).
Conservation Prioritization and Uncertainty in Planning Inputs
Authors: Regan Helen M , Ensbey Michelle J , Burgman Mark A 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Uncertainty is pervasive in conservation decisions (Regan et al. 2002a; Harwood and Stokes 2003) and failing to account for it can lead to suboptimal decisions or actions that damage biodiversity (Rabinowitz 1995; Grand et al. 2007). Nevertheless, there is an imperative to make decisions for conservation planning and postponing decisions to wait for more data (hence greater certainty) can lead to unnecessary and avoidable biodiversity losses (Slooten et al. 2000). Decisions in the face of uncertainty should allow for opportunities to learn from mistakes and to update existing knowledge as new information becomes available. In this review, we outline the sources of uncertainty that typically arise in conservation planning exercises, and we identify appropriate treatments for the different kinds of uncertainty. We then assess spatial conservation planning software platforms against a set of criteria to evaluate which kinds of uncertainty are treated explicitly, and which are ignored. We identify potential areas for development and methods that may be usefully implemented in these platforms.
‘Things that Undermine Each Other’: Occasionalism, Freedom, and Attention in Malebranche
Authors: Greenberg Sean 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
It is natural to suppose that Malebranche’s commitments to occasionalism and human freedom undermine each other. According to Malebranche’s occasionalism, no finite being has the causal power to bring anything about or effect any change in the natural world, either in the physical or the mental realm.(Finite beings are merely occasional causes; God is the only real cause.) Since, according to occasionalism, agents have no real causal power, it would seem that they do not have the active power necessary to determine their own free choices.
Leibniz as Idealist
Authors: Rutherford Donald 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Leibniz has long been held to be an idealist.Minimally, this involves the claim that, in his late writings at least, Leibniz’s fundamental ontology— his inventory of the ultimately real, independently existing things — is limited to mind-like, simple substances, or monads. This fixes one meaning of the term ‘idealism’, and considerable evidence confirms that in his late writings Leibniz is, in this sense, an idealist.
A Theory of Hedged Moral Principles
Authors: Väyrynen Pekka 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Moral theories have explanatory aspirations. They purport not merely to tell us which things are right and wrong, good and bad, and just and unjust, but also to explain why those things have the moral features that they do. Many theorists think that explanations which help us understand or make sense of morality must in some way rely on general moral principles. Suppose, for instance, that Anna ought to help Adam who is very badly off. Views which are “generalist” in this sense hold that Anna ought to do whatever it is that she ought to do in some sense because of some moral principles with suitable content, such as that one ought to help the badly off.
Gods
Authors: Oppy Graham 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
There are many different views that have been held about the content of the idea or concept of God, and many different suggestions that have been made about how to define or analyse the name “God”. In this chapter, I defend the suggestion that to be God is just to be the one and only god, where to be a god is to be a supernatural being or force that has and exercises power over the natural world but that is not, in turn, under the power of any higher-ranking or more powerful category of beings or forces. While many will take this to be a rather radical suggestion, it seems to me that there are many good reasons for adopting this proposal, and that there are no telling reasons that speak against it.
A Non-Extensional Notion of Conversion in the Organon
Authors: Malink Marko 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
This paper is about a special notion of conversion found in Prior Analytics 2. 22, 68a16–21. I hope to show that the notion is worth studying for two reasons: firstly because it is interesting in itself, and secondly because it has implications for the semantics of a propositions (that is, assertoric universal affirmative propositions).
Let us say that A is a-predicated of B if and only if the a-proposition ‘A belongs to all B’ is true. The notion of conversion in question is: A converts with B if and only if A is a-predicated of everything of which B is a-predicated including B itself, while B is a-predicated of everything of which A is a-predicated except of A itself. We may call this asymmetric conversion.
Isolation and characterization of nuclei and nuclear subfractions
Authors: Rickwood David , Messent, Anthea , Patel Dipak 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The nucleus is the centre of a wide range of diverse activities that. are essential for the survival of the cell. The development of methods for the isolation and purification of functional nuclei, nuclear subfractions, and individual components have been central to understanding how the nucleus functions in the cell. However, given the space limitations of a single chapter, it is only possible to focus on a selection of the methods used for isolating and characterizing the various components of the nucleus and analyzing their functions. The reader will be referred to other, relevant practical manuals for details of other types of technique as appropriate.
In vitro selection of nucleic acid ligands
Authors: Conrad Richard C , Bell Sabine , Ellington Andrew D 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The molecular biology explosion of the last three decades has been capped by the finding that nucleic acids have extraordinary functionality. Once thought to be mere repositories or carriers of information, the discovery of structural complexity in tRNA and catalysis in group I self-splicing intrans and eubacte rial RNase P RNAs prompted the realization that nucleic acids may harbour biochemistries as complex as those of protein enzymes. The discovery that functional nucleic acids could be generated by natural selection led directly to the notion that researchers might themselves design or select nucleic acids with novel functions. For example, researchers have modified the functions of existing ribozymes, much as protein chemists engineered the physical and catalytic properties of known protein enzyme. In addition, researchers have selected binding or catalytic nucleic acid species de novo from pools of nucleic acid molecules that contained literally trillions of different sequences.
Proteases in peptide synthesis
Authors: Kasche Volker 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The basis for the classification of proteases as enzymes is their biological function as hydrolases. As catalysts, the proteases must also catalyze the reverse reaction, i.e. the formation of a peptide bond (1,2). For some time this was treated as a curiosity rather than a property that could be used to gain more knowledge of the catalytic function of proteases, or for peptide synthesis in vitro. Recently, their potential use for the latter has led to a marked increase in studies on the synthetic function of proteases.
Generic techniques for fluorescence measurements of protein-ligand interactions; real-time kinetics and spatial imaging
Authors: Cladera Josep , O’Shea Paul 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The non-covalent interactions of small molecules (i.e. the ‘ligand’) with a larger molecule (the ‘receptor’—usually a protein or nucleic acid) underlies much of the ‘process’ of cell biology and physiology as illustrated by the broad range of examples covered in this volume. Whilst there are techniques available that offer very accurate quantitative and unequivocal measurements of ligand-receptor interactions (see, e.g. ref. 1, and other chapters in the present volumes), many such techniques are highly specialized and/or dedicated to a particular biological phenomenon. A number of more simple and routine techniques have also evolved to measure or indicate this behaviour and have tended to be grouped within one or more of the following general areas: The ligand-receptor interaction leads to a biological response that is assayed; examples include signalling responses (e.g. intracellular Ca mobilization), i.e. the ligand-receptor association is inferred from the response. Strictly, this is then more of a dose-response reaction rather than a ligand-receptor binding reaction. With localized or non-linear signalling behaviour, however, the binding reactions may be difficult to disentangle from the response.
Protein-protein complexes formed by electron transfer proteins
Authors: Scott Mathews F , Grant Mauk A , Moore Geoffrey R 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Transfer of an electron from one protein to another is one of the most common biochemical reactions (1). Not only are such reactions a primary feature of respiratory chains, such as the aerobic pathways terminating with the reduction of O2 to H2O by cytochrome c oxidase, but they are also critical to many other metabolic processes. Two examples of such processes are the conversion of non-functional methaemoglobin to deoxyhaemoglobin by cytochrome b5 and cytochrome b5 reductase (2), and the complex organic biotransformations catalysed by cytochrome P450 (3). The widespread occurrence of protein-protein electron transfer reactions and their apparent simplicity has provided an attractive subject for extensive theoretical and experimental studies. A major objective of many such studies concerns the structural definition of the electron transfer process and identification of those mechanistic factors that are rate-limiting.
Adenosine deaminases that act on RNA
Authors: Hough Ronald F , Bass Brenda L 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The RNA editing enzymes now known as adenosine deaminases that act on RNA (ADARs) comprise a unique protein family with members throughout the metazoa. Discovered in 1987 in Xenopus laevis, the enzymes were first characterized as doublestranded RNA (dsRNA) unwinding activities (1, 2) and later shown to be dsRNA adenosine-to-inosine modifying activities (3, 4). The observed ‘unwinding’ of the RNA turned out to be a consequence of the modification which, in the context of dsRNA, converts AU base-pairs to the less stable IU mismatch.
Artificial intelligence for OCTA-based disease activity prediction in age-related macular degeneration.
Authors: Heinke Anna , Zhang Haochen , Deussen Daniel , Galang Carlo Miguel B. , Warter Alexandra , Paguiligan Kalaw Fritz Gerald , Bartsch Dirk-Uwe G. , Cheng Lingyun , An Cheolhong , Nguyen Truong , Freeman William R. 
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Purpose:
We hypothesize that OCTA-visualized vascular morphology may be a predictor of CNV status in AMD. We thus evaluated the use of AI to predict different stages of AMD disease based on OCTA en-face 2D projections scans.

Methods:
Retrospective cross-sectional study based on collected 2D OCTA data from 310 high-resolution scans. Based on OCT B-scan fluid and clinical status, OCTA was classified as normal, dry AMD, wet AMD active and wet-AMD in remission with no signs of activity. Two human experts graded the same test set and a consensus grading between 2 experts was used for the prediction of 4 categories.

Results:
The AI can achieve 80.36% accuracy on a four-category grading task with 2D OCTA projections. The sensitivity of prediction by AI was: 0.7857 (active), 0.7142 (remission), 0.9286 (dry AMD), and 0.9286 (normal) and the specificity was 0.9524, 0.9524, 0.9286, and 0.9524, respectively. The sensitivity of prediction by human experts was: 0.4286 active CNV, 0.2143 remission, 0.8571 dry AMD, and 0.8571 normal with specificity of 0.7619, 0.9286, 0.7857, 0.9762 respectively. The overall AI classification prediction was significantly better than the human (odds ratio=1.95, p=0.0021).

Conclusion:
Our data shows that CNV morphology can be used to predict disease activity by AI; Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the evolution of CNV and features that predict reactivation. Future studies will be able to evaluate the additional predicative value of OCTA on top of other imaging characteristics (i.e., fluid location on OCT B scans) to help predict response to treatment.
A cross-sectional study of contact allergens in feminine hygiene wipes: a possible cause of vulvar contact dermatitis
Authors: Newton Jazmin , Richardson Sophie , van Oosbre Annika M. , Yu Jiade , Silence Channi 
Published: November 2023

Background:
Feminine hygiene wipes marketed toward women for maintaining freshness and cleanliness of the vulva and perineum are abundant both in-store and online. Many of these products boast being “fragrance free,” “gentle,” and “for sensitive skin,” which is attractive to consumers. However, these claims do not necessarily mean they are free of potential allergens.

Objective:
The present study aims to investigate the presence and prevalence of potential allergens in the most used feminine hygiene wipes.

Methods:
An internet-based search was performed to identify best-selling name brand and generic feminine hygiene wipes. Each unique wipe was analyzed and compared to the North American Contact Dermatitis Group 80 allergens.

Results:
We found contact allergens are frequently present in feminine hygiene wipes, most commonly fragrances, other scented botanicals in the form of essences, oils, and fruit juices, and vitamin E (tocopherol). All wipes analyzed in this study contained potential allergens.

Limitations:
The inability to eliminate commercial names from analysis could have introduced bias.

Conclusions:
Vaginal and vulvar epithelia are highly susceptible to contact allergens, often found in products marketed for feminine hygiene and cleanliness. Providers should caution patients against trusting product labeling claims to avoid incidental contact allergy and encourage simply cleansing the vulva with water.
Roadmaps to green nephrology: a mediterranean point of view
Authors: Ben Hmida Mohamed , Torreggiani Massimo , Berman-Parks Nathan , Salomone Mario , Piccoli Giorgina Barbara 
Published: November 2023

Purpose of review
Green nephrology is a movement whose aim is to find ways to reduce the environmental impact of kidney care. The question is of particular concern in this field since haemodialysis is one of the major contributors to waste generation, energy use and water consumption in healthcare. Although several ways for improving sustainability have been advocated, they are all context sensitive. This review aims to analyse the interventions that have been proposed to improve the ecologic sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint of nephrology care adapting to specific settings, and taking advantage of local expertise.

Recent findings
Green hospitals are becoming a reality in several high-income settings, thanks to new building guidelines, with greater awareness of climate change and users’ demands. Water saving is feasible, and is increasingly done, in different ways (improving hardware, reducing and adapting dialysate flows). Recycling noncontaminated plastic waste is feasible, but is still rarely performed. However, ecological transition has been slow even in high-income countries, while in low and middle-income countries lack of resources limit the ability to cope with the planet's urgent needs. Conversely, where man-power cost is low, some time-consuming tasks, such as separation of various components for recycling may be affordable. Theoretically, implementation of all clinical tasks aiming to avoid or retard dialysis, should be a priority.

Summary
There is no single roadmap for achieving green nephrology. Each setting should start from those feasible interventions most in line with its specific needs and priorities.
Percutaneous Ultrasound Cholangiography With Microbubbles in Children With Biliary Diseases
Authors: Chen Meixi , Zhang Xiaoer , Zhou Wenying , Zhang Nan , Wang Guotao , Zhou Luyao 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
The application of intracavity contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the evaluation of biliary disease has been confirmed valuable among pediatric population. This pictorial essay aims to demonstrate the role of percutaneous ultrasound cholangiography (PUSC) with microbubbles in the diagnosis of different pediatric biliary diseases in our center. The biliary system's morphologic characteristics in PUSC mode of neonatal hepatitis, biliary atresia, choledochal cysts, and biliary complications of hepatobiliary surgery are presented.
In Vivo Sonoporation Effect Under the Presence of a Large Amount of Micro-Nano Bubbles in Swine Liver
Authors: Ueno Yutaka , Kariya Shuji , Ono Yasuyuki , Maruyama Takuji , Nakatani Miyuki , Komemushi Atsushi , Tanigawa Noboru 
Published: November 2023

Objectives
Sonoporation as a method of intracellular drug and gene delivery has not yet progressed to being used in vivo. The aim of this study was to prove the feasibility of sonoporation at a level practical for use in vivo by using a large amount of carbon dioxide micro-nano bubbles.

Methods
The carbon dioxide micro-nano bubbles and 100 mg of cisplatin were intra-arterially injected to the swine livers, and ultrasound irradiation was performed from the surface of the liver under laparotomy during the intra-arterial injection. After the intra-arterial injection, ultrasound-irradiated and nonirradiated liver tissues were immediately excised. Tissue platinum concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Liver tissue platinum concentrations were compared between the irradiated tissue and nonirradiated tissue using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Results
The mean (SD) liver tissue platinum concentration was 6.260*103 (2.070) ng/g in the irradiated liver tissue and 3.280*103 (0.430) ng/g in the nonirradiated liver tissue, showing significantly higher concentrations in the irradiated tissue (P = 0.004).

Conclusions
In conclusion, increasing the tissue concentration of administered cisplatin in the livers of living swine through the effect of sonoporation was possible in the presence of a large amount of micro-nano bubbles.
Predictive Ability of Ultrasound on Neonatal Diagnoses and Consequences on Prenatal Care Utilization
Authors: Lunardhi Alicia , Goldrich Alisa , Stohl Hindi E. , Ko Kimberly J. , Dong Fanglong , Galyon Kristina D. 
Published: November 2023

Abstract
Fetal anomalies suspected on fetal ultrasound may cause significant stress for patients. Some findings resolve or have minimal clinical significance for the neonate. Our purpose is to evaluate fetal ultrasound accuracy and false-positive results and determine the clinical impact on maternal counseling. A retrospective review was performed on electronic medical records for women receiving prenatal care at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center who had abnormal findings on fetal ultrasounds between January 2015 and December 2018. Corresponding neonatal medical records were reviewed for the suspected condition(s). χ
2 and Fisher exact tests were conducted to assess associations between fetal ultrasounds and neonatal outcomes. Two hundred eight mothers and 237 babies (including all 29 sets of twins) were included in the final analysis. Fetal ultrasounds were significantly associated with neonatal findings for the following conditions (sensitivity, specificity): anatomical disorder of extremities (0.72, 0.97), anatomical disorder of the face/skull/brain (0.67, 0.91), congenital anomaly of gastrointestinal tract (0.75, 0.98), congenital heart disease (0.75, 0.91), genetic disorder (0.72, 1.00), growth restriction (1.00, 0.85), kidney disorder (0.55, 0.98), and large for gestational age (0.80, 0.98). The highest false-positive rates occurred in congenital heart disease (65.4%), anatomical disorder of the face/skull/brain (64.3%), and growth restriction (54%). Fetal ultrasound highly correlates with neonatal findings for many congenital conditions. However, it can also be associated with a high false-positive rate for certain diagnoses; maternal counseling should include the limitations of ultrasound, including the potential for false-positive results.